Hope by Megan Rees (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

"Right." Nocte was currently in animal form as a black panther, but her quickly changed into a small dark skinned boy with black hair and blue eyes. "Protege, you can help too! Don't look at me like that!" He snapped.

"How old are you in human form?" Hope questioned, staring at the muscular boy. Nocte glared at Protege as he changed into a tall black boy with dark hair and hazel eyes before replying. "Protege and I are fourteen, while Silva is nine. If you're wondering about Rivum, she's thirteen."

"So, are you all unable to age?" Hope continued on.

"Yes. It has been like that for a century or two now. We just haven't been aging, but we lived here with our families. Before time froze, many families of shapeshifters lived and worked here peacefully. They had this simple life for generations, until time froze. Every single person from seventeen onwards disappeared, while the rest of us left below stopped aging." Nocte explained. "No one's sure why, but we've all lived here peacefully, like our families."

"Oh Nocte, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry."

"I don't need your sympathy. Just pass Silva over."

Hope carefully gave Silva to Nocte, who gently hushed the little girl. "It's going to be okay." He told her soothingly.

"Are you two related?" Hope inquired. Nocte shook his head. "Before time froze, our parents were good friends, so Silva's family would visit mine frequently. We were very good friends, especially when we were younger. I just help Ignis and Rivum to look after her, seeing as she's quite lost without her parents."

"Understandable." Hope agreed. "She's still so young. You know what, she reminds me of my little sister." Nocte just gave her a brisk nod and turned away, Protege following close behind.

Oh shoot! I was meant to be home at sunrise! Hope remembered with a gasp. What am I meant to tell Paulo and the others?

"Hey, Hope!"

Hope was slightly startled by a loud voice coming from the other side of the clearing. Turning her head, she saw a smiling black boy with friendly green eyes. Hope couldn't exactly remember his name off the top of her head, but she was sure that he was related to Protege or someone similar.

"Who are you again? Sorry, my memory's not exactly the best." Hope asked reclucantly.

"I'm Virtus. My name means virtue." The young boy replied. "Seeing as you've been in a coma for your time here, I am ten years old and Protege's younger brother. I have another sister, Vita, meaning life. She's nine."

"Anyway, what did you want me for?" Hope said quickly, changing the subject. Virtus scratched the back of his head before replying. "I need help with work."

"Work?" Hope was confused. "You're ten and you're working?"

"Not in that way. In homework." Virtus corrected her. "Larva wants us to have some knowledge when our parents return. I never went to school because my parents could only afford to send Protege to school at the time. I could have gone too, but my parents were poor and needed the money. If I went to school, my family would have starved."

With a brief nod, Hope followed Virtus to his hut, which he shared with Mane, Lepus, Lux, Iocale and Fragosus, meaning Morning, Rabbit, Light, Jewel and Crash. Inside, Lux and Iocale were dancing around gracefully while Mane played a cheerful tune on a strange wooden instrument. Virtus pulled over a chair for Hope, allowing her to sit down and look at a sheet of paper. It was full of various maths sums, with few of them being filled in.

"I don't know what the 'x' means." Virtus admitted with a depressed sigh.

"Well, the 'x' means times. Basically, say if you had 3 x 2, that's three lots of two." Hope explained. "Just add two three times and what do you get?"

Virtus thought for a moment. Hope could see he was trying to grasp at the answer, which she guessed was normal for a child who never had a proper education. Eventually, his face lit up in excitement. "It's six!"

"Well done." Hope praised him. "Larva will be happy with you."

"It's not just Larva, y'know." Virtus said, scribbling down the answer. "Protege wants me to be good at maths too, and english. I can read okay, but I'm a dope at writing."

"You'll learn." Hope assured him. "I'm sure you'll be a genius by the time you've finished. Smarter than your brother, perhaps!"

Virtus gave her a huge grin. "Thanks."

After an hour of teaching Virtus, it was time for breakfast. The shapeshifters generally ate outside and kept all the food in Larva's hut, which was the biggest. Most shapeshifters ate as humans, but some were in animal form today.

 Hope sat cross legged on the floor, between Paulo and Rivum. Joining them were Fortis, Nocte, Iocale, Protege, Ignis, Sica and a girl called Flumen, meaning river. She was one of the people in Protege's hut.

"How are you settling in, Hope?" Iocale asked, taking a bite out of an apple. Hope nodded her head, her mouth full of meat. Ignis let out a friendly laugh, while Fortis just gazed at her. Protege nudged him sharply as the pretty girl turned round to finish her breakfast. Hope couldn't help but snigger, which in response Protege winked at her.

"Did anyone hear about Silva?" Hope asked, changing the subject. Iocale nodded, her bright blue eyes full of sympathy. "Poor little mite. I really hope that she'll get better soon, now with a bad leg to worry about."

