"Kiri!" Swift explodes from the tree, taking him flat to the floor.

Kiri squeals in shock, flipping himself upside down. His claws meet her belly, relaxing before kicking as he recognizes her. "Swift! Don't do that!"

"But it's a teaching moment. Be aware of everything. There are predators in these woods you know." She quotes, mocking him.

"Oh shut it." Kiri growls.

She hops off him, her tail tapping him on the nose. "Just admit, you failed today."

"I did." He concedes. "But so did you."

Flare sits directly behind Swift, a small smile playing in her eyes. "Are you distracting my helper?" She asks playfully.

Swift goes fluffy, her hair standing on end as she jumps. "Sorry! Do you want any extra help?"

She shakes her head, "No, we're done for the day. Just let Kiri help me get these back to camp then you two can go play. Just make sure you bring something useful home when you're done."

"Ok! I'll wait at our usual spot, ok Kiri?"

"Yep!"

Swift darts off with excitement. Flare turns to Kiri. "Do not let your father catch you two by the bipeds again. He may just leave that demon for them to remove its influence from you." She warns.

Kiri sighs heavily. "I don't understand why he hates her so. She's not mean or crazy. She's just a kit who everyone here hates or obsesses over. Like she's some sort of disease to study." He looks to his mother with mournful eyes. "Would he do that to me if he knew I was like her?"

Flare sighs. "Probably yes. He's highly superstitious and his father, your grandfather, drove extreme hate for the mainland deep into your father's mind. At this point if he found out he would kill her for it."

"What? Why? She didn't do it! I was born a pure Dukari." Kiri exclaims softly. He swallows uncomfortably, remembering how hard D'vala had helped him work, making his family carefully forget.

"In his mind you would've only developed it after she appeared so it's her fault. If he gets rid of her maybe you will return to normal. Not cursed." She explains. She leans down and gives him a nuzzle. "Go. Take that bundle to the base. Then find your friend."

Kiri tilts his head before nodding. He scoops his prize and trots off to base.

"D'vala, is it wrong to let her try to be the caring mother again? That bond is never going to repair." He asks quietly. "I don't know if I even want to deal with her."

"That depends on you kid. I don't think you should cut her off completely. She is trying and you haven't manipulated her. She may feel bad and want to help make you feel safer."

He growled to himself, stalking into base with a purpose. He stumbles into Shylo, his collection falling everywhere, all across the floor.

Kiri snapped out, catching Shylo with the edge of a fang. "Move."

Shylo snaps right back, catching Kiri and tossing him away. "You move."

He eyed the greenery everywhere and made a face. "Fine, I'm just telling mother you wrecked my hard work for her."

Shylo copied his face. "No! Don't. I'll clean it."

Kiri grinned to himself, his feet slapping the earth lightly as he trots off down the pathways.

Swift paces their spot, waiting impatiently. She nearly tackles him when she sees him, "Kiri! KiriKiriKiri!" She stops, her ears pricking all the way up. "Actually let's go first." She bounded up a tree, racing around the branches in great leaps and bounds.

Kiri follows her cautiously, finding his footing before each leap. 20 minutes pass before she slows to a stop, her feet dancing beneath her. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?" He twists his head quizzically.

She takes a deep breath before shifting. Flames raced across her body, taking black fur with it in a plume of smoke. Her eyes gleamed like ice, sapphire flames dancing between the blue black ice coating her true form. "I finally took my true form today! Look!"

Kiri leaned way back and stared. "You are both fire and ice?!"

"Yep! Have you taken your true form yet?" She asks.

"No, it hasn't been safe. D'vala has been helping me block it."

"Not sure how much longer I can do that. You are much older then you should be for your first shift to a true form." D'vala replies.

"You do realize the longer you wait the sicker you can get right?" Bladen asks.

"He knows. He's just trying to ignore this fact."

Swift's tail tapped against the branch, an icicle forming with each touch. "Kiri! Why would you want to hide from something that could help you?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're going to set fire to the tree."

"Wh-" She jumped, shifting back immediately. "Thanks."

"As for the question? My powers seem to be just fine as they are right now. Why take a change that could get me hurt, hated, or killed just because." His claws sank into the bark below him. "I don't want to see the look on their faces again like it was when D'vala got caught messing with their minds. I hated it. Now I'm keeping things to much smaller changes. Nothing so big."

Swift gives him a nudge. "Why not show us your true form now? It's safe here. No one will catch you."

He shook his head rapidly. "No. No! I can't take that risk. Not yet, ok?"

"Soon?"

He grimaced, "Hopefully not. Hopefully not ever."

"Oh come on, it has to be sometime." She teases, "Just let me know when. I'll protect you."

Bladen taps their minds. "Guys, Alpha is looking for Swift. Apparently he heard she was back and he wants to have her go watch the bipeds again."

They both groaned. "Again?! That's the third day in a row! I swear he's determined to get me eaten by them."

