The concept of another world was absolutely insane. Waterfall portals? Crazy cat boys? Nicole tried to process the situation, but failed miserably. Yet, as absurd as it was, there she stood in the center of it all. The forest that she was currently in was completely unfamiliar to her, despite the fact that she'd spent what felt like years worth of time discovering its flora and fauna. On top of that, the stranger who'd brought her into the mess not only declared to be half feline, but also claimed to be able to prove it.

And here she thought she knew how the world worked.

Taking slow breaths, Liam backed up and closed his eyes. Nicole snickered at him quietly. Whatever this kid was trying to do, so far, it only made him look like a total dope. Exhaling, he opened one eye to glare at her, his pupil once again resembling those of an animal. Startled by his gaze, she quickly shut up and paid payed close attention.

To her surprise, Liam's appearance began to transform. Fur grew from his skin, covering his pale limbs, and he seemed to shrink. Wait, no. He was definitely shrinking. White whiskers curled across his face, and Nicole spotted a tail appear from behind his back.

The boy had altered his physical form to become an orange tabby house cat. Using his paw, he scratched letters into the mud. There, the letters spelled. After waiting for a response, to no avail, he spelled another word. Satisfied? He shape shifted back into a human. As soon as he did, Nicole practically burst with questions, overcome by curiosity.

"How did you do that? Do your clothes just melt onto your skin? Or do you need to buy a special kind of fabric? Do you ever cough up hairballs-"

"Ew no. Can you please stop asking questions?"

"Oh, sorry," Nicole apologized. Everything felt so surreal to her in that moment, that it seemed almost impossible to contain her excitement. She was in a whole different world. She was face to face with a shapeshifter. And that shapeshifter happened to be looking for something. "Well, I have to help you now, don't I?" she insisted. "So what is it you're looking for?" In response to her question, Liam bit his lip, avoiding making eye contact with her. The uncomfortable atmosphere that Nicole had previously thought to have disappeared had come back again, and loomed over the two as she awaited his answer. Surely he wasn't evading the topic, but instead unsure of how to explain, as his mouth hung open slightly.

"You can't come," he finally said. His stare remained steady as his gaze lifted to watch Nicole. "It's too dangerous for you to help me, and you seem like a nice person. You wouldn't want to get hurt."

"If whatever you're doing is so dangerous, then why are you doing it?" asked Nicole. "You seem like a nice person too. The more people helping you, the less of a chance that anything bad happens." Despite her argument, Liam held his ground. "Can you at least tell me what you want?" He sighed.

"A medallion," he mumbled. "It's...important."

"Yeah, I figured." She paused, when an idea popped into her head. "What if I just give you a quick tour of the environment? Then you can decide if it's too dangerous for me to come along on your search. If it is, I'll let you go on your way, and if it isn't, I'll help you out. Besides, you'll need somewhere to spend the night." For the second time, Nicole offered Liam her hand. "Is that a deal?" He stared at her hand, before hesitantly taking her palm in his.

"Deal."

.     .     .

"There's the market," Nicole said, pointing to the bodega across the street. "We have quite a few restaurants here too if you ever need any food. The currency is colones, but you obviously wouldn't have any money, so I'll give you some coins if it's necessary."

"It's fine," Liam insisted. "I'd rather stay out of the public eye as much as possible. I stick out like a sore thumb."

Nicole rolled her eyes, a small smile spreading across her face. It had been a while since she had something interesting to do. "Don't worry about it," she said. "Costa Rica is a hot spot for tourists. You fit right in. The only thing I'd worry about is the eyes. Keep yourself looking human and everyone will assume you're wearing some really bright contacts."

The sun shone brightly above the horizon, just as it did every evening. The scenery resembled a picture painted by a master artist;shades of purples and yellows blended together perfectly to create a coral pink. Nicole noticed how Liam admired the spectacle, but never kept his sight off of his course. It was getting late.

Nicole turned a corner. "We're going to go through a small residential area. There's a forest on the other side of the neighborhood. It's the most beautiful thing you'll be seeing here." Out of the corner of her vision, she spotted a familiar face seated in front of her house. Her eyes were narrowed, and she sat on the edge of the bench. It was a friend of Nicole's parents-Gloria. Not only was she close to Nicole's family, but to Nicole as well. Never had she seen Gloria looking so alert.

Gloria and Nicole made eye contact, and the serious expression on her face shifted into one of interest. Crap, Nicole thought. We'll be here for the rest of the day. Gloria was quite charismatic, and a little too talkative sometimes.

"Nicole!" she shouted. "You didn't tell me you were a tour guide!"

Nicole laughed fumblingly. "Actually," she said, trying not to stumble on her words, "this is a one time thing." Gloria raised an eyebrow. "He just sort of... uh... asked me to show him around."

"Oh. Of course." To Nicole's surprise, Gloria stood and strolled to her front door. Holding the knob, she began to twist it as the door opened.

"Excuse me?" Both Nicole and Gloria turned their attention to Liam, who stared into the large window in Gloria's house. "Where did you find those books?" he asked. Hand raised, he pointed a thin finger at a bookshelf inside her living room. Perched on the shelves were many novels, their covers colorful and detailed. A few of them sported titles and labels written in an unknown language.

Gloria froze, still holding the doorknob. She began to twist it again, and then turned around to once again face the two teenagers, giving them a knowing smirk. "For a moment I began to think you wouldn't notice," she intoned. As she pushed her door open, she moved to the side and made a soft gesture towards her home. A new found mysterious atmosphere came from the building, though Nicole had been inside many times. Something about it, and about Gloria herself, had changed, and the reason why was clear.

"I believe I could be of aid with your expedition. Why don't you come on in?"