She stopped and I heard them gasp in horror.

“Sara, what the fuck have you done?” James yelled, blinking in and out of my vision.

I felt my muscles start to grow and repair, quickly covering my body to protect my organs.

“Holy shit,” said Speedy, pointing at me as James and Sara were facing off.

“Don’t worry about it, guys,” I said, hearing my own voice and thinking I sounded very much done with today.

Sara took one look and turned and started puking. James and Speedy watched in fascination as my skin started repairing itself. Once I was covered in skin, my hair grew back, and then I was standing in front of two guys and a puking girl, naked.

“Could I have some clothes, please?” I asked as the two guys ogled me.

Sara stopped puking and turned to look. Then she looked at the two guys. And slugged them both across the face.

“Boys, how dare you stare at a naked woman!” Sara chastised, yanking them both by the ear and making them turn around.

“Hey, you’re the one that burned off her skin and muscles!” James responded, flipping her the finger.

Her mouth gaped for a second, and her shoulders sank.

Turning to me, she opened her pack and handed me a spandex bodysuit. “It’s not much, but it’s all I have. I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t really even start to cover me burning your flesh and muscles off, but I hope it’s the beginning of what will be a very long apology.”

I took the spandex and shimmied into it. It fit like a glove, but it did itch a bit.

“Thank you. And it’s alright: it seems like you’ve been under a lot of stress,” I pointed out, rolling my shoulders.

She shook her head. “I burned you to the bone, and you say it’s alright. Geez, you’re a weird one. But then again, anyone else and you’d probably be dead.”

I shrugged, but didn’t say anything.

“Okay boys, let’s move out. You good to run, Lyra?” Sara asked me, searching my face.

“Yep,” I said, cracking my knuckles.

Without another word, Sara took off, James and Speedy following behind her.

I followed as well, relaxing into an easy lope and letting my brain unfocus from worry.

Then my skin started to prickle.

I snapped back to myself in time to watch fur recede back into my body.

“Can’t I get any peace?” I asked myself quietly, following behind James.

We loped for awhile. I was impressed with their endurance. The only one who seemed anywhere near tired was Sara, and she was still at the front of the line.

The trees grew thicker and closer together, until it was pretty much jungle and we were running through the undergrowth, avoiding roots and ant hills alike.

My ears caught rustling in the trees above. A large animal.

Anything that big in a jungle had to be carnivorous.

“Guys,” I called out, and they stopped and turned to face me as I felt the heavy weight drop on my shoulders.

I heard my bones snap as I was taken down by the animal, who obviously thought I was the weakest of the pack. Before I could stop myself, I shifted to match the animal.

I healed as I shifted, so by the time I was a massive jaguar, I was back to full health.

Snarling, I heaved the smaller jaguar off of me and got to all fours. I coughed at it and swatted a couple times, tail waving behind me. It froze and opened its mouth to catch my scent, then decided I was too dangerous and ran back into the canopy.

Great, now I was stuck for a couple hours.