She awoke as the first of the stars began to fill the sky above. Confident it was finally dark enough to make the long distance flash back home, Senka drug herself to her feet, stretching and twisting the stiffness from her aching muscles. “Let’s go shall we?” she groaned as she slowly gathered her umbrella and bow off the ground. Tucking them back into the holster strapped to her back, she turned her attention down to the frigid form laying at her feet.
Kneeling beside his unmoving body, she placed her hands on the smooth brown fur. With her eyes closed, Senka cleared her mind of all thoughts except of the ancient wooden structure that served as the camp’s butcher shop. She focused on seemingly insignificant details, like the way the strong prairie breeze caused the boards to sway and creak, or how the entire building leaned just a little to the left, thanks to a drunken fight between two of the tribe’s Shifters. She even imagined the ominous sound Duncan’s cleaver made as he hacked to pieces a hunter’s latest kill. Every little detail she could recall about the nearly dilapidated shack, Senka used knowing it was those tiny details that would be the key to her establishing a solid anchor on the other end.
With the image she needed securely locked into her mind, Senka took one last deep breath and opened her body to the darkness of the night. Seeping into her pores like icy tendrils, the night’s shadow sucked her into its oblivion; only to spit her out mere seconds later, less than a foot from her destination.
Slightly disoriented, as was usual after a flash of this distance, she remained crouched by her kill and waited for the last of the shadow’s icy chill to release her. Once the warmth seeped back into her body and the dizziness faded, Senka stood and shook out the last of the tingling in her arms. With a frown upon her face, she then took in her barren surroundings.
“Where is everyone?” she whispered as she continued to scan the empty tent-lined paths around her. This time of the evening the camp should have been teeming with people milling around and socializing. Instead, nothing but abandoned dirt paths and eerie silence greeted her. Not a single man, woman, or child was in sight. “That’s weird,” she mumbled. Turning her attention to the weathered shack behind her, “Maybe Duncan can tell me what is going on.”
Rounding the corner of the building, Senka knocked on the door as she pushed her way inside. “Duncan? Are you in here? I killed a stag near the Seer border but it is too large for me to pull in here. So unless you plan on lifting the ban on me flashing into your shop, I am going to need some help getting it inside.”
Pausing, she scanned the empty room, until her gaze settled on the butcher’s block and the eighteen inch meat cleaver buried deep into something’s severed leg. Staring at the thick blood soaked blade as it gleamed in the pale light of the surrounding lanterns, Senka instinctively shuttered as she recalled the one and only time she flashed into the burly Shifter’s shop unannounced.
The incident happened just after she and her sister joined the Northern tribe. Wanting to impress Lady Zae and Duncan, her second in command, Senka went hunting determined to bring back a kill for her new tribe and prove her worth. So needless to say, when she found and shot a boar less than an hour into her hunt, Senka was ecstatic. Excited to show off her kill, she made the spur of the moment decision to flash directly into Duncan’s dimly lit shop with her prize. Feeling confident the man, who she had watched perform the same routine every single day since her arrival, wouldn’t be someone who would spontaneously rearrange furniture, Senka broke her father’s first rule of flashing and flashed inside a closed space that did not have a pre-established anchor. A decision she regretted the instant she and the large boar crashed down on top of one of Duncan’s tables, mere inches from the seasoned warrior.
Acting on instinct alone, the greying Shifter spun around ready to take down the fool who dared come crashing into his home. And had it not been for Senka’s quick reflexes he would have succeeded. Rolling out of the way just in the nick of time, she managed to escape being decapitated with little more than a scratch on her cheek. However, that did little to ease Duncan’s nerves as his stunned stare shifted from his blade to the crimson line slowly dripping down her pale skin. Glancing from her, down to the wild boar laying on the shattered remains of the table, he immediately realized what had happened. In a flash, Senka watched as Duncan’s guilt immediately morphed into rage so intense he was shaking with fury.
