Animagus

Chapter 5: Inner Animal

  I opened my eyes slowly. There was something on top of me and it was heavy. I couldn't see anything. I slowly tried to push the thing that was on top of me off. I couldn't push it off but was able to slide out from underneath of it. I was met by something that smelled like leaves. What had happened? Where was I? I pushed through the leaves and finally emerged into fresh air. It was dark out and the only lighting was from the full moon. I looked back at what I was trapped under.

  A tree? Why was I under a tree? That's odd.

  I stepped forward and felt a sharp pain shoot through my side. I looked around me again. It looked like a war zone. There was ripped up trees and shrubs everywhere. The ground had been cracked in places and there was a dull grayness to everything even though everything had color. That's when it all came rushing back to me in a huge wave.

  I swung around looking for any traces of Ashton. I couldn't smell him anywhere. Then again his smell could be masked by the smell of dullness. That's what the Thwigs did. They sucked all the color and smell and life out of everything leaving behind only a sense of displacement.

  I stepped towards the place I was pretty sure my house was but immediately regretted it. Another shock of pain flew through my right side. I probably had a broken rib or two. Thank God I was an Animagus so that I would be able to heal easily. I wouldn't be able to make it back to my house before I was healed though. I stumbled into the depths of the forest, looking for a place to sleep for the night. I got to a pretty dense part of the forest. It was almost pitch black because of the close growing trees. I found a tree that had a hole up near the top. I scrambled up it, which is really hard to do with broken ribs, and climbed inside of the hole. I settled down in a nest of grass. The hole had probably been used by squirrels but the scent was stale.

  I laid my head on my paws and stared out the hole. The leaves had a dull glow from the moon and a light breeze was stirring them silently.

  I shut my eyes and tried to fall asleep. By morning I would be able to head back to my house. What had happened to Ashton? Was he somewhere buried in the wreckage of the fight, or was he able to get out of the forest before it was too late for him? I hoped that the second one was the true one.

  Thinking about the battle that I had almost lost my life in, I was finally able to drift into a light sleep.

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  I woke up to a bird chirping in the branches above me. I fluttered open my eyes and stood up gingerly. My side didn't hurt anymore luckily. I climbed out of the hollow in the tree and sat on the branch outside of it. I looked up to see the bird right above my head. It hadn't even noticed me yet. My stomach growled at the thought of food. I hadn't ate since yesterday morning.

  I got into a jumping position and looked at the bird that I had concluded as a starling. I jumped straight up and swiped the bird off of the branch. I bit it's neck quickly before it could fly away. Finally some food.

  After I had finished eating the starling I started walking back to my house. I was going from tree to tree because I thought being on the ground was far to boring. I stopped at the end of the trees. Or the place where the fight had happened. Even in the sunlight it was gray and boring but there was a smell there that hadn't been there the night before.

  Before my mind had time to process the smell a man walked out into the opening. Since I was curious I moved closer to the end of the branch. Another man walked out into the clearing. They both looked about 20 or so and both had dark brown hair. I cocked my head and looked at them. They had back packs on their backs and bright orange jackets on. They must have been the patrol that goes through the forest to make sure there were no odd things. It wasn't a national forest but it was a place that a few humans came camping every now and then.