Them

Nhoj and I ran for about ten minutes (I was slowing him down) by the time we were back at our little home here in the forest. Fortunately, humans have decided to leave this huge, wonderful forest alone and undisturbed (for now, of course). We had made a small hut in the middle of the forest, and we have lived here for about five years now. Out of all the places we had built and had to leave, this is my favorite place.

I was currently in the form of a tortoiseshell cat, one of my favorite forms other than snow leopard. I was a cat person. I felt more comfortable in the form of some cat than a dog. Cats were more flexible, and easier to move around. Sure, sure wolves had the amazing scent, but that just wasn't enough for me to put it as my favorite.

Nhoj was outside of the cabin, sitting by the fireplace while putting in some of the food he had stolen from the school. He was making soup. I was always awful at cooking, but Nhoj was great. The soup smelled fabulous... I started to purr as I walked over to the cauldron hanging a few inches over the small fire. My cat stomach growled and I sat down in the dirt once more.

"When will it be ready?" I purred anxiously. Nhoj laughed.

"It's so weird whenever you talk in an animal form." He muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, we've been over this. You say that my voice changes with each form, sometimes it disappears completely, but that wasn't an answer to my question." I said, looking up at him. He sighed, smiled and shook his head.

"I dunno, five minutes?" He said. He dragged another bag out of the cabin, leaving the soup. It was the bag with the cold, leftover pizzas. He loved that stuff, but I was more interested in the chicken.

"Let me guess, you want the chicken instead of the pizza?" He asked, pulled out a few chicken wings while he spoke. My eyes lit up. He laughed. Just to be silly, I quickly changed into a dog, sticking my tongue out while wagging my tail. He laughed again. He was such a happy person, even in our situation. Suddenly, a scent caught my nose. I frowned and immediately changed into a wolf, walking to the side of the little clearing where our cabin was, smelling the air.

I gasped and changed into a swift, flying up the trees where I wouldn't be noticed. Nhoj caught up on what I was doing, and quickly hide the food he could hide. He sat down, continuing to stir the soup when a man walked into the clearing.

His black hair that covered his frightening brown eyes scared me. He was alone, thankfully. He looked about 6'6", and his muscles stood out like a sore thumb. He was obviously a fighter, one of those with super strength. I gasped quietly, watching nervously as Nhoj looked up to face him.

"Umm.. hi." He said. Once in a while we would run into another one of us, but not often. This was the first time we ran into a fighter. (Notice how I say we.) The fighter skipped the greeting.

"What is that?" He asked, raising a huge fat finger at the soup. The fighter's voice was so deep and annoying, I knew that he might not leave us alone soon. Nhoj glanced down at it.

"Food." He said. The fighter rolled his eyes and grunted in annoyance.

"I KNOW THAT IT'S FOOD! What kind of food is it?" He shouted. I quickly fluttered down lower the ground, waiting to strike. Taking down a fighter wasn't going to be easy. Their skin was as hard as rock, some say. There blows were like a semi truck, driving down a steep hill at sixty or seventy miles an hour. We might have to surrender our food...

"It's soup." Nhoj said, staying seated even when the fighter walked closer. When he did, I flew down lower. Suddenly (but very slowly) he grabbed a rock and threw it at me. I flew out of its way, almost getting hit by it.

"Stupid bird..." He muttered, turning his attention back to Nhoj.

"Give it to me." He demanded. Nhoj was instantly on his feet. The fighter didn't seem dazed at all by the fact that he had incredible speed. He just laughed.

"O... a runner, are you? You think speed will help you here?" He said, raising a huge boulder sized fist. He swung at Nhoj who easily dodged it. The fighter was walking up to him again when I changed into an eagle, soaring down at his face. That took him by surprise. He shouted in frustration as I continuously clawed at his face, screeching as I did. He threw his fist up at me, but missed by about a hair. Then he brought both hands up and grabbed me by the wings, pulling me down to eyes view. I changed into a bear and swiped at his face. He shouted in agony as Nhoj quickly zoomed by him, tripping him so that he fell flat on his face. He was up on his feet again, his face covered with blood from my claws. He was staring at me with disbelieving eyes.

"A changer!?" He whispered in astonishment. He slowly reached out to touch me. The thought of mugging us for food seemed to have vanished completely from his mind. I slapped his hand away, not bothering to avoid swiping his hands with my claws. He didn't seem to notice that my claws had just scratched his hand.

"I thought they weren't real..." He muttered. I changed into my usual form, the red haired, brown eyed female human. I had to look up at him to see him now, for I was very short... he laughed.

"It's interesting to think that a little girl, so small, could hold such a talent. I have many questions..." He mumbled. Nhoj leaned forward, but I put a hand out to stop him. If answering questions was the key to keeping the food, than I'd answer any he had for me.

"If I answer your questions, will you leave and not breathe a word of this to anyone?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of him. He nodded quickly. So, my answers meant more to him than food? That was good.

"Can you talk in a different form?" He asked.

"Most of them, yes." I answered.

"Which ones can't you?" He asked. I sighed, these were going to be a lot of questions...

"Mostly bugs or something similar to bugs. Cockroaches, spiders, ants, and fish." I said, knowing that fish were bugs. But this fighter seemed like a real idiot, so he wouldn't notice.

"What are the limits to your forms?" He asked, grabbing one of the stools and sitting down. I sighed. This was going to take a while...