Welcome Home (NJ)

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Krul motioned for her to follow him, once back outside he opened her door for her and waited till she got in. he wasn’t ignoring the questions she was asking just her first about the body armor was a rough subject for himand the second was just a hunch, starting the car he put it in gear and began to drive out away from his unfinished property. Heading into town he decided to answer her questions. “we are going to my apartment. If the feral has been tracking me she would go there where I would not be expecting her.” he looked over at her thinking she looked beautiful in the sunset. He continued “granted it is just a hunch, but when I get a hunch it normally comes true.” they drove in silence for a couple blocks when he finally said, “the body armor was made for someone much smaller, she was my partner.” “she was killed while on duty, a day that I took off to let Lok hunt. I keep thinking if only I had been there she would not have been killed.”

He continued to drive in silence, he just spoke about something he has not spoken of in years. And he was not looking forward to touching the subject again. They finally arrived at their destination, Lok was becoming restless. He learned over and whispered to Rose that she should take off all her jewelry and leave her phone in that car. He also said “you know you really should teach me how to do that thing where Lok spoke to Keeper silently. And how the feral spoke to me, if we end up making this a habit it could be useful.”

Directing her around the back and told her to wait 2 minutes before entering he unlocked the front door and entered. He was right , as soon as he entered the house he could smell the feral, Lok’s senses increasing his own. He did not draw his gun or the stun gun, he wanted to make the feral believe she had the advantage. He had been in the house for less then a minute when the feral moved out of the shadows in the kitchen. This worked perfectly for their plan as the back door entered into the kitchen he just needed to get the beast out of the kitchen so she would not hear the door open. Backing up heading into the living room Krul found the remote for his stereo and hit the button. The stereo blared the feral was distracted by the noise and didn’t hear rose enter the apartment. Krul again hit the button and the music shut off. The feral began advancing on him sniffing and breathing heavily. She was looking him up and down as though trying to decide what kind of danger he would pose. Krul heard a little noise from the direction of the kitchen, and so had the beast. Straightening up she began sniffing more loudly. She said in Krul's mind, someone else is here. It was a statement not a question, trying to get her attention back on him. Krul reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket knife. Slowly he opened it and reaches up under his body armor. Finding what he was looking for Krul popped half his stitches and forcefully opened his wound.

His grunt at the pain, and the scent of fresh blood achieved what it was meant to. He had the beast’s attention again. The beast crouched down seemingly ready to strike when Krul saw a swift movement from the kitchen and heard the clicking of the stun gun over the feral’s howling. The beast was not yet beaten, so Krul drew his stun gun out and fired on the beast as well. Rose didn’t even have to discharge her gun again. The beast was unconscious, Krul acted quickly not sure how long the beast would be out. Drawing the Diprivan and syringe out of his pocket he filled the syringe and injected enough anesthesia to keep the beast out for several hours. Looking over at Rose he said “be ready to shock again just incase.” “By the way nice work.” Once he was sure the anesthesia was working they quickly packed up and loaded the feral into his car. He asked Rose to drive so he could keep an eye on the beast.

[Maira]

With everything that happened in the apartment with the Feral, Rose forgot about where Krul said her body armor came from until they were driving back to his farm. She only remembered then because it was poking at her somewhat uncomfortably as she drove.

Every now and then as she drove, Rose looked over her shoulder at the Feral. Each time she looked, it appeared to her that the creature was looking more and more human. As far as she knew, Ferals only reverted to their human form in death. If this one was reverting, however slowly, then her hunch about the creature not being completely lost was likely true.

Rose wasn't sure what to say in a situation like this and so she drove the car in silence, turning when she was told to turn and occaisionally glancing over her shoulder. So many thoughts were running through her head that when Krul instructed her to turn off onto the gravel drive that led to his barn, she was a bit surprised they had arrived so soon. When she had parked the car in the same place as before and she looked over her shoulder one last time before getting out, Rose said softly, "You are going to want to get her some clothes." The feral was nearly human now, only a fine layer of fur was left covering a very womanly figure.

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Giving Rose directions here and there Krul kept his eyes on the feral. To his surprise it seemed to be turning human again. Perhaps the anesthesia was the reason, she could not keep the hybrid form because she was under heave anesthesia. Rose was silent the whole way back to Krul’s property. Finally pulling up to the barn she shut off the engine, and got out. When Krul got out Rose said "You are going to want to get her some clothes." Krul agreed but said “I don’t have anything her size and all my clothes are back at my apartment. She will have to make due with a blanket till we can get her some clothing.” He reached into the back seat and picked up the beast, now mostly human. When he pulled her into his arms, standing upright he winced and almost dropped her. He forgot that he had opened his stitches back at the apartment. Walking as swiftly as he could he made his way into the bunker under the barn. Setting the unconscious woman down in the center he grabbed up the shackles and attached on end to the iron peg he threaded into the outlet in the floor and locked the other end around one of her legs. He made sure that is was on loosely but secure. When she woke up she might revert to hybrid form again and try to escape.

