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Description
It is good to feel needed. It is a good feeling to feel like someone needs you. It is not, however, good to feel wanted, especially by a large corporation such as D.H., Darkest Hour to the world, but Demon Hunters to me and my kind.
Of course they label us as demons. Of course they try to hunt us to extinction. Why wouldn't they? They are humans and they kill what they don't understand. We are now driven apart so far that I haven't seen one like me in at least ten weeks.
I don't understand why this is happening to us. We used to live alongside humans for the longest time. We used to be called Angels in some religions, even demigods in others. Humans used to think we only existed in fairy tales, as the 'God Mother', or the 'Pegasus'. They used to worship us.
Then, one day, a man by the name of Damien Black appears out of nowhere and exposes our whole race. Now, the whole world knows about us, and everyone is convinced we are evil. We went from demigods to demons. That's a pretty big jump. From that day on, we were hunted by all. We can't get shelter, we can't trust anyone for fear of being sold out, and we can't even seek each other out in case we're being watched.
Most of us have decided to permanently Shift into an animal of choice. It must have been a tough decision, as Shifting is a true gift. We aren't immortal, but by Shifting we can live longer than your average human or animal. I've heard of Shifters that have lived over a thousand years. Personally, I've only lived to be around 250, so I know nothing about Ancient Egypt or Greece or any other country but the ones I've lived in.
Shifters like me often greet each other by not telling our age but by the number of our H.L., our Human Lives. The highest number can be around 15, if you've lived full, healthy lives. I have met Shifters with over 30 however, as they all died young. My current H.L. is a young woman named Mary, who is now in her early twenties. My previous H.L. was a woman named Alice, and she lived to be around 80, which I found quite impressive.
Every Shifter is required to have an H.L., though that's not to say we all have one. Our human forms are in a constant cycle of growth, and after they die -or would die- they are 'refreshed', or re-created. I can't believe this is my 5th H.L. How time flies.
The crack of a twig echoed through the forest and my head snapped towards the sound. My ears rotated to better hone in on the noise and I crept in low between the trees, taking cover in the branches. To any passer by I'd simply look like a stray house cat, alert to any noise. I quietly crept towards the sound. Again, a twig cracked, only this time behind me. I whipped around, slinking closer to the tree and hoping the branches would be enough to hide me from prying eyes. My tail was wrapped around my legs and my ears high on alert. Suddenly I felt beings all around me, on all sides, and I shifted into a smaller animal, a mouse, and scurried off through the underbrush. I heard heavy footfalls behind me and dove into a fallen log. I counted as the legs flew past- nearly ten people.
"Who're you?" A small voice behind me squeaked. I turned around to face another small grey mouse. If a mouse could look worried, this one pulled it off.
"Friend," I said, and lowered my head to ground level to appear less threatening. From all the animal tongues I was least fluent in mouse, rat, squirrel, and all the rodents. I wasn't fond of shifting into them. I read the mouse's body language to judge what it said next.
"Haven't seen you around before," it said suspiciously. "You're not Sqyler, are you?"
"Sqyler?" I repeated. One of the reasons why I didn't like rodents was because of the massive families and clans they had. I guessed the Sqylers were an enemy of this particular mouse.
"They've been intrusive lately," it squeaked. "We've been honoured neighbours, but they are pushing the border!" Judging by the way the moue held itself it was a patrolling mouse.
"I'm not Sqyler," I said tentatively. "I'm just traveling. Passing through. Not really mouse, am... am..." I racked my brain for the name the mice gave us. "Am Paradigm. Not mouse." My weak mouse proved ineffective.
"Paradigm?" It said. "Preposterous. One of them hasn't shown up here in years."
"Am Paradigm," I said, sounding slightly insulted. I raised my whiskers, shivered, and sent a small jolt down my spine, changing the colors of my fur to snow white. The mouse backed off.
"You are a Paradigm," it said perplexed. "I'm so sorry. It does explain your poor grammar however," it added with a giggle.
"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. "Being followed. Can't stay."
"Follow me," the mouse said. "I'm always happy to help a Paradigm." It turned and scampered off, with me close behind.

