The Shifters: Katrina

Shae glanced at me in worry as I scowled, resisting the urge to hit Sam as he and Max left the gym. Once they were gone, a sigh of relief left her and she ran over to me. Boldly, she jumped into my arms and squeezed me tight.

"I thought she hurt you, or you'd been kicked out of the compound," she admitted, her voice soft as she hugged me. I was shocked, but managed to return the embrace.

We let go, a smile on her face. I even swore I could see a tear or two in her eyes.

"I'm alright," I assured her, "Coraline put power limiters on me. I was too embarrassed to come out the entire time."

Shae frowned. "You did go overboard. Everyone's been talking about it. But you weren't at fault, she brought it on herself."

For someone like Shae, who was usually quiet and reserved, to say that I was at least partially justified in my actions -- well it did wonders for my conscience.

"I should probably go find Tyree and the others," I sighed, "I was avoiding them too."

My partner grinned. "Those friends are yours seem loyal. They're probably the reason why the blame was distributed between both of you."

I hummed in agreement, glancing at the gym doors.

"Hey, why don't we train for a bit? You must be antsy after all that time without water," Shae offered, a pool gathering in her hands. She tossed it my way, laughing as it splashed my face. My face lit up in a grin as I chased her around the room, my control over water seemingly improved after my tantrum. Everytime I shot at her, I hit my mark, unless she took control and deflected. We chased each other until we were both exhausted, our backs hitting the floor as we stretched out.

"Thanks for staying," Shae said quietly. "It sucked when it was only me and the boys."

"I bet," I hummed, "they seem like bullies."

She shrugged, her hair stuck to her face with sweat. Her chest heaved, and she had wet spots on her clothing.

"You should go find those friends of yours. I'll see you later," she said, breaking the silence. I watched her from my place on the floor, her shoulders slumped ever so slightly as she left the room.

Touchy subject...

Suddenly guilty, I got to my feet and trudged toward the door, throwing and catching a ball of water. Not only did I have to keep track of it, but I was working on my control by forcing the water to stay in ball form. It gave me something to focus on, to divert my attention to.

I had to go searching for the others. It took me about an hour, but eventually I found them hanging around the dueling fields, Gene's brow dotted with sweat. It seemed like they were taking turns helping him train for his fight.

Sonya launched herself at him, nearly knocking him off his feet, when he used a blast of fire to defend himself. Her eyes and fingers glowed green and a wall of mud separated her and the blast. Next was Tyree, who crouched and began to morph and grow, her face impassive. Soon stood a gorilla, its red eyes boring into his. Gene looked ready to fight, but they were both fire shifters, and his element couldn't force the gorilla back. Not until his glow of red went from his hands to his eyes, and a fire the size of a tree burst to life under Tyree's stomach. She danced away, belly hair singed and her skin pink from a light burn. They continued to take turns like this until Gene collapsed onto his front, laying face down in the dirt.

I clapped, and their heads whipped around in my direction.

"Katrina!" Antonio exclaimed, running over with Sonya in tow. They dragged me by the arms back to the others.

"Where have you been?" Tyree asked, crossing her arms. She had gone back to human form, and had been rubbing her aching, burnt stomach.

I exhaled, sheepishly uttering the truth. "I holed up in my dorm because Coraline had given me power limiters for five days. It was humiliating."

"Wow," Gene grumbled from the ground, "so you ignored us when we came by to check on you."

"Maybe..?"

He sighed, and Sonya chuckled.

"I'm just glad you're back," the white haired girl grinned. My mind wandered off, wondering what her animal form would be. The only people out of my friends that had their forms, Tyree's bunch and water shifters, were Tyree, Gene, Shae, Quintin and Cory. Tyree's gorilla form was the only one I'd seen -- I didn't even remember to ask about the others.

Sonya will be something gentle, I thought as she patted my shoulder, no doubt about it.

"I'm sorry about what I did," I began, shaking off my internal tangent. "I shouldn't have gotten carried away like that. It wasn't my place to go ape."

Tyree rolled her eyes at my unintential poke at her. She then shrugged.

"Heather and the rest of those morons deserve it. Hell, I would've done it myself if I could've, though you were a little more of a loose cannon than I would've been."

"Yeah," I said, the word drawn out. "I lost it, just a little."

"A little?" Ben teased. He stood by Gene, nudging the other boy with his foot on occasion.

His words hit me close to home and I groaned, putting my face in my hands. "I messed up big time," I groaned, the sound nearly gutteral as I plopped onto the ground.

"But at least it's over," Gene eventually said, lifting his head from the ground. "They won't bother us and your punishment is already over. We can move on."

His statement was both comforting and a reminder. With my friendships now smoothed over, I had one task left to do. Well, more like two and a half. Get my mask, get my fake name into a match, and get ready to duel a random shifter.

I looked down at my hands.

Once that was all over, I'd have to practice violent fighting styles until my knuckles were raw. I had no other choice, but this time, I had to control myself.

I can do this.