10/6/13 - Nekio

So I started a new RP and, of course, ended up drawing my character as soon as I finished his profile. Anyway I really, really, really, liked how it came out so I'm posting it up here!

I give you, Einar

Link to RP

Short!

Two more days till House Of Hades!!!

10/3/13 - Writing

I'm actually very proud of myself. I didn't think I would be able to keep up with this as well as I have since school started. Keeping in mind I could do better I am still amazed at me. *pats self on back* Go me! Anywho I briefly edited some of more of my story and decided I would put it up here despite the fact that it still needs ALOT of work. So here is the latest section on Rilanen. Enjoy!

As they entered the Dining Hall Aaiel, as usual, was jabbering on about something, but Rilanen was paying more attention to the people around him. As he studied closer he could see they all moved with a grace that humans just didn’t have, all had bright colored eyes, and some even had features that reminded you of some animal or another. “So all these people are shifters?” Rilanen asked interrupting whatever Aaiel had been saying.

 “Yeah and you are to, but lets get some food. I’m starving!” Skipping over to the buffet Aaiel started piling her plate high with fruit, veggies, and raw meat; all on kabobs.

“What are you doing with those?” Rilanen asked as he walked up and took a look at what they had, Wholly cow they’ve got EVERYTHING! Rilanen thought his gaze flickering over everything from expensive fruits from Jamaica to the hamburgers you could get at McDonalds.

“Oh see you get what ever you want on kabobs and then with one of these mini grills you grill it up with any sauce you want.” Aaiel explained grabbing what looked like half a white sphere.

Following her lead Rilanen quickly got a kabob with pineapple, strawberries, and kiwi, and another with lamb, beef, and pork. Walking after Aaiel they sat down at a table already crowded with people. “Why are we sitting here?” Rilanen asked, “It looks pretty full.”

“Well sure dummy it’s my crew, so sit down.”

“Crew?” Rilanen asked as he obediently sat down next to Aaiel.

“Oh they’re kind of like gangs or cliques, but a bit nicer, and all the shifters make them even adults. It’s like how wolves travel in packs, a pack of wolves, a flock of geese, a crew of shape-shifters.”

“Oh” Rilanen said absent-mindedly eating a piece of pineapple off his kabob.

“Hey who’s this?” One of the guys asked, pointing his fork at Rilanen.

“Is he your boyfriend?” another said mockingly.

“Meet Tado and Friez, my older brothers.” Aaiel said to Rilanen “Although I don’t know how we ended up related by blood.” She whispered just loud enough for the two to hear.

“Hey!”

“Don’t go hating on us!” they complained winking at each other.

“And this is Red, Joun, and Defi.” Aaiel said introducing the other three teenagers at the table, “Currently our crew doesn’t have a name as we were all caught today, except for Defi,” Aaiel said while gesturing to a tall dark skinned girl with long dark braided hair, yellow eyes, and what looked like a knife sheath strapped to her waist, “Who used to be with the Auaos before she moved over here. Everyone this is Rilanen.”

“Uhhh hi?” Rilanen said as six sets of bright eyes stared at him.

“What forms do you have?” Red asked

Looking at him closely Rilanen started with surprise, it was obvious where Red got his nickname. Red looked to be about 17 with tan skin, wavy brown hair, and bright orange-red eyes. “Forms?” Rilanen asked still a bit unnerved by Red’s eyes.

“Rilanen here just found out he’s a shifter!” Aaiel said excitedly, “So he wouldn’t know what his forms were, and he’ll only have one.”

“Just found out he’s a shifter!” Tado said slinging an arm around Friez’s shoulders, “How exciting!” Friez said copying the motion.

Looking at the two Rilanen suddenly noticed that they were almost identical, “Are you two twins?” he asked looking between the two and finding no difference except for clothes and eyes color, one set was blue and the other green.

“You bet it!” they said at the same time leaning closer,

“But what about you,”

“What’s your first form?”

“What are they talking about?” Rilanen asked Aaiel his eyes flickering to hers and back to the twins who intently studying his face.

