Chapter One - The Getaway

She ran.

She ran helplessly down the darkened street, under the luminous moon. The moon seemed to give her hope, for this was the first time she had ever been on four legs.

�What has happened to me?� she wondered. �Why did this happen?� She couldn�t understand why that wicked lady did this to her. Tears started to fall while she thought about the last hours she experienced.

She flopped down on the bed, which was not so familiar to her. �I just love Kotake�s room. She never lets me come in here.�
The boy nodded and skimmed the dresser. �What is she a clown?� he held up some sort of makeup.
She laughed and sat up. �Wow�I can�t believe we�re going to be thirteen. Teenagers! I can�t wait until our birthdays; it�s going to be awesome.�
�Yeah I love the parties Kotake and my mom plan,� he agreed.
She got up from Kotake�s bed and walked towards the dresser. She grabbed a tube of deep red lipstick and put some on her finger. It turned her finger so red that it looked like she cut her finger wide open. �Yeah, she must have been a clown in her younger days,� she grinned. �I always wonder what happened in her past but she never tells me.�
He just looked at her as she talked. They were almost thirteen and they had been friends since she was practically born, since they lived right next door to each other. He started wondering if they�d ever be more than just friends.
�Hikaru��
She looked up. �Wha-?�
He stepped a little closer to her, and soon he was inches away from her face.
�Um�Cloud�� she started feeling uncomfortable.
�Hikaru! Dinner time!� Kotake�s voice rose from the kitchen downstairs.
Cloud quickly ran out of the door.

�That was just a few hours ago�� she thought. �And now�oh what am I doing?�

They had been fighting for ten minutes now.
�What do you want from me!� she screamed.
Kotake grabbed the girl�s shoulders. �If you won�t listen to me,� her eyes sparkled with hatred. �Then I will punish you.�
The girl looked down. �I hate you�� she whispered.
Kotake glared at her foster child. �What did you say?�
The girl looked up at her. �I hate you!� she yelled right to her face. While breaking free from Kotake�s grasp and running up to her own bedroom, something happened that she couldn�t explain. Something changed in her feelings, her walk, and her pride. It was as if something took away her whole essence and traded it with something new. She didn�t know what it was, and she didn�t look in any mirrors to find out. She just locked her door and picked up the phone.
�Hello?� a familiar boy answered.
�Cloud�� the girl started to cry.
�Hikaru? Hikaru is that you? What�s wrong? Do you need me to come over?�
She choked. �No, I just want you to listen. Cloud� I�m running away.�
�What!� he shrieked. �No! You can�t! What are you thinking! Did something happen between you and Kotake?�
�Cloud, I�m not going to tell you what happened, or where I�m going. I�m only telling you this � don�t worry about me,� she tried to crack a smile. �I�ll be fine. And I know we�ll see each other again someday. I just know it. Okay?�
Cloud started to sob. After a few moments, he quietly whispered, �Okay.�
She hung up the phone and swiftly grabbed a pen and her diary. In the darkness of her bedroom, she couldn�t see her hands as they wrote�or were they even hands? She couldn�t tell, but she didn�t care. �Maybe Cloud will see this diary in the future and keep it to remember me by,� she thought. �I have to take the chance��
She closed the diary up tightly and shoved it under her bed. She then climbed out of her window and onto the tree outside. She then jumped to the ground and started to run�

�Zokujin,� She thought as she ran. �That�s where I�ll go.� She and Cloud had always dreamed of going to that universe, where almost every city seemed like paradise. She thought that would be the place where he�d find her in the future. Now, she just had to get away from Kotake.

After a good deal of running, she finally reached the airport. The citizens here looked down to her as she walked by, and she felt so much smaller than all of them. They were somewhat scared and backed away from her. They stared at her as if she was some sort of distorted creature, something they�d only dream about. She brushed past the stares and snuck onto a Zokujin-destined plane�s cargo hold.

She tried to fall asleep, but she still felt so different. She could not stop seeing the stares of those people. �What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I feel this way?�

She laid her head down into her hands. But they still couldn�t be hands. They didn�t feel like hands. She still couldn�t tell and nothing had seeped through yet. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a lone mirror that was held up by someone�s duffel bag. She blinked at the reflection, full of uncertainty. �That is not me�� she stared in disbelief. �No, it can�t be me! This is just a bad dream,� she shook her head. �Come on, wake up, Hikaru, wake up!� She shook her head so violently that it seemed as if the whole plane shook. She stopped and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and opened them again. Staring at the mirror, she could see dark gray fur covering her whole body. Although her pupils were still brown, her scleras were bloodshot. Two violet-feathered wings protruded out of her back, glistening so much that it lit up the room. Hikaru Tosam of Nibelheim was not a human any longer.

Hikaru Tosam was now a ferocious wolf with wings.

Something they�d only dream about