Animage Academy: The Shifter School Down Under Year One

by Qatarina Wanders

  Ava grew animated in nanoseconds. "What? Where?"

  Winta laughed jovially. "The muscular Indian boy with the white hair."

  "You mean Tarun!?" Ava practically squawked. "There's no way."

  "Oh, there was definitely a way. I caught him quite a few times. And he blushed and looked away every time I made eye contact with him."

  Ava just shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever." She tried to act as nonchalant as possible, but, admittedly, her heart was pounding a little faster. Could there be any truth to it?

  Ava took a couple steps up the Maroon staircase, then looked back at Winta. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even think about it. Where is your room? I guess it's not in Maroon?"

  Winta shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "No, it's back that way. Indigo Dorm."

  "Oh, okay. I’ll walk you over there." She wasn't necessarily eager to see Winta's room, but she was eager to spend more time with her so she could avoid going back to her own room with the cranky queen bee.

  But Winta shook her head. "No, I don't want to do that."

  "Why? Do you not like your roommate?"

  "I don't have a roommate."

  "Really? Did your father make sure of that or something? I thought we all had to have roommates our first year for sure."

  "What? No. I'm just…" Winta bit her bulbous bottom lip. "I'm too big, okay?"

  Ava angled her head. Yeah, sure, Winta wasn't exactly petite, but what did she mean by… Oh, wait… "You still shift in your sleep, too?"

  The shadow that had crossed Winta's face when Ava asked her to dance earlier was back, but even darker this time. "I shift into an elephant, all right?" she grumbled. "A really gigantic elephant. It runs in my family. My father is the size of a house." Headmistress Levine worried I might suffocate my roommate or something, so she suggested I stay alone until I learn to control my shifting."

  Ava knew her eyes were wide in astonishment, but she didn't want her new friend to feel more uncomfortable than she already did. She wanted to reach out, to hug her, to reassure her it wasn't her fault. Because Ava definitely understood her pain. What it felt like—the embarrassment of what she was. And suddenly all her worries about not fitting in dimmed at Winta’s issue. Here Ava was worried about being bullied for being helpless and small, but Winta had the opposite problem. "Wait, so what happens if you shift in your sleep and accidentally crush the furniture?" Ava had to know. It was very common for younger shifters to shift in their sleep or when they got overly stressed, like Ava almost did in the Uber ride in Miami. But Ava never considered how inconvenient it would be if she were a bigger animal.

  Winta groaned. “I keep my belongings in a room over in the Indigo wing—a room that is actually shared with someone—but that's not where I sleep. I…” She rolled her eyes upward. “I sleep outside. In the back courtyard.”

  “Oh, my gosh!” Ava's hand flew over her mouth. “Are you serious? They make you sleep outside?”

  "Well, yeah. It's not like they have a choice. Back home, my parents had to do the same thing with me. And my two older brothers had to sleep outside until they were old enough to control their abilities as well."

  It made sense, Ava supposed, but it still sounded pretty awful. "How long did it take for them to get enough control to keep that from happening?"

  "Both of them could sleep inside again by their third year here."

  "So you're telling me you might be stuck sleeping outside for at least two years?" Ava wasn't even bothering to hide her shock at this point.

  Winta just shrugged. "Could be worse."

  Ava then latched on to something Winta had said. "So your brothers went here too then? The academy accepted them even though they were from Africa?"

  "Yes." Winta nodded. "Elephant shifters are very rare, and very powerful. Animage likes powerful shifters, so they accepted them as foreign exchange students. My parents were students here as well."

  "Wow," Ava whispered. "So really, it was no surprise to you when you got your acceptance letter. You knew you were coming here all along."

  "That's right."

  Briefly, Ava wondered what it was like to come from a family of powerful shifters. And what had possessed Winta to befriend her. Her shifter mark had been on full display the whole evening, so Winta knew exactly what she was as soon as they met. But she still wanted to be her friend. Maybe just because Winta also knew what it was like to feel awkward in her own skin. Right then, Ava knew she had found a true friend within the academy. And if they couldn't fit in, at least they'd stand out together.