"And Kiri? He wants you to deal with the mess you left poor little Shylo."

"Shylo caused that mess." Kiri grumbled. "I was innocent." He stepped backwards, letting himself plummet to the ground, shifting at the last second to mist and dispersing politely across the floor without a bone breaking thump.

Swift leaned against the tree, watching as the world drifted by on soft clouds. "Bladen, what was it like to be in a proper pack? One that really loved you? Not one like here, willing to send you into danger at every second. One... Like if I had never been lost. What would that have been like?"

"She would have you trailing her through pretty much every pack affair. You'd have aunts, uncles, half siblings and unrelated people keeping you safe. You would be able to play every day, no worries about shifting or being hurt."

"But Bladen, I like being able to shift like I do. I like having the freedom I have. I don't know if I'd want to give it up."

"Thats just it, if you didn't know what this was like then you wouldn't have wanted anything different then pack life." He flicked an ear back, "I know you don't want to, but you should really listen into the pack lines. Your father-"

"Frost. Not my father. I don't want a worded connection to him." Swift corrects.

"Ok, Frost. He's teaching Sky how to be an alpha Dukari. You can listen in to at least get tips."

"Isn't he also teaching Sky to torture and maim to get the best pain responses?"

Bladen blinks. "Let's just... Not acknowledge that section, shall we?"

"I mean, I should probably know, in case someone tries to hurt me."

"Knowing the techniques won't teach you how to escape the techniques."

"Why not? Why couldn't I see how it's done and then figure out how to escape from there?"

"Because some days your fear and pain will paralyse you. There is no easy way to freedom." Bladen looked down at his good paw, flexing the claws there.

"Is that part of why you like to fly so much?"

"It's freeing in the sky." Bladen whispers.

Swift opened her eyes slowly, seeing the colours for what felt like the first time. Her eyes shifted, darkening to a flame in the center. She took a step forward, her legs bunching underneath her as she leapt free of the branches.

Flames rolled off her, wings unfolding from her shoulders as her feet folded back. Her face narrowed, shifting to a beak, little feathers curled up over her head. Deep golden feathers burned through black fur, darkening with every second of exposed air.

Her body shrank, compacting smaller and smaller until she was the size of a crow. Her beady eyes glanced about as she alighted onto a branch. "Bladen! Did you see that? I finally became a bird! Without you!"

Bladen grinned with her, forced though it was. "I saw! But uh, next time let's not include any fire with it if possible."

Swift cocked her head, watching the bipeds pace below her. "What exactly are these creatures called in their language Bladen?"

"I am not sure what these ones call themselves. I know that others have called themselves human, earthlings, terrans, and probably more."

"Others?"

"Yes." He pulls up a memory of the night sky. "Almost every single point of light up there is another world, another place, even at times another entire reality. Places where we can shift and do what we please. Walk around like they do, using a spoken language."

"Are there other versions of us out there?" She curled up, watching him intensely.

"I... I don't know. Maybe? I don't know how it all works." He looked out and back to her again. "What?"

"Tell me what you do know, please! Your stories always make these stupid watches go faster."

Bladen paffs her with a gentle paw, shoving her aside. "Only if you watch too."

She bounded back to the front in a heartbeat, settling there to watch over the bipeds.

Bladen chirred softly with amusement. "Where to start." He stepped away, flipping through memories, looking for legends he'd once been told.

A young girl, hardly passed the age of ten, chased a male, pulling insistently on his shirt. She lept up, trying to pull a spear from his hands, growling when he just lifted it higher.

He reached down and ruffled her hair, his fingers bending in intricate patterns and gestures.

The girl sat down in the earth with a hard thump, her arms crossed. She glares upwards at him, one hand flicking out a few quick gestures.

The male frowned at her before tapping her in the head with the tip of the spear. He makes a single sharp sign before pointing her away.

"Found one." Bladen announces.

"Bladen, can you understand these creatures?"

He releases the memory and comes back up front, "No. Maybe with years of practice I could, but I do not like languages. Not like some creatures."

The male pressed his hand to his forehead and slowly shakes his head. He throws his hands up before going to find another lady.

"Well that was a gesture of complete exasperation." Bladen offers.

"Thanks." Swift rolls her eyes, "That one I got. I see you make that face often enough. What should I call them?"

He stares at her blankly

"The ones I'm watching, I can't just say 1 2 3, can I?"

The lady, another baby clutched to her chest, gestured grandly. She placed one hand on her hip, switching the baby over. She snatched the spear away and smacked him hard enough to echo even to Swift's ears.

She giggled, her bird form letting out a loud caw. All eyes flicked to her, the bipeds openly staring.

She ruffled her feathers, tilting her head back to run her beak through her feathers. Ash puffed off her for as she moved, sending the bipeds fleeing back into their home.

Bladen sighed. "Not good. Not good at all."