Shapeshifter *ON HOLD*

Chapter Fifteen

"Mom, I'm going out okay?" Agnes called to her mom who was occupied making succulent chicken and crunchy bread. The Saturday afternoon sun was halfway in its journey across the sky, which was a vivid cerulean shade. The new moon was still a whisker of white, and the stars there at night  had vanished. The crisp autumn air welcomed her as she stepped outside, and into the woods. More leaves were gone now, revealing bare branches of hues of brown.

"Hey Karmen!" Agnes hollered when she spotted her, "what did you call me for?"

"I was thinking it's time that you trained with a weapon, to protect yourself," Karmen replied.

"Oh. But I don't even have anything to focus my power with yet," Agnes worried. She wanted a cool jewelry of some kind for that, preferably forged of silver.

"Well now you do." 

A tremor went through her heart. Kyle was here. In his hand, was the most glamorous charm she had ever seen. There was both a ring and a bracelet, attached together by a fragile braided silver chain. In the middle of the chain, was a miniature sliver flower with a drop of amber in the middle.

"It's beautiful," Agnes breathed, slipping the charm on. She, without thinking, wrapped Kyle into a hug, blushing. That moment, she couldn't breath. She felt like she was in heaven, in the arms of safety and wonder.

"Ahem."

Oh no. Agnes pushed Kyle away, the blush leaking from her face. "Oh hey, Devan," she said quickly, hiding the charm from him.

"Agnes, why don't you come to our base to pick a weapon so you can start training with it," Devan suggested, throwing Kyle a glower of knives.

Uh no, I think you just want to hold my hand again, Agnes thought with a stab of infuriation. 

"I think that's a great idea," Karmen broke in, "let's go."

Devan outstretched his hands ago, albeit this time, Agnes swatted it away. Disappointment crossed his face, but she didn't care.

In a blinding slash of light, and the sensation of being torn apart, they were at the base.

"Hello Agnes, my name is Faelyn," greeted a girl slightly younger than her in a tinkly voice, "I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to you yesterday." She pried at a bronze bracelet on her arm.

"No worries," Agnes smiled warmly. Devan beckoned for her to follow, so she waved rapidly and moved on.

"Here is the training room, and there are shelves of weapons here." Devan showed them around the vast training cave. It was colossal, and Agnes calculated it could fit her entire house in it. Racks of weapons lined the southern wall: spears, lances, longswords, and scimitars. 

"Where did you find all of this?" Agnes questioned, feeling the serrated edges of a boomerang.

"We dug it up, and some of them were forged by our own blacksmith," he straightened his back proudly.

Agnes could nearly hear Kyle's thinking that Devan is such a showoff, and she herself couldn't agree more. She studied the unusual weapons before her, weighing the pros and cons of it. Bow and arrow? No, they weren't good with close range. Sword? Too common. Lances, too heavy. Then another weapon caught her eye. It was in the shape of a crescent moon, its sterling blade had a glossy sheen, and it had a handle of finest platinum.

"That is a sickle. One of the hardest weapons to wield."

Agnes carefully plucked it out of its slot, and held it up to the fluorescent moss. It glistened wickedly, harbouring dangers beyond imagination. 

"I'll take the sickle," Agnes announced.

"Good choice. It's a good thing you challenge yourself," Devan nodded in approval.

"I'll take this scimitar," Kyle chimed in, "Why do we even need weapons when we can Shapeshift?"

"Well, you never know when you might need it. Though of course it might seem unnecessary to small minds," Devan directed his gaze to Kyle. Kyle hurled him a black look, suppressing the rage seething within him.

Agnes noticed this. "We should get going. Is it fine if we leave our weapons here?"

Devan, was visibly thinking already? "That was fast. Okay, of course." He snatched the scimitar from Kyle and gently took the sickle from Agnes, giving her a sinister grin.

This is guy is up to no good. 

*          *          *

"Sis is home! Did you go on a date or something? With Kevin or Kye or Kyle or whatever? Huh huh huh?" Ethan teased.

"Shut up Ethan. We all know that you wish you could date Isabella," Agnes taunted. Ethan stormed off, his face burning bright red.

Agnes said hello to her mom, then went up to her room like usual. She lay down on her bed and began to daydream. In her mind she saw a barren desert, in which parched plants struggled to grow. A dry wind kicked up, blowing hot sand. The sun was scorching, beating down on the earth. But in the middle of this pitiful scene, there was a glorious oasis. Shimmering waters, vibrant flowers, chattering wildlife. Palm fronds shadowed the ground, granting shade to animals. The air was fresh, a pungent scent of mint and grass along with taints of honey and flowers. A pond was in the heart of the oasis, flickering with fish, whose scales were equal to  painstakingly polished rubies. If only such beauty existed in the world.

I can help you with training tomorrow, if you'd like.

"Oh!" Agnes jolted awake from her daydreaming once the voice entered her head.

I can. I can really help you.

Ok...but it wouldn't be my own strength then, Agnes tapped her chin pensively.

Of course it's your own strength, I'm not going to lend you any power. I'll just be showing you, and them, how cool Shapeshifting can be. The voice insisted.

Why not then...but are you sure it's a good idea?

Of course it is. Remember how we saved Karmen? You and me?

Yes...that's true. Then let's do it tomorrow. Agnes's affirmed.

Good choice. Let's show them what a great team we can be.

This is the first time I've typed 1K+ words. Aaaanyways, I think in the twenties or so chapters the BIG secret will be revealed, and the story will changed drastically. I'm not telling you what though...keep hanging.