After securing her to the floor he opened up another chest and pulled out a clean blanket spreading it on the floor he wrapped her unconscious body in the blanket. Standing up again he became very light headed. Placing his hand on his right side he felt he was soaked in his own blood. Holding his side he backed up against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. Looking up at rose he told her “I am going to need you to stitch me back up.” everything you will need is in the cabinet I took the drugs out of before. Looking down at the woman chained to the floor he nodded in her direction saying “she will likely be out for a couple more hours. So we will have time to run out and get food , water, and clothes. We might be here for a few days.”

[Maira]

Rose watched as Krul hefted the unconcious feral out of the car and stagger. Worried, she stepped in closer to him and watched him for any further sign of weakness as he carried the feral into the barn and down into his fallout shelter.

Once he had the Feral, now completely human, secured Rose descended on Krul and was about to ask him what was wrong when he told her she'd need to stich him back up. Rose blinked in confusion. Only then did she smell his blood and she took a step back shaking her head slightly. "I can't give you stitches Krul, I hate needles and for all my maternal instincts i can't sew worth a damn either. I'd hurt you more than help you if you had me do it," she said, more than a little panicked by the prospect.

When he said they would be running out to get food and water and clothes Rose added sweetly, "And we can take you to get stitched back up." Her smile was encouraging but it faltered when he just looked at her. He was serious, he really wanted her to do it. Giving a groan, Rose gave in and walked over to rummage through the cabinet that Krul had taken the tranquilizer out of earlier.

It didn't take her long to find what she knew she would need to fix Krul's wound but while she was looking for it she had seen some pretty odd things. The only one she asked about though was the tranquilizer, "So why on earth do you, as a detective, have a stash of animal tranquilizer? Maybe if you worked for animal control I'd understand but that's a little strange for a cop to have..."

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Krul was weary from the loss of so much blood but he smiled when she asked why he had the tranquilizers, he looked at her and said “well the local anesthesia is for when Lok is running free we sometimes get small wounds and it is easier for me to stitch myself up rather then explain where some of the injuries come from, obviously it is a bit hard to do some of the hard to reach spots.” “my old partner used to help there, she didn’t ask too many questions.” as he got up and sat on a stool so she could stitch his side back up he continued “and the animal tranqs are for situations similar to this , sometimes I have come across what I thought to be a wild animal. I would capture it and relocate it rather then kill the beast.” he said then laughed and continued “imagine what the other cops thought when the animal responsible for murders would just up and vanish.”


As Rose began to clean the wound, Krul tried to explain what to do, “basically you have to just make sure the wound is closed. I would go to the hospital to have them rest itch me, but I cant lose any more blood.”
Krul held still the best he could as she began to start working. He was not sure if she chose not to use a local anesthetic or if she didn’t use enough but it hurt, a lot. When she was done he stood up and kissed her softly on the lips and thanked her. Then said they had better get going to pick up supplies or the beast would wake without them there and panic. He suggested that she drive since he was not too alert at the moment anyway.

They first drove over to Krul’s apartment again and this time he grabbed some clothes for himself and a pair of old sweat pants and a pull over hooded sweat shirt. They would be big for the woman but at least she would be comfortable and covered. He grabbed up a couple six packs of bottled water. And some food that didn’t need to be cooked in more then a microwave. Heading back out to the car he suggested that rose pack some clothes too if she planned on staying the weekend with him and the feral. If not she was welcome to take his car.

[Maira]

Rose listened to Krul talk as she cleaned his wound and then stiched him up. Only as she got more comfortable with actually sticking a needle and thread through his skin did she realize she had forgotten the local anesthetic. That is also about the time she noticed him flinch every time she started a new stitch.

When she was done, Rose was about to apologize for forgetting the anesthetic when Krul kissed her softly on the lips. Instead of saying anything, as whatever she was about to say flew out of her mind, Rose just smiled at him when he finally pulled away from the kiss. She was easily led back out of the shelter up to the car and she willingly climbed into the driver seat.

By now, she was getting a feeling for just where to go and it only took minimal directions from Krul for her to get back to the city and his apartment. She went in with him and waited as he grabbed up some clothes both for himself and for the feral and some food.

Once he had everything he wanted gathered, Rose helped him carry his stuff out to the car at which point he suggested she could go get stuff too if she wanted to stay the weekend. Curious as she was about the Feral, Rose had to think a little bit about the offer. As much as she liked him, as much as she trusted Keeper's judgement Rose was a little leery with the whole concept. Not to mention if her brothers (her twin or any of the others) found out she spent the weekend with a guy she barely knew she'd never hear the end of it. Especially considering the circumstances.

In the end though, Rose decided to swing the car by her apartment she shared with Brian. If he wasn't home she'd run in and get some clothes, if he was... Well she'd have to make that decision then. "I'll stay," she told Krul as she pulled up in front of her apartment, "but I will need to grab some files to work on sometime or other this weekend." She looked around and sighed with relief to see that Brian's car wasn't there and as he wouldn't recognize Krul's car she said, "You stay here and rest, I'll be out in a few minutes."

