The Takeover

The flock of birds soared over Annie and the three other boys' heads and she looked up in awe. She silently praised Lana on her work blending in. They would never be able to weed her out in that flock.

"I bet that panther was a goddamn shifter." Louis, the bulkiest male yelled and kicked the dirt.

"Can't you let it go? We lost that panther months ago." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "We should focus on actually capturing some sires."

"No, no, I think he has a point." Sean, the small muscular one piped up. "We tracked the panther to that tree, when we got there a group of birds was lifting an injured one up to the nest." Three months, it took them three months to deduce what Annie had figured out immediately. She squeezed her hand into a fist and fought the eye-roll they deserved. That's why she was with this group, she reminded herself. They weren't very good at figuring things out, so it was almost impossible for them to find her out.

"Even if that's true she's long gone. So let's focus on hunting sire's we may actually be able to catch, like Annie said." Anduin said and threw an arm over Annie's shoulder. She smiled up at him. He was her favorite of the group. He never wanted to become a guardian, but when his parents died during the great plague, he was orphaned.... And orphans were the first to be drafted into the guardians. He hated what he had to do, which is why he started helping Annie. He knew exactly what she was, he had found out when the wind blew her bangs just enough out of the way for him to see her minuscule mark.

He knew what Lana was the moment they reached the tree. He felt terrible, he had only meant to show Annie he could protect her... And secure a decent meal for her. He apologized profusely to Annie; it took her days to convince him it was an honest mistake and he was forgiven.

"She's right up there, with those birds!" Louis yelled at them, Anduin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Really, you think a shifter would stay with those birds for three months?" He retorted.

"Well, yeah why not?" Louis said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why not? Why not?" Anduin shook his head in disgust. "Those birds aren't known to take in strays, it's a miracle they picked her up in the first place, especially since she had to have a flaw. Those birds all look exactly the same, any flaw would get her kicked out. I would assume she found the bird with the softest heart to take care of her and left the flock when she was recovered."

Louis let out a sigh of defeat and looked up at the sky. "Wait, there's that blue one with red feathers on it's head only.... It doesn't look the same as the rest... Doesn't that mean it's the shifter?" He sounded smug, as if he had caught something Anduin missed... Which never happened.

"No, that means that female has been picked as the leader's mate. And seeing that the blue is everywhere but her head it means they've even nested together. But they haven't mated yet."

"Then it must be her! What kind of bird finds a baby daddy but doesn't have babies?" Sean butted in.

"A mate that knows the flock will be migrating soon... Did you two learn nothing in school?" Anduin retorted in a 'duh' kind of tone. "Besides you know the reputation shifters have. If an animal shows any interest in them, the shifts jump their bones. So it couldn't be her. And, even if you were correct we couldn't shoot her down, those animals are protected, we aren't allowed to shoot them since they're dying out too quickly without our help."

"I guess you're right..." Louis mumbled. "Again."

"Let's go find some dinner, I'm starving." Sean suggested, giving Louis a sympathetic pat on the back.

"Come on Annie." Anduin said, gently pulling her down from the root she had been standing on to inspect the birds with her binoculars.

Only after dinner had been caught, eaten, and Louis and Sean had entered an alcohol induced slumber did Annie feel it was safe to tell Anduin her findings.

"The bird he pointed out was Lana." Annie whispered laying her head on Anduin's chest. If they fell asleep like this the other boys would definitely tease Anduin on how he 'had it bad' but he didn't mind.

"Are you sure?" He murmured back. Annie liked listening to the his voice grumble deep down in his chest.

"Absolutely, there was some scaring on her wing, but it was barely noticeable. The leader was a shifter too." She mumbled. "I think they mated."

"But she didn't have right feather coloring for that to be true." He said, sounding slightly alarmed.

"No, silly." She teased him. "In the shifter kind of way. You know, where they exchange something they can't live without."

"That seems like something you could do by accident... What was your magic thinking?" He teased and poked her in sides. She giggled and tired to squirm away from him.

"Well, supposedly it also requires the two having feelings for each other beforehand... Which would make it a tad more difficult..."

"Ew, feelings. Keep them away from me, I never want to catch those!" He teased.

"Never?" Annie pouted as crocodile tears pooled in her eyes. "Not even for me?"

"Especially not you!" He smirked and then placed a quick kiss on her lips. She sighed in happiness and snuggled closer to Anduin.

"They both had a gold feather atop their heads." She yawned into his chest. "They were the same color in the same spot, which is code for 'Lana has developed her first crush and did something about it'."

"Your little girl is all grown up." He yawned back. He wanted to stay up and talk with Annie forever but, unfortunately, they both needed sleep.

