Kawit sat at the campfire. She poked at it with a long, sharpened stick, urging in to burn brighter, to light up the camp in the hours just after the setting of the sun. She was the only one sitting near the fire, the one who had to make sure it didn’t spread and catch their camp alight.
She preferred solitude to their company, anyway. Although it was sometimes nice to fit in, it wasn’t all that wonderful to try and belong to with a place that wasn’t like you, and in the end she had just given in and let the constant loneliness settle into her bones. She was the keeper of things, the watcher of the children, the one who kept the fire burning all night, the one who sat on the outskirts of cmpfires gatherings, listening to their stories and songs, but never a part of them.
The other Shifters were already finding out who they were, what being that they would turn into on impulse. The little children would sometimes change, when they managed to focus long enough, appearing for a split second as a dog, or a bear, or a bird. The elders would laugh knowingly, remembering the way they all had been so exited to try out their powers when they, too, were young. Kawit was the only person older than seven to not absolutely know her animal. She was excluded from the trainings, the hunts, and the fun, all because she didn’t know who she was.
She sighed, and resumed poking the fire, a fine layer of ash floating into the air and settling on her brown leather moccasins. Where did she belong?
“Kawit?” Her head whirled around, and she found herself facing an unfamiliar, yet remembered face.
“What? Who are you?” She asked, trying to be brave despite the flutters in her stomach.
“You don’t know me very well, but I was sent to retrieve you,” The man said, a small smile forming in the corner of his mouth.
Kawit didn’t fear the man, but the way he spoke to her, it was as if he thought they were old friends. “I need to know who you are, and what you want. I get go get the Chief,” She said, trying to make her voice sound more authoritative, like the elders’ voices did.
“My name is Terrin, and I have been sent to take you with me.” He said, calmly paraphrasing his first remark.
“I can’t go with you!” Kawit said, beginning to feel very much like a trapped animal, like the rabbits that her tribe snared, the ones with the brown eyes that got so wide you could see their whites.
“I have my orders, and I will follow them, no matter if I have to bring you conscious or not.” His eyes lost all humor.
“Help! Help me-” She screamed, just as he clamped a damp cloth over her mouth. She breathed in for a second, letting the herbal scent of the cloth calm her before she closed her eyes and let herself fall into sleep.






***
When Kawit awoke, the first thing that she noticed was that she was unable to move her hands. She wriggled around, trying to get herself unbound from the tree she was tied to, but to no avail. It didn’t seem to her that she could have bitten through her bindings, as they were thick and tight, maybe leather or rope.
“Anyone?” Kawit called, her voice wavering like a spider web in the breeze. She had been the only one in her clan to be terrified of the woods, always wondering what the shadows held, if every twig snapping was a wild animal itching to rip her to shreds.
No one answered, of course, as there was no one who could have answered her. That led to the obvious question: Where was the man?
Kawit was pleased at having kept a slightly level head, despite her having been kidnapped, tied to a tree, and left on her own in the middle of the forest. When she was a little calmer, she happened to notice the camp setting, including three bedrolls, a fire pit, and a rucksack.
“Ahh, she’s finally awake!” Someone proclaimed. It was the man who she had been taken by, walking into the camp, carrying a dead rabbit in one hand, and a trap in the other.
Kawit looked down at her lap.
“You look upset,” He observed. “Tea will work, I suppose,” He said, pulling small kettle out of his bag. Next to the fire pit, that he had already lit a fire in, was a large metal bucket. The man dipped the kettle in it, filling it to the brim with water, and he hung it over the fire to boil.
“Don’t be angry,” He said, as he sat on the ground and looked at her. “I have to obey orders,” he said, a slight smile toying at his lips.
“Who gave you those orders?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, but I can tell you that it’s all in your best interest…I’m sorry if I scared you before, what with the kidnapping and all.”
Kawit didn’t answer, and the man didn’t say anything else, letting the silence of the forest continue. It was only broken when the tea began to boil, forcing the steam out of the kettle in a screaming noise. The man poured two mugs of the steaming liquid, putting tea bags in each. He poured some sugar into one, and some honey in the other, stirring them before he handed the mug with sugar to Kawit.
“Enjoy.” He said, as she took her first sip. It was enjoyable, perfectly sweetened and minty, and she let the warmth seep into her bones. She had only drunk half of the cup when her eyelids began to droop.
“I’m gonna go now,” The man said, taking her cup out of her hands. She could only gather the strength to nod her head slowly, and she watched as his shadowy figure disappeared into the woods.