Barely able to restrain his body from shifting, he proceeded to scream at her for being impulsive and reckless. A rant that he continued for what had to have been at least ten minutes, while drawing a large portion of the camp into the shop in the process.
Not once in her lifetime had Senka ever had anyone yell at her in such a way, and to be belittled and embarrassed in front of her new tribe was more than even she could bear. Fighting back her tears, she flashed out of the shack and directly into her tent refusing to let him embarrass her anymore. She was back at her tent in the middle of packing up her and her very confused sister’s belongings when Lady Zae showed up asking to come in.
“Where are you going?” she asked, watching Senka dart from one end of her tent to the other throwing items inside a large duffle bag.
“We’re leaving.”
“I can see that.” Lady Zae responded flatly, “What I asked was where you were planning to go.”
“I don’t know, I’ll figure something out… I always do.”
“But Senka, I don’t want to leave. Here I can finally get the training I need to use my gift,” Chloe interrupted. Turning her attention to Lady Zae she continued to plead her case. “Please Lady Zae, talk some sense into her! I don’t want to go back to living like a vagabond. I’m tired of jumping from place to place always hiding and avoiding people. I like people, I like your people. I promise, whatever Senka did to screw this up she will do whatever she needs to do to fix it.”
Her anger fueled by her sister’s ingratitude, Senka picked up a pillow from off the nearest bed and chucked it across the room, smacking Chloe square in the face. “I didn’t screw anything up you ungrateful brat. Now do as I say and pack your things! We are leaving!”
“No!” Chloe screamed as she threw the pillow back at Senka. When it fell short of hitting her by over two feet, Senka laughed, which only angered Chloe even more. “I’m tired of you bossing me around all the time! You act like you know everything when you really don’t know how to do anything but screw things up for me!”
“I screw things up for you!?” Senka yelled as she charged across the room fully intending to knock her mooching sister right on her pompous tail. However she only managed to make it a few steps before Lady Zae stepped between them and stopped her.
“Whoa, calm down you two.” Lady Zae soothed. Keeping one hand on Senka’s chest, she turned to address her sister. “Chloe dear, would you give us a moment please?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Chloe narrowed her gaze at Senka. “It would be my pleasure. Stars only know I need a break from this overbearing old maid.”
“Come here and I’ll show you what this old maid can do!”
“Senka, that will be enough!” Lady Zae warned, the sharp edge in her tone making it clear she would not put up with any more of their childish behavior. “And you,” she continued, turning her narrowed gaze on to Chloe, “I believe I asked you to step outside a moment so that I could talk to your sister.”
Chloe foolishly opened her mouth as if she were about to argue, but when Lady Zae pinned her with her gaze she wisely shut her trap and retreated outside. Once they were alone, Lady Zae released Senka and motioned for her to take a seat at the small dining table in the corner.
“The two of you need to quit bickering all the time.” She began, as Senka lowered into the chair across from her. “For us Wanderers, family is something that is to be cherished, prized higher than money itself.”
“Yeah, well most people don’t have to deal with her.” Senka mumbled, hitching a finger toward the flap Chloe left through.
“Chloe isn’t so bad Senka, she is just lost. Unlike you she has yet to figure out her place in this world and that makes her jealous.”
“Jealous? Of me?” Senka laughed, motioning from her messy ponytail, down to her dirty, blood stained tank top and pants. “Oh yeah, I bet she is jealous of all this.”
“Yes, of you.” Lady Zae answered seriously. “You are a strong, confident, and beautiful young lady, Senka. You possess a set of skills very few can lay claim to, and today you proved yourself as skilled a hunter as any man here. You are every bit the asset to this camp I knew you would be, which is why I am here to ask you to stay.”
Upon mention of her earlier kill, Senka’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Maybe you should speak with Duncan first, I am pretty certain he would disagree with you.”
