Chapter 6: 6. Sunny Side Up

"So does that fox really talk to you?" Alpine asked, sounding skeptical. "Or are you just pretending? Because all I see is it stares at you and maybe tilts its head a bit, then you act like you're answering questions."

I stated, "She, not it. Her name's Lia and she's a she."

"And yes she talks to me," I added. "It's not like a voice in my ears though? It's more like I just know what she's saying. Maybe it's like telepathy or something I guess?"

The wolf-kin gave me a funny look, then glanced down at my little fox friend, before they focused on the hike again.

"No offence Tori, but you know that sounds kind of crazy right? A magical telepathic talking fox that only you can hear?"

I shrugged, "Under other circumstances I might agree with you, but considering you've got wolf ears and a tail sticking out the back I don't see why magical telepathic talking foxes are that surprising? I'm more surprised that you don't have a little wolf friend tagging along by your side."

There was a sort of grunt-laugh of acknowledgement from my hiking companion, but they didn't argue that point.

Instead they commented, "I'm not actually sure why I got wolf parts. How about you? Into foxes or something?"

I shrugged, "I like foxes, but I wasn't 'into' them. I don't have a foxgirl fursona or anything like that. And like I said, Lia was sort of hanging around my campsite before it all happened? I guess I got a bit attached to her in a way."

"Though I kind of chalked that up to loneliness," I added with a grimace.

The wolf-kin didn't comment on that, but I knew they'd probably been as lonely as me, considering both of us were ditched by our friends. We continued hiking in silence a while longer, before we rounded another clump of uprooted trees and my shoulders slumped when I saw the terrain ahead.

"There's no trail," I sighed. "Are you sure this is the best option?"

Alpine kept moving as they replied confidently, "We're sticking to the Appalachian trail, this is the right way. And this is the path that'll get us back to my car, eventually. Even if the trail's gone right here we'll pick it up again on the other side."

I nodded slowly, "Ok. You're the expert."

"At least the weather's been good so far," they responded with a shrug. "Clear sky and sunshine, and it's warm for the end of September right?"

"True enough," I agreed as we all kept moving.

My wrecked campsite was about an hour behind us, we'd been hiking roughly north-west following one of the many rivers in the area. Except the terrain was vastly different than it was a day ago, or when the maps were made. The course my companion was following would have taken us around the north side of Mont Jacques-Ferron, but the mountain had been crushed and spread out across the surroundings. The river was following a new course as it flowed north towards the cliffs, and the three of us were picking our way around boulders and uprooted trees.

The going got even slower as Alpine frequently stumbled or tripped, like they were having trouble walking. I tried asking once or twice if they needed to stop, but they insisted it was fine. I could tell they were embarrassed though, and I could sympathize with that.

After all, they were supposed to be the expert, they were the experienced long-distance hiker. It was probably really frustrating for them that I was having an easier time moving around barefoot than they were in their hiking boots.

So I stopped asking about that, just like I stopped asking about the awkward situation in the woods just after we left my campsite. They were even more embarrassed about that, their face was bright red when they emerged from the trees still buckling up their belt.

"Ah fuck," Alpine sighed as they came to a halt, and when I saw what was ahead I understood why.

The trail we were trying to follow would have taken us along the north side of the mountain. It was supposed to be a breathtaking view, at one point the trail was a good six hundred meters above the plains below, with half that height in near-vertical cliffs in some places.

Instead we could now see part of the ridge had collapsed completely, along with the north face of the mountain. Rather than follow where the trail used to be, our best bet would be to cut straight across the remains of the mountain, then hope we could pick up the trail again on the west side.

"At least we don't have to worry about climbing the thousand-meter peak anymore?" I commented in an attempt to be optimistic.

Alpine nodded, "I guess."

They promptly stumbled again as we started to move, and I sighed "Look whatever's going on you need to deal with it now."

"Yeah," they muttered. "Hey can I try your boots, since you're not wearing them? Something's wrong with mine, I can't get them to stay tight."

