Shifting Times

Layton smiled widely and wrapped her arms around Naji, finally there was someone like her! Layton, ask her about imprinting. Naji whispered quickly. Layton nodded once and looked back at Leal. "Hey Leal..."

"Yeah?" Leal smiled at her.

"What's imprinting?" Leal looked shocked and didn't reply for some time.

*Sorry sorry sorry I've got to finish my homework before my dad gets home*

"Imprinting?" Leal asked.

"Ya, what is it?" She asked.

"How did you hear about imprinting?" Leal asked looking at her surprised. Did she know that Chevy imprinted on her.

"I think I might've imprinted on someone." Layton replied looking at her.

"Oh." Leal blinked and then sat back. "It's where your heart picks out who you'll be with for the rest of your life. You only have eyes for the person you've imprinted on and their all you can think about most of the time."

Layton groaned and flung herself back onto the ground, covering her face with her arms. She had just found out her powers two months ago and now she knew who she'd be with for the rest of her life?! Haha, but that's just it isn't it Layton? You don't know who you imprinted on. You only know it's the boy in your dreams. Naji rolled around on the ground laughing. Layton thumped her cat on the forehead, right where Mirry had pecked him and walked over to the side of her bed, picking up the sketchpads and slipping them into a small drawer, under a few parcels of clothing.

She smiled at Leal, motioning for her to come on and walked back into the living room, only to discover everything unpacked. "Woah, you work fast huh?" She smiled lightly and patted a sweating Chevy on the back. "Thanks alot. Want some water?"

"Yes please!" Leal yelled from Layton's room making her laugh lightly.

"Hey, Leal, you wanna watch a movie or not?" Layton called as she filled up three glasses of water and slid them across the bar in the kitchen.

"What genres you got?" Leal called back.

"All of them!" Layton laughed, turning her attention to a smiling Chevy. Her breath caught in her throat but she shook it off, smiling back at him. "Wanna watch anything particular?"

Chevy watched her move past him and he rolled his shoulders. He grabbed the water when she offerede it and forced himself not to drink it in one gulp.

"How about a romance comedy?" Leal asked bounding over and wrapping her arms around Chevy's waist. He knew it was just sisterly love. It was funny though whenever Leal did that around Ranger. He always came close to hving a heart attack. Chevy glared down at her and she just smiled.

"You know something." He mouthed at her. She shrugged. He could tell by the mischief in her eyes.

"So?" She asked Layton.

"Uh, ya, I have several different ones, come on." She walked to her tv that Chevy had hooked up while the two were talking and searched through the dvds.

"I didnt know how you wanted them put so I just set them up like that." He said as he walked over dragging Leal along.

Layton smiled and shook her head. "No, it's fine. I can arrange them later." She smiled lightly back at the two of them and wavy of slight jealousy flooding over her. Layton shook it off and continued to shift through her movies, trying to find at least one romantic comedy. The title '27 Dresses' flashing in her face. "Ah ha!" She pulled it out and slipped it into the DVD player, pressing play once the menu came up. Why was she jealous in the first place? It's not like she like him or anything.

Don't lie to yourself. Naji chuckled in her mind. Layton glared over at the lion that was slumping on the rocking chair with humor in his eyes. She stuck out her tongue with a 'bleh' noise and looked over at Mirry, who was perched on the back of her couch.

Hey Mirry, what kind of bird are you? She smiled lightly at the bird while walking over to the love seat and laying across it vertically while Leal and Chevy sat on the couch.

What's with you and being able to talk to me. Only.... She stopped. A red tailed hawk.

Who are you talking to? Chevy growled at her.

Watch the stupid movie. She replied.

Chevy sat on the couch and Leal jumped on it laying down using him as her pillow. He rolled his eyes at her. He kinda wished it was Layton, not Leal, but he wasn't abotu to say anything. He'd figure it out later.

"There's room over here." Leal smiled at Layton. CHevy was sitting on the middle of the couch his legs streched in front of him. He nearly glared at her. That would surly make Layton uncomfortable. "And Chevy's a good pillow. He can sit still for hours without even blinking."

Sounds inviting. That's what your thinking huh? Naji teased, only to receive at death glare from Layton. "No, I'm fine over here, really." She laughed nervously, a slight blush across her face. Naji burst into mental laughter and began rolling around in his chair. Layton rolled her eyes and looked back at Mirry.

I thought so. No wonder Naji was afraid of you. When I first... found him my brother... uh also had a red tailed hawk and it pecked Naji in both eyes. Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. The hawk happened to be Layton's brother in disguise. Layton could tell Mirry found this amusing, just by the humored twinkle in the hawk's eye.

Chevy smiled at her blush, it was really cute. He shrugged,

"Just for that comment, Leal, I'm moving." He smiled streching out and pinning her down with his legs. She hissed at him and he didn't move.

"Your a jerk." She hissed. "I'm not surprised your still single your such a pain in the butt!" He nearly kicked her for that, but he didn't. He just looked at the tv zoning out and thinking about the girl sitting a few feet away.