“I already have. Actually he is the one who came to me and asked me to speak with you.” Lady Zae paused, chuckling softly at her stunned expression. “He feels terrible dear, and is very embarrassed by the way he reacted. But it terrified him to think that he could have killed you today. And we both know Shifters aren’t exactly known for their easy going temperaments. Anyway, he asked me to tell you how sorry he was for yelling at you and asked if you can find it in your heart to forgive him.”
“If that is true, why didn’t he come here himself?”
“He was afraid you would refuse to see him.” Instantly Senka dropped her gaze to the table top and began picking at the rugged surface, a reaction that didn’t go unnoticed by Lady Zae. Smiling softly, she tucked a piece of her waist length blonde hair behind her pointed ear. “It appears he was correct in that assumption.”
Unable to face her, Senka remained silent, while Lady Zae continued to address her. “I know this lifestyle is very new to you my dear. I can’t even imagine how someone as young as you are, has managed to care for, not only yourself but your sister as well, for as long as you have. And while I have no doubt that you have grown accustomed to the freedom a lifestyle such as that offers, I want you to know your life can be so much more than flashing around, dodging patrols, and hiding from bandits. Here we can offer you safety, here we can offer you support, here we can offer you a family.”
Pausing, Lady Zae reached out and took ahold of Senka’s hand, halting its movement. “I swear, to you child, if you give me, Duncan, and the rest of this camp another chance, we can prove to you living with a community has so much more to offer you and your sister than a life on the run ever will.” Hearing the sincerity in her words, Senka slowly raised her amber eyes to meet Lady Zae’s pleading gaze. “Please Senka, give us at least a month, if after that time you decide Wanderer life is not for you, I will let you leave no questions asked.” Pausing, she wrapped her other hand around their conjoined ones. “Do you think you can do that for me? Do you think you can find it in your heart to give Duncan and the rest of us another chance?”
Snapping free of the memory, Senka turned her gaze away from the bloody blade and continued her search for the man she had since come to think of as her best friend. A few days after her talk with Lady Zae, the bearded giant, sought her out near the camp’s square and apologized in person. Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Senka forgave him and apologized for literally dropping into his home unannounced. After that, the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking and getting to know one another better. Duncan even went as far as to invite her on a hunting trip with him, which she later found out was something the old loner rarely ever did. And their relationship had only grown stronger ever since.
“Duncan, you old bear, where are you?” she called jokingly as she rounded the end of the counter. “I hope you’re decent back there cause I am coming in.” Pulling back the curtain that led into the rear apartment, she stepped inside. “Duncan?”
But much like the front store, the apartment was empty. What is going on around here? Now very much confused, Senka returned back to the shop. Doing her best to ignore the knot forming in her gut, she scanned the room one more time, but finding nothing out of place or unusual, decided to just head back home and come back later. But first she had to take care of the stag. Not wanting to leave it just lying in the dirt outside the shop, she took advantage of his absence and flashed it inside. She then covered the carcass with a thick piece of canvas she found tossed in a nearby corner. Hoping that would do until she located Duncan, Senka left the shop and headed back to her tent on foot.
Slowly winding her way down the empty paths of vibrantly colored tents, Senka kept her eyes peeled, hoping she would eventually bump into somebody that could tell her where everyone else had run off to. But by the time she made it to the path that housed her and her sister’s tent, still without seeing another living soul, Senka was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Fighting back the urge to panic, she picked up her pace, and dashed the last bit of distance to her bright green and gold tent.
“Chloe?” Freezing just inside the flap, she stared into the empty space. “Chloe!”
A quick scan of the room, proved everything inside seemed to be in order, with the exception of her sister’s unmade bed, which was not that big of a concern, seeing as Chloe rarely ever made her bed. What was a concern was what she spotted on the dresser next to the bed. With slow and deliberate movements, Senka walked toward the dresser and picked up the gold chain and pendant Chloe placed inside a tiny ceramic teacup every night before she went to bed. Dangling the thin chain before her, Senka’s heart rate doubled as she stared at the white rose pendant that matched perfectly to the one she wore hidden beneath her clothing.
