1 A bear's life

The last thing I remember is going to bed after a long day at work, and then I woke up in the darkness of a cave barely capable of movement. Around me I felt the warmth of another, someone else was moving and I could hear some growls. Growls you ask? Yes, there were creatures growling around me, but somehow, I wasn't scared, I was really comfortable in that place, to the point I wouldn't mind staying there for a long time.

I'm not sure how much time I spent in the darkness, a couple of months at least. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was two bear cubs sleeping next to me. It took me some time to realize I was a bear cub myself, and those other two were my siblings. We were being taken care of by our mother, at that moment she looked like an enormous black bear, a loving mama bear.

Truth be told, as someone with a human mind, this should have been hard to understand and accept. Yet, at that point my mind wasn't working properly, I knew things were strange but my body acted on its own, I unconsciously let myself live as a bear cub, so most of my memories from that period of time are foggy, I just ate and slept.

As recently born bear cubs we spent months mostly sleeping, our mother left the den a couple of times but remained with us the major part of that winter. By the time spring came, we were already running around playing with each other. It was strange felling living as a cub while keeping the memories from the time I was a human, although I wasn't fully aware of what it all meant at the time. I can't deny that playing with my siblings was enjoyable, somehow I was acting from instinct.

The first time we left our den, mother took us around the forest. She showed us the important places, such as the river, were we could get water and fish. She also took us to the limits of our domain, we shared the forest with other bears, the members of our clan. Anyway, bears usually don't like being around others, so it was really unusual to see people from outside our family.

Me and my siblings enjoyed running around the forest, mother just left us play on our own, the forest was safe for her cubs. My brother was energetic, he ran around the most, but he was somewhat careless and would often find himself running into a tree. My sister was timid, it took a while for her to get comfortable playing in the forest. I was just having fun.

Maybe you are wondering how having a human past would affect my life, it didn't, as I said previously, I knew there was something strange about my memories but I don't think I was fully conscious of what it all meant. I didn't question myself at the time, I was just a bear cub living its life.

At some point I was able to understand the growling from my mother, it felt similar to human speech in some ways. Not that I could do anything but squeal at first, as time went by, I managed to communicate with my mother and siblings, yet I was the slowest out of the three.

This was the first time I developed some kind of self-awareness, being able to communicate with those around me changed everything. I just didn't have enough time to ask questions.

One day another bear came to our forest, she told mother about some wolves appearing nearby, crossing the borders of our clan. She asked mother how should we respond to their provocations, our mother just smiled and told her to wait and went inside our den.

The thing that really surprised me was our mother transforming right in front of us. She looked humanoid and started walking on two feet. She didn't exactly look human, her frame was more robust, with strong arms and legs, and her fur covered most of her body. You should imagine it as a furry humanoid with a bear head. I think the main difference with her usual look were her slightly longer legs, her body changed so that she could walk and use tools like a human.

Then, she grabbed an enormous hammer, carrying it over her shoulder, she looked imposing and went outside. The other bear understood instantly and left to gather the members of the clan. It was then that I realized this wasn't the same world from my human self, I was what people in fantasy games would call a beastman, or being more specific, a bearman.