I should start from the beginning. Just before the wildlife preserve closed down for the night, I went back to my room for the night when I heard a loud noise off in the distance. Growing suspicious, I go onto the open field looking out for anything that may be roaming in the area. The bright full moon makes it easier to see as I continue on, hearing some voices in the distance. Deciding to take shelter behind a tree, I look and see that one of the cheetahs that wandered off the preserve was lying on the ground motionless. Fearing the worst, I look up to see that it's nothing more than a tranquilizer dart. Looking around, I assess my options when I see three young cheetah cubs hiding in a bush close to the truck. While inching closer, I notice that the poachers are moving away from the truck. I peeked out to see that they were heading to a watering hole to refill their canteens, which gave me the opportunity I needed. I sneak my way over to the groggy cat and assess the damage. I pull out the dart and look up for the poachers only to see the cubs aren't hiding in the tall grass anymore. I hear talking in the distance and decide it's time to leave. Once I begin to move, I feel a sharp pain in my back and freeze in place. I look to discover that the poachers who weren't too happy about my rescue attempt have busted me.

"Get the cat," said one of the poachers (we'll call him the head poacher).

I try to protect the cheetah, but with a bullet in my back, I couldn't do much of anything, except watch.

"The catch isn't looking to good, boss," the assistant said. "What do you want me do to?"
"Doesn’t matter if she's alive or dead; we still take the cat!"

The assistant goes and turns me over sending agonizing pains up and down my spine.

"What should we do with him?"
"Leave him here to die."

He then knocks me in the head with a shotgun and I fall to the ground, barely conscious. The two of them myself for dead in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight and quickly drive off to avoid attracting attention. I lay on the ground watching the cat move off into the distance, upset with myself that I couldn't do anything to help. As darkness overtakes my vision, a tear manages to stream down my face, mostly out of frustration. The cheetah cubs come out from hiding again and one walks over to me and tries to nudge me awake, but to no avail. Several minutes pass and it seems there isn't much hope for the cheetah cubs or myself. That is until I hear a voice. I gradually notice the pain in my back is subsiding, which led me to think I was dying, but it didn't feel that way. I fought my way back to consciousness and then groggily sat up, leaning against a tree only to see the cubs staring at the moon. I looked in the same direction the cubs were looking and I began to see a white mist forming in front of us. There was brief flash of white light and a tall feminine figure that wasn't entirely human appears in front of me. She stood upright on two feet, or paws and had white fur; she had the head, tail, paws, and ears of a lion and was wearing clothing that was Egyptian in nature. She kneeled down to the ground and the cubs calmly walked to her without hesitation. The white lioness then proceeds to walk over to me and kneels on one knee, and reaches out her hand.

"Do not be afraid; I am not going to hurt you. Take my hand and I will help you," she said.

She didn't actually speak words; it was entirely telepathic. I hesitate for a moment and then take her hand. Instantly, I felt the pain from my back disappear completely and everything feels normal.

"My back... it doesn't hurt anymore..." I said, standing up.
"Your bravery tonight has saved three innocent cubs from harm. I, as well as their mother, thank you."

Before I can say anything, she raises her towards me and a stream of warm, white light floats through the air towards me.

"I can assure you that no harm will come to you. This is to complete the healing process."

I wasn't sure how this was happening, but it was. Before I can say anything else, the cheetah cubs surround me, purring softly. I kneel down to pet them and they cuddle next to me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were smiling at me.

"So what happens now?"

A golden aura surrounds my body as several changes begin taking place to my body starting with my hands. They are becoming more paw-like in nature, just like a cat's paw, but with opposable thumbs. Black fur with gold spots appears and begins to spread all over my arms and legs. I feel pressure in my lower spine as a long tail sprouts and rips through my pants. My feet change and form into paws that cause my shoes to rip to shreds; my face protrudes outwards slightly and whiskers appear on each side of the black triangular nose that forms with it. My fists tighten as I brace myself for any pain that follows; however, the feeling of the transformation is the complete opposite and is the best feeling I've ever had.

"What's... happening... to me?" I exclaimed.

