Shift
09-06-2008, 10:11 PM
Ok, well, I had inspiration the other day, yesterday, I guess...... SOOOOOOO, I wrote this. I really like the plot and such though, so I think I may actually work with it, maybe give a beginning to this random part. lol Anyway, here it is:
![[Image: shadi.png]](http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q277/Mques/shadi.png)
![[Image: chitsa.png]](http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q277/Mques/chitsa.png)
![[Image: nascha.png]](http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q277/Mques/nascha.png)
She was gone, both of them were. I was alone. Drops of black rain pelted my face, sending cold chills down my spine, and truthfully, my jacket did little but weigh me down and cling uncomfortably to my copper-toned skin. How could I have let this happen? I'm supposed to protect them, keep them safe. That's what mom told me, demanded me to do, and I'd failed. No, there was still time, still hope, I just have to run.
I was surrounded on all sides by vibrant green foliage, almost enlivened by the moisture that clung to every surface, which not even the thick, lush canopy above could block. It was so sudden, and they'd come out of nowhere. I should have seen it coming, they move with the wind. Almost as if on queue, a strong draft, carving its way through the forest of trunks and leaves, blew the rain at a 40 degree slope. The droplets stung icily at every exposed piece of flesh on my body, and viciously pelted my clothing with the soft, constant plips.
I attempted to scream, but my voice was cut off by the sound of the rain. No, that wasn't it, I wasn't strong enough to scream. I'd failed my sisters, and the guilt was crippling. Literally, crippling. My legs gave out beneath my light body, and my I fell hardly against the soaked forest floor without any attempts at ease. Warm, salty tears were running down my cheeks before I even realized it, and my body seized with sobs. What? Why was I crying? I should be moving.... Searching. I can't, it's too late. My mind kept bickering with itself as my cheeks, numb and cold, now, from the rain, flushed, my usually tan skin lost all signs of pigment, and I lay, listlessly and unmoving against a rotting, moss-covered log. I didn't blink, I didn't breathe for what seemed like hours. It was as if I'd died, and just couldn't seem to escape the confines of my weak body.
Above, in the ruffled canopy, something darted to and fro, sending the showers of leaves flapping to the ground, wet, much like I had only moments previous. The leaves themselves didn't interest me, it was the bird, the gorgeous bald-eagle that hovered over the patchy tree branches, staring down at me, that caught my attention. Hope wasn't lost. She'd returned. One of them, anyway. I felt a twinge of warmth in my chest, and like fire it spread throughout my body, as if reanimating my pale corpse. I managed to roll onto my stomach with a grunt of exertion and eased myself to my knees, my hands, now cut and bleeding from numerous small wounds. I glanced upward at the bird, who watched me intensely, before perching on the highest branch, it's rigid figure eased as I moved about upon the floor, giving it the message that I was still alive.
"Chitsa!" I wailed at the top of my lungs, my voice faltering and skipping with the last "a." The sound of my broken voice echoed through the wood, and was quickly lost in the thundering hum of the downpour.
The bird cocked it's head in an investigative manner, gently unfurling it's wings and screeching just loud enough to be heard by my enhanced human ears, in return to my call. Shaking off the accumulated raindrops that rested like cheetah spots on it's light feathers, the eagle hopped from branch to branch, descending toward the forest floor. Descending towards me, visibly too damp to fly. As the bird perched itself unmoving on a branch, no more than ten feet above, it stepped off, as if it were a suicidal teen, feeling that the only way to be happy was to not live at all. With an almost painful looking jerk its wings sprawled, catching the draft. In the blink of the eye, two warm arms were wrapped around my rather slender neck, gripping me so tightly I though I might actually be being strangled. Of course, I knew I wasn't, for I knew the arms of my sister, mostly due to her uncanny ability to exert heat.
My eyes reddened and thankful tears ran down my face, replacing the painful ones that had vanished from my eyes. Chitsa was here. Where she belonged. In my arms. But Nascha, where was Nascha? I hugged Chitsa tighter, and tighter still, because I never wanted to let go. Ever. We stayed there, neither of us attempted to move, or speak, or breathe for that matter. My mind, finally done bickering with itself, reminded me of Nascha..... I had to pipe up, I had to question.
"Nascha?" I questioned in little more than a whisper. It was all I could work up, for I was still weak from fear of loneliness. Without them, I had nothing.
"T-they got her, Shads. Stole her right out of my arms. Cocky, wolf mother fuc-" she began in a growl. Thankfully I cut her off before she could finish, a sixteen year old should most certainly not talk like that, "Chitsa, watch your mouth!"
"Now is definitely not the time to be motherly, Shadi!" she retorted in her usual, teenage-drama-queen manner, but no matter what, you had to love the girl. She was just so sweet.... when she wanted to be.
