Now, you may be wondering, how do semi-humans and semi-beasts, keep their camps full of bizarre shapeshifters out of sight of humans and other annoyingly curious creatures? Well, it's quite simple, actually.

All of it had to do with portals. Although, from a human standpoint, it may seem more like the lack of portals.

Take for example Slider's River Camp. Imagine a portal circling the entire swamp, river, lake thingy. This teleported anyone who walked into the portal to a copy of the landscape. So a human comes walking along doing their humany stuff and never notices a thing. That's because they've been teleported to a copy of their surroundings.

These were called Areal Portals. To us semi-humans, we don't think of them as separate dimensions like humans would. They were our world. Layers, perhaps, of our world. Like the downstairs versus the upstairs of a house. It's all the same house, just different parts.

Located around these Areal Portals were Portal Gates. They were gaps in the portal. As a member of S.H.H.A., I thought of them as entrances to our camps, bases, headquarters, and all the other names for the exact same places.

With time, technology, and quite a bit of freaky magic-powerish stuff, semi-humans could both open and close Portal Gates. With a whole ton of magic-powerish stuff, we could even create Areal Portals. Let's just say, all of that was way beyond my level.

I was a simple cat. Trouble happened, and I burned it with my searing hot claws. No magic voodoo stuff.

Slider's River Camp had Portal Gates on either side of the "river". With years of experience, my sister and I knew exactly where they were by heart. Thank goodness, because, unlike normal, there wasn't a frog or heron semi-human out keeping watch who could help us navigate through the Portal Gate.

Look, it was hard enough going through an invisible door. Slider's River Camp and many other S.H.H.A. bases bumped it up a notch by making their "invisible doors" more like "invisible tunnels". Thanks a lot base founders.

"Not looking too good," commented Pudding, confirming my own suspicions. "I'll go through first, then."

"What?" I asked, an over-dramatic look of disbelief covering my features. "You're going first? And what happens if there's an ambush prepared for us? Are you planning on asking the fish for help?"

Yep, Pudding's power was the one thing all kids, and some adults -I don't judge-, wished for: talking to animals. Whatever, I could talk to animals too. Humans, semi-humans, and semi-beasts were technically all animals. Nothing special.

"I'm going in first because you're louder than a stampede of elephants," replied Pudding in a matter-of-fact way. "Plus, Slider's River Camp couldn't have been defeated so easily. Just because communication is out doesn't mean they've lost the battle." I grumbled a response beneath my breath including the what ifs, yeah buts, and it's stills, but Pudding had already dissapeared through the vines. 

A small black fish with white poka-dots popped its face above the water, probably judging me. Before I had the chance to growl a response at it, my sister emerged from the vines again. "All clear," she said, not noticing the way I had been glaring at the water. "But I could hear shouting."

"Got it," I replied, sending one last glance towards where the stupid fish had been before flying after Pudding. What a moron, coming so close to a cat who hasn't eaten breakfast yet.

Staying up till some awful hour in the morning terroriz- *cough* interrogating a poor little raccoon semi-human only to get woken up at some other gosh awful hour in the morning by Ilene took a toll on my mental health. Somebody would pay for it, and it wasn't looking too good for the fish.

I entered the Portal Gate which travelled between the draping wall of vines and around the trunk of a moldy, old willow tree. Somewhere deep within the tangled up mess known as my mind, I wondered why we bothered.

If someone's dead set on getting in, they can just spy on the guards when they go in and out. Why not just make it simple? Then I realized, Oh right, then humans would just wander in. Stupid humans. Make us have everything complicated.

My sister and I exited the Portal Gate as we turned around the willow tree trunk. We were greeted by the same sight we had seen time and time before. Similar sight, anyway.

To a human, what laid beyond the otherside would have been breathtaking. Well, anyone who didn't hate water and hadn't been there a hundred bazillion times before would have been amazed.

Plants dominated the lake which was a little longer than a football field. Growing on moldy, dead tree stumps, flowers, vines, and grass toppled into the water. Water droplets glittered in the sunlight as they trickled down leaves and splashed in the lake.

Layers of trees surrounded what I referred to as the lake. They shadowed the murky water beneath them and hid many of the Camp's lodges from sight. With algae coating the water surface and tangles of roots poking out, the surrounding area resembled a swamp.

The water in the lake, normally still and clear enough to see its muddy floor, swayed and rippled as if being blown by wind. However, there was no breeze. Just hot, humid air that stuck to my fur like an extra coat.

I touched my feet to the damp, wooden trail stilted above the water. A maze of paths and lodges circled the lake to where the main camp was located on the other side. Its buildings stretched out into the lake. Some were even two stories high and a couple in the center three stories.

Covered by willow and other plant roots, their wooden sides and roofs glowed a warm brown in the morning sunlight. On any other day, the sight would have been beautiful. No, the sight was beautiful. It was the noise that unsettled me.

I could hear shouting and various animal calls, all too far away for me to distinguish what they were saying, yet I didn't see a single soul. No guards on patrol, no birds flying over, no fish flashing their fins above the surface. No one.

This isn't right, I thought, stepping closer to the edge of the path to possibly get a better view. This an entire freaking camp! I can hear them, so they didn't evacuate. Where is everyone?!

Only when I took a few hurried steps along the wooden trail did someone closeby appear. "Someone entered through the gate!" Their shout took Pudding and I by surprise, and we froze in place.

We waited as the sound of thundering footsteps approached until three humans and a bird flew around the corner of an abandoned, shack-like house. Only the bird literally flew, but you get the point.

"Halt-," one began, but then paused and corrected themself, "Boss?"

Here we go again, I thought and refrained from sighing. Is Misha really that hard to say? Me-shaw. Easy.