"He better treat her right, or I'll..." The rest of Annie's sentence was lost in incoherent grumbles as she fell under sleep's spell. Anduin smiled at her sleeping form and pulled the blanket over her small body and yawned again.

"Hopefully he's not the one those other groups are hunting... If he is, the two of them will have to be extremely careful..." He let the thought drift away, they will be fine. That shifter is good at covering his trail... No one had even thought there was even one shifter in the forest of giants, let alone two. They'll be fine. He let the stars slowly lull him to sleep.



Lana loved the feel of flying, she would never tire of it. Even though they had flown most of the day, minus a food breaks for snacks for the little ones, she still wanted to fly more. As darkness began to fall the birds perched in a random tree for the night and rested in preparation to finish their journey tomorrow.

You said tomorrow they'll pick a tree to live out the summer in, right? Lana questioned Chase as they built a makeshift nest.

Yeah, why do you ask? He responded, looking up at her and tilting his head to the side.

We aren't far enough north... What happens with we pick a tree? She was determined to make it to that civilization.

We leave... He said bluntly. I'll choose a new leader of the flock and... I guess we'll find some other kind of animal to travel the rest of the way as... But I promised my grandma if I ever made it this far I'd check on a family member... Is it okay if we stop? The town is right on the way and it's very open to sires... Lana didn't mind either way, but if she had minded it would have been impossible to turn him down. His puppy eyes are amazing for a bird.

Will there be warm, people food? Like pie? Or... ooh mashed potatoes with gravy!? Her mouth water and she couldn't help but hum at the pictures of warm food floating through her head. Chases stomach growled.

You should stop. He said as if he were trying to convince himself. Thinking of human things could change us back... And now I can't get it out of my head... He started taking deep breaths, and he started chanting 'think like a bird, act like a bird, be a bird' over and over again. Lana tried to contain her laughter.

He looked over at her and rolled his eyes. I don't want to be caught by the guardians, you shouldn't find that so funny.

I just don't see why you're doubting yourself. You're a great shifter, and your great at covering your tracks. I'm sure one thought of potatoes won't force you to shift back. I said honestly. Lana looked up to Chase, he was very knowledgeable about anything that pertained to shifters or animals or nature.

But I have a weakness. I love being human, I like my own skin. He seemed to be mumbling self-consciously in her head, and a light blush shone on his face, through his feathers. I like being human and I like humans. I like how they look, I like their wide range of emotions, I like their sense of touch. He tried to cut himself short, and stop his next thought from happening but it was too late.

I like how you look... It echoed faintly in the back of Lana's head accompanied by a memory of her smiling that brief time she was human around him. She could hear him quietly kicking himself, her stomach tied itself in knots.

She decided that she would finish the nest, then take action. Once finished she shifted back, Chase had flown away almost immediately after realizing she had heard him. She grabbed the blanket she had folded nicely in her pack. She laid down at the edge of the nest and covered herself with the blanket. She curled up into the prickly side of the nest, shivering slightly.

Why was she doing this? This was so ridiculous, she should have just pretended she didn't hear. Now she's embarrassed him, and now probably even herself. What was she thinking? Laying in the nest as a regular old human, and potentially freezing to death because what? She wanted to impressing? To make him feel better? She was making it worse. She should shift back. Maybe if she did he would just play it off like she hadn't even tried. Like she should have.

Another shiver rocked her body and she pulled the blanket tighter around her body. She wouldn't be cold if she were a giant feathery bird... The blanket behind her moved and suddenly Chase was behind her, with his arms around her waist. He was pressed completely against her, since she had left almost no room between herself and the back of the nest.

"I appreciate the sentiment." He said quietly. "I'm sorry I let my feelings get a little out of control... I tend to start craving interaction that's... not an animal. But I usually have to accept that it will never happen... Since people would turn me in as soon as they saw me. And I've never had a friend... So I guess all the pent up feelings I've ever had were projected on you..." A blush had spread across her cheeks.

"Oh, okay." She hated the disappointment in her voice. Deep down she may have felt it, but Chase is her friend. Maybe this bond they had created was messing with her feelings. Not that it was bad... Chase was smart, funny, and not necessarily bad looking... at all... She pushed her thoughts back, they were friends. Friends.

She heard his light snoring behind her, her own sleep seemed to become more apparent. Though it was somewhat awkward being so close to him, she took comfort in the warmth he provided.

"You are... still beautiful." He mumbled sleepily and unconsciously pulled her closer. She smiled to herself and let sleep claim her. Just friends or not, he wasn't a bad guy... And he had gone great lengths to help her. Whatever course fate felt like taking would be fine with her.