So it's been a while... After several death threats (thank you Randomcat) I've decided to resume the story! So, enjoy this chapter!

Ch. 14

"I've been hiding in the woods and the only thing you can say is that we're going shopping?" he exploded.

I paused thoughtfully, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Who are you and what have you done with Kira? She would never go shopping." He stared at me as though he was expecting me to grow another head.

"Shopping for food," I growled.

"What happened to Max hunting me down?" he asked dubiously.

"Don't worry, the book you blew up wasn't one of her favorites. She didn't like that book so much, so she's not angry."

"That doesn't sound like Max."

"I managed to talk her out of gutting you."

"Gutting?"

"Are we going shopping or not?" I snapped.

He scrambled to his feet and glared at me, "You blew up that book, not me."

"No. You did." I said firmly.

He rolled his eyes, but was silent. I gave a wicked grin. That's one point for Kira.

"So, where do we go?" I demanded.

Iggy grinned, "Follow me." In an instant, he unfurled his wings and shot up through the trees. I gave a frustrated growl as I scrambled up a dense pine. When I crested the canopy I saw him hovering there. He was grinning off to the side.

"I'm over here birdbrain." I growled. "Now what's the big idea?"

"We're going to the store." He said with a devious smirk.

"I can't fly birdbrain."

"Then try to keep up." With that, Iggy set off, wings beating against the air. With a growl I leapt down from my perch and did my best to follow him. I would catch glimpses of him, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to follow him. A sudden thought occurred to me. I was trusting a blind man to lead me somewhere. I gave a low chuckle as I sped across the forest floor. When the veil of trees broke to reveal a valley I gave a surprised yelp and skidded to a halt. In the center of the valley was a sort of rock formation. Strange, gleaming peaks rose to the sky and a cold fear gripped me. I had seen the shining rock before. It had always been in the form of knives and cages. I stared uncertainly at the gleaming mass. Maybe this shopping thing wasn't a good idea. Iggy wheeled around and he landed in front of me, his large wings blocking my view of the valley. "What's wrong?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Is that where we're going?"

"What were you expecting?" was the sarcastic reply.

"I was expecting less people. I can smell them all the way from up here. Do you realize how many people there are in there! Besides, I don't like all that metal."

Iggy's mouth opened to say something –probably an irritating sarcastic remark- but he paused and stared at me curiously. "You're actually afraid of them?"

"You're not?"

There was a long awkward silence. "You can stay here if they scare you that much."

"No!" I snapped. "But of you leave me alone in there I'm going to do some very painful things to you Iggy."

"I'll be sure to hold your hand. Let me disguise my wings and we can go. Wait a minute. Kira, are you aware that you have a long tail and whiskers?"

"I'm dealing with it," I snapped. I cleared my mind and pictured myself as a full blooded human. I imagined every detail, from the eye colour to the fingernails. When I was sure that I had everything, I mentally fitted myself into the image. A painful tingling sensation began as my body shifted and changed. My fingers and feet spasmodically twitched as the bones shifted slightly. Claws retracted and blunt human fingernails pushed themselves out from under my skin. My spine seemed to melt together as my tail retreated into my back. I gave a whimper as my skull burned. Whiskers forced their way into my skin and my ears were set alight with pain as the bones grated against each other. Pain blossomed as my teeth wormed their way into my gums and a second, human set forced their way out of my gums.

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked nervously. "That sounded bad."

"It was bad, but I look human now."

"You what?" Iggy exploded.

"It worked out a lot better on those wolf creatures, but I can do it. Hurts like hell though." I grunted.

"You can do that! Kira, that's incredible!"

"Are you kidding? I can't smell anything and I can't balance at all without my tail! I've got no claws so I'm defenseless. What if something attacks us? It takes a minute or two for me to change like this so-"

"Don't worry. It'll be fine. Now let's go."

I wobbled slightly as I tried to follow him. "Iggy, can you help me out here?"

I stumbled over to him and latched onto his arm. "Kira! What are you doing?"

"I can't walk; now move before I tear your arm off." I snapped. Not that I really could. I had none of my strength or agility in this form. I couldn't anything but wobble around. I was useless!

Iggy smirked as he led me down to the city. He was definitely enjoying this. I was going to have to punish him later. Despite this, when we entered the city my grip on Iggy's arm tightened. I glared nervously at the humans around us. None of them were wearing white coats, but they were all humans, which meant that they were all dangerous, evil creatures. I frowned a bit when I saw a few small humans walking around. Evidently they came in different sizes. I snarled when one of the smaller ones stared at me. It gave a jump and scurried away. The vile creature hid behind a larger human, who glared at me angrily. I bared my teeth and gave a low hiss. Iggy nudged me with his bony arm as he whispered, "Cut that out, you look crazy."

"Iggy, they're everywhere!"

"Well, people do live in cities."

"Then why are we in cities!"

"To get food." Iggy said flatly.

"Can't we hunt? We can grow things!"

"Grow what?"

"I don't know. Things!"

Iggy rolled his eyes and said smugly, "Just stick with me and the scary humans won't hurt you."

I gave a frustrated growl, but said nothing. I dug my feet in when Iggy started to enter a building.

"I'm not going in there." I said stubbornly.

"Wait here then." Iggy said as he shoved me off of him. He strode into the store leaving me wobbling uncertainly in the middle of a crowd of humans. I froze in fear as one of the tiny humans tugged on my hand. I stared at the tiny little girl who stood before me, frozen in terror.