***
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.
8th 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.
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