"I am not motherly!" I growled in false anger, I actually enjoyed the compliment, it meant I was doing my job. Doing what mother asked of me, before she...
"Shadi....." she interrupted my thought by rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically.
"Fine, maybe a little, but...... Where'd they take her, Chitsa?" I had to remember the most important thing, my mind was so hard to control, it always wants to wander. I'm supposed to be the put-together one! I'm the oldest!
"I followed them, they were moving quick, I lost them when they ran into some cave right on the border...." They'd almost made it to Canada!? That was a good 20 miles! Despite my bitter hatred for the Wolves, I couldn't help but be jealous. 20 miles in a matter of 2 hours. With a prisoner..... I bit my lip at that though. Our sister was their prisoner. Young, naive Nascha... Oh, who am I kidding, she's the smartest and the most mature of us. If anyone can handle this, it's her..... I hope.
"Can you show me?" I asked, trying to take my mind off of that thought.
"Yeah. Think you can keep up?" She mocked me. At a time like this. I laughed silently, always up for a challenge. I'm not going to lie, Chitsa is a handful.
"Have I ever not been able to?" I retorted wittily, smiling wide, trying to lighten our spirits. No success.
"Good point," she replied again, this time in a serious tone. That was unlike her.
With that, our embrace broke, and Chitsa looked me in the eyes with a hopeful smile, her asymmetrically banged, shoulder-length black hair drenched with rain, which was dripping from her chin. She gave me a light nod, and stood, jumping into the air, her skin ripping apart very dramatically, then recollecting into the shape of an eagle within milliseconds, a gold sheen rippled across her feathers for only a moment after transformation. Her tawny wings flapped gently against the wind, slicing through the falling rain. She was gaining altitude. I climbed to my feet instantly after she'd Shifted, and carefully sprinted off on foot in the direction Chitsa was now gliding above. I could just barely see her through the rain and the trees. Adrenaline began to coarse, to throb in my veins, and that twinge of heat in my chest singed my lungs and heart as if I were burning from the inside out. It wasn't painful, but there was no other feeling like it, so distinct, so powerful. I exhaled loudly, and within seconds, my body had exploded outward into a million pieces, recollected around my spirit in the stocky, instantly recognizable form of a grizzly bear. I barreled through the underlying brush of the wood at great speed, dodging trees and fallen obstacle. My black eyes, turned to the sky, occasionally glancing at Chitsa, just to make sure she was okay, an that I was still galloping on course. One eagle, one bear, and one cougar against a pack of wolves. The odds were matched evenly, I'd wager, only problem was.... they had our little cougar, and a head start.......
She was gone, both of them were. I was alone. Drops of black rain pelted my face, sending cold chills down my spine, and truthfully, my jacket did little but weigh me down and cling uncomfortably to my copper-toned skin. How could I have let this happen? I'm supposed to protect them, keep them safe. That's what mom told me, demanded me to do, and I'd failed. No, there was still time, still hope, I just have to run.
I was surrounded on all sides by vibrant green foliage, almost enlivened by the moisture that clung to every surface, which not even the thick, lush canopy above could block. It was so sudden, and they'd come out of nowhere. I should have seen it coming, they move with the wind. Almost as if on queue, a strong draft, carving its way through the forest of trunks and leaves, blew the rain at a 40 degree slope. The droplets stung icily at every exposed piece of flesh on my body, and viciously pelted my clothing with the soft, constant plips.
I attempted to scream, but my voice was cut off by the sound of the rain. No, that wasn't it, I wasn't strong enough to scream. I'd failed my sisters, and the guilt was crippling. Literally, crippling. My legs gave out beneath my light body, and my I fell hardly against the soaked forest floor without any attempts at ease. Warm, salty tears were running down my cheeks before I even realized it, and my body seized with sobs. What? Why was I crying? I should be moving.... Searching. I can't, it's too late. My mind kept bickering with itself as my cheeks, numb and cold, now, from the rain, flushed, my usually tan skin lost all signs of pigment, and I lay, listlessly and unmoving against a rotting, moss-covered log. I didn't blink, I didn't breathe for what seemed like hours. It was as if I'd died, and just couldn't seem to escape the confines of my weak body.
Above, in the ruffled canopy, something darted to and fro, sending the showers of leaves flapping to the ground, wet, much like I had only moments previous. The leaves themselves didn't interest me, it was the bird, the gorgeous bald-eagle that hovered over the patchy tree branches, staring down at me, that caught my attention. Hope wasn't lost. She'd returned. One of them, anyway. I felt a twinge of warmth in my chest, and like fire it spread throughout my body, as if reanimating my pale corpse. I managed to roll onto my stomach with a grunt of exertion and eased myself to my knees, my hands, now cut and bleeding from numerous small wounds. I glanced upward at the bird, who watched me intensely, before perching on the highest branch, it's rigid figure eased as I moved about upon the floor, giving it the message that I was still alive.
