The days drag on . . . (Me and Clicks)

Beck sighed as she looked in the mirror. Her black eye liner was stunning around her green eyes, her deep black hair hung in choppy layers around her face and shoulders. Her black tank fit her well and hung over the waist line of her camouflage cargo pants. Her black combat boots were freshly polished and today, the world looked good. She ran down the ivory stairs of the manor once belonging to her parents, Leigh Manor. She grabbed her key chain lanyard, adorned with keys, keychains, and pins of a wild assortment. She slipped it around her neck and slapped the garage door button as she walked into the garage and picked up her bike. It was old-school and neon green with white handles, wheels, and seat. As she biked out of the garage and into the back alley she pushed a button on one of her many keychains to close the garage behind her. She biked a while before reaching a old park she visits occasionally. She ignore the whistles from the guys and dismounted her bike, locking it to a bench.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?" One of the guys said shuffling over to her.

"Beat it loser, ANYONE could do better than you." The man seemed surprised at the harshness of her answer and returned to his friends, who were laughing at him.

"Just ignore them. Those guys are asses."

Beck whipped around. She wasn't used to conversing with people when she wasn't insulting them. She looked over the girl, a real eye candy, one who was probably harassed by said asses constantly. She was beautiful, looked kind, and probably hard working. So not Beck. This kind of made Beck smile. Hm, obviously american. Time to try the English.

"Yeah, I know. Went to school with those two back in the day, those two are park bums, and not too sure bought that one." She sighed and stuck out a hand. "Beck. Beck Leigh. You?"

Beck usually turned a few heads with the Leigh name. But, if this girl WAS American, she had probably only vaguely heard the name.

"Kalea. Sweet tag." Beck preferred the English tongue. She didn't like Japan, didn't like the customs. She was raised as an American in a Japanese culture. It was strange. She knew both, preferred the English way of life. She lazily placed her hands behind her head and surveyed the girl again, this time with her hawk like sharpness. She was watching everything, as always. She glanced at the old clock tower. "Look, why don't we go get some food or something? I'm starving." Beck looked at the girl in front of her again. "What? Yeah, I know, stranger danger." She laughed to her self. "Eh, so you up to it or not? I've got deadlines. I've gotta meet the . . . my friends at 9." She placed her hands on her hips. She was going to say clan, as in her tiger clan. She always let these things slip. Again, Beck didn't do people. She began to walk out of the park towards a Japanese McDonalds. "Comin'?"

"Sure, I got the money." Beck nonchalantly shrugged. She kind of laughed too. Of course she had the money. She couldn't remember a point in time she never had money. It was always available to her. She had the worlds fattest inheritance. She ran a finger through her hair, they were unusually bony. She could feel her own claws under the skins, searching for an outlet.

Beck didn't usually like people, but there was something about this girl. Something in those eyes. No human she had ever met had eyes so . . . so . . . wolf like? Ominous, yet expressive, having infinitely small gestures, probably meaning something she couldn't understand.

The two neared the Japanese equivalent of a McDonald's. Beck barked her order at the cashier and then turned to Kalea.

"Can ya order or do I need to? Ya know, in Japanese?" Beck placed a hand on her hip and and leaned on the corresponding leg, cocking her head, causing her hair to fall away from her neck, revealing a long scar down her neck, given her by a tiger such as herself, going from her neck, down her chest and disappearing down her shirt.

"Whatcha want?" Beck began pulling money from her wallet, which was on a chain hanging from her belt and looping up to where the wallet was stuck in her pocket.

"Where do you go to shift?"

The words echoed in Beck's head. She remained composed, but still was worried. She then thought. She must be a shifter too, but . . . Can I trust her? I guess I have to now . . .

Beck grabbed her sack of food of the counter and walked out of the restaurant, motioning for Kalea to follow. She walked down the road and back out by her house, a LONG walk, so they reached a deep forest out back of Leigh Manor in about thirty minutes. Beck climbed up a tree. Soon, clothed began to fall from the tree to the ground. a black and white tail was visible hanging from the tree, a white bengal tiger's face peered down from the tree at the girl on the ground.

"Your turn." Beck practically whispered. "What monster has infested your soul."

Beck wasn't usually too keen on shifting. Well, maybe she was. It is a bitter sweet feeling to her. She loves it, but it just proves how different she is from everyone, why no one will ever love her. She loves herself most when she is a tiger. That's when she is alone, truly, no drama, no love, no nothing. Just Beck.

The blonde dame began to walk away from the tree Beck was in, obviously looking for a place to shift. About seven to eight minutes later a wolf appeared in front of the tree, obviously looking for Beck to pop out to see her. This in fact wasn't the case. Beck had climbed out of the tree and was now standing behind it's large trunk, sharpening her claws. Picking up on the wolf's scent she poked her head around the trunk and surveyed the healthy looking wolf. She smirked a menacing tiger-ish smirk.

"Miss me?" She let out a half laugh/half growl. "A wolf. Sweet."

"Oh, c'mon. I don't bite." Beck chuckled. "Usually."

Beck began to jog through the forest. "C'MON!"

The scenery was beautiful. Green trees, a green, cool floor, and plush shrubbery. Eventually she happened upon a glistening pool. Beck bent down for a drink.

"This is where I come." The words rolled off her tongue. She didn't like this feeling. Trust. Why did she have it. For this stranger?

Beck lead an obviously reluctant Kalea through the forest. The narrowness of the trees almost instantaneously vanished as they came upon a great opening. A great lake was in the center. Beck trotted over and lowered her head to the water. She laid down as she drank, not typical. If anywhere but here she would be up, alert, and ready to jump, but it wasn't like that here. She feared nothing within these woods. It was quite the opposite. They feared her. She had made a name for herself and worked her way to the top of her clan. Only one thing did she truly fear. The panther clan that lived in these woods as well. She did not fear now because, though the clan was wretched, it would not do any less then a respectable fight. Fair warning and preparation time. Of course, if the panthers saw anything other than the tigers, then the was no such respect, but seeing as the tigers "run" the eco-system of this wood, they must be in all respects, as to prevent the entire forest from turning on the clan.

"Come." Beck said. "Drink." Beck continued to lap up water. She then saw how strange the day had been. Beck, not much of a people person, had confronted a stranger and showed her the most sacred of places to all shifters in this part of Japan. Actually, both the panther and tiger clans were made up entirely of shifters. Actually, Beck knew the boys who were taunting her in the park. The huskier one, charming and silent, but smart toungued when he did speak, the one who had sat and said nothing, recieveing the retreating friend as Beck had batted him down, was none other than the leader of the panther clan, Ayuko. The other boys, excluding the bum, were all members of the clan as well, and they all knew full well that she was the leader of her clan of tiger-shifters. In their clans, the two were named and treated different. Ayuko was Kurai, Beck was Hikari. Their meanings? Dark and light, respectively. She laughed to herself at the wolf's over cautiousness. Thinking of her position in this wood she reassured her comrade.

"Trust me. Nothing will hurt you. Just - - don't stray too far." The panthers would surely fall on a friend of tigers if straying too far from some tiger or another of the clan, so it'd be best if Kalea stayed close. Definitely best.