Chosen- Started.

Ava


Ree starts to freak out. He starts yelling at the man about lying to us. He says we are about to leave, but we cannot leave now, we need to make a different show to make them not jump to conclusions.

I see a man for Arkyle is staring at our group. I read his mind and know he thinks that we are from Earth. My mind goes into a mode that even I cannot control. I need to get them to not suspect us. I whisper into Ree's ear. “Follow my lead.”

He nods and I begin to act out. But before I do, I make sure that there is at least one other person freaking out. Sure enough there is. “Oh my gosh.” I say loudly. About eleven people look over. I start breathing hard. “What if the people from the other planet are out neighbors?” I say. I pace back and forth. “What if I shook hand with them? What if they are..” I begin.

Ree hushes me, playing along great. “Ava is right. Someone here is lying and we do not know who.” He says.

“The king and queen will take care of us.” the man says placing a hand on our shoulder. “We need to go back to the comfort of our homes.”

Arcadia

I'm both amused and a little worried by Ava's mock freak out, but the Arkylians seem to buy it. I sit back and watch her feign shock and fear, several people trying to comfort her. Leo's thoughts suddenly enter my head, and I can tell he's close by.

"They're watching us!" he says. "Don't trust them! They have hidden cameras all over the house!"

The fur on my back bristles automatically as I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. What can we do?

"That's impossible," I insist, ears flattening. "They're the only ones we can trust here!"

"No, it's true! I'll show you if you go back to the house."

Stanley and I look at each other. "Should we leave now?" he asks me.

I shrug as best I can as a cat. "I don't know. What if it turns out to be nothing? But what if it is something?"

Ava looks down at me and shakes her head. "Don't leave," she mumbles. "It will cause a scene."

"What if it's serious?" I think.

She shakes her head again. "We can check it out later."

"You mean by the time they have enough evidence to show the king and queen?" I snort. "No, I'm going!"

Angrily I wriggle around, trying to slip my collar. Ava holds the leash tight, but I manage to get the collar over my head and I sprint off towards the house. I'm not sure if Stanley decided to follow me or stay with the others, but it doesn't really matter.

"Arcadia, wait!" Ava calls out behind me.

I hear her but I don't look back, running towards the house.

"Leo, meet me at the house. I want to see these cameras myself," I say. "If they really are filming us, we're in trouble."

"Gotcha."

"Arcadia, wait! I'm coming with you," Stanley says.

I feel a twinge in my heart. He followed me, even though we'll both be in trouble for it? How sweet.

"Thanks Stanley!" I say.

I'm nearly to the house, and I can see Leo off to my left a few yards ahead of me. "It's over here, around the back of the house," he says, veering off to the right.

He leads me to a small door, barely large enough for a kid. Shifting into a human, he opened the door to reveal a room full of computer monitors, which he brought to life with the flip of a switch. The monitors showed every room in the house.

"Oh my God," I gasped. "What are we gonna do?"

Par


"Aren't you a handsome little baby!" A lady is crooning, rubbing me obnoxiously under the chin. "Aren't you a snuggly sweetie-pie!"


"Back off, you weirdo!" I yell at her, but of course I don't speak English. She puts her face temptingly close to mine; it smells like lotion and fried-chicken. She is asking for a bite...

"This is degrading." Arcadia moans in my head.

"I know," I think back. "Being a sweetie-pie isn't very manly."

Then I look in her direction. She's purring and leaning into the scratch a third woman is laying on her ear. Hmph. The first two women keep touching my head. Why must they touch my head?

"This is gross," I complain. " It makes my fur feel dirty."

"Oh, because that's real manly." Miss Arcadia teases.

"You know what I mean!" I retort. "They're random strangers and they're just rubbing us and saying creepy things to us. I can't do anything to stop them. I'm completely helpless. Don't they realize I'm a human?"

"[i]That's the thing, Stanley-"

"It's Par."

"What?

"Well, I thought I'd give my fox form a name. Because he's so different."

"Oh. Well, that's the thing, Par." Arcadia yanks her head away from the woman to look at me. "You're not a man right now. You're an animal. You have animal DNA in you. You know how to act like a domisticated Russian fox, so act like one."

