A small, dappled brown and white rabbit hopped out of the bushes, twitching its nose curiously. It's long ears lay back as it wrapped it's long, furry tail around itself, quite unlike most rabbits.
The rabbit's light blue eyes watched the sky above as its head turned from side to side. A faint shadow passed overhead, and the rabbit's mottled head looked up warily.
A deafening screech ripped through the air as a large shape dived down from the air. Iron claws closed around the startled rabbit. The frightened animal looked up, finding itself in the claws of a large red-tailed hawk.
"Hey!" The hawk was startled to see the seemingly harmless rabbit suddenly change shape and turn into a rather disgruntled human boy. Startled, the hawk's claws let go, and the boy fell toe the ground with a thud.
The human grimaced as he lay on the ground. Wincing in pain, he reached to his right and picked up a large rock. Taking careful aim, he loosed the rock, and it struck the fleeing hawk, which protested with a squawk before wheeling away to find easier, non-shapeshifting prey.
Calais grumbled to himself as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Stupid, overstuffed turkey!" He continued to grumble as he began to walk off. "Gah!" He yelled as he tripped over something lying on the ground. Several somethings, actually.
A clutch of smooth, oblong eggs lay in a grassy nest, hidden by tall clumps of grass. If Calais had not tripped over the edge of the nest, he'd have never found it.
The rabbit shapeshifter looked around, noting a small, trickling stream just to his left, near the the nest of eggs. 'What lays it's eggs so close to water?' He wondered as he circled the area.
Calais frowned. His brown and white mottled hair fell in his face, covering his light blue eyes. Irratated, he brushed it back, and stooped down to pick up one of the eggs. Breakfast. Pocketing his prize, he smiled to himself and set off to go home.
He'd scarcely left sight of the nest, however, when he felt the egg begin to wriggle. Stopping, he pulled out the tiny egg, watching in shock as it hatched right before his eyes. Tiny cracks broke out all along the surface of the egg, before it finally shattered, leaving a small, pale snakelike creature in his hands.
Calais stared down at the creature, blue eyes wide. The animal's head rose, looking up at him with gold-green eyes. It chirped, cocking its head to the side curiously. Its body was a pale yellow-white color, and its eyes a light gold-green.
Gently, Calais set the snake-creature on the ground, shooing it away with his hands. "Go away! Go find your family, wherever they are. Go!"
The creature just chirped again, slithering its way toward him, surprisely fast considering its small size. Calais groaned, turning around again. He kicked at the ground in front of the snake creature in an attempt to frighten it away. The creature squealed in protest, but didn't move.
Calais turned and began to walk away. After a few steps, he turned around, only to see the little snake creature slithering after him again. He sighed in frustration. "Go away!" He yelled. "Got that? G-O-A-W-A-Y! Beat it! Shoo! Get out of here, leave me alone!"
The yellow-white creature just stared up at him, chirping innocently. Finally, Calais sighed, and knelt to pick up the snakelike creature. "Aww, Mom's gonna just love this. What are you, anyway?" He muttered, half to himself as the creature happily curled up in his arms and fell asleep.
