"So...River, hm? What's that about?"

"What do you mean?"

We are still sitting on the couch next to each other.
It's been five minutes since Tony and Michael left.
The doctor said that I broke Tony's nose and his knee can't be used for a long while.

"Serves him right!
That happens when you mess with me. Idiot."
I notice how my hands form to fists while I feel how the anger rises in me.

Taking a deep breath I calm down and look at Feycal to continue the talk.

"You said my name is River. You hopefully know it's not my name.
Why did you say that?"

"Ah, that... It's a long story. I-"

"Well, I think we have enough time now.
And you promised me to tell me what I want to know.
So start explaining, please."

Silence.

"Yeah. Fine"

I make myself comfortable while Feycal stares deeply in thoughts at the wall.

"As you might know, you are in a ninja village. Our village is called Seal.
Yeah."

"Why am I here?"

"You remember that piece of paper in the book, right? Well, how should I explain this...
It's kind of a sign.
A sign for us to keep u safe.
This piece of paper brought you here to us."

"So what or where is here ?"

"What do you mean?"
He looks at me confused.

"You have to know I woke up in a different place. I am still confused because I don't know if I am in a different time, place or even a different world or-"

"Oh, I got what you mean.
No, you are still on the planet earth.
No change of the year or something.
You are just in a different place."

"Okay. Why am I in this house and why are you here?"

"I live here and I will keep an eye on you myself."

"Uh, why would you do this? Don't you have enough work to do?"

"It does have a reason, trust me. But I think it's too early to tell you this. It's quite personal, too.
But you can reckon that I am going to adopt you. "

"What?"

"What, what?"

"What?!"

"Uh, wh-"

"Dude, you can't just adopt and keep me here? You are still a stranger to me and I have a family somewhere outside! And I think they are going to search for me.
And why even?"

I notice how he winced a bit when I mentioned the word "family".

"I wonder what happened to him in the past"

"I am sorry if I offended you. But I am really confused and don't know what to do..." I say softly to the at the ground staring Elder.

"It's okay. I know what you mean.
Just try to control yourself better.
Well...how should I start.
Right.
You can't leave because since you know about us it is nearly impossible for you to live like you used to again.
That's why you have to stay here."

"But school? And I bet my parents won't let go of me that easily. How you going to handle this?
And how do you even know that I can't live 'normal' again?"

"Okay. You probably will be homeschooled here.
And about your parents, let's say we have our tricks to let them think you are still with them. I will explain this later to you. And don't look at me like I am a freak.
So last but not least, the reason why it's probably getting harder for you to live normal again is because you know about our existence.
So when you walk around things will catch your eyes while others don't see it.
For example... There are many ninja villages. And each village has a sign. To identify to what village you belong to we have to wear a belt which looks like a plain bandana. On this belt is the symbol of the village stitched or whatever. We have to wear it doesn't matter where we are. So if we are outside with 'normal people' we still have to wear it. It doesn't really matter where you place it but it has to be worn. So this can catch your eye so you would provably eye it closely or look at it several times. You probably know what I am trying to say."

I nod and he continues

"So and a ninja notices a stare or the fact that someone is looking explicit at the belt. And it is most likely that this will have consequences especially because you don't wear one.
By the way the sign or rather emblem of our village Seal is this one."

He takes off his robe to reveal the normal ninja clothing everyone is wearing.
And indeed on his left arm is a black bandana like fabric with a symbol on it.
He takes off the belt and hands it to me.
"I guess you are hungry because I am. What you have to know about me is that I love it to eat and cook but can be really lazy. So there is always frozen pizza in this house.
You can have a closer look on the belt while I put the pizza in the oven."

With that he heads to the kitchen while I am eyeing the piece of fabric in my hands.
It's completely black except of the silver crescent in the middle of it.
I stroke over the stitched silver emblem.

"It feels so soft. Okay the belt itself feels nice but the crescent feels so soft that it's giving me chills."

I hear how he closes the oven and walks over to me while continuing his explanation.

"Another thing is that there are people who sense that you were here and know about us."

I look at him confused.
"Yeah of course people smell I have been here..." I say sarcastic.

"Yes, they do."

"What?"

