THINGS CHANGE

A/N: Yes, it's another one, but this tine I'm SURE this is the end! If not…well, ok. But I'm pretty sure this'll be the end of my continuous…little…story so, yeah. I'm not good at beginning notes, give me a break! Anyway if you don't know what I'm talking about, read the other 4 stories that'll lead up to this. Ok? So, enjoy!

Chapter 1- Peace

It was a quiet morning in the human village. Some of the trees were bare; it was fall, almost winter. Everyone was asleep…or so they thought.

In one tent, a nice couple slept peacefully. But, little known to them, a shadow loomed over them. The person got closer…and closer…And they were so quiet, the woman didn't hear anything, but then her eyes were forced open…

"Mommy?"

…By two stubby little fingers…

"Mommy? Are you awake yet?" the voice was a little louder.

She pushed the hands away and turned over.

"MOOOOMMMY!"

She groaned and put a pillow to her face.

"MOOOOMMMMYYYYY!!!!"

Her husband groaned "KAT! Just play with kid already!" Kat sat up angrily and threw her pillow at him. "Ow! Hey!" he said as he to sat up. She frowned "Well if I have to wake up you do to, Mashiu!"

He groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. Kat sighed then slowly looked over at the little boy before her "…Well?" she said irritably. He smiled brightly "GOO MORNING!"

She sighed "…'Goo morning' to you to…Kenji, what are you doing up so early?"

"Well, I was gonna play with Takara, Orion and Matt, but Takara said to be like normal children and bother my parents!" he said innocently.

Kat smirked "Oh really. And Takara said this?" He nodded "Yep!" She made a mental note to get back at him. "Hey mum, wanna play tag? Huh, huh?!" he asked as he ran around her feet.

Kenji had a lot of energy, was a spitting image of his father, and could talk to animals so he took after both his parents. Kat smiled "Well I dunno- you're it!"

He laughed "HEY! That's not fair!"

"Well whinin' won't help you catch me!" she said behind her.

She wasn't really running, but was jogging just enough to stay out of his reach.

Kat wasn't like normal mothers in the village.

See, in the village, the mothers had work to do and merely watched as the children played with each other, Kat, on the other hand, loved to play and laugh with her son. She was also kind of protective of him and didn't trust many humans with him.

When it looked like Kenji was about to give up, she 'tripped'. He gasped and with an excited look, he pounced on her "GOTTCHA!!" She laughed, "You sure did!"

He climbed on her back when she stopped laughing. Kenji looked questioningly at her "…What?" Kat set him down, looked around and whispered, "…Did you hear that?"

He lowered his voice to "Hear what?" She slowly looked down at him "…It sounded…like…THE TICKLE MONSTER!!!" He screamed in delight and tried to crawl away as Kat tickled him mercilessly.

"NOOO! HAHAHA…STOP! HAHAHAHA!"

She laughed as he thrashed around "Give up?" He struggled to say "OK! HAHAHA…I-I, HAHAHA, I SURRENDUR! HAHAHA…ha…ha…" Kat smirked "Ok then."

As soon as he caught his breath though, Kenji pounced on her and tickled her! She laughed "HAHA! HEY, HAHA, THAT'S CHEATING!!! HAHAHA! I GIVE UP, I GIVE UP!!!"

He grinned and let her up. She sighed "Ha, ha…ahhh…well, all that running made you smelly! I think it's time for a ba-" But he was gone before she'd even said 'bath'.

Kat looked around "Hm? Kenji?"

---

He quickly ran to the wolves, who were now fully awake. "Well, well, if it isn't the littlest meat-sack of the pack…" Takara said when he finished his water.

Matt smiled "Hey kiddo, what'cha ya runnin' from?" He panted, trying to catch his breath "Mom…chase…BATH!" Takara chuckled "Wow, he's not making much sense, sounds like the humans have finally taught him their language!"

All three of the wolves howled with laughter (Pun not intended).

Kenji looked confused, but smiled "I dunno what'chur talkin' 'bout! Hi guys, mind if I stay here with ya for a while? Mom's tryin' to give me a bath!"

Matt smiled "Not at all! It's always nice to have you around, almost like havin' little brother mess with again!" Kenji looked at Orion "Orion, can you tell me more about the pictures the stars make?"