“Your first form is an involuntary change into the animal that most represents your soul, after such shift in human form the individual’s features are altered slightly to represent whatever that first animal was. In some the first shift is obvious and in others you will hardly notice.”

For a second Rilanen didn’t notice that is wasn’t Aaiel that had spoken but Joun. Looking over to the small girl Rilanen quickly took in the pale skin, silvery blonde hair and dark black eyes. “Oh, well I don’t ever remember turning into an animal.”

“Hmmmm that would make sense, If you thought you were human, even at the age of eight, your brain would probably be powerful enough to bury the memories that didn’t follow what you thought were the rules of the world. Shifter brains can be powerful and stubborn, it seems you were born with both.”

“Yeah,” “But that,” “Doesn’t answer,” “Our question.” The twins said from behind Rilanen, making him start and spin very quickly to grab the hand that was pulling at his hair, “What was your first?” 

“For the last time, I do not know.” Rilanen said dropping Tado’s hand

“Well come on,” “stand up.”

“What?!”

“Stand up.” “So we can look you over.”

Slowly standing Rilanen turned to the twins, “Ok?”

“Hmmmm.” They said at the same time, their eyes flickering over Rilanen, “Consensus says… wolf!”

“Wolf?” Rilanen said confusedly looking down at himself, trying to see what they saw.

“Really?” Aaiel said bouncing up at looking closely Rilanen, “That’s so cool!”

“Why is a wolf cooler than any other animal?” Rilanen asked slowly sitting back down.

“Well wolves are one of the hardest animal to shift to because they are so complex, some times it takes years so study. But there are a few lucky shifters that are born with their first animal as a wolf, these shifters are usually born higher up in crew rank than other shifters.”

“Wait you study to turn into animals?” Rilanen asked, he had been wondering how that worked, did they just pop into different forms when ever they wanted? Did they fight over the right to turn into an animal? Did they get to pick?

“I’ll show you later.” Aaiel said turning back to her food, “But right now I’m going to finish so we can go outside and try to trigger your transformation.”

“Umm, how?” Rilanen said nervously seeing a glint come into Defi’s eyes.

“You’ll see!” Aaiel sang as she bit off a piece of her kabob and ate it.

“Ooooo,” “We want to come!” the twins said walking around and sitting down across from Rilanen once more.

“Well of course! We’ll all come.” Red said glancing at Joun and Defi, “Right?”

“Count me in.” Defi spoke for the first time. “Forcing changes is fun.” She said picking up her food and throwing it away.

“It would be a good studying opportunity.” Joun said doing the same.

“Wait what would we be doing!” Rilanen asked again, Fun? Studying opportunity? That most certainly does not sound fun!

“You’ll be fine!” Aaiel said trashing her own food as she grabbed Rilanen’s arm and started pulling him towards the door.

Scooping up his food and throwing it out Rilanen allowed himself to be pulled along as the rest of the crew followed. As they stepped into the commons Rilanen realized there were a lot more people in here than last time, and that the wall was cracking where he had slammed into it. “That’s not good.” Rilanen said and as Aaiel followed is gaze he shook her arm off his.

“It’ll be fine!” she said continuing on, weaving between the people who were moving around.

“Are you sure?”

“What are they going to do?”

“They kind of have us trapped in a government base for testing, what can’t they do?”

“Kill or hurt us.” Joun spoke up, “It would cost them a ton of money and they would have lost a test subject.”

“Oh, can they starve us?”

“Again no the subject would then be at a less than normal state, unless that was what the experiment called for, they wouldn’t want that.”

“Oh.” Looking up Rilanen realized they had already walked out the door and into the dark green woods. Looking for Aaiel Rilanen wondered why she wasn’t talking, was she hurt? As he turned around Rilanen saw that everyone had disappeared. “Hello?”

