My Super-powered Diary Chapter 35 Call of Nature By Amethyst When Maddock Ainsley gets involved in a rescue operation with his unit things go horribly wrong and his life is forever changed. Can the newly minted Merida cope with being a girl and a teenage super hero?

Even by air, it took over an hour of flying northward to reach the private little cove that Michelle had discovered, but the view was well worth it when she had stopped us in a hover and pointed downward. “There it is,” she said with a huge grin on her scaly face, “it looks like a pretty good spot for some privacy and relaxation, huh?”

The small stretch of white sandy beach nestled between the Pacific Ocean and rainforest thick with old-growth redwood trees was picturesque, and it looked like we would be able to set up camp near the treeline and remain nice and dry once the tide came in. To the northern edge of the beach, there was a rocky outcropping with a small cave and some rocks jutting from the water, causing me to make a mental note to be careful about not surfing the north side of the cove. It might make for some interesting exploration though, and I was looking forward to exploring the forest a bit too. “Aye, it looks great Michelle, I cannae wait tae dae some explorin’,” I agreed with a grin.

We quickly landed and as the rest of us began to set up camp, Fawn watched over Peaches and gave us some space, though I was pretty sure she was watching us too. She took being our chaperone very seriously, as much as she wanted us to enjoy ourselves. I had finished setting up the dome-shaped tent that would contain my energy if I lost control, and placed the pillows and sleeping bags for Fawn and me inside, and when I emerged the others had already finished removing all of our gear from my portable pocket dimension and had their sleeping bags laid out. It kind of sucked that Fawn and I were going to have to be in a tent while the rest of them slept out under the stars, but I didn’t want to risk hurting any of them either.

Hana caught my sigh as I left the tent and quickly took my hand in her own as she asked with a concerned look on her face, “What’s wrong Merida?”

I tried smiling at her. “It’s nothin’, e’erythin’ is jus’ barry. I jus’ dinnae like me an’ Fawn havin’ tae sleep in a tent all alone when we’re all s’posed tae be spendin’ time t’gether. I ken tha’ it’s needed, if I ‘ave a nightmare an’ lash out in ma sleep it could be disastrous, bu’ it kinda feels like I shouldnae really be ‘ere.”

“Of course you should,” she objected, squeezing my hand tightly in her own. “I… we all want you here with us. You’re still new to all this, you’ve been through some major trauma, and you have a condition that makes it hard to control your powers, but you’ll get a handle on all of that someday, I just know it. Until then you’re doing what’s needed to keep everyone around you safe, and we realize and appreciate that. It’s possible that Michelle’s powers would react to yours to keep her safe if you had a meltdown, but Lindsey would be screwed and so would I while still in girl mode since I have no invulnerability and I can’t absorb energy.”

“I was… umm… curious aboot tha’,” I admitted as she said that last part. “If’n ya cannae absorb energy while in tha’ form, why weren’t Quartz’s flames hurtin’ ya?”

The Japanese girl shrugged as she replied, “When I absorb energy I seem to become immune to that type of energy until it’s completely left my system and I change back into a guy. Quartz had to rely on her flames because I wasn’t letting her get close enough for anything else, but I could just shrug those off and keep her at a distance with my eye blasts. If I absorbed your energy I’d likely be immune to that until I changed back too, we may have to try that someday if your mom can’t fix me.”

“I’m shoor she’ll figure out wot is wrong an’ think o’ somethin’ tae ‘elp ya Hana, helpin’ Hypers wit’ issues like yuirs, it’s her passion. She will no’ stop ‘til she finds a way tae ‘elp ya,” I insisted without a single doubt in my mind.

“Thanks, Merida,” she responded before pausing uncertainly. “I… I was wondering though, why are you still going through with this trip? I mean, I’d understand if you didn’t want to. You seemed attracted to me as Hiro, so I kind of assumed that you were into guys since your change. It didn’t happen with me or Lindsey, but I’ve heard that Archetypes can alter things like gender identity and sexual preference too.”

I shook my head as I tried to put my scattered thoughts on that topic into words. “I’m still tryin’ tae figure tha’ out. I ken fer shoor tha’ ma gender identity is female now, ma body feels right tae me, no matter ‘ow much ma brain wanted tae argue the fact a’ first. When I was Maddock, I was straight as a bloody arrow an’ I was attracted tae any pretty girls. I ‘ad a relationship wi’ someone I shouldnae ‘ave, bu’ it was all passion, lust, an’ raw physical attraction, nothin’ really tae base a good relationship on. I think tha’ ma priorities may ‘ave changed wi’ ma body though. I’ve only been attracted tae a few people since ma change, no’ near as many as I figure I should ‘ave been, bu’ if’n they’re jerks all that attraction goes poof.”

