Shifting Fates
Okay so I forgot my disclaimer on my previous chapter. I would have thought it was obvious I didn't own them but still… I don't own YYH. Only Rayn, Nyght and my other OC's are mine. Hope you guys liked my prologue. So here is the actual first chapter of Shifting Fates.
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A striped polecat opened one eye sleepily as he felt intruders cross beneath the branch he slept on. He almost fell off his perch at what he saw. Through the trees padded a silver blue wolf, a jet, black nighthawk perched neatly on her shoulder. The hawk swiveled his head back and forth and now and again would fly up above the trees, searching. Both had icy blue eyes that sparkled with emerald slits. They traveled swiftly through the trees, coming out of the polecat's territory into deeper forests.
A voice rang through the wolf's mind, familiar and deep. Rayn, you realize how odd we look to the night prowlers , right? No raptor hunts with a lupine grounder. It's against animal ways. The wolf, called Rayn, turned to look her brother and twin in the eye. The hawk ruffled its feathers, but held her gaze. The wolf shrugged, forgetting she had a passenger. Sorry, Nyght, Rayn's voice echoed in his own mind. Either you shift to a wolf form or I'll shift to a falcon. As a wolf, we'd catch more and I'm hungry so let's get on with it.
The hawk screeched softly in annoyance and rolled its eyes. Jumping from fur to nothingness, he changed in midair to a night black wolf, huge paws smacking the ground with a thump. Now, their trots were swifter as the scent of roe deer floated on the breeze. Rayn grinned savagely, eyes lighting with a hunter's fire. The trees around them were comforting, smelling of pine and oak. But from the shadows, a pair of golden yellow eyes watched the two wolves.
The pair came to the edge of a clearing that stretched for a mile or more in the huge forest, lit by the half moon overhead. In it was nestled the herd of roe deer that Rayn had scented earlier, sleeping contentedly if not safely. Now, Rayn growled deep in her throat until Nyght jostled her slightly.
"Hush," he growled. "If they wake and we lose them, we'll be very hungry tonight. I'll blame you if we go hungry." Rayn dropped her head, ashamed at her own foolishness. Her instincts had gotten the better of her as she watched the deer. Nyght stalked forward on silent paws, Rayn following him just as silently.
Just outside of striking distance, Nyght's paw struck a rock and it clattered across the ground. The roe deer were up and running before either wolf could move, but they both sprang after their prey. Rayn made for a small fawn on the outer edge of the herd, working to cut it off from its mother. She succeeded and her brother leapt to bring it down. Before he could touch it, it fell dead, pierced through the heart by… nothing. As the pair came to the fawn, a hole was visible from its back to its front, but no sign of what had killed it. Nyght sniffed it warily, but no danger scent was there, so he picked it up by its neck. He and Rayn then trotted back into the comforting trees and away from the killing ground.
A few hours later, both Rayn and Nyght sat by a fire, human shaped once more. Deer bones lay in the ashes around the glowing embers.
Rayn growled to herself. "We have school in a few hours, curse it. I think I may-"
Nyght cut her off. "You're going to school tomorrow, Rayn. If they come looking for us at that stupid address we gave them and we're not there… they may get some hint that we're not normal. We'll take no chances." Rayn dropped her eyes once more. Twins though they may have been, Nyght acted as if he was older and Rayn knew he was right this time. Still, she couldn't help mumbling, "but we're not normal…"
Nyght smiled down at her. At 6'1", he was a good foot or so taller than Rayn. Now he laid back and looked up at the stars through the branches. Rayn came to curl beside him, resting her head on her brother's chest and quickly slipping into sleep. Nyght took longer than his twin, but eventually, Rayn's steady breathing lulled him into slumber.
As Nyght drifted off, the golden-eyed shadow watched them both from the branch of a tree. It drew back a misshapen hand as if to strike them, but stopped and cocked its head to the side as if listening. After a moment it growled, but nodded in assent. When it spoke, its voice was cruel and grating, rasping as if from a throat injury. "Azzz you wissssh massssterrrr. They sssshall liiive for now."
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So there! Sorry that was to my friend as well who bet me I couldn't write another chapter before Wednesday. I win! Okay, so there it is peeps. Woot Woot! I introduced both my main characters and my villain all in one chapter. Okay maybe I rushed it a bit but I'm happy with it. Let me know what ya'll think! R&R!
-- Fyre