I bit my lower lip but nodded, "Sure."

They pulled the pack off their shoulders then sat on a nearby rock, so I did the same. Lia parked herself by my feet, and we watched as our wolf-kin friend easily slipped their boots off.

I found myself studying their features as I tried to figure out if they were changing more. The thing with the boots was just too damn familiar to how my own transformation happened, I couldn't believe it was a coincidence.

My companion didn't seem different though. They still looked more or less masc, and their voice hadn't changed. Their black messy hair was still long and had the silver highlights, but I didn't think it had grown any further. And they had the wolf ears and wolf tail, but those were already there when we first met.

"These are better," Alpine commented as they tightened the laces on my boots. "Two sizes smaller than mine and they're still a bit loose, which doesn't make any sense to me. They'll do though."

"Right," I nodded slowly as I kept watching them. Then after a moment I figured I may as well warn them, "You know that's how it happened to me last night? I was having trouble with my boots, and when I stopped to deal with them I discovered my whole body had changed. Or maybe it changed when I stopped to take care of my boots. Either way, I stopped to deal with my boots and next thing I knew it was boobs, long hair, and a tail."

Alpine rolled their eyes as they got back to their feet and stated, "I'm not a girl."

I heard some regret in their voice, I was positive about that. As I stood up I decided I was going to try and talk to them about it again, but was distracted as I did a double-take looking at them.

This morning when we first met, I figured they were about twenty-five centimetres taller than me. Now I was positive they were only about twenty centimetres taller. I was just guessing at the numbers, but the point was they were definitely smaller than they were a couple hours ago.

A glance at their clothes confirmed it. This morning their outfit looked a little big on them, but now it was hanging off them. The cuffs of their pants were bunched up on their feet and dragging on the ground behind their heels. And the hem of their jacket hung lower, while the sleeves reached down past their thumbs instead of stopping at their wrists.

My brain rattled off a list of things that I couldn't ignore any longer. They were curious and possibly envious of my sudden magical transition. They got awkward when I asked about pronouns, and the only name they gave me was a gender-neutral nickname. Whatever was going on around here had already given them wolf ears and a tail. Now their feet were shrinking, along with the rest of them. And something happened when they stopped to pee an hour ago, that left them curious about how girls took care of that out in the woods. And now they sounded sad when they claimed they weren't a girl.

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I knew it wasn't cool to crack eggs, but if they were going to hatch on me I didn't want it to happen while we were navigating mountains and cliffs.

"Uh, Alpine?" I asked. "I think we need to talk about a few things."

"Like what?" they asked, a little defensively perhaps.

I sat back down and sighed, "Listen, I've noticed some stuff you've said, some ways you're acting? Plus we've got the whole magic mountain craziness going on, not to mention the fact that we've both sprouted animal ears and tails right? Now you're dealing with the thing with the boots, just like I did last night. And uh, if you haven't noticed yet you've shrunk a bit. Your pants and jacket are too big on you."

They stood there staring at me while their face slowly got brighter red. Then their eyes flicked downwards and took in the way their clothes were obviously several sizes too large on them.

After a few tense seconds they asked, "So? What do you want to say?"

I mentally cursed a bit, they obviously weren't going to make this easy. It left me wondering if all wolves were stubborn, or just this one.

"Ok," I sighed again. "I'm going to spell it out for you. Are you sure you're not really a girl? It's ok if you are, you know? There's nothing wrong with that. Actually I might be biased, but I think being a girl is pretty damn nice."

Alpine made a face, but they sat back down again. They pulled out one of the jugs of water I refilled and had a couple gulps of it, then offered it to me.

I drank a mouthful or two before handing it back. "So? Don't you have anything to say, or comment?"

The wolf-kin frowned, then looked thoughtful. Then they grimaced and sort of changed the subject by asking, "Sorry if this is too personal but uh, were you disappointed to lose 'it'?"

Their eyes focused on my groin to emphasize what 'it' was they were talking about.

