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== "Our Herd" by Hawl Tygarus Enroygall aka Seranima Iris Nichols-Vernon ==
Dream Journal Stories
Entry 1


I don’t remember how long I’ve been walking this dirt road for as long as I can remember. It was more bearable when I found the herd, it’s easy to get tired, but you can’t stop moving. We pick each other up, right now I was picking up Phil and Charles. I didn’t mind, I’m pretty big and they’re just a bunny and a rat. I kind of liked the company anyway. Not that I was ever alone anymore, but I felt far less so when they were on my back. I can’t turn my head back enough to get too good of a look, but they always have such riveting conversations, and tea parties. My back has been burned a few times by Phil trying to prepare tea with his Whalish Fire thing, but they always got it out before leaving scorching marks.

I’m always happy to help, especially when Charles is involved. See I had been walking with my friends Lucy Pop, Johnny, and Xhyz when I fell. If you stop moving for too long your muscles get all stiff and you can’t move forward anymore. They couldn’t lift me and I was near death. That’s when the rat showed up. Xhyz had his doubts that a small rat could do anything, but we found quickly that he had the strength of a bear! He was able to lift me and then Xhyz, my red panda buddy with blue headfur and Lucy Pop, my radioactive multi color thylacine galpal grabbed my front paws and pulled me to a nearby lake. We had been in an oasis at the time, imagine that, getting tired in an oasis. I drank my fill and ran in circle chasing my tail like a dog. The only downside to my rejuvenation was that I wasn’t a tiger anymore, I was a tigress now. That didn’t bother me though, I kind of like it. Not that it matters, I don’t know too many males as big as I am anyway, so it’s not like anyone’s judging. I thought Xhyz would be a little madder about it, but he just shrugged. Shocked the hell out of me, when Lucy was away when tended to talk about mounting and now that I’m the mountee he doesn’t care, still refers to me as a male most of the time, I actually get somewhat giddy when he references my new status. There’s a pride in the “ess” part of my new self I’ll admit. Charles was a little uncomfortable with it though, he warned me that most of the people he’d seen drink from that lake lost the will to keep moving. Johnny found the whole thing rather amusing.

Charles took us to his herd, where we met a Doe named Jean, before she had been a Buck named Jon, until Jon had drunk from the same oasis. Another one like me, I guess that’s cool. We didn’t actually have too much to talk about. You’d think there would be a lot to say, our roles in life had shifted, if we ran into other animals like our kind we’d be mounted and used for our fertile wombs instead of competing with the other males. We didn’t really have much to say to each other about it, probably because deep down, the old me and Jon knew that we would have stopped moving eons ago if we didn’t change. This felt like the way we were supposed to be and honestly ever since the switch I’ve found myself moving a lot faster. We also a met an old fashioned white rabbit who I’ve already mentioned is Phil. An orange vixen I love to tease, the ever annoyed Falai, a male one who always seemed to be snacking on muffins, Misha, and a gray one named Virmir, he was smaller than the rest. We have an abundance of foxes. There’s some others, a billy goat who wears a maple leaf, Jetfire, and this snake who calls herself Dimensional, oh and every once in awhile this majestic looking black stallion shows up and looks us over, then he leaves again. I asked him his name once, all he said was “Thomas” and then he trotted off I have no idea what that’s about. I asked Charles about it once and he told me that he used the lead the herd until he met a mare and had a few foals with her, though he checks in every now and then. So far, he’s the largest of us I’ve seen, even bigger than Xhyz’s brother Johnny The Camel. Many had stopped moving before I came, a skunk here and a porcupine there. I had seen another tiger once, once, his name was Oberon... I wonder where Tom and Oberon go off too.

I turned to Lucy and opened my muzzle, but closed it and looked at Xhyz. Xhyz used to be a teacher of mine until he said that I had learned all that he could teach me and only Lucy Pop could teach me the parts he couldn’t. I don’t know what to say to hear in regards to my teaching. Just that I enjoy being female and being her galpal. I still have those “us males” talks with Xhyz, but they’re half hearted now. However the “us females” talks that me and Lucy have feel so natural now, almost like I’ve always been this way. To be honest, even though I’m glad for the time that I was male and the experience has taught me much, my having been one is so silly to me that I actually get a little confused when my masculinity is brought up. Though, Lucy’s young and impressionable, what can I say to her that I can’t say to Xhyz better outside of girl talk? I turned my gaze back up to him, he was smiling and looking forward, enjoying the view no matter what comes next. He peps me up with reassuring words “Keep walking Sera, you’re with friends who love you.”