Layton fought the urge to laugh and looked back at the screen, laughing to herself silently at all the funny parts. Had she been around people she'd known a bit longer she'd probably be serving shot all around and watching horror movies just to scare the invited preps. Layton smiled to herself at the memory then sighed, rolling to where her back faced the rest of them. Everything had been so confusing thr passed few months. Her being able to turn into an animal, the Naji coming along, then her moving from her home to this... this place, and now... something about imprinting?! What the hell happened to the Layton that was going to grow up and become a normal, everyday vet in Alabama!? Layton groaned and burried her face in one of the old pillows from her grandfather's old house. The same grandfather that entrusted all his things to her when he died. His money, his estate, ever- Wait! The estate was here! In this town! It was hers! Now... all she had to do was find it!

Layton smiled widely and stood up, running out of her apartment. Make sure they don't follow me. She thought back to Naji, who had taken his place in front of the, now closed, front door, staring at both humans, and the bird, that sat in the living room.

Chevy watched her elave from the corner of his eyes.

That cat isn't gonna let you leave. Mirry said.

"I gotta go find the bathroom." Chevy said to Leal climbing up and walking around the house. He walked in the bathroom and shifted quickly trying his clothes to his leg before he shifted. He jumped out the small window and shifted to a bigger animal taking off after her. He was a dog. He ran up along her letting his tounge hang out like he was a normal dog wanting attention.

Layton looked down to a panting sound, almost screaming until she realized it was just a dog. She smiled and pet him on the head, stopping her two fingers between his eyes. Do you know where this place is? She showed the dog a mental image of her grandfathers house. It looked shocked for a moment but then barked loudly, running towards the Navjo reservation. Oh boy. Layton sucked in a breath and ran after the dog, trying to catch her breath by the time they'd gotten to the house. The dog barked yet again and shifted on his front paws, suddenly darting into the old house. "Hey! Wait!" Layton shouted without bothering to use her powers. She ran inside after the dog, only to find the place dark and empty, other than the native american trinkets that were laying around everywhere.

Captivated by the trinkets around her she traced her index finger along each of them, collecting dust all the way. "What do you this you're doing in here girl?!" An extremely angry voice yelled, making Layton scream loudly, then fold her hand over her mouth. What was this guy's names? Stranger? No... Danger? No. Ranger! His name was Ranger. Layton smiled at her accomplishment and didn't realize the man had a evil look stretched across his face.

Chevy didn't have time to change back. He jumped between her and Ranger growling low in his throat. Ranger reconized him and crossed his arms his eyes narrowing.

"I-I" Layton squeaked. Ranger stepped towards her kicking Chevy to the side. Chevy seemed to kick into defense mood quickly shifting to a bear forgetting that Layton didn't know and shoving Ranger back again a threatining growl coming from his lips as he stood protectivly in front of Layton.

"You better not come back on the reservation after this boy." Ranger growled at him jumping up. Chevy stepped towards him crossing his big arms and cocking his head to the side. Ranger was wrong, he knew perfectly fine that Chevy had to protect the girl he imprinted on weather he wanted to or not. LAyton was stuck in the room too, he was kinda blokcing the door, though he didn't mean to.

Layton looked back between Ranger and Chevy, who had shifted into a bear. Leal was right! Layton swallowed hard, her nervousness getting the best of her as she transformed into a squirrel and shot out the door, running as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. Being a small critter was dangerous, especially on the reservation, or so she'd made the conclusion of after almost being picked up by three different birds of prey. She shot up the nearest tree, breathing hard, her small lungs constricting in her chest. That house belonged to her and Ranger had the nerve to try and get her out of it?! Ooh it made her so mad! She dug her tiny claws into the branch she sat on, her body shaking. She shifted into a mountain lion, instantly breaking the branch. She had to get control of her emotions or else she'd be in huge trouble transforming in public. That fact, or course, only made her angrier. Layton spun around quickly, stalking further into the forest she'd ran into. She really didn't feel like talking to anyone, and it's not like she could shift back to regular. She'd left her clothes at her grandfather's house.

"I'm an idiot!" She roared angrily, slamming her head into the tree to her left. All she'd seemed to be doing since getting to this town was hiding. After all her efforts to hide the fact she could morph, she had to blow it. Real smooth. Real, real smooth.

Chevy growled at Ranger and then turned racing towards where she had gone shifting quickly into a wolf and running quickly. He couldn't believe she could shift, but that wasn't the problem right now. He finally found her and he jumped in the woods shifting to his human form pulling on everything but his shirt. It would easily fit her. He hadn't been able to grab her clothes back when he was at the house. He walked otu to her and dropped the shirt.

"Here, we need to talk." He said pointing to the shirt. He sat down a few feet away and waited to see what she would do. She looked at him, then the shirt, then him. Grabbing the shirt she turned and took off. He hoped she would come back.

Layton slipped the shirt over her head and slowly walked back over to where Chevy was. Her forehead hurt like hell and she hand a large lump on it. "Dangit that hurt," Layton whined, massaging her forehead. Chevy was sitting on the rock she'd been sitting on earlier, looking off into the distance. Layton took a seat on another flat rock, pulling her legs up to her chest. "What did you want to talk about?" Layton didn't look up, finding her bare feet more interesting. Did she really paint her toenails lime green? Hmm... that was unusual for her.

*sigh*