Description
It is good to feel needed. It is a good feeling to feel like someone needs you. It is not, however, good to feel wanted, especially by a large corporation such as D.H., Darkest Hour to the world, but Demon Hunters to me and my kind.
Of course they label us as demons. Of course they try to hunt us to extinction. Why wouldn't they? They are humans and they kill what they don't understand. We are now driven apart so far that I haven't seen one like me in at least ten weeks.
I don't understand why this is happening to us. We used to live alongside humans for the longest time. We used to be called Angels in some religions, even demigods in others. Humans used to think we only existed in fairy tales, as the 'God Mother', or the 'Pegasus'. They used to worship us.
Then, one day, a man by the name of Damien Black appears out of nowhere and exposes our whole race. Now, the whole world knows about us, and everyone is convinced we are evil. We went from demigods to demons. That's a pretty big jump. From that day on, we were hunted by all. We can't get shelter, we can't trust anyone for fear of being sold out, and we can't even seek each other out in case we're being watched.
Most of us have decided to permanently Shift into an animal of choice. It must have been a tough decision, as Shifting is a true gift. We aren't immortal, but by Shifting we can live longer than your average human or animal. I've heard of Shifters that have lived over a thousand years. Personally, I've only lived to be around 250, so I know nothing about Ancient Egypt or Greece or any other country but the ones I've lived in.
Shifters like me often greet each other by not telling our age but by the number of our H.L., our Human Lives. The highest number can be around 15, if you've lived full, healthy lives. I have met Shifters with over 30 however, as they all died young. My current H.L. is a young woman named Mary, who is now in her early twenties. My previous H.L. was a woman named Alice, and she lived to be around 80, which I found quite impressive.
Every Shifter is required to have an H.L., though that's not to say we all have one. Our human forms are in a constant cycle of growth, and after they die -or would die- they are 'refreshed', or re-created. I can't believe this is my 5th H.L. How time flies.
The crack of a twig echoed through the forest and my head snapped towards the sound. My ears rotated to better hone in on the noise and I crept in low between the trees, taking cover in the branches. To any passer by I'd simply look like a stray house cat, alert to any noise. I quietly crept towards the sound. Again, a twig cracked, only this time behind me. I whipped around, slinking closer to the tree and hoping the branches would be enough to hide me from prying eyes. My tail was wrapped around my legs and my ears high on alert. Suddenly I felt beings all around me, on all sides, and I shifted into a smaller animal, a mouse, and scurried off through the underbrush. I heard heavy footfalls behind me and dove into a fallen log. I counted as the legs flew past- nearly ten people.
"Who're you?" A small voice behind me squeaked. I turned around to face another small grey mouse. If a mouse could look worried, this one pulled it off.
"Friend," I said, and lowered my head to ground level to appear less threatening. From all the animal tongues I was least fluent in mouse, rat, squirrel, and all the rodents. I wasn't fond of shifting into them. I read the mouse's body language to judge what it said next.
"Haven't seen you around before," it said suspiciously. "You're not Sqyler, are you?"
"Sqyler?" I repeated. One of the reasons why I didn't like rodents was because of the massive families and clans they had. I guessed the Sqylers were an enemy of this particular mouse.
"They've been intrusive lately," it squeaked. "We've been honoured neighbours, but they are pushing the border!" Judging by the way the moue held itself it was a patrolling mouse.
"I'm not Sqyler," I said tentatively. "I'm just traveling. Passing through. Not really mouse, am... am..." I racked my brain for the name the mice gave us. "Am Paradigm. Not mouse." My weak mouse proved ineffective.
"Paradigm?" It said. "Preposterous. One of them hasn't shown up here in years."
"Am Paradigm," I said, sounding slightly insulted. I raised my whiskers, shivered, and sent a small jolt down my spine, changing the colors of my fur to snow white. The mouse backed off.
"You are a Paradigm," it said perplexed. "I'm so sorry. It does explain your poor grammar however," it added with a giggle.
"Ha ha," I said sarcastically. "Being followed. Can't stay."
"Follow me," the mouse said. "I'm always happy to help a Paradigm." It turned and scampered off, with me close behind.