It wasn't long before Rose was running down the steps of the apartment and she nearly bumped into Brian. The look he gave her when he saw her carrying a duffle bag stuffed full of clothes was scathing. Rose flinched and bolted down the last few stairs. "Rose!" he called after her but she was running to Krul's car and in the driver side door before he could catch her. Flipping the lock she pulled away from the curb and hoped her brother wouldn't skin her alive when she came home on Monday.

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As Rose drove away from Krul’s apartment, he could tell she was fighting a battle within herself. But she finally said she would stay, and drove over to her own place. Telling him to stay in the car as she went in to pack some stuff. Krul had some time to think. He liked Rose a lot. Wanted to get to know everything there was to know about her. A quiet weekend interrogating the feral would give him enough time to talk with her. He had already kissed her several times, the first out of pure frustration, the second because he enjoyed the first. And the third time because he wanted to thank her more then words could have expressed. But he did feel he was pushing himself on her and that was not him. So he made up his mind not to kiss her again until she came to him. But all things considered at least with the forested land he owned he might persuade her to let Keeper out for a bit, he was dying to see her leopard form.

Somewhere lost in his thoughts Krul noticed a car pull up. Brian had gotten out and made his way to their place. Krul didn’t have the energy to duck down in the seat, so he was sure that Brian had seen him. Just as Rose exited the apartment, Brian made to stop Rose but she brushed passed him. He only had time to Yell “Rose” before she was in the car had the door locked and backed the car out. Krul smiled to himself. At least she trusted him enough not to involve anyone else.

Once back at the underground bunker, they unloaded the car and went in. they were just getting settled when the feral began to regain consciousness. Once she looked around and saw the two watching her. She made to move away from them. Krul stood up and grabbed one of the stun guns, he said to her “if you make any attempt to escape or change form. I will have to knock you back out.” he watched as her situation hit her. “we only want to ask some questions, and I would prefer to do them without drugging you. Understand?” he went and pulled one of the water bottles out of the small fridge turned to her as she said in a raspy whisper “yes”. he opened the water bottle and handed it to her telling her to drink it slowly. He looked at her and said, “when we are satisfied with your answers, we will be turning you over to the local Pard. For what ever form of justice they think you deserve.” looking at her she didn’t even flinch with that information she just kept on drinking the water. He asked her if she was hungry, she shook her head no. so he went on to begin the interrogation. “First off, I want to know who you are. And why you have been tracking me.” she looked up at Krul and smiled, she said. “My name is Khyber, I have been tracking you because when I was young I lost something dear to me.” She saw the confused look on Krul’s face and took the chance to look over at Rose. “who are you?” she asked Rose, “I have never seen you before.” she went on before Rose could say anything. “what business do you have with me?”

[Maira]

Rose helped Krul into the shelter with all the stuff they had gathered from both their places. They were nearly settled when Rose heard a noise from over where the Feral was chained up. Turning her head in that direction, Rose saw that the woman was awake and scooting away from the pair of them.

Rose flinched as Krul got the stun gun again but relaxed again when he got out a bottle of water and handed it to the woman. They hadn't had a chance to get the clothes on her so she was still wrapped up in the blanket. Rose listened as Krul explained what was going to happen, to the Feral. The woman didn't flinch at the mention of Pard justice and that worried Rose a little bit. Either the woman knew what it was and that she would likely be allowed to live, or she had no idea and didn't care.

The words that the woman spoke when Krul asked why she had been tracking him obviously confused Krul but Rose caught the meaning rather quickly. Looking between the man and the woman Rose could deffinately see the similarities between them. The eyes were the same, so were the high cheekbones, among other things. How could Krul not tell?

After those words, the Feral's eyes and attention snapped onto Rose and she couldn't help but flinch. As the woman shot off questions at her, Rose gathered her wits and answered, "My name is Rose and I am a member of the local Pard into whose territory you have stumbled. I am a Mediator, if you know what that is, if you don't just consider me a go between. I am here on your behalf, I don't want you to die. Considering you have killed two adults and maimed two childre, likely infecting those children against their will, you have a lot to answer for."

Now Rose went over to the small fridge and took out a bottle of water for herself. The woman's eyes constantly on her like they were, for some reason made her thirsty. It had to be her nerves. After she had taken a sip of water, Rose looked at Krul who still had that confused look on his face. Deciding she may as well get it out in the open for his sake Rose turned back to the Feral and asked bluntly, "If you are his mother, like you claim, then why did you hurt him like you did? Last I knew a mother's love for their child did not involve slashing him to shreds the first chance she gets." Rose knew she could be stirring things up more than she needed but where gentleness almost always worked to get kids to spill their thoughts, insults typically worked with none too stable adults.

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Rose was explaining who she was then went to get a bottle of water for herself. When she came back she said something to the feral that brought tears to Krul’s eyes. He had been searching his whole life for a clue to his past, and here it was staring Rose down as if she was an obstacle to overcome in order to regain her son. Khyber answered Rose calmly. “He shifted and was hunting. Not knowing who I was he would have attacked openly, I was merely defending myself.” looking up at Krul she said “how many times, have I seen you take down our own kind in the same manner. Then relocate them, you treated them like animals not giving them a chance to defend themselves.” she bowed her head slightly and said to him “unless you didn’t know they were like you? I still didn’t want to have the same thing happen to me. Wake up in a strange place unable to track you again.”

