Lost

Chapter 29: The Sandy Diner

Rookie's P.O.V.

I stood on the top of a spruce tree, overlooking the entire forest as I held onto the trunk with one of my front human paws and stood on my hind legs.

Flying was so much more efficient than walking, I don't know why I didn't do it more.

A human / place - town I heard some people call it - in the distance. Why not? I have nothing better to do.

I flapped my wings and flew through the air. The trees zipped past me below my shadow and wind ruffled my ears. I like flying. It makes me feel free like all my worries are below me instead of suffocating me.

I landed in the shadows behind a couple of trees near the town. Humans walked past me. Some of them had animal attributes, some of them didn't.

I figured I wouldn't stick out too much and stood on my hind legs. It was getting easier to walk like that.

Of course I was slow at first, walking down the street on my scrawny human legs, but as I got into the rhythm I started to speed up the process.

I followed my nose to a human den, crammed full of food scents. I opened the see-through door and walked inside.

'Welcome to Sandy's Donaire, how may I help you?' A woman behind a counter asked.

Sand? This place doesn't have any sand in it, why would they call it Sandy's Donaire?

'Um, what do you have to eat?' I asked cautiously. What if they figured out I wasn't human?

'Here's our menu, miss.' the woman smiled and handed me a piece of paper.

'Um, I - uh,' How do I say I don't know how to read without sounding like a complete idiot?

'No worries,' the woman took the menu and wrote something down on a piece of paper. Had she guessed I can't read? 'You'll be having the Sunday Special, no? Everyone's ordering it these days.'

'Yes.' I said, not knowing what a Sunday Special was but I was too hungry to care.

She handed me a bowl full of red soup and spoon. I said thanks and started eating it as the bell on the door rang and a group of 3 boys walked in. One had brown hair and blue eyes, another had spiky red hair and red eyes, and the last had half white half red hair and one red and the other grey eyes.

They sat at the counter a couple feet away from me and I could hear everything they were saying.

'That was weird,' Half and Half grunted.

'No kidding, Aspen didn't look fine to me,' Browny said.

Aspen? How did they know Aspen?

I twitched my ears.

'Maybe we should go find them, see if she's ok?' Strawberry Top suggested.

'She looked like she was in a lot of pain,' Browny said quietly.

'I'm not worried about Aspen,' Half and Half said. 'That guy with the ears looked like he had just got shot in the shoulder.'

'That's because he did.' I said.

They looked at me.

'How do you-' Browny cut off.

'He's my uncle.' I shrugged. 'His name is Leon. I'm guessing there were two girls, one called Aspen the other Luna.'

'Uh - yeah!' Strawberry Top said.

'You know them?' Half and Half asked.

I shrugged. 'Sure, they helped me... find my lost cat!'

What? I'm not good at making things up under pressure alright?

'Who are you?' Browny asked.

'The name's -' I cut off. I had two names, which one do I go by? 'My name's Xeta.'

I've had enough of people acting like they own me. If I'm gonna have a name, it's gonna be mine.

'Hi Xeta,' Browny said. 'I'm Sokka, the read head's Kirishima, and that's Todoroki.'

The other two gave me small waves.

I heard a door slam outside and looked and my stomach dropped. It was Chris and a man dressed in black.

I stood up and grabbed Sokka's arm, dragging him to the back of the diner, his friends following in confusion.

'Um, what's going on?' Sokka asked. 'I'm not exactly looking for someone right now-'

'What?' I looked at him as I realized how he was taking this. 'No! See that guy with ears outside?'

The boys looked as Chris entered.

Shit.

'That's my dad.' I had to explain things quick. 'Now listen, this isn't what you think. Aspen got sick because of him, Leon got shot in the arm because of him, and I'm on the run because of him. Now if he finds out you three know me, Leon, Aspen, or Luna, he's going to kill you.'

They looked at me and hung onto my every word. At least they knew how to pay attention.

'If you want to survive, follow me.' I led them to the back and slipped out the back door before anyone noticed, but I didn't know how much longer I could keep Chris at a distance..