“Okay, hey?” Tanner interrupted our gleeful dance with his sharp, cutting voice.

Sam gave him a dirty look, “He’s cute but annoying, isn’t he?”

“Don’t call him cute.” I replied, “You can’t have him.”

“We need to get to that stream if you guys want to ever be humans again.” Tanner said, oblivious to the conversation going on, “Then you, Serah, can explain why your surname is Sherbourne and who this random wolf is.”

“A little bossy, but I mean, I grew up with you, so I can live with that.” Sam barked.

“I mean it, Sam. Stay away from all of them.” I replied.

“Never really one to share your toys, huh?”

“Sam! They’re my friends.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, sis.”

“I’m serious. They have their girls.”

“And there’s no way you’re stealing my man, either!” Elizabeth protested.

“Which one’s yours?” Sam asked curiously.

“The hot one.”

“Which hot one?”

“Just stay away from all of them.” I grumbled, interrupting their banter.

“Are we going?” Lydia asked, impatiently glaring at us.

I grunted and we turned to follow them out of the cave. Trotting along into the woods, Perryn came to comfortably walk by my side. He sighed.

Instantly, I looked at him sharply, whining quietly to get his attention, but he merely glanced at me and didn’t speak.

“Is this your man?” Sam asked suspiciously, coming to walk at my other shoulder and sniffing at Perryn.

“He’s not my man. He’s a friend.”

“Right. A friend.”

I growled, “You’re as annoying as I remember.”

“But hey, at least you remember me, right?”

“How could I forget you? My sister who had me run away from home, turned me into a killing machine, and got me stuck in an orphanage for two years of my life?” But even as the words left my mouth, I felt guilt sinking in.

Sam looked hurt, and she recoiled as if she had been slapped.

“I’m sorry.” I said quickly, “I didn’t mean that.” I looked away from her, almost shamefully. My eyes met Perryn’s, who, seeing the guilt in my eyes, stopped, frowning.

But I didn’t stop, and eventually, he scrambled to stay with us.

“I get how you feel, though.” Sam said, her voice in my head gentle, “I did leave you for four years.”

“It wasn’t your fault though.”

“Serah.” Now Sam’s voice had taken on a stern turn, “You forgot one thing, I’m still your sister. I know what you’re like. You blame yourself for stuff that had nothing to do with you. So stop blaming yourself for what happened to me. And stop blaming yourself for what happened to Mom.”

Her words cut right into me, and I stopped short, staring at her as she continued walking without a backwards glance.

Perryn stopped beside me, sighing again. When Sam disappeared into the brush ahead, he turned to me, “Who is she?” He finally asked. I looked at him, baring my teeth.

“Don’t give me that ‘back off’ crap. One minute you two are dancing around each other, the next she’s beating you down somehow.” He scowled as I kept walking, shaking him off, “Is it Samantha?” He asked, his voice taking on a gentler tone.

I stopped, blinking at him.

“I’m not stupid.” He continued, “I have seen paintings of you both. My father told me you were myths because he didn’t want me to jump into something dangerous and go looking for you. But hey, here I am. Living the pirate’s life while hunting down sorceresses and talking to a wolf.”

I growled.

“Sorry. Ex-human.” Perryn corrected himself sarcastically.

I sighed and I broke into a trot to follow the others, who had disappeared farther into the brush.

When we emerged through the brush, we stopped beside everyone else.

Directly in front of us, as blue as the sky, was a crystal clear lake of water. A small stream trickled into it, and the bright trees around it made it seem like an oasis in the desert.

“We get to swim in that?” Elizabeth asked, “Hooray!”

Then, without warning, she dove straight into the water.

She resurfaced and paddled her way over to us. She shook her fur out, spraying water in all directions and sending the others screaming and jumping away.

“Am I human yet?” She asked excitedly.

“No.” I said simply.

She growled in frustration, “Why isn’t it working!?”

“Give it a sec!” Sam said. Then she lunged at Elizabeth playfully. Elizabeth wasn’t completely comfortable with Sam yet, and dodged her lunge, but I grabbed her from the opposite side and flipped her onto her back.

“Aww come on!” She protested, “You can’t team up against me!”

“How about this?” Sam playfully came to lay next to Elizabeth, “All three of us team up, and we become the dynamic trio. We take over the world.”

Elizabeth thought over it for a moment, hesitating, “If I get to be the fearless leader.”

Sam sighed, “Well, I suppose so. But I want to be the captain of the guard.”

They both looked at me expectantly.

I sniffed, “Then I’ll be queen and tyrant.”

“No!” Elizabeth howled, jumping to her feet. But before she could get a hold of me, I dove into the crystal clear water. Both Sam and Elizabeth lunged after me, still howling.

Elizabeth’s paws landed square on my back and pushed my head beneath the water. I felt my paws rub against the rough ground of the lake bottom.. Then my front feet floated in front of me, leaving my back legs on the ground. In front of my eyes, my legs changed back into my normal arms. I squealed underwater happily. On my shoulders, Elizabeth’s bare feet now weighed me down. I pushed off of the ground, breaking the surface with a happy laugh. Behind me, Elizabeth, now in human form, was splashing around, looking confused.

Beside her, bubbling to the surface, a blonde haired girl popped out. She had golden-blonde hair, a little darker than my own, but her eyes matched mine as she looked back at me. She flashed a perfect smile, then lunged at me again. Wrapping her arms around me, Sam pulled me into a wet hug, whooping as she did. On the shore, everyone else was slowly gathering, having recovered from Elizabeth’s wet spray.

But neither Sam, nor Elizabeth, nor I, cared. We grabbed each other in a group hug, grinning and laughing gleefully.