Hey, guess what? I'm back with another Shifted chapter! XD Took me a bit long, as usual on this story, unfortunately, but i'm not abandoning it. This seems to be one of my most popular stories, as it's the one story out of the three that i don't update very often that i am requested to update. Anyway, enjoy!
"Ughh, how do you do this all the time?!" Zero exclaimed, dropping his sword and sitting down.
"I don't." Gingka laughed. "I usually just breathe fire and take them out."
"Wish i could breathe fire…" Zero muttered.
"It gets annoying when you need to sneeze though, trust me."
Madoka chuckled. "I'll bet."
"I don't know how many times i've set stuff on fire by just sneezing… It's really bad when i get a cold." Gingka laughed.
"Ooh, i'll bet." Kyoya grinned, slashing at the redhead with his sword, a movement which the redhead easily blocked, his sword a silver blur until it met Kyoya's blade.
"As long as i'm not in a house or a forest, i'm fine." Gingka said, suddenly maneuvering around Kyoya and placing his sword at the Leone blader's throat before the greenette could react.
"What the?!" Kyoya exclaimed, dropping his sword in surprise and throwing his hands up. "Don't kill me!"
"Now why in the world would i do that?" Gingka laughed, sheathing his sword and picking up Kyoya's, handing it back to the greenette.
"Gingka, look out!" Madoka said, suddenly firing an arrow into the air and piercing the wing of a darkling that was flying overhead.
"Whoa! Nice shot!" Gingka exclaimed, leaping back and temporarily paralyzing the darkling with a small bolt of electricity that had sparked from his fingers.
The others stepped back as Gingka knelt down next to the downed darkling and sternly looked it in the eye before making a few questioning growls.
"Oh geez, not going to let us understand their conversation, apparently." Madoka chuckled.
"Apparently not." Kyoya replied as a crackling noise drew their attention back to Gingka, who turned back to face them and rejoined them, his eyes closed, leaving behind a frozen darkling.
"I got the information i needed. Let's go." he said.
"Go where?" Madoka asked.
"To the shifter planet. I still have more training to do, and i've taught you about all that i really can." Gingka replied.
"T-to the what?!" Madoka and the others exclaimed.
"You heard me." Gingka said, again creating a portal. "A little more training, and i can shift forms at will instead of having to wait for one to wear off."
"Oh, cool!" Zero said as he and the others stepped through the portal.
"I also need your help to convince the shifter ruler to help with the darklings." Gingka said, leading the way through a hallway filled with tall, elegant marble columns.
"Whoa…" Madoka said as they stepped outside into a large forest with tall trees. Every tree had a silvery coating, with silver leaves mixed into a deep green that arched hundreds of feet above their heads.
"Exactly my reaction the first time i came here." Gingka chuckled, spreading his wings and flitting ahead for a few seconds before landing and pausing to wait for the others.
"You're like a little bird." Madoka chuckled as she watched the redhead flying about.
"Maybe i am a little bird." Gingka grinned. "A bored little bird."
Madoka laughed. "Yeah, that about describes it."
"You're insane." Kyoya muttered under his breath.
"I'm a shapeshifter. We're all a little crazy." Gingka replied.
Kyoya blinked in surprise.
"I've got sharp ears, you can whisper and i'll hear you." Gingka laughed.
Kyoya sweatdropped. "Well, isn't that just annoying."
Madoka whispered something under her breath, causing Gingka to look at her confusedly.
"Just testing your hearing." the brunette laughed.
"Which explains why you suddenly began talking about glittery unicorns and purple pancakes…" Gingka trailed off and chuckled.
"Exactly." Madoka replied.
"How much further do we have to walk here?" Zero asked a couple of hours later.
"Not much. The main citadel is right there." Gingka replied, pointing to a towering silver and gold building on the horizon.
"Wow…" Madoka whispered.
"Everything here is like that." Gingka commented. "All silver and gold and stately."
"I like it." Madoka said.
Gingka grinned. "Me too."
A few stares and warning growls greeted the group as they entered the city, both of which Gingka quickly stopped with a low snarl and a glare of his own.
"Practically none of these guys will know human languages. If they want to touch you, don't worry about it. I'll keep them from hurting you guys." Gingka said.
"Why would they want to touch us?" Zero asked.
"If they touch you, then they can shift to humans, and they'd be able to talk to you." Gingka replied. "Around here, human shifts are almost as rare as mythological animal ones."
"Like your dragon and pegasus ones?"
"Exactly. Incidentally, i got those from beys. I haven't touched an actual pegasus or dragon."
"So wait, to get a shift, you have to touch the animal or object?" Kyoya spoke up.
"Yeah. You're catching on now." Gingka replied with a grin.
Kyoya rolled his eyes.
"So, if you touched another shifter's form, would you get it?" Madoka asked.
"Nope. Only works with the real thing." Gingka replied. "That's why there is such a thing as rare shifts."
"Oh, right. That makes sense." Madoka muttered.
"Here we are. The training school." Gingka said, stepping up to a wooden door with silver streaks in it.
"Hey, halfbreed!" a taunting voice called as Gingka placed his hand on the doorknob.
The redhead groaned. "Just ignore that idiot." he muttered, opening the door and walking in.
"Hey, i'm talking to you! Don't ignore me!"
Gingka walked inside with the others following him. Out of the corner of his eye, Zero spotted an angry-looking half-human, half-snake creature moving towards them at a surprisingly quick speed, considering his rather odd, half-walking, half-slithering movement. Soon enough, he had caught up with them and passed them, grabbing Gingka's arm and forcing the redhead up against the wall.
"Oh, hello Guro." Gingka said coldly.
"Don't play coy with me, halfbreed. I know you heard me calling you." Guro hissed.
"What do you want?" Gingka snapped.
"To know how you can dare set foot in here after i told you not to come back."
"And since when are you in charge, baka?"
"You're only a half-breed shifter. That automatically puts me in charge."
"No, it doesn't. You heard our trainer when he said that."
"Who cares what he says? You don't deserve to even be allowed on this planet."
"Shut up, lizard boy."
Guro growled. "That's serpent boy to you."
"You're just a tiny lizard in comparison to me. Now, back off before i roast you like a slab of meat." Gingka snarled, shoving the other shifter roughly aside and continuing down the hallway.
"You'll regret saying that, halfbreed!" Guro called after the redhead as he led his friends away.