The King, The Burglar and The Guardian

Chapter One

Word count - 1,079

Ch - 1

A giggle sounded through the crisp cool morning air as a butterfly landed on the button nose of a little girl named Adelaide. Her deep brown eyes stared at the butterfly, wishing to not scare it off, but as a breeze swept through the gully, the butterfly travelled on.
The trees surrounding the girl seemed to be as old as time itself. They looked to pierce the sky with their stature, Pine and Oak in the like. The little girl waddled onward onto her little adventure, the moss protecting her toes blanketed the ground. Occasionally she'd find a pretty looking rock among the other living things, and keep it in one of her tiny pockets stored in her brown overalls. Her hands were dirty and her hair was wild, not that she minded at the very moment, for she was in search of something very special.

A few red squirrels ran across her path, and she decided to chase them for a while. Not that she got very far anyway, she had very tiny, unsteady legs. She had eventually found herself at her desired destination. Staying away from the edge, like her father always warned, she left the cover of the trees and into the open. The stone she was standing on was smooth and grey, weeds sprouting from the cracks along it. Birds were chirping and the sun was heating the rock, so she had to find a shadow to hide herself in. she looked out from her little cliff, and saw a mighty mountain, standing tall. It was covered in life, birds were racing each other around the top of it. She wanted to climb the mountain but her mother warned against it.

Although wishing to never leave her spot, she decided to turn back before worrying her parents any longer. They knew how to protect their territory, but they still worried about anything that could possibly harm their little girl. You see, her parents were what's known as 'Skin Changers' those that can assume the form of another as they please. They were a very rare race but powerful nonetheless. Her mother takes the form of a beautiful tiger. Her mothers paws were the girls favourite. Her mother, when she wished, could run as fast as a rabbit and never once be seen. When she was in her human form, her mother had thick black hair, with a few patches of silver here and there. She had beautiful rich brown eyes with little freckles all over her nose.

Then there was her father. He was a giant black bear when he turned. Riding on his back was a favourite activity of hers. Her father stood eight feet tall, he had big long scraggly eyebrows that Adelaide had a tendency to pull on when she was younger. Her father could hold Adelaide securely with only one of his hands. Adelaide thought he was a giant compared to her mother, although her mother was quite tall too.

Adelaide was an odd one. Her form came as a shock to her parents, seeing as the child normally took the form of their mothers, however when the girl first shifted, she was a tiny brown fluff ball on the rug. When she had rolled over, she had a brown snout, with round fluffy ears. She was a bear, just like her father. Her bear form was much larger than her human form, but that was to be expected from the height on the paternal side. It turns out, she had the look of a bear, but many feline characteristics. For example, when she was creeping up on someone, her steps were almost as light as her mothers. She had the bite force of her mothers form as well... Her father, Beorn, found that out the hard way. He shouldn't have tried to take away her soother.

Upon looking at her closely, Adelaide had little white spots around her muzzle when she shifted. It made her look like she'd gotten into some weeds or flour. Though her parents chalked it up to the fact that Adelaide's mother had a lot of white fur around her face, so the changers two forms just mixed and white freckles is what came out of it.

Clearing the forest she saw her family's little house in the fields. Surrounding the house was long grass that almost came up to the girls shoulders. She went on, trotting through the grass but she stopped when she heard a thick branch snap.

Silence throughout the gully.. It was as if someone had stopped all life from living. The trees stopped whistling, the grass stopped waving. Even the birds were still. This is what it feels like when your heart drops. When you realise something is very very wrong.

The girl kept low to the ground, stepping silently towards her house. Her little heart was beating so loud, tears were in her eyes. It was like a 6th sense.. When you know what's to come. You have no reasoning for the terror you feel, but its there. Quicker than she could have blinked, her mother was in her tiger form carrying the girl in her jaws. Only seeing a blur from beneath her, Adelaide looked up to her mother trying to figure out where her father was. She knew something had to be terribly wrong, mother never ran from prey, so this must've been a scary predator.

Her train of thought was halted as a pained roar breached the air. Adelaide's mother stopped and turned around to see her beloved crash to the ground in a pile of fur and blood. Then she saw them. These horrible putrid creatures chasing after her mother. They had small beady eyes and rotted looking skin. Big wolf looking creatures followed in pursuit. Adelaide had tried to warn her mother but she must've been very tired, because she suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Her mothers eyes stayed focused on her as she tried to shake her awake. It was very unsettling for Adelaide, her mother wasn't blinking. Maybe she's scared?

"It's ok mummy, I'll help, you don't have to run, I can carry you!"

The tiny girl tried to pick up her mothers massive paw and pull her to safety, but she was immediately knocked unconscious after netting was thrown around her and she crashed onto a stone. Adelaide can still remember the weight of her mothers paw in her grasp.