Goldie spat ale all over the table in front of her. Yoboc thumped her back. “What do you mean you have only seen seven winters?” she asked. “Are you telling me you are only seven years old?”

I nodded, and she shook her head. “Bloody silver tits! I have been lusting after a baby.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, so I ignored it.

“So you are only seven years old and have been wandering the wilds for a year?” Yoboc clarified.

I nodded. Talking wasn’t easy for me, and I started to get agitated by the many people around me.

“Lad,” Yoboc said, “Dwarves don’t become full adults until they are thirty. You are a babe in our eyes.”

“Not dwarf,” I said.

“No, no, you are not,” he said, looking me up and down. “From the look of you, I would say you are some type of beast-kin, but I don’t know what, and I have never heard of any up this far north.”

I just nodded but didn’t speak. I spoke more tonight than I think I have in my life. That is probably an exaggeration, but that is what it felt like.

Yoboc seemed to pick up on that, “Let’s find you somewhere to sleep, lad.”

He led me to a tent and gave me some blankets, then left me to it. I looked around, confused. This didn’t seem right. It was not a cave. The tent flapped in the wind. The tent did not provide the protection of a cave, but it blocked the senses, so I couldn’t tell what was around me. If I couldn’t sense what was around me, I wanted the protection of solid walls.

I gathered up the blankets and slipped out of the tent. I went to the edge of the camp and looked for a place to sleep.

Then I saw the perfect spot. Behind the cooking fires, there was a stone wall, and it was warm. I went there, and it would be lovely. I crouched down and used Tremor to loosen the soil, dug a shallow depression, and laid the blankets down. I took off the awkward trousers, changed into my bear form, and curled up to sleep with warmth for the first time since I was separated from my mother.

I woke in the night when a dog came sniffing around. I sniffed back. It had a thick white/grey coat and looked like it would survive in the cold. I lay back down and ignored it. The dog was soon curled up next to me. I don’t know why it was not afraid of me. Most animals are. It must be smarter than most animals as it knew a good place to sleep when it found one.

I woke early—at least, I assumed it was early. Nobody else was moving in the camp. Maybe dwarves are late risers. Good on them. I got up and stretched. The dog whined at me for moving and snuggled down in the warmth where I slept. It is definitely an intelligent dog. I ambled off to find some breakfast, and I might bring some back to share. That would be the right thing to do.

I wandered through the bush to where my nose was telling me some seals were. I was proficient at catching them in my bear form now, so I caught a young one and feasted for a while. This is still my favourite food. I wonder how Thon might cook it and what it could taste like.

I hid and then caught another one, larger this time. I grabbed it in my mouth and wandered back to the camp, dragging it.

I was getting close to camp when one of the dwarves raised the alarm, by blowing a whistle in a short and long pattern. I stopped and looked around, but I couldn’t see or smell danger. I picked up the seal and started forward again.

Then, two dwarves came rushing towards me with spears and shields. They stood between me and the camp and sounded threatening. Others in the camp were coming as well. I didn’t understand. I was welcomed yesterday but threatened today. Dwarves are weird. I was bringing breakfast.

One of the dwarves poked at me with his spear. It didn’t seem like he was actually trying to stab me, more like chase me away. Why? I didn’t understand.

He poked at me again, so I growled at him.

The other one raised his shield like he was scared. Really? You started this.

I don’t want to fight. If I am not wanted, I will just go. I dropped the seal and turned to leave. The guy poked at me again, so I used Quick Claws to bat the spear away. Really? I am leaving, can’t you tell?

The guy didn’t like me batting his spear away and looked like he might get serious. I backed off. I don’t want to fight. Other dwarves were running up with weapons. I guess I am not wanted here.

I backed up and gave them a warning growl to stay away.

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They seemed to take that as a signal to start a fight, or maybe it was all the other dwarves at their back giving them courage. The aggressive dwarf lunged at me to wound me this time. He was fast. I barely avoided it.

I was tempted to give him a taste of his own medicine as my anger was rising. I was just trying to be nice, and this is what I got.

We were interrupted by barking. My bedmate had come between us and was barking at the dwarf. They were trying to say something to it in dwarvish, but it wasn’t listening, and I didn’t understand. I might miss that dog. It is the only intelligent thing here.

While the dog had their attention, I turned to leave.

Then, a commanding voice shouted in common, “Everybody STAND DOWN!”

