The echo of my scream hadn't even faded when I felt the weight of the flying smudge slam against me, dragging both myself and it underwater. I started flailing, trying to escape out from under it. Even underwater I could hear the snapping of its jaw inches from my face. I needed to breathe, my lungs were crying out for oxygen. Dear God doesn't this thing need air too?! Just as this thought crossed my mind, the Smudge kicked off of me and began swimming for the surface. My wings slowed me down a bit, one thing I can't do is retract them when they are wet , but I made it to the surface, exhausted I swam to shore and flopped on the ground panting. A fireball hovered in my hand, lighting the lake and its surroundings. I started looking around for Smudge. I hear what sounds like a dog coughing... but a few seconds later I hear a human coughing, a male to be precise. Not wanting to be discovered with my wings out, I let my fire go out and listen for the sound again.
"What ARE you?!" a nearby voice says.
"Shut up!" I say, "a wolf was just here, do you want to get eaten?"
"I highly doubt that pooch is coming back, he was cute though." I could hear the mocking smile in his tone, it agitated me.
"POOCH?!? You call that a POOCH?!" I have fire coming from my palms again. I see him now...about 17, black shaggy hair, slim but toned, the boy was radiating 'Dark and Mysterious', and quite honestly, sexy as hell.
"So Dark Angel," he says, "Just who and what are you?" His voice is cool and curious, which not helping my curiosity for him.
"Perhaps you should answer your own question first." I say, trying to not let him get to me.
"Alright Midnight Queen, my name is Aron, and I'm what you call a Shift. Around eight or nine, the kids from my family get a drink, a family recipe, and our spirit guide comes to us in the form of an animal, which we can then turn into for the rest of our lives at any point in time, and it takes time to learn to control. I was chosen by a black wolf."
I stare blankly, realizing that this guy was chomping at my neck about two minutes ago. I brace myself for a possible second attack. "How. Dare. You." I snarl, fire growing larger in my palms.
"Easy Firecracker," he says, hands up in an 'I surrender' pose, "you scared me too, I didn't expect to find someone way out here."
"So you attacked me?! How is that rational?" I screamed.
"It's an animal thing, I can't help it. Now will you turn the damn torch down? Does it help if I say that I apologize?"
"Not really," I mutter, but I do as he asks and bring my fire to a faint glow. He steps close enough so that I can see him a bit.
"So my dark Angel, just who and what are you?"
"My name is Arah, and I am, well I am just different," I say, "so Smudge, how did you get to my pond? I've come here for awhile now, but I've never run into someone." I know I should be freaking out, since this boy now knows about my wings and my powers. How do I know he won't rat me out? hell, how do I know he won't shift right here and try to kill me again? I'm over here with my mind spinning, and all this time he's sitting there with that damn grin, sexy and agitating all rolled into one. "Why are you smiling like that?" I ask.
"Just never been called Smudge before." He says with a shrug.
"Well," I huffed, "that's what you look like when you're flying through the air. What I don't understand is how you're standing near a flaming girl with wings, and managing to be so calm. Frankly, it's frustrating."
"You're standing with a Shift my dear."
"I'm not calm." I said, shifting my weight. "Why are you here anyway?"
"I was out for a run." He said with a smirk.
"More like a lope," I said as I walked over to break off a tree branch to light on fire. Once I did this, is stuck it in the ground so I could stop wasting energy on my little fireball.
"That branch isn't nearly as interesting as a winged girl playing with a fireball."
"I'm sure," I said, shaking my wings since they were now dry enough to put away. Rolling my shoulders, I absorbed my wings back.
"Da Fuq?!" he said, giving me a curious look.
"You Shift, I absorb, or phase I guess, just as you go from boy to dog."
"I am not a dog; I am a wolf."
"Either way, it doesn't matter, I need to head home, and so do you."
"I am home," he says.
"How? I come here all the time and I have never seen you."
"Well not here exactly, home is anywhere I am. I have no family really, I came home one day to an empty house, and after no one came back several days later I Sifted and left. I've stayed on the move since then, living primarily in wolf form unless circumstances demanded otherwise."
The way he said this was a different character than before, he seemed...softer... less bad-ass and more of a lost boy; or a lost pup, it was weird. It mad3e me feel uncomfortable. My brain keeps saying 'offer to take him home.' And I keep replying 'Hell no, he's a stranger and Zach would freak.' 'Would he freak if you brought home another misfit? Doesn't he always go out of his way to help those who don't quite fit in?' Shit. Zach always lends a helping hand. Even if this one was part dog, Zach would still accept him.
"Do you need a place to stay?" I couldn't believe the words coming out of my mouth.
"That would be nice..." he stammered, "Why?"
"How would you like a place to sleep for awhile?"
"Such as?" He asks.
"My house," I state, trying to sound confident and in control, when really my mind is spinning. "I live about three miles from here, maybe Zach would take you in."
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely, it's worth a try, just follow me and keep your eyes on the sky Smudge." I say, and then I blow out the torch, phase my wings back out and launch myself into the air.