  9

  “Imagine it. Focus on that image. Let it be the focal point of all your thoughts. Let it clutch your heart and release your soul. Envision it. Can you see?” Sir Waters called out to his class.

  There were a few mutterings and nothing more. They’d been at this all day, and it seemed like they were getting nowhere.

  Sir Waters was an English knight—rumor had it he once saved the queen's life, though no one had confirmed it—the only one in the school. Also, the oldest—a tortoise shifter. He always dressed impeccably in a full suit for every class. Sir Waters spoke the Queen's English alone and considered all who couldn't absolute imbeciles. For now, he had the first-years to deal with, and he wasn't having a great time of it.

  This was the third time he had tried to show them the simple act of transformation by acting exactly like the animal they embodied. So far, he'd had conversations with an eagle, a raven, and a bear, but none of them transformed.

  The issue was, for the students anyway, that none of those animals could talk. So his students kept failing. They hadn't yet mastered the ability to transform only certain body parts, like vocal cords. Of course, Sir Waters would know that, but he was certainly acting like he didn't.

  "Don't just transform, become the animal! See through their eyes. Hear like them. Feel like them. If your second form eats grass, then you bloody well eat grass, too!”

  This was just getting downright painful.

  He stopped, dark sunken eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Unsteadily, he limped from the teacher's podium—he had taken a sword to the thigh and had a peg leg—to get closer to what he believed to be the poorest, dumbest class in the academy’s history. Damn new policy. If he'd had his way, none of them would be here.

  Sir Waters waved his walking cane at a girl in the corner. The same girl Ava had met from the Miami branch. The rather unpleasant pink-haired girl. Michaela. Turned out she was a first-year, too, so that made her snotty comment about Ava’s bags the first day they met extra rude.

  The girl froze mid-sentence of a hot whisper.

  "You there! Pink Hair! Step out, please."

  "Me?" Michaela asked, prodding at her chest.

  "Unless there's another ridiculous pink-haired lass here, step out!"

  There were plenty of other pink-haired students, actually, but she was the only one in the nearby vicinity. She looked back at her friends where they huddled next to the wall, her eyes pleading for help. No one made a move. She was on her own. Everybody knew when Sir Waters called a shifter out, it usually ended in tears.

  "Stand right there."

  When she moved to do what he asked, he bellowed at her, "Now!"

  Michaela jumped and tripped over her own feet.

  Sir Waters brought his palm to his forehead. "And what exactly would you say knocked you down, huh?" Then he pulled his hand away and waved it as if he were shooing a fly. "Never mind, don't answer that." He limped closer to her. "Just get over here. Stand where the light of the sun can touch you."

  "Y—yes—sir."

  "Finally!" He readjusted his dark shades and scanned the class for another victim. "Good, good."

  Everyone in the classroom froze, perhaps hoping his vision couldn't detect movement, and he wouldn't see them as long as they held still. "I want to teach you, but you refuse to learn. Do you know how I do this?" He tapped the sides of his shades with his cane. "I'm a bloody blind teacher
who can see every single one of you! Can someone attempt to tell me why that is?"

  A brave boy spoke up. "You use your other eyes, Sir. Your second form."

  Sir Waters twisted to see the courageous—or perhaps insolent—soul who volunteered to answer his mind-numbingly simple question. "And you are…?"

  "Gregory.” At Sir Waters’ raised puckered lips, and creased bushy eyebrows, he rushed to add, "Sir."

  Sir Waters used his cane to beckon Gregory to join Michaela in the sun. His cane making tap-tap noises on the hardwood floor as he walked around them, as if just waiting for someone to breathe wrong.

  "Once you become the master of your animal, you can control parts of your body without transforming fully." He hobbled up to Gregory, his newest victim.

  "All right then, Gregory, would you mind standing a little closer to the lady?"

  Gregory started to grumble, but caught himself. Unfortunately, Waters missed nothing in his class.

  "Did I just hear a complaint?"

  Gregory went rigid as a board, his eyes as wide as saucers. "No, Sir!"

  "Good, I thought not. Now, stand right there and join hands."

  Gregory and Michaela did what they were told.

