Young Writers Society

It felt good to be able to ride on Trent's back, especially with Jason right next to me, but I was still sort of freaking out about the whole hunting thing. I felt a sort of panicked dread pour over me.

"Uh, guys? Are, uh, are we gonna make it?" I looked at Jason's ocelot form. He growled.

Heather looked at me with big eyes. I shrugged at her. That was really all I could do.

"We'll be fine. Don't worry, when the time comes it'll work out," Shade said.

Jason nudged me and I couldn't help but smile back. Maybe it would be alright.

Heather-

Two hours, we were only given two hours before the hunt began. I looked at Shade.

"Is it okay if I shift and find some food?"

"Just don't go too far. We need to stay together."

I nodded and shifted. There were mice all over the area and they were easy catches. There was a ruffle of wings overhead which made me look up. High up in the sky was the shape of a falcon. So much for two hours.

I dropped the half eaten mouse and flew as fast as I could back to the group. They were still walking up ahead. I shifted in mid-flight and landed next to Shade.

"Damien's in the sky."

"They said two hours," said Carmen.

Shade growled. "So much for their word."

Jason

He shifted back, running alongside the others. It was more tiring like this, but he needed to be human to speak to them at the moment, "I think they will give us the two hours - they just want Damien to track us. The woman who seemed to be in charge wouldn't take away from our head start, I think she wants a challenging hunt."

Shade seemed surprised, "And a large group of shifters and one of the Pride's best isn't enough of a challenge for her?"

"You said before that you were concerned or something that Peter Morgan was being sent after you," said Carmen, "Were you told anything about an older sister? Because the woman, though we didn't get her name, was always referring to Peter as 'little brother'."

Now the jaguar's surprise had become alarm, "Elizabeth! I thought they'd taken her off field operations." He lowered his voice a little, as though speaking to himself, "Well, she wouldn't see us as a challenge on our own, I suppose. And she'll have brought some substantial backup."

Jason nodded, "A full sized pack of hyenas - bigger than the ones you and Damien fought off in New York."

"So what do we do?" Heather asked.

"We run."

**Liz's human appearance, for anyone who was wondering.**

Heather-

We all shifted quickly except for Carmen. Ballow and me flew under the cover of the trees, which was much more difficult then I thought. We kept running and I kept my ear-slits open. Damien was still up there somewhere with those hyenas closely following.

Trent:

Trent wanted to growl. He could feel the two on his back hold on tighter as he sped up. Bears weren't meant for speed. They oculd go on forever, but not running. He sniffed the air, nothing was amiss that he could smell, but danger could lurk anywhere, and in any form.

Heather-

We couldn't keep on like this. I saw that Trent was tired and couldn't keep running forever. I wish I were a bigger animal and could help carry the load. Barn owls were so useless.

The sun was starting to sink to the horizon and night was fast aproaching. I took the risk and flew next to Shade and then shifted and ran. "What... what will we do at night?"

He shifted as well so he could talk and ran next to me. "Probably sleep in a tree where they can't get to us. We'll cross that bridge when we get there." He and I both shifted again and caught up with the others.

Trent:

After another hour of running, Trent just couldn't run anymore. He slowed down to a walk and ambled along after the others. They'd notice he'd slow down and wait for him, or come back. Either way, he'd get to Tennessee, but he just wasn't built for speed.

Heather, the barn owl, flew back and seemed to think about shifting. She didn't and just flew alongside him. He could tell it was wairing on her to fly slow, least slow enough to keep up with him. He thought about shifting, but he'd pass out the second he shifted if he did. When they stopped he'd find a nice place to curl up, and he'd hybernate. He laughed at that. He didn't have time to hybernate at the moment, he'd only done it once, and he'd never felt so rejuvenated in his life. But that was a long time ago.

~Daimen~

I landed in a tree, just out the veiw of the hyena's and their demented masters. The collar itched and I wanted it OFF. A small shock nearly made me fall out of the tree.

"Find them."

Without a glance downward, toward the voice, I took off again. Thoughts reeled in my head as I flew after the other shifters. The loudest thought was one telling me to lie to the bad guys. It wouldn't work. I didn't know how to lie well. It was hard to know how to do something like lie when you rarely talk.

Resisting the urge to scream into the night again, I rode on cool breeze. It was a bit harder to see without the sun, but it didn't bother me much.

Almost no time had passed when I saw the group. I'd traveled a long ways (though it wasn't a long ways for a bird) but I'd found them. They were still going to Tennesee.

Flying back to the hyenas I landed in a tree and shifted. The collar was still on him and it itched even worse without feathers to cover it up.

"Well?" the chick asked. I glared at her and sighed.

"They're..." Lie, LIE! "...still going to Tennesse." I felt sick again.

Liz and Peter

Liz clapped her hands together at Damien’s answer, “Wonderful! We know which way that is!”

“How far are they?” asked Peter, ever the pragmatist.

“Quite a way for you, not so far for me.” Damien replied. He looked slightly pleased about the distance, so Peter hit the trigger button on the remote, shocking him. Damien dropped to his knees, grabbing at the collar.

