April Story Contest
The Shifters, part 3. part 2 part 1
By: Skyberry
Age: 12I love stretching…
“Did you say something?” Belle asks.
“What?” I look at her, startled.
“Nevermind,” She shakes her head. We stand up just as Coach Sullivan yells at us to stand back up and get in line. Once again Belle and I stand side by side and line up.
“This first activity will take both of your endurance. We’re doing a 2-person relay. It will be a mile long. When your partner reaches the half-mile mark, where you are, you immediately shift into a form of your choice, which can consist of any crossbreed, and race to the finish. First team across is excused from homework from any class of your choice.”History class.
“Now, send your partner out. They get 2 minutes to reach a half-mile and then the relay begins.”
Belle nods at me to go to half mile, as I’m the fastest shifter at the half-mile. Coach blows the whistle for partners to go and half the class erupts into shifting. I burst into a griffin as I leap off the ground, wings flapping hard. I ride a thermal and shoot up into the sky, then glide as fast as I can towards half-mile.
My eagle eyes can see the red line already marked out. Turning my head slightly, I can see I’m 20 feet ahead of the rest of the class. I press forward, aim at the red line, and dive hard. I pull up as the ground rushes to meet me and place my talons on the ground. I stand, tense, waiting for the signal that Belle has begun to race.
There – the whistle, high pitched and clear in my advanced hearing. I hear pounding hooves, paws thundering, wings flapping. My eyes pick out Belle, her mark glistening in the sun, a cheetah. As she begins to tire, she leaps off the ground and sprouts scaly wings – a dragon.
Yes! I think to myself as she pulls ahead. But there… an osprey is attempting to catch up. Belle flaps hard and reaches me just as I’m leaping from the ground. Her wing manages to tap me and I’m given the go for it.
I flap hard and catch a thermal, rising into the sky and then gliding downward, gaining speed as I swoop up and down. I spot the bright yellow finish and power hard towards it, 10 feet ahead of the 2nd place girl. Anticipation builds inside me and I crash through the ribbon, the winner. I slide to a stop, talons ripping up the grass, and then shift back to myself.
“Yeah!!!” I yell as Belle runs up. We high five and then hold hands, raising them high.
“Congratulations!” Says Coach Sullivan, “You both may be excused from homework in the class of your choice.”
Belle and I beam through the instructions of the second activity, capture the flag. Excitement builds in the class as we are divided into 2 teams.
The winners from the last round, in my case, Belle and I, get to pick which team we’re on. We pick the stronger team, red team, and I’m given the role as a teammate for finding the opposing team’s flag and carrying it back. The teams are given nothing but colored bandanas and the flag. We have 45 minutes left in the class period, and I’m determined to win.
My team sets off to place the flag. We decide on going aerial – up in the tallest pines of the nearby forest. Because it’s red, we’ll have to bury it in the branches.
I jump off the ground and shift back into my griffon, spreading my wings wide as I glide along with my team of 10. Belle flaps along beside me, a small, silvery dragon with her striking green eyes. My own golden feathers and icy blue eyes set off my appearance.
I swoop low and skim my talon in the water of a lake my team is flying over. The others drag a wing or tail in the water as well. We then pull up and glide into the pine forest.
Finn, my teammate, flies the flag to the very top of a tall pine surrounded by rocks. Shifting into a finch, He drags it into an eagle’s nest and raps it around the grasses. The mother eagle won’t give up the flag easily when she returns.
He swoops down to the ground where the rest of the team is waiting for the signal that the game has begun.
The fog horn blows, giving 3 short toots at the end to tell us we have half an hour left of playing time. I immediately take off with 2 others and we split up to search. I ride a thermal up into the sky and swoop into the blue team’s territory. My keen eyes pick out the blue team, crossing into our territory and moving away from the flag as they go. A group of 3 horses. Apparently they wanted to test their new forms from today.
Suddenly, I notice something blue in the creek below me. I land, flipping, feathers suddenly replaced by fish scales. I slink into the water and propel myself. There – a piece of blue cloth… their flag. But where the flag is, so are defenders.
I snatch it in my teeth and leap out of the water, bursting into my griffon and catching a thermal. I need help. I screech to my teammates and they appear from left and right. I grip the flag hard as they fend off the huge, sharp-toothed fish attempting to leap out of the water and take pursuit. A dragon spews fire, forcing my teammates to move away.
I soar hard, flapping and thrusting myself forward. I dive at base, but something manages to grab my wing and drag downward. I shift into a housecat and manage to land uninjured. The dragon makes a mad-grab for the flag but I’m already racing away. Or I thought I was racing away… a greyhound has my paw. It flips me on my back. Another comes up and takes away the flag. There was no need, as the foghorn sounds the blue team’s victory.
I shift back to myself as my teammates come up.
“They came up fast as horses. One of them was kicking up a good dust cloud and another shifted into an osprey while we were trying to see through the dirt. They were long gone before we realized the flag was gone… sorry.” Says Chris, wilted.
“It’s alright… I lost the flag ¾ back anyway. We wouldn’t have won.” I shift into a horse dejectedly and my team, as a herd, gallops back to the gate as the bell rings.