  Trying to show off that she already knew what she was doing somewhat, Michaela shifted a bit, almost imperceptibly, but of course, Waters noticed and glared at her.

  "Wait until I give you the go-ahead! So help me God, young madam, I will fail you just because you irk me."

  Michaela just cleared her throat and stood a little straighter.

  Sir Waters went on, "Concentrate on the area you want to shift—imagine it is already part of you, whatever it is you're shifting into… Now, hold his hand tighter, make eye contact, and try to catch the rays of sun with your joined hands. Relax, focus, and allow it to happen. This is the easiest time you will ever have with this because the rays of the sun bring forth your abilities, and you are holding hands with another shifter and utilizing each other's power, so to speak."

  He looked around the room again. "Did you all catch that?" He tapped his temple.

  The class nodded.

  "So now learn to master it! Are you ready?" He was speaking to Michaela and Gregory this time.

  They both nodded vigorously and then squeezed their eyes shut.

  "Proceed," Waters said calmly.

  Slowly, the two shifters' bodies began to morph as the words left his mouth.

  Michaela's back hunched, and hair sprouted across her arms.

  Gregory didn't get any shorter, but he definitely got wider. Their hands remained tightly clasped until the last possible second when they could no longer hold their paws.

  They stared at each other amid claps from all their mates. Michaela, a beautiful gray and white wolf; Gregory, a fluffy black and white panda, the circles covering his tiny dark, luminescent eyes.

  "What in the bloody hell happened?" Sir Waters waved his cane in the air. "You weren't supposed to shift all the way! You knew that! I know you knew that! Especially you, Pink Hair!"

  Michaela turned and bared her teeth, letting out a terrifying growl.

  He whopped her on the head with his cane, and she whimpered. "None of that now! Now let's do this right."

  Michaela sat back on her haunches and then let out a howl.

  Sir Waters leaned forward expectantly.

  Soon, the piercing sound of the wolf's howl changed to a lower-pitched human voice—almost like a yodel. Then, her howl stopped, and she spoke in her normal human voice, if not perhaps with a bit more of a guttural tone: "There, are you happy now, Sir?" The inflection of the last word was as snide as could be, but Sir Waters didn’t miss a beat.

  "Actually, yes!" Sir Waters clapped his hands. "Very much so!"

  Turning his attention to the panda next, and tapping him aside the head, he said, "Now, you!"

  Gregory struggled with it more than Michaela had, but eventually, he figured it out.

  "Wonderful!" Sir Waters praised them both. Then, turning back to the class, he paired them all off to try the same thing.

  After many comical attempts, and a couple of shifting mishaps by the less experienced, the cacophony of animal noises filled his ears from all sides.

  Finally, Sir Waters noticed a girl who'd been standing alone in the back of the class. She was pale and lanky, with her arms folded into each other. She seemed uncomfortable there. She was a pretty little thing, but would have definitely been prettier with more confidence, instead of hiding behind her mousy brown hair like that. The pink, yellow, and black plaid uniform dress hung on her curveless body in an unflattering way, and her plain high-top sneakers didn't help, but as soon as she looked up at him with her catlike eyes, he recognized her immediately.

  "Ava Carrington… We finally meet."

  Ava had been studiously avoiding the teacher’s eyes the entire class, but that aside, how in the world did he know her name? They weren't wearing name tags and there was nothing distinct about her. And she was wearing the same uniform as all the other girls, for crying out loud!

  "Yes, Sir?" she responded, her voice little more than a whisper. She did her best to hold her chin up, and then she stepped forward into the light streaming in from the window, casting a hazy glow around her. It was as if the light was attracted to her, kissing her skin.

  "Stay where you are!" the professor instructed.

  Ava didn't argue. This man was terrifying.

  The man pointed his cane at her. "Now shift."

  Ava remained exactly as she was. There was no way in hell he was going to convince her to transform in front of everyone so they could ridicule her. It didn't matter that Sir Waters looked ready to murder her. She wasn't moving a single bone.

  "Did I stutter?" he questioned her in a deceptively calm tone.

