I stood up, feeling no small amount of relief that I was actually able to. I tried walking and was also pleasantly surprised that I could easily drag the now mostly dry wings behind myself. They still felt dead to me, meaning that I couldn’t feel or move them, but at least walking was now possible. It felt like I was simply dragging a large tarp behind myself.

“Excellent, excellent", Owen said. "Now, follow me. We must hide.”

“Couldn’t you just use your cloaking spell to hide us?” I asked.

“No, I couldn’t. I could cloak myself, certainly, but I cannot cloak another person. My magic just isn’t that powerful.”

Owen started into the forest, and I had no choice but to follow him. It was fairly easy walking at first, as the huge trees were spaced far apart. My wings weren’t causing much problem, but I found myself being angry at their mere existence. After all those years of dreaming that I could fly, now I finally had real wings and I couldn’t even use them. Hell, I couldn’t even feel them, except the constant tugging on my shoulders as I dragged them through the woods. What was the point of having wings that couldn’t be used? What was I, a fucking penguin? No, of course not. Penguins can’t fly, but at least they can use their wings as flippers or something. I tried concentrating on them, but it was no use. My brain was simply not registering the fact that they were even attached to my body. 

After a few hours of walking the going started getting a little harder as we started climbing a steep hill. I was becoming tired now.

 “Can we stop for a rest, please? I’m beat!”

 “What? Are you tired already? We’ve only gone a few kilometers.”

 “Really? It seems like we’ve gone a hundred. I’m all in, I tell you! And thirsty, too.”

 Owen thought for a moment.

 “We are still too close to that lake. We don’t want to be anywhere near it when they start searching.”

 I looked around us and asked “What makes you think they’ll be searching, especially on this side of the lake? The cliff I went off is several kilometers away.”

 “Yes”, Owen replied, “And at the base of that cliff is your smashed up car and the smashed-up truck that pushed you over. And inside that truck is a smashed-up body of your blond friend, but there is no smashed up body in or near your car. And, need I remind you, there were three witnesses that watched you sprout a pair of wings and fly out over the lake. They probably even watched you crash.”

This was true, but it still didn’t make sense to me. “Who cares if they saw me, anyway? The police would never believe those idiots! Who would believe that I sprouted wings and flew away? Jeez, I was there myself and I still don’t believe it happened! Besides, I’m pretty sure those hillbillies were drunk or stoned.”

“Maybe the police won’t believe them, and maybe they were intoxicated, but your body still isn’t there with your vehicle. For that reason alone those police will search for you on the possibility that you need rescuing. They will search the bottom of the cliff, they will search the trees, they will search the lake, and they will search the shores of the lake. They’ll also search the whole valley with their helicopters, and probably with dogs, too.”

“Oh, shit. I guess you’re right. But honestly, I don’t think I can go any further. I’m not used to walking in the mountains like this, and dragging these wings isn’t helping.”

Owen considered. “Well, you do seem to be weaker than most...”

Ouch, that catty fucker. “Hey!”, I said. “I’ll have you know that I’m considered to be quite strong...”

“...among the humans, yes, I suppose you are. I saw you fighting those ones back at that bar. You handled yourself quite well against them, but I’m afraid that among us you would still be considered to be quite weak, at least until you master the powers of your animal forms. Now, just let me think for a moment, will you?”

I was sulking now. I still hadn’t decided whether or not I liked this Owen fellow. Sure, he was incredibly sexy (and I was still incredibly horny), and he seemed friendly enough, but he could be so damned condescending! It started dawning on me that I was now thinking about Owen exactly what others back in the human world probably thought about me.

Finally, Owen looked at me and said “Ok, there’s simply no other way. There’s a cave halfway up this slope that we need to get to before it gets dark. It’s still a few kilometers away. If you can’t make it there under your own power, I’ve got no choice but to...”

POOF. He was gone, and there was the bear in his place. I was almost getting used to this by now, so I only startled a little bit.

Owen the bear knelt down so that his belly was touching the ground. “On my back”, he directed me. “Just like before. Let your wings trail behind us. Do not pull my hair.” 

I did as commanded and climbed onto the big brute. The bear stood up and started moving easily through the woods. He wasn’t exactly running, but he was moving faster than a normal bear would walk, and much faster than any human could have run. 

I noticed that he seemed to be picking the easiest route, the one that would avoid the most trees and low growth, even though it was not the shortest route. ‘Likely for my benefit’, I thought as I hung on.

After about an hour of steady climbing we reached a small plateau, about ten metres wide and three metres deep. Not a moment too soon, I might add: Being horny and riding on this bear was going to result in an embarrassing moment for me if we kept going much further. On the back side of the plateau, in the side of the mountain wall, was a small cave. The bear stood up on its hind legs with me still hanging on. “This is the place”, it said. 

I was still hanging on as a funny thought hit me, and I started laughing. 

“What on Earth are you laughing at?”, Owen-bear said. 

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that I realized something...” 

“What? Out with it, then!” 

“Well, it’s like this: I’ve had bears, and I’ve had bareback, but this is the first time I’ve ever ridden a bear’s back bareback”. 

Owen-bear let out a disgusted grunt. “Oh, for the love of...” 