He chuckled "No child, the sun is up now, I'll tell you more when the moon is high. At least someone likes to hear my wisdom…"

Takara scoffed as he scratched the side of his face "Whatever! Talkin' about little dots in the sky, big deal!"

Kenji shook his head "He doesn't just tell me 'bout the stars! He tells me 'bout the way all lives is con-c-coo…"

Orion smiled "Connected…" He nodded "YEAH! That word! 'Bout the earth, the sun and the moon! All kinds a stuff! It's really cool!"

Orion beamed with pride "You have a thirst for knowledge young one. It pleases me to know I can help…those other 2 though…they could learn a lot from you!"

Matt sat up "What? Me to?" Kenji smiled "My favorite one's 'bout the sun and wind! Tell that story again!" He sat right in front and stared at Orion, ready to hang on his every word.

Orion smiled "Well, I usually teach you at sundown…"

"But I already know it! So, you're not teachin' me, just tellin'!" Kenji pouted. Orion held his head up but looked down at him "Weeell…I don't know…I mean, you do know the story…"

Kenji sniffled "Yeah, but you always make the story better 'cuz you use the big voices!"

"Oh…well, alright!" Orion said, earning a smile and a clap from Kenji. Matt sat down next to Kenji and although Takara tried not to care, he listened to.

Orion cleared his throat "Ok. Well, one day, the northern wind said 'I am the strongest in the land!' but the sun disagreed. So, to see who was the strongest, they decided to use their powers on a human. It was winter, so he wore a lot of fur. The sun said 'Who ever can get the human's furs off him is the strongest!' The wind went first and blew at with human with all his might! But the harder he blew, the tighter the human held the furs to himself. The sun went next, but instead of blowing, he shined down on the human. Slowly, the human released his furs, then the sun shone as bright as it could. Finally, the human threw off the furs because it was just to hot to keep them on and the sun was stronger."

Takara frowned "But it wasn't his fur! That doesn't count!" Orion frowned "THAT'S…(sigh)…that's not the point of the story! What is the lesson? Anyone?"

For a long time, Matt and Takara thought.

Orion glared at them both "…No? Kenji, do you remember?" He smiled "Oh, Oh! I know! I know! It's that, pa-pe-purrr…" Orion chuckled "Persuasion…"

Kenji nodded "YEAH! Yeah, peraisin (Orion chuckled) works better then forces!" Orion smiled "Yes, persuasion always works better then force."

Matt smirked "Man Orion! You sure are teachin' him a lot! Why, I bet he even knows how old he is to!" Kenji looked at his hand, then held it up "I'm…uh…THIS many!"

Matt smirked "Well smart-pants, are you so smart you don't think of playing?" Kenji smiled "Nuh-ha! I wanna play!!" Matt grinned "Ok, lets play...mutant meat-sack from past the mountains!"

---

Not far away, Kat watch as Kenji played with Matt. She smiled, but her smile slowly fell to a frown. Suddenly two arms wrapped themselves around her and Mashiu rested his head on her shoulder.

"Hey…you ok?" He said slowly.

She nodded "Hm…he's just growing up to fast…"

Mashiu nodded "Yes, it won't be long before he has to take his manhood test at this rate."

She still frowned "Hn…"

"…What?" he said slowly.

She sighed, "It's nothing, it's just…for some reason, more lately then ever, I keep thinking about what had happened…you know…"

Mashiu suddenly had a grave look "Yes…how can I forget…"

-Flashback-

The village was at peace.

Kat smiled as she held the small infant in her arms. He could barely open his eyes, but every time he moved, she would gasp and smile wider.

Mashiu walked in the tent "Hey there." She smiled, "Mashiu, he's such a beautiful child…" He leaned over her shoulder and looked at him "Yeah…he truly is…"

Suddenly there was screaming from outside. One of the tribesmen ran inside the tent "Mashiu! It's bad, really bad!" Mashiu stood up "What is it? What's going on?!"

He panted "Sir, I don't know anyway to say this but…he-HE'S back!"

Mashiu's eyes narrowed "I see…Kat stay here!"

She watched as they both ran out.

Now, you know Kat was never one to listen to orders, not even from her own husband. She bundled up the baby more then she did herself before running outside.

Mashiu frowned "YOU! What do YOU want here!? I warned you never to come back!"