The matching jewelry had been a gift from their mother, and was one of the only things they had left of her. But while Senka frequently considered tossing hers into a river and watching it disappear into oblivion, much like their mother had done, Chloe absolutely cherished hers. Foolishly believing that one day their mother would return and take her with her, Chloe wore it every day without fail so she could prove to their mom that she never gave up hope in her.
Knowing full well that Chloe would never leave the necklace behind on purpose, Senka tightened her grip on the chain and dashed out of the tent in a panic. “Chloe!! Chloe where are you!” Rushing down the path as fast as her legs could carry her, Senka continued to scream into the silence of the night. “Lady Zae, Duncan, anyone. Someone please answer me.”
But not a single soul answered her call. At a loss as to what to do and desperate for answers, Senka turned down the path leading to the camp square, thinking surely if there was anyone still in the camp, they would be there. However the moment she rounded the last corner leading into the open pavilion, Senka ran face first into a rock hard surface and fell flat on her tail.
“Ouch.” Groaning and rubbing her forehead, Senka glanced up and frowned. “Duncan? What the…” she began, but hesitated when she realized the elder Shifter was standing in front of her wearing nothing but a cloth wrapped around his waist. “Ummm, Duncan, why are you naked?”
Ignoring her question, Duncan reached down with one hand and yanked her to her feet. “By the stars girl, where have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you.”
Unable to make out if he was angry or concerned by the tone of his voice, Senka furrowed her brow. “Um, I told you I was going hunting,” she answered, doing her best to keep her eyes on his face and not the stunningly gorgeous half-naked body in front of her.
“Yes, but why were you gone for so long?” he snapped, pulling her attention back up to his angry scowl.
Clearing her throat, Senka blinked rapidly and focused her attention on her uncharacteristically emotional friend. “I, uh just went out further than I normally do, almost to the edge of the Western border.” Pausing, she glanced up, into his softening expression, “I killed a stag and left it in your shop. But I had to flash inside. I know you said to never to do it again, but I didn’t know where you were and…”
“No, no, it’s alright.” He interrupted, pulling her into his embrace. Stunned by the sudden and highly unusual display of affection, Senka froze. “I’m just glad you are safe.”
Finding it hard to breath in his tight hold and slightly unnerving to be this close to her loincloth wearing best friend, Senka placed her hands on his chest and pushed gently away. “Duncan, I missed you too old man, but to be honest, this is getting a little awkward for me.”
Taking the hint, Duncan released his hold. “My apologies. It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable.”
“Well, while we are on the subject of one’s comfort,” Senka paused, gesturing to his loin cloth. “Am I to expect this attire on our next hunting expedition? Cause, honestly I am kind of digging the savage look on you.”
Furrowing his brow, Duncan followed her gaze down, looking as if he had forgotten he was not wearing clothing. “Most Shifters wear these when we know we are going to shift so we do not rip our clothing… otherwise we would have no clothes left.”
“You were shifting?”
Suddenly struck with the image of a camp full of half-naked Shifters, Senka blinked rapidly and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Trying to recall the last instance she could remember him shifting, Senka had already traveled several years back in time when she suddenly remembered why she had been looking for Duncan to begin with. “Oh Duncan, have you seen Chloe? I can’t find her… or anyone else for that matter… anywhere.”
Immediately upon mention of her sister, Duncan flinched as if she had struck him. “I, I, I… I um, think you should talk to Lady Zae about that Senka.”
His reaction, along with his inability to make eye contact with her, instantly rekindled Senka’s temporarily forgotten fears. Heart clenching painfully in her chest, she did her best to keep her composure as she stood before the beast of a man and took his massive hand into her own. “Duncan, look at me.” She demanded, forcing his pale grey gaze to return to her. “Duncan, I am asking you as my friend. Please tell me where my sister is.”
Staring down at her, Duncan opened and closed his mouth several times, as if debating whether or not to answer her. Then, with a pained expression, he inhaled deeply and spoke the words that would send her world crashing down around her.
“Senka… Chloe is gone.”