Disclaimer: I own Ree, and nothing else. Words in italics are Ree's thoughts.
Chapter 1
A human girl stepped out of her spacious house. She yawned and stretched, catlike, in the early morning sun. In fact, she felt rather predatory as she contemplated the birds twittering loudly above her.
Above her... the words in her mind brought back snatches of memory, or maybe it was a dream? There were two people, one male and one female, in a darkened room... They were arguing about... something, something vitally important, while a green ball rotated in midair, about the height of their chests...
A dream, then. There was a dreamlike quality about the hazy scene... although it had seemed horribly real at the time...
One thing stood out in her mind: She could feel power oozing from the pair, power of such magnitude that it made hers look like cheap card tricks, no matter what her parents said...
A feeling cold as ice water slithered down her spine, making her shudder. She shook her head once to dispel her dark thoughts, then set off for her day's tasks.
She smiled once, reveling in the atmosphere of anticipation. Traveling always exhilarated her, especially when there were towns to be messed with at the end.
She would let nothing spoil her fun.
"Thanks, Pelly! Be seeing you!" Dotty the rabbit waved cheerfully as she backed out the door, lugging her heavy bags. Seeing a human walking a few yards away, Dotty decided to introduce herself.
"Hello there, wee one!" she called, bounding over to the girl's side and leaving her belongings sitting on the cobblestones. "My name is Dotty. I'm new here! It's really nice to meet you, and I'm sure we're going to be best friends!"
The human responded with a roll of her eyes and continued on her way.
But Dotty was not one to be blown off so easily. "What's your name?" she asked with determined peppiness.
"M'name's Ariana, but everyone calls me Ree," the girl replied flatly, with another eyeroll.
"Ree... What a pretty name! Where do you live? Maybe we can hang out later! Once I get unpacked, of course!" Dotty giggled.
Ree winced, as though she found the rabbit's high-pitched laughter physically painful. "Look, Spotty, or whatever your name is, you're annoying me. Annoying me is a dangerous thing to do. I suggest you run along to your little house, lock the doors and windows, and never speak to me again." She turned to leave, satisfied that she had scared the bunny off.
A pause. Then:
"It's Dotty, not Spotty."
The human lazily flicked her wrist at Dotty, then left without another word.
Dotty, puzzled, started to follow her, but stopped as an awful numb feeling crept up her legs. She cried out in shock, and turned in vain to run away. Within a few seconds, she stood completely frozen, a look of utter terror on her face.
Ree didn't even look back.
The human walked briskly down the road to Flower, lost in thought.
Eventually my seed will wear off... hopefully that Spotty chick will be too scared to say anything, or maybe she'll even move straight out! Ree thought, chuckling darkly to herself.
Of course, she may be tougher than I thought, she contemplated. Oh well. I can always get Apollo to help me with damage control, if I have to.
Ree was the sort of person who could make you believe the sky was orange if you listened to her long enough. With the giant eagle Apollo's intimidation, she had the residents of her town Never wrapped around her pinky.
With this planned, her thoughts turned to the road ahead.
Flower, she thought with a smirk. They really should teach kids better... although it would make my job harder...
Ree reached the gate and read off the code she was given online. The two police dogs saluted her as she passed them into the town of Flower.
Flower was... tiny. It was empty except for trees, and the outline of a small shack could be seen in the distance. In the air hung the smell of flowers and- yep, rough unwashed animals.
Another girl came dashing up to Ree.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. You must be Ree! Ohmygosh it's so nice to meet you in person! I'm Annie," she said, slightly out of breath. Ree put on a falsely cheerful smile and stepped in for a little girly hug.
"I know, right? You look just like I imagined you would. Isn't that cool?" Ree gushed, completely out of character. Annie did look exactly like Ree had imagined: a flower in her short blond hair and wearing a pink flowery dress. In other words, clueless and completely vulnerable.
If only she knew what she was in for.