 Rilanen asked his voice echoing off the trees. They couldn’t be that far from the building, could they? Turning around to head back the way he had come Rilanen suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back as a finger was pressed on a pressure point. Falling to his knees Rilanen keened for a moment before the finger removed itself and the pain faded. Jumping to his Rilanen jumped to his feet and spun in a quick circle, making no other noise than a low growling in the back of his throat. What am I doing?! Rilanen asked himself, snapping out of the defensive position he was in. Turning again and making much more noise Rilanen felt, but didn’t see, the foot that slammed into his back, throwing him against a nearby tree. Quickly getting to his feet Rilanen jumped towards where the attack had come from faster than any human could follow, feeling the rush of air as his enemy moved just in time. Turning his jump into a roll Rilanen again came to his feet quickly and quietly growling all the louder. Wha- Suddenly Rilanen again got a finger in the back but this time a little off center, again falling Rilanen this time slid out a leg and swung it behind him tripping, nobody? What is this? Rilanen thought again coming out of the animalistic behavior. Why am I like this?

Again the attacker came and this time hit Rilanen on the back of his neck before slapping him and stepping on his foot triggering yet another pressure point. Trying to run Rilanen was quickly tripped and someone or something pressed into the same spot on his back, much, much harder. Yowling in pain Rilanen thrashed and writhed trying to throw his attacker. Eventually Rilanen’s struggles got weaker and weaker and his voice got hoarse and dry until he was just twitching occasionally. When the hand was removed from his back Rilanen didn’t even notice accept that he stopped trying to produce some sort of sound.

“I really didn’t think we would have to take it this far.” Someone whispered to the right of an almost unconscious Rilanen,

“He has a strong mind, he can hold himself together better.” Someone answered just as quietly and soon the two presences faded.

Also a few weeks ago I watercolored a horse made of art supplies, kinda strange but I thought of it while putting this together and decided to put it up here. A little abstract but wa-la!

One last thing! A few days ago I was thinking and realized that books are a big part of the media and art in my life so I thought I'd start writing reviews on a few that I read and commenting on others. Currently I am reading the Seven Realms series and am throughly hooked, in a weird kinda way. The books are a lot slower than what I usually read so I don't know what is keeping me turning the pages, but I can't put them down! Currently I am in the middle of The Grey Wolf Throne, the third book in the series.

This is loooonnnnggggg! Woah this is getting REALLY long but I have to mention, HOUSE OF HADES COMES OUT OCTOBER 8TH! *sighs* I feel much better now that I've let it out. These books are for below my age level but I started reading them forever ago and became an instant fan so everyone Rick Riordan is an amazing writer and I encourage anyone looking for a good fantasy adventure novel series.

9/21/13 - Egypt

Hey guys! If you hadn't noticed yet I love mythology of any kind, I don't know why it just fascinates me! So earlier today I was surfing the web looking at egyptian websites and books decided to do a little egyptian project. I ended up drawing the Eye of Horus and the Djed of Osiris, so here are those.

Horus and Osiris

Earlier in the week I also drew a pair of eyes, just some idle in-class doodling, and they turned out pretty good so I decided to put them up here. (I am actually really surprised that these turned out so well as I did not have a reference picture as I usually do)

9/15/13 - Weave

Wow, I haven't been on here in a little bit, almost a month! *blinks* And I thought I was doing so well! Anyhow last week one of my friends at school showed me how to do this cool weave thing, after mastering the technique I thought I'd put it up here! Hope you enjoy!

Weave

Also today I thought I'd put up the next little section  of my story. This section is a little short but in a week or so I'll put up the next part, still doesn't have a name yet *brainstorms furiously* but, hopefully, it will soon! :P

Either I’m going crazy, was transported to another dimension, or everything I’ve known all my life is a lie. As Rilanen though over the possible scenarios he unconsciously began walking back to his room, What was the last thing you remember? Rilanen asked himself You need to get your facts strait.

