It was hot out that night. The hottest night of the year. The girls thought to beat the heat by going swimming. And by swimming that meant Raleigh swam while Aeryn sat on the edge. The fox had learned early on that Aeryn never learned how to swim. She'd tried to teach the other girl, but that lesson hadn't gone very well.
"Aeryn c'mon, let me try and teach you again!" Raleigh called.
Aeryn shook her head quickly, her hair bouncing in the process. She'd finally gotten it cut, so it fell just below her ears. "Not a chance."
"I promise I won't let you go this time!"
"I could've died!"
Raleigh gave an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes. She swam over to Aeryn, sitting next to her and brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I wouldn't have let you drown. My hand slipped is all."
"Yeah okay." Aeryn fell onto her back, Raleigh following the motion. "I have a question."
"Hm?" Raleigh turned her head to look at Aeryn. Her hands were folded on her belly, her knees bent and ankles crossed.
"So you always mention the Council. I don't understand, what are they supposed to do exactly?"
Raleigh tapped her hands against her stomach as she tried to think of the easiest way to explain without confusing Aeryn. "The Council is basically our government. They get the top people from each city to form together. They decide how to run the cities, how to deal with humans, and human sympathizers. Each city has a group of four or five Council-members, and then they pick one person to serve on the main Council."
"There's more than one city?"
Raleigh laughed, shaking her head. "Of course there is. You didn't think Jyn was the only city in the entire world did you?" At Aeryn's look she laughed again. "Okay, I'm sorry. I don't know exactly how many other cities there are but yes, there is more than Jyn out there in the world."
"And humans are banned in every one?"
The Shifter shrugged. "I would assume. I mean it's the main Council who determines how to deal with the human problem." She turned onto her side, reaching a hand to poke at Aeryn's cheek, who immediately swatted it away. "Not that I think you're a problem or anything."
"No of course not." Aeryn rolled her eyes. "Just everyone else."
---
Aeryn sat in their usual spot, plucking blades of grass from the ground. It was just starting to get dark. Raleigh was late.
She hoped nothing happened to the Shifter. She remembered Raleigh telling her about Rakhtars coming out at night, and how dangerous it was for her to venture out. And if she was hurt she would have no way of knowing.
A glance toward Jyn had her furrowing her brow. She could try to scale the Wall but--
"Hi!"
"Raleigh!" Aeryn looked up startled from her thoughts to see the Shifter looking down at her curiously.
"What's up?"
"You're late."
"Oh yeah." Raleigh plopped to the ground next to Aeryn, scratching the back of her neck with a sigh. "Sorry about that. It's getting harder for me to sneak out every night. I had to create a diversion."
"A diversion?"
"Uh-huh~ You shoulda seen it, Rion screamed higher than I've ever heard a guy scream before."
"Really? What did you do?"
Raleigh put her finger to her lips, shaking her head. "A good magician never tells her secrets."
"You aren't even a magician!"
Raleigh grinned, spinning around, her dress billowing out with the action. It was one Aeryn had never seen before. It was mostly yellow, and it had leopard print on it. She had a tan vest over it that hung past the dress. "Like it? My mom got it for me yesterday."
"You aren't a Leopard."
"So?" Raleigh pouted, plopping back on the ground. She crossed her arms. "You don't see very many Fox prints around here do you?"
"I don't see very many anything. I live in the middle of the forest, remember?" Aeryn laughed.
"Oh! That reminds me." Raleigh suddenly jumped up again, and Aeryn shook her head, wondering where her friend got so much energy. "I brought you something."
"You did?"
"Yeah, hold on. I think I left it over here." Raleigh took off running.
Aeryn resituated herself, pulling her knees up to her chest as she waited for Raleigh to come back. Luckily she didn't have to wait long before the Shifter returned, skidding to a stop and dropping a bag in front of Aeryn. She wasn't the slightest bit out of breath.
"What is this?"
"Open it!"
"Okay okay, geez." Aeryn huffed, turning her attention to the bag. She opened it, gasping at what was inside. "Raleigh!"
The Fox simply grinned, her tail swishing behind her as Aeryn pulled out the dress. "Raleigh..."
"Put it on silly."
Aeryn nodded, standing and quickly ridding herself of the raggedy shirt she had on. She pulled the dress above her head, grinning at the feel of the soft fabric against her skin.
Once it was on Aeryn tugged the ends of it over her black pants, grinning. It was a simple brown dress that seemed like it was supposed to be form fitting in the chest, but since she was still small, even for her 17-year-old self, it hung loosely on her.
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Aeryn hugged Raleigh, pulling away after a few moments to admire her dress again. She had never gotten her clothes new before, they were always hand-me-downs from the villagers. "Where did you get it?"
"My mom bought it for Rebecca but she didn't like it so she gave it to me. I already got a new dress so I figured you might like it."
"It's so soft."
"Most of the clothes from the City are made with the same fabric. It's made to withstand a lot, since most of us are pretty active. So it'll last you a pretty long time."
"I love it Raleigh. Thank you so much."
"I can bring you other ones if you want. I get clothes all the time from my sisters that I kinda never wear. If you like them you can have them."
"Raleigh, have I ever told you how awesome of a friend you are?"
"Yeah," Raleigh grinned. "but I don't mind hearing it again from time to time."
Aeryn rolled her eyes. "Such a humble Shifter you are."
"Just call me Lady Raleigh." Raleigh giggled with a curtsy.
"I'm not calling you that Raleigh." Aeryn laughed. She sat back down, careful not to get her dress dirty. "Mama is gunna wonder where I got this. I gotta make sure to change into my shirt before I go back home."
"Why? I thought your Mama would be happy you got new stuff."
Aeryn sighed. It wasn't so much Mama she was worried about. New clothes were hard to come by. Most humans only had one or two outfits to their name. And when they grew out of them they handed them down to the younger ones. To have a new outfit would cause more questions than Aeryn cared to answer. "Can you imagine me trying to explain you to everyone? They'd kick me out for sure."
"Because we're friends?"
Aeryn shook her head. It wasn't that simple. "Because you're a Shifter. They already think there's something wrong with me. If they found out my best friend wasn't human..."
"I understand." Raleigh winked, a smile touching her lips. "I'll be your little secret."
"Raleigh why do you gotta make it sound so weird?"
"How did I--"
"Shh." Aeryn suddenly said, sitting up straighter. She placed her finger to her lips, looking towards her home. The sounds of shouting drifted to her ears. "Hear that?"
"Huh?" Raleigh looked as well, brows drawn in concentration. Sometimes she wondered how it was Aeryn had almost better hearing than her. "What's going on? Sounds like...panic. Did something happen?"
"I dunno. Must've for everyone to be shouting like that. They should be sleeping." Aeryn tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, slowly standing. "I should go find out what's going on. If they haven't already they'll notice I'm gone." She glanced at Raleigh, who had a concerned look on her face. "Stay here. I'll be back."