The Wild Life Chapter 8

A fluff of gold connected to a slender tail, swaying back and forth as its owner lazily walked. His large gold mane framed his immense face. His large paws spread on the grey marble floors as he took his steps.

Entering the old large dining room he joined everyone, fashionably late. He rolled his shoulders and licked his fangs as he walked towards the head of the large oak table. The room was rectangle shaped, it had a dark stone fireplace, old candelabras and a large diamond chandelier in the center of the ceiling. The place gave off a cold vibe.

"Ah Jelani, you took your time in joining us I see." A woman to his left said, as his human form sat down. Jelani was a dark African man in his late 50's, he had a presidential presence.

The woman next to him had shoulder length jet black hair, her skin was a rich caramel color and despite her Indian features and accent, her eyes were emerald green with flecks of yellow.

"Sesha, charming as ever." The man said with a thick African accent. His golden eyes flickered around the table and he held a hostile smile towards the others. To his right was a bald man with cold, dark eyes and an eerie smile, he had a scar across his left jaw and was missing a finger.

Next to him was an old native American man with a large feathered head dress, long white hair and many trinkets around his neck and his wrists. He had a warm smile on his wrinkled face. Everything about the elder man spoke of peace and understanding.

Next to him was a man with short white hair that was black on the tips at the top. He had thick black eyebrows and light blue eyes, resembling a suave George Clooney. He eyed Jelani with a small smile, a glass of white liquid in one hand and a cigar in the other. He wore a fancy grey suit with a black tie.

The other man sitting next to the man in the suit was a guy with shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes, he had a sloppy grin on his cheery face. He was much younger than the others at the table, he had to be in his mid 20's.

"Now, what brings us together like this?" The bald man asked in an Austrailian accent.

"I was wondering the same thing, ain't that often he have meetings." The scruffy haired man stated.

"Explain Mikhail." Jelani said looking at the suit man who cast his eyes towards the man with the feathered headdress.

"A favor I asked you Anik and you failed me." He said in a Russian accent, trying not to add to much anger to his tone.

"And I did not." Anik explained.

"POACHERS!" Mikhail screamed, his voice rough and loud. A rumble of a roar rising from his chest as he slammed his fist onto the table.

"Mikhail, the spirits speak. She is well." Anik said not taking his eyes off of the Russian.

"Oh like anyone's gunna believe your hoodoo voodoo bird crap." The scruffy, brown haired man said rolling his eyes.

"You're one to talk, Canagan." Sesha said staring him down. "If it wasn't for your kind we'd be well under the radar. But humans today... I still don't know what the hype over Werewolves is." She added.

"My kind is responsible for that? I don't think so, they come up with all this bullshit full moon stuff. We didn't bother anyone. It's that damn Twilight movie!" Canagan defended with a slight growl to his raspy voice.

"Because of you damn wolves they're using silver! You irresponsible tw-.." The bald man spat, only to be cut off.

"Why are we here for this little lovers quarrel." Sesha asked Mikhail impatiently.

"As you know the Lamia are recruiting. There's more of them than ever. They want us dead and then our next in line." Mikhail explained.

"And how do you know this?" The bald man asked.

"You doubt me Jonah, I have my resources." Mikhail said to the man. "Without us, there will be no order of our species. Hope for our kind will be lost, humans will know of our existence and a war will break out."

"I've heard nothing but rumors." Jonah added, he eyed around the room and snorted. "What are we to fear? The great Kintari scared of the Lamia?"

"YOU KNOW THEY'RE STRONGER THAN THAT!" Mikhail roared, his frustration getting the best of him.

"Brother," Anik said quietly as he rested his hand on the Russian's shoulder. Mikhail nodded at his friend and took a deep breath.

"Shakti will not stop, she will not rest until I and my bloodline is dead. As well as for the rest of you." Mikhail finished.

"You're so beautiful." Karen said smiling as she braided Sakari's hair. Sakari looked in the mirror ahead of her and watched the red-head twine her white locks back into a french braid.

