Wren raised his eyebrows at her. "The... kingdom?" He repeated. He'd heard of it, of course he had, everyone had. Only rumors, though. He knew that it was off limits, somewhere that no one one but special people like government officials could go. He wasn't even sure if it was real, but he knew that, if it was, it was some sort of safe place for shifters. "The kingdom," he repeated again, as if he was confirming what she'd said. "Yeah, I think so. It would be in the adult reading section, under k." He continued. "I can show you." He dumped the books onto a nearby cart to be sorted later, then turned around and led her to the section that it would most likely be in. No wonder, he found it right in the k's, far back in the shelf as if someone was trying to hide it. He reached back and pulled it out, looking over the cover. It just so happened to be the book published by Eli Rogen, Break Free. It was quite vandalized, the cover and pages torn, filled with statements written in pen such as, "the kingdom is fake" or, "what is the government hiding from us". He hesitantly handed the book, obviously in bad condition, to her. It didn't seem like many people appreciated the novel. He realized, remembering the boy whom he'd talked to earlier, that the author was the same Eli Rogen who was punished for publishing it. "Uh, here you go," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
Zach smiled. "Okay, cool, Rilli." He said, using her name that he'd just found out. He glanced over at the group of people. They seemed very normal. "Maybe," he shrugged. "I don't know." There was an awkward silence following his answer, and he stared down at his hands nervously. He bit his lip, having nothing to say. He looked up when she asked him about his community. "Oh, um, no, not really. There's quite a few people in the antlers community, but I don't very many of them." He replied. Truthfully, he didn't know any of them. He didn't care to get to know them, or didn't feel like talking to them, or sometimes just plain disliked them. Maybe it was because they were all so... alike. He'd never met another shifter who wasn't some kind of four-legged, hoofed herbivore; to meet a member of the 'seafood' community, no less, that was interesting. The awkward silence returned until he decided to say something. "So, have you heard of this... kingdom... place?" He asked suddenly. "I have, just street rumors, but I've heard its a place for shifters to... well, I'm not sure exactly. Live without being looked down on by humans? Whatever it is, I'm sure it's better than here, or in any small community." He explained. "I feel like a caged animal, sometimes. Why do they keep us away from humans because we're different? We don't have the same rights or privileges..." He stopped, fearing that he was talking too much. "That's my opinion, at least." He added.
