As always, disclaimers are on the first chapter!
Griffin: The "cracks" are actually an inside reference to something that my roomies and I talk about here. As my brother says, "Just like in Excel Saga, it ends up not really mattering!" This story initially wasn't supposed to hit (that, in itself, is a long story... Blargh...) ever. There is a secret "bonus" chapter written by one of said roomies, TrinityLast (of Buffy and Angel fanfiction fame such as Bound and Temple of the Slayer ::ends her shameless plug::), but I didn't include it here because it was written by not-me.
winchester-grl44: Thank you! I'm glad you like how I portrayed Kenneth. He was really tough to write and I actually had to read the short story that Kelley wrote of his about five or six times before I felt comfortable in writing him. As for your other pondering, well... ::smirks:: I shall choose to not answer that right now. ::noms on the Kudos in the mean time, since that's her favorite brand of granola bar:: ^..^
In other news, I'm struggling getting the sequel, Displaced, up and running again. I stalled some time back and I haven't had the kicking in the pants that I had while writing Shifted since I quit Disney and started working from home. I did get the spark of an idea for an original fiction that I might start writing tonight, though, if anyone goes to FictionPress for origional works. More likely it'll end up on my website then there, though. Who knows? Like I said earlier, Shifted wasn't supposed to be on , either.
Okay, I'll stop rambling and let y'all read the next chapter. I know that's what you're really here for!
Run
I wanted to be running, far away from human cities, human thinking, human problems, human anything. I had to keep my control, though, so I managed to walk all the way back to the cottage before allowing myself to even think about Changing. Nick met me on the main street to the complex, the expression on his face that was a mixture of worry and relief. I didn't realize he was there until I almost ran into him.
"How...?"
"How did we beat you back without you noticing? We had the cars, remember?" Nick smirked at me. "Though I doubt you would have even noticed a charging herd until well after it trampled you. Think you're still up for a run?"
I nodded.
"Good." He turned away and headed into the forest.
My Changes were getting quicker and less painful, but on that particular day I reveled in the pain. It bit back the surreal feeling I'd been left with after my meeting with Kenneth. The thing was, being here had never felt surreal until home had touched me from the distance. I stood up and shook my dark fur, ready to run. Sniffing the air, I followed my nose to Nick's spot and poked my muzzle under the brush to let him know I was ready.
I heard him grumble through the bushes. Just as I pricked my ears in worry, there was a sudden flash of fur and Nick was on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He panted, tongue hanging out, laughing at having surprised me. I nipped his paw and grunted. It wasn't hard to surprise me that day; there was no reason for him to gloat like that.
He stepped back and nudged me with his nose until I stood up. His tail was wagging slowly, and I could practically smell his excitement for the run. I didn't know it was contagious until I felt the breeze from my wagging tail ruffling the fur on my legs. With a yip, I danced to the side and bowed down, sticking my tail and hindquarters in the air and wiggling a bit.
Nick lunged playfully at me, changing direction at the last second, but not before I flinched and braced myself for another pounce. He circled me instead, rubbing against me as he did until he was able to nuzzle my shoulder. After a quick nip, he took off running, disappearing into the darkness of the forest.
I took off after him. Despite it being night, I was able to see perfectly over the snow-covered ground of the forest. As we plowed through into clearings, the bright gibbous moon illuminated the snow beneath our paws. I laid my ears back, making myself more streamline and minimizing the sound of the air as I cut my way through it. With each clouded puff of breath, my worries fell one more step behind me. My human mind knew that I couldn't run from my troubles, but my wolf brain reveled in the release. It wasn't like I was running from them, anyway. I was just finding a temporary escape. Some people find it in writing, some find it in a bottle, I found mine in a thirty-five mile per hour burst of speed while covered in thick brown fur.
I had lost sight of Nick a ways back, having taken a different fork in the path than he did. I could still smell him upwind, though, running with me just one path removed. I'm sure if I had thought about it, I would've seen the irony of that: same route, different path. So much like how my life was going now. Secure in the illusion that all was right with the world for the moment, I allowed my mind to become unfocused again. This time, I just enjoyed the feel of the wind through my fur and the bite of the cold on my paw pads.
Growing up, when I couldn't find something that was right in front of me, my grandma would always say "If it was a snake, it'd have jumped up and bit you in the nose!" I never quite grew out of that bad habit of missing the trees for the forest...or was that the forest for the trees? Either way, I missed stuff by concentrating on other things.
I was listening to the fading echo of my yelp before I realized what had happened. It was dark and suddenly the snow came standard with dead and dried sticks, leaves, and pine needles. I shook them out of my fur, but stumbled back into them with a yip. The pain shooting up my leg was familiar. I had twisted something in my fall. Typical... Trust the heroine to fall into a hole and twist her ankle. I had fallen into something worse than a trap. I had fallen into a cliche.
The hole wasn't even wide enough to pace in. As I was pawing at the wall with my hurt leg, a fresh shower of pine needles came down on my head. I growled and squinted up at the opening. No one was up there, though. Nick wasn't going to notice my absence, so I threw back my head and let out a long, low howl. After waiting for the echo to clear, I listened for Nick's return howl. Nothing. So, I howled again.
"Och! Ruddy beast! Stop with the noise now, would ye?"
I squinted up through the hole as another pile of pine needles rained down on me. Trying to get closer to the top, I put my forepaws on the wall-o-dirt surrounding me and whined when my left paw reminded me that it was wounded. Stretched this way, I didn't even hit the halfway point of what I had fallen into. My only guess was that my hard head was what stopped me from being killed.
The silhouette of a man crouched over the lip of the opening appeared. When he shifted to get better footing, the last bit of the surrounding debris fell into the hole. After snorting the dirt out of my nose, I sniffed to try to catch his scent, but there was nothing. His scent wasn't even on the bits of the above forest that decided it would make a good crown for the queen of the bear traps. All I smelled was forest.
