Catty: Im sorry if any of you are having heart attacks cause im updating so much… but I need to get this story done with… -
Rei: As for the song-fic part of the ending of chapter THANK YOU KORIMI-CHAN FOR WRITING IT FOR ME!!!!
Max: I WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!
Catty: OK OK OK!!!!
Chapter 17
Rei sprinted through the complex avoiding any turn that would lead back to the infuriated wolf.
"If you got my sister pregnant… I'm going to kill you!" Tala's voice echoed through the halls.
'Crap, double crap, triple crap! Uhh, Should I turn here?' Rei bolted around the corner only to turn right around and sprint the other way. 'Ah… dammit! I keep running into him!…Shit' Rei thought as Tala's voice seemed to get even closer.
"You have no proof that I got her pregnant!" Rei screamed back, jumping over several little obstacles that blocked his path.
"Oh trust me, I'll know in a couple months!!" Tala fired back as he started gaining ground on the tiger.
"What makes you think I did it though?!" Rei tried his best to sound as innocent as possible, while panting hard as he ran away from the wolf. Turning to the stairs, Rei took a sharp right and stopped underneath the stairs to take a breath or two.
Tala slowed his sprint down to a jog, then to a walk as he neared the stairs. Tala listened carefully to see if he could pick Rei's irregular breathing pattern. But he didn't have luck with that. Rei kept his breathing under control as he noticed the wolfs scent get stronger and stronger.
'He's waiting for me to slip up…crap…I need to find a way back to Korimi… I know I'm losing speed and fast…' Rei racked his brain to find a way to his koi. Slowly tiptoeing around the corner of the stairs, Rei crawled out with a grin plastered to his face.
"I know you're here Kon…" Tala said in an all-knowing voice. Blinking for only a minute, he saw a small flash of black and white sprinting past the door.
"You never learn…" Tala let a predatory-like grin spread across his face. Subconsciously, he felt as if something was awakening inside of him as a new sudden adrenaline rush hit him.
'What am I feeling?' The sudden need for a chase filled his veins and then the need consumed the little control he had against it. Crystal blue eyes brightened as Tala sprinted after Rei. Rei was being hit with the same sensation as he caught a glimpse of red hair sprinting towards him. Jumping with cat-like grace, Rei leapt up into the ventilation shaft and watched below as Tala scanned the area, sniffing the air to catch his scent.
" I can smell you kitty-cat…" Tala glanced upwards towards the vents and grinned. Slowly, Tala walked over to the wall and placed his hand against it. Ice started to cover the wall and the temperature quickly dropped in the complex.
"This is going to be fun." Rei muttered silently as he watched his own breath turn into clouds before his eyes.
"I'm going to severally hurt Tala when he gets back." Chesa said as she gripped Bryan's jacket closer to her lithe body.
"Well at least we know that he hasn't caught Rei yet." Vickie giggled as she watched her breath turn into clouds before her and decided to walk over to the window and trace patterns on it.
" You shouldn't do that Vick… it's annoying to those who have to clean the fingerprints off the glass." Kitsume nagged at Vickie only to receive a Kuznetsov glare in return.
"Well I'm sorry if I actually get up and do things instead of sitting around waiting for someone to take are of me…" Vickie fired back.
"Well I'M injured!"
"Then why aren't you in bed?! You're obviously well enough to argue and scream like a little girl who got her ice-cream taken away." Vickie went to say more when Catty slowly entered the room. Staggering slightly as she used the wall to keep herself upright.
"If you want to argue like children then take it outside…" Catty's stare lingered on Kitsume as her eyes suddenly slighted. 'Why am I picking up Khayman's scent?!' Gold rested on violet before moving to lavender.
"Vickie, can I have a word with you." Catty said as she turned around and slowly walked back into Kai's bedroom. Vickie glared at Kitsume once more before following Catty into the room.
"How are you feeling?" Vickie asked once they were alone in the room and the door was closed.
" I think I'm fine…but…tell me, when you're in the living room…do you pick up Khayman's scent?" Catty turned and looked Vickie in the eyes as silence started to fill the room.
"…Yea… I can smell it, but I can't figure out who its radiating from…" Vickie lied.
"I know that you know Vickie-sama…and that would explain why you've been arguing with Kitsume more then usual." Catty said as she slowly leaned towards the wall. Vickie walked over and had to help keep Catty balanced.
"You should get some more sleep Catty-chan…," Vickie said as she led Catty to the bed.
"You shouldn't be stressing this much…" Vickie tried to Catty to sit down and take a load off her feet.
"But… I feel so useless just sitting here doing nothing! I feel like I should be out there helping you guys get ready to leave." Catty sighed as Vickie shook her head.
"Listen to me Cat, I will help look after the group. Besides, my group is the first ones to go out and find Khayman's Lair." Vickie stared at Catty and pressed her finger to Catty's lips to hush her.
"You already chose the groups?" Catty still managed to be stubborn till the end and unwilling to rest when told to.
"Yea…"
"Whose group am I in?" Catty raised an eyebrow.
"You're not in a group yet Cat-chan. When you're fully recovered, you'll be sorted out into a group." Vickie's eyes stayed focused on Catty's as she noticed the tigers golden eyes dimmed down a shade.
" I see…"
"Catty, Korimi's just trying to look out for you… we all are." Vickie's voice softened as she stared at her defenseless friend.
"I know…"
It had almost been 2 hours since Tala ran after Rei and the temperature continued to drop in the apartment complex.
