Submission (#574) Approved

+5 shards (prompt)
+4 shards (400 words)

= 9 shards.

439 words
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Before Alorus had even managed to settle into his shifting, he'd undergone change himself. He'd come out of the winter Solstice reformed, in a way, and though not a lot was different, some of it was very forefront and difficult to ignore. For example, having gone all his life with a rather short tail, having a long, thin, whip like tail posed... difficulties, both for movement and staying stationary.

The shifting had been no less difficult for him. He hadn't yet managed to master the way emotions came to the forefront when he had undergone a shift, and he'd not yet managed to simmer his emotions down enough for coherent thought to take over when he'd realized his new body meant, well... a new shift. Ironically, with new powers to boot.

He'd figured that out before his grandad had managed to give him a lesson when in a fit of panic, he'd opened his mouth during a shift, and shot what he could only describe as a blast of ice at someone that had startled him, only barely missing his target, thank the gods.

Apparently, while shifted, he now had a icy breath weapon he could direct when in cases of danger. Which, on one hand, cool (no pun intended), but on the other, mildly terrifying to put a weapon like that in his grasp when he still hadn't gotten fully used to the shifting.

Still, over time, it had become easier to the point that he no longer felt like his mind was underwater when he was in his other form. While emotions still felt stronger, or more pure in that shape, they no longer overwhelmed him to the point coherency of mind was an afterthought, for which he was grateful. His grandad was to thank for a lot of that; the older woolyne was a fount of knowledge on the art of shifting, and though Bal never really demonstrated his shifted form for him, Alorus still gained a wealth of knowledge from the words.

The other wool he should thank for the help, was undoubtedly Aiko, whom should have likely walked away the day he first shifted in a panic, but had instead chosen to stick around. She often played her guitar while he practiced, far enough away from him to not be a distraction, but close enough that the melody was a nice background noise that helped lull and ground him as he went through shifting practice with the dedicated single mindedness of a stubborn ox.

After all... he did not want a repeat of that first shift, and thankfully, the work paid off, if slowly.