The Shifters

ELINIA

The smells were starting to get to me now. Freshly baked bread and sweets... my stomach was churning. I needed something, and fast at that. "You wouldn't happen to have any food on you?" Shale hissed at a man who had ventured to close and I quieted him. "Shale! Stop it!"

Angel shook her head. "Don't you? I thought you carried some with you all the time."

I frowned. I had a Crystal Berry in my back pocket...but I had planned on saving that for later. I pulled it out. "Look at that," I grumbled, sinking my teeth into it. I loved the things. Beautiful to look at and better to eat.

"Where pray tell did you get that?"

I shrugged. "No idea actually. But I stashed it away earlier yesterday. Surprised it's still in one piece."

A man passed, raising an eyebrow at the foreign fruit and keeping his distance from Shale. "What is that?" he asked, pointing.

I rolled my eyes. "Funny you're more interested in the fruit I carry than the fact I have a pet cowbra." I smirked. "A pet cowbra who still holds his fangs."

The man scurried off without another word and Angel flashed me a warning look. I ignored it. I was getting extremely sick of this place. All I wanted was to return to my troups and listen to the barking orders of the famed Forlo. I took another large bite from the Crystal Berry and started walking. I couldn't keep myself still for even a moment.

"Where are we going now?" Angel asked wearily.

"As if I know. I just need to walk." I held back a chuckle as I thought about the others' expressions when we told them what had happened to us. Oh, to go back... I stumbled, suddenly dizzy. So soon? Was it happening again? "Angel..." I whimpered. I wanted to go back, but that pain was definately something I didn't want to go through again...

Rilian

Rilian stared at the girl, Kena, for a moment. She met his eyes, then nervously looked away. Rilian opened his mouth to ask her what she was so frightened of when an irritable shout came from the other side of the clearing.

"What do you three think you are doing?" yelled a voice. Rilian turned, his eyebrows raised.

"Where have you been?" scolded Forlo as he approached the group. Rilian blinked.

"Looking for survivors," he retorted. "Like you asked us to."

Forlo paused for a moment, then gave Rilian a taut smile. "And you seem to have decided that any search isn't worth your time. Instead, you'd rather stand and chat."

Ot of the corner of his eye, Rilian saw Kena shrinking back from the group. Rilian broke eye contact with Forlo to sidestep closer to her. Rilian didn't want Kena to slip away.

"Are we ready to move, General?" Diana said quickly, breaking the tension between Rilian and Forlo. Forlo took a breath, and nodded.

"We meet up with the rest of the group back in the forest, and then we are moving to the Hills."

Forlo nodded to them, and began the trek back to the temporary house. Rilian moved to guide Kena back in the same direction, but she darted out of his reach and followed Forlo. Rilian backed away warily.

"You need to be careful," said Diana from behind him. Rilian turned to her.

"And why is that?"

Diana glanced over Rilian's shoulder. "Forlo. We've lost a general, Rilian. Forlo is bound to be tense. We all are."

Rilian scowled. "Well, he could stop treating us like typical soldier grunts. Come on, we'd better follow."

Diana snorted, and Rilian found himself chuckling softly at the strangeness of the situation.

FORLO

I could hear them, they thought I couldn't. But I could. I wasn't deemed general for nothing.

"You need to be careful," said Diana.

"And why is that?" asked Rilian.

"Forlo." whispered Diana, "We've lost a general, Rilian. Forlo is bound to be tense. We all are."

Rilian grumbled, "Well, he could stop treating us like typical soldier grunts. Come on, we'd better follow."

I was tense, I was treating them like typical soldiers. They weren't and I knew it. They weren't and they knew it.

I spun around and said, "Okay men, or uh ladies and Rilian. I'm going to be straight with you. We have survived an attack from the Dark Warriors, but barely. Many warriors have fallen and several have not gotten back up. Our healing tents are packed with various injuries, keeping our healers on their toes. On top of that all, We have lost a general. We have lost Elinia. Nia..." I trailed of sinking into my own thoughts and memories.

