~ Who and What

Ember woke up and stirred. His body felt weird and when he moved around he felt stiff and achy. His head hurt and he felt kinda sick. Slowly he opened his eyes to see a very small and pitiful fire in front of him. He was confused. He tried to move but found that it was hard to. He picked up his head but something was off. There was something in his vision that made him think his nose had extended but it was too dark to tell and the little light from the fire was no help. He looked to his side and saw a girl.

He immediately fought to get out of her grip, his mind going nuts. What was a girl doing holding him? As he crawled forward out of her arm the disproportionate view of the world and feelings hit him.

He got closer to the fire and looked at himself. He was… dear god he was a dog! He yelped and his voice even sounded like a dog's. He looked at the girl and felt somewhat better about the situation he found himself in. Somehow he had been turned into a dog and she had adopted him. Maybe he was finally getting his memories back? He looked at the fire as it started to die, then back at the girl who started to shiver.

Well if he truly was turned into a dog that would be weird but wizards had done weirder so he shrugged it off. Wizards were always learning something new. Stories of people being turned into animals have been told around the orphanage especially with all the visitors. They always said a person would live like an animal and become someone else's pet and help out. The story always interested him and he was always careful to treat animals around the orphanage with respect. This was never how he imagined how his life would turn out though. Turned into an animal. Becoming someone's dog now but he was alive. Nothing hurt and he felt fine so he figured he would be helpful. If he was going to stay as an animal maybe he could help this human.

First he dug around the fire to keep the dry grass from catching on fire. Then he added dry wood from nearby. While looking for the wood he found a horse dozing off nearby who had eaten everything in its reach. So his new owner was rich? That's nice but she was obviously not good at camping. The horse was still tacked up and hungry. The fire was too weak to keep someone warm and the campsite was out in the open. Anyone could find them and that was bad. He still made the fire stronger and got back into the girl's arms. She was still shivering and he felt kinda bad for her. He hated to be cold but he learned how to care for himself. She must be a runaway rich girl or something.

Ember stayed awake listening and waiting for intruders. He hoped if he barked maybe that would be enough to keep stuff away just for the night. He would train the girl in the morning, maybe if he felt like it anyway, he was still a dog.

***

Silvia woke up. The morning oranges and pinks covered the sky. She figured that she could rest for a little longer. She closed her eyes and listened to the morning sounds. The chirping birds and crickets. She then watched the sky slowly take a bluish hue but soon sat up. She looked over to Gray. The horse was still there and he was trying to get food. She looked next to her and starred. A boy lay next to her. He was sound asleep but… but… butt naked!

The shock that took her over was something she never expected. Her face went red hot and she yelped. Jumping away covering her eyes and then…

Noise. She made a noise. Pure fear filled her and she fell back covering herself waiting to be kicked, beaten. No sound, no sounds.

***

Ember sat up after hearing a yelp. "Crap I fell asle...ep?" he looked at himself. He was no longer a dog? He looked at his hand moving his fingers and at his bare body. Feeling the heat rush to his face he looked around. The girl was lying not far from him shaking and balled up in a fetal position.

He noticed his bag next to the tree near him and stood up grabbing the bag and pulling it open for his clothes as he rushed behind a nearby tree.

He must have really shocked the girl. Shoving the shirt over his head he thought of what happened. Ember thought back hard on what happened yesterday. He remembered the horse than an explosion. Maybe the wizard's powers were to transform people into animals. That's a weird power.

Ember grabbed boxers and pants next and was fully dressed now. He was only missing shoes. Maybe the wizard did this to him by accident. Still he wasn't in a hole or chained anywhere. What happened?

He looked around the tree and saw that the girl was still balled up and shaking. Yes he had been naked but that's no reason to be this scared. "Hey, sorry for scaring you. I'm dressed now. No need to do that."

She didn't move. She just shook. Ember came over and touched her shoulder, asking, "Are you okay?"

The girl started to shake even more and shied at his touch. Abuse.

Ember had seen children in the orphanage who had gone through abuse. She must've survived and run but now was traumatized. He looked around and saw the horse.

Yes. The horse. He ran over and grabbed the reins untangling them and then led the horse over to her. Nothing.

"Think Ember," he said as he racked his brain for ideas. He rubbed his head and looked at his pack and then next to it. The horse was trying to get to the grass there. Idea!

He grabbed the biggest handful of grass he could and dumped it onto the girl. The horse started to nudge and nibble the grass on her. She stopped shaking and moved her head out of her arms looking at the horse. She then started to move and hugged the horse's head. The horse was too busy eating to pull away. Then it lifted its head and moved around for more food. The girl put her hands to her heart and pressed them close, tipping her head and looking down to the ground.

