• Simetra sat at the cave entrance, Rahari lying beside her. They had not slept at all the night before, simply stayed awake all night, keeping vigil. They had no appetite, nor, it seemed, had Uquine, the house elf. Rahari stood up. “I’m going for a walk” she said. Simetra nodded.
    Rahari walked through the forest, looking around. A squirrel ran across her path. She walked on for a while, encountering no other creatures. When the clouds turned dark, she headed back to the cave. Simetra was asleep in her nest and Uquine was sitting in front of a small fire in the middle of the cave (he had become an expert at firemaking). Only then was Rahari aware of how tired she felt and curled walked over to her nest, nodding to Uquine as she passed, and curled up. She was out a few moments later.

    Simetra woke to a beautiful sunrise. Rahari was sitting by the den entrance, watching as the sun rose beyond the horizon. Simetra walked over to Rahari and sat down beside her. Rahari turned he head to look at her sister. “I can turn into a human” she whispered. Her lips pulled back over her teeth in a smile and her eyes sparked with delight. Simetra stared at her sister. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. They sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Finally, Simetra spoke. “Show me” she said. Rahari took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, Rahari was sitting in front of Simetra, the next, something completely different was crouched in her place. A human. The girl’s skin was pale, her silver hair hanging down to her waist. Her eyes were a bright and stunning blue, not at all like Rahari’s dark sapphire ones, and held a strange determination in them. What was this human intending to do to her? “Rahari?” She asked nervously.
    “It’s me” replied the human, her voice sounding like the bells that humans sometimes put on their dog’s collars when they went into the forest. Simetra quickly backed away.
    “I thought-no. Of course not. How could I e so stupid?” The human muttered to herself. Suddenly, the girl was gone, and in her place stood Rahari. “Don’t you want to transform?” She asked.
    Simetra stood in her battle pose, legs spread out slightly, hackles raised, lips pulled back in a snarl.
    “Simetra?” Rahari asked uncertainly.
    Simetra growled. “It’s too soon, Rahari!” She shouted and ran at her sister. Before Rahari could respond, Simetra had sunk her teeth into Rahari’s hind leg. Rahari yelped and tore her leg from Simetra’s jaws. She ran from the cave, leaving a trail of blood behind.

    Simetra stood, gasping for breath. Her legs shook and she felt like she would collapse at any moment. She hadn’t run so fast in a long time and had drained all her energy upon doing so. She walked over to the pool at the back of the cave and drank deeply. Afterward, she curled up in her nest fell fast asleep.

    Rahari crept quietly into the cave, her leg bound in cobwebs. Simetra was fast asleep, and Rahari didn’t want to wake her in case Simetra got angry again. Rahari looked over to Uquine’s nest. He was asleep as well, his back to her. Something hit the back of her head, and the world went black and silent.