Krul looked over at Rose and then down at Khyber saying “and I am just supposed to believe you? I am supposed to forget everything you have done. Why didn’t you just approach me instead of acting like a murderous animal.” Krul was getting angry now. This was not the way he wanted to come face to face with his past. Keeping his silence for now he began pacing the width of the bunker when Khyber spoke. “I only injured you to show you I had the power to kill you but didn’t. but you and your beast were much stronger then I had thought” Krul was not sure how much he could take before completely spazzing he picked up the shirt and threw it at Khyber. Telling her to put it on then grabbing up the sweat pants he put her free leg into the pants then grabbed the spare set of shackles.

Securing the partially dressed leg he unlocked her other leg to let her finish getting dressed. With that he looked quickly at Rose but she was busy watching Khyber. So he just walked out of the bunker, seemingly to give Khyber some privacy. That was not the case he needed to be alone. Though he was sure Rose would not be overly long in looking for him. He was not going to make it easy. Stripping off his clothes just before the exit to the barn he shifted and swiftly made for the forested land on his property. He needed to release some tension and Lok was just the outlet. As Lok entered the woods, Krul was thinking things over. His mother was a murderer, there was no way around it. He was sorely tempted to just turn her over to the Pard and wash his hands of her.

Moments after Krul stormed out of the Bunker, Khyber looked Rose over again before she said "you are very pretty, as I said I have never seen you before."
Khyber asked the question she had been itching too since she first noticed Rose, but couldn't while Krul was in the bunker. "What are you to my son? Are you his mate, or are you truely only here on my behalf to protect me from my own son?"

[Maira]

Rose could hear the pain in Krul's voice as he confronted Khyber and she couldn't help but feel guilty. He would have figured it out eventually but she had hoped that if she had gotten the fact that the Feral was his mother out in the open now it might not be so bad as finding out later.

After mother and son exchanged a few none-to-pleasant words, Rose watched as Krul threw the sweatshirt at the woman and then bodily forced her into the sweatpants. She wanted to growl at him and tell him he was being a brute but she didn't. To keep from glaring at him, Rose kept her eyes focussed on Khyber trying to read the other woman's emotions on her face.

Once Krul had left the bunker, leaving the two women alone together, Rose was startled when Khyber spoke to her. It wasn't so much the fact that Khyber was speaking to her that startled to Rose so much as just what she said and asked. When Khyber asked just what Rose was to Krul, Rose blinked and swallowed with confusion before finally gathering her thoughts enough to speak.

Clearing her throat of the lump that was suddenly lodged there, Rose answered softly, "Your son brought in one of your victims yesterday to where I work, the Children and Families department of social services. He seemed strangely baffled by me so I sort of tricked him into letting slip about his leopard side. Since then, I've been telling him about his heritage and he's been helping me with the cases you've caused." Realizing she was getting angry, Rose took a moment to take a drink of water before continuing. "As for why I'm here, I wouldn't call your son my mate, after all we just met, but I'm not here to protect you from him either. He's not the one who's territory you have violated, he's not the one you have put at risk of exposing. My part calls this city and the surrounding area home and your actions could expose us all and get us all killed. Typical policy is to kill a Feral no questions asked, when Kryl told my pard's leaders that you had communicated with him though I had a hunch you weren't fully Feral and I wanted to make sure you didn't get killed before we knew for sure."

To keep herself from getting any angrier, Rose started to pace. She didn't want to leave Khyber alone in the shelter, not now that she was actually acting normal, it wouldn't be kind. At times Rose had a very strange sense of justice... While she wanted to kill the woman sitting shackled before her for killing Nathan's parents and for wounding him and the little girl in the hospital she also wanted to make sure that she wasn't lonely as that was likely what caused her to go Feral in the first place. Spending too much time with only oneself and the beast could be dangerous.

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As Krul was letting Lok free the only thing he could think of was this beast claiming to be his mother. He could not be completely sure without some DNA tests. But no matter what the answer was he decided that if this was his past , he wanted nothing to do with it. He would turn her over to the Pard. Let them sort it out. But he did need to find a Doctor who could perform the tests, no questions asked. And that was not likely to be an easy thing to accomplish. Heading back to the bunker he had to ask Rose if one of the Pard was a doctor. If not he would have to take some of her blood and some of his to the forensics lab see if they were a match. That would likely be the best course. So instead of asking Rose about a Pard doctor he set back to persuade Khyber to give him some of her blood. And if he failed he would just take it. He had to know.

Re-entering the barn he caught a scent he was not familiar with, though since most of his land had wild life on it he did not think much about it. Quickly shifting back he got dressed and punched in the code to unlock the shelter. Entering the shelter he looked at rose then down at Khyber. Crossing over to the medicine cabinet he pulled out a syringe made his way swiftly to Khyber and grabbed her by the hair, tilting her face up to look at him. He fiercely said to her “I need some of your blood, are you going to give me some or do I take it from you” he looked over at Rose when he finished speaking and saw a look of shock and fear in her eyes. This was not the man he wanted to be. Sighing and adjusting himself a bit he looked at Khyber and she nodded permission. He drew her blood then drawing some of his own he capped off the two test tubes and told Rose “ I will be gone for a couple hours, you are welcome to come with me.” then looking down at Khyber he said “I apologize for the rough treatment. I am a bit over whelmed and that is no excuse.

