[CW: skin-tearing, mild gore themes, pain & discomfort]

    I trudged through the forest, leaving the party behind me, feet crashing through the undergrowth. 

    I wasn’t even sure why I came, I was never really one for parties, doubly so when they came with an hour of standing in the midnight chill - even if there was the promise of a fireworks display at the end of it. 

    The music of the festivities grew quiet and distant behind me, lost amongst the trees, the forest growing darker with each step. Overhead, stars twinkled through the bare branches. The moon was little more than a crescent, barely illuminating the path ahead of me, yet I sensed there was something calling me on. I paused a moment against a pine tree, one of the few trees in the forest still bearing their needles, watching the faint haze of my breath misting in the cold air. 

    A glimpse of red caught my eye: a small shrub, its dense leaves dotted with clusters of berries.  Covered by a layer of thin ice, they glittered slightly in the low light. Whether it was the sight of the berries, or something else, I was struck by how hungry I felt. I reached down, picking a few, slivers of ice cascading to the ground. 

    The taste was sweet and slightly sour, and oh so delicious. I savoured the taste, feeling the cool juice trickle down my throat, already reaching for me. With each berry I ate, the taste grew stronger, my hunger growing with it. Soon, I was swallowing whole clusters at a time until the bush was bare and empty. I stepped back, leaning back against the fir, feeling the weight of the berries settling in my stomach. 

    For the moment, I felt full and content. Resting a hand on my belly, I could feel the curve of it through my clothes, imagining it bulging after my feast. Gradually, the sensation grew, a heavy sensation in my torso. Confused, I looked down, seeing just how far my chest was bulging, straining at my clothes. 

    I didn’t have much time to think when the second wave of feeling hit me, muscles through my body tensing, an ache in my bones, a building pressure under my skin. I staggered forward, legs protesting with every step, the growing weight of my body bearing down on them. 

    I called for help, shouts surely lost to the distance, drowned out by the noise - but it was all I could seem to do, barely able to make my way from one tree to the next. 

    My body grew warmer, clothes tight against my swelling body. I still had no idea what was happening to me, but I knew I had to get out of my clothes, and fast. Bracing myself against a pine, I slowly pulled my clothes off, more and more hastily, practically tearing them from my body until I could feel the winter chill against bare skin. 

    I risked a look down at my body, already feeling so strange and alien. My torso bulged out in front of me, skin stretched tight over muscles I never knew I had, a burning sensation as they grew. My heart pounded in my chest, steam rising from my ragged breath, apprehension and excitement clouding my mind. As much as the changes terrified me, and as much as they hurt, the growing feeling of strength and power was exhilarating. 

    I made a few hesitant steps forward, trying to get a better sense of how my body was changing. Bones crunches and snapped with every step, adjusting to my growing muscles and changing anatomy. My legs seemed to grew shorter, squatter, thighs swelling outwards. Flexing my arms I could see new muscles bulging and moving, imagining I could tear a trunk apart with my bare hands. 

    Another wave of warmth filled me, the chill of the night air seeming to fade. My body continued to grow larger, stretching my skin out even more, though this time my muscles grew indistinct under a layer of fat, soft and insulating. I ran my hands down my body, oddly content, imagining I could survive the winter on my growing bulk. 

    And still my body continued to change, bones protesting, finally pushing my skin to its limit. A wave of pain struck my head, forcing me to clutch at it in agony, pressure building behind my face. With a series of crunches, my jaw pushed forward, forcefully bursting out of my mouth, skin tearing away. The sensation was more liberating than painful, my old, human skin no longer a part of me. I stared down in surprise at the brown-furred muzzle gradually filling my vision, nose pushing out with it, now small and black at the end of my muzzle. Confused and afraid, I grasped at my face, tearing loose skin away, revealing my brown fur underneath. My vision shifted slightly, eyes adjusting on my larger head, the dark forest growing brighter and clearer. 

    As my fingers reached across my furred head, freeing much rounder ears, realisation dawned: somehow, I was becoming a bear. My heart pounded in my chest, pulse powerful and strong, the feeling of exhilaration growing. I screamed again, human cries turning into a bellowing roar of triumph. 

    My hands grew large, claws bursting from my fingers, pulling back into powerful claws. I thrashed about, freeing more and more of my ursine body, human skin falling away into the undergrowth. Without really noticing, I tipped forward, bulk resting on my arms as my rear expanded, pushing away the rest of my old, human skin. It felt freeing, wonderful, feeling the scoop air playing across my fur. A few twinges and pops at the base of my spine, and a short, stubby tail emerged, signalling the end of my transformation. 

    I shuffled about for a moment, rearing up in my hind legs, new claws digging into the dirt as I braved myself against a tree, rubbing back and forth on the bark, shedding the last of my human skin, satisfying new bestial urges. Somewhere in the distance, the sky lit up, echoing booms of fireworks carrying through the still air - the meaning of the festivities now lost to me. 

    I settled back down on all fours, the urge to find a nice cave to rest in growing, competing with a low growl from a now-hungry belly. I turned back towards the party, the scent of a barbecue carrying… after all, a little mid-hibernation snack wouldn’t hurt.