"Common, Hope." A girl rolled her eyes. "It's not that far up!"
"I feel like we've been climbing for hours!" The other scrambled over a few boulders, reaching a large summit. It had a single tree perched on top of it, with an ancient bench carved from the roots beneath its boughs.
"It was a nice climb, though." The first replied, leaning into a gust of wind. The climb was nothing to her, she loved nothing more then to be up here, a part of the sky.
"I guess." Hope mumbled, shaking some brambles from the folds of her shirt. "At least it's secluded.
"Oh, Hope, your such a downer." The other frowned. "I'm sure there are others,"
"But what if there aren't?"
"The bench," the first smiled. "I know it was carved by people like us."
Hope didn't argue, she agreed with her friend. But she always had her doubts.
"Well?" She asked. "We didn't hike all this way for no reason."
"Definitely not." The first sighed. She stared at the abyss in front of her, down at the tiny trees at the bottom, and even farther at the town ahead.
She could feel the wind tugging her, maybe even calling her name. She wanted to be part of it, as she always did. Stepping closer, she jumped.
She dove head first, the wind whisking her hair back, her arms pinned to her sides. She couldn't help but smile at the feeling of freedom. But the ground was approaching, she shouldn't be too careless. She closed her eyes and shifted.
It was almost instantaneous, she and Hope had practiced enough. She swooped on her now formed wings, arching upwards. She narrowly avoided Hope, who had also jumped. Hope shifted quicker, giving into the fact she loved the sky as much as her friend did.
They swooped in circles for a while, maneuvering through the currents with skill. Hope then went up to the great tree, and rested on one of its boughs. Her friend joined her, but on another so as not to crowed, for she was a Hawk, her friend a Sparrow.
They flew some more, then landed and shifted back, faces red and out of breath. Flying was always so exhilarating, everything else was so dull. But they headed down the mountain, not wanting anyone to notice their long absence.
They had only been walking for a few moments when Hope tapped her friend on the shoulder.
"What?"
"When we were flying," Hope started. "I noticed a spot on your shoulder." Her friend's Hawk had wonderful red-brown shoulder feathers.
"Really?" Her friend said, eyebrows raised. She was somewhat prideful about her red patches.
"Yeah, right about her." Hope poked her in the shoulder, around where the spot had seemed to be.
Her friend cranked her head back, trying to look. She tugged at the collar of her shirt, pulling it down so as she could see her shoulder.
On it there was a large, black spot. It was about the size of the palm of her hand, and irregular shaped, although it could be classified as a circle. The edges were fuzzy, spanning out a bit on her skin like ink on rough paper.
"Maybe you backed into some paint?" Hope suggested after a few awkward moments.
"Not that I know of." Her friend said. She wet her finger and rubbed it on the spot, seeing if it would go away. She rubbed till the skin was raw, yet it kept its dark color the whole time.
"I think we should show your mother." Hope said, after the attempt.
"No!" Her friend quickly said, covering the spot. "She doesn't need too know; I'll just cover it, it's not like it's hurting anyone."
"You don't know that." Hope frowned.
"Promise you won't tell." Her friend said sternly, looking her in the eye.
Hope held her breath, but finally agreed. But, if anything did happen, she would tell. That was the condition of the promise.
They walked in silence down the mountain, soon hitting the tree line. They were now chatting happily, trying to forget the spot, and succeeding. They were in thick pines when they heard the thump of paws.
Three dogs crashed through the underbrush, pelts bushed and lips curled. They rushed towards the girls with jaws open, snarling loudly.
There was not time to react, no time to think, their subconscious minds took over. They shifted quickly, flapping into the air. They chanced a look back, but the dogs were gone; now there were three men staring up at them. Hope was stunned, and lost her rhythm. She faltered and crashed to the ground, her friend racing to help her. But the men seemed unconcerned as they watched them.
"Shifters." The tallest one said to his companions. "We were right.
Hope shifted back. "Wh-what?" She asked, blinking tears from her eyes. She had wrenched her arm something awful.
The men leaned in and continued to talk in hushed voices. The girls hung back, not knowing what to do. They hadn't seen the men shift, but it was quite obvious they had.
"Hello." The tallest suddenly said, reaching out his hand. "My name is Mr. Vance, and these are my sons, Wesley and Parker." The others dipped their heads. "I'm a Rottweiler, so is Wesley, Parker is a Doberman." He smiled at his son.