Diana snapped me out of my trance. "General, we are all aware of what has happened. There is no need to refresh us on the tradgedies. Instead, we should move forward. We need to make it to the hills. From our camp position now the trip should take 4 days. No?"

"Correct Diana, wise words you have spoken." I nodded. "Carry on soldiers... and Kena." I chuckled, "We need to get back to camp as soon as possible. We have a long journey ahead."

ANGEL

My head started pounding. I looked up at Nia, she held the same pain struck expression. We stumbled into an ally, where no one could see us. She looked extremely pained.
"Not again." I sputtered as the pain began to wash through me and soak into my veins. She whimpered, a rare sound from her lips. I helped her sit as I gritted through my teeth,
"Just, hold on." I had said i wanted to go home but not like this! I didn't want that horrible pain in me again. It shot up my spine, making me gasp and fall beside where i sat nia. who had fallen to her side.

My head felt like it was cracking in two, while my lung caught fire. It felt worse then having every bone in your body broken simultaneously. Darkness began to cave in from all sides, i heard the faint sound of a scream, i followed through with my own.

ELINIA

I allowed myself to whimper as the pain first starting setting in. It happened much more quickly this time. Within seconds it overwhelmed every inch of me. It shot up and down my spine, making me jolt. It spread through my lungs and my neck. I felt like dieing. I was trying to scream, but nothing was happening. It was too much. I heard Angel screach beside me and finally one managed to escape me. The world faded into blackness.

~*~*~*~

I groaned and rolled over, forcing my eyes open. I was back! Trees surrounded me on every possible angle. I pushed myself up, looking around for Angel. She was beside me, just starting to wake up. Shale slithered up to me, thrilled to see that I was alright. I smiled and gently ran a finger over his head.

"Aye! There you are!" A rough voice shouted from behind.

I jumped and turned around to face a very happy-looking dwarf. "You were expecting us?" I raised an eyebrow. This whole thing was just not right.

The dwarf nodded. "Estele, glad to make yer aquaintance." He hobbled over and held out a rough hand which I took. Angel crawled up beside me. "I'm s'posed to give ya these." He handed us each a small necklace that I didn't take the time to examine throughly.

"Why?" Angel asked, voice strained.

"The Wise One told me to. That's why. He also told me to tell you that you have to learn how to control your shifting." He handed us another necklace which I handed to Angel. "Give the third to Forlo." He pulled out yet another one and handed it to Angel straightaway. "And that one's for a girl you'll meet shortly, at the Mirage hills."

I scrambled to my feet, pulling Angel up with me. The Wise One was back? He hadn't been seen much around here lately... Once since the fall of Araqua in the flesh. "He came to you and gave you these? Did he say anything else?"

Estele shrugged. "Not that I can remember. Best be on yer way now." He shooed us away and I went reluctantly, Angel at my heels.

"Thank you," I called out, turning around but Estele had vanished. I shook my head and sighed. Too many odd things happening in such a short time.

We plodded on for a while, listening for the others. Finally we heard Forlo and Rillian. Discussing what? Well I didn't care. Angel opened her mouth and I clamped my hand over it, smirking. "Shhh!" I demanded, putting a finger to my lips. She looked skeptical, but obeyed anyways.

I made my way to Forlo silently, standing a safe distance behind him. "We need to move quickly," he declared. Move quickly to where I had no idea.

I stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder. "To where?" I asked, still smirking.

FORLO

"To where?" asked a voice. Were they completely oblivious of what has happened, and what I just said. I spun around, ready to give them a piece of my mind.

"Did you seriously just-" I stopped. Standing in front of me was General Elinia and Angel the healer. Nia, my Nia, in the flesh. "Nia..." I breathed.

She was grinning, "Forlo." she said, looking into my eyes. The sight of us I'm sure was funny, her gazing upwards and me hunched over, gazing downwards. We were so close, our skin almost touching. It was close, closer to eachother than we had been in a long time, closer than we had been since we made the descision. Our descision.

Angel cleared her throat and looked away, bringing Nia and I back to reality. We stepped back sharply breaking our gaze. When I looked at the group they were all grinning, I knew what they were thinking. "Okay, let's get moving. We need to make it back to camp before sunrise." I said.

