The weekend had come. It was two days of joyous celebration, of freedom. It was a time where you could either get your work done fast and party, or party and wait until the last second to finish homework. Matron wouldn't let him leave the building without getting it done so Fen went with the first option.

"Can me and Dae go hiking in the park?" He asked Matron that sunny afternoon.

"Only if your homework is done and Dae promises to keep and eye on you." She answered curtly.

_______________

"I can't believe you forgot to bring a water bottle." Dae groaned, once we had already gotten a ways out there.

Leakin Park wasn't like a playground park, it was a forest. Not many younger kids hung out here since the place was also a common burial site. Rumor was, it was haunted by a monstrous beast. It was also the place Fen's brother dissapeared too twelve nights out of the year. So Fen wasn't frightened of the place at all.

"Well I was in a rush." Fen argued.

"Whatever, here's a dollar. Go buy yourself one at the giftshop." He snarled, shoving it into his hand.

Fen was taken aback by the sudden moods swing. So he back away slowly, feeling slightly hurt by Dae's tone of voice. Then he scampered off a whiles back down the shady path to the small store at the gates. Which also sold ice cream Fen bought when he had saved up enough allowance.

He quickly grabbed some water then was about to pay for it when the door opened again and a familiar orange headed figure stepped through. It was the girl he had crashed into at school. Now that he had time to actually observe her he could tell she was very pretty. Her hair looked like it had been dyed, but it was also natural, he couldn't decide. One thing was for sure, it was definitely orange.

Her eyes wandered around before landing straight on him. Her whole face twisted into such a mask of disgust he felt like stepping back a bit.

"You." Was all she said, before sticking up her nose and wandering off to a section filled with hiking gear.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you." He shot back, sounding hurt.

"Whatever, just stay away from me." She hissed.

Fen's hands felt numb as he curled them into fists. He glanced down quickly and nearly chocked of his breath. Then concealed his hands behind his back. For a second, they had almost looked like claws.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" She smiled to herself as if she had just made an inside joke.

His anger spiked again, and the claws dug into his palms.

He took a deep shakey breath and just left. Leaving the water behind, he just needed to get away from that girl and calm down. He only wished Dae had come with him, then he might have gotten some protection or advice from his only brother.

Fen kicked a rock and yelled loudly. Scaring some birds up high in the trees. A few leaves crackled to his left and he looked over to see a large shaggy gray wolf. For a second the size of the thing scared him before he noticed who it was.

"Knock it off Dae!" He tried growling mockingly at the wolf. And surprised himself when it came out deeper and more realistic then he intended.

The wolf flicked it's head to side, as if saying 'look at what you just did!' Then he ran off, leaving Fen alone in the woods. He stared forlornly before hearing a loud howl in the distance. Great, what he supposed to do now? For a few minutes Fen tried to make his hands shift into paws again, but it didn't work. Not that he was really expecting it too.

By the time Dae appeared again, the sun had set and Fen had gone down all of his favorite trails and back again. He was angry at his brother, he usually like to run out his rage but this time he just couldn't understand the reasons for Dae's actions. It didn't make sense, usually he was quite overprotective of his little brother.

    "Wait up!' A voice called from behind him.

    Fen turned around and Daemon was jogging towards him. He was limping and Fen immediately saw the dark stain on his pant leg, which was ripped up.

    "Are you okay?" Fen asked, letting Dae lean on him and catch his breath.

    "Yeah." He growled. "I ran into something in the woods, it was something big."

    "Like that bobcat from last spring?" Fen asked through gritted teeth, crumbling slightly under Dae's weight as they hobbled along.

    "No, bigger. It was dark and I couldn't see what it was, but I managed to bite it's leg. Let me tell you," he laughed hoarsely, "it was gross."

        Fen chuckled weakly. "Where were you? I waited all day."

    "About, I needed to get out Fen. I've been cooped up to long."

    Fen bit his lip. "What about me. I need you, I almost transformed back in the gift shop."

    Daemon huffed. "You gotta learn to control it yourself."

    That made him quiet down. Fen didn't like the way his brother was acting. He was different, almost unsteady. He had a lost look in his eyes. Fen didn't know if he could find his brother again.

___________________

    Matron promptly slammed down the dishtowel she had been holding when the two boys returned.

    "What have you gotten yourselves into this time!" She accused.

    "Uh, he tripped and fell of a rock." Fen explained.

    "Yeah, a rock." Dae agreed, wincing as Matron pulled him into the kitchen where the medical supplies were.

    Fen sighed and disappeared upstairs. Then he pulled out a collection of small bound together papers and flipped through them until he found a blank one. Sketching calmed him down, he had no idea if he was any good, but was definitely soothing. Whatever was going on with Daemon would pass.

    He started drawing the orange haired girl from earlier that day.