Darn it, she's right. "Okay, I grump. Act like a fox, act like a fox...

Suddenly, the world seems to shift into a different focus entirely. The humans are talking, but their words mean nothing to me. It's their faces, their smells. I can smell their very emotions!

Right away I take notes. Ava is nervous, judging by the way her hand is tightly
gripping the leash. Woman # 1 keeps glancing towards woman #2 tensely, and woman #2 purses her lips when this happens, showing that the relationship between them is unstable. Their expressions and signature scents are similar; they must be sisters. The third woman smells strongly of cats and must be a crazy cat lady.

Hey, this is pretty keen! Ignoring the hands caressing my poor face, I examine a group of teenagers strolling past. The girl in front keeps looking at the boy next to her, and then down at her hand. Her fingers twitch slightly, as if they are reaching towards the boy's fingers. The boy, of course, looks completely oblivious, and I can sense the girl's despair from here. Another boy walks two steps behind everyone else, his eyes searching the field as if for an escape from his social discomfort. Everything everyone is thinking is as obvious to me as it would be if they were to speak their thoughts aloud.

"They have hidden cameras all over the house! Don't trust them!" I turn and see Leo's yellow eyes glinting out of the trees.

Arcadia bristles, causing the cat-lady to lose interest and find another poor creature to pester. The hateful sisters follow her lead and leave me.

" That's impossible, " the golden cat insists. "They're they only ones we can trust here."

"It's true! Follow me back to the house and I'll show you."

Ava must be reading our thoughts again, because she tightens her grip on our leashes and is looking at us with furrowed eyebrows and concerned scowl. She is speaking, but Arcadia is already pulling the collar over her ears. Ava must not have tightened the collars enough! Ha! With a lurch of my own head, I ungracefully remove myself from my prison and race after the other spies.

The run is nearly a mile, and I'm panting so that my tongue is flopping lifelessly out of the side of my mouth. Even Arcadia is panting, a thing I never thought possible in a cat.

" Inside here. Leo leads us into a small room, the far wall completely lined with moniters that show every room in the house - including, I realize with a shudder, my room and the bathrooms.

"What are we gonna do? " Arcadia gasps, shifting into a human. I remain
Par and sniff around.

"All three of them have been in here," I report when I switch to Stanley. "The last time was right after dinner."

"How do you know that?" Arcadia wonders absently, staring in shock at the moniter that shows her bed.

"They smell like stew and chicken," I reply. "Do you think we could get away with destroying these?"

"I don't know about that." Leo looks doubtful, inspecting a wire that runs across the floor. "They might decide we know too much and simply turn us in."

"That's true." I want to destroy this whole stupid room. "But maybe if we made it look like the wires got chewed up and then leave the door open..."

"Sounds risky." Leo frowns.

"Well, I don't have any better idea, I say, shrugging helplessly.

Spoiler

Ooh I want to have an idea too! *can't think of one* I'll invent something later.

Ava

I try not to make a scene out of them running away. I hear them taking and try to communicate with them, but I will not know if it will work. “Do not destroy it yet, they will know we are on to them. We need to keep it like we do not know.” I say to them in my mind. I just pray they get the message.

I squeeze the day lights out of Ree's hand and stand close to him. I feel so much more protected when he is around. “We need to have our guards up twenty four seven with these people. I will tell you more at the house.” I say.

He nods and pulls me closer.

Ree

As we left, I realized people were still looking at us funny. Ava, apparently also noticing, whispered, "follow my lead," and proceeded to stop, gasping. I turned towards her, concerned. "Oh my gosh!" she cried. "What if the people from the other planet are our neighbors?" she began to pace, looking extremely distressed. Even though I knew she was acting, I wanted to comfort her somehow. Instead, I played along, making calming gestures.

"Ava is right," I said, trying to play the calm guy. "Someone is lying, and we don't know who."

Another man came over. "The King and Queen will take care of us," he assured us both, placing a hand on my shoulder. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. They'll take care of you - me, I'm not so sure about. "We need to go back to the comfort of our homes."