Garbed in dark green, presumably bullet-proof, suits, the three humans stood in a triangular formation. Each wore knee-high waterproof boots and green masks with orange lenses that concealed their faces. The small brown bird, possibly a chickadee, settled on the lead one's shoulder.

I assumed all three of them were semi-humans, despite them being in human form- besides the bird.

"Boss, thank goodness you arrived. We need your assistance," the one in front, most likely the leader, spoke so fast either he jumbled up the words as he spoke or I mixed them up in my head.

"Settle down, then," replied Pudding as she stepped towards them. "Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."

And this is why we bring Pudding along. Yeah, my people skills could've used some work.

Although hesitant, the man obeyed my sister, taking in a deep breath of oxygen, nitrogen, and all that other good stuff. Slower this time, he began, "Boss, I am glad you have arrived. Our camp is under a–"

The bird semi-human perched on his shoulder cut their leader off shrieking, "It's coming!"

Instantly, the three crouched down and pressed their bodies to the wooden floor. Pudding and I had no idea what was going on, but when a powerful breeze shook the nearby trees and blew our fur in every which direction, we instinctively flattened ourselves to the floor as well.

The shadow alerted me of its presence before the beast itself. Where the sun had been burning holes into my fur, a dark sheet laid over me, sending chills up my spine. Then, I saw it fly over our heads.

Each massive, feathered wing was longer than two foosball tables lined end to end. It barely had a neck, but as the beast turned to face the main camp, I realized that had little effect on its ability to spin its head.

Some of its feathers were brown, normal feathers. The kinds you'd see on a bird. But some of them were different. Their shafts, the hard part of the feather, were sickly pink. Their barbs were black and stiff as if they had been burned. Those feathers oozed a goopy black liquid.

In the best words I could come up with, the sight was revolting. They were like experiments gone wrong. Experiments gone terribly wrong.

Without thinking about it, my left paw found the watch on my right paw and pressed a button. Only when I heard Ilene's voice did my eyes snap away from the gruesome sight flying away over the treetops.

"Misha? Have you reached the camp?"

After a brief hesitation, I nervously replied, "Yes." The last thing I wanted was the bird-monster to hear me and turn back my way. That would have been a disaster.

"Good," replied the chirpy voice of my best friend, but she hesitated as well. She definitely could tell something was wrong. "Have you investigated the issue?"

"No, but I think I have a pretty dang good guess," I replied, the shock wearing off. "A pterodactyl monster thing just buzzed over us."

"Misha?"

"I'm not kidding! You've got to believe me."

I really shouldn't have taken her disbelieving response to heart- heck, if we swapped positions, I wouldn't have believed it right off the bat either! However, my lack of sleep got the better of me and I couldn't help but think, I don't blame her. No one believes the boy who cried wolf.

There was a long pause before Ilene replied, "Would you like me to send in a team with projectile powers?"

My racing heart calmed down as I thought. Pudding and the other stayed silent -no pressure on me or anything- and Ilene waited patiently for my reply. Finally, I responded, quoting Ilene's words, "No, we still have to thoroughly analyze the situation."

"Misha," Ilene growled with irritation. After all, she had believed me. Maybe my reply made her second guess whether I was playing some big prank on her.

"Seriously," I assured her, certain of my decision. "Slider's River Camp has semi-humans with projectile powers. What makes you think sending in more will do any good? I'll ask the guys standing right in front of me for any more information, and if it's important, I'll relay it to you. Otherwise, I'll find things out for myself."

Surprisingly, after a second of thinking over my words, Ilene responded, "Don't die, idiot."

I just love how Ilene expresses her agreement, I thought sarcastically. Another voice in my head whispered, At least she still has faith in your decisions. I wouldn't in her shoes.

"Will do," I replied, ignoring my intrusive thought. "Or don't, I guess."

Are you really in the position to joke? The voice came again. This time I responded, Would you just hush? Not the time, annoying voice in my head.

"Before you go," Ilene said just before I switched off the watch. My paw hovered over it, impatiently waiting for her to finish. "I tried talking to Marshmallow, but she seems to be in the middle of something."

"Something good, something bad, or just something?" I asked, trying to keep my mind on the current situation despite the peculiar sisters being brought up.

"As far as I could tell, something bad. She mentioned someone named Gear in a whisper right before cutting me off. The second time she simply told me she was busy."

"Gear?" I asked. Then I recalled the day I had met the sisters.

"My name is Gear and my friends say I'm a pretty nice guy," said the robot.

Remembering the "friend" of theirs, I responded in surprise, "That stupid robot's name was Gear. Well, the guy who controlled the robot."

"I understand," replied Ilene, her voice serious. "I'll send a team to their location. In the meantime," her voice softened, "Be careful."

"Yeah, see yah, bye," I responded quickly before slamming my paw on the watch, ending our conversation. Looking up to see the slightly confused team who had yet to explain themselves, I sighed and asked, "Can one of you please tell me I'm not hallucinating, and I really did see a pterodactyl."

The leader cleared his face of confusion, stood up straight, and responded, "I assure you, everything you have witnessed so far is entirely real."

"That's what I was afraid of," I mumbled quiet enough that only Pudding could hear. Shifting from paw to paw while glaring up at the sky nervously, I projected my voice loud enough for the others, "Now or never, I suppose. Wish me luck."

"You're not going alone," Pudding reminded me, nudging her dark green cape as if to say I'm a hero to, ya know.

Right, maybe you could negotiate with the killer birds. I'm sure you guys could become great buddies.

Of course, I only said the, "Right," part. Some things are better left unspoken- especially when the receiver of the message knows where you live.

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Hi!

Thanks for reading this far! Things are about to get interesting, so don't leave yet. The story's only just now coming together!

Question for improvement: Do you think Slider's River Camp was adequately described?

Thanks again for reading!