"Hm, what? I can't come to see my little 'grandson'… Kenji, wasn't it?" the voice said.

Mashiu growled, "My son is none of your concern Harni! Now leave!" He glanced behind him, directly at Kat "Ah, there he is now." Kat held the bundle closer to her.

Mashiu frowned "KATRIUNA! I told you to stay inside!"

Harni smirked "Hm, you should've known she wouldn't listened. She never does! Even at the sake of her own child! She's a wild one, it'd be best to-"

Mashiu threw the spear in his hands at him, "SHUT UP! No one asked you!"

Harni jumped back and it landed in the snow, just missing his feet "Temper, temper! Hopefully the child doesn't inherit THAT from you! Oh relax, I have no need for the child…yet…"

Someone threw Mashiu another spear and he ran at Harni "You won't ever see him!"

But Harni was a step ahead, since it was winter he made a large 'snowball' (more like snowboulder!) He ran a little ahead, up a hill, then pushed it down.

All the tribesmen were stuck in the snowball as it rolled. Harni took one last glance back. His dark black eyes bored into Kat's light brown ones, which caused her to gasp and run back in the tent.

He smirked and ran off, before they could get out of the snow.

-Flashback ends-

Kat shivered at the memory "Mashiu, what if he comes ba-"

"He won't come back. If he does, I'll kill him…" Mashiu said sternly.

Kat bit her lip "I don't know…that look he gave me…I mean, what would he want with our son? What would he gain?"

"Anything he wants. He would have Kenji's life in his hands, he could do anything he pleases…" Mashiu spat, like the words were bitter in his mouth. Kat hugged him tightly "I'm scared."

He hugged her back "It'll be fine, he won't get anywhere near you." She sighed then looked back to were Kenji was playing with Matt "No, it's Kenji I'm worried for..."

---

Matt ran around with him on his back "GAH! HELP! A MUTANT CREATURE IS STUCK ON MY BACK!"

Kenji laughed "ROOOAR! HAHA!" Matt fell down "NOOO! I am beaten! Ah!" Kenji laughed, "That was fun!"

Matt sighed "Yeah…you know, my brother was never good with kids…I wonder how that guy is…if he ever got the kid back to his home…"

Kenji looked at him funny "Huh?"

Matt shook his head "What? Oh, nothing…just…talkin' to myself."

Meanwhile, far, far, far away…

"AH! GET OFF!"

Little tiger cubs played on the back of Greg. He frowned "I said get off! You furry little…" They groaned, "Come on Uncle Greg! Play with us!"

Greg frowned "How about we play the 'run before angry wolf eats the little kittens' game?"

"How do you play?" they asked together. He smirked "LIKE THIS!" They all screamed and ran as Greg chased them about.

Nuto shook his head and laughed "That's Greg for ya…" Kira nodded "Yes, ahhh. This really is a nice place to live…"

Have nothing more to do, they both decided to just walk around, say good morning to everyone.

Kim walked by with a few fish "Well, well. Good morning you two, planning on giving me grandchildren anytime soon Nuto?" Nuto frowned "Mom! That's not…very polite."

Kira giggled, "It's fine Nuto. I don't mind."

"I'm just saying. I mean, it's not like I'm getting any younger, and neither are you two for that matter!" she said. Nuto frowned "Moth-er! Will you stop pressuring us!? Isn't it enough that Zina and Kiya have young?"

"But I want to see all my grandchildren before I die!" Kim said. He groaned "Mom, your not gonna die this second!" Kim shrugged "You never know. I mean, even Sid's managed to have two! SID! Sid, remember? SID!!"

Nuto groaned, "Kira, I'm so sorry."

She laughed "No, no! It's ok, I think it's kind of funny!"

"Well, you won't think it's funny when you're to old to have children…" she muttered.

Nuto frowned "MOM!"

Kira giggled and thought, "This, is peace…hm, five years…maybe I can finally be at peace…"

She laughed to herself as Nuto and his mother bickered.

Ok, that's my first chapter! Heh, heh, sorry I made their part so short, but they don't really get in the story till later. If any of you are wondering, I sorta based Kim off my grandma at that part. See, she was kinda like that with my parents because they didn't have children the second they back from their honeymoon, least that's what my mom says! So, whaddya think so far? Is it good? To long? Let me know! D