• "Hey, cat. Do you need something?" Kouga asked after a minute or two. I tilted my head as if not understanding what he had just asked me. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." I slowly got up and started walking towards him slowly until I was right in front of him. For some reason I was not afraid of him like I always was to everyone else when I am in this form. I have no clue what was wrong with me. He gently picked me up and held me close to his face looking at me. "You have the brightest eyes I have ever seen cat. If only you were human. I bet you would be beautiful." He then sighed. "And it seems that you belong to someone also." He said looking at the scarf and bow I still had on. "Well I better get going. Unless, have you happened to see a brown wolf around?" I knew that he must have been talking about Star so I meowed in response to his question. "But of course, you’re only a cat after all." He said placing me on the ground and starting to walk away. I started walking fast so as to catch up to him and once I did I stopped right in front of him and meowed. It gets tiring having to meow all the time to get some ones attention. He stopped and looked down at me. I walked in the direction to where me and my group were staying for the night. I stopped and turned around to look at him to see if he was following me. I think he knew what I wanted because he started towards me. I led him straight into the forest with him walking right behind me. I knew that it would take at least an hour or more to get back if we kept going at this pace. I sped up a bit and Kouga, noticing that I was going a bit faster, sped up also, still keeping right behind me. I wondered how long I could keep this going...so every minute or so I would speed up a bit and Kouga would be right at my tail, literally. After awhile I decided to just run at full speed to where we were going. Kouga, just as I thought, was still right behind me. I wonder if he could pass me up if it was not for the fact that he was following me. That is highly possible since I cannot go at my full speed in this form. I can’t wait until I turn back in to my demon form and then ask him to a race. We soon came to the outside of our encampment so I slowed down. I could hear Shadow starting to growl at the unfamiliar scent until he realized it was Kouga's scent he was smelling. When we moved into the clearing Shadow seemed to relax and started walking towards me. I did the same and started walking towards him. Once we reached each other he started nuzzling me. I could feel Kouga staring at us in bewilderment. I guess it’s not every day you see a wolf and a cat getting along together. Berry started to awaken from her sleep and looked around. "Who’s that Gift?" She asked pointing at Kouga. Well, since I could not tell her myself, I looked over towards Kouga, tilting my head to the side a bit, hoping he would tell her himself. "Hello there. My name is Kouga. I assume it is your cat that I followed here." "Hi Kouga! We’ve been trying to find you for awhile!" Berry said happily. Kouga looked around confused. "Who would 'We' be?" He asked. "Me (my name is Berry by the way), Shadow (The black wolf that takes care of me), Gift (my mommy)," At this my tail gave a twitch. Mommy? Why would she call me this? I would have to remember to ask her later on when I am able to talk. "And lastly," she continued, "we have star who has been looking for you since she got lost." At this Star stepped forward to greet Kouga. "Star! I'm so relieved to have found you so quickly this time! I think this is the fastest yet!" He said smiling widely. Star ran up to him as he crouched down to pet her. They looked so ecstatic to see each other that I was filled with joy myself. This, unfortunately, did not last too long. A demon surged out of some nearby trees, unnoticed by any of us, and was rushing straight for Kouga. What makes matters worse is that separating them was me. By the time everyone noticed this demon it was too late for anyone to stop him. He was still rushing towards Kouga and saw me on the ground. I hissed at him and he only laughed. He lifted one of his huge arms and flicked me at a tree as if I were nothing but a bug. I felt a large amount of pain flow throughout my entire body and I could feel myself slowly losing consciousness. I tried to get up but only fell right back down. "No! Mommy!" I heard Berry cry out and try to go to me. "Hold on a second there. That demon will hurt your too if you’re not careful. Let me get rid of this hideous demon , then we can tend to Gift." He said, running to meet the demon head on. I hope that he doesn’t get hurt were my last thoughts as everything turned pitch black.


    ~Kouga's Point Of View~


    Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gift slump down even more in the grass where she lay. She must have just passed out since I could still hear her breathing. This angered me. The poor cat didn't even do anything. Demons like this do not deserve to live, I thought as I ran towards the demon. "Give me the Jewel Shards!" It said in a horrible voice. Nor do they deserve to be talked to. I unsheathed my sword right before I got to him and sliced him in half horizontally with one attack. No wonder it wanted the shards. It was too weak to fight. As soon as the demon hit the ground we all rushed to Gift. The bear demon, Berry if I remember correctly, was crying her eyes out before we even reached Gift yet, I could see why she would act like that. The demon had thrown Gift so hard that it had even made a dent in the tree. I was the first one to reach Gift and was relieved to find her alright for the most part. This is a very strong cat. Berry, not noticing that Gift was still alive, kept on crying. I can’t say I blame her. She is still only a cub and her senses are still not as good as they will get as she grows older. "Berry, Berry come here and look at this." I told her. She tried to stifle her crying and started to walk towards us. "Look at your cat Berry." She looked and then saw Gift breath in then out slowly. When she saw that Gift was alive she gasped. "She's alive! She's alive! Gift's alive!!!" She yelled and happily danced around completely forgetting that she was crying just a few seconds ago. "Yes, but she needs to rest and my cave is not too far away from this place. I could take her there right now. The thing is, I would not want to lose Star again so I want you two to follow my scent until you reach my cave. Once there, tell my wolves that you are there to see me. That is if you will let me take her with me." I saw Shadow nod at Berry and she in turn answered me. "Shadow says it is okay for you to take her. Please take good care of mommy!" "Don’t worry about Gift, no harm shall come to her." I say, gently picking Gift up from the ground with care and then disappearing in a twister of green speed.


