One
One year on after discovering about his background, he decided to do some more research into his family ancestry. He learned that his ancestor was the chief of all the chiefs' and he also found out that they had a unique ability, the ability to shift. The only problem was that he was the only male left with his name. He thought it was only the males that had the ability to shift like the Wolf tribes. This meant that he thought there was no one who could guide him when he turned sixteen.
---o0o---
The morning of his sixteenth birthday, his transition had begun and he learnt that he was able to shift into a giant eagle. He felt powerful but he knew he still had a lot of growing to do.
A month after his first shift, he received his tribal tattoo which represented who he was and he had already progressed a lot and received his warrior status. However, that evening he felt something else stirring within him, he was reluctant to say anything to anyone, though he knew he had to talk to his mother at some point. As he explained what he was feeling she gave him a knowing smile. It was then he discovered that his late Grandmother, or Gran as he called her, was also an Eagle shifter. She told him that it sometimes skipped a generation as his mother couldn't shift, but she still had the knowledge that his Gran told her.
"Justin, darling, before your Gran passed away she had told me about the tribes' ways in the hope I could guide you, so you don't have to go through the journey alone. Also, unlike wolf shifters, it's usually the females that are shifters, but the Gods have chosen you to continue the tribe's legacy," his mother told him.
Justin wasn't sure how to respond at first, "So you are saying that I am the only one, the last hope to restore our kind, our tribe?" He caught on quickly, but regretted it when he saw his mother's expression change before she nodded.
"Yes son, you are the only one left, but I know you will be just fine," Mother insisted.
This was a heavy burden for a sixteen year old, he wasn't sure what to say or do next so Justin just hugged his mother and then she reluctantly left him alone to ponder on his new destiny. Although Justin was over the moon about being part of something bigger than the average teen, his head was full of uncertainty and pressure, so he barely slept a wink.
When he finally managed to sleep he was woken up with beads of sweat on his brow.
Two
'What's going on?" Justin asked the dark room.
"Come quick! We need all the help we can get" a voice he didn't recognise told him.
"Who are you? Where are we heading?" Justin asked, but the voice didn't answer him. He was reluctant to follow, but he felt his arm being tugged and his legs began to jog which quickly became a sprint.
"Chief! There's just too much, we can't continue like this!" another guy shouted. Justin looked around to see who he was talking to. Somehow he just knew, the man beside him was the Chief of his tribe.
Justin remembered the different strategies that were talked about in the meetings with Billy and Jacob so he decided to use a similar formation and told them.
"Why don't you try to surround them from all exits and corner them. That way you would be confining them and restricting their movements," Justin suggested.
"Hmm! That might actually work, you heard him. Begin your formation and attack," one guy told them, as he nodded to Justin.
Everything was all going according to plan, the enemies were beginning to retreat as their numbers depleted.
"Justin, you'll make a great leader, I'd be honoured if you accept my invitation to come back to our base," he welcomed.
"Erm… sure. It looks like I don't have much of a choice," Justin accepted walking alongside him.
"Where have you been all this time?" He asked, chuckling.
"Err… I have been around, I don't usually step onto the front lines as I'm at school. I have also been listening to stories from the wolf pack," Justin admitted.
Just as he was led inside the camp, there were a lot of sudden crashes and rumbling, Justin went to see what all the commotion was and as he stepped out, this huge boulder came hurtling towards him.
That's the moment he woke up sweating and panting with his hand on his chest feeling his racing heart. He sat on his bed for a while slowly regaining control of his breaths whilst trying to figure out what if that was really a dream, or a memory.
o0o
Before he went down for breakfast he took a quick shower and just let the water wash over him. An hour later, he saw his mother sitting at the breakfast bar with a cup of coffee, she looked up as he walked towards her.
"Morning dear, did you sleep well?" She greeted Justin with a smile.
"Morning mother, yeah I slept alright, had a strange dream that started off good then escalated, but I'm fine now," Justin lied, as he was far from fine.
"Oh ok, well I'm all ears if you want to talk about it, but seeing your expression, I'm guessing you don't. What do you plan on doing today?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Thanks mum. I'm not sure what to do today to be honest. I'd be happy to just sit and read a book," Justin told her, feeling a bit indecisive.
