Chapter 4 - Questions

I woke up in the same position as I fell asleep in when the door was unlocked less than elegantly and Rowan scuttled in with his clipboard tucked away under his arm.
''Good morning!'' He chirped, seeming insanely happy about something as he made himself comfortable on the other end of the bed.
''Ungh... There's never anythin' good 'bout th' mornin'...'' I grumbled before trying to sit upright, but instead settling for groggily propping myself up with my elbows.
''Ah. Not a morning person either, eh? I know the feeling. I'd rather stay in bed too.'' He chuckled.
Thing is, I'd rather be in my own bed or Zh'an's. But I'm not gonna go into that last part...
''Lemme guess. You're here to grill me, right?'' I said, stifling a yawn.
''I'm afraid so,'' He didn't look too apologetic ''but the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can eat breakfast and the sooner I can go and get my paperwork finished.''
He took out a pen and started flicking through the pages on his clipboard before continueing.
''First of all, your name.''
''.... Shadow....'' I replied cautiously.
''And last name?''
''Ironclaw...'' I really should have lied, but it was too damn early for my brain to be functioning properly.
He scribbled down my name and proceeded to ask me my age, birthdate and country of origin etc.
If they'd been studying me, then they should know half of these things already.
''What about your parents? Got any siblings?''
I waited a moment before answering. ''Both of my parents went missing a few years back. I dunno if they're still alive or not. And I have no siblings.''
For the next half hour, he continued questioning me on my family, like where they came from, what their names were - I lied about their names and appearance incase they were still alive and the humans took an interest in them - and also how and where I was brought up. He was mildly surprised to learn that I'd been born in Klaneth and 'migrated', as he put it, to Mu'tare shortly after my mother went missing, where I was raised for the next 14 years of my life by my father, a Shadow dragon, in the vast forest that covered a good three quarters of Mu'tare.
I purposely didn't tell him about the hidden city that was carved into the peak of Mount Kras by our ancestors, otherwise the humans might - will - take it upon themselves to go exploring the Weredragon's only safe refuge away from the savagry of man kind.

Every Weredragon met in that glorious, ancient stone city each year to discuss what the humans were upto and to see how our friends were doing and if they needed any help with anything. But now, because of the humans, the creatures the Weredragons had sworn to protect where being wiped out by the human race because they were destroying the natural world and erecting a false, concrete one around themselves, polluting the world, and leaving some of the species either extinct or struggling to survive in a human environment like the Weredragons were. There were only a handful of us left. Seven turned up at last year's meeting, myself included.

''How many times a week do you usually change?'' Pried Rowan.
''About once or twice.'' I was now sat cross legged on the bed staring past Rowan, and to the heavy, steel door.
He continued scribbling down notes on his clipboard when he was interrupted by serjeant Brown.
''Doctor Allsopp, Professor Hill wants to see you immediately. And he says to scrub up too.''
Rowan turned and looked at me. ''Oh, please excuse me Shadow. I have some urgent business to attend to.'' He stood up abruptly and hurried out of the room, with Brown following closely.
A few minutes later, a tall woman wearing chef's clothing came in carrying a tray of food. She sat it down on the small table at the end of my bed and swiftly left the room, the door clanking shut behind her. The food didn't look to bad, but it didn't look too appetising either...

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