Attack on the Half Breeds

March 5, 2017-Shifter Realm, Second Dimension

March 5, 2017-Shifter Realm, Second Dimension

"I don't know how you do it. I really just can't get it."

Lilitu glances sideways at her younger sister, observing how she scratches behind her ears fiercely; she has to Transform soon. Although Lilitu never feels that urge since she has no Shape Shifter blood, she knows that Shape Shifters, especially younger ones, have a constant need to Shift into their True Form. She knows that Zaria is struggling to fight her urges, but she can tell that it’s becoming harder the longer it’s been since the last time she Shifted.

"Don't feel down about it, Zaria," she says kindly, wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulders. "Growing up, I didn’t really focus much on my Werewolf blood. I mainly focused on learning the art of Alchemy and how to use the various types of Glamour from mom, which is why opening portals came a little more naturally to me. You spent more time learning about your Shape Shifter heritage with dad. You'll figure out portals soon, I promise. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't learn until I was around your age either. Trust me, one day, it'll just click, and you'll get it."

"But I'm already going on 13, and you figured out how to open a portal as soon as you turned 12!" Zaria crosses her arms and looks up at Lilitu with wide eyes and her lower lip sticking out in a pout.

"That's true, but it's been two years, and I still can't go further than a few miles, 15 at most. Just watch, you're gonna be jumping continents soon." Despite Lilitu’s gentle words of encouragement, Zaria sighs in defeat, desperate to learn so that she can make her sister proud. Noticing the frustration on her sister's face, Lilitu takes her arm off of Zaria's shoulder and steps backwards. Zaria looks up in confusion, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. "How about we try this?"

Suddenly, Lilitu loosens her body and raises her arms, opening a shimmering portal in front of her sister that'll take them back to their house down the dirt road. "I know that you aren't really supposed to go through them until you learn, but how about we bend the rules just a little bit? Maybe if you feel what it's like to go through the portal, that special something will click for you, and you'll be opening the next one."

Zaria beams at her sister as Lilitu winks at her and holds out her hand. Zaria zealously grips it, and the sisters step through the portal, a moment of weightlessness consuming them as warmth surges under their skin before feeling the rush as their feet plant on the gravelly dirt in front of their house. Lilitu lands with her feet firm, no longer wobbling like she did the first time she went through a portal, but Zaria stumbles, and she would’ve fallen if Lilitu wasn’t still clutching her hand like a vise. However, she isn't deterred by her lack of grace; her smile broadens as she looks up at her fair-haired sister.

"Lilitu, I felt it," she whispers excitedly. "I don't know how to describe it, but I felt it. That was amazing! Can I try now?"

Lilitu is about to respond when all of a sudden, their mother, Parisa, erupts out of the house with her arm wrapped around their younger brother's shoulders, her face distressed. The sister's mirrored grins immediately transform into guilty grimaces, knowing that they're in trouble for disobeying the rules.

"There you two are!" Parisa sounds on the verge of tears. She momentarily releases their brother, Rapha, and rushes through their small yard to embrace her daughters in a bone-crunching hug that shouldn't be possible for someone as slight as their mother, especially since both girls are fairly muscular for their age after years of hard training with their father to tone their bodies. She releases them and grips their faces, tilting them to examine them for marks. "Thank the Watcher you girls are alright! Get in the bunker right now. I'll be right down."

Lilitu grips her mother's arms, trying to ground her while struggling to understand what her mother is talking about. "Mother, what's—"

Parisa shakes Lilitu off gently and nudges the girls towards the house, silencing her daughter's protests. "I'll explain soon. Just get underground, and take care of your brother and sister!"