Chapter 7: 7. Uncovering Limits

"Wow," I said softly as I took in the view. "This is spectacular."

We were standing pretty much on top of a mountain. Below us to the north were the cliffs, the plains, and further off in the distance was the St. Lawrence. To the east was the remains of Mont Jacques-Ferron, and past that the Impossible Mountain stabbed up at the sky like a massive obelisk.

To the south was a valley then another mountain, to the south-west was yet another mountain, and due west was a lake and even more mountains beyond. It was an awesome view I'd probably never see again, and my damn camera was toast.

After looking around Soneya nodded, then pulled out one of our water jugs. She sighed, "It's a great view. but we're late."

I turned to look at her, "What do you mean, late?"

She drank a couple gulps then passed me the jug and replied, "It took too long to get here. Look at the sun, we've only got a couple hours left till dusk,"

While I was hydrating she unzipped an inside pocket in her jacket then pulled out a ziplock baggie with some folded sheets of paper inside. She didn't even have to open the baggie, the contents were already set up so the information she wanted was visible through the plastic.

"Look," she pointed to the map on one side. "We're here on the peak of Mount des Loupes right? Going by the distance marks on the map, that's only ten kilometres, or six miles from your camp by Lake Cote. We actually covered less than six miles by cutting straight across where Mount Ferron used to be? But..."

I looked at the map, then she turned the ziplock around to check distance tables. While she did that I crouched down next to Lia and offered her some water.

She hesitated like she wasn't sure she trusted the bottle or something. Thirst won out though, and I made it easier by pouring some into my cupped hand so she could lap it up.

Meanwhile Soneya was talking again as she studied the distances, "From the parking lot where we started this morning to the cabins just past the peak of Mount Louis-Marie Lalonde is only twelve miles, or about twenty kilometres. It's indicated as a six hour hike, and granted that involves going over one mountain and up another, but that's where we should be right now. That's another three miles and one mountain to go, but I don't think we have enough daylight to get there. The sun's going to set while we're still halfway up Mount Louis-Marie Lalonde."

"Yeah I get it," I sighed. "But we've spent most of the day finding our own path through a smashed and broken landscape. How many times did we have to double back because of unexpected chasms and crevasses where Jacques-Ferron was supposed to be?"

"Three," she replied with a frown, then turned the ziplock around and started studying the map again.

Once Lia had enough to drink I straightened up and sealed the lid on the jug, then took the time to enjoy the view again.

"Ok," Soneya stated like she'd made a decision. "According to this we're about a mile and a half from a shelter at the base of this mountain. That's nearly halfway to those cabins, and better still the shelter is next to a stream. Going by the map there won't be easy access to water past the base of this mountain until we're outside the park. So we'll head down this mountain then stop for the night at that shelter, then maybe we can make up for lost time tomorrow."

I looked at the map, then to the south, and finally the south-west. "Sounds good to me. It shouldn't take that long to get to the shelter right?"

"Yeah," she said as she looked south-west again. "It looks like there's less damage to the terrain the further we get from the epicentre, which stands to reason. So we lost time today getting through the worst of it, but we should be back on track by the end of the day tomorrow."

I smiled, "Sounds like a plan."

She carefully tucked the map away into her jacket then zipped the pocket up again, and drank a bit more water. Between the three of us we drained the jug, before packing it away.

Then as we got ready to start moving again she nodded towards my feet, "You've been doing a lot better than I thought, for hiking barefoot."

That made me smile again, "Thanks. How are you doing in those boots?"

She started to respond, but caught herself as her ears twitched. Mine did too, and Lia's as well. All three of us turned as three sets of triangular fuzzy ears pointed north-west. The sound was almost imperceptible at first, but within a couple seconds there was an unmistakable thump-thump-thump of approaching helicopters.

It took another couple seconds to spot them, three helicopters flying in formation. I'd guess they were about five kilometres from us, and probably another kilometre above us in altitude. It was easy to tell where they were going, they were heading straight for that unnatural spire in the distance behind us.

"Military search and rescue maybe," Soneya commented. "Or they're coming to secure the area."

"Should we try to signal them?" I asked.

The wolfgirl frowned, but before she could reply the sound of the helicopters suddenly cut out, and we both focused on them.

All three were losing altitude in a hurry, spinning as they fell. It was like something out of a movie. My friends and I watched helplessly as the helicopters plummeted onto the plain below, about four kilometres north-north-west of where we stood.

We were too far away to see any details, but a few moments after we lost sight of the craft some thick black smoke started rising up to mark the spot where they crashed.

All three of us stared silently for a few seconds, and a few more things went through my mind. There were probably at least three or four people in each helicopter. I'd just seen another ten or twelve people die, on top of the hiker we saw this morning.

And that's not counting however many people we didn't see. There were a dozen vehicles in the same lot with mine, but the only other hiker we'd actually seen died before our eyes. The knowledge that we were right not to wait for rescue was severely tempered by the thought that we'd been really lucky so far, but our luck might run out sooner or later.

