When transfer students D'kala and Kia arrive in the whimsical world of Safe Haven, they are quickly integrated into the vast interspecies society. However, the city has much more in store for them than some new friends. As D'kala and Kia try to make...
The clouds floated by outside the airplane window...
"DK?"
The gentle vibration of the plane kept him calm...
"Yo, DK. You with me?"
Nothing could disturb this serenity. It was perfect...
"D'kala!"
"Huh?"
The 18-year-old Nigerian boy sitting next Kia Sosoto, a Zimbabwean girl of the same age, turned and blinked at her blankly, having obviously missed everything his friend had just said.
"You were thinking again," Kia teased with a good-natured smirked.
D'kala smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he said to Kia, his accent making it sound more like "soh-ree". "I was... lost in thought."
Kia had no such accent, as she was originally from Chicago. She had traveled to Nairobi, Kenya (where D'kala and his family now lived) to study the continent of Africa instead of taking junior classes at high school. She was free to do so, of course, because she'd completed all of her junior classes during the summer of her sophomore year.
"You've been doing that a lot," Kia pointed out. She tilted her head and guessed, "Still nervous?"
"When did I ever say I was nervous?" D'kala asked defensively, shielding the statement with another smile (albeit a confident one rather than sheepish).
"Anxious?"
"No."
"Worried?"
"No."
"Scared?"
"I believe that's the same as nervous."
"C'moooooon." Kia leaned her shoulder against D'kala's, smushing him against the window. "It's your first time off the continent. Heck, it's your first time outta the country! You gotta at least have some nerves."
"No, I... I'm just... curious," D'kala replied, turning and looking out the window again. "I'm wondering about the people we will meet. And this new school sounds rather fascinating."
Kia laughed excitedly. "I know, right? I mean, I've never met anyone like me! Well, except you, f'course," she amended. "But seriously? A school filled with magical creatures?"
"I wouldn't call 'em magical," the person sitting in the row across from the high schoolers broke in, pulling out her earbuds.
Taxi the werewolf—in her human form (though she still looked rather wolfish with her wild blonde hair and fang-like teeth)—lowered her phone and gave the duo a bored look. "It ain't nothin' too fancy," she said in a snarling tone that passed for her normal voice, accented with a hint of New York-Italian. "Just some more Shifters, a couple hundred dinos, maybe a few thousand chimeras here an' there."
"Don't forget the talking animals!" Kia reminded her, the grin on her face widening.
"Oh, yeah. Can't forget them." Taxi rolled her eyes and put her earbuds back in.
Kia responded to that with an eye-roll of her own before slinging an arm around D'kala's shoulders. "So you think we'll make a splash?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, do you think we'll have an impact on this 'Safe Haven' place? Y'know, will we leave a mark on it or somethin'?"
"I could hardly determine that before arriving," D'kala answered. "I know next to nothing about it except that it is a sanctuary for creatures 'outside the norm'."
"That's what makes it exciting, though. Y'know?" Kia rubbed her shoulder against D'kala's with a mischievous smile. "The unknown. What's waiting for us out there? What surprises? What adventures?" She shivered and purred with anticipation. "I can't wait," she breathed, her eyes shining.
"Yes... I'm sure this journey will be quite... enlightening," D'kala agreed, looking out the window again.
Beneath them was a sprawling forest that seemed to stretch on forever. A gigantic four-eyed blue jay flew past the plane, letting out a majestic caw.
"Attention, passengers," the pilot, a woman named Snake, said gruffly over the plane's PA system. "We're about six hours from our destination, so get some sleep. You've got a long day ahead of ya tomorrow."
"Aww... thanks, Ms. Snake!" Kia called. "I love that you care so much!"
"SHUDDUP AND GO TO SLEEP!" Snake barked.
Taxi let out a snicker, the command having slipped past her earbuds.
Kia scoffed. "Rude." She closed her eyes and leaned her seat back. "Sweet dreams, DK," she said, still smiling. "Like Miss Hissy Fit said: big day tomorrow."
D'kala nodded, closing his eyes as well. She's right, he thought, letting out a yawn and stretching out his arms. I must sleep. I can't let fatigue and jet lag keep me out of commission tomorrow.
I've been called here for a reason. I must be at full strength in order to fulfill it...
...whatever it may be...
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