"You're right," I told him. "Thank you." We exchanged nods, and I turned to leave when Ava softly cried, "Arcadia, wait!" I turned again to see Arcadia and Stanley running off, weaving through Arkylian legs. Their collars hung limply from their leashes.

After a moment, Ava started to focus on something none of us could see. After a moment, I felt her hand snake into mine and squeeze hard. I squeezed back, wondering what was wrong.

"We need to have our guards up twenty four seven with these people," she said softly. "I will tell you more at the house."

I could see the worry in her eyes, and I nodded, pulling her a little closer. Mistrust swam through me as I glared suspiciously at the three people who I didn't really know. What were they doing? I thought about Ava next to me - she seemed afraid, and she was in danger. My eyes drilled holes into the back of their heads. I'm going to find out what's with you people, I vowed silently. You've put all of us into danger, and now you're worrying Ava. This is going to end.

We were about halfway to the mansion. I focused on watching the people around us. If anyone got wise about us being human... I wondered if that was possible, anyways. What if we'd been lied to, and everyone here was part of an intricate trap, a ploy against Earth? I wondered with a pang if the governments would even do anything to rescue us if we were taken hostage, or if they would leave us to be killed.

All these paranoid thoughts made me nervous, but nothing happened. We just walked on through a sea of suspicion and fear, all of it because of us...

Spoiler

Come on, guys, let's get some posts - this is about to die! I've been at band camp, so I'm not able to post much...

Aren't the Arkylians supposed to have powers? Do the characters know that or not - basically, what are we going to do with that?

Ava


I grip Ree's hand and try to pull him out of his thoughts. I am trying not to read him mind and control my powers. He does not stop glaring at them. “Ree you need to act like nothing in wrong. They cannot know, we know.” I whisper.

He nods and looks at me. I kiss his cheek, trying to comfort him. “We are going to be fine.” I say. I send a signal with my mind to tell Stanley to get the others out off there. They do not need to get caught yet.

Spoiler

Dharius

My heart starts beating faster and faster. After a while, the multitude explodes into havoc. I see the worried eyes of an old woman get red, and then see her teeth getting sharper each second.I forgot that... Arkylians have powers. The problem is that maybe one of them can read our minds, and by doing that he or she would know we're the people from Earth.

I watch Ava and Ree get away, going to the mansion. I barely notice, but suddenly my feet are running to catch them. But I get past them. Some minutes pass, and I'm finally at the mansion. I enter as fast as I can. But it's not very nice what I see there.

Stanley and Arcadia are caught in cages. Around them, a group of Arkylians stare at me.

"Alright, try it, bastards," I say to them.

Arcadia

I open my mouth to make a suggestion when I feel something heavy hit the back of my head forcefully enough to make me fall to the ground seeing stars. Leo looks scared and Stanley's hands ball up into fists.

"You shouldn't be in here," I hear the woman say behind me.

I feel the back of my head and I'm definitely bleeding. I slowly turn to see the three Arkylians that led us here, as well as two burly looking men and a petite woman. I scramble back towards Stanley and Leo as fast as I can.

"We weren't going to turn you in so early," the man with the moustache says, a sinister smile playing his lips. "But you just made our work much easier."

His words sound distant and fuzzy, and I'm having a hard time staying awake. The petite woman steps forwards and puts a hand on me. Her pupils roll back into her eyes and her hand glows a soft blue. Suddenly, I am paralyzed, laying on the ground awkwardly. All I can do is blink back at them.

The moustache man sets a cage next to me. "Either phase into a cat or be crammed in as a human."

Relaxing my mind, I phase into a cat. The petite woman calmly picks me up and puts me in the cage. As soon as she lets go, I can move again. I lay down, my vision blurry and my head aching.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way gentlemen," one of the burly guys says, holding up a wooden bat.

"Stanley, please just get in the cage!" I plead, seeing the way he glares at the guard.

He looks at me as though his heart is breaking, then turns to face the guard again, a frightening look on his face. "You hurt her," he says, stepping closer to the guy.

"I'll give you one more chance to do this the easy way," he says. The other guy takes a step closer, ready to back him up.

"Please Stanley! Don't get yourself hurt!" I beg.

