“I don’t know if what happened to the natives is a great analogy to compare too.” Mason crossed his arms hugging them tight to his body as the horrible realization sank in. “Actually, it might be too perfect! Whether it seemed like magic to them or not they were soundly defeated in the end. I can’t believe this, we can presumably morph into animals. What good will that do us? Any old human could take us down with a gun, much less an advanced alien army!” He rounded on Adrian a lamented tone in his voice. He knew the other boy fairly well sharing several classes with him and meant no real disrespect. They’d never been close friends, at least not on a first name basis but Mason held Adrian, and Tammy and Stephanie and Emma in fairly high regard. And yet his fraying nerves and short temper set him on edge, eager to use his fists and regain some control over his life. Even if it was something as baseless as physical dominance.

	Struggling to keep his temper in check Mason wheeled about ready to march off when Emma’s terrified cries and transformation caught his attention. Blanching the young man took a step back, morbidly fixated by the scene playing out before his very eyes. It was as if some great invisible hands of a mentally deranged god had descended from heaven and began molding Emma’s body into that of a deer. Her flush bubbled and writhed emerging into strange shapes, fur sprouted like weeds across her body, and her bones and joints crackled as they snapped into shape. Emma’s clothing, made for the human form stretched to its limit and then tore, falling forgotten onto the hiking trail. Mason recognized the shapeshifting from the previous night, when the menacing Vissor Three changed form to consume the andalite prince. However here, watching it occur to someone he knew, there was something terribly different and more terrifying about the morphing.

	Then she bolted.

	Seeing that the others were equally shocked by this occurrence Mason made an off the cuff and irrational choice. Leaving the others talking Mason ran in Emma/deer’s footsteps crashing through the close-nit trees and snatching brambles, brushing aside bushes and plant life that got in his way. For a moment he kept Emma’s upturned white tail in sight, but within seconds even Mason’s swift pace couldn’t compete and she vanished between the trees. Struggling on for another hundred meters more Mason finally gave up, leaning against a tree and huffing and puffing to catch his breath.

	“Emma!” He yelled casting about for some sign that could direct him on. Mason was no tracker, and he’d never bothered wandering the woods out behind the school to any extent. Turning this way and that Mason realized in a heartbeat he’d gotten himself lost. “Emma where are you? It’s not safe out here, there’s wolves and hunters and God knows what else. Emma come back!” Two hours, that’s how much time they had before they became permanently entrapped. Sure Emma had only been in the morph for a few minutes, but why did she run away? She could be lost and killed out there on her own, an easy target for any predator. Setting his jaw Mason pressed on attempting every once in a while to call out her name, trying not to think about how much more lost he was becoming by the second.