"Yeah. Wolves do."
"Huh? You mean Werewolves right?"
"No, I mean Wolves.
Werewolves are not even natural. Human are made with a bite or whatever to Werewolves. This happens by forcing their genetics to morph together.
They don't have those senses like them.
Look.
They look like normal humans who can shift in Wolf form whenever they want but can't control themselves when it's full moon.

Wolves don't.
They even look different and are born that way.
They have similarities to the animal like a tail, their teeth have resemblances and their ears are on top of their head.
They don't shift just by full moon. They do whenever they want and can control themselves. On top of that is that they do have traits typical of a cat. It's unknown why.

And an important thing to know is that they have two personalities.
One personality is the person himself. We will call him Jay. So, Jay is a Wolf so he has his own personality and another one. The other one is the Wolf inside him. The Wolf has a name, too. Let's call him Zack .
So Jay and Zack live together in one body. Either in the human or Wolf form.
They can communicate with each other in mind. For example Jay thinks about something and Zack responds to it or comment or whatever or they even discuss or argue.
The most of the time Jay has the full control about his actions and his body etc. but the wolf, here Zack can take over, too. This can either happen because Jay wants him or made him to or Zack forced Jay to let him have full control. To be honest this can be really dangerous. But thats not the problem right now.

By the look of your face I think you need a break.
Okay.
Well, we will do it like this.
You will have a break while I get the pizza. When we eat I will continue explaining."
With that he goes to the kitchen.

"Mind blow right now.
Wow is this a dream?
I hope not because this is so interesting.
I would love to stay here with him and learn more but I still don't know him and there is the problem with the family. I just can't vanish like that."

"The pizza is ready. I would suggest to eat here at the table," I hear him say from the kitchen.

"Coming."

I arrive at the kitchen seeing him place a plate with pizza on it on the table. Two other plates and cups with a bottle ice tea are paced on the table, too.
We sit down at the table.

"Wait. How is he going to eat something? His mouth is covered and I doubt that he would reveal it to me."

"Something wrong?"

"Hm? Uh, no I just have been thinking..."

"Okay...
And by the way. Yes I won't show you my face."
He says with I think a grin.
I can't help myself but look at him in unbelief.

"Do you want me to feed you? Or why do you keep your mouth open?"

"Damn what?"

I close my mouth immediately and sense how my cheeks begin to burn.

"How....?"

"I told you ninjas have their tricks. Doesn't matter in what."
He places a slice of pizza on his plate and signs me to serve myself.

I do as he signed me to and see in the corner of my eye how he takes off his face mask and covers his mouth with holding a napkin in front of it while eating the slice of pizza.

"Wow. This is clever.
Now he can eat in peace while his face is still covered.
Nice."

We eat in silence until I speak my thoughts aloud so he can hear it.

"I can't just stay here... I just can't vanish like that."

I look at him and continue.
"Maybe you are wrong and I can still live normal?"

"Some people tried and went crazy... I don't want that the same happens to you.
We could try something.
Tomorrow you go to school but Logan will be hidden and keep an eye on you.
When you see that you feel uncomfortable or anything like that then you will come back. Is that clear?"

I just nod.

"Well...sounds fair to me."

"Okay. So, I will tell Logan about this so you two can arrange the rest yourself."

"So when do I go back?"

I hear him swallow the piece of pizza before he answers.

"I would say that you will go back today so you can get ready for school."

"Okay then"

When we finish the pizza he calls someone to get Logan and Isabelle.
While waiting for them we clean the dishes together.

* * *

"So, when you notice that you feel somehow uncomfortable or observed or you change your mind for staying you know where you can find me, right?"

"Yes. After school in the park behind the big tree."
"Correct. There is one thing.
The Elder told me to give you this. He said you have to keep that with you all the time. Even at school or when you are sleeping. Don't let anyone see it. Understand?"

He hands me a black crystal.

"Woah..."

"Yes, understood. "

"That's good. Now come on. You have to drink this so tomorrow morning you find yourself in your bed again."

" OK... And what if I think this was just a dream?"

I take the cup filled with a liquid he hands me.
"You have the crystal. Forgot about it? Now keep it safe and do as we say."

"Okay."

With a little sigh I drink the liquid.
When I finish I can see Logan just like a blur.

The last thing I notice before I faint is how he catches me.

"Sleep well, River. I will see you next morning."