After a few more seconds Soneya pulled out her map again and checked it against where the helicopters went down. At the same time I forced those darker thoughts aside and tried to get myself back into a positive mindset, just as the wolf-kin finally spoke up.

"So I figure the choppers went down about here right?" her voice wavered a bit as she pointed at her map. "That's about six miles line-of-sight from the magic mountain. So that's probably the limit of whatever's frying electronics. And if you follow that radius down to the trail, I think it falls somewhere between the top of Mount LML and Mount Dodge. That might be the edge of the crazy stuff, so we could be in the clear before noon tomorrow."

I nodded, "Makes sense to me. I can't help wondering though what might happen to us when we cross that line."

Soneya hesitated, then shrugged. "Worry about that tomorrow. For now let's get off this mountain."

She put away her map, then the three of us finally left the view behind as we started following the trail down the south side of Mont des Loupes.

It didn't take us that long, it was pretty much all downhill and just a bit further than two kilometres. Part-way down the mountain the low scrub and vegetation gave way to scattered trees and shrubs, then nearer the base we were moving through mixed-temperate forest again.

We were also in the shadow of the mountains to the west, so it was even darker down there than it was up on the peak.

We found the shelter in a cleared area to the left of the trail. It was basically a level wood floor with a frame overtop, with some water-proofed canvas stretched over the frame. It looked to be undamaged too, unlike the cabin we passed earlier in the afternoon near what was left of Lac Choc.

"The stream should be about a hundred meters further down the trail," Soneya commented as we headed for the shelter.

I nodded, "Cool. So we can refill our water bottles when we set out."

To our relief the shelter was unoccupied. As soon as we were inside Soneya slipped the pack off her shoulders while I pulled the blanket bundle off mine. Meanwhile Lia circled around outside to scout the area.

"So two of us, only one sleeping bag. What's the plan for tonight, how should we handle the sleeping arrangements?" the wolf-kin asked.

She added, "I can make a pine bough mattress that'll be softer than just sleeping on the wood. If we lay your tent overtop that'll protect us from getting prickled by the pine needles. And the shelter ought to keep us out of the elements."

I looked around and thought about what we had with us. After a few seconds I suggested, "We can open my sleeping bag up and spread it out over your pine mattress, then we both sleep ontop of that and share the blanket. That way we're both comfortable, and we share body heat."

"Uh, I hope you don't mind sharing with Lia too?" I added. "I doubt she'll get under the blanket, but she might sleep ontop of it."

Soneya nodded, "That's ok. Why don't I get started on the bed while you get dinner ready?"

I asked, "What do you feel like tonight, beef stew or chicken and pasta?"

"Pasta," she replied immediately.

She got up and left the shelter, pulling her knife from its sheath as she went. From outside she added, "Been thinking about that chicken alfredo since I saw the picture on the container this morning."

I smiled, "You got it."

It didn't take long to get my cooking kit out and set up. I measured out the required water and got that heating over the stove, with the condiments and the freeze-dried food container nearby. Then while I was waiting I pulled off my hoodie and stood up and stretched a bit, and took a few moments to look down and admire my new body.

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Even in the crude cut-off shorts and the loose t-shirt I still got a surge of euphoria. My big floofy tail started wagging back and forth as a wide smile settled on my face.

"Goddess, I never knew what it was like to actually love my own body," I mumbled to myself.

I spent the next minute or so trying to come up with a convoluted way of guessing my new height before remembering there was a tape measure in the travel sewing kit in my pack. I dug that out and grabbed my folding knife from my hoodie pocket, then stood with my back against one of the shelter supports. I scratched a line in the wood with my knife about level with the top of my head, and a few seconds later I was staring at the numbers on the tape.

"Oh wow," I gasped. "A hundred and fifty-five centimetres... I'm smol!"

"You're what?" Soneya asked as she came back into the shelter with an armload of pine boughs.

"One-fifty-five centimetres!" I announced happily. "I shrank twenty-five centimetres!"

She dumped the boughs in a corner of the shelter and asked, "What's that in real numbers?"

I rolled my eyes, "I used to be five-foot-eleven, now I'm five-foot-one. Come over here, we can measure you too!"

"Ok," Soneya shrugged.

A minute later I read off the number, "One-seventy-five centimetres. Or five-foot-nine in your archaic system."

"Five-nine?" she frowned. "I'm six-three. Or, I guess I was six-foot-three. So I've shrunk half a foot, and you lost ten inches. Shortie."

She had a smirk on her face when she added that last word, so I knew she was kidding.

"Joke's on you," I grinned up at her. "I like being small."

By that point the water was finally boiling so I got back to work on our dinner. I turned off the stove, added the freeze-dried mix into the water, then started stirring. And while I was doing that Soneya headed back out to gather some more pine boughs.

Ten or twelve minutes later the food was ready, and I portioned it out for the three of us. I split it half and half, between the pot and my bowl. Then I took about a third of what was in my bowl and transferred that to the lid of the pot for my little fox friend.

"Soneya, Lia!" I called out. "Dinner's ready!"

While I was waiting for the others I added some salt and pepper to mine, then got comfortable sitting crosslegged on the folded-up blanket. My companions joined me a half minute later, the wolfgirl added another armload of boughs to the pile before she sat down on the pack again.