"What is beautiful?" Sakari asked curiously. Karen looked into the mirror at the young girl's face and smiled softly.

"Well, it depends. Beautiful is a way of saying you have nice qualities, whether it be how you look or how you are as a person. You Sakari, are beautiful. You're so pure and loving. I hope one day you truly understand what I mean." She explained as she added a bobby pin to clip back a stranded piece of hair.

"You're beautiful." Sakari said with a sweet smile, Karen grinned back and then hugged around her shoulders.

"Alright, all done." Karen said showing the girl her hair, Sakari moved the braid to sit upon her shoulder and smiled. "Now get going before you miss the bus." She added.

"Okay, goodbye Karen!" Sakari said as she excitedly ran towards the door.

"BACKPACK!"

"Oh right, pack for the back..." she reversed into the apartment and swiftly made her way back out. As she stepped out of the building she looked up the fresh morning sky, oh how different it was here compared to home.

"Home..." Sakari breathed. Where was home? Was this her home? Was the cold place her home? If it was, why was she the only one there? The white haired girl muttered her thoughts as she walked towards the bus stop. She hated thinking too hard, it made her head feel pain. She didn't like head pain.

"Good morning!" Her mood picked up when she noticed Layla waving and smiling.

"Good morning Layla! Guess what, I had these things called Papatarts for breakfast!" Sakari said excitedly.

"I'm guessing you've never tried Mamatarts?" She heard Will's voice from behind her, he had a goofy smile on his face. He wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and laughed slightly at Sakari's facial expression.

"No I haven't, do they go in the toaster too?"

"He's joking," Layla giggled. "I think you mean Poptarts? Those things are made with artificial sugars and too much food coloring." The hippy teen explained.

"Ah c'mon, they're delish. You should try Toaster Strudels, those are the best." Will told her as the bus pulled up infront of them.

"Hello Keith!" Sakari greeted the moustached man as she entered the bus.

"Hey New." He smiled jokingly at her.

Strangely Sakari sat quiet for most of the bus ride, she couldn't get those questions out of her head. She was sure she's seen this kind of thing on that silly t.v show where the Spanish guy lost his memory and didn't know who his wife was, but it was in Spanish so she wasn't sure if it made sense or not. She watched the clouds through the window as the bus hurled through the sky at full speed.

'Layla has a mom and a dad. So does Karen and so does Will. Where are my mom and dad? Am I the only one here?' It raced through her mind all day, like a leech it sucked at her thoughts. The worst part about it was not knowing anything...

"Are you alright? You're not your chipper and annoying self today." She heard a deep voice that scared away her thoughts. She looked ahead to see Warren looking back at her, she forgot she was in Biology. The day was passing by too quickly.

"Oh uhm, yes. I am alright." She smiled a very unconvincing fake smile, Warren raised an eyebrow and gave her a look she couldn't quite recognize.

"Whatever." he sighed before turning around to face the board.

She wasn't alright, actually she was kind of hungry. Though it was chewy and bloody, she kind of missed eating fresh deer meat. She missed running as fast as she could through the snow and not worry if anyone could see her or not. She hated being cooped up in this place all the time. She was starting to feel like one of Layla's pet cats. She needed to run, to jump and to play. Get her mind off of things, she hated how difficult it was to be human. She inwardly thanked the gods when the bell rang, signalling lunch. She made her way into the hallway as people rushed into the lunchroom. She couldn't help but study them, they were like ants running around all crazily and organized.

She watched as groups of girls huddled at their lockers to put on makeup in the mirrors, she noticed a nerdy guy with shaggy hair turn invisible when a pretty girl walked past him. Then she noticed Warren walk down a separate hallway with his usual broody stride, everyone around him seemed to put their heads down, not make eye contact or avoid him in any way possible.

"So there I was man, cherry slurpie in one hand and a chili cheese dog in the other when this guy said: You can get the Doritos for half price! I was like, dude." Reece said with excitement written all over her face.

