Blue on Black

"Cheyenne?" I heard the small whispered voice as I stirred from my sleep.

"Cheyenne wake up." I slowly opened my tired eyes to see Charlie standing over me.

"What is it Charlie?" I asked through a yawn.

"Can I sleep in here with you? I get scared in new places." I looked over at the clock sitting beside the bed seeing it was midnight.

"Of course you can." I said smiling. She climbed over me and laid down behind me.

"Better?"

"Yes. Thank you." She said as she pulled the covers over herself. I waited a few minutes until she fell asleep before closing my eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~

I woke up early before the sun broke the horizon and got Charlie up for her first day of school. We ate breakfast, after she showered, with Storm and I walked her to her first class.

"I'll be outside when your schooling is done." I said giving the little girl a hug.

"I'll see you later!" She ran into her classroom and instantly found someone to talk to. She shouldn't have any problems with finding friends.

I left the area and went outside to koi pond. I had a clear view of the gate in case anyone came in but I knew that no one was coming. I knew Logan wasn't coming back. I mean it's been a little over a year since he left. I laid in the grass for 5 minutes in my Lioness form before standing to my paws. I walked around the property watching everything around me.

There were some classes outside so I made sure to walk behind them so I wouldn't be a distraction. Of course I did get a few looks from the students and teachers. It doesn't bother me as much as it would have. After walking the grounds I went back to my spot at the koi pond to await Charlie at the end of the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~

Before the school day ended, I changed back to my human form. I didn't want to frighten Charlie with one of my other forms. I didn't know whether or not she knew of my abilities or not.

"Cheyenne!" My head snapped over towards the doors of the mansion as they swung open. I smiled seeing Charlie running over to me.

"How was your first day?"

"It was great! I made a new friend and I drew this for you." She said smiling as she handed me the piece of paper. I looked at it and smiled at the little artist.

"That's awesome! You're such a good drawer."

"Thanks. So what are we gonna do today?" She asked.

"I was thinking that we should get to know each other better. I mean like what are your gifts?"

"My gifts?" She inquired.

"Yeah. Most people call them abilities. I call them gifts." Telling her this reminded me of the old woman I had helped in the Wal-Mart many months ago.

"Oh." Charlie looked down at the ground.

"Don't worry Charlie. Your gifts will never frighten me." I said truthfully.

"Well...I'm what the Professor calls a Shifter."

"What can you transform into?" I questioned already knowing the answer.

"I mostly transform into a wolf but I can also do a cougar, tiger, lioness, and bear."

"That's cool. Can I let you in on a little secret?" Charlie nodded her head and I leaned close to her ear, "You're not the only one who can." I whispered. She looked at me with wide eyes.

"Really?"

"Yes. Let me guess. You can heal fast but it weakens over time and in your transformed state you can talk to people through your mind." I said and she nodded.

"I can do that too. I also have a few more gifts than you."

"Like what?" Charlie questioned.

"I can move things with my mind, generate and control fire, and I have 3 claws that come from my knuckles."

"Oh cool! Can I see? Please please please?" She asked smiling at me.

The first thing I showed was my telekinesis but levitating and moving a bench that was next to us. Then I showed her my gift of controlling and generating fire. I took a cigarette from my pack and blew out on the end to show her how much control I have.

"I wish I could do those things but what about your claws?" I chuckled at her attention. I unshealthed the the metal claws and her eyes went wide. The shiny metal glistened in the sunshine.

"You know these claws weren't always metal." I said looking at them.

"How did they get that way?"

"You're a bit too young to hear the full story so let's just say a very bad man gave them to me." I explained.

"Did it hurt?"

"Yes very much." I said nodding as I sheathed them. I watched as the flesh slowly healed. I would need to feed tonight once Charlie is asleep.

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It's okay Charlie." I said smiling.

"Can we show each other out forms?"

"You curious to see what I look like?" I teased her but she nodded happily.

"Okay. I'll go first but he warned. Mine might look a little scary." I focused on the bear within and immediately transformed.

"Wow! You're a Grizzly Bear!"

"Actually I'm a Kodiak but you're close enough. You can't really tell a difference between the two." I said speaking telepathically.

"I never knew that. What's the next one?" Without speaking I went into my Bengal Tiger. Charlie loved the colors. The next animal I went into was the Lioness. I was a more darker colored lioness than a light one.

My Cougar was next. My coloration is like a normal cougar but just like with my other forms they are all much bigger than you'd see in the wild or in a Zoo. Lastly was my primary form. My oversized werewolf looking figure didn't seem to bother Charlie. She was more fascinated than anything.

"Your turn." I said telepathically as I stayed in my wolf form.

I watched Charlie first morph into a bear. Now hers was a grizzly but her size made her look like a juvenile. The same thing went for the cougar and the lioness. When she transformed into her tiger, her fur was black and white like a Siberian. It was beautiful.

"Okay let's see your wolf." I said and Charlie morphed one last time. I was absolutely amazed by the color of her fur. It was black with a patches of gray. Again her size was that of a juvenile wolf. I came up to her and put my nose to her neck bringing in her wolf's scent.

"I see why you choose to be in your wolf form." I said as my tail wagged happily.

"I just feel more comfortable this way. I mean it would look strange to see a tiger or a lioness walking around."

"Out there yeah. In here? Nope. You're no different than anyone else so don't let anyone tell you otherwise." I informed her. I breathed in the smell of food being cooked and it ignited my hunger.

"Well it's about that time. Let's go eat dinner." I said morphing back to a human. Charlie did as well and we went back to the cafeteria to eat.