"Thanks Tori," she said as she picked up the pot and the spoon.

I gestured towards the seasonings, "I haven't seasoned yours. Or yours either Lia. Careful though, it's still hot."

The food tasted pretty darn good to me, though it's possible I was just that hungry. We did spent the entire day hiking after all, including literally climbing up and down a mountain.

"This is good," Soneya commented, and I could tell she was as hungry as me. Even Lia ate her share, once it cooled enough for her.

As we ate my wolf-kin companion mentioned, "I noticed you have a pair of sneakers in your pack? I can turn them into camp sandals for you. It means cutting them up, basically I'd just be using the soles, then I can use para-cord to add the uppers and size them to your little feet. It'll never be as good as proper hiking boots, but at least you won't be barefoot."

"I appreciate the offer," I replied as my cheeks heated up, "But I really don't need them."

She gave me a questioning look, so I shifted from sitting crosslegged and stretched out my right leg then lifted up my foot so she could see.

"Toe beans," I grinned. "And my toenails are like claws now, see?"

"Oh damn," her eyebrows went up as she stared. And I was pretty sure I heard some envy in her voice again.

"I know, right?" I giggled.

I wasn't digitigrade, but around mid-day I realized why it was so easy to walk barefoot over the rugged terrain. I had proper toe-beans at the front and my heel had a thicker pad under it, though over-all my feet were still human-shaped.

The wolf-kin had a quiet thoughtful look on her face for the rest of dinner, then when everyone was finished I took the pot and bowl and cutlery and went to find the stream so I could properly clean them. Like Soneya figured it was about a hundred meters past the shelter, and there was even a bridge so we could cross it without wading through it.

It wasn't a stream though, it was more of a river. Or maybe it was like the creek and pond, there was just more water than there should have been.

By the time I got back Soneya had our bed almost ready. The pine boughs were spread out and covered by my folded-up tent, and she had my sleeping bag opened up and positioned on top of that.

"So uh," she looked up at me and blushed. "What are we going to do for sleep wear? I normally use an undershirt and shorts but..."

I bit my lower lip as I thought for a few moments, then shrugged. "I'm not sleeping in this again. I have a change of pants in my pack, a couple pairs of socks and undies, and a few t-shirts. I'm going to grab a clean t-shirt, and I guess if anything catches your eye go for it?"

My cheeks were red too as I added, "I know we've only just met but we might have to give up on the idea of modesty. I mean, we don't have enough clothes and it's an unusual situation?"

"Oh," she said quietly.

I pulled out the clean tee I wanted, then grabbed my little bag of toiletries as well. "I'm going back to the river to wash up a bit."

It was already dusk, but it would be a long dusk. The sun was behind the mountains to the west but we had reflected light off some high clouds. The strange aurora was also visible above us, though it was faint compared to the light from the setting sun.

I left my clean shirt draped over the bridge railing, then stripped down and left my shorts there too. I used the dirty tee as a wash cloth, and did my best to clean myself up in the clear running water. I had a small towel to dry myself off with, then I brushed my teeth, and finally pulled on the clean t-shirt.

I walked bottomless back up to the shelter and found somewhere to leave the wet tee to dry, then rejoined my new friend inside. I left my shorts on the floor with my hoodie, and took a seat on one side of our makeshift bed.

"You can borrow all this except the toothbrush," I said as I offered Soneya the toiletries bag.

She stared for a few seconds, then with one curt nod she accepted it. Her voice was quiet and a bit strained as she replied, "Thanks Tori."

She bent down and picked out a t-shirt from my pack, then froze for a couple seconds before pulling out a pair of my undies. They were plain cotton panties, in a boy-shorts style. They were way too big for the new me, but they'd probably fit the new her ok. She froze again for another second or two as she stared at them, then straightened up and walked out of the shelter without another word.

I stayed crosslegged on the bed and pulled my tail around onto my lap. At first I was just sort of looking at it and maybe playing with it, but I ended up stroking it and running my fingers through the floof. It felt nice, almost soothing.

It was finally dark by the time Soneya returned, though the rolling dancing light of the aurora was bright enough to see by.

The wolf-kin was barefoot, wearing nothing but the borrowed t-shirt and panties. She had everything else bundled up in her arms, including the boots. I heard her leave a few things hanging to dry, the rest were placed in a corner inside the shelter.

She moved to our little bed and lay down on the other side with her back to me and stated in a quiet level voice, "We should sleep. We'll want to be up at first light."

"Ok," I agreed as I lay down too, and we both pulled the blanket overtop.

I had a feeling that the enormity of our situation was getting to Soneya. Not that it didn't get to me too, but I'd been mostly successful in pushing those thoughts and fears aside. The past twenty-four hours had been really hard on both of us, but it felt like the wolfgirl had it worse. At least I'd already figured out who I was before this mess started.

Part of me wanted to say something, or even to just offer her a hug, but something told me she wasn't in the mood for words or hugs just yet. I figured she needed to process things on her own for now. So I kept quiet, and soon enough I was asleep.