He looks at me, then back at the guards, then back at me, before he finally shifts into Par. The petite woman puts him in his own cage and locks it.

"C'mon kid, get in the cage," the moustache man says to Leo, sounding exasperated at this point.

Leo slowly phases into a wolf, but as the woman walks towards him, he suddenly sprints and darts between her legs. Nimbly he squeezes between the two guards and runs outside.

"Stop him!" the thin man shouts. The two burly men lumber after him, the petite woman following close behind.

Dharius suddenly shows up, making the three Arkylians turn to face him, looking a bit stupefied at his presence.

"Alright, try it bastards," he says.

I lift my head to see what's happening, but immediately feel dizzy. I watch Dharius and the three Arkylians argue as everything fades to black.

Spoiler

Woot! This is going to be fun!

Ree

"Ree," came Ava's voice, whispering. I realized she was squeezing my hand and looked at her, startled out of my paranoia. "You need to act like nothing is wrong. They cannot know we now," she hissed. I nodded - she was right. She smiled, kissing me on the cheek. "We are going to be fine."

I felt a smile touch my face in spite of the fear around me. I must be the luckiest guy in the world, I realized as I looked at Ava, twining her hand in mine. She was so amazing!

My thoughts were interrupted again by Dharius as he ran by. I glared - if we all started running away from everyone like chickens with our heads cut off, we were going to be caught for sure. I hope he gets lost, I thought to myself. That would be nice. But then we'd have to look for him...

We walked a little more, trying to blend in. Remembering Ava's words, I tried not to peer warily at everyone we passed. If someone threatened Ava, then I could act. Until then, there was no point in searching every person who glanced at us.

A wolf ran out of nowhere, bolting through the crowd. I froze, panic automatically rising in my gut at the sight, before I remembered it was normal - and besides, I realized, it was Leo. Why was he running so fast?

He stopped near us, looking at Ava. She stared, her eyes widening, and suddenly I heard murmurs and cries as three people started shoving through the crowd, running after Leo. One of them nearly grabbed him before he bolted again, running for his life.

"What are you doing?" I shouted. Everyone was staring at them, and now some were staring at me. Shoot. "Wolves keep this place safe! You can't just pick on them!"

One of the guys - he was really big, I realized suddenly - was coming towards me. Something clicked in his eyes, and my stomach sank into my toes - it was recognition. He started drawing a breath.

I let go of Ava's hand, thinking hard that she should get out of here and that we'd been recognized. Hopefully she'd pick up the thoughts.

The guy made a grab at me, and I ducked out of the way. "What was that for?" I demanded, hoping that if I played the innocent guy, he might give up, or someone might help me. Luckily it wasn't that hard to act angry - or scared out of my wits.

"Leave him alone!" cried Ava. Why couldn't she get out of harm's way?

"What's the meaning of this?" demanded a guy, shoving into the scene. Everyone was starting to back away.

"They're from Earth!" the second burly guy shouted, pointing at us. There was a collective gasp, and a few ladies squealed.

"How dare you!" I yelled, acting offended. "Ava and I abhor those scoundrels who stole our box!"

"Box?"

"You know, the, uh, the..." I faltered. What was it called again?

"The Ead Box, you moron! He's lying!" bellowed the man, and he lunged for me.

I heard Ava scream, and suddenly all I could think of was protecting her. I felt strength pour into me and I lashed out, kicking the man in the gut, channeling everything I had into the strike.

He grunted slightly and grabbed my shirt. I windmilled, trying not to fall, and somehow shook loose. Then a small woman ran up, and I hesitated, not wanting to attack her. She didn't pause, though, and she grabbed my arm. I recoiled, but suddenly she got this weird look and I felt my knees hit the ground as all the strength drained out of my limbs; the only thing still lifted was my arm, because she was holding it. I tried to get up - and I couldn't. I couldn't move!

There was a sound and a thud, and blinding pain crashed into my shoulder. I fell out of the lady's grip and immediately felt my strength return. I rolled desperately, scrambling to my feet. The people around us were so panicked they hadn't even reacted yet; I ran, clutching my throbbing shoulder, terror pounding in my chest. Then I was clear of the crowd, running into the woods that surrounded the city, and I ran, headed for the mansion.