"Nocte said she's a real fighter, surviving everything thrown at her." Protege commented. "But I think he's starting to loose faith. Silva was weakened by the sickness and all these new illnesses and injuries aren't helping her in any way whatsoever."

The group were silent for a little while, until a loud cry echoed from the edge of the clearing. The shapeshifters were instantly alert as a small coyote approached the middle. He let out a loud bark, and a slightly larger husky dog dragged a squirming sack along the ground.

"What is that?" Larva asked, flicking her leopard tail back and fourth.

"Prisoner." The husky replied gruffly. "Virtus found an intruder from the other side."

Hope stared at the little coyote. She could defintely tell that it was Virtus by the facial expressions, but she wasn't sure who the husky was. She took a guess it was one of the people in Virtus' hut.

"That's Fragosus." Iocale whispered. "He's from my hut. Bit of a show off, if you ask me, but he's thirteen like me." Her hazel eyes flickered towards the sack and then towards Hope again. Hope stared at her, realising that Iocale resembled Glory a lot. She had same white skin, but Iocale had darker eyes and her hair was shorter with more blonde than strawberry blonde.

"Take the intruder to my hut." Larva ordered. "Tie it up and get Protege and Fortis to guard it. Visitors will not be permitted unless you have special permission."

As the sack was carried away, Hope had a horrible sick feeling that the 'so-called prisoner' could be one of her Tribemates. Her heart almost jumped out of her mouth, terrified if it was Glory or someone close to her.

"I have to go and find out who the prisoner is." Hope decided later that morning. "It could be one of my Tribemates!"

Ignis looked up from her drawing. "Are you mad?!"

"No!" Hope protested angrily. "My Tribe were my family when I had no one! How would you feel if one of the shapeshifters were inside that sack and you were in a unknown place?!"

"Calm down." Ignis told her, placing one hand on her shoulder. "Look, if you want to find out who the prisoner is, go ahead. No one's stopping you. If it's your heart's desire, go on and find out."

Hope calmly left the hut and headed towards Larva's hut. Protege and Fortis were in animal form outside, staring at Hope in suprise as approached them. "I need to find out who the prisoner is. They could be from my Tribe, alone and frightened as I was." She requested.

"Fine." Protege sighed, letting her in. "The prisoner is weak, I must warn you. They may not want you there, especially if you know them."

As Hope closed the door behind her, she heard a loud cough. It sounded like someone was throwing their guts up, much to her horror. "Hello?"

"Hope?" A raspy voice called out. "Is that really you?"

"Yes!" Hope was almost beyond excitement, realising that it was one of her Tribemates. "Who are you?"

"See for yourself." The voice rasped, letting out a cough that vibrated the floor. "Though don't blame me if you end up ill."

Anxiously, Hope took a couple of steps forward before seeing a small body hunched up in the corner. Another cough racked it's body, and Hope realised that it defintely wasn't a girl. Crouching down beside him, Hope carefully moved the grey blanket that had been thrown over the boy. It took her a few moments to reconise the frightened face of Raven, much to her terror. "Raven?"

"Well done, Sherlock." The Captain croaked. Hope placed one hand on his pale-looking face. He was very warm, maybe suggesting he had a fever of some sort. Raven had tears in his eyes. "I'm scared. I don't know where I am." He admitted.

"It will be okay." Hope comforted him. However, she instantly noticed that Raven's companion was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Life?"

"In camp with Dew. Everyone thinks that you're dead, Hope!" Raven wiped a tear away. "Eski thought you were dead! Glory thought you were dead! I   thought you were dead!" He stopped as another cough rattled his body violently. For a moment, both of them were lost for words, which was very unusual for two chatty people such as them. Hope soon said after a while "What happened while I was gone?"

"What do you think?" Raven croaked. "It's been crazy since you left! First off, we eat the fruit that Glory found and people start getting ill. Sasha was almost dead within a few minutes of getting sick, but she's okay. Jade's keeping an eye on her. Then, I go off to look for you and I'm captured by a talking husky!"

"They're shapeshifters." Hope corrected him. "The husky was called Fragosus, which is Latin for 'crash'. All of them have Latin names. Like the guards outside are called Protege and Fortis, meaning 'protect' and 'strong'. Their leader is Larva, meaning 'ghost'."

"Great." Raven groaned. "Like I'm going to remember a load of Latin names."

"If I can, so can you." Hope insisted. "It's not difficult."

Again, silence surrounded the two Falling Stars Captains. Hope stared at Raven anxiously. He was usually bright and full of courage, but now he looked like a lost puppy. The sickness is weaking him. She realised. What will it do to my Tribe? Is this the end of the Falling Stars? Did The Light intend for this to happen?

"Will I die?" Raven blurted out after a while. Hope looked startled, but she almost stopped breathing as she realised how weak her best friend was. He was likely to die, but Hope didn't want to cause him any more grief.