"Are you good?" he asked. His kindness was probably going to get him into an undesirable situation but maybe she saved him. He was probably jumping to conclusions but maybe she had saved him from that coward of a wizard. Lest he could do was help.

The girl shied away from him and the fear in her face made him feel bad. "I won't hurt you. He put his hands up and kneeled on the ground. She scooted back then stopped. Her attention was on his hand. He was still holding the rein the horse was pulling on looking for food.

He stood up and pet the horse. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He noticed that the saddle had some bags on it and decided to investigate. Maybe there was a halter for the horse so he could get the bit out of its mouth. The bags were small but still there. He shifted through them. Food and a canteen in the first one. Good for traveling. He opened the canteen and smelled. He coughed and threw out his hand getting the stuff away from himself. Liquor?!

Now why did she have that?!

Wait he recognized this gray horse. It was the one he had tried to steal. He looked at the girl who had gotten up and was watching him intently. She was the other person there. The one in the man's grip. She had saved him. She must have grabbed him in dog form in the shock of the explosion and ran away, found the horse, and got away from the men. She really did save him and now he owed her a lot.

Looking at the canteen he tilted it and poured it in a bush, he was not going to have that stuff anywhere near him or the girl. After it was empty he put everything back and went around the horse to the other saddlebag.

A halter, a lead, and a rope. Perfect.

He grabbed the halter and lead then headed to the head of the horse. At the orphanage he was in charge of many travelers' horses so he knew almost everything about them and his teacher taught him cool tricks. His orphanage doubled as an inn in these hard times and many a time there were not enough stalls so his teacher taught him how to high line.

After taking the bridle off and putting the halter on he gave the lead to the girl and grabbed the rope.

He hunted out a nice spot between two trees making sure there was a bunch of grass and tied rope up between the two. A high line. Looking over his shoulder he noticed the girl standing not far off with the horse. He put his hand out and gestured for the lead.

She was hesitant to hand it to him but finally did and Ember tied the horse to the high line. Checking the lead he made sure the horse could reach the grass but also so that there was no slack between the rope and ground. Once that was done he took the saddle off and used his hand to straighten the hair out. He took the saddle over to his pack and laid it down. It was heavy but made for traveling so not as heavy as some saddles.

Ember turned and looked at his handy work. The horse could walk back and forth eating a lot more than if it was tied in one spot and it looked happier without the saddle. With the horse taken care of he quickly grabbed the wood and made a fire teepee. Grabbing dry grass he stuffed the teepee and then put more wood around it. He then went to his pack for food and matches. He grabbed the food but couldn't find the matches. Oh well.

He stood and went back to the fire and stopped. The girl was kneeling next to it striking a match and putting it into the teepee. Ember walked over and sat down next to her trying to hand her some of the bread and beef jerky he had grabbed. She looked confused as she looked from him to the food. He moved his hand slightly and offered it again. She took it.

He smiled and took a bite of his bread. The fire had caught by then and was nice to watch as he held the food with one hand and leaned back on the other. One gulp later and he glanced at the girl. "Thank you for helping me and sorry about being um… you know. I didn't really have that much control over the transformation though." He took another bite and looked at her and gulped. "My name is Ember, what's yours?"

The girl looked at him and in the morning light her bright blond hair looked almost silver. She tilted her head and took one hand and drew in the dirt. Ember looked at it then leaned closer. It was messy but he could make out the word Silvia.

"Silvia? That's a pretty name and I'll never forget it. How old are you? I'm fourteen." Silvia lifted both her hands and flashed all ten then put one hand down and left the other out with three fingers. "Your thirteen?" She nodded. He looked at the horse. "Did you name the horse?"

She shook her head and looked down, then changed her mind and wrote in the sand again. "Gray?" she turned her head away from him and nodded. "Not sure that's a girl's name but it suits her," he said.

Silvia turned her head and looked at him with a mix of surprise, confusion, and a bit of regret. He smiled and chuckled at her reaction. "Yup Gray is a girl. I'm outnumbered." Silvia smiled and looked at the horse. Ember took this time to look around. They were in a dense spruce forest in a small clearing. He noticed a small path not that far off and could see it was leading up to the mountains. Good, this was where he wanted to be.

He was going to take the mountain paths over the mountain rather than use the main road that went through the mountains. There was less likely a chance of being stopped up here and also less of a chance being blown up. Most people in his town went to the next town up the valley but they were all wizards. He wasn't so he could get on to the human side and move far from the war and work in the mines. That way he could earn money and one day leave this country. His plan after that was to buy an inn and run it.

He looked at Silvia who had finished eating and had put her arms around her knees looking into the fire. "Hey Silvia, where are you going?"

She looked at him and then looked around and pointed at the far mountains.