"Ok dear. Would you like something to eat before I pop out?" mum asked.
"No I'm good thanks, I will grab something later. Where are you going?" Justin asked, curious.
"Oh, just to a friend's house I won't be long, she just wanted to give me something," His mum told him, but Justin could sense a quiver in her voice, a clear sign she wasn't telling him everything. He knew she was up to something as she never used to keep things from him, but he was willing to let it slide.
'She must have a good excuse for keeping this from me,' Justin thought for a moment as he watched her go, then his thoughts returned back to his main issue. The one where he was the last of his tribe, chosen by fate to continue a new line of eagle shifters. This one thought had been plaguing him all night, not knowing who to turn to for advice. There had been a couple times he thought about asking Sam or Jacob, but he kept avoiding that idea saying 'not just yet' or 'maybe another time'.
Justin decided to search on the internet, but it didn't give much insight on the background or how the tribe started, except the usual nonsensical fantasy stuff. However, he found a peculiar store that looked promising and he made sure the address was legit. He printed out a map and waited patiently for his mother to come back home as he wasn't too overly keen on going alone.
It was already noon when he tried to take his mind off his troubles with some music, and he also decided to pick up a book. One caught his eye, a book called Heartstopper. It didn't take him long to finish the first chapter, he could not put it down. He had almost finished the book when his mother came back. She had to call him a few times as he was too lost in it. It was only her knocking on his bedroom door that had brought him back to reality and his original thoughts came flooding back.
"What's bothering you dear?" his mother asked, looking concerned.
"Oh! Hi mother, erm… can we go downstairs to chat please. I found a shop that could help me, help us. Would you come with me," Justin asked.
"Yeah! Sure we can do that, I will make us a cup of tea and you can tell me," his mother offered.
Justin sat opposite his mother at the table and told her what he had found out so far and asked questions in the hope she knew the answers. She managed to answer a few, but the ones she didn't know, she suggested, "Maybe this shop you found will have everything we need to know."
"And even if they don't we can find out together," Justin added.
"Justin, dear. When did you get so wise?" his mother asked with a beaming smile.
"Mother!" Justin responded, blushing slightly.
"Sorry Justin, I'm only teasing," she hugged him, "Come on, let's go to sleep now, we have an early start in the morning," she told him.
"Of course Mother, I do feel a bit tired. Good night," Justin said.
"Night dear," she smiled.
Three
The next morning, Justin had woken up a little late, but his mother was awake downstairs waiting for him.
"Morning Mother, why didn't you wake me?" Justin asked sleepily walking into the kitchen whilst rubbing his eyes.
"Morning Dear, I went to wake you, but you looked like you needed a few more minutes, so I came back down to make us both breakfast and a cup of tea. So soon as you're ready to go we will leave," his mother instructed.
"Okay Mother," Justin nodded, swallowing before speaking.
An hour later Justin and his Mother were in the car and had set off to the bookstore he'd found on the internet. It was a good hour and a half's drive. He decided to stick some country music on and the first tune that came on he recognised as Tim McGraw's Humble and Kind tune.
"So the shop is called 'Tribes and cultures', I think it's only a small shop," I told my mother once the music finished. She was concentrating on driving, but she still managed to respond.
"Oh good, we know what to look for when we arrive then,"
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting some answers,"
"Me too,"
Justin then tapped his ipod and played some more road trip tunes. I closed my eyes for a moment, but I must have dozed off because my mum had to wake me up when we arrived.
"Wake up dear, we have arrived,"
I stirred, slowly opened my eyes and stretched my arms out in front of me,
"Sorry for not keeping you company, I must have been shattered," I told her.
"It's ok dear, glad you are well rested. Did you want to get something to eat first?" mum asked.
"erm … I think I will be alright. We can go into the shop first, which is right up there and then we could potentially grab an early dinner before we head back," I planned.
After they vacated the car they headed up towards the Tribes and Culture shop. Justin noticed his mum slow down, he stopped and checked if she was ok. He lent her hand and walked with her.