He disappeared over the edge and I heard the dim strike of flint and a quick flare of dull orange. A primal panic shot through me as I wondered if flaming debris will soon be my new bed down in the hole. Instead, he reappeared holding up a lantern that illuminated his face and chest.
The man was wide shouldered with a strong neck and jawline. His hair was a light brown, with red highlights reflecting the light from his lantern. His eyes were unusual, though. A deep forest green that seemed to glow with a light all their own. Catching myself staring, I blinked and shook myself. When I looked up at him again, the illusion was gone. He was just a man, holding a lantern...and laughing at me.
"Got yerself in a bit of a bind, didn' ya, lassy?"
I pulled back my lips, baring my teeth at him and growling a warning.
"Now, now. Don't ye go threatenin' me with that pretty grin o' yers, lass, or I'll be takin' me message and me help with me. Ye don't want th' big bad tae win, do ye?" I could see the lantern light glinting off his teeth as he grinned at me.
Like a good puppy I sat and waited to hear his explanation. He checked over his shoulder, as if checking to see that he wasn't being overheard before he looked down at me again. Once more, his eyes were glowing.
"I know ye know who I am, Nyx. Think real hard on it." He sighed when he realized that I wasn't going to recognize him or anything he was talking about. "Och! Gods damned bloody mortals..."
A thick vine started to snake down into the pit and into the dirt wall, creating steps as it weaved in and out all the way to the ground. The man's voice took on a bit more urgency. "Ye need to get yerself free, lass. The Fates 'ave got big plans for ye and the Cabals want to recruit ye. If they can't, ye'll get ta meet the Fates and hear their disappointment in person. Now get yer furry brown arse outta there and seek out Eve Levine. Now!"
He disappeared from the lip of the hole again and I was alone in the dark once more. Staring at the root-like branch, I wondered how he expected me to get out. With paws, it had the same likelihood of me climbing my way out without it. It took my slow brain to realize that he expected me to Change and climb out. Sure, no problem.
As I Changed, a burning in my wrist started and grew as my body shifted. I gritted my teeth, trying to work through it until I couldn't handle it anymore and let out a scream. I was human again, though, bent over and panting as I felt cold sweat cut trails down my neck and back. I shivered once and jumped, grabbing the thick branch as I did. With a yelp of pain, I let go and fell back. Even after the burning reminder during my change, I had forgotten about my sprained wrist.
With a frustrated growl, I held my wounded arm to my chest and tried to climb the root ladder again. Feeling much like a vertical inchworm, I made my way slowly up; bring up my feet a step, then lunge to grab the next wrung with my good hand. When I reached the top, panting, I clung to the forest floor, still half in the hole. Next thing I knew there was a burning in my wrist again as I was being hauled out of the hole by my bad arm. Caught off guard, I screamed in pain like the little girl that I was. Tears of pain blurred my vision, so I couldn't see who my handler was, but I could hear him chuckling at my misfortune.
"Bloody hell, Ryans, can't ye see that she's cold?"
I swallowed back my whimper as recognition of the voice and the spark of betrayal grew in my gut. I glared at my "rescuer" as he wrapped a thin blanket around me. He met my eyes, a bright green with a determined look in them. As he stepped back, I noticed that he moved awkwardly as if he wasn't used to his own two feet then turned his head to glare at the man who held me up a moment before. Instinctively, my eyes darted around to see the other men who surrounded us. Cabal sorcerers...
"Knock it the fuck off, Ryans. The lass is freezing as it is, and you go and try to give her hypothermia?"
It took me a moment to realize what was going on. Ryans was a Tempestras half-demon and was getting it to snow heavier right where I was standing. I turned and glared at the arrogant son-of-a-bitch and growled. He only smirked more. I never could pull off being intimidating, even against immature assholes.
"The puppy has teeth, doesn't she, Burnett?"
I turned to look at Burnett, who was glaring over my head at Ryans. Silence hung between them, and I was in the middle of it. I caught Burnett's fingers twitching. Some half-demons have a tell, especially telekinetic half-demons, and I wondered what Burnett was about to do. When nothing happened, and his twitching became less subtle, I realized he was waving me away. Telling me to get the fuck out. Okay, who was I to argue?
As I tried to slip away, a gust of wind knocked me off my feet. "You aren't going anywhere, beast!"
"Who are you calling a 'beast', asshole?" I snarled at Ryans from my backside; inwardly I flinched. I really needed to learn to pick and choose when my temper flared up.
Sudden hail started to pelt me from above, and I curled up under the blanket for protection. Then chaos broke. From the forest, I heard the crashing of something plowing through underbrush and the snarl of a wolf. Nick! Thank the goddess, Nick was here! Nick was here... Fuck! Nick's fighting two guys alone, with who knows how many hidden!
I threw the blanket off and ignored the hail raining down on me. I was barely able to get up when someone grabbed my arm. I tried to pull away, but he pulled me close.
"Get the bloody hell out of here, lass." Burnett hissed in my ear. "I cannae hold this cur back any longer and he's just getting stronger as he feeds off the chaos." A grunt as he shoved me toward the forest as he called after me. "If Eve gives ye any problems, tell 'er that Esus sent ye!"
Esus? Esus! I remembered him now. Celtic deity of the forest. That was how he got the branch to create a step-ladder. As I ran through the forest, dry branches whipping and cutting into me as I made my own path, I tried to remember more about him. I apparently couldn't run and think at the same time. It wasn't long before I felt Nick's hot breath on my heels. He passed me and helped by cutting my path for me. Neither of us stopped until we reached the cottage and tumbled into the front door.