I sat on one of the four logs that circled the campfire; Hunter and Finn were on the log to my left, Theo was laying down on the middle log and Caio sat quietly on the right log. Orion sat right next to me, our hands only inches apart. He hadn't left my side the entire time, asking if I was okay at least every hour. I didn't mind his closeness. In fact, I was enjoying this new group of friends. Now that we had some downtime, it was nice to learn more about them. I didn't mind if we didn't share what we were, but thanks to Vincent's earlier statement, the guys were curious and asked anyway.
"Yes. Unicorns are real. We're not some made up shifter race. But because there are none in my dimension...everyone assumes I'm a liar," I replied, staring at the fire that flickered in the middle of our circle.
"Guess it makes sense. Depending on the dimension, many mythological shifters aren't included in the shifter directory. In some dimensions, they think phoenixshifters aren't real," Hunter explained.
Finn nodded.
"Pixies too. In one dimension, we take up seventy percent of the population versus another dimension that never believed in our existence," Finn elaborated.
"Have all of you dealt with this? Being bullied or cast aside just because you were different?" I asked, looking around our circle.
"I haven't...but I’d personally rather be something else," Theo mumbled, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky.
"I hadn't until my family moved dimensions. Let's just say my teen years sucked ass," Finn complained.
"Still dealing with it from time to time. But no one can pick a fight with me or I'll kick their ass and make them beg for mercy," Hunter stated while he sharpened the tip of his arrow.
"My brother and I were the only ones of our kind where we lived. We had each other, and if one of us was being bullied, the other would step in. They couldn't fight us together so..." Caio explained, nibbling on the remaining meat sticks Hunter had made.
"I get how it feels. I just ignore them," Orion said calmly. He placed his hand on mine, giving me a soft smile.
I grinned back, loving the simple yet comforting touch. "Nice to know I'm not alone," I said softly, lifting my free hand to muffle a yawn.
"I wonder if we get to stay on this team when we pass?" Finn wondered.
"I heard it depends on your score. If you do really well you can choose to remain a team or you can choose to go wherever you want," Theo explained.
"Do people normally stay?" I asked Theo.
He glanced to his left to meet my gaze across the fire. "At Aslan, everyone likes to stick with people that are similar to them, whether because of their hobbies, their type of race or even hair color. You saw Vincent. I can guarantee his group will be full of vamps," Theo explained.
I frowned at the mention of Vincent. "Are you a vamp?" I asked plainly. I didn't know if I was comfortable being around their race just yet.
"Bat shifter," he replied.
"Isn't that the same thing?" I asked.
Finn shook his head. "No. Vampires can't shift into bats. The reason for those stories is because vampires would hunt bat shifters and force them to do their bidding," Finn explained.
Theo turned over, his back facing us. "I'm taking a nap," he mumbled.
"Goodnight, Grumpy," Finn replied.
"Hey. That's my nickname, Pixie Boy," Hunter argued.
Caio looked over at me. "Did you actually give them nicknames?" he asked.
I shrugged. "It just happened. Didn't think they would take it seriously," I replied.
He looked deep in thought. "I want one too. But maybe after this exam," he confessed.
"Me too," Orion added.
I giggled. "You guys are amusing. I wonder if this is how friends interact," I replied.
"Cutie Pie. You never had friends?" Finn asked, interrupting his conversation with Hunter; both of them glanced over in my direction.
Even Theo looked over his shoulder to look at me.