Shaping Our Fate

Chapter 10

"Flor!! Its time for breakfast! Wake up, you've been sleeping for forever!"

I opened one eye to look at Leah leaning over me. I squinted at her blurry face, shook my head, and then pulled the blanket up over my head. I may have been really thirsty, but I felt more tired and I wasn't ready to be pulled away from the warm blankets so soon.

Then, the blankets were ripped off of me and I curled into a ball. I looked up at Leah through the space between my fingers, with bleary eyes.

Her eyes rolled in their sockets and she groaned, "Oh, just get up already!"

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Leah and I were sitting at a picnic table with Ames across from us. I had eaten half of my omelet, and Leah had emptied half of her cereal bowl, but Ames had devoured all of his pancakes and stolen bites of Leah's cereal.

"I want to show you something after this," she said as she smiled at me with a mouthful of food.

"Oh yay. The anticipation is killing me." Ames rolled his eyes.

Leah glared at him. "You don't have to come you know. I've been looking forward to this and I don't want to deal with your pessimism today!"

"No! No! No! No!" Ames grabbed Leah's arms. "That's not what I meant!"

"Mhmm" I mumbled through the last of my omelet.

Leah pulled away from Ames and stood up. "Whatever, let's just go."

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Leah led Ames and I to one of the many trails through the forest. Dead leaves and twigs covered the ground. Fern and moss surrounded the trunks of many trees. Sunlight spotted the ground where it slipped past the leaves.

Leah and Ames spoke as we walked but I drifted behind them, breathing in the comforting smell of wet grass and marveling in the calming sound of dry leaves crunching under my feet.

Eventually, we came upon a clearing with a pond to the far side. The clearing was filled with tall grass and wild flowers. The water in the pond was clear and the reflected sky merged with the rocky bottom. Rocks are scattered around the edge and piled high on one side.

"Since we don't really have somewhere you can safely transform back at the farm, we thought you might like this place." Leah said standing off to the side, letting me step into the clearing and get a better view. The air here is clean and fresh, it doesn't feel stuffy like in a city or smell like manure at the barn.

"This is amazing!" I smile and spin to look at them.

"Actually it was Ames's idea." Leah looks pointedly at him.

"Really?" I rest my hands on my hips and watch Ames shove his hands into his pockets and turn towards the pond.

"It was nothing, really. Ready to try it out?" He walks away and pulls his shirt over his head and throws it to the side.

Leah threw her hands out "Woah, woah, woah! What are you doing?!" I bent over laughing, 

Ames catapulted off a rock and into the water, sending water flying into the air. 

"Well, come on slowpokes!" Ames waved us over and pulled himself up onto a rock.

"I can't believe you just did that." Leah slumped down onto a rock next to Ames, and I joined them.

"Alright Flor, time for you to get down to business." Ames took my hand and pushed himself away from the side, pulling me in with him. He kept a hold on my hand and pulled me back to the surface.

When I broke the surface my mouth dropped open and I stared at him, unsure about what just happened.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ames pushed me away from him and said, "Get on with it, dolphin up!"

"Oh. Right." I moved my hands and feet through the water and felt how it flowed around me. The rocks slippery beneath my feet, almost seemed to be shrinking. I couldn't keep myself above the water and just sunk down. My eyes opened and I saw a gray tail beneath me. I guess I've gotten better at this whole changing thing.

"Good job!" Ames said and a smile split his face.

"Amazing!" Leah clapped enthusiastically.

I whistled and slapped the water with my tail in my happiness.

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We walk back towards the farm dripping wet. The session had hardly felt like training, Ames and Leah did flips off of the rocks, and I even explored the deep end of the pond. There is a big underwater cave and lots of plant life.

The path back is long and winding, but we fill the empty air with our voices and laughter. As we walk, the sky gets darker, the air gets cooler, and we get quieter. A breeze blows and voices tickle my ears, probably just a trick of the wind.

There is another gust, "They'll have no idea what hit them." Ames's hand shoots out and grabs my arm, stopping me. Leah stands on his other side, staring off into the dark.

"If what you say is true, they'll be overrun with a mob, complete with pitchforks and torches!" I look at them, eyes wide, not sure what else to do. Ames holds a finger to his lips and creeps forward slowly, Leah looks at me and then follows. I stare at their backs for a moment, silently curse them, and then hurry after them.

On the other side of the trail was a group of men and women sitting in a circle. "Once people find out about these monsters they won't stand for it."

We looked at each other, eyes wide, and mouths open. Leah jumped up and crept away, Ames and I followed quickly. 

"We have to tell the Council," Leah walked quickly towards the farm. 

"You know what will happen." Ames caught up and looked at her.

"And I don't care." She picked up the pace, running back.

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"They plan to tell people about the farm! They said there would even be an angry mob, who knows how much they know!" Leah's voice raised and cracked. We stand in front of an older group of inhabitants of the farm that I have never seen before, Ames told me this is the Council.

"This is a matter for us to discuss and handle Leah. Just leave it to us, you three may go." One of the members waved their hand, dismissing us.

Leah stormed away, Ames and I right behind her. She led us all the way back to our shared room.

"They aren't going to do anything! I can't just do nothing!" She paced back and forth between our beds.

"You don't know that! They said they would discuss it." Ames pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah 'said,' if they even do, that's all they will do." She rested her head on his shoulder, breathing heavily.

"We can always wait until tomorrow and see what happens." I flopped onto my bed.

"See, if nothing happens we can come up with a plan, maybe get some proof. Just get some sleep for now." Ames let go of Leah and started for the door. "Goodnight Flor."

Leah rolled her eyes and buried herself in blankets. I sigh, "Goodnight Leah. Don't lose sleep over this, we'll figure it out."

"I hope you're right Flor, I really do."