Akasha was walking through the market. Looking around trying to find food. Akasha is 17 and is living with her twin sister and roommate. She moved out of her fathers basement on their 11th birthday and have been together since.
“Look at her, she looks like a homeless weirdo.” A random girl said to her friend. Only a few feet behind Akasha.
“You know if you want to talk about someone behind their back without them knowing, maybe you should talk quieter,” Akasha said without moving to look at them.
The girl’s eyes widened as Akasha walked up to the counter with some food.
“Is this all?” The cashier asked.
Without looking up, Akasha said “yes.”
“That will be 10 coppers,” The cashier said to Akasha.
“That’s almost 2 coppers more than what it was yesterday!” Akasha replied.
“Well, outsiders like you should learn to know your place... monster,” the cashier said under her breath.
Akasha paid silently and walked away from the stand and headed down the road. As she walked down the road everyone parted when she walked by, As if she had a parasite. She turned down into a dark alley. She walked through the alley, but Akasha felt something was wrong. She stopped walking getting herself ready to fight a thief or some kids who think they can jump her. It was something that would normally happen when she walked home.
“Where do you think you are going freak?” A drunk boy called out from the opening of the alley.
“You think you have the right to talk to my girlfriend like you did?” He said walking closer to Akasha.
“I don’t know who your girlfriend is,” Akasha said, trying to keep herself calm.
“Like you don’t remember.” The boy said, “You freaks need to realize that we are better than you and you work for us Vasikos.”
“ What makes you think you can talk to me like that,” Akasha said as she turned around to face the boy.
Akasha started to walk towards the drunk boy. “Maybe if your girlfriend wasn’t a pussy, and said shit behind people’s backs. We wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“Babe, stand back. I’m about to put this freak in her place.” The boy said getting into a fighting stance.
“I don’t fight little boys,” Akasha said as she looked at the boy.
“Who is the pussy now?” The boy asked laughing with his friends.
“Well if you want to lose that bad then let’s go,” Akasha said with a slight smirk on her face.
The boy threw the first punch, but before he could even reach Akasha’s face. She grabbed his arm and pulled him over her shoulder, kicked him in the gut, sending him flying back. Before the boy could stand up he threw up. His friends and girlfriend all ran to him. They picked him up and dragged him out of the alley where a carriage was waiting for them.
Akasha finally made it back to her room which she shared with two of her friends. Aredhel was home from work, and my other roommate was on a work trip. Aredhel has long brown hair that she keeps up in a ponytail. She is an elf and has an arrow tattoo on her forearm. She has blue eyes and carries both of her swords when we go out.
“What did you get from the store?” Aredhel asked as I walked in.
“I got dinner. I hope it will be enough to last us?” Akasha said while putting the bag on the table.
“How much?” Aredhel asked.
“They raised the price 2 coppers more than the last time, but only for me,” Akasha said, getting angry with herself.
“It’s okay, we will be expected soon,” Aredhel said looking at me with her kind shy blue eyes.
“I need to go for a run,” Akasha said, walking to the window.
She opened it up. Went to the other side of the room and got a running start. Akasha jumps out the window, turns into a hawk and flies to the nearest forest to run and get her anger out.
Akasha felt like she was being followed as she was flying. So instead of going to her hideout that she built when she first moved here. Akasha decided to go to a new spot to see if who or what was following her. When she found a spot to land, she shifted before she even hit the ground.
“If you think you can hurt me, all I have to say is good luck trying,” Akasha yelled, then shifting into a wolf and running into the woods. Whatever it was that followed her, landed where Akasha was standing when she yelled. Akasha stopped and just stared at this person. The feeling that Akasha got was weird. She felt the strange energy this person was giving off. She was curious but also had the scent of death and decay on her.
Akasha went up to this girl growling to let this strange person know that if she feels threatened she will attack. Akasha shifted back to a human.
“Who are you, and what are you?” Akasha asked.
“I’m Kinsi Skia, a Reaper, From the Tribe in the Sky. Who are you? and where did you come from?”
I could tell she’s never seen a person like me because she was so elevated that it kinda scared me.
“My name is Akasha, I’m a shapeshifter. I come from the Vasikos territory.” Akasha said while walking around this new person.
“You are the one that was in the alley, weren’t you?” Akasha asked while trying to get a read on if she was dangerous or not. Kinsi was a very dark skin tone with pure white hair, purple eyes, and almost luminescent silvery white tattoos all over her body. She had gorgeous black wings that seemed to capture the light converting it to darkness. They were gorgeous. Then she looked Akasha up and down giddy with excitement.
She was so enthralled with my powers, it kinda made me feel good about myself. This is the first time someone has made Akasha feel like she wasn’t a monster, and that she might fit in with the rest of the world.
Akasha looks up at the sky and sees that it’s almost sunset and they should be getting back to town.
“Where are you staying tonight?” I asked Kinsi.
She was staying at an Inn right across the street from mine.
“Why don’t you just come stay at my place?” I asked.
Akasha shifted into the hawk and took off.
We got back to the room and Kinsi showed off her weapon to clean it. When I saw her weapon. I was kinda jealous of it, and Aredhel was mad at me for bringing a stranger into the apartment, but they soon got along. They talked till they almost passed out.
We soon headed to bed after that and I heard Kinsi move around and get up in the middle of the night. She had left a note saying she was going for a fly around town. I didn’t want her to get hurt, because Vasikos are not the friendliest creatures, and she also seems like she hasn’t been to this territory before. I jumped out of my window and followed her. I landed and made sure that she didn’t know I was there.
There were these humanoid creatures with bat-like wings that were tattered and had black tattoos all over their bodies. They started walking towards a tree. I looked up and saw Kinsi sleeping in it. While being as quiet as I could, I turned into a wolf and had these things follow me.
I was able to kill them all before sundown. I got home to find that Kinsi was still not there.
“Now where in the hell did you and Kinsi go last night?” Aredhel asked, waiting in the kitchen.
“Man you act like you are my mom,” I said, getting a cup of coffee.
The door opened and Kinsi came in with a new bag. I didn’t want to tell her that I followed her last night. She started to go on about having to leave soon. As if something or someone was chasing her. She gave us a vague story about her past. Having a terrible father, a dead mother, and no home to call her own.
“You don’t have to leave, we’re friends and we are going to stick around,” I said looking at Aredhel, without hesitation she agreed with me.
“I didn’t want to tell you this Kinsi, but I followed you last night and killed a couple of your dad’s soldiers,” I said while drinking my coffee.
Kinsi was getting ready to leave, but I grabbed her by her wings to stop her. She flipped out and spun with incredible speed threatening to chop off my hands if I touch her wings again.
“Where in the hell do you think you are going?” I asked, I was staring into her eyes challenging her. When I felt her energy start to relax and slowly get calmer. I eased up a bit.
“We are in this together. No matter what happens. I know you don’t want to see us get hurt, but I don’t want to see you leave," I told her, still not pulling my gaze from her. Her wings came free from the shadows of her cloak and my body started to shift.
“If you break anything in this goddamn house from making your wings pop out of nowhere and shifting into different animals, I swear to the gods, you both will have to feel my wrath,” Aredhel said, still sitting at the table.
We all laughed at how calmly she looked while saying that with so much anger.