Liz gave Peter a dark look, “Now was that really necessary?”

“Was two hours really necessary?” Peter shot back, “You heard him, they’re long gone now!”

She seemed mockingly sympathetic, “Aww, what’s the matter, Petey? Don’t want to go for a little run?”

Her younger brother growled at her, and then the two of them shifted. Liz gave a series of yips, and then she, her brother, and their pack dashed out of the clearing, Peter keeping the remote for Damien’s collar in a pouch attached to one foreleg. Bird boy’s not getting free that easily.

Heather-

It was dark. Shade had stopped which seemed to make Trent very happy. Shade shifted and looked up at a big tree.

"We'll have to rest up there tonight."

I shifted as well. "Can everyone fit up there?"

"I think so. It shouldn't be hard for the smaller animals, but the bigger animals need to be human to climb.

I looked at Trent. Jason had just shifted into human form and was helping Carmen off of Trent's back. Ballow landed in the tree and started sqwaking.

"Shift if you're going to talk," Jason said. Ballow did and sat in the tree.

"I was saying that Shade was right and there's enough space for everyone else, but us birds need to sleep in another tree."

I agreed. "We'll be safe enough in a different tree. There will be more room for you all."

Everyone seemed to agree, but Trent didn't look to good about it. He stood up and shifted, but his human form fell down and passed out. Shade and Jason caught him before he hit the ground.

"He's too tired now. Bears aren't built for running. I can carry him on my back in animal form."

When everyone was safely up the tree, Ballow and I flew to the smaller tree next to it. After a few minutes, I tucked my head under my wing and drifted off to sleep.

I sat in the tree, listening to the soft breeze and the quiet rhythm of people's breath. It was a clear night and the breeze was relaxing, but I couldn't calm down enough to sleep. It was probably since I didn't get tired from running, but I just wasn't tired enough to sleep. And I felt bad for Trent, I mean, it was my fault he was in such bad shape.

I figured I'd stay up as a guard for a while. At least until I could fall asleep.

There were so many stars in the sky... way more than I ever thought possible. In New York, you just didn't see things like that. It was almost disconcerting. How could someone be under so many stars and have no idea. It's strange when things turn out to be different than they appear. I glanced at Jason, sleeping not to far from me.

I heard flapping wings, and with a startled heart, I whipped my head around in that direction. It was only Heather, but it still took a couple minutes until I could calm down again.

She landed near me and shifted, keeping her balance very well on the branch.

"Hey," I whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I just couldn't sleep and I saw you were still awake too." She got comfortable in the tree.

I shrugged. "I just feel uneasy still," I muttered. "And I'm starving!" I add, my stomach grumbling.

"Oh, I could catch you a mouse of something," she offered.

"No thanks... mice isn't really my thing," I winced. We laughed, and suddenly it felt like things might work out.

But in the next instant, I tried to picture Heather in a fight and it just didn't seem to click for me. I couldn't picture her fighting to the death... which is what we'd have to do when the time came to it. I wasn't sure I was ready for that... whether I survive or not.

Heather-

We laughed softly together like we had been best friends forever. It was a new feeling and at first it shocked me a little. But then there was warmth and comfort and we began talking.

"Aren't the stars wonderful?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah. My favorite past time is to trace the constalations with my wingtips."

"When we get to Tennessee, I'm going to stay up and watch the stars almost every night. At least, if we get to Tennessee."

"We will. I'm not going to let a few dogs get to me."

Carmen was quiet for a minute and then readjusted herself in the tree. "We all better get some sleep."

I nodded and shifted again, flying off to the other tree. As I took off I saw someone looking at me out of the corner of my eye. I twisted my head around and saw Trent. But he quickly looked away and snored softly. Thinking it was nothing, I went back to where Ballow was sleeping and perched there. It was hard for a nocturnal animal to sleep at night.

Trent woke up the next morning his arms and legs aching, but he heard people waking up. He stood up and streched and then popped his back and joints.

"Alright, we better head out. If we find a town we should grab something to eat." He said.

"You sure your up for keeping up again?" Heather asked.

"I'm going to stay in human form for the most part. It'll be easier that way." He shrugged. His stomach rumbled, but he knew he could go another day without food. he could even catch something later in bear form if he wanted.

Heather-

I shifted silently and glided to the ground. Everyone began climbing out of the tree and stretching.

"We need to erase our tracks here," said Shade. He shifted and pulled a branch filled with leaves. As he walked off of the path, dragging the leaves behind him to erase any prints.

After getting down from the tree. I stretched out my legs and I felt surprisingly better than the day before. I was good enough to walk on my own, even.

"How're you feeling?" Jason asked, comgin up beside me.

"Much better. How 'bout you? Sleep good?" He had bedhead, which made me smile.

He rubbed his eyes to wake up better. "As good as I can in a tree."

I jumped up and down a few times. "I'm gonna shift and see how everything feels, ok?" I shifted into otter form, and ran around a little bit. It felt so good to move all my muscles even if they were kind of sore.