Everybody stopped. Even the dog stopped barking. A dwarf with a red beard stomped forward. I sort of remember him from last night. He was listening in from the edge of the crowd.

“What the fuck?” he asked.

The guards were almost standing at attention. “Sir! A bear was trying to enter the camp, sir!”

The dwarf said something in dwarvish that made the two guards wince. Then he turned to me and pointed, “You, you idiot. Ivan is it. They don’t recognise you, you fool.”

I could see Yoboc running up half-dressed and Golden tits following him, also half-dressed.

I felt like an idiot. Of course, they don't recognise me. They have never seen me in my bear form, and they don’t have the ability to recognise me by my smell. The dog did, proving who the more intelligent one was here.

I am not used to my different forms making a difference. I am not used to being around people, especially people who are not my family.

I growl in frustration and trigger the change. I have seen what my mom looked like when she changed, so I guess it was similar. Bones and muscles shift, and it looks weird and painful, even though it is not. It takes about thirty seconds to change. It does use a reasonable amount of stamina.

I stood up on two feet in all my furry, naked glory to the audience of shocked dwarves. The dog came and sniffed me and wound around my feet.

“I forgot. Sorry. Not used to…” I waved, indicating the crowd. “I bought breakfast,” I said, pointing to the dead seal.

“Right, everybody,” Yoboc said, coming forward. “Shows over. Go. Shoo.” as he chased people away. He threw a jacket at me, which I caught and looked at. It wasn’t cold, what was this for? He looked at me and said, “You are naked. Wrap that around you till we find your trousers.”

“Right. Forgot.” I said. Beast-kin don’t have any hangups about nudity, but dwarves obviously do. There is a lot for me to remember. I wrapped the jacket around my waist. Why is the lower half taboo and not the upper half? And why is it taboo in humanoid form but not in beast form? I don’t know. Weird customs.

I walked forward and stabbed my claws into the seal, lifted it, and followed Yoboc back into camp.

The two guards approached. “We apologise for attacking you, Ivan. It was a gross breach of hospitality, and we will make it up to you.” They were obviously made to come and apologise as their boss, commander, or whatever he is called, was standing back and watching.

I nodded to them, “OK. My fault as well.” I needed to improve my common language skills as I was barely fluent. I also needed to learn dwarvish so I could understand what was happening. What I said seemed to satisfy them, and they returned to their posts.

Yoboc wanted to stop at the tent he assigned me for my trousers, but I shook my head, “Not there.” He followed me to the cooking area, and we delivered the seal to Thon.

“Never cooked seal before,” he grumped. “Have to make something up,” he grinned at me.

When we left, Yoboc said, “He likes experimenting with recipes, but none of us like eating his experiments. I hope you do.”

I just shrugged. I wouldn’t know until I tried it.

We went around the back of the cooking area, and Yoboc saw the nest I had made. I took his jacket off and put on my funny trousers.

“You slept here?” Yoboc asked.

I thought it was pretty obvious I had, so I just nodded.

“Why?” he asked.

“Better,” I said because it was. Then, the dog came up to me again. “What name?” I asked Yoboc.

“I don’t actually know that one’s name,” Yoboc said, “The beastmaster keeps a team of huskies to pull the sleds. We can find him.”

“Orir Silverbeard,” the beastmaster introduced himself, and we gripped our forearms. “I see Fritz has taken a liking to you.”

I nodded.

“Fritz is an older, experienced dog. I bring him along to train the younger ones, but he is about ready to retire.” I guess that explains why he likes to sleep in the warm. “When we get back to Obalno, I will be looking for somewhere for him to retire to. He probably has two to five years left to live. Do you want to look after him? I don’t really need him.”

“Don’t know how.”

“Do you like animals?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Well, Fritz likes you, so that is a good sign. Do you have any animal care skills?”

I shook my head.

“Well, beast-kin tend to get on well with some animals and not others. The mules probably won’t like you. If you want to find out, you can help me with the dogs, and we can go from there.”

I looked at Yoboc.

“It's up to you. If you want to stay, you will need some sort of job, although I was kind of hoping you would help with the hunting. It is probably best to talk with Thomwea before you make up your mind.”

“Thomwea?”

“Thomwea Forgemaker. She is in charge of this little expedition.”

“Yeah,” agreed Orir. “She is not likely to send you away if you are useful.”