    ~A few minutes later, Still Kouga’s P.O.V~

    It was already very dark outside and this night had tired me out. First all the searching for Star and then killing that demon. I'm lucky it was weak. I slow down to a walk since I'm right outside my cave. My wolves came out to greet me along with Ginta and Hakkaku. The wolves started drooling once they smelled Gift. "You are not to eat this cat, okay?" I say pushing past them in to the cave. "Kouga? How is it that you go out looking for a wolf and yet you come back with a cat?" Asked Ginta following me. "This cat led me to Star and got hurt. I brought her here to recover. I'm going to go to bed now. Don’t bother me anymore. There should be some visitors soon. Make sure no harm comes to them." I say, going to my spot deep within the cave. I gently placed Gift on my cot and then sat down beside her. I got some bandages to wrap up her front right paw because it seemed to be badly injured. I then laid down beside her and quickly fell asleep.


    ~Gift's Point of View~


    I started to rouse from my sleep. There were a lot more different smells here then before I had passed out. I slowly open my eyes and let them adjust to the bit of moonlight that reached the inside of the cave. It looked like the sun was about ready to come up. I knew that this cave was full of Wolves because I could smell them and faintly see their bodies lying on the ground. I also knew that Kouga must have been the one who brought me here. I could tell because his face, for some strange reason, was right in front of mine. His arm was tightly wrapped around my little body. Wait a moment...little body...sun about to rise...I was going to change back soon!! I needed to get out of there, now! I quickly squeezed out from the cot and Kouga's arm, racing to reach the outside of the cave when...I fell flat on my face. That was when I noticed the sudden surge of pain in my broken paw. I would never make it outside in time if I was limping. I looked around and saw a mother wolf with her pups staring right at me. Since the sun was about to come up I now had some of my powers back, I could talk to animals again. I had to act fast. "Excuse me. Could you please do me a favor and carry me outside?" "Of course, dear." She replied. She got up and walked towards me. She gently picked me up by the scruff of my neck, as if I were one of her pups, and carried me out a lot quicker then I could have gone myself. Once outside I could hear a waterfall. I asked her if she could take me there and she did. Once we got there I thanked her and she went back to the cave. Perfect timing, the morning sun was just starting to rise. I felt the change upon me slowly transforming all the bones and muscles in my body. Once I was back to my normal self, I stretched out a bit and I could tell that my arm was definitely broken. I will have to get some help from Berry. I step in to the cold water and clean myself up. I hear noise coming from the forest and turn to look. I see shadow with Berry on his back, she was asleep of course, holding my clothes. I guess it was a long walk. I thank him and take my clothes. Then he walks over to a tree and slides Berry off of him slowly. I watched as he transformed in to a form as small as Kilala and fell asleep right next to Berry. He must be very tired. I quickly got dressed and started walking towards them. That’s when the whole cave seemed to come alive with movement. First came Kouga rushing towards us with two other wolf demons and their wolf pack. They all stood between me and Berry and Shadow. "A cat demon. What are you doing in our territory?" Kouga asked sounding angry, but blushing a bit. I wonder why. "I would tell you but I am not too sure of that myself." "What do you mean?" He asked confused. "I mean that I was brought here by someone." "Couldn't you have fought them off?" "I suppose that I was too weak..." I reply, bending down to scratch one of the wolves behind the ears with my good hand. "I can see that. What happened to your arm?" This he asked as he stared with a sort of glare at his wolf for taking a liking to me. "Always so many questions. I was attacked by a demon." I answered, petting the other wolves that were starting to surround me, wanting attention also. "Is he the one that brought you here?" "No. The demon that brought me here was handsome, the thing that attacked me was hideously ugly." I say staring up at him. I saw his face sadden a bit. It pained me for some reason to see him upset but it’s a good thing that he doesn’t know that I was the cat. Not many know that I'm a half demon and I like to keep it that way. That was when I noticed a tiny sized Shadow pushing his way through the other wolves trying to get to me. I picked him up gently and placed him on my shoulder, where he laid down to watch all of the commotion. "I need to go now. Maybe I will see you all again." I say standing up and making my way towards Berry again. And again my way was blocked by Kouga. "Why do you keep trying to get to Berry?" He asked me. "Because we should be on our way." "I don’t think she would want to go with you. She is just waiting for her mother, Gift." It must bother him that he believes that Berry thinks a cat is her mother. I could see it in his face. "And what if this 'Gift' has left her here alone? What will you do then?" "Take care of her of course. I would not leave her out here by herself." He replied. "Fine, have it your way. Take good care of her then." I say and start to walk away. I would come back for Berry later on.


    -Meanwhile-


    Star, just coming out of the forest after hunting for food, saw Gift walking away and leaving Berry asleep on the ground. Not wanting Berry to be sad from being left behind, she walked up to her and licked Berry's face to awaken her. Giggling Berry woke up and looked around. She saw lots of strangers looking at someone who was walking away from them. Upon noticing who it was she yelled out, "Mommy!!" Everyone turned to look at Berry interested in what was going on. Kouga more than anyone else.