Girl who Speaks to Birds

Chapter 47

I was filled with relief. My speech had worked! A smiled tugged at the corners of my lips.

"You... you will?" I asked. He nodded. "Alright. Ask the others if they know how to use weapons. We want to create peace, but if it comes to it, you'll have to use weapons to defend yourselves."

He walked back into the crowd. Hushed whispers floated through the crowd, and after a few minutes, the man stepped out, looking at me.

"Most of them know how to use a gun." he replied.

"That's good."

"Really good. We've got allies now. And we have a better chance of winning! This is great!"

I looked at the man. "Alright. We need somewhere to meet up, to make plans. How large is your house?"

"Fairly large." he replied "How many shifters do you need?"

I thought for a moment. We'd need some shifters to defend the town, but I needed some shifters to come with me, in case we needed extra opinions. Maybe fifteen shifters would be a good amount. I didn't want to burden him or cause him problems. And besides, I didn't know if all those protesters would be in his house. I looked at him.

"How many shifters would I be able to bring?"

"Up to twenty, but it'd be crowded." he answered. That was great. There'd be enough room - probably - for fifteen shifters.

"How many protesters will there be? I mean, I doubt your house is large enough to hold all the protesters as well as fifteen shifters."

"And every single protester won't be there. Only a select few. But is it a plan? When will we meet up?"

I thought for a moment. I'd need time to choose which shifters would go. I looked up at him. "Maybe tomorrow morning?"

"Alright then." he replied, then handed me a card. I quickly scanned it over and saw that it had his address on it. "I'll see you then."

All of a sudden, I heard gunfire. Loud and deafening. I looked at the protesters, starting to flap my wings and take flight.

"Run!" I commanded "Run home! Try not to get hit!"

Tyler and Madelyn were beside me. It wasn't easy, dodging the gunfire, but we managed. Sure, there had been a close call when the bullet almost hit my wing, but luckily, it hadn't. Then, I saw a large group of shifters bounding into town. I'm not lying when I say that it looked like a herd of escaped zoo animals. I landed.

"Dad, it's alright. There was some gunfire, but everyone got out safe."

He shifted back. "That's good. So, you didn't get hurt?"

"No, I didn't. And we've got some allies. There's a scheduled meeting for tomorrow meeting." I showed him the card, and dad looked at me with a shocked expression.

"You met Jeff?"

"That's who that man was? And you knew him?"

"He was a former hunter. But then, one day, he left. Nobody was able to find him. He left me a note saying that he felt bad about what the hunters were doing, and that he had left. I was forced to give it to the other hunters. I hadn't heard from him since that note."

"Oh." It seemed like dad had a lot of stories from back when he was a hunter. I'd have to ask him about some of them when we weren't on the run. "Well, you can come with me."

"Thanks, Madelyn."

"No problem. But can we go back to the forest now? We don't need any more hunters aiming guns at us."

"That's probably a good idea."

We went back to the forest. I looked around, taking in the smell I had grown to love. This was like home. But, it could be destroyed if the hunters came. As I landed, I ran my fingers over the bullet hole in the tree. I sighed.

"It's alright, Madelyn." said Tyler, snapping me out of my daze. "It may be hard, but we'll get peace someday. Maybe we'll be dead by then, but feuds can't last forever."

I looked up at him. "I guess so." I flew up to a branch, calling the shifters to order. "So, as you may know, I had heard a noise coming from the town. I went with a few other shifters, and discovered that they were protesting how the hunters were treating us. However, they were heading for," I paused for a moment, gathering the words. "heading for the hunters buildings. I managed to prevent them from going in, and we have gained allies. There will be a meeting tomorrow with the head of the protesters, to decide what to do next. I will bring some other shifters. So far, there's Tyler, Trinity, my dad, and myself."

I then went through the crowd and chose a few other shifters. We were all set for the meeting, and sleep came easy that night.

The next morning, I woke, stretching. I smiled, remembering that we weren't alone. We had allies now. I got to my feet, waking Tyler and the other shifters. Then, we headed for the town. Tyler was beside me, and I looked at him.

"This is it," I began "We're going to have allies. We might actually make peace."

"No, I'm absolutely sure that you will. Though it has failed before, I have a feeling that this is the time. Peace will be made; I know it."

"Thanks, Ashlea."

We made our way to the house. It was in a small neighborhood, one I would've normally overlooked. I landed, looking at the shifters I had brought. Everyone was here. I faced the door, then pressed the doorbell. I could hear it faintly. Then, there was a dog barking. I sighed. Memories of Halloween and the doorbell ringing and the dogs barking came back to me. It was odd, but not something I dreaded thinking about.

The door opened, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked at Jeff.

"I guess it's time to discuss the plans."