Zahra came back not long after the mysterious encounter. It almost felt like a dream or a hallucination to Nicole. The surreality of the situation made it less believable than she wanted it to be. She was sitting on her heels, closer to the fire though, and still held the flaming stick. Zahra also noticed that she was on edge and that she wasn't alone. After saying hi, she put the game down before checking the area for potential danger. After ensuring that there was nothing, she went back and gently took the wood from Nicole before telling her to turn around.

"What happened?" she asked Erlina.

"She was almost attacked by a cougar" Erlina said having a much better pronunciation than the cougar. "I was in the area and heard the exchange."

Nicole's heart was racing. She could feel the magic stirring in her although it was way too faint to do anything with. She didn't understand what had just happened and she didn't know how to respond to it. She stared into the fire as the two other women discussed the outside cause of her shock. She knew how Zahra was being very gentle by avoiding the topic of her shapeshifting but she never thought an intelligent animal would abuse her lack of ability and try to kill her for a snack.

"Nicole?" Zahra called out to the still somewhat stunned girl. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," Nicole said looking up at Erlina who was still sitting close to her. "Thank you Erlina. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I think it's time to start working on your fighting skills," Zahra said clearly not impressed by the sheer fact that Nicole almost got killed. "Nice thinking with the fire though" she added.

"I have to go now" Erlina stood up. "It was good to see you again Nicole. Hopefully, the next time we see each other it will be under better circumstances."

"Bye," Nicole hugged Erlina, not necessarily as a goodbye gesture more so because she needed a hug. She needed an explanation and she more than ever wanted the magic to be back. She would have given anything to have just the small amount she felt during the encounter.

When they separated Erlina left the way she came. Something about her arrival felt weird but Nicole just shrugged it off. Animals were weird and she learned that very early on. She looked back at the fire her pain resurfacing. Shapeshifting always connected her to her mother so the magic, while making her wish there was more, also reminded her that Maya was gone. 

They went back to the shack and didn't continue learning that day. Zahra let Nicole mull over her feelings and Nicole tried to stop the tidal wave of emotions that appeared thanks to the events of the day. Her head felt heavy and she almost wished the cougar had done what he started. Instead, she was left with conflicting feelings and an empty heart.

She couldn't cry, her rage having vaporized her tears a long time ago. But she wanted to. For the first time since her brother's death, she just wanted to let it all out. But she couldn't do so when someone else was around. Her body automated the calming responses she had learned a long time ago to avoid crying in the palace. They didn't always work but they worked ninety percent of the time and the original source for her feelings was now gone completely.

She soon went outside and without a real destination started wandering in the forest. The thing that used to calm her practically devastated her as her chest tightened up in her need to cry. Her eyes strained themselves to produce and let go of any water but her ribs rose and fell rhythmically, to a slow rhythm her lungs forced on her. She felt light-headed and her anxiety was rising as her emotions were once again pushed down. Visibly though, she was fine.

Chatter reached her ears and she looked ahead to see a path leading into a small town. She headed there having nothing better to do. She had to leave Zahra sometime and although she was going to wait till the seer showed her how to use a bow, she wanted to find a healer to see if anyone could be done about her situation. Or to get a better understanding on whatever happened during her encounter.

The town was bigger than she originally thought and was mostly made up of shapeshifters. She saw seers as well which made her question why Zahra lived alone in the first place. Everybody noticed her since there weren't many travelers coming to such a remote town in the middle of the Dark forest. She ignored them as best she could until a shapeshifter called after her.

"Have you bathed recently?" the man with a cat-like head and left arm asked. "You wreak"

"Leave her be Rufus," the woman beside the man said. "She just arrived. You know how scarce water is in the forest."

Nicole wanted to growl her frustration as she did so many times before but her throat just wasn't cooperating. Her upper lip pulled away revealing her teeth but the sound was that of a human trying to replicate a growl instead of an actual one. Several heads turned to her and she quickly ducked her head trying to disappear into the crowd. The ones standing close enough to hear her shook their heads and went on their way although Nicole could pick up some murmurs as they did. Most were wondering if she was okay but some were calling her a fake.

She went on not taking the time to even attempt to respond to anything. That would have only brought more attention to her which she now wanted to avoid. Shapeshifters simply did not mess up a simple growl. And in a small town like this, news traveled fast. Even in the town around the castle, which was five times as big as the one she'd currently been in, news and gossip only took three days to make a full round and be heard by everyone. Nicole was not looking forward to seeing how fast that would be here.

A/N:

I'm finally back. I hope this chapter is okay and I didn't mess up everything. If you find something wrong with anything let me know, I will probably only change it after I completely finished but it is good feedback for when I do revise the book.

Thanks for reading and hope I can be back sooner this time.