"C'mon Tal, I thought you had more energy then that!" Rei teased as he dodged all of the red heads attacks.
"We'll see about that!" Tala sprinted up and tackled Rei to the floor only to be nearly thrown off by the white tiger.
"I'm a martial artist remember Tal? You're going to have to much better then that!" Rei said as he threw Tala over his shoulder and tried to sprint away. That was, until he fell to the ground and his leg felt like a brick.
"Heh … heh… gotcha…" Tala grinned as the tiger looked back at him. Rei pouted and sighed.
"Cheater…"
"How am I the cheater? You were the one who started throwing electricity at me." Tala grinned as Rei tried to break free from his icy cast.
"Yea but you were the one who started to make the temperature drop! We're warm-blooded Tal, not cold-blooded." Rei fired back with a small defeated glare.
"Well, back to the main reason why this chase started, …if I find any…any trace that you made my sister pregnant… I will hurt you so badly-"
"Why did you say hurt? Have I grown on you or something?" Rei interrupted.
"No. But I figured, why would I kill you and leave Korimi to take care of the baby by herself…" Tala smirked when Rei's eyes sulked a little bit.
"Damn, and I thought I was getting on your good side."
"You are on my good side Rei." Tala laughed as Rei threw him a confused look.
"THAT'S your GOOD side?!" Rei sighed and shook his head.
" I knew falling for Korimi would lead to a weird relationship with the relatives… but you just beat them all Tal." Tala grinned and turned to walk back to the apartment room.
"Hey! TAL!!!" Rei cried as he tried to break the ice, but he had no such luck.
" Later kitty-cat." Tala grinned and walked into the apartment room, leaving Rei frozen to the ground.
"I hate him…" Rei glared at the door.
" I REALLY hate him."
Dranzer cried out as he came up on the old abandoned Hiwatari mansion that was at the base of the mountains. Kai blinked as he started to recall watching the battle between Catty and Khayman again.
"What was my role in this war? I mean, Rei and Tala led the tiger and wolf tribes, Bryan led the falcon tribe who aided the tigers. How did I get involved? I can't even remember how I met Catty or how I even fell for her. She said that someone broke her heart, but returned at the last minute to try and save her. It just doesn't add up." Kai let out a frustrated sigh as Dranzer returned to his blade. Crimson eyes focused onto the mansion before him and glanced at the attic window that seemed to be lit.
"Is someone still here?" Kai said to himself more then anyone else as he walked into the mansion. Giving everything in the house his full attention, Kai took in all the detail portraits in the library that led to the attic. Glancing over the family portrait, Kai walked over to the mountain-like painting. His mother, father, and grandfather were holding him close. But, then his mother was holding a baby close to her side as well.
"Wait…" Kai took a closer look at the painting before noticing the tattoo on the side of the boys face. He looked exactly like him, only then sudden change in hair color. Looking through the family records Kai stumbled over him hidden information that was locked away.
"Who was that guy. If that wasn't me… then that means that I was the baby that mom was holding." Kai tried to use as many tricks from the abbey that he had learned, but they all seemed to fail.
"Go figure, I could really use Ian about now." Kai growled as the computer ignored the code he put in.
"Dammit!" Kai slammed his fist down on the keyboard and the computer opened a document of his father.
"What's this?" Kai read all the information about how his father had made an agreement with the tiger and wolf tribes, that the phoenix tribe would remain neutral and not interfere with the war." Kai's father Vincent Hiwatari had been a man who held honor and was considered a high person in society with the other tribes. Both Shima Kon and Keiba Ivanouv agreed to Vincent's terms. Before the war had begun, Vincent, Keiba, Shima, and Ryan had become great friends, thus brought peace between the Phoenix, Wolf, Tiger, and Falcon tribes. This peace was thought to be eternal, until both Vincent and Keiba died.
"So then it left Shima and Ryan left to try and hold together the peace…" Kai took some mental notes of how each tribe functioned and how everyone's parents had held peace until the phoenix and wolf tribes original leaders died of a rare virus.
"Mom was one of the leaders that helped resolved the problems the people had while trying to obtain and sustain that peace. Every clan's leader's wife, had done the same." Kai read until it mentioned the birth of Koas Hiwatari, June 04, and 2 years later, mentions his birth, Dec. 28.
" So I have an older brother?" Kai tried to look deeper into Koas' files, but continued to receive errors.
" I give up…" Kai sighed and copied all the info he gather on a disc and left to figure out about the light in the attic.
Everyone was asleep in the apartment complex, all except one fox. Kitsume slowly crept into Catty's room with a devilish grin on her face.
"There's always one person within the triangle of power whose extremely weak at this point of time. And it's been you Catty, and once again, it's your turn to feel the pain of this virus that killed Tala's and Kai's fathers. Don't know how it will work on a tiger, but its lethal on phoenix's and wolves." Kitsume walked to the side of Catty's bed with a needle in hand.
"Sweet dreams Catty. Hope you remain lost in utter despair." Kitsume prepared the poison to entered into the tigers body.
"Whose up?"
Kitsume suddenly dropped down to the ground and looked beyond the bed to find Rei has walked in.
"Shit…" Kitsume muttered as she grabbed the needle and drove it into Catty's neck. Catty winced as the virus tainted the blood in her body.
"Whose in here?!" Rei quickly ran over to find Kitsume in her fox form, who jumped out the window.
"What the hell?!" Rei ran over to Catty and pulled out the needle in her neck to find all the contents empty.
And even worse…
Catty stopped breathing…
Catty: DUH DUH DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!
Rei: REIVEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!