[Maira]

Rose heard Krul re-entering the shelter and she turned to smile a welcome at him but he brushed past her without even seeing her. When he went to the cabinet he kept all the medicines in and pulled out two needles, Rose began to worry. What had gotten into his head? What was he going to do?

Her questions were answered in no time as Krul rushed at Khyber and grabbed her roughly by the hair, tilting her head back and demanding some of her blood. When Krul looked up at Rose, the only reason shock and fear were showing on her face was because the rage hadn't had a chance to register yet. As he drew blood from his mother though, Rose's temper surged, she didn't care if Khyber had given him permission or not.

When he was finally done, and told Rose he'd be gone for a couple hours and said she could come with him if she wanted she flinched. Was he serious? Then, hearing him apologize to Khyber for the rough treatment, Rose glowered at him. What right did he think he had treating the woman that way? If she had still been acting Feral, Rose could understand why he'd be acting the way he was. She wasn't though.

"You're damn right its no excuse!" Rose growled to Krul. "Even the Pard isn't that cruel if there's any chance of helping someone keep from going Feral. As much as I hate the fact she killed people and hurt people, she is not completely Feral and deserves a chance." Giving up on any sort of control of her mouth, Rose let it run. "I don't know just why you want Khyber's blood but I'm sure I can guess. Instead of being a brute about it you could have asked me if I knew anybody that could test for DNA. Considering the Pard is as varied a population as this whole city I could have easily told you that we actually have three doctors in the Pard, and we're friends with many more, one of which does actually work in a genetics lab."

Rose never let herself get this worked up over anything, not even the really bad cases. Why was this getting to her so much? Without even having to think about it Rose knew exactly why, she wanted to like Krul. Not as just a friend, that would be easy, but as more. He had kissed her a few times and Rose had rather liked how it made her feel when he did. She had hoped that maybe, just maybe, she had finally found a man who would love her, and that she could love, the way her parents loved each other. With Krul acting the way he was, she was scared to let herself feel anything even remotely caring about him.

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Krul listened to Rose rant again. He did have it coming but the more she went on the more the anger boiled up in him. When he thought she was finished he turned to look at her and said loudly “what part of covert didn’t you understand when you demanded that you were coming with me? If we go to your Pard, anyone in your Pard. Then it gets back to your leaders that you went against their ruling. That we wasted their hunters time. Plain and simple you get into trouble, for going against your Alphas. I told you it would be dangerous. I didn’t just mean catching the feral.” he stopped for a minute then went on. “I did act roughly with her, but if she is my mother I have a bit more invested in this then you and your Pard , Rose. I have more lost emotions to deal with.” he turned around and started to the car when he stopped. And looked at her again.

“Rose, I like you. More then I should, I don’t like arguing with you and I don’t like it when you are angry with me. I just don’t know how to deal with everything I have been forced to deal with in the last 30 hours or so. First finding out I am not alone then finding out the murderous feral is my mother, and lastly my feelings for you.” he took a step forward and said again “you have given me a reason to want to stick around this time.” then he went the rest of the way to the car, unlocked the door and looked up at the sky. “I am sorry, Rose. You are welcome to come with me like I said. If you don’t want to come with me that’s fine but at least let me give you the combination to the lock on the shelter.”

[Maira]

Rose had to resist the urge to reach out and slap Krul as he talked about things he knew nothing about. Yes she'd get scolded from her Alphas, or at the very least her parents who were senior to her in the Pard, but she wouldn't get in near the trouble he assumed she would. In truth, the Pard would be glad that the Feral had been taken off the streets, that no more innocents would be lost to her. They would be a bit surprised to find out she wasn't completely Feral but they would be happy too. Like Rose, most didn't like killing if they didn't have to.

The thing that rankled the most was Krul's question about what part of covert she didn't understand. She hissed at him for that one, Keeper making her own anger known as well in that one action, but let the man keep talking.

When he was finished Rose put her hands on her hips and stared at him. He'd said some stupid things and he'd said some surprising things, all of which Rose felt the urge to comment on. Instead she just picked a few. "For starters, you don't understand Pard ways yet Krul so don't worry about me getting in trouble. If I was concerned about it overly much I wouldn't be here. Next, the whole covert thing was shot to Hell when I ran into my brother at the apartment. He knew I was coming with you and before I could shut him out of my mind I'm sure he gleaned some details I didn't want him to know. The fact the Pard isn't here is a testimony to how much they trust me, and you despite you being new. That or Brian, as much as I love him he's not always got the best judgment, for once didn't go running and spilling the beans."

Here Rose folded her arms under her breasts and smile softly at Krul and she continued, "As for the sweet part about liking me, well the feeling is mutual. At least I think it is. I've never been good at the whole dating thing so please forgive me if I'm rather oblivious at times."

