Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (17 page)

Then
they
all broke into laughter.

Soon
they
all sat down together and ate. Even after several hundred times
,
his
family still gawks at
them
when
they
eat so much.
But his appetite changed.
While eating,
Jenny
broke the awkward silence. “Kara called this morning before we came over and she said she’ll be over later today. She has a project that is due tomorrow evening and she said it requires her full attention for the next few hours. When it’s drying she’ll start on her way.”

Connor
nodded just as
David
spoke. “Speaking of, where are our old friends
?
” He grinned knowingly and it wasn’t hard to figure out anyways.

Suddenly the hairs on the back of
Connor’s
neck began standing, a sensation that
usually
explained
that
someone
approaches
. He
looked into
his
grand
father
’s eyes and said “They will be here in a minute or so.”

Everyone went silent, but only for a moment.

David
scrambled for the door
and quickly slid on his boots.
His wife of fifty two years
wasn’t far behind.
Jenny,
Sarah and
Connor
watched in fascination on how jubilant they w
ere too see them once again. Jenny
stood up as they finally managed to open the door and get outside. “I’ll go outside and make sure that they don’t make fools out of themselves
…
too much.”

As she left Sarah stood up and started collecting dishes. “Allow me to do that. You go outside and I’ll join shortly.” She smiled and handed
him
over the kitchen detail. Just her s
imple smile continues to make his
heart race.

She put on her jacket and shoes just as Sorono and Veronica’s weight landed within the clear
ing. She went outside just as his
grandparents shouted “Sorono, Veronica!” She closed the door behind herself while smiling.

While everyone greeted
each other
once again
Connor
could hear everything that
had been
said. They just introduced Shannon to everyone and everyone w
ent
silent for a moment and then
Rhoda
awed
like a schoolgirl and introduced herself.
He
quickly finished the dishes and slid on
his
shoes and
opened the door.

Sorono and everyone else stood close to where the stream
flowed
. Sarah and
his m
om stood a way’s back while
his
grandparents were on their knees and
were still
introducing themselves. Sorono looked at
Connor
and
he
returned the
look. Sorono greeted
him
with a nod and a smile. Veronica winked at
him
as they both stood behind Shannon. The
three Keepers were already in his
mind so
he
still listened to everyone’s talks.

“You’re a beautiful young lady.”
Rhoda
commented.

Connor
walked right up behind Sarah and wrapped
his
arms around her
while
she leaned into
him
.
They
watched as Shannon’s i
nquisitive nature looked from his
grandparents
to
his
mom and to Sarah and
himself
. S
he tilted her head and a look crossed her eyes.
He
remembered that look, it
i
s one of innocence, but also bordering
on
inappropriate. Then she looked back to
Sorono and asked
“Father, why do they all look so different?”

His brow furrowed as he made a guess
“Do you mean their facial identities? That is how they distinguish themselves from their brethren…”

Shannon shook her head.
“Not that Father. I’ve
already
figured that out. What I mean is their lines.”
Connor
instantly knew what she was talking about, but Sorono
remained
still slightly perplexed.

“Shannon.” She and the others turned to look at
him
. “A
re you asking about wrinkles?” S
he looked down and
he
entered her mind to se
e was she was doing. Shannon
started
going through every word she knew
of
while also trying to match an image to the word. She settled on a mental picture of wrinkled clo
thes. She returned her gaze to him
and smiled in answer. “Why do you want to know why my grandparents are wrinkled?”

“Because Aunt Sarah doesn’t have a single sign of wrinkles and her face is all smooth-like. The person to your left with the golden hair has faint wrinkles, but your
grandparents
???
have all these lines covering their faces.”

“I get it now!”
David
stated while
Rhoda stood up and chuckled. His
granddaddy placed a hand on the child’s shoulder and it didn’t frighten her. “Shannon, you
’
r
e
still very new
and young
to this world. What you need to know is that many species on this planet die from old age. We humans are amo
ng those who die
f
rom aging
, unlike you. You see, in human lives
,
we age continually. The signs of our age are represented in wrinkles. The older you get
,
the more defined your wrinkles become.
Then our time will end and we’ll cease caring about
the world.
In time
,
you’ll see
how humans age and it will help you to understand.”