Simple, but sweet, Xhyz always knows what to say to me, I purred with delight upon hearing my new female name. He looks forward again and leans into Lucy’s ear, whispering, whatever it was she liked it, smiling big and wide, trying to reach him with her tongue, but looking grumpy that she can’t. It wasn’t real grumpy, it was the cute grumpy that she did whenever she was trying to make Xhyz laugh.

Lucy Pop’s an awesome chick and one of the best friends a girl could ask for.... But I just don’t know how to discuss philosphy with her, she’s simple. Not in a bad way, she’s the kind who wants to eat catnip and the make Xhyz and Misha muffins. Precious, but...

I’ll think on it later, for now there’s a small pink claw grabbing and tugging at my ear.

“Hawl, it’s Charles... I have to go to the place Thomas goes...” He told me “I hope to enjoy myself with a journey towards the south with me and my wife.”

My male name, Charles always has a habit of saying it more so than Xhyz. I think he’s still scared for the friends he lost to the Oasis Lake, though it’s from his Papa Wolf instincts, Papa Rat instincts? He just won’t see me getting hurt, I appreciate that. Charles is like an uncle to me and I often refer to him as such when we talk. “Gotta be Dr. G again?” I personally have not ever met his wife, but he tells me she is a very sweet cheetah.

Charles started chittering his teeth rapidly and looking around nervously, I probably shouldn’t have said that other name. Reminds me of when I called Jetfire by the name of.... “Yes, but I don’t mind, this is a trip we’ve been looking forward to for sometime. Plus it shall give me a chance to think more on our latest game.”

I smiled “Have fun Uncle Chuck, and do let me know what you come up with.” The games are what I enjoyed the most. The beautiful things about this world get explored fully when we play. Our latest, Mayan Eye, was looking very promising.

“Of course Hawl, do try to keep moving, I’d be devestated to find that you... stopped, while I was gone.” He hugged my neck, and I purred in unison with the hug, the closest thing I could do to a hug with someone that small without killing them. He then hugged Phil’s neck and was off. Phil twitched his ears and made that rabbit screech that rabbits do. His paws weren’t as fluid or long as ours, so he just did a little stomp dance.

With that, Charles hopped off my body and scampered off, he’ll be back before I know it. “Just you and me Phil.”

Phil smiled, always the shy one, said much of nothing outside of “Quite..”, the bunny suited him very well.

We walked forward awhile, I yawned, hoping for night to fall, the only time when it was safe to stop moving and take a nap. I started nodding off when I heard something call out.

“I remember how you really are Hawl! You’re no soft cheerful woman, you’re a cold hearted killer and destroyer of worlds! Just like I am, and we shall always be one.” a posh high class sounding voice called out. I turned round in a swift spin and roared, throwing Phil off in the process.

“GAAAAH!” He cried out, Jean picked him up and shook her head at me.

I saw nothing, except for a milisecond, out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a rat, not a brown one like Charles, but a yellow blondish one with red eyes. Maybe it was just my imagination........ Maybe it was Charles leaving....

“Xhyz... would you mind riding on me for a while?” I asked timidly

He shook his head no and jumped off of his lupinish mate and onto me. “You saw him again didn’t you?”

“What does he want?” I asked, Xhyz looking down at my face, seeing the concern and worry in my eyes.

“Maybe you should ask him that.” Xhyz suggested, giving me a puzzled, but somewhat worried look.

I was truly lucky to have friends who loved and cared for me, we all loved and cared for one another in this herd and it was the best thing about being alive, we travelled this stretch of land in our little savannah for what seems like millenia, and we will till we can move no more or reach not just any oasis, The Grand Oasis! I hear it’s wonderful, and most importantly to me... I hear that to the tigers there, the fact that I used to be male won’t matter and I can be truly integrated into my proper role. Happily and alongside my friends. I also hear the water is crisp, sweet, quenching, and comes when you call it and we all play all day, no longer worrying about moving forward.

It is my fondest wish we find the Grand Oasis soon. Right now though, the sun is setting, and I’ll be able to rest soon. My legs are killing me, maybe next time Charles and Phil have a tea party, they can pour some in my mouth.