Shapeshifter

Chapter 7

Cara sighed. "What is it?" the boy asked. "Oh nothing, besides the fact that I've never had a chance to be on my own, or see anything as beautiful as this. I've spent my life locked up, so to speak. By the...person...who raised me." "Wait" he asked suspiciously. "Why did you hesitate before you said 'person'?" "Oh, no reason." she tried to reassure him. But she wasn't convincing him. "Just tell me. It's not like it's the end of the world." I sighed. "Ok. Well...I've been raised by a...spirit." He looked at me shocked. "What? You said it wouldn't be that bad to tell you." "You're not a demon, are you?" "OF COURSE NOT!!" she screamed at him. He had lied. He did care what she said. She stood up hastily. She started walking away. Then she ran. She sobbed as she ran, more than she thought possible. She heard plodding footsteps on the soft grass behind her. "No wait! Come back! Did I hurt your feelings? I'm sorry!" She ran faster.
He'll lie again.
My thoughts said so I ran, faster and faster. I hid behind some brush near a clump of pine trees. He rushed up to the clump of pines. "How could she just disappear?" he asked out loud.

-----Cara's POV-----

Suddenly, I had to sneeze. "A-a-ACHOO!!" "Hello." he said coming over to the brush I was hiding in. "Hi." I mumbled. "Did I say something?" "Yes, you idiot!" he looked hurt. I didn't care. He had lied about not caring about who raised me. I didn't feel any feelings for him anymore. "Just go away. I don't want to see you ever again." I said this just before I cried. I was to young to go through a relationship problem. I was only 13. He knelt down next to me and hugged my shoulders. I tried to squeeze away from him but couldn't. So I just stayed still and waited for him to pull away. He didn't. "Let go!"
I shouted. "Why?" he loosened his grip to look down at me. "Because I don't like you anymore. You lied. You said you didn't care who raised me. Then I tell you and you look at me like I have three heads. THEN you have to go and ask if I'm a DEMON of all things." I ripped his arms of my shoulders. "My life has been a living HELL for the past 13 years, and all you can say after I tell you I was raised by a spirit is, 'you're not a demon, are you?' nice. Fantastic!" "I'm sorry! I was just making sure! Our kingdom has had problems with children being raised by evil spirits and being turned into demons. I had to be cautious. My brother...was....killed. For being captured by a witch in the mountains and then when we hung her for it, he tried to defend her." he looked pained when he said this, "It had to be done." "But why...Kill?" "IT HAD TO BE DONE!!" he shouted. "He defended her." I thought about about me and Quata. I don't think I would defend her. She might have raised me, but she sure isn't nice. She made my life a living HELL! I stood. "I should go." He stood up to look me in the eye. "Please don't go! I...know this sounds weird...and I know you said you didn't like me anymore...but I like you." I shook my head. I knew he would say he liked me. But there was no way I would say yes. "I'm sorry, but if this is how people in your kingdom react to people who were raised by spirits, then I don't want to be a part of it." He stared at the ground. He seemed heartbroken. I hate to do this, but I don't want to end up like his brother, or the witch. Although, going home with Quata was definitely something I didn't want to do. I hadn't thought that not going with him ment going with Quata. Great. Two choices, and neither of them good. Let's see...either stay here, possibly get found out by the locals, then get killed. Or, go home with Quata, and go back to the living hell that is my old life. I groaned. The answer was quite obvious which one I would choose. "I'll go with you." I croaked through clenched teeth. He looked up at me with renewed hope. "Great! Let us go tell my family." I slowly, reluctantly, followed him. He started walking toward the big market square of the kingdom. The place he called Oma. We walked through the venders stalls. Smells wafted through the air and found my nose. "Let's see, ginger, pumpkin, all spice, oregano, rosemary, and...saute' fish." "You can smell all that?" he asked in surprise. "Yep." I said, back into my cheerful mood. We kept to our walking. We would walk past the stalls, I would say what I smelled, he would express his amazement.This went on for a while. We finally stopped, but where we stopped, amazed me. "This?! This is where YOU live?!" he nodded then turned dramatically and said, "Welcome to my home, Ima Castle!" As we walked in I asked, "Why is it called Ima Castle, instead of Oma Castle?" he answered as we walked up the long entry stairs. "Because the first queen who ruled this kingdom, her name was Ima Sachive. She ruled The Fire Kingdom for 100 years before she passed. The longest reign of any ruler." "The Fire Kingdom?" "Yes. As named by The Lady of Fire herself. Ima was known as The Lady of Fire." "How long has it been since Ima ruled?" "About...4,000 years." "Wow!" This is a very slow civilization. They still don't have running water yet. Enough about the people. As we finally finished walking up steps, we entered the huge doors to the throne room. "So where are your parents? You've already told me the...really sad story about your brother." "My parents died a long time ago. I rule this land alone." "Wow!" Here let me give you a tour.

----End Cara's POV----

They walked down thousands of intercrossed hallways, rooms, and doors. Both unaware, a shadow was following.