“That must suck… I mean… it’s hard enough just having your gender and appearance change, but your brain too? That can’t be easy to adjust to. It hasn’t been all that long for you either. Y’know… if you… still need time to adjust I don’t mind just being friends until you figure it all out, it wouldn’t be fair for me to push for any more.” She was biting her lower lip uncertainly, something that I found really cute on her, and it made my heart flutter.

“Nae, dinnae worry aboot tha’,” I told her with a shake of my head. “I may no’ be shoor wot I’m attracted tae physically these days, bu’ I dae ken this, I really like ya, an’ it’s more than jus’ physical attraction. If’n Mom kin ‘elp ya an’ ya had yuir choice, would ya rather be Hiro or Hana?”

“I think I’d rather be Hana… Hiro has some awesome powers, but as much as I may try to adjust, being a guy just doesn’t feel right to me. I feel wrong as Hiro, it’s just not me. I don’t even try to act like a guy anymore because that’s what it is, an act. I’ve just been trying to be myself and I’m glad that my parents and friends accept that, even if I get razzed for being girly by other students. That’s what I like about you and your sisters, you’re sweet and caring and you accept us for who we are. Umm… why do you ask though? You… didn’t really answer whether you’re attracted to girls or guys either.” There was an uncertainty in her voice and her eyes as she looked at me.

I wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her tenderly, trying to reassure her, before holding her close and speaking again. “I dinnae ken if it makes any sense or no’, bu’ I was attracted tae ya as Hiro, and I’m still attracted tae ya, bu’ it ‘as nothin’ tae dae wi’ yuir body. I mean… in ma head, I realize tha’ yuir pretty damn sexy in either form, but yuir body, or e’en yuir gender, is no’ important tae me. I’ve liked ya from the moment we met an’ I jus’ keep gettin’ more attracted as I ge’ tae ken ya better. Tae me it doesnae matter if’n yuir Hiro, Hana, or somethin’ else entirely. I’m attracted tae who ya are inside, an’ I wan’ ya tae be ‘appy.”

“That’s possibly the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” she responded, her voice barely a whisper. She kissed me this time and I eagerly reciprocated. For several minutes we just held and kissed one another, there was no tongue and no groping or anything like that, it was just innocent kissing, holding and caressing. Innocent and tender as it might have been though, I could feel myself getting turned on, or at least I thought that I was getting turned on. It was different than when I was a guy; there was this warmth running through my whole body. It was a little more prominent between my legs though, where I was feeling a bit damp as well, and my nipples were aching a bit so I was pretty sure that they were getting hard.

We reluctantly broke the kiss but kept holding one another. Neither of us was ready for anything more than that, and likely wouldn’t be for years to come. We were both too young and there was too much emotional and mental baggage. Still, it was nice to feel attraction and affection for someone and to feel like she felt the same way for me. I guess you could say that it felt validating, and even though I hadn’t realized it before that moment, that was something that I had been needing to feel comfortable in my new gender.

I could feel my cheeks burning a bit at the sound of applause. Michelle and Lindsey were standing there grinning at us as they clapped their hands. “About time you two came up for air,” Lindsey teased.

“And here I thought that we were going to be the first pair caught making out, we should really get to work on that Linds,” Michelle added with a giggle and a wink to her girlfriend.

My cheeks were still burning as I attempted to change the topic. “Soooo, wot’s the plan fer today?”

Neither Lindsey nor Michelle was fooled by my obvious tactic and they just kept grinning at Hana and me as Michelle answered my query. “Well I thought we might start with some hiking before the day gets too hot and then come back to camp for lunch. After that we can do some surfing and swimming to cool off and maybe explore the cave a bit. I only had a small flashlight when I found this place so I didn’t go too far in, but it looks like it goes pretty deep.”

“Then we can make some dinner and just spend the evening snuggling and getting to know one another better,” Lindsey added.

Since we were all already wearing our hiking boots and fairly comfortable clothes I only needed to grab the backpack that I had bought for school and brought along to stuff with snacks and drinks for the hike to keep my energy up and stay properly hydrated. I had also put a small basic survival kit, first-aid kit, and a hunting knife in there in case of an emergency. Once I had that in place over my shoulders I put on the baby sling that I planned to carry Peaches in. Carrying her all the time could get a bit tiring, but with her snuggled against my chest in the sling I could keep her with me, and relatively safe, while still having my hands free.

Once the infant Feydragon was snuggled in her new spot and snoozing Fawn fluttered up to sit on my shoulder and we joined the others who had light backpacks filled with supplies as well. Peaches sleep wasn’t very sound though as she seemed anxious about something, I could feel it in my mind as we started our hike. We were going to be following a game trail up from the beach with a steady incline heading north up to the top of the ridge that the cave was in. Fawn was really eager to get going and was hoping to talk with some of the local animals during our trek through the forest, but she was destined to be disappointed it would seem. We didn’t encounter a single animal during our hike by the time we had stopped at the top of the ridge over-looking the ocean, where we all sat down for a break.