Ava! The thought hit me like a train and I whirled around, skidding to a stop. My head swiveled back and forth, desperately seeking the center of my thoughts. Where was Ava? Where was she?!

Spoiler

Aaaand I made a way-too-big post. Again. I'm sure you're all shocked by this. I apologize again...

.

Spoiler

I kind of like the idea of good people still being there, hiding out somewhere.

Stanley/Par


We never have time to decide what to do. I turn just in time to see the woman creeping up on Miss Arcadia, but before I can cry out a warning, she hits Arcadia on the head with a reusable water bottle. My dear friend collapses with a gasp of pain. Seeing Arcadia, bleeding again and scrambling on all fours away from her attacker, makes me want to kill something. I dig my fingernails into my palms. Beside me, Leo gulps.

"You shouldn't be in here," the woman says quietly.

Mr. Mustache steps forward, sneering. "We weren't going to turn you in this early, but you made our job so much easier."

I liked Mr. Mustache. he was my favorite.

Behind him is lanky man, and then another woman and her accompanying fellows. Six people? We're doomed. One of the newcomers, a short woman who looks about fifty, lays her hand on Arcadia's shoulder. I want to rip that woman apart, but I can't because she's kinda old, she's a woman, and I'm frankly scared of her. So I just stand there while the woman does the creepiest thing. Her eyes roll up in her head, and her hand turns blue. Arcadia, who had been struggling to stand up, now sinks back to the floor, whimpering helplessly.

"Get in," Mr. Mustache snarls, placing a metal crate in front of Arcadia. She shifts into a cat and slithers weakly into the crate.

"Gentlemen." One of the other newcomers, a large man who I assume is Arkylian, wields a bat. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

I see two other crates: a fox-sized one for me, and a huge one that looks like it was custom made for Leo.

I look at Arcadia, trying to lick some of the blood off her face with her paw. She looks so small and vulnerable, so innocent. How dare they treat us like this? How dare they betray us? How dare they lay a freaky blue-tinged hand on Arcadia?

"You hurt her." My voice sounds small and scared. I am scared. I'm angry too, however, and there is nothing that would give me more satisfaction right now than punching Mr. Mustache in his fat, hairy face.

Then I notice Arcadia is meowing. The golden cat reaches a shaky paw through the metal gate, her gaze pleading. She wants to obey, and she's right. All they'll do is kill me, and she would be alone. There's no way I can protect her now.

Taking a deep breath, I unclench my fists and shift into Par. Instantly Short Lady grabs me painfully by my scruff and places me in my own crate. I lie flat on the ground, watching.

The burly men turn to Leo, their movements stiff with frustration. Burly man #1 is leaning ever-so-slightly to the right, as if his foot is bothering him.

"Get in the cage, boy." For the first time I can really read Mr. Mustache. He's scared; his beady eyes aren't focused, and his breathing is faster than everyone else. He keeps hitting his index finger against his thigh. Lanky Man looks out the window, then at the burly men, then at the door. The Woman is chewing her lip, watching Mr. Mustache.

Leo is phasing into a wolf, but I know that isn't all he's going to do. His muscles tense, he crouches slightly, and his eyes flicker to the door.

Then he bolts.

Burly man #2, the one with the hurt foot, is knocked off balance and crashes into one of the computers. Sparks fly everywhere, like fireworks.

"Get him!" Lanky Man shouts, his voice growing high-pitched. Beads of sweat break out on his forehead.

The burly men struggle out the door, Short Lady close behind. Even though she's not leading them, the way she holds her head and pushes her shoulders back makes it obvious that she is in charge of both of them.

It is quiet for a moment. Just Me, Arcadia, and the three traitors.

The door swings open again, and Dharius storms in, his face registering not surprise but rage. Yes, Dharius! If anyone can beat the crap out of anyone, it's Dharius.

Yelling starts happening, noises that are harsh against my ears. I turn away, squirming until I manage to face the opposite direction. That's when I notice Arcadia flopping limply in her kennel. I whimper and stick my paw through the metal, but I can't reach her.

What are we going to do?