Taking a breath, Rose looked at Khyber and smiled wryly at the shackled woman before saying to Krul, "As for all the stuff you've been forced to try and adjust to in the past two days, I admire you for doing as well as you have. I just wish you would give her a chance despite what she's done. The punishment she will recieve from the Pard will be more than sufficient, you need not worry about that, but if she were to loose you after finally finding you she would likely go completely Feral. If that happens the Pard will kill her, no mercy. She has already killed, they would not risk her doing so again."

The sad smile that tilted up the corners of Rose's mouth at those last words was directed at Khyber but it was in memory of her younger sister. Clearing her throat, Rose spoke softly, not really to anybody in particular though she knew who was in the room to hear her. She told how her sister had been 16 and had somehow managed to get herself pregnant. As tended to happen with pard, the pregnancy resulted in twins and the whole family had been so happy, despite her sister's age. The twins had been born a few weeks early but they seemed healthy enough. One night, Rose's sister went in to check on the babies and they were cuddled up with each other, dead in each other's arms. In an instant, Rose's sister had gone Feral and had gone on a rampage through their home. If the family hadn't been so big, and full of big males, Rose's younger sister may have done more damage than she had. As it was, she had manage to kill her own twin sister who had just tried to comfort the girl. Rose's father knew what had to be done, both for the good of his family and according to Pard law, and he killed his own youngest daughter. Loosing two daughters and two grandchildren in one night had been a huge blow to the family but it was unfortunately a part of Pard life at times.

When she finished talking, Rose stood in silence for a while, just looking at Khyber hoping that something she had said had comforted the woman in some way. Had let her know that she was not alone in her grief of loosing a child. She also hoped though that the woman realized just how much she had endangered herself with her actions, not that as a Feral she could really control them.

Finally, once her emotions were under control again, Rose turned and followed Krul out to his car and asked, "Can you see why it means so much to me to help her? Why I wish you would give her another chance? My sister was lost in an instant, she couldn't even communicate mentally with us, trust me we tried. Khyber may have lost control for periods of time but she sits before us as normal as you and I, speaking, asking questions, and looking at you longingly. She has been hunting for you for a long time and the loneliness, frustration, and everything else is what finally drove her Feral for a while. Now that you are here with her, she is slowly becoming whole again."

Rose, realizing she had been talking for quite a while, suddenly stopped and turned her gaze once more toward the shelter where Khyber was and then back to Krul. With a sigh and a shake of her head Rose said softly, "Whether I go or stay is up to Khyber, I don't want her to be alone again after all she has gone through."

[Deleted]

Listening to Rose recounting her past Krul felt two things. First sadness that she had gone through that. Second he wanted very much to prevent that from happening to his mother. But first he had to make sure that she was his mother. Not that he wouldn’t want to prevent anyone from going feral, after what Rose had said he knew it must be horrible. He said “well if Khyber wants you to stay , or you feel you need to stay with her. Then stay, but I need to get this DNA tested. I need to know without a shadow of a doubt that she is my mother. I need to know if I finally found my past.”

Getting into the car Krul started it and headed into town. The technician at the lab is a friend of his and should be able to give minimal results in a couple hours. Once he had the results confirmed and was heading back to his property he couldn’t help but think of Rose. Hoping she might one day forgive him for the way he has been acting. He had the results, she was his mother. And now nothing could change his mind of what he had to do. Parking his car in front of the barn again. He walked with purpose to the shelter. Punching in the combination to the lock he entered the shelter. Leaving the door open he walked to where Khyber was reached into his jacket. The side he kept his gun, and pulled out a key ring from the inside pocket. Kneeling down he unlocked her bindings, stood up and went to the small fridge.
“I cant keep you locked up, if you want to leave I wont stop you. But just keep in mind that the local Pard is looking for you.”

[Races The Night]

((Maira said I should introduce Diego into the Thread to stir things up Hope everything is in order))

The farm stead was located not far from the Leopard's forest home. Diego padded softly over the forest floor, keeping to the outskirts of the occupied buildings. The scents of animals and Weres alike roused Dex and made the hunger worse. Following the trail of his enemy had led him here and Diegow as concerned that his nemesis was about to strike again and fell another True-blooded. He could not allow that. The tiger's natural killing instincts rose and stretched his awareness out across the farm.

Hereadied his crossbow with another bolt, tipped with a apralysing formula, and checked several of the ammo clips in the hidden pockets of histrench coat. Several belts of small knives and stars were secreted away and easy to reach in battle. He was a walking weapons expert aswell as hand to hand combat ready.

Scouting the borders of the farm he could hear voices from within and trying to discern them became quite difficult. he edged closer with caution. He made it all the way up to the side of one of the buildings before a twig gave his position away. Cursing softly under his breath, Diego stepped back into the shadows, calling on the natural stealth ability of the tiger to hide him.

***

At the same time, Dayan was pulling up to the front of the farmstead in his truck after recieving word from pard members that a Feral had been taken in. Slamming the door shut behind him he announced his prescence, to anyone waiting inside the building. "Hello! It's Dayan, you wanted help?"