I had just finished my homework Rilanen thought And I was taking a walk in the woods Sighing, Rilanen thought of the silver trees and blue skies that had always calmed him. Snapping back to the task at hand Rilanen thought again but, hit a memory block? What happened after that!? Rilanen asked himself. After a few minutes Rilanen gave up on penetrating the blank gray wall in his mind and looked around him. Suddenly realizing he had stopped in the middle of the hallway Rilanen blushed and scooted to the side and looked for his room, 8^th on the right. Pushing open the door that strangely didn’t have a knob Rilanen stepped forward and collapsed onto the bed. This place is so freaky he thought rolling over to look up at the ceiling. Closing his eyes Rilanen thought of tall tree trunks and golden leaves falling through the fog around him as a slight breeze blew away his dreaming Rilanen opened his eyes again. Wow this place reminds me of home Looking closer Rilanen saw how the golden accents on the blue and silver furniture looked exactly like his forest, I wonder if it was designed that way.

Sitting up again Rilanen walked back over to his door, I need to find out what’s going on here Pushing it open, Rilanen stepped out of the door and once more into the hall, I wonder where Aaiel’s room is? As he thought this the door across from his opened and Aaiel stepped out.

“Hey!” she said skipping closer, “What’re you doing out here?” she asked her purple eyes sparkling, “You want to go get something to eat with me?” she asked skipping slightly in the direction of the doors at the end of the hall, “Or do you want to stay here and mope?”

“Uhhh eating sounds good.” Rilanen managed to stammer before Aaiel took off again.

“Well come on then silly, I hear they buffets with any kind of food you can image at these places.” She rambled on walking down to the door that led to the commons, “I wonder if it’s true? The government runs this place, and they are investing a TON of money in in. Seems a little weird, why do humans care so much anyway?”

As Aaiel went on and on Rilanen looked carefully at her eyes, I don’t see any contacts Rilanen thought. He could usually see them by the reflection of light off of them, that’s weird I wonder if she actually got surgery to make her eyes purple. As they walked into the common room Aaiel finally shut up long enough for Rilanen to get a questions in, “Why are your eyes purple?” he asked quickly before she could start up again.

“What do you mean?” Aaiel asked, “I was born like this. And hey lucky you! You got a human eyes color, blue! They’re so dark yet they kinda shimmer a lighter color when you turn your head.”

With Aaiel in up in his face Rilanen backed up a little, “What do you mean you were born with them?” he asked, “Humans don’t have purple eyes!”

“Nobody here is human silly!” Aaiel exclaimed finally backing up, “We’re all shifters! Born and raised!”

“Uhh I think you have the wrong guy.” Rilanen said pulling on his shirt, “I am human.”

Suddenly stopping Aaiel slowly turned to face him from where she had been walking off to what he assumed was the dining hall, “You’re what?” She asked

“Human.” Rilanen said firmly as if he could make this all go away by saying so.

Slowly walking back over to him Aaiel lifted one of his arms up and then the other, touched is forehead, pulled his ear. As she walked behind him Rilanen thought to himself, Why is that such a bi- Suddenly Rilanen was shoved forward very very hard, and he went flying across the room. As he slammed into the wall Rilanen stuck out a foot and spun in the same motion, controlling his fall so he landed on his feet. Quickly walking back to Aaiel, Rilanen rubbed his back, “What was that for!?” he asked sure he would have a giant bruise.

“Liar, liar pants on fire.” Aaiel said happily skipping around him, “You are to a shifter!”

“No I’m not!” Rilanen protested, “I don’t even know what shifter means!”

“Then how did you land on you feet?” Aaiel asked.

“I don’t know!”

“Here the final test!” Suddenly ripping off is shirt Aaiel spun him around.

“Hey!” Rilanen exclaimed grabbing for his shirt, “What was that for?”

“Hold still!” she said grabbing his arms.

Quickly twisting Rilanen got out of her grip and grabbed his shirt.

“Wait!” Aaiel said, “I just want to see if you have a bruise!”

“Of course I have a bruise!” Rilanen practically shouted, “You just threw me into a wall!”

Laughing Aaiel gently touched the center of his back, “No you don’t”

“What!”