"I don't get it." Zack tilted his head slightly.

"I don't think she gets it." Magenta snorted, Reece stuck her tongue out at her dark clothed friend and smiled when Layla sat at their lunch table.

"How's it hoppin', SavetheWhales?"

"Don't call me that." Layla sighed at the sandy blonde surfer.

"Brah, I feel whales. I know how they do, it's hard when cats are harpoonin' you all day. Bam, Bamm, BAMMMM." She motioned her hands into a gun and pretended to shoot at people in the cafeteria.

"Where's Sakari?" Will asked as he took a seat next to his girlfriend.

"Not sure, usually she's here as soon as the bell rings so she can get extra pudding." Layla replied, she eyed around the large room but could not find her white haired friend. "Ah, there she is." Layla grinned when she noticed Sakari enter the cafeteria from the back doors, the girl made her way over to the table and sat down.

"Can I ask you guys a question?" She asked immediately.

"Ofcourse."

"Sure."

"What is it?"

"Why do people not like Warren?" Sakari asked quietly, everyone at the table looked around at eachother almost debating on who would explain it to the girl. "Well..." Layla cleared her throat slightly. "Warren's father is Barron Battle, who is a super villain." She explained.

"My father put Warren's father in jail." Will added looking down at the table.

"But, why do people not like Warren?" Sakari asked, she didn't quite understand.

"People assume because his dad is a super villain, that he himself will become a villain." Ethan helped.

"Warren isn't a villain." Sakari stated, she didn't like that people avoided him. She knew he wasn't a bad guy, he wasn't anything like Jafar from Aladdin. Why couldn't people see that? Who could be scared of Warren, he wasn't scary.

"No he isn't, but anyone who knows that Battle is his father thinks that he will become just like him." Magenta said taking a sip of her juice.

"Are they stupid." Sakari said furrowing her brows.

"Yes," Reece snorted. "This whole place is stupid, man."

"Deep," Zack patted her on the back and nodded.

After the last bell rang, everyone in the school eagerly made their way towards the buses. Sakari gripped her bag as she entered the bus, she took her time in the building causing the seats to fill up quickly. She noticed Warren sitting alone at the very back, she made her way to the back and took a seat next to the dark-haired pyro. She didn't say a word to him, she didn't even make eye contact. The bus took off flying into the bright sky and towards the city.

"So what's eating you?" Warren asked looking ahead, she raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"Eating me? I didn't think something could eat me. I think the cougar tried once but I scared her away." She replied.

"I mean what's wrong. You've been acting weird all day."

"I miss home." She replied with a sigh. He looked at her and nodded. "I thought you loved it here?" He asked, Sakari looked and him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I do love it here. I worry for the humans, the tribe. I look after them. I scare away the wolves and the bears. What if they're hurt? Or hungry?" She muttered, she wouldn't look at him while she spoke.

"I'm sure they survived for a long time without you and they can do it now." He reassured. "You're just homesick."

"My home does not cough or throw up. I don't think so anyway..."

Warren laughed softly and grinned, causing Sakari to grin back not quite sure why. "Homesick means you really miss your home and you feel really sad or angry because of it." He explained.

"Oh, so I'm homesick?" She asked.

"Probably, I'm not a doctor so I can't really tell." He replied grinning as the bus landed, she smiled and studied his face. She always thought humans were the funniest looking creatures, with the hair that only grows on their head and the strange flat faces. How they only walk on their hind legs and how they use their front legs for picking things up. Or the way they wore fur from other creatures because they couldn't grow it themselves. Warren was different, he wasn't strange looking at all. He had long dark brown hair and big brown eyes, he was pretty. She remembered her conversation with the gang at lunch and immediately thought of how stupid people were for avoiding him.

"You're not a bad guy." She said softly. He immediately looked at her with wide eyes, she smiled and continued. "You're beautiful."