Everyone
remained
quiet and patient as
David
lectured Shannon in the human lifecycle. She was shocked to hear how short they lived and she wished that they would stay
alive
longer.

The discussion was getting long and
Jenny
finally said “Connor, can you bring out the chairs. We all need to sit down.”
She was speaking pointedly at Sarah because she
i
s always worried that something might happen.

While bringing out the chairs Jenny
introduced herself to the child.

Soon every chair
in the cottage
was brought outside; except for Sarah’s rocking chair.
Connor
positioned them in a half circle while Sorono made a fire that sat in the center
of
the
group
. He and Veronica completed the circle. Shannon sat in her mother’s lap
,
looking as excited as she
did
yesterday. The only things missing were the four empty seats that haven’t been filled.

An hour into another discussion Sorono
and
Connor
looked at each other
simultaneously
when they
felt two presences coming in
their
immediate
direction.
They
were the only two who were alerted
to the change
. His
back
was to them and Sorono nodded. H
e woul
d watch whoever was coming up from behind.
Sorono
watched the
tree
line with his
peripheral
vision while
speaking with Jenny
.

“Welcome back, you two!” Jillian said and finally arrived.

She and
Jack had entered the clearing after a brisk walk. Then they both walked right up to all of
them
.

Jillian had let her dark brown hair grow out and it now
hung
just below her shoulder blades and it
stayed
loose. She wore a tight red cashmere sweater and almost matching pants. Her golden eyes were almost the exact same
shade
as Veronica’s but their personalities were different. Veronica
i
s proud and spoke wisdo
m where as Jillian remained eternally
excited and impulsive.

Jack had cut his pure white hair up to where his shoulders reached his neck. His calm and collective azure eyes took everything in. He wore a sky blue jacket and denim jeans.
He immediately saw Shannon and he softened
up
instantly.

“Well who do we have here?” Jack asked and Jillian saw what he did.

Jillian shriek “You’re finally here!” She moved quickly over to greet Shannon. She picked up Shannon from Veronica’s lap and pulled the child into a hug. Shannon was stunned stiff as Jillian pressed her
face
into her breast
s
.

After everything had calmed down and
everyone took their seats, did Connor
notice Shannon’s inquisitive eyes. She
continued
looked at each of
them
oddly
and swiftly
.
He
couldn’t see what she
kept
looking at specifically so it was hard to understand
the
look.
She wanted to say something, but
he
stayed quiet until she asked her question.

Sorono and
Connor
looked straight up into the sky three hours later. Both
Connor’s
s
ister and best friend finally arrived, but not as
they
expected. They were in their Fwen forms
and flying straight for the
group
. Kara took the form of a flying wolf with a sandy blonde coat and feathers
while
Mark look
ed
similar, but his fur and feathers were all jet black.

They
pulled up to decelerate and they
landed on the other end of the clearing. Once on the ground
Kara
tucked her wings to her side and
charged into the group
,
on all fours. The only forms of clothi
ng she wore were her leather chest covering
and pants. Her pure silver eyes were glistening
in excitement
. “Veronica, you’re finally back! How’ve you been
,
G
irlfriend!?”
They
all noticed Kara’s tail
slightly
wagging
and Sarah did her best to not laugh musically
.

Veronica let out a chuckling hiss.
“I’ve been well. It seems like you are still as lively as ever I see.”
Kara watched as Veronica moved her hand to gesture to her newest addition.
“
Kara, I’d like for you to meet my daughter, Shannon.”

Every
one of the
close family members saw the change Kara’s eyes and knew what it meant. Out of everyone present,
she
i
s the most impulsive.

Kara ran up to Shannon and sniffed her with her muzzled nose. Shannon tried cowering for her mother’s protection, but Kara
struck
faster.
Kara
had absorbed her claws as she grabbed for Shannon. She used both of her hands and wrapped them around Shannon’s small waist. Kara lifted the helpless child in the air and barked a laugh while standing on her back legs.
Shannon let out a reptilian whine for help
, but
Kara spoke in
a richly feminine and
animalistic voice because of her form. “Welcom
e to the family, little critter!
” Then Kara
clutched
Shannon to her breast
and began twisting her torso back and forth
.