“And you got out of my grip, only a shifter could do that!”

Pulling on his shirt Rilanen slowly turned to face her, “There’s no way, I don’t even know what shifter stands for.”

“Shifter is for shape-shifter my young apprentice.” Aaiel said grinning, “And I am going to teach you how to be one.”

8/20/13 - More Color!

Hey! So today I was listening to music and doing nothing when the song that came on shot me with a high power double inspiration needle. Soooo after quickly hopping to my feet I grabbed my sketchbook  and a pencil and started my masterpiece. When I finished the vision in my head I decided it need a bit more so after some tinkering I give you my project. 

And here is just a random picture I drew as I am kinda on a Greek Streak (P.S. More color! Go me!)

8/19/13 - Asturm

I admit that I have a bit of a problem, I am so obsessed with RPs (roleplays) that I am drawing sketches of characters in them, characters that aren't even mine. Anyway this is a lightning mage, hence the blue lines on his sword (Yes the sword is crooked, I fail sometimes, deal with it) the boy's name is Astrum and he is 15. If you would like the link to the RP I am know as Raven301 on Dragon Cave Forums - The Dark Lords

Astrum

Also I thought this was funny and by no means take claim for it.

8/14/13 - Horse

Hey! Sees like I'm doing ok with the whole post at least once a week thing, I only missed one or two. Right? Anyhow today I was looking at Vampire Deer, aka Chinese Water Deer, and thought 'why don't I draw a vampire horse?' so first I drew a basic horse, with much fussing over the ears that would NOT look right, and tried to add fangs. Now I know why horses aren't vampires. Any way that I could thing to put those teeth on they would not work with me! I guess it makes sense since horses and herbivores that sharp teeth not work, but it worked in my head!

So here is the normal horse, no bloodsucking.

8/7/13 - Color!

Hey! Today I actually used color in my art! I am so proud of me. *pats head* Anyway today I decided to draw a dragon -again- and it started just as the usual sketch but as I added more and more layer I started thinking about how coolio it would be with color so I broke in my 50/50 color pencils and got to work! SO anyway I took a pic at each stage in the dragon-drawing so I thought I'd post all three!

One - simple sketch, nothing special 

Two - some lines are added, actually a bit over whelming

Three - color is added and I think it ends up looking nice :D

7/23/13 - Back from camp!

I'm back! Right as I got back from camp my family has gone on vacation! So right now I am on a two week journey to and around Virginia and Washington D.C. Right now I am in the basement of one of my mom's friends, earlier I drew a hawk and a dragon so here is both!

While in the great state of Virginia I took a tour of the Virginia Tech campus and being the animal nerd I am ended up in at the dairy farm and horse stables. While near the horses me and my sister, her friend along with my dad and my moms friend we fed the horses. I took a few pics and decided to put the best up here. Voila!

7/14/13 - Two days in a row

I feel so proud of myself! I am posting two days in a row! Yaaaayyyyy! Anyway I am heading off to a camp later today and there is a party at the end of the week, the theme of this party is masquerade! Because of this me and a friend that is coming with made masks. They are cat themed and go together in a matching-yet-different kinda way, unfortunately I don't have and pics of her mask but here's mine! Hope you like!

Ok so a few weeks ago I took an artwork-seeing trip around my town. One of my favorites was this fountain. I like how it is sharp edged and cubey (is that a word?) but also seems soft and flowey (?!?!?!) Anyway this is the picture that took over the cactus flower with a bee as screen saver on my phone. Enjoy!

7/13/13 - Writing

Soooooo . . . In my spare time I will sometimes write, I've never put it up anywhere but there's always a first time! Titles always seem to escape me and this is a very new story so I guess title it Untitled? Anyway I have a RP (role play) with much the same theme and thought I'd give writing it a shot. Although this is very short I hope you like it! XD

***

Slowly walking through the quiet woods, Eelian scowled at the tall trees and foggy air. These woods were far from home, here the trees seemed dead and lifeless with pale gray trucks and golden leaves, the squish of wet pine needles beneath his feet, and the fog, that stupid fog. The fog that masked everything, sound, scent, and especially sight. Cursing Eelian swatted a bug from the air and looked over his shoulder, a shifter was supposed to live in these woods, he didn’t want it sneaking up on him.

