Chapter 1: Kimber

"No!" shouted Kimber at the book she had gripped in her hands. "No, no, no!!" she nearly hit Skaene as she punched the navy blue beanbag she was lounging in in anger. Kimber looked back down at her book, eyes drilling into the pages. Skaene sighed and rolled his eyes. He strolled, as a snow leopard to her feet and sat.
"You and your books." he said, trying not to smirk at Kimber's intense stare at the lines of symbols printed in ink on compressed wood. She risked a second to glare her daemon.
"It's not my fault you can't get swept away by books as easily as I can." she retorted. Her eyes immediately fell back on the book. Skaene turned into a snake to flick his slender tongue at her, but in vain. Kimber's eyes flicked from one line to the next. Skaene sighed, turned into an ermine, curled around Kimber's neck, and fell asleep.
He awoke to Kimber struggling to get out of the beanbag chair. "I need some fresh air." she informed him as she opened the door leading out of her library. Skaene, still curled around her neck grudgingly replied.
"I thought you'd merge with that chair. We were in there for hours!" he shook his head. "Should do more sports." he suggested.
"Maybe." answered Kimber. "But we have other things to think about."She slipped on her flip flops and stepped out the door. The air welcomed them coolly. She took a moment to close her eyes and breath it in. Skaene slipped off her neck. Halfway to the ground, he turned into a lynx and landed on all fours. He stretched and shook himself before jumping into the air as a falcon and soaring through the fresh air and coming to land gracefully on Kimber's outstretched arm. Once he was settled, he nodded at Kimber who smiled and headed toward the dock.
Kimber stared at her toes, submerged in the lake. Why hadn't Skaene settled in his final form yet? Because I'm special, he answered. "Humph." said Kimber out loud.
"Wasn't there something else we needed to think about?" asked Skaene.
"Huh? Oh. Yeah." mumbled Kimber. It was only a matter of weeks that summer would be over, fall would take over, and they would start attending a new high school as sophomores. "What school is it again?" she asked her daemon.
"I don't even remember. Ember or something." He looked up at Kimber. "Just don't worry about it. 'm sure it can't be as bad as we think it is." he fluttered onto a floating log which nearly flipped over, making Kimber giggle.
"Be an optimist!" he shouted as he started to float farther away.
"Skaene! Don't!" cried Kimber in alarm. Right when the pain grew at the stretch between them, Skaene flew back as quickly as he could, turned into a lynx and cuddled Kimber as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Sorry, Kimber." he apologized. "I have to say." he looked up at her. "Nothing can be worse than us being separated." Kimber nodded. Point taken.