[Maira]

What Krul said all rang true to Rose and when she watched him drive away it was with a sad smile. Once his car pulled out of the gravel drive onto the road, Rose turned and made her way back to the shelter, the door was still ajar and she went in shutting the door behind her.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rose headed towards the small refrigerator that held the bottles of water. Rummaging around, she dug out some of the food that she and Krul had brought as well. Biting into one apple, Rose walked the other over to Khyber and handed it to the woman before taking a seat leaning against one of the walls. The two women ate in silence.

*****

Rose hadn't meant to fall asleep but the sound of the shelter door openeing woke her with a start. Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs Rose tensed until she caught Krul's scent on a breeze that came in the shelter door after him. Smiling, she rose up off the floor and watched, rather amazed, as Krul walked over to Khyber and unlocked her shackles.

When Krul told his mother she was free to go, Rose wanted to run over and kiss him. Instead she watched and waited for Khyber's reaction. When there wasn't one right away Rose spoke up, "Khyber, I don't want to hold you against your will either but with my Pard out looking for you it might be better if you went to them willingly. If you do that they'll get your story, if they have to hunt you they might kill you before they get the chance to find out what we did."

Before she could hear Khyber's response, Rose's cell phone rang from inside her purse which was still sitting by the stairs. Holding up her hand to stall the woman long enough, Rose ran to answer her phone.

When she hung up her phone, Rose was looking rather confused. Turning to Krul she asked, "You remember how I told you there are Seers among the Pard? Well that was one of them. He said he saw us capture the Feral, saw where we are, and that there is a Hunter coming for us. One of our other Pard members lives close, he called him and sent him here, he should be here until the rest show up to help us find the Hunter."

Just then, sound drifted down through the open shelter door. It was the sound of a truck door slamming and then a familiar voice shouting. Rose smiled and said, "That'd be Dayan, he's here to help." Turning, she ran up the stairs and out of the shelter and out of the barn. She came to a stop when she saw the familiar man looking around the empty farmyard. In a voice more relieved than she had thought there was a reason for, Rose said to Dayan, "I just got the call you were coming, good timing." When the wind shifted, she scented something that was not familiar. Looking around, she tried to see if she was just being paranoid or if there was somebody lurking in the shadows.

[Deleted]

(( Races, dont mind me. I am entirely enthused that someone else wants to play or is going to Rp with us under orders from herself. I am only playing to Krul's Solice and lack of knowledge of pard life.))

When Krul finished talking to Khyber he looked over at Rose, She looked happy. Just then her cell phone rang and Rose went to talk to the person on the other end. Rose hung up her cell and told Krul about the seer's visions. Then how someone was coming to his territory to help with a hunter. This annoyed Krul he had been alone all his life and the one thing that really bothered him was someone showing up in his territory uninvited. Though he thought he would try to be nice to this Dayan person he was incredibly annoyed that the Pard took it upon themselves to presume to send help. He looked around at the walls of the bunker. And laughed to himself. He could survive for days in here on just the little amount of food and water he brought, not to mention he had enough fire power to take over a small country. Hearing a vehicle pull up and a man’s voice float down to them. Krul watched as Rose took off outside to welcome the trespasser. She was after all part of this Pard and likely knew the person they sent over. But Krul was not part of the Pard and if this is how they represented themselves by assuming control he was not sure he would be part of the Pard if invited.

Hunter or not Krul hated anyone in his territory uninvited, and he would make it known. But first to deal with the known unwanted guest. Then if there was a second he and no one else would deal with it. Looking down at Khyber now that Rose was gone he said to her. “you need to stay here, don’t come out. I have just found you I will not lose you again.” with that he picked up a semi automatic high power assault riffle off the wall and strapped it to his back. Then grabbed up a double barrel shotgun and began loading shells in the shotgun. The riffle had ammo in its clip but he grabbed another clip off bench beneath where it hung. Checking to make sure that his 9 mm hand gun was loaded and ready he didn’t even bother putting on his jacket. The jacket would slow him down if he needed to draw his gun from the shoulder holster. He left the room but before closing the room he swiftly changed the combination to the push button lock on the door. He was not going to let anyone not even Rose take his mother if she didn’t want to go.

Resting the barrel of the shotgun on his shoulder Krul walked out of the barn to confront the new arrival. Just as he exited the Barn he sensed the same presence he did before there definitely was someone else there. Stopping and looking around he tried to focus his heightened senses to locate the person but he was having no luck. He could smell him and if he had to track the second one he could. Turning his attention back to Rose and the other man he continued walking toward them. Stopping ten yards from the truck he spoke loudly and clearly. “forgive me but you are trespassing. My name is Krul, and while you may be under the orders of your Pard. I am not. This is not Pard land, it is mine.” then looking at Rose he said “if this is the way your Pard operates I am not entirely sure I wish to be part of it. They may have every right to locate and take out ferals and hunters in their territory but not on mine. If Khyber wishes to face the Pard she will do so on her own terms. Not on the Pard’s.” he began walking a little closer this time taking the barrel of the shotgun off his shoulder and holding it ready. He was not sure how this person would take to having his Pard’s rule rejected. Then speaking to no one in particular he said “the dangers of a hunter may be great, but he has done nothing to me yet but trespass and hide from view. I can take care of myself without the assistance of the Pard.”

