Shift

Pain In Passage

Laria knew she had a 75% chance of being a Shifter, as did her parents. She was a commoner, a simple peasant in a world of hate. All but one of her grandparents were Shifters, and were killed soon after her parents were born.

Tomorrow was her seventh birthday, and she was anxious about it. Shifters found out they were Shifters on their seventh birthday, where they felt the pain of fur, scales, claws, fangs and more growing as well as the feeling of their bones breaking and repositioning to fit any animal.

After the first Shift, Shifters felt no pain from changing how they looked and other Shifters could tell if you were one of them or simply a human. Laria and her parents had devised a plan to fake her death if she was a Shifter. Because she had grown up in the slums, she was used to stealing food from the market and not having enough to eat, so she wasn't scared of that. She was worried that someone would find her.

She went to sleep on the night before her seventh birthday, and suddenly she was awake again. She felt fur harshly poke its way through her skin, feeling like needles, before an odd sensation overtook her and the fur was pulled under her skin once again.

Laria let out a shrill scream as scales slices through her skin, feeling like curved blades. They interlocked the way scales do and pulled back into her skin. Next, she heard the most gruesome cracking sound, followed by pops and more small cracks, tsunamis of pain washing through her once again. Laria's body rapidly changed shape into almost every animal. Then, suddenly, it stopped.

She lowered down to the bed once again, no more shrieks of pain tearing out of her throat. Laria was covered in sweat and she felt an aching in her bones from all the times they broke, fused, dislocated, and shrunk. She curled up on her bed, tears freely flowing down her cheeks as her parents rushed in with sad eyes.

Elise and Gavriel Vendoul were Laria's parents. They watched as their daughter cried; from pain, from loss, and many, many other emotions. They would say she fled into the forest behind the slums; no one ever made it out alive. They would need no proof other than a note saying Laria was sick of not having enough to eat, not having a good education, and more reasons. The note would say that she was sorry and that she was going to finally find a happy place.

Laria was a redhead with vibrant green eyes, pale skin and more freckles then you could count. She had a nasty scar from falling down a flight of stairs, which she was lucky to survive once it became infected, and had an affinity with snakes.

"Run" her sister, Juniper, told her, pushing her out the door and closing it in her face.

So Laria listened to her sister's last command and ran. She turned into an African Wild Dog, one of the fastest land animals and an endurance runner, and ran. She ran to the Uptown Market, where food was plentiful and much better quality than the Shadow Market, the market in the slums, and dug a small hole for her to sleep.

Laria's parents had helped teach her how to change and where the muscles were on different families of animals and how to use them, so she knew how to move in different forms, but is was hard. Her muscles hurt and she had a constant ache in her chest as she finally gave in to the promises of sleep.

*Dream*

I stand up, looking around as my friend quickly and quietly turns into a cat. She runs into the other room and hides. I turn around as another knock sounded on the door. Sighing, I awnser the door and see three men with police uniforms standing in the doorway.

"there have been reports of witchcraft at this household" the man says, pushing his way into the living room.

"I have no idea why there would be reports of witchcraft here, I live by myself and simply get by. I would never break the law" 'except for if I was born this way' , I responded, trying not to show worry.

"then you wouldn't mind if we check around your house, would you?" the second man asks, poking around to find any signs of witchcraft.

"of course not, sir" I respond, making sure my friend heard

*End of Dream*

Laria woke up gasping for air as another cold shiver ran down her spine. There was another Shifter out there somewhere. She looked up at the pink and blue sky. It was morning.

Well, Laria thought, that night went by quickly... She got up and made her way to the market, not bothering to Shift

-¯-
So. I've decided that I'm going to try and update this book almost dayly. Some days (like yesterday) I'm to busy to write much, but I'm going to make it my goal to update at least once every three days.

I hope you're enjoying this book, the first chapters were mainly the prologue, though, so I can't wait for the real action to start!

Anywhore, have a good whatever time of day it is, BAI!