Hunting for Curiosities (Allison)

With nimble feet and all senses alert, Katelynn maneuvered through the forest on her way back from town with groceries secured in a black messenger bag across her shoulder. She paused periodically during her travel to check her surroundings and make sure she wasn't being tailed by anyone. After her mothers disappearance a little over a year ago, Katelynn had little trust in anyone both humans and other Skin-Walkers. The young fifteen year old had been living on her own and to be honest it was much harder than she ever would have imagined. The abandoned houses were just in sight now and she paused once more, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no creature was following her. So far there nobody around or at least not in her sights. Naturally she continued toward one shelter, the one in which Anuk was lurking about in. 

Gingerly the young teenager crawled into through dog door at the back of the house. Her hazel green eyes searched the shadows for any dangerous animals or other Skin-Walkers. All clear so far but Katelynn had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Although she couldn't see anyone she felt as if someone was around. Very quietly she removed her black converse from her feet laid them by the dog door. Walking around barefoot on un-maintained wooden floor was never a plan of hers but walking around in shoes would just create more sound than she wanted. Then she dusted the dirt off her dark washed skinny jeans and fixed her Paramore shirt before continuing down the hall way. If anything happened she could always shift into some small creature and escape through the dry-wall then later come back for whatever remained of her personal belongings. With a smooth motion she removed a six inch hunter's knife from her shoulder bag and stashed her food behind a dusty, dilapidated couch.

Light on her feet Katelynn dispersed further into the building, eyes checking every inch of the room before she would move to the next. Her knife was held firmly in her hand and she would defend herself at all cost even if it meant spilling someones blood. Survival was always a must for any living creature and she was no different.  Three rooms cleared and now she was getting closer to discovering Anuk. One foot in front of the other. So far there hadn't been any real loud pieces of floorboard until now. The obnoxious squeal of the wooden floor caused her to freeze in her tracks. If anyone was in this house surely they had heard her. She looked from the floor to a door way and her heart beat started to race. Her green hazel gaze locked onto just a sliver of another person in the room.  With no knowledge of whether this person was a human or a Skin-Walker or even if they were armed with a dangerous weapon, Katelynn froze and waited for the next chain of events to erupt.

Always expect the unexpected was something Katelynn learned at a young age and it always proved to be useful knowledge. The slivered figure she had seen was armed with a dangerous weapon, far more lethal and long ranged than her own. Slowly she inhaled the tense air and tried to calm her nerves. With subtle eyes she looked over Anuk, he was much taller and probably stronger than her so she wouldn't last long in a fight. Although she still had no clue whether he was a Skin-Walker or some crazy human who took to living in the forest. If he wasn't a Skin-Walker she might have a chance of escape but right now she wasn't daring enough to risk her life. Then he spoke, asking who she was with a rather strange accent she had never heard before.

"My name's Katelynn Taylor but my class mates call me Kate. I don't want to spill blood so I'm going to put my knife down, I'd appreciate if you lowered yours as well." She replied in her typical soft, timid voice. Slowly she lowered to the ground, set her knife down and rose back up with hands held defensively in front of her. "Now that you know my name I think its only fair that I should know yours." If anything she wanted to know the name of her killer if it came down to that, hopefully it wouldn't. But the uneasy feeling in her stomach still remained and she kept her full attention on Anuk.

Katelynn listened to the words that came from his mouth, each one hanging on her thoughts like a spider-web she couldn't shake loose. It was nice not having an arrow pointed directly at her, however, she still wasn't comfortable with the projectile remaining notched to the bow. Moving away from her hunting knife would mean she only had one choice of defense if Anuk didn't keep his word. Silently she debated with herself on whether she should continue to face the threat of the arrow in the hands of Anuk who was still a stranger or, risk exposing her Skin-Walker roots to someone who could possibly report her to the Government. Despite how Anuk was dressed in tattered, messy clothes Katelynn was still unsure of what exactly he was.With a deep breath and a steady gaze on the black haired teenager, Katelynn backed away from her knife. One step after another until she was a good eight steps away. "You're not from this part of the forest." She mused aloud softly, "Or at least I haven't seen you around here during the year I've jumped from one dormant house to the next. What brings you here Anuk?"