Rilian and the girls headed in the direction of camp and I turned to follow but Elinia grabbed my arm, "Forlo, wait a second."

Claudia

I was sitting in camp, making sure everyone was alright. I hoped they would come back soon, we didn't need anymore worries about who was going to be alright... who wasn't... it was to stressful.

ELINIA

I grabbed Forlo's arm. We needed to talk, desperately. "Wait a second."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

I breathed slowly, my nerves were fraying for reasons I dare not think about. "I need to talk to you," I glanced back at the others. They were all staring at us skeptically. So the rumours hadn't been forgotten. "Alone."

He nodded and I lead him further into the forest. Out of sight and out of earshot of the others. "Do you have any idea what just happened to Angel and me?" I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes. Why was did it all seem more startling now when I was back then it did then?

"No I don't. But it would probably be a good thing to know."

I took a deep breath. "You'll think me mad, but I need you to hear me out on this. Without interuption. All questions wait till the end." He nodded and I spilled my guts. The fight, the pain, the annoying men. All of it.

"That's bizarre," he murmered when I finally finished.

"You're telling me." I sighed. "We should get back before they start up those rumours again," I murmered, shifting my gaze to the mossy ground. The finest points in my life...all squandered.

"Remind me again, why did we deny them? Why did we drop it?"

I bit my lip. "Afraid of losing respect I guess. Which the more I look at it, the stupider it all seems." We kept pretending there wasn't anything left. In reality there was, for me at least. I looked back up to him, his hard features had softened.

"You know, I thought you were gone for good today," he murmered.

I could only nod. The silence was smothering. I wanted desperately to say something, but nothing seemed to come to mind. I could think of a few things I would like to say, but I couldn't say them. Finally I opened my mouth. "Was it all a mistake? Why were we so concerned about respect back then?" I gathered enough to courage to take a few steps closer. We had always tried to keep our distance. What I would do if I could go back in time...

"I have no idea. About either."

I grinned, suddenly feeling bolder. "And what if we were to start those rumours again?" I don't know where my shyness had vanished to, but I didn't miss it. I inched closer still, so that we were almost touching. What the heck was I doing? It doesn't matter. I told myself. It had better not matter. If it did I was in some major trouble.

FORLO

"And what if we were to start those rumours again?" she said, taking another step closer. She was so close, looking up at me with those soft but peircing green eyes. What was she doing? Awe to heck with it, did it really matter?

I could feel my body leaning down but I didn't seem to control it. It was like my body was on auto-pilot. I could see every eyelash lining her eyes, god she was beautiful. She was on her tip-toes and I was hunched down, but gracefully enough our lips met. Memories and feelings came rushing back to me. So did Nia's question. "And what if we were to start those rumors again?"

ELINIA

so here it was. Our lips touched and warmth spread through my body. It had been so long... I pressed closer, as close as humanly possible. This time I wouldn't deny the rumours. Something this sweet couldn't possibly be denied. Of course if nobody asked, I wouldn't say anything. Secret love...

Thoughts were swimming around my head. Thoughts I could hardly control. I love you was amoungst them. A message intended for Forlo and Forlo only. Something rustled in the bushes and we pulled apart, startled.

A figure was scurrying away and my eyes widened in horror. "Looks like we have our answer about the rumours..." I murmered. Not that it mattered anymore anyways. I had no clue what the emporer would think of his two generals found kissing in the woods, but I would deal with that later. I didn't want to move from where I was. I wanted to stay rooted where I stood with Forlo. Finally, finally we had stopped hiding it.

Claudia

Wow. Forlo and Elinia. Just wow. So the rumors had been true... funny.

I walked into camp and people crowded me. "Where is he?" a commoner asked.

"Um, he's in a clearing the forest.... and they found Nia."

Immediately everyone burst into talking. "They'll be back soon, don't worry, he's just discussing something with Nia. Don't worry."

"What're they discussing?"

"Um... nothing that I'm sure of."