As he finished speaking he smelled the hunters scent on the night breeze, though oddly it didn’t make him feel as uneasy as the man standing next to Rose did. Closing his eyes briefly he let Lok surge upward to try to get a lock on where the scent was coming from. Lok too was unconcerned. Pushing Lok back down he spoke again to Rose. “Rose you are of course welcome to stay or to leave with this man. But I am protecting more then just my territory here.”

[Races The Night]

Dayan bit back a wild growl and held Inka, his oher half at bay. He stepped away from thet ruck and raised his hands above his head. "I assure you I am no enemy, but ifthisis the way you greet fellow Weres I am not too certain we will get along." He said with a malicious grin. "I am Dayan, a Hunter-Tracker for the pard. I was called by our Seer to come help with the Feral. I come baring the new that a Hunter has tresspassed on Pard territory, all members and neighbouring Weres are to be told."

As he stood there the wind carried to him a familiar scent. Dayan stiffened imperceptiveably, his eyes darting around, giving the farmstead a cursory inspection. "It may be too late, he's on your farm and quite close. Close enough to hear every word we say, may we take this inside?" His manner was open and as friendly as Dayan got to try and assuage the fellow were's uneasiness. "Rose, tell him, I'm cool and not here to rip his throat out." He reasoned with his pardmate.

***

Diego flattened himself against the wall, listening closely to the exchange between the Weres. He recognised the Leopard from neighbouring soil. He was wounded and probably not healed fully. Diego could take him easily. There were at least two others there. A male and female by the sounds of their voices. He memorised their scents in order to be able to identify them wherever he was.

***

"I understand that I am entering your territory without first clearing it with you, believe me I would act the same way if somebody turned up on my doorstep unanounced, but ettiquette aside, everyone should be warned of a Hunter, the whole pard is in danger. This isn't just about you and me squaring off like adolescent whelps." Males were often at logger heads with one another, it came with the whole Were package. Protect what is yours by tooth and claw.

Dayan remained as still as stone, Inka just below the surface of his skin, should anything take a turn for the worst.

((Don't worry, the Were's are difficult to understand on teh best of days , just go with what feels right. There are a lot of rules but feel free to bend them Oh.....and pwease don't shoot my Dayan I rather like him lol and you'd be robbing the RPG world of one more hunk hehe ))

[Maira]

ooc: *snickers* Races dear, somehow I don't think Krullok would be too saddened by one less RP hunk... i on the other hand would be devastated... or at least the many incarnations of Maira would be hehe.

IC: Rose had only had time to walk over to Dayan when she heard Krul come out of the barn behind her. Turning, she flinched at the sight of the shotgun resting on his shoulder and Justice Keeper bristled angrily. What part of 'coming to help' did Krul take offense at anyway? Dayan was here to help protect Krul, Rose and by proxy, Khyber. He certainly wasn't there to hurt them.

Keeping her thoughts and feelings from showing on her face, Rose was about to try and explain just why Dayan was here and that the Pard wasn't trying to infringe on Krul's territory but Dayan beat her to it. She listened as her Pard member talked and smiled when he made the comment about him not being there to rip Krul's throat out. At Pard meetings, Dayan was known for being rather aloof and anti-social himself so the fact that the man was trying to ease an obviously defensive Krul was a bit amusing at the same time it was comforting.

Rose was about to agree that they should take the conversation inside, at least into the barn or old farmhouse, when Keeper started to get edgy again. The breeze had shifted for a moment and had brought the scent of the Hunter to the leopard's sensitive nose. Rose felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise and she started to edge closer to the barn and Krul without really knowing it.

As soon as the breeze shifted once more and the scent dissappeared, Rose found the words she had been looking for and said softly, "He is close, can we please go inside?" She looked to Krul, her eyes begging he not be pigheaded and make them all stand outside. The Hunter was likely armed to the teeth and while Krul and Dayan could take care of themselves, and probably her too, Rose didn't want to tempt fate.

At the obstinance Rose saw brewing in Krul's eyes she said in almost a whisper, "Dayan is not here to invade your territory Krul, he's not here to take your mother, he's not here to hurt you or me. He lives nearby so he was sent by the Pard who is worried about all of us, remember they met you and like you even if you don't realize it. He's here for back up for you and me, to help us protect ourselves and your mother if the Hunter decides to attack, and the Pard is coming here to chase the Hunter off of an ally's territory. Even if you're not a member Krul, they will look out for you because while being alone is great on good days, on bad days it can be downright dangerous no matter how strong you are. Hunters kill almost indescriminately, the only time they will leave us alone is if there is a Feral around and while Khyber is close to being Feral, she doesn't look it and she's not acting it right now so he won't know that. He'll kill any of us for whatever his demented reasons are. Please, I'm scared, I don't want to be out here where I can smell him and know he's watching me and listening to me. And honestly I'd feel better if we all went inside."

She wasn't lying when she'd said she was scared, she just hadn't meant to say it out loud. She knew the Hunter could likely smell her fear and was probably happy he could do that. Of course, she could be wrong about what he was thinking, nobody really knew what went on in the mind of a Hunter; most of them were considered nearly as insane as Ferals.