"Mum? Are you ok" Justin had asked worriedly.
"Erm… yeah! I'm alright, these steps are a lot steeper than they seem, that's all. You go on ahead I will see you inside," his mum told him, but Justin wasn't convinced and he took her in his arms and helped her along.
It took a few minutes to reach the door, they walked in and were greeted by a nice woman. She wore a feathered headband and it had something that resembled a beak on the front. Her dress was colourful and free flowing.
"Morning, welcome to Tribes and Culture, let me know if you need any help," she greeted in such a harmonic tone it felt like ASMR.
"Morning," Justin and his mum responded back in unison.
Justin browsed the shelves, flicking through a few for information that he can relate to. After a while he sighed and the lady came up to him.
"Hi, I couldn't help noticing. Are you looking for something in particular?" she asked, in that soothing tone.
"Erm… yeah, I'm looking for a couple of things. I am looking for something about all the different Chiefs particularly the chief of all chiefs and the second thing I'm looking for…" he paused, rethinking what he's going to ask, "...is there something about the different tribes?" he asked her with gratitude.
"Chief of all chiefs! I've just had that in, which is in the back and as for the tribes, I would suggest Tribes history. It has at least five different tribes mentioned which should give you enough insight for each," she answered. Justin nodded. "I will get you that book from the back," she added.
"Awesome," Justin thanked. He went off in search for Tribes history. The shop wasn't very big so it took no time at all. The lady had the book ready for Justin.
"Here's that book you wanted. Is that everything?" she asked.
"Yes thank you, that's all," Justin smiled. He looked to his mother and gave her a nod signalling that he was ready to go. The shop owner looked between them and she had the smile of hope as they both walked out. But it hadn't gone unnoticed. Justin had looked back to catch a glimpse of her smile.
"Where do you want to go next son?" his mother asked.
"Erm… shall we go to your favourite diner," Justin answered, after a moment of thought.
"Sure, feels like it's been a long time since we've been in there," his mum told him.
"Awesome. It's a date then," Justin smiled with pride in his eyes.
They reached the car and headed towards home. The diner was only around 3 km away. Justin had failed to stay awake again, but he was awoken suddenly by the abrupt braking his mum had to apply. I opened my eyes to witness an eagle circling around us. It had perched on top of the bonnet staring straight at me. It was weird though, I wasn't frightened, I felt like I knew him, I stretched my arm out of the window and he took a moment to scan before perching on my arm. He felt familiar, it was comforting.
After he flew off, mother and I looked at each other.
"We can talk about this when we get home, let's have dinner at home," mother said, when the car behind us wouldn't stop honking. Mother then shifted into gear and sped off. It was a good half hour drive. Mother pulled up on to the drive and there it perched on top of our house.
He swooped down and perched on my shoulder as I closed the car door. Mother couldn't stop herself from smiling, she was almost laughing.
"What? " I mouthed to her.
"Nothing," she shrugged, still smiling ear to ear as we walked inside the house with my new eagle friend on my shoulder.
It felt strange with the eagle watching us do our normal things, but when nightfall came, mother and I sat on the sofa like we usually do. The eagle continued to observe, until something that I should have expected but didn't, happened.
The eagle transformed into a man and he was naked, so mother quickly gave him a blanket to cover himself.
"Thanks, that's what happens. You can shift your body but not your clothes with it," he told us.
"Sorry, but who are you? And why are you so familiar to me?" I asked abruptly.
"I am Finton Black, your guide to help you through your journey, you can call me Fin," Fin answered.
"This might be a silly question, but are you in any way related to the Quileute tribes, more specifically the Black family," I asked. Fin just stared at me
"Hmm… Justin is it?" he began, I nodded, "You are quite intuitive. You have great instincts, I can see already you will make a great leader one day," Fin told me.
"Really? You think so?" I questioned, looking between mother and Fin. Mother nodded in agreement.
"Let's just say I am a distant relative," Fin answered, but Justin sensed a change in his voice and he didn't know how he knew but he knew Fin wasn't telling the whole truth. Justin just smiled back and nodded.