Brother and sister Aryl and Hunter Mitchell were out hunting. They were two years old, and their parents had allowed them to go out hunting on their own, as long as one of their Godfathers, Sid, didn't become their target.
Aryl and Hunter were Shifters. In fact, most of their herd was made up of Shifters. Their parents, Alice and Derek were, and their Aunts Leah and Aspen, and the same went for their adoptive cousins, James, Travis, Bethany (Beth), Jasper Diego (JD), Sarah, and Allyson (Ally).
Everyone all had favorite animals. Aryl's was a saber, and so was Hunter's. Beth preferred her black wolf form, and James liked to be a horse. JD, Sarah, and Ally spent most of their time as sabers, as did Travis.
JD, Sarah, and Ally were too young to go hunting without their parents, but Beth, Travis, and James were slinking along in the bushes somewhere near, trying to scare a herd of antelope into the clutches of Aryl and Hunter.
The animals started moving, and the two young, black sabers leapt into action.
"This must be so much easier than when it was just mum and uncle Diego!" Aryl cried to her brother.
"Imagine trying to get a meal with only the two of them! It must have been so much better when dad came along!"
Aryl's reply was lost, because she launched herself into a graceful leap and effortlessly took down a large buck.
In the end, the cousins caught three does and one buck. Travis ran back to the herd to announce dinner.
Dinner was finished and the youngest cubs were put to bed. Peaches, Manny and Ellie's first daughter, joined the group later on for some last minute play. Her littler sister, Melly, slept beside her mother as she was only a month old.
Peaches came in, carrying a stack of papers. None of them had ever seen paper before, but they recognized the markings on it because all of their parents had taught them to read.
"I found them in a bush when I went to pee," Peaches explained, "The title is Myraneth Accolte: Alice. I thought it might have something to do with Aunt Alice. Anyway, Aunt Aspen always calls Aunt Alice Myraneth."
Aryl looked at Hunter. She and him alone were the only children of Alice Mitchell.
Everyone except for Peaches shifted to their human forms.
"Okay, Peach. Let's read it. I'll start. The first chapter is called "Prologue" Very original."
"One second, Airy. When I said I found it when I went to pee, I never actually peed. I have to go really badly now. So hold on a minute." Peaches disappeared into a bush. When she returned, Aryl continued…and then stopped again.
"I have to pee too!" James cried.
"Me too!" This was courtesy of Beth.
"I must admit to my own need to relieve myself…" Travis trailed off. So unlike his brother, Travis was soft-spoken and gentle.
"Okay, okay! Everyone, go relieve yourself, and then we'll start!"
When everyone, including herself, had taken care of that task, Aryl picked up the book again.
1
"Prologue," Aryl read,
"I was running. I was running like I had never run before. All of a sudden, I wasn't there anymore.
"Is this mum?"
"Really, Hunter, the first line and you already interrupt?"
I was still running, but I was covering the ground faster. My two legs were gone. I now had four. They were covered in fur. Black-and-silver fur. How did this happen? I was just out for my morning run. There definitely wasn't this much snow out. I mean, it's summer back home! Where am I, anyway?
"It is mum! Remember, Airy, she told us this story! At least this part!"
I kept running. I didn't want to stop. It was exhilarating. My long strides effortlessly ate up the ground. I was vaguely aware of what I was doing, but I had no idea where I was going.
"So like aunt Alice," Beth chided.
I stopped at a pond, only because I had to. I couldn't move any further at the minute. Taking a long drink, I caught sight of my reflection.
I recognized the animal I had become from my prehistory textbook. I was a Smilodon, a saber-tooth cat. Now, you can imagine my reaction. I went crazy and started running again.
"Aunt Alice went crazy. Did the world end?"
"Obviously not, you numbskull. Otherwise we wouldn't be here, would we?" Travis silenced his brother.
Smilodons aren't built for long journeys at high speeds. But for some reason, I was able to. I guess I was a different breed of saber or something. Or maybe I was just special.
"Come on, mum, we all know you're special. You're just not unique."
I was hungry. That night, I made my first kill. It was an antelope, and it was delicious. I had never tasted anything like it. After I finished, I looked for a shelter for the night. I was in for a surprise.
The first shelter I tried already had animals in it. I froze in the doorway, staring at the odd grouping.
The first one I saw was the mammoth.
"Daddy!" Peaches cried.
He was a giant compared to me. He looked fat, but I knew the reason for his bulk. Mammoths have three inches of fat under their skin to help them keep warm in the Ice Age.
There was a ground sloth, too.
"It's uncle Sid!" Everyone shouted.
He actually was fat, and smelly. His greenish-brown coloured pelt was full of fungus. I was about to leave when I noticed the next one.
This really surprised me. A golden, handsome male saber
"Aunt Alice thought Uncle Diego was handsome? That just doesn't sound right. I mean, Aunt Alice was with Uncle Derek at that point wasn't she?"
"Yah, Beth, mum just didn't know if she'd ever see daddy again."
slumbered in the dying light of a low fire.
Wait. Fire?
I had seen this before. I was inside the Ice Age movie. Crazy stuff, movie magic.
"Movie?" Was the general outcry.
These must be Manny, Sid, and Diego. But, where was Pinky? I mean Roshan? Oh, there. I spotted him curled in Manny's trunk.
"Who's Roshan?"
The mammals were all still asleep. I decided, I'll stay here for the night. I know all about these animals. I was safe. Not to mention the fact that I was a saber.
How in the world was I a saber?
"Well, that's a mighty question that we still don't know the answer to. I wonder how long it takes for her to realize she can shift?"
"That's the end. That was short, I'll read the next one, too."