  Ava dropped her eyes to the floor, her knees threatening to give out. She quivered noticeably.

  "Don't make me—" Sir Waters began, but he was cut off by another student's voice.

  "Sir, I can shift with her."

  Ava's heartbeat accelerated, her glossy forehead covered in a sweaty sheen. She didn't dare look up to see her new savior.

  "Gulati?" The professor pulled his chin back in confusion. "Well, all right then. Get on with it. Contrary to what you students seem to think, I do not have all day."

  Ava's curiosity won out—again, a cat thing—and she hesitantly dragged her eyes from the fascinating floor to see who had been speaking. Right as she did so, the boy stepped directly in front of her. Her heart crashed into her mouth. It was him. The impossibly pretty boy from the ship. Tarun.

  She swallowed. It should be a crime to look as good as he did. How does he get away with it? He had a face that could make any female melt with just a hint of a smile. Powerfully built, but tall enough that it didn't make him look too bulky. And his long, luscious lashes—really too long for a boy—starkly contrasting his shocking white hair, all suited him perfectly somehow. Especially when those strands of white hair kept falling into his eyes like that.

  And he was staring right at her.

  "Hey, remember me?"

  Okay, he was talking to her. Actually talking to her. Even though everyone at the school knew what she was now. She needed to say something back… But… How did people form words again? Okay, wait, he was holding out his hand now, what was he trying to do? He didn't honestly believe she was going to reach out and shake it, did he? That would make her melt into a puddle at his feet. Nope. She would keep her hand right where it was, thank you very much.

  "Not much of a talker, now, are you?"

  Air whooshed from her head. This couldn't be happening.

  "Okay, it was Ava, right?"

  And he remembered her name…

  "Don't worry, I'll get you through this. I used to practice this with my dad all the time." He sounded so calm and confident, his deep voice striking a chord inside her chest that made her heart pound faster.

  She just nodded stupidly.

 
"Are you sure you're okay?" He studied her. "Can you say something?"

  "Schlaflyserwster..." Oh. My. God. Someone please kill me now.

  His eyes widened. "Alrighty then." His lips quirked, a tiny mute movement, but amusement lit up his eyes. His left cheek dimpled adorably. "Go on, I won't bite, I promise."

  Ava let out a sound. Was that a giggle? Coming from her? She didn't think she had the ability to sound like such an airhead, but there it was.

  What the heck was wrong with her? She was fine with him on the boat—well, sort of—and now she was acting like she'd taken too many blows to the head.

  Taking a different approach, Tarun grabbed her hands and pulled her closer to him, both of them standing in the sun now. His eyes blazed at her through his lashes, a perfect mix of dark and light, just like everything else about him. As she stared, wishing she could stroke those cheekbones, or perhaps bite his—"Oh!"

  "Oh!"

  "Meow!" She hadn't realized it had happened, but she was now about ten inches long, perched up on her hind legs, digging her claws into his hands. Curses. She morphed into her tabby while fantasizing about this boy right in front of her.

  Something similar had happened in the past while daydreaming about other things. She couldn't help it though—she was a daydreamer.

  Tarun didn't miss a beat. Within seconds, Ava's tiny claws were digging into pads of soft, white fur. Tarun was a tiger—a white tiger! And he stood directly in front of her, gazing back at her with his also very catlike eyes. Never mind the fact he was over ten times her size, he was also a cat like her.

  At that moment, it all started again. The laughter. She'd recognize that squeal anywhere. It was her devilish roommate, Elaine.

  Ava had quickly come to realize whatever had possessed Elaine to help her out that first night was apparently a one-off situation. She had gone right back to being a horrible brat to Ava immediately after the opening dinner.

  Tarun growled from deep in his throat and then paced back and forth. Ava had been so absorbed in herself and the surrounding laughter she hadn't taken a moment to appreciate the majestic beast before her. Like his human body, he was nothing short of magnificent. A mixture of dark and light. His coat shone brightly in the sunlight, so brightly it was almost blinding. Ava had to retreat several steps back just to see all the way up to his head. His luscious white fur mixing beautifully with his black stripes. He looked back at her and retracted his claws when he saw her staring.