All-Shift(D/C)

Chapter 7

I gasped as the sky turned darker on a moment's notice. Darker, darker still, like the black clouds of the worst thunderstorms...

These were the stay-back-not-good clouds. They looked like dark fluffy, flying beings that could ride the horizon at a snail's pace yet were now moving faster than I could move! Standing petrified on the spot helped no better.

"Diamond! Diamond, what the heck is going on?!" I screeched. I heard the crunching of leaves as she raced towards my calls of distress, spinning dizzily to find her. Panic, sheer panic welled up inside me. I imagined the sky of dark clouds coming down in a cyclone to consume me.

I felt rough hands take hold on my shoulders, gripping awkwardly against my bone. "Calm down! You're just getting used to it!" Diamond hissed from behind me.

I refused to spin around and meet her eyes, nervous she wouldn't be wearing anything. I tried to calm myself down, but I had no idea what to do or how to control it. Dark prospects filled my heads, and the clouds began to descend.

A groan, from Diamond. My eyes widened but the clouds lightened, and I took to a shiver of relief. A cold, wet fog fell over us like a light blanket, and I instantly felt droplets collect in my fur.

"How do I stop it?" I huffed unhappily. But Diamond had taken her hands off and shifted herself. I turned to see her standing with a cocked hip, ears back and eyes watching me. A few raindrops fell from her nose. But she didn't look cold.

I gave a small growl of apology, averting my eyes guiltily.

Silently, I spun in a circle and laid down in the bed of pine needles beneath my feet. The spongy feeling of moist pine needles made me growl with displeasure, and I continually ran through my head how much I wanted this to stop. How much I just wanted this all to stop...

The fog lifted, slowly. I scrunched up against the shower that fell with it, finding it moving along faster. My breaths came slowly in the misty clearing, and Diamond seemed to have an impressed look in her eyes.

With a sigh, everything dissipated. The clouds left us, returning the sky to sunlight. I let it soak into my fur happily.

Diamond bounded away and returned with dry clothes, fully human. I needed my own, but would have to wait apparently.

"That was quick." she commented dryly.

I wasn't amused. "Easy for you to say." I retorted sharply. But the sour tang of my bad situation had left my tongue, and was now replaced with a sort of enlightenment. I stood to find myself gently swaying on my paws.

Diamond gave a sort of smug grin, and shook her head. "You were a bit slower than most, I'll admit...I'm just teasing. Stop giving me that look," she said sternly.

Slower than most? In controlling their powers? Mine took, I'd say, a minute or two. That was all, I swear! Where are these other shifters learning the skill for this?

I opened my mouth to speak but shut it. Right. I still needed to shift. How inconvenient, but nonetheless I'd rather not be naked.

I stepped close and gently tugged at her shirt. She shook her head in disapproval. "No, we're going to get your own." she said.

I groaned and swung around, assuming the direction of where we were now headed. "But I thought we were going to prepare for the night," I mumbled. The sound of my voice as a mew struck me for a moment.

"Well, a few complications, but we should head on our way." Diamond said, leading off in another direction. Her route hugged the peaks more, from those first few steps.