Snippet #1524021

Deac didn't say anything for a while, so she kept quiet as well. And then he spoke suddenly. She turned her gray eyes on him. She took a while before replying.
"The children's parents died from the plague. Which means they got to watch their mom and dad die, slowly, in front of them. Firstly, how did they void it - and second.. they were acting strangely. Well, not strangely for children, but a child cannot forget things so easily. They seemed cheerful, happy - their eyes were bright and playful. Not the aged, hurt look of a young one who has lost so much. The kids lost their family so suddenly. Which means they didn't forget on their own!" Alyss stood straight. As much as she despised the thought of returning to the orphanage, she had to. Those kids were not safe there.
"Let's get going. We should have some time before everyone gathers." She began to walk, back outside into the heat of the sun.
As they went, she could see a medium-sized brown dog sniffing the rubbish along the streets. She slowed her pace, and stared at it for a while. The dog turned around to peer at her, and then shot off like a rocket, baying miserably. It's bones showed clearly through the dirty fur.
"Deac, that lady is going to recognize me. At the orphanage. She might be blind, but I can tell that there's something wrong with her-" before she could finish, she hunched over to the ground. In a split second, her forms lost that of a human and instantly doglike. As she stood, blinking in the sun, a sudden wave of emotion came over her. Pure desperation, hunger, fear, pain. They flooded her mind and left her unable to do anything but blink. After a moment, the emotion left as she gained control of the form. She meant to say something, but only a low whine came out.
The single old man who had been in the street with them fled into what seemed to be his house. He'd seen her transformation - "Damn," she muttered. She only growled.
Hoping that Deac understood, she took off sniffing the ground, trying to recreate her path. She'd forgotten in her fear-induced escape, and didn't want to have to go through the trouble of finding a hidden landing place as a hawk.

She wagged her tail. This was only the second time she'd managed to transform into another, different living creature before.