FORLO

I could hear someone rustling in the bushes, but I didn't want to stop. I wanted to be lost in this moment forever. But I knew it had to end, Nia broke away. "Looks like we have our answer about the rumors..." giggled Nia leaning into my chest.

I ran my fingers through her hair, it was as silky as I remebered it. "No more hiding..." I murmered, kissing her forehead.

She smiled up at me and whispered, "Finally."

I hugged her tight and the reluclantly let go. "We need to get back. We still need to get to the Mirage hills." I said, "The journey will still be long and hard, only now, we have each other."

"Immortal love! Who ere on the mourn of Time, on wings outstretch'd, o'er Chaos hung sublime." she smiled.

Oh Nia, quoting Darwin, she knew exactly how to get to me. She knew me all too well, and I her. We were like two halves of a whole. "You! whose wide arms, in soft embrace hurl'd Round the vast frame, connect the whirling world!" I murmed pulling her back into my arms. She pressed herself against me for a few seconds and then broke away, laughing.

"Forlo," she chuckled, tugging on my hand, "We have to go now."

ELINIA

I chuckled. "Forlo, we have to go now." I tugged on his hand, grinning. He followed closely. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, it simply refused to go. Nothing in the world could spoil my mood now. We could come face to face with the fallen Aqraqua himself and I would still be grinning like a fool.

Memories swarmed my mind, adding to my happiness. The rescue, Forlo scolding me because I had 'taken long enough,' me retorting by telling him that he was lucky I came at all... Forlo arguing with the emporer that having two young generals on the field wasn't a good idea. Then there was that first kiss... So many memories to cherish.

Finally we reached the others. My smile wasn't gone, it was only bigger. Claudia looked nervous, but I ignored it. Rillian piped up. "What on earth are you so happy about?"

"You'll find out soon enough Ril," I chimed. I stole a glance at Angel, who was staring at me like I was the most bizarre creature on earth.

Shouldn't we tell them? Forlo's voice swarmed my head.

I turned my head. Let's just wait a bit. I want to see if they can figure it out. Wouldn't that be interesting...

I cleared my throat. "We move first thing tomorrow morning. Get some food and get some sleep." I sounded like general Elinia again, but I was still smiling and I was still earning myself confused glances.

FORLO

"We move first thing tomorrow morning. Get some food and get some sleep." ordered Nia. Now that was the General Elinia coming back and my Nia fading away. But it was okay, I liked both. I loved both.

They were still standing there giving us funny looks, "You heard the General, get some food and get some sleep!" I repeated.

"Aren't you going to tell us anything, Elinia?" asked Rilian, "We know about your... disappearance."

"There is nothing to tell," said Elinia solemnly, "It was all a misunderstanding. Don't worry about it, go rest. As I said, we leave first thing tomorrow."

Rilian

Rilian stared up at the starry sky above their temporary camp, trying to fall asleep. After moment, Rilian gave up and pulled himself into a sitting position. He stared around the quiet clearing. When Elinia had returned, she'd wasted no time in setting up a normal, functioning camp.

But it seemed all wrong to Rilian. Were they just supposed to forget the previous day, then? Forget the attack, forget Elinia's dissapearence, forget it all? Rilian wasn't sure he could do that.

Rilian supposed that forgetting was part of his job description. He was a warrior. Rilian's duty was to protect and to move forward. It was the part of Rilian's position Rilian found most difficult.

Rilian groaned, putting his head in his hands. Rilian loved his job. He loved Aquarazzi. He repected Elinia and (for as much as the man irritated Rilian sometimes) even Forlo. He respected his collegues. Rilian was proud to be where he was in life. But, sometimes, in the dark and silence of the night, Rilian wondered if there was a reason for any of it. The Dark Warriors were growing more and more numerous and more and more powerful. Sooner or later, something had to snap.

Rilian shook himself. He glanced around himself, looking for a way to distract himself from the dark thoughts pressing in on him. To his surprise, he saw Diana sitting up in her bedroll a few feet away, looking at him. Rilian stared back, curiously.

"You've been tossing around for nearly and hour now," she whispered back, arms folded. "Is something wrong?"