Flight 118: A Woman’s Future

~ The Female Shifter ~

The fire was bright against the night sky. The smoke wafted through the air, the crackle and pops from the fire, and the light itself drawing predators of every kind to her.

I shook my head from my crouched position on the tree branch, 20 feet in the air and five feet away from the aforementioned beacon of death.

It was ironic, truly. The fire was such a necessary part of living. Not just surviving, but also living. Especially for humans. A necessary source of heat for body warmth and cooking. A light in the darkness. The easiest way for water sterilization. But also, a method of community and gathering. For millennia a fire stood as a way for people to meet each other and share their stories, cultures, hopes, and beliefs.

What many people did not seem to realize was the unfortunate fact that a fire was also a point of danger. More so than the aspect of burning someone or something. It was a danger, a beacon, drawing the eyes of those you can’t see. Predators in the night; natural animals, humans, shifters…myself.

I shook my head as I watched the human below me.

She was a persistent one, I could give her that. Stupid. Ignorant. Completely unaware of the world she now lived in, and unwilling to realize that. But persistent. A quality I was not sure how I felt about.

I used to think it was an admirable trait; persistence. But now, I realized just how much danger came with it when one did not know when to stop.

The wind shifted again, drawing my attention out of my thoughts.

My head swung to the left, slightly tilting as I smelled the air and tried to filter out the smoke smell.

Someone was coming, hunting the girl, and the human below me was completely unaware.

I growled under my breath, too low for anyone to hear. Normally I wouldn’t concern myself with random human matters, but I was pretty sure this particular problem may be one of my doing. I could not be the reason why people were looking for her but leave her unaware and alone after it backfired.

Though, I was not the person who had concocted a plan to send a stranger to kidnap someone who did not need help.

She made it seem so simple; so necessary. It was not what she made it seem to be at all. But, after watching from the shadows when it all went down, I realized she also did not purposefully try to mislead me. I had heard the rumors, the stories, of sky travelers from the past. But I didn’t realize the truth behind them until now.

Now I better understood what the girl had been thinking when she came to me. A stranger to our world, terrified and alone. Not knowing why everyone acted, spoke, and made decisions the way they did.

Though I was of this day and age, I too had asked those questions many times in my life.

I was not sure if I simply needed to repay her for what I inadvertently caused or if we were kindred spirits. But I could at least help her save herself.

I inhaled deeply, focusing my senses on the location of the human hunting the girl. Just then, though, the wind shifted and I couldn’t catch a scent. Couldn’t smell and couldn’t see because I was up in a tree, so I could only rely on my hearing.

One set of footprints, treading lightly on the ground. I can pretty much guarantee it was a male, but this person seemed either to be a shifter or have some kind of training for hunting because they knew how to move almost silently throughout the woods.

Which meant the human girl below me most likely could not fight him off, but maybe I could get her to run before then.

Leaving over, I silently broke a tiny twig of the branch I still squatted on. Lining it up with a bush on the ground, I threw the twig as hard as I could. Using my shifter power, I managed to get the twig to make a loud enough noise to draw her attention.

The girl shot up and whispered, “Who’s there?”

I rolled my eyes and gave a small huff. What kind of idiocy was that? Who asks who is there when they are trying to hide from people.

This time I broke off a bigger branch and snapped it in half, right where I was. Hoping she’d get smarter.

I mean, yeah, I kind of was the reason why she was in this position. But the situation also was not what she made it out to be. So we were pretty even. I would feel perfectly fine leaving her to fend for herself after this if she just used some common sense and figured out she should run.

I growled. This girl. That time she just started turning around in different directions and throwing threats out.

That was nice. She was now threatening an enemy she couldn’t see with weapons she didn’t have. If this was how everyone acted in the past, no wonder the world turned out the way it did.

I raised a hand to my temple, messaging the headache I was beginning to get. How can one person be so strong-willed and stupid all at the same time?

My head tilted to the side suddenly as I caught another sound.

The hunter was moving fast and getting closer. I groaned. It seemed like I would have to make a decision and do something more than stay hidden.

Standing on the branch, I grabbed the branch above me. Then I stepped off the branch and dropped, grabbing another branch and using the momentum to swing myself around the other branches and then to the ground.

I landed in a crouch next to the fire, my hand touching the ground to help keep my balance.

I can see the girl stumble back and her mouth open. I lunged forward real fast and threw my hand over her mouth, keeping her from screaming.

I growled out low enough for only her to hear. “What is with you humans? How many times does it take for me to try and make you run for you to do so...and why would you ever ask who is there?” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “Now don’t make a sound, what I was trying to tell you is someone is tracking you. You need to leave.”

I turn away from her and stomp out the fire, letting the darkness flood back around us.

“Hey! What are you doing? I need that! Now I can’t see a thing.”

I huffed and turned towards her, “Yea and now other people can’t see you. I swear, common sense. The fire draws predators, you know.”

I began to gather all of her stuff, then kicked leaves over where the fire had been.

“Oh. Wait, what are you doing now? What are you even doing here?” The girl was talking so much. Too much.

I shoved her bag to her chest, then grabbed her arm and began pulling her through the trees.

“I’m saving you, that’s what. I had much better things to be doing, but you just couldn’t do it yourself.”

“Hey! I can handle myself.”

I scoffed, “Sure. Now be quiet. Geez, even humans can hear you with all the noise you’re making.”

I continued to pull her until I was sure she’d keep up with me, without me pulling her. We went until I stopped, holding up my hand for her to stop.

“Shh,” I said when she tried to talk. My head tilted as I tried to listen and find where the person was. I didn’t hear anything but that didn’t mean anything either. “Okay, we will keep going until there’s a place I’m sure is far enough for the night. I’ll watch over you for the night then let you go on your way tomorrow.”

“Wait, what? No. You can’t leave me. Please,” she began to beg. Almost hysterically.

I shook my head, “Listen. I’m a lone wolf, I guess you can say. I help people, I get them in place, and then I leave. I don’t do baggage, friends, or partners. There is no us.”

Just like that, I ended up with a stray.