Therian Shifters: A Liolf's Mind

Chapter 22: A Protector and a Return:

As the night fell and Akira drifted off to sleep, her nightmares came crawling back. And much worse as payback for not having them for a bit came worse.

She tossed and turned in her bed, sweating profusely.

Her nightmare consisted of a first-person perspective. She awoke in the woods, but something felt off. As she stood up and looked around, she was rather bewildered. The sky was dark and clouded by a blanket of dark-grey. The air was still, like time had frozen.

As she began to walk, she heard a roar in the distance. Then another. As she continued on, she was shocked. She saw the scene from when she fought off Craig's henchmen to save Mr Takeshi.

"I won't let you win!" She heard her past self shriek.

Soon a sweep of grey showed the memory of afterwards. Her furious, ferocious liolf self stood on a pile of bodies of Craig's henchmen with an almighty roar.

"You're a protector." She heard. "You were born to protect. You are not just a DarkTail, you are a GreyTooth. You stand before your family and friends, and you protect."

After the echo of the mysterious voice ended, Akira opened her eyes. The sun shone through her window brightly as she awoke with shocked yet dreary eyes.

What did the dream mean?

She shrugged her shoulders blaming it on her imagination. It was 4 days until Christmas Eve. Walking slowly towards her window, she saw her snow wolf she made the previous morning still sitting in the snow. But as she blinked, it suddenly turned into a scarily accurate snow sculpture of her liolf form.

"You are a Protector." The mysterious, echoing voice from her dream spoke again. As the voice faded once more, the snow wolf turned back to what it looked like when Akira made it.

Shaking her head and turning away from her window, she froze.

"Ever wondered why out of all Therian Shifters, you were given your roar?" Akira froze in one spot and ruminated. She did wonder why her roar was powerful enough to summon a gust of wind. "Use it well..."

As the voice stopped, she rushed downstairs to eat breakfast.

"Good morning, Akira." Her father said as he finished up cooking some sausages. Noticing Akira's shocked expression, he set the table, dished out the food and sat next to his daughter. "Is everything alright, love?"

Akira didn't response.

"You're a Protector. A Greyto-"

"AARGH! I DON'T CARE! WHAT DO GREY TEETH HAVE TO DO WITH PROTECTING?? SHUT UP, YOU STUPID HEAD VOICE!!" Akira shrieked as she realised she said all that out loud and hid her face in embarrassment. Hunter and Tala stared at each other, clearly expressing that they knew something Akira didn't, according to their obvious body language. "Mum? Dad? What aren't you telling me? Do you know anything about this?"

Her father chuckled. "First of all, you just told your grandfather's spirit to shut up which wasn't very nice! And second of all, what he was saying was quite important. You should hear what he has to say."

Akira's mouth agape, she then closed it in an embarrassed expression. Shutting her eyes, she saw him. He looked just like her father except with visible aging on his face.

"Akira GreyTooth-DarkTail. You have been through a lot in your lifetime so far. You've made excellent friends and have fought tooth and claw to protect them and your family. I give you my gratitude and pride for your achievements." He spoke. "I was also found to be a Wild Therian Shifter. And I too found it incredibly difficult to control my actions while my wild instincts took over. But you, as I did, will learn to use it and control it as you please. From blood, you are a protector to your family and friends as is your father. Use your skills well and also... Merry Christmas, my dear."

Opening her eyes, Akira was shocked at all she heard. From blood, her father and her were both protectors of all Therian Shifters. No wonder she had that instinct all along.

Later on, Akira turned to her form and decided to go down to Collarend Forest. She sniffed the air, enjoying the cold air blowing through her mane.

As she sat to enjoy the peace of the woods, she swiveled her ears to each sound she heard. Hearing a dog walker coming, she quickly turned human.

But as the dog and its owner walked past, it began to bark frantically at Akira.

"Stranger! Stranger! Big animal!" She could hear the translation of its bark as the owner tugged on the leash and walked off.

Akira shrugged. She turned to her form again and swiveled her ears. This time, she inhaled deeply. She could smell a familiar scent and something creeping up behind her. Rapidly turning around, she roared in the face of the scent's source.

"Jeez, Akira, you gave me a fright!" Laughed a familiar voice. It was Chase.

"Chase! How I've missed you!" Akira laughed as she embraced him. "How's living with Tyler and your dad?"

Chase grinned. "It's great! Tyler and I have a trampoline all to ourselves near Collarend Forest!"

Akira grinned. But before she could respond in any way, she froze. She swiftly turned her head to the left and shut her eyes. As she opened them, she sniffed the air, spotting a visible scent trail. Each time the smell came through her nostrils, it was familiar.

Running to follow the scent, Chase followed. Soon, Chase and Akira spotted a large, brown figure. Akira growled at it and soon pounced, making it skid across the forest floor.

Now pinning it on its chest, Akira growled ferociously.

Seeing its face, she saw it was a lion. But its eyes... they looked familiar but she couldn't put her paw on why. It soon made sense as the creature suddenly spoke.

"Akira? Ooh, ow... could you please get off me for a minute?"

And with a flash, Mr Riddle was back.