As Anuk picked up the knife Katelynn narrowed her eyes and scowled. He had no right to pick up her knife! Frustrated but not wanting to show as a threat, the young fifteen year old ran her fingers through her brown, pixie styled hair. Then she let her arms fall to her sides and she shifted her stance, putting almost all of her weight on her right foot. She bit her bottom lip and listened to the human speak. He was missing words from practically all of his sentences that required an answer or certain words. It was if English was not his primary language. She looked him over once more and crossed her arms. "Learn?" She asked the one worded question aloud although she didn't intend to. She searched through her mind of stories her mother used to tell about some of the other Skin-Walkers that had traveled to Earth with her. There was many different types of social classes and some remained nomadic. Could he have been raised by the nomadic Skin-Walkers? Everything is possible so just maybe. "I can help you learn." She stated kindly. Maybe then she'd be able to get her knife back.

Calmly Katelynn followed Anuk into the room he had appeared from. Her green hazel eyes flowed over the book self with an abundance of books. Her heart fluttered with joy but she held herself back and didn't go running to the shelves to scan the books for a good read. She turned and looked at the book Anuk had in his hand and smiled for a brief second. That is a good book, if he can read I'm sure he'll like it, she thought to herself. Katelynn ran her fingers through her hair again as she listened to Anuk speak his few sentences and then the silence before his question. Lazily she tucked her hands in the pockets of her jeans and looked at the ground. "Not all humans are bad, some are really nice but others not so much. Its just like running into a bad group of Skin-Walkers or anything really. Although I'm not a big fan of humans they're all right." She countered her words against his own first sentence. Now how did she go about answering his question without identify as a human or Skin-Walker? "I grew up in the human town with my mom, she was a brave lady to stay after everything that went down between the humans and Skin-Walkers. I go there a lot but I've been staying out here. Soon I'll be in the town a lot more for school. As long as you don't stand out and do something like shift most humans never know you're different." She answered and shrugged her shoulders. The truth was Katelynn rarely used her shape-shifting abilities because her mother advised her not to so nobody in town knew that she was a Skin-Walker. Due to the fact she had never shifted around people or let on who her mother was there was no sturdy evidence for the Government to snatch her up.

Katelynn listened as Anuk chuckled. She was confused as why he chuckled at her words. Had she really said something he found funny? Gently she looked at Anuk as he sat on the floor with his book. A soft smile formed on her face as she watched him. Clearly he was rarely in an environment like this. Smoothly she strolled across the floor to the bookshelf and looked at the shelves.A few of the books had been worn down and broken in but non-the-less they were still books. She ran her pointer finger across the spine of a book while eyeing the novel "Fahrenheit 451" which had been written by Ray Bradbury. Lazily she rested her head against the bookshelf frame and listened to the teenager's words. Never in her life had she heard of a Skin-Walker not being able to shift forms. Uneasily she rubbed her arm, then pulled "Fahrenheit 451" from the shelf and sat on the floor. Her back against the wall, legs crossed and book in her lap. "In the short 15 years I've been alive and from all the stories my mother told me, I've never heard of a Skin-Walker not being able to shift forms." she replied but when she heard the change in his tone and the slight change in his body language she continued, "Being different is okay, you're unique. Maybe when you get older you'll be able to shift or something will trigger it." A bit of sympathy for Anuk swelled in her last sentences but she had her doubts now as to whether he truly was a Skin-Walker.

Then his questions about school appeared. Katelynn ran her fingers across the cover of the book in her lap and looked down. "Yeah school. It's 9 months of the year and there are a few Skin-Walkers there even though legally we're not suppose to be there. We learn to read, write, do math, about science and history. As we get older we learn about health and other things that are suppose to help us when were adults. Most people pay no attention to what goes on in class though. Schools not the funnest of places and the kids are really mean if you don't fit in. I don't so I get picked on a lot." She rambled on with her words and ended with a sigh. Occasionally opening the book's cover and then closing it she listened as Anuk spoke of his natural tongue. Now it made sense why he was missing words when he spoke. "I've never heard anyone speak Sanskrit. Only Spanish, French, German, some Russian but thats about it. You're really unique from the sounds of it." She replied, glancing up at Anuk before looking the wood floor.

Katelynn stretched out her legs and crossed them, right over left. She simply nodded her head as Anuk spoke. So apparently his family was the only one who spoke Sanskrit and none of them really had a true education. Interesting. She leaned forward, scratched her shin and then leaned back against the wall. Slowly closed her eyes and took in every word he had said so far. Mentally she tried to put a small puzzle of information together to try and get a full general picture of Anuk's life. He lived in a nomadic tribe deep in the forest, was the only skin-walker around who could not shift, probably never set foot in town and was interested in learning more about humans. "Is your whole family interested in learning or is it just you who wants to know more?" she asked, looking up and focusing her hazel gaze on the teenager.