Dreaming Up Reality

Ch. 5.

Their journey to James was a long one. The path they followed was completely dirt, sometimes no path at all, just a faint trail of bushes or trees. The sun still managed to beat down on their heads though. She couldn't understand how Kain and Damien remained so pale. Lex was a bit darker but not by much. She pulled her hood up to shade herself from the harsh rays. It didn't take long for one of the trouble makers to tug her hood off though. "Ya know.. maybe you AREN'T from around Luxberry. These clothes are something I've never seen before." Kain smirked. She shrugged and put her hood back on. "They're just clothes. Plus, you guys never seem to wear any. All clothes must look weird to you." "We wear clothes when we journey anywhere outside Luxberry, but that's about it. And usually it's nothing more than shorts or something. " He said, putting his hands behind his head and falling back to rejoin Damien who had been lurking behind the three.

Lex had just been faintly listening and directing the group. His sense of direction seemed to be the best. "We're not too far. I say another hour or so of walking will get us there." As soon as he said it Kain and Damien groaned. "Whyyy are we walking again?" Damien whined. "Because Aleice can't shift like us." "Then why not just carry her? You've done it before." Kain spat, rolling his eyes. "Well.. Iunno. Didn't really think about it." Lex looked back at her. "Want to do it?" She shrugged. "I don't mind. I don't want to make you carry me again."

Lex smiled and stretched, about to shift when suddenly Kain darted between Aleices legs, knocking her off balance and ontop of his back. He had already shifted and knew what he wanted. She gasped and grabbed onto his fur for dear life. "Don't pull so hard! Lex, you grab snake boy!" Kain chuckled and then continued on the dirt path. Lex seemed kind of annoyed but got over it quickly, shifting and letting Damien slither onto his back. He caught up to Kain easily, even passing him up, looking back only to gloat. She giggled and Kain spat again.

A few minutes turned into ten. They were running by huge roaming hills covered in wild flowers and grass about as tall as the wolves. They even passed a small village. There were naked people running about amongst animals. The nudity she had gotten over. The animals she hadn't. She saw a doe being accompanied by a very hairy boar. It was so weird to her, but then again.. it was a dream.

Kain sped up and got closer to Lex. The village was far behind them in a matter of minutes. Ahead was only trees with a small clearing coming up. She saw Lex stop and lay down. Kain walked up behind him and did the same. He dropped onto his stomach and they both panted heavily. She stood up and brushed herself off, looking around. "Are we here?" The two wolves lay panting still. Damien was nowhere in sight.

She turned around to face them just as a voice echoed through the small clearing. "It depends. Where is the 'here' you are looking for?" She jumped and searched franticly for the source. She saw nothing. "Uh.. we're looking for someone called James.." By then Lex had shifted back and was standing to join her. "James quit foolin' about. You know who we are." He said, looking around with her. Kain shifted but didn't say anything, just remained sitting on the ground. "Where's Damien?" She whispered to Lex, still scanning for the voice.

Suddenly, the biggest bird she had seen in a forest darted from the top of one of the darkest trees. He seemed to be coming straight at her. Her body froze and she stared wide eyed watching the beady yellow eyes dart straight towards her. It was just as he was about to hit when she clenched her eyes shut and waited for impact. Instead though, she heard a loud hiss and then rustling. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see a very large owl wtih talons wrapped around Damien, the snake.

"I told you before Damien. You can't surprise me." The owl chuckled and let go, fluttering back up onto a branch. "Screw off old man. I would have had you if you didn't hide like a wuss." Damien spat, shifting back into his human form and sitting next to Kain, who was currently laughing at him.

She looked back up towards the owl. He was a reddish-orange colour. His beak was odd though, it was black. His eyes were bright yellow and seemed to follow you wherever you moved. He was very large, about the size of a two year old human. That was HUGE for an owl. His head twisted awkwardly to stare at her. "And who is this?" He hoo'ed. "Her name is Aleice. She's why we've come." Lex spoke up for her since she seemed to have lost her tongue.

The owl just stared.

Finally after what seemed like forever he fluttered down from his branch. Right before he hit the ground he shifted. The feathers molted away to reveal a very tan, very tall, very.. orange haired fella. It wasn't red hair. It was orange. His eyes were a pretty sky blue, and he had lots of freckles. He must of noticed her looking him over. "Like what you see?" She blushed hard. "Oh I was just.. watching I guess." He laughed and walked towards them. "So what brings you guys here?"

"Well, we don't really know. We found her yesterday laying in a feild. We found out today she can't shift. But this must be wrong, right?" Lex asked. James looked her over. "You can't shift? Or are you hiding something from us." He squinted his eyes at her, making her gulp.

"Look, I have no idea what this place even is. From where I'm from this is something we see in fairytales and mythilogical books." She explained. "Where exactly are you from then?" "Ohio. United States.. America.." She watched his expression become even more confused. "Earth!" He grabbed her chin and tilted her head to the side. She freaked out and slapped his hand away. "What are you doing?" He laughed. "Was just checking for the mark of the Jackal. You don't have it. Otherwise I'd call you a liar and kick you out." She just looked at him funny. Lex was biting his lip from the looks of it. Kain and Damien were still just sitting and watching. "I'm not an animal.. I've told you.." She stated. "Well, I'm sorry dear but everyone here is an animal." He sighed. "Maybe it's not so much as you aren't, just.. you haven't figured out who.." She gave him a confused look. "I know who I am.. I'm not an animal." She said again. He chuckled. "You're here. You belong to animal. You just don't know which yet. That's alright though! It's just we typically are given the mark by our parents. Maybe.. you're parents abandoned you? Or maybe they were killed just as they had you? I don't know." He sighed. Damien jumped up and pointed. "See! You DON'T know everything!" He laughed and looked down towards Kain, high fiving him. James just shook it off. "You just need to figure out why you're here and everything will fall into place. Just, get to know people. Explore a little bit. You obviously aren't from around Luxberry or you wouldn't be clothed." He gave her hoody a little tug to indicate his point.

"Why can't I just be a human? Why is it that I have to be an animal? Why won't you guys believe me?" She pleaded. "It's not that being all human is bad.. it's just not how it is. Maybe you ARE all human. Who knows." Kain stood and crossed his arms. "So what you're saying is we wasted our time coming here becuase you have no idea."

"Precisely!"

Everyone groaned except James. "Look, go see Desmond and Tord. If you're going to be sticking around atleast get to know some of the locals. I value those twos' friendship most." With that, James shifted and fluttered off, his huge wings blowing gusts of wind towards them all. She sheilded her eyes and then checked everyone out after it was over. "So what now?" "Now we go see Desmond and Tord, as he said." Lex nodded. "Why would we do as he says when he honestly has no idea." Damien groaned. "Quit being lazy. I'm curious as to what she is. Finding out doesn't seem like a bad idea." Kain actually stuck up for her. That or he really was just a curious fool. Either way.. now they had even more people to meet.