I laughed, "Oh goddess no! I wanted to be rid of the damn thing for years. And I thought I'd have to wait a few more years before that'd happen. No, I'm not disappointed in the slightest. Why? Is this something to do with what happened back near my old campsite?"

They were blushing again but finally nodded. "It's weird, but the only thing that bothers me is I can't pee standing up anymore. I don't miss it. I... Maybe I feel kind of glad it's gone? But I'm not really a girl. And I don't know, maybe sometimes I think it'd be nice if I was a girl? I guess I kind of envy you, that you got to be a girl. But I'm not one myself."

I frowned as I tried to figure out how to respond to that convoluted logic. "Ok um, so we're clear whatever happened last night didn't turn me into a girl. I've known I was a girl for a few years now. All that changed last night was my body caught up to where the rest of me was already at. And if you think it'd be nice to be a girl, if you want to be a girl, or if the idea of being a girl makes you happy, then guess what? You're already a girl. Doesn't matter what the outside looks like Alpine, it's the you inside that counts. And here's the thing? Wanting to be a girl is exactly the same as being a girl."

"Guys? They don't want to be girls," I added. "And I'm pretty sure if a guy discovered 'it' was gone, he'd be freaking out all over the place, instead of just mildly inconvenienced about not being able to pee standing up anymore."

Alpine stared at me for a few seconds, then asked "So it's ok to just...be a girl?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "If you want to be a girl, then you're a girl."

"Oh..."

I saw the look of understanding as it settled on their face, the realization dawning in their eyes that they could just be a girl if that's what they really wanted.

A moment later their expression shifted from acceptance to surprise as they looked down at the two very prominent mounds pressing out the front of their jacket.

"Well that was unexpected," they commented almost casually, in a voice that had changed along with the rest of them. Although their nonchalant tone was betrayed the way their fuzzy tail was flapping back and forth like crazy behind them.

Meanwhile I was staring in wide-eyed shock, as they'd changed so suddenly it left my head spinning. The only thing was missing was a 'Pop!' sound effect. Or maybe an egg cracking noise would have been more appropriate.

Their facial features were now distinctly feminine, as were their hands. Their voice had shifted to a feminine range, though it wasn't high pitched or girly like mine. Theirs was lower, sort of seductive while remaining strong. They hadn't shrunk any further, they were still a good twenty centimetres taller than myself, and what I could tell of their figure under the clothing suggested they were slim but lithe and muscular, albeit with an ample bosom. In fact I couldn't help noticing their boobs looked bigger than mine.

At least my tail was still fluffier.

"So um," I couldn't hide my grin as I asked, "Do you want to tell me your pronouns now? And maybe this is too soon but if there's another name you want me to use, just let me know?"

She looked up at me with an excited smile, "I'm a girl! My pronouns are she and her, like yours."

"And uh, my name is Soneya now." Her tail was wagging even more enthusiastically while at the same time she started to blush as she added, "Soneya Amarïs. It means uh, sound of the moon."

I grinned, "That's a really pretty name Soneya. And you already had that picked out, didn't you?"

"Yeah," she admitted as her cheeks got brighter. "I don't know, I thought it was a regular guy thing? Have a name ready, incase you get turned into a girl somehow?"

I rolled my eyes as I deadpanned, "Sure Soneya. All cis guys do that."

She cringed slightly, but finally suggested "We've wasted enough time here Tori. Let's get moving ok?"

"Right," I nodded, and the three of us got to our feet.

Soneya needed another minute to adjust her clothes again, she had to poke some new holes in her belt so it'd fit better around her narrower waist. Then she hoisted the pack up and took another minute to adjust all those straps too.

While she was doing that Lia looked up at me and commented, "Bigger sister is more relaxed now. She was very conflicted before."

That made me smile again and I nodded, "Yeah. She was, wasn't she?"

The big sister in question gave us both a funny look, then the three of us finally set out to cross what remained of Mont Jacques-Ferron.