Therian Shifters

Chapter 4: Awakened Spirits:

As Akira awoke the next morning, her eyes were heavy and pink from her sudden waking from the previous night. Weak and shaken from last night's traumatizing vision, she was rather worried about what would happen to her this school day.

Her father walked into her bedroom, kissing her on the forehead. "Come on, sleepyhead. Breakfast is waiting. It's sausages." Her father spoke in an encouraging and silly tone, as Akira widened her eyes at the word 'sausages', and zoomed down the stairs.

After she had eaten her meaty breakfast, she had gotten dressed and headed out the door with her father. As she looked out of the car window as her father drove, her mind wandered as she looked out. But then the vision from the night before of Chase and a clan of boys chucking rocks at her came into her mind once again, making her shudder.

As the car had parked outside the main school gates, Akira walked into the gates and towards Mr Furlow's classroom. Tyler waited outside the front gate for her patiently and jumped for joy as he saw her walking up. Akira looked back and waved to her dad, who waved back and drove off with a smile as he headed to work and Akira walked alongside Tyler to tutor.

"Any new visions, Akira? Mine was bad. I saw Chase with this new clan of boys trying to chuck rocks at me and-"

"I had the same vision! It's terrifying! What if it actually happens?!" Akira interrupted with a small shock that Tyler had the same vision but in his perspective.

After tutor ended, Akira and Tyler took a shortcut through the forest area, only to see Chase laughing along with the same bunch of boys Akira and Tyler had seen in their identical visions.

"I know right! And then that Tranny just puts this fake, demon dog in my face and he just goes like 'rawr!!' right in my face, saliva and all, mind you! And he literally slashes my face! And that autistic freak as well! She literally just cowers behind him like 'Oh no! I'm gonna die cos I'm a scared wittle babwy! Waaa! Waaa!'"

A growl rumbled in Akira's throat, but before she could charge at them, Tyler held her back. "Akira, you don't want that vision to come true, do you?!" Tyler panicked, as Akira kicked and squirmed to break free from Tyler's grip, but failed.

Akira sighed, as Tyler let her go. But before Tyler could say anything, Akira hadn't listened to Tyler and charged like a bull head-first into Chase and the clan of boys, knocking them over like bowling ball to skittles. Chase then pushed Akira into the dirt, her clothes all grubby and patches of mud were stained all over her shirt. The boys laughed like hyenas, pointing at Akira like she was the dumbest girl in town. Akira then had enough. She got up to her feet and stood her ground.

But as she stood up, Chase knocked her back down. This had turned into a fight.

Akira growled. Chase heard her and kept on laughing. So Akira slapped him in the face. Then Chase got a long twig that made a whipping sound when swung. He approached Akira slowly with a grim smile on his face. Like slapping a ruler on his palm as a threat, he did the same action but with the stick, getting closer and closer and closer. But before he could whip her with it, the stick was in Akira's jaws, as with her teeth, she snapped the twig in half.

As this happened, Mr Tolfree had come onto the grass and seen Akira with the stick in her jaws, whacking Chase on the head with it, as Tyler laughed at Chase being beaten by a girl. So the boys wouldn't see him and run away, Mr Tolfree hid behind a tree, got out his phone and started recording. But it wasn't long before things started getting seriously intense. Akira led on the grass with blood drops trickling down her face and out of her nostrils. But then, Akira had really had enough, she trembled and sweated as she turned to her animal self.

Don't do that! Mr Tolfree panicked in his head as with one hand he recorded, and with the other hand, he covered his eyes and uncovered them frequently as the situation got intense. As Akira turned to her animal form, her amber eyes shone through Chase's and the boys' souls. Akira growled as the sky turned cloudy, and the surroundings went dark in the forest area. She then let out an audibly loud and thunderous:

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

The sound echoed, as a strong gust of wind blew Chase's clan of boys away. Chase then held the snapped twig in his hand, quivering with fear. But from the intensity and the strength of the roar Akira had made, she turned back to normal and fainted on the forest floor in exhaustion.

"AKIRA!!" Tyler shouted, yet no response had been heard from Akira at all, as she laid still on the grass with a stable breath.

But as Chase fled and Akira's friends and Mr Tolfree had rushed towards her, something had happened.

A light shone from Akira's chest, and projected a golden image of a wolf spirit and a lion spirit combining together with an ethereal light as bright as the sun, as the combined spirit went back into Akira's chest, with a jolt that awoke her from her unconsciousness with a gasp.

"Is she ok, sir?" Tyler quivered as he repetitively looked at Mr Tolfree then back at Akira with panicked, wide eyes.

He nodded. "She just needs to rest. I'll take her to our Forest Room and let her sleep on one of the leather chairs. From that powerful roar, she'll need to recover for a bit after all that strength lost from the power." As he finished speaking, Tyler carried Akira on his shoulders, as the other 4 as they followed Mr Tolfree to the Forest Room to chill and refrain from turning as Akira did by accident.

As they arrived at the Forest Room, they took off their shoes, as Mr Tolfree turned to his fox form and carried Akira by the back of her shirt and laid her on the leather chair. "Just leave her be. I'll be here to accompany her. You guys go off to your lessons." Mr Tolfree smiled. "Before you go, I have some slips on the desk here just saying that you were late because you were in another meeting with me about help with your conditions, ok?"

The boys nodded, as they one-by-one retrieved their slips and headed off to their lessons.

"Um, sir? If you need us, we're in the Maths block, ok?" Tyler said as Mr Tolfree nodded and agreed as Tyler slipped out of the door and headed to his lesson, followed by the other 3 boys.

Akira awoke and groaned in weakness. Mr Tolfree held her down gently and pushed her slightly to lay her back down. "Just stay led down, Akira, ok? You're a bit too weak from when you roared. Just stay here for now and I'll make sure you're ok." Mr Tolfree smiled. "I'll call your parents to inform them about what happened so they know, alright?"

Akira nodded and closed her eyes. Meanwhile, Mr Tolfree tip-toed to his shoes, put them on, and stood in the small outside area just next to the Forest Room. He then found Akira's parents' contacts and phoned them, with each of them telling them the same thing.

Mr Tolfree: Hello Mr and Mrs DarkTail. I have good news and bad news.

Akira's Father: What's the good news?

Mr Tolfree: Your daughter has awakened and found her roar.

Akira's Mother: And... the bad news..?

Mr Tolfree: Her bully, Chase Grieves, knows about her and Tyler's forms and has seen Akira roar. He has been rather negative and cruel to your daughter and her friends, so I've scheduled a meeting with the principal, you, your wife and Chase and his parents to try and sort out Chase's unacceptable behaviour so he no longer triggers your daughter to transform, nor her friends. Is that alright?

Akira's Mother and Father: Where is she?

Mr Tolfree: In the Forest Room recovering.

Akira's Mother: Is she ok?!

Mr Tolfree: She is fine, Mrs DarkTail, she is recovering from the strength of her roar. Remember, she only discovered it today.

Akira's Father: Thank you very much.

Mr Tolfree: You're welcome.

As Mr Tolfree and Akira's parents hung up, Akira had recovered. She sat up and had a sip of water from her bottle and sighed.