He then shook himself vigorously, tossing me off his back. I was still giggling as I was tossed, but the laughter stopped as soon as I hit the ground.

“Ow! Hey, asshole, that hurt! My wing...”

Owen spun around and lunged at me. I was lying on my back and nursing my wing that the big brute had just crushed. This scared the shit out of me. Oh, fuck. Did I go a little too far? “Wait! Don’t eat me! I didn’t mean...”

Owen’s nose was inches from my own. “Eat you? I’ve no intention of eating you, you fool! Did you just say that your wing hurt?” he exclaimed.

“Yes”, I said with tentative relief. “I landed on it funny.” I thought it prudent not to point out that I only landed on it funny because he had just tossed me onto the ground.

POOF! The bear was gone, and Owen the man was back, kneeling over me.

“Are you sure? Get up, quickly! I must check something!”

I got up, and as soon as I was standing Owen was manipulating my wings again.

“Can you feel this?” he asked, as he moved them at each of their joints. This time I could feel vague movement, but the wings still felt dead to me. I shook my head.

“Damn it!”, Owen shouted. “I was hoping... but then, maybe...”

Without a word he reached over, grabbed a large white feather, and yanked it as hard as he could.

“OW!”, I shouted, and as I did the wing pulled out of Owen’s hand. “What the hell was that for?!?” 

Owen was delighted. “Excellent! Excellent! It’s just as I had hoped!”

Once again (this would become a running theme with me), I was confused, and Owen could see this in my expression.

“Don’t you see? If you can feel pain then the nerves in your wings are starting to work! You felt it when you landed on it, and you just felt it when I pulled on that feather. I must admit, I was surprised I was unable to pull the feather right out, but that must mean your wings are getting stronger. Now tell me, how did you pull the wing away?”

“Oh, I... um... I don’t know. Reflexes, maybe?”

“Yes... yes, that’s exactly it! Reflexes! This is splendid!”

“Explain, please”, I said.

“OK, I will”, Owen said, “but first, into the cave we go. Out of sight of those humans. Quickly, now!”

He ushered us into the cave. It was quite comfortable in there, with a smooth, sandy floor, about the size of a large bedroom. It was cooler in here than the hot summer air outside, and a small trickle of water emerged from a crack in the wall and disappeared into another crack in the floor. Owen immediately started drinking from the trickle. 

“Try it”, he said when he finished. “Purest water you’ll ever have tasted, I’d wager.”

I made my way toward the trickle and started drinking. It was wonderful. I drank my fill, then sat down, my wings spread out behind me. Owen had some more water and sat down facing me. 

“Ok”, I said. “We’re in the cave. Please, now, explain about my wings.”

“Ahh, ok, let’s see. Where to begin. Oh, I’ve got it!”

I looked at him expectantly. “Go on then”, I urged.

Owen began.

“I’ve been thinking about why your shape shifting failed. I’ve never seen that happen before, but I think I’ve got it figured out. You see, inside your head your brain builds neural pathways. Everything you do, everything you think, everything you learn, everything you remember, it’s all linked to those pathways. Some of them you are born with, some you can control and some you can’t. As you learn new things more links are created, and as you practice those things the links get stronger. Soon you don’t have to think about doing those things at all, they just come naturally.”

“I don’t understand”, I said. 

“Ok, well just think about something that you’ve learned how to do. Walking is a good example. When you are very young you don’t know how to walk. The neural pathways are there, but they are very weak. As you get older instinct causes you to start pulling yourself up to a standing position, and the pathways get a little stronger. A little older still, and you’ve figured out that as long as you’re holding onto something you can move about by moving your legs. Pathways stronger still. Eventually you let go of whatever you were holding onto. You walk a little bit, but very poorly. You’re making stronger pathways. You fall down. Your brain records this failure. You try again, but you don’t make the same mistake, so you walk a little further, still poorly, but more steadily. You make another mistake, you fall again. The process repeats itself until you’ve got walking figured out. You practice more and more, and eventually those neural pathways become so entrenched that walking comes natural to you. You don’t have to think about it, you just do it.”

“Ok, I think I understand that, but I don’t see how it affects my wings.”

“Think about it. Your brain learns how to use your legs through your actually using them. And if something happens to change things, say, an amputation or injury that prevents you from walking normally, your brain learns a new way to do things it has always done.”

I just looked at him. I swear, if he had a dunce cap, he’d have jammed it down over my ears right then and there.

Owen cleared his throat and continued, “Right. So the brain learns by use. But it also forgets. If you don’t use a part of your body your brain will forget how to do it. This is true for most things. A person who plays piano or guitar might be excellent at it, but take that instrument away for a few years and the person will forget. They won’t forget completely, but they will be, how do you say it... ‘rusty’? They can still play, but not nearly as well as before. It’s not just your brain, either. If a human works out and gets himself into perfect physical condition, he must continue to work out to maintain that condition. If he doesn’t, his muscles will shrink again and he will become weaker.”

“I still don’t see the connection to my wings”, I said.

“It has everything in the world to do with your wings!", Owen exclaimed. 

“Fine then, for God’s sake, show me”, I said.