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“What are you doing?” Emerie asked.

Shifting carefully into a crouch, he brought his gaze up to find there was a decent distance between them. She had turned to him and was waiting.

“I... do not know,”he answered honestly. He wasn’t sure what was happening.

Even his voice was different, not as growly and deep. He touched at his beak like that was the answer to figuring out why the rough bass of his voice had softened.

She waved for him to come over. “Well, it’s weird you’re the one slowing us down. That’s my job.”

When he reached forward with his arm to resume walking on all fours like he normally would, she turned to continue walking.

However, he noticed his shoulders moved in a way that was less comfortable, and he was pretty sure his backside was tipping towards the sky.

It no longer felt natural.

He caught up to her and mentally assessed the changes within himself. She peeked over her shoulder to make sure he was with her and then looked at their path.

My body changed...Reaching to the side, he dug his claws into a tree, and lifted up.

The moment he was upright, he knew he could maintain it. His back was straight, his skull fell into a natural down position, and there was no longer a strain on his legs.

Bright yellow filled his sight in joy.

Yet, when he took a step forward and let go of the tree, his legs shook, unused to walking like this. He quickly had to steady himself again or he’d fall.

Emerie didn’t get far before she sighed, noticing the space next to her was empty.

“What are you doing back ther–” Her eyes widened, her face darted upwards at his towering skull, and she fell onto her backside like her knees had instantly given out. “Oh my god!”

Concerned, he reached out to her while stepping forward. “Emerie?”

She clenched her eyes shut and threw her hands over her face to protect her head... when he started to fall. He groaned and winced when he had to stop himself from crushing her with his elbows and knees.

I almost landed on top of her.The reddish pink flared into his sight.

He pushed up onto his straighter arms to give her space, and she drew her hands down, peeking over them at him.

“What are you doing, Ingram? You gave me a fright, towering over me like that.”

The embarrassed hue of his sight brightened. “I am trying to walk like you,” he admitted with a small grumble.

He backed up and was able to stand without assistance this time, but he did have to use a tree to balance himself when he swayed.

Partially laying on the ground, she gawked up at him. Even when she rushed to her feet, she still had to crane her neck to stare at him with her lips parted and her eyes wide.

Something became startlingly obvious as he gazed down at her, and he twisted his head at her.

“I did not realise you were so... small,” he said, since she barely came to the bottom of his sternum.

He’d always known she was thinner than him, and little in height, but she looked... tiny.

“Small?” she rasped. “I’m five foot seven! I’m just not a massive Duskwalker like you.” Her wide eyes trailed down his body until she was looking at his feet, before slowly coming back up. “Holy shit. What are you? Seven foot? Seven foot five? You didn’t look so big before.”

Ingram’s head tilted the other way as he noticed her expression appeared... guarded and mistrustful. His sight shifted to blue and an unpleasant emotion crept across his chest.

“You don’t like it?” She didn’t smell afraid, but her features appeared like she might be.Should I have not done this?

The leaves above shook with a small gust of wind, causing dappled light to sprinkle over her face. Even with the noises of the trees shifting, he could hear her heart racing, and her breaths were sharper.