Changed

[Demeter]

Ayda poked at the bag of trash with her foot while she scrapped her hair back into a ponytail. She didn't mind working as a desk clerk in the university's green house but she did mind it when the clerks before her didn't do their job. The trashcans in greenhouse 3 were near overflowing.

As she tied knots in the bag, Ayda grumbled. She was working the late shift and she hated going out by the dumpsters. Ayda pushed open the door to the greenhouse with a foot and backout of the door.

After tossing the bag in the garbage, Ayda turned to leave but she couldn't get anywhere. Believing that some part of her clothing was caught on something, Ayda turned back to unhook her sweatshirt from whatever it was hook on. The scream caught in her throat when a hand clamped over her nose and mouth. She fought against whenever had grabbed her, even when a pair of a fangs dug into the flesh on her neck. She knew there were darker things in the world; her own friend was proof of that but she never thought she'd be the victem of such a thing.

When the thing let her go, Ayda fell behind a stack of cardboard boxes as she slid into blackness. There was something in her, that much she could tell. Some oily creature attacking her from the inside out. As her natural magic rose to battle whateve it was, Ayda's blood dripped onto the pavement from her maimed neck.

[Maira]

Saiyuri had been on edge for the past two days and she knew precisely why; her best friend hadn't called her. She was damn near frantic by the time she got her three week old daughter to sleep and made her way up the stairs to the house proper from her apartment in the basement. Just in case Ayda had made some plans and forgotten to tell her Saiyuri didn't want to overreact but it had been two whole days and she'd not heard anything from her friend. To anybody else that might not seem a problem but since they were small Ayda had called her mulitple times a day and vice versa.

When she got up to the rest of the house, Saiyuri opened the door and gave a tenative but loud, "Hellooo, anybody home besides me an Lani?" From somewhere up on the second floor, Saiyuri heard a muffled reply and she bolted up the stairs two at a time. Once at the top she hollered 'hello' again and this time she could tell which bedroom the reply came from and she ran to it.

Figuring that since he had answered her calls she didn't need to knock, Saiyuri flung open the door to her younger brother Hawk's room and started a panicked ramble. "Ayda hasn't called me for two days straight, she normally calls at least four times a day and if she doesn't she at least answers when I call her. Her cell phone is going straight to voicemail so its off, she never turns it off! Something is wrong Hawk, please go find her. I can't leave Lani here alone or I'd go find her myself. I would have gone yesterday if I could have. Her family even called me asking if I'd seen or heard from her. Her mother calls her more than she calls me so if she hasn't heard from her in two days either then she's probably frantic." She managed to take a breath, then another when she realized just how out of breath she -was-. Once she had calmed down a little bit, Saiyuri begged her brother, "Please Hawk, go find her? She hangs around the college greenhouses or the library at the college... or here but she's obviously not here..." She whimpered a bit and asked again softly, "Please Hawk?"

[Shinigami]

Hawk had been lounging on his bed flipping through various books to find something to amuse himself with. He groaned when he found nothing interesting and shoved a few of the books off of his bed. He had been quite bored in the past couple days without Ayda around to bicker with. They had fallen into the habit, and Hawk was happy that they had managed to move onto more sarcastic banter than when they had first met.

Suddenly Hawk heard yelling from downstairs. It was Saiyuri calling out to see if there was anyone else home. He figured she may need a little help with the baby, and seeing as he loved children he was always willing to help, so he sat up and shouted a reply. What he hadn't been expecting was for Saiyuri to bolt up the stairs and call out again. He gave another shout to navigate her towards his room, standing to greet her.

The door was whipped open before he could reach for it and he had to back away quickly to avoid being cracked in the face with the hard wood of the door. The second Saiyuri started speaking he was overwhelmed trying to keep up. He held his hands up, telling her to slow down and calm herself a bit, but by the time she had been finished he had managed to get a gist of her worries.

Hawk was worried about what he had heard as well. "Wait, so Ayda is missing, essentially? For two days?" Not calling was certainly not like her. Her and Saiyuri were close, and she was always around, especially once the baby had been born. He had swallowed his pride a while ago and admitted to himself that he had formed a fairly serious crush on the clumsy girl. Not only were his feeling tugging at him to go looking for her right away, the look on Saiyuri's face was impossible to deny.

He sat Saiyuri down on his bed as he started to bustle around the room. "Okay, so she hangs around the greenhouses and the library, right? Do you remember where she was or was headed the last time you spoke to her?" He made sure to collect a few weaponry-type objects just incase and hide them on his person. Once the thought he had everything he needed he turned back to Saiyuri. "You just worry about Lani right now, and make sure to let mom know what's going on when she comes home, alright?"

[Demeter]

Gods but her head hurt, Ayda groaned as she dragged herself into waking state. It must have been some party for her to be this hungover. She managed to push herself into a sitting position, groaning again when every muscle in her body protested the action. She fumbled for the cellphone she'd stuck in the side pocket to her baggy work pants. She blinked, confused, when she saw the blank screen. Now, that just wasn't right, she'd been charging the phone while working the desk.