"Chitsa!" I wailed at the top of my lungs, my voice faltering and skipping with the last "a." The sound of my broken voice echoed through the wood, and was quickly lost in the thundering hum of the downpour.
The bird cocked it's head in an investigative manner, gently unfurling it's wings and screeching just loud enough to be heard by my enhanced human ears, in return to my call. Shaking off the accumulated raindrops that rested like cheetah spots on it's light feathers, the eagle hopped from branch to branch, descending toward the forest floor. Descending towards me, visibly too damp to fly. As the bird perched itself unmoving on a branch, no more than ten feet above, it stepped off, as if it were a suicidal teen, feeling that the only way to be happy was to not live at all. With an almost painful looking jerk its wings sprawled, catching the draft. In the blink of the eye, two warm arms were wrapped around my rather slender neck, gripping me so tightly I though I might actually be being strangled. Of course, I knew I wasn't, for I knew the arms of my sister, mostly due to her uncanny ability to exert heat.
My eyes reddened and thankful tears ran down my face, replacing the painful ones that had vanished from my eyes. Chitsa was here. Where she belonged. In my arms. But Nascha, where was Nascha? I hugged Chitsa tighter, and tighter still, because I never wanted to let go. Ever. We stayed there, neither of us attempted to move, or speak, or breathe for that matter. My mind, finally done bickering with itself, reminded me of Nascha..... I had to pipe up, I had to question.
"Nascha?" I questioned in little more than a whisper. It was all I could work up, for I was still weak from fear of loneliness. Without them, I had nothing.
"T-they got her, Shads. Stole her right out of my arms. Cocky, wolf mother fuc-" she began in a growl. Thankfully I cut her off before she could finish, a sixteen year old should most certainly not talk like that, "Chitsa, watch your mouth!"
"Now is definitely not the time to be motherly, Shadi!" she retorted in her usual, teenage-drama-queen manner, but no matter what, you had to love the girl. She was just so sweet.... when she wanted to be.
"I am not motherly!" I growled in false anger, I actually enjoyed the compliment, it meant I was doing my job. Doing what mother asked of me, before she...
"Shadi....." she interrupted my thought by rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically.
"Fine, maybe a little, but...... Where'd they take her, Chitsa?" I had to remember the most important thing, my mind was so hard to control, it always wants to wander. I'm supposed to be the put-together one! I'm the oldest!
"I followed them, they were moving quick, I lost them when they ran into some cave right on the border...." They'd almost made it to Canada!? That was a good 20 miles! Despite my bitter hatred for the Wolves, I couldn't help but be jealous. 20 miles in a matter of 2 hours. With a prisoner..... I bit my lip at that though. Our sister was their prisoner. Young, naive Nascha... Oh, who am I kidding, she's the smartest and the most mature of us. If anyone can handle this, it's her..... I hope.
"Can you show me?" I asked, trying to take my mind off of that thought.
"Yeah. Think you can keep up?" She mocked me. At a time like this. I laughed silently, always up for a challenge. I'm not going to lie, Chitsa is a handful.
"Have I ever not been able to?" I retorted wittily, smiling wide, trying to lighten our spirits. No success.
"Good point," she replied again, this time in a serious tone. That was unlike her.
With that, our embrace broke, and Chitsa looked me in the eyes with a hopeful smile, her asymmetrically banged, shoulder-length black hair drenched with rain, which was dripping from her chin. She gave me a light nod, and stood, jumping into the air, her skin ripping apart very dramatically, then recollecting into the shape of an eagle within milliseconds, a gold sheen rippled across her feathers for only a moment after transformation. Her tawny wings flapped gently against the wind, slicing through the falling rain. She was gaining altitude. I climbed to my feet instantly after she'd Shifted, and carefully sprinted off on foot in the direction Chitsa was now gliding above. I could just barely see her through the rain and the trees. Adrenaline began to coarse, to throb in my veins, and that twinge of heat in my chest singed my lungs and heart as if I were burning from the inside out. It wasn't painful, but there was no other feeling like it, so distinct, so powerful. I exhaled loudly, and within seconds, my body had exploded outward into a million pieces, recollected around my spirit in the stocky, instantly recognizable form of a grizzly bear. I barreled through the underlying brush of the wood at great speed, dodging trees and fallen obstacle. My black eyes, turned to the sky, occasionally glancing at Chitsa, just to make sure she was okay, an that I was still galloping on course. One eagle, one bear, and one cougar against a pack of wolves. The odds were matched evenly, I'd wager, only problem was.... they had our little cougar, and a head start.......
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
