Shift

Meet And Greet

Two Years Later

It took a while for Eira to be used to not having enough food and to be good at sneaking food out of the Uptown Market. She knew the vendors that watched for the Ives the least, and the most. Which ones had good food, and which ones had bad. She knew the ins and outs, secret tunnels and passageways. She knew everything there was to know about the Uptown Market. But she was a loner. The one thing she didn't know was who else was here.

She had been caught stealing once, but she managed to escape the guards who caught her. No one recognized her any more. Her eyes were no longer the exotic colours they used to be, however they were still different colours. One eye was dark blue and the other light yellow. No matter what animal she Shifted into, her eyes were always different colours; it was like her mark.

Eira often wondered if any other Shifters were alive like her, fighting their way through thick and thin to survive and be free. It would be so much easier to have someone to rely on, someone who wouldn't possibly turn them in. As much as she was a loner in this world, having someone to actually rely on would make life so much easier.

She walked by one of her favourite vendors to steal from when she saw a purple-blue aura around a young girl. She couldn't have been older than herself, and she had never seen someone with an aura before. It wisped and curled around her, leaving a trail. How could I have not seen this before? She wondered, walking towards the girl. As she walked closer, the sweet smell of lavander mixed with the gentle scent of lilies. How could I not smell this before? She corrected her first thought, the smell once again tickling her nose.

Eira continued to follow the trail left by the girl, getting more and more curious as to who she was. She could tell she was getting closer as the smell was once again becoming more concentrated, the purple trail more visible. Ire reached a small hut made out of branches and a tarp; stolen, more than likely. The whole hut smelled of this mysterious girl.

Eira cautiously walked towards the hut, worried that she was wrong and this girl was just that-a girl. Suddenly, the scent was stronger than she had ever smelt it, nearly causing her to sneeze. She looked down to see a small hedgehog sniffing around her feet. The purple mist surrounded the small, spikey creature, and Ire immediately knew that it was the Shifter she was looking for.

The hedgehog began to quickly grow, loosing its hedgehog like appearance and gaining the appearance of a nine year old girl. "Who are you?" the girl demanded, holding a sharp rock to Ire's throat.

"Eira Queenston, or Ire Queenston, at your service" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she pushed her hand down and preformed an exaggerated and mocking bow.

"great" the girl muttered "another stuck up noble"

"I'll have you know, Whatever-Your-First-Name-Is Whatever-Your-Last-Name-Is, that I was disowned at age seven and from there learned to fend for myself" Ire responded, putting her hand to her chest in mock offence.

"Now," she continued in a more serious voice "are you... what the missing Dutchess was?" this was pretty much code for someone 'special' who had magical power of some sort.

"Yes" came a short and clipped reply. Eira looked closer at the girl and saw striking beauty beneath the dirt and mud on her face. She had vibrant green eyes, firey red hair just like Ire's, pale almost white skin and a dusting of freckles on her nose. She was wearing a nice dress which was obviously either stolen from one of the clothing vendors or bought using pickpocketed money.

"You really are Eira?" the girl asked her, shocked. Ire nodded in response. "you disappeared a year before I left..." she said quietly, in wonder "how have you survived this long?"

"Well, I'm often not so sure myself, but I think it was something along the lines of 'pure luck'" Eira responded, scratching the back of her neck and looking awkwardly at the girl.

"Do you... wanna stick together?" she asked, looking a Ire for a response "OH!" she said, covering her mouth "How rude of me! I'm Laria, Laria Vendoul" the girl–Laria–quickly said.

"Um... sure? It will be nicer if not everyone wants my head on a wall, so definitely!" Eira responded. The two bonded for the rest of the night, talking about random things and their dark and twisted pasts. Finally, it was time to sleep. Ire, who didn't have any of her stuff here, turned into a Husky dog and started digging a hole to sleep in.

"G'night" Laria said, yawning and setting her head onto her makeshift pillow.

"G'night" Ire responded, yawning as well and almost immediately falling into a deep sleep.

—¯—

HELOO! IT'S ME, I'VE BEEN WONDERI-OK I'LL STOP NOW...

So. If anyone's wondering, Ire is Eira's self given nick name. She doesn't like thinking of herself as 'Eira Queenston' because it kinda hurts knowing the family that she lost and stuff, so she came up with Ire. I'll give more details on this next chapter, I just don't want you guys to think it's a typo... ANYWHORE, I hope you have a great whatever time of day it is for you, BAI!