"Wait, what? I don't understand." Hope's friend said, confused.
"Oh, I think you can." Mr. Vance took a step forward. "I was watching you two, your a Red-Shouldered Hawk," he motioned to the friend. "And your a Sparrow." He motioned to Hope, shaking his head. "I'm not sure what kind, I haven't studied birds much."
"So, there are other shifters?" Hope could hear the enthusiasm in her friend's voice.
"Of course!" Parker smiled, running a hand through his dark hair. "We just don't advertise it."
"And neither should you." Mr. Vance straightened his tie. "We were informed you showed signs you were shifters, and upon further investigation it shows its in your ancestry. We have come to warn you."
"Warn us of what?" Hope narrowed her eyes.
"Warn you that being a shifter comes with a high price." He lifted his shirt sleeve, and showed them a expensive looking wrist watch around his arm.
"A watch...wow." Hope said sarcastically.
"Not just a watch." Mr. Vance said, ignoring her rudeness. "All shifters have to wear one, or something like it." He turned it over and reveled a small, square, blue something on the bottom. "It controls our shifting."
"Controls?" Her friend's voice shook a bit.
"Well, the world doesn't need people running around, turning into wolves, lions, bears and the like." Mr. Vance gave a somewhat fake sounding laugh.
"I don't want one." Hope flat out said. This was all happening too fast, she just wanted to get out of here. But her arm...she wouldn't be able to fly like this, or outrun the men.
"It isn't really a choice, I'm afraid." The man said, not sounding the least bit concerned. "Your required to."
"It doesn't mean you can never shift," Wesley threw in. "Just not as freely as before."
"That doesn't help." Hope mumbled, cursing as she tried to move her arm.
The men moved in on the girls. They felt like trapped dogs, about to be caught by the dog catcher. Hope's friend wanted to run, to fly, but she couldn't leave her side. Parker quickly put a simple bracelet on her wrist, then stepped back. Wesley did the same to Hope.
"See?" Mr. Vance smiled. "It's nothing terrible, just a bracelet."
Hope's friend tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge. She turned it a bit, and saw the same blue material under it.
"It will take some getting used to," Mr. Vance said. "But in a month or two you should be shifting normally.
Hope couldn't keep from letting her mouth hang open. A few months?! Her friend looked even more upset. Hope glanced at her, and saw something in her eye that she had never seen before. It was like something inhuman, and yet not animal. Like some sort of cross.
"Common now, we had better get you home." Mr. Vance said, reaching for Hope. Her friend dragged her back into the leaf mold, eyes blazing.
"Don't touch her."
"Come now," Wesley started.
"Don't come near us!" Her friend finally snapped. "We were just walking in the woods, when these three creepy guys come out of no where, in the form of dogs, force bracelets on us, and you expect me to be calm?! For all I know your mass murderers, or worse!"
All three men looked taken aback by this, though they quickly regained their cool.
"You have all the reason in the world to believe that," he said. "But I assure you, we are not." He reached forward again.
"I said, don't touch her."
Mr. Vance seemed somewhat annoyed now. His eye twitched, as did his mouth. He wanted to shift, no doubt. Ignoring her friend's protests, he reached for Hope again to help her up.
Her friend didn't see it that way. Eyes blazing, she pushed Hope behind her, who winced as her arm moved. She stared defiantly at the man, eyes a golden color. Hope could help but be slightly frightened. She could see the men were a bit unnerved.
"...maybe we should bring her to headquarters," Wesley said, after a few moments. Her eyes had shocked him. When most shifted, their eyes either stayed human, or changed to that of the animal. She was still human, yet her eyes seemed something else entirely.
"Maybe your right." Mr. Vance said, stepping back a bit. "But her friend should come too."
"We're not going anywhere." Hope's friend said, her voice low.
"As before, you don't have a choice." The man said, clearly annoyed. But at the same time, maybe worried?
"Yes, we do." Hope's friends eyes blazed, seeming to show fire. She shifted slowly, her bracelet shaking, then shattered. The men jumped back, their mouths hung open. She kept her eyes on them as she shifted, but not into a Hawk, as before, but something else entirely.

-

Hey all! I don't usually give author notes or anything, I don't like them and they seem to clutter. Anyways, I hope you like my new book! It was literally a 'bang your head then come up with an idea' sort of thing.

~ Jake Vader