            Crouching down Eelian peered through the uncertain light,

If I were a shifter where would I go?  As he rose again Eelian tensed as he saw a glimpse of blue through the slender trunks. Quickly and quietly spinning to face the unexpected color Eelian pulled his identifier out of his pocket. There! As a human figure moves slowly through the forest Eelian quickly did a scan.

Ah ha shifter!  Quietly creeping closer Eelian takes a silver needle from his pocket. Right behind the shifter now Eelian stands up at his full 6’ 4”.

“You should really watch behind you.” He said and as the shifter spun to face him Eelian stuck the needle in the back of it’s neck, “Might get you killed someday.” Then the shifter collapsed.

***

As Rilanen opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that he was on a bed, and quite a nice one too. Groggily pushing himself into a siting position Rilanen ran a hand through his hair and yawned. What is this place? He thought to himself, standing up. As he looked around Rilanen quickly took in that he seemed to be in a bedroom themed the color blue. Pale blue sheets covered the bed framed by light colored wood making up the headboard and bedposts. Watercolor curtains covered large windows that went from floor to ceiling accenting the blue walls that had a pale slivery gray pattern flowing and seeming to move over them. As a part of him was studying his surroundings most of his attention was focused on the head that had just popped through his door

“Hi! I’m Aaiel who are you?” it asked quickly, “How long have you been here? I’ve only been here for a few hours. Imagine that! I got caught!” As the rest of the teenage girl slipped into his room Rilanen scooted back. This was the kind of person he stayed away from. She was hyper, hyper, hyper and she still hadn’t shut up.

“I guess that’s what I get for traveling with preseies but hey! They’re fun! They’re like little balls of energy that bounce around and even if they can’t control their shifting very well”

As Aaiel carried on and on Rilanen went and opened one of his windows. Whoa! He thought not believing what he saw, this is like some sort of military base! As he looked around Rilanen saw a tall fence that had a sign warning of electrocution and a thick wall that seemed to rise out of the ground. Paired with the guards milling around the wall the place looked pretty secure. Realizing that Aaiel had finally shut up Rilanen turned to her. “What are they keeping here?” he asked with obvious awe in his voice

“Why us silly!” Aaiel laughed, “Haven’t you figured it out yet? We got caught by one of those government lab thingys everyone has been talking about!”

“Whaa?” Rilanen replied still thoroughly confused, “I haven’t heard anything about that, and why would they be trapping kids anyway?”

“Dummy!” Aaiel scolded shaking her finger, “You really don’t have to hide it anymore! Everyone knows you’re a shifter!” Looking over her shoulder at the door Aaiel’s bright purple eyes widened and she sprung away, “See you later!’ she called as Rilanen stared after her open-mouthed.

Such a confusing person Rilanen thought and purple eyes? She must have contacts or something. What’s a shifter I wonder? As he closed the window again Rilanen noticed a door branching off of the room that he hadn’t seen before. Walking into the room it took him a minute but Rilanen realized it was a bathroom, but a hugely oversized belongs-in-a-millionaire’s-house bathroom. What do they plan on washing in here? Rilanen thought as he gazed around. In one corner the bathroom had a glass bathtub as big as a king size bed complete with jets and lights, in another a shower supporting two traditional shower heads as well as one that replicated rain patterns laid in with tiles in pale gold, silver, and blue that seemed to shimmer. With fluffy blue towels and a marble countertop the bathroom was ridiculously extravagant. Seriously why waste so much money on a bathroom? Rilanen thought as he ran his hands along the heated silver walls. Walking back into the bedroom Rilanen discovered a small closet already filled with clothes his size and a pale desk with a computer that seemed to be able to do everything. Falling back on the bed Rilanen sighed and looked at his wrist. Hey! Where’s my watch? Rilanen thought as he quickly sat up. After rummaging through the bedside table next to him Rilanen finally found his watch. It’s 10:47!? Coming to his feet Rilanen slowly opened the door and peeked his head out. Coming out into a hall Rilanen looked left then right and saw doors just like his stretching out in either direction. To the right Rilanen could see a door at the end of the hall and cautiously stepping out of his room Rilanen walked towards it, counting the number of doors he passed.