Ayda punched the power button, frowning when the phone did nothing. "Somethings wrong with the battery, must be unable to hold a charge," she muttered to herself and reached up to rub at her aching neck. She gasped when her fingers grazed the raw edges of her wound. Her hand searched along the lines of the gashes, whimpering when the marks extended halfway around her neck.

It all came rushing back to her. The attack and struggling against her attacker. Ayda snapped her head around, a silent scream issuing from her throat as scabs were ripped open by the movement. She was still in the dumpster area of the greenhouses, hidden by a stack of cardboard boxs. How long had she been here?

Ayda spotted the bushy greeness of weeds and reached for them. They'd tell her. She wrapped her fingers around the spiny stalks of the weeds, swallowing a grunt of pain as the spines dug into the palm of her hand and tried to speak to the plant. Nothing happened. She couldn't feel the plant by the feel of it against her skin. Ayda clutched at the plant tighter and tried to force it. She felt something then but it wasn't the soothing comfort she normally associated with the abilites she possessed. It was a burning feeling raging through her body. She really did scream, long, loud, and high pitched, before blacking out again.

[Maira]

Saiyuri nodded helplessly when Hawk ordered her to take care of Lani and tell their mother what was going on. She may have been the older of the two but she desperately needed somebody else to take charge right now, her brain was too frazzled with worry to do it. When Hawk finally looked ready to leave, Saiyuri remembered his question before he'd told her what to do and she answered, "She had the late shift at the college greenhouse by the way."

When he nodded at her and walked out of his room, Saiyuri just followed him silently down the hall and down the stairs to the front door. Just before he opened the door Saiyuri said softly, "Thank you Hawk, I know you're not fond of her but she means the world to me." Then she turned and made her way to the livingroom where she could curl up on the couch and wait for her mother to come home. Plopping on the couch, she flipped the baby monitor on, arranged herself so she was facing the front door, and pulled a blanket over herself as she settled in to wait.

[Shinigami]

When Saiyuri mentioned the last place she had been, Hawk figured it was as good a place as any to start his search. He was a little doubtful that she'd still be there, with the different people that worked and lived around there, but he was going to search every inch of it anyway. He nodded to Saiyuri and headed for the front door, unconciously recognizing that Saiyuri was following him.

Hawk reached for the door handle, but paused and turned as he heard Saiyuri speak. She was thanking him for looking for Ayda. She really didn't have to, he would have done it anyway, but Hawk had worked hard to make sure no one else knew about his crush. Currently, he was sure his true colors were beginning to show. He gave Saiyuri a small smile, a rarity when the situation didn't involve children or the embarrassment of others, and re-assured her. "I wouldn't have let that keep me from helping. I know how much she means to you, and I promise I'll do what I can to find her."

He left as Saiyuri settled herself to keep watch of the door and listen for Lani.

***

Hawk was growling as he walked out of the last greenhouse. No one around there knew absolutely anything! A few of the other greenhouse workers didn't even bother to know who he was talking about. He had finally gotten ahold of the person in charge and figured out that Ayda had come in for her late night shift and never locked up. That led Hawk to suspect she'd never left willingly.

As he rounded towards the back of the building to check out the surrounding area he heard a sound that made his heart stop. A piercing scream rang out towards the dumpsters and he bolted towards the sound, slowing a bit as he looked around, and as he neared the dumpster he started moving boxes and bags around. Once a few boxes had been pushed out of his way he had caught sight of flesh, tearing through the rest of the boxes until he reached the person beneith.

Hawk gasped when he saw it was Ayda, and she was in horrible condition. Had she really been there like that for two days? She appeared unconcious and the one side of her neck was torn and bloody. He placed a hand on her cheek, the opposite side of her injury, and tried to wake her. "Ayda? Ayda, come on, wake up. Ayda? Ayda!" He patted her cheek, not willing to hurt her further. The wound on her neck looked like a vicious bite, either from a were or a vampire, there was too much blood to tell.

He began patting her cheek again, even shaking her shoulder lightly, trying to get any sign that she was a little more aware. He was worried she'd been out and exposed too long. "Come on Ayda, you lasted this long, don't quit now."

[Demeter]

Ayda fought against her body. She didn't want to wake up and be part of that world where that feeling came from. Something had infected her and whatever it was worked in the opposite way of her natural abilities. It burned when she tried to touch her power. She couldn't even hear the plants.

Ayda groaned and tried to twist away from whatever was lightly hitting her. Damnit, she didn't want to rejoin the waking world, didn't the idiot get that? "Go 'way, she muttered, raising her hand up to bat away whomever was near her. "Leave me 'lone, it hurts."

When the person refused to leave her alone, Ayda cracked open an eye and glared up at the blurry form above her. "Leave me alone. It hurts out there. It burns. Something got me." She knew she was making sense but the idea of being resonable had fled her mind when fire raced through her body inside of what she was.