My eyes change color to a golden yellow and two cheetah ears grow outwards from my head with my human ears disappearing. Gold stripes travel downwards from the bottom of my eyes to both sides of my mouth. The fur completely covers my body and the aura disappears. The transformation leaves me weak and I fall to the ground.

THE NEXT MORNING...

I slowly open my eyes and stare into a covering of leaves and branches leading to a blue sky. I look to my left and my right and see myself lying in a soft patch of grass underneath the branches of three. I sit up and look for anything familiar. I can see the trees leading away to a grassy plain in a large valley with a narrow, shallow stream flowing into a lake near the center before going into the forest at the other end. I yawn and stretch out while opening my eyes only to catch a glimpse of my newly formed hand-paws. My eyes widen in shot as I look at my feet for the first time in their paw-like state. As I explore the dramatic changes to my body; the fur, spots, my hands; I feel something moving behind me and turn around to see a black and gold spotted tail gently moving back and forth.

"No way..."

I crawl over to the river to see at my reflection in the water. I stare at the reflection of my face now knowing whatever human about me was gone. I touch my face, feeling the odd shape of my newly formed muzzle and the tickle from the whiskers on the opposite sides of my nose. The black and gold-spotted fur covering my body feels warm and comfortable almost to the point I where I feel like taking a nap. The ears on the top of my head twitch back and forth picking up the slightest sounds from the furthest of distances. The fuzzy tail behind me moves slowly back and forth across the soft grass.

"This is a whole new level of freaky..."

After a moment, I stand up somewhat off balance as I'm not used to the digitigrade stance and stumble a bit for a few steps. I look over to my right and see a boulder sticking out over the stream and sit on it, dangling my paws over the water. I hear a noise and turn around to see the same white lioness from the night before standing behind me.

"It's you! From last night! So then this... wasn't a dream..."
"No, it was not," she said. "The events that unfolded yesterday were indeed true; the poachers, the cubs, and your transformation."

Before I can say any more, I feel something brush the side of my leg and see the cheetah cubs have come to greet me. I sit down as all three of them climb all over me purring and making high-pitched cheetah chirps all while cuddling with me.

"I see they have taken a liking to you."
"They are very cute," I said, nuzzling one of the cubs.
"There is one thing I want to leave you with before we leave."

A white light materializes and the spirit of the cubs' mother appears in front of me. My ears lower in sadness with the realization that the poachers killed her.

"So I didn't..."
"I'm sorry... there wasn't anything you could do."

I turn back to the river hanging my head in disappointment and begin to cry softly.

"How... could I have just let this happen? I should've been paying attention more and making sure they were all safe."

The cubs' mother walks over to me and licks the tears off my face. She takes and places her paw on my chest and nuzzles me. The lioness then raises her hands in the air a glowing gold orb of light appears between us. The light absorbs into the mother spirit giving her a soft, glowing, gold aura and then dematerializes into a white light combined with the gold light. The light absorbs into me, creating a tingling, vibrating sensation all over my body that is highly relaxing.

"The mother chose to merge her spirit with yours so she can guide you in taking care of her cubs. What I gave you is the ability to communicate with the mother spirit that lives inside of you and a few psychic abilities, as well."

The cubs stand in front of me and chirp out what seems to be small words, but I figure it's because I'm becoming more incoherent every passing minute.

"Meh..."
"Kah..."
"Lee!"
"What...?" I said, groggily. "Me... ka... li...? Is that what they said?"

I look down at them again and they repeat themselves.

"Meh..."
"Kah..."
"Lee!"
"Mekali... that's... what they said..."

I look up and notice an extra soft patch of grass under a tree further away from the stream.

"I'll leave you to get some rest; I often do not remember how exhausting the power I give someone is on themselves."

The lioness fades away with the sun as I walk over to the soft patch of grass and lie down on top of it. The grass blades act as a cushion for the hard ground, which feels just like sleeping in a regular bed. The cheetah cubs follow and walk their way over to the patch of soft grass to do the same. I lay comfortably on my back staring into the sky with the cubs as they begin to yawn. I turn on my side and see the cubs looking in my eyes as I look in theirs with the feeling that there is a sense of warming comfort between us. They all lick my nose and purr before going to sleep. I too succumb to the drowsiness and fall asleep, purring softly and happily into the night.

END