8^th on the right Rilanen told himself as he pushed open the heavy door. Coming to a sort of common room Rilanen saw couches and fancy chairs surrounding low coffee tables and fireplaces. A part of Rilanen’s mind admired the huge flat screen that dominated one wall while most of him was drawn to the solid glass wall the gave a great view of the surrounding land. Pressing his hands against the glass Rilanen stared in awe at the majestic purple mountains that were just touched by the golden sunrise as they loomed over a perfect glass lake reflecting everything in startling clarity. As banks of silver fog drifted giving everything a magical tint the deep green and blue woods beckoned to play with the shadows and dance with life. Wow, that’s a nice view. As he looked to the left Rilanen saw a crowd of people and animals. Cursing to himself Rilanen jumped back as he realized what he was seeing. Going back to the window Rilanen confirmed that there seemed to be leopards and wolves as well as lions and bears completely and comfortably mixed into the crowd. What’s with this place? Rilanen thought as he saw a teenage girl talking with a deer, And what are they looking at? As he looked for a door Rilanen saw someone walk in out of the corner of his eye. The boy looked to be about 16 or 17 and had dark hair, bright silver eyes and glasses.

“Hey!” Rilanen asked turning, “What’s going on out there?” he asked

“That?” the boy answered gesturing to the crowd, “Oh Tiquan is fighting Hal for leadership of the Revals.” The boy said, pushing his glasses up his nose, “Again.”

“Ooookkkk.” Rilanen said trying again, “Where are we?”

“Lab 8.” The boy said looking curiously at Rilanen, “I haven’t seen you around, are you new?”

“Ummmm yeah.” Rilanen said running a hand through his hair, “My name is Rilanen, who are you?”

“I’m Isrian.” Isrian said extending his hand, “I usually help out with the newbies.”

“Nice to meet you.” Rilanen said shaking hands with Isrian, “Why are there animals out there?” Rilanen asked as he went back over to the window.

“Oh here you don’t need to hide.” Isrian said as he too walked over to the glass wall, “Everyone except the scientists and the ficos is a shifter.” Isrian explained, “And we are all under 15 when we’re caught.”

As Rilanen turned to stare confusedly at Isrian he realized the older boy had walked over to another door, “Well I’ve got to go but if you need anything my room is the last on the left.” Isrian said as he pushed open the door and the delicious smell of cooking food wafted out, “Bye!”

Seeing a door nearby Rilanen stumbled outside, Well that was confusing! He thought to himself as he walked over to the fight. As he came closer to the crowd Rilanen heard the sounds of a fight between animals? Pushing through some of the people and looking over others Rilanen finally got a glimpse of the fight. “Wha-at” Rilanen stammered as he let himself be pushed to the back of the crowd. What Rilanen had seen made no sense what so ever in the middle of an arena were two fighters but they weren’t human or bears or wolves or foxes or tigers or horses or hawks, no they had changed, changed between all of those and more. “That is not possible.” Rilanen told himself, Buuuutttt a part of his mind went remember what Aaiel said? ‘Everyone knows you’re a shifter’ and Isrian ‘Everyone here is a shifter’ they must have meant shape-shifter! That’s not possible! As he warred with himself Rilanen suddenly realized that everyone was breaking up. Looking over different heads Rilanen saw one wolf on his belly in front of the other, showing all signs of submission, and another growling over him. Suddenly the two wolves’ forms shimmered and it was two teens shaking hands before one got the other in a headlock and they were laughing and rough housing like any other pair of friends.