We had already been hiking for over an hour and it was about time to turn around and head back to camp to start making lunch and while we took a few minutes to rest I was sharing some of my water and the granola bars I had stuffed in the backpack with my Fairy friend, who seemed very distracted. I tried feeding some to Peaches too, but she was still anxious and now very much awake, looking around us warily. “Wot’s wrong Fawn?” I finally asked in concern.

“I’m not sure,” the Fairy admitted with a tiny sigh. “It could be nothing, but this just seems a little strange to me,”

“What’s strange? I thought you would love being in the forest. Is it really that different from Neverland?” Lindsey asked, looking a bit confused.

“It’s not that it’s different, well it is, but I can’t really figure out why. It’s too quiet. We haven’t seen a single animal or bird yet, I haven’t even seen many insects, but there are nuts and ripe berries all over the place. It doesn’t make any sense. Even if there were bears or other large predators around, there would still be animals, especially with all the food here, but I haven’t seen anything. Even the trail we’ve been following is strange, it’s game trail so I think a lot of animals have been this way before to wear it down this much, but it’s starting to get grown over. It’s like no animals have come this way in weeks, maybe even months.” The Fairy frowned and took another look around, her tiny eyes darting about the trees around us.

“That is weird,” Hana agreed. “Maybe we should head back to camp and stick to the beach while we’re here, the silence in this forest is kinda creeping me out.”

“Aye, tha’s prob’ly a good idea. Peaches seems tae sense sumthin’ tae, it’s makin’ her anxious, an’ tha’ bothers me. Let’s ge’ back tae the beach, a’ least there we kin see anythin’ comin’ afore it gets too close,” I pointed out.

“Was it like this when you first found this place Michelle?” Fawn asked from atop my shoulder.

“I’m not really sure,” the scaly-skinned Hyper replied, looking pensive. “I was on an ATV when I found this spot, just after summer vacation started, and I wasn’t really actively looking around to see if there were animals around, I was just following the game trails. I don’t remember seeing any, but it could have been that I just wasn’t paying much attention at the time.”

“Maybe we should just pack up when we get back and head back to the city?” Lindsey suggested as we all got to our feet and started to make our way back toward the campsite on the beach. “If we get in trouble then we’ll be on our own, I don’t think that the rings are going to be able to work at this range. The spell meant to tell other ring-wearers that we’re in danger and draw them toward us isn’t meant for such long distances. Across the city was the best we could hope for, especially for a newbie spell like the one I used.”

We all considered that suggestion as we made our way along the game trail and through the too-silent forest on our way back to the beach. I wasn’t really worried about anything attacking us, we would have heard anything coming long before it reached us within that eerie silence, but it was the silence itself that bothered me. There had to be a reason that there were no animals in the area. Fawn had spotted a few burrows and dreys along the trail on our way back, but they were as empty as the forest itself, so the animals weren’t just hiding they were completely gone.

It didn’t make any sense. There were no recent tracks, no corpses, absolutely nothing showing recent habitation or that anything had happened there. It was like every living thing had just left the area, but what could cause something like that? It was when we were halfway down the trail that a cool wind whipped at us, hard enough that Fawn was having issues flying. There was a sound, like whispering that I couldn’t quite make out and I whipped my head around, searching for the source. “Did any o’ ya ‘appen tae ‘ear somethin’?”

“Do you mean something like whispering Mer? I thought that it was the wind at first, but it almost sounded like a woman’s voice. Did any of you make out what it was saying?” Lindsey asked, as she and the others were looking around as well.

Fawn was shivering as she alighted on my shoulder. “I heard her. She said that we’re in danger, and we need to leave. Maybe that’s why there are no animals around here, they have good instincts, and they can sense danger.”

“O… kay, ma nex’ question is who in ‘ell was tha’?” I muttered, looking around anxiously for the source of the whisper.

“Doesn’t matter,” Hana replied, taking my hand and half pulling me along down the trail. “I think we should listen to their advice. Let’s get back to camp and pack everything up.”

I was forced to agree with her, I knew how to take a hint and I didn’t like where this was going. “Aye, bu’ let’s no’ dae it the slow way. Fawn, could ya make wi’ the dust?”

“You got it Merida!” Fawn was quick to comply, dusting both Lindsey and Michelle so we could all take to the air and fly back to the camp to pack our things. We flew as swiftly as possible back toward the beach and were about ready to land on the beach below when a furious wind whipped up the sand beneath us and once it had stilled and the dust had cleared there was an arrow in the sand pointing right at the cave and below the arrow, written clear as day were the words ‘BEWARE THE TAINTED’.

I set my gaze in the direction that the arrow was pointing to see people, or at least I thought they might be people from that distance, emerging from the cave. They didn’t have any clothes on and, whoever they were, they were gesturing right at us and shouting. I was considering just leaving our stuff and going back to the city for help when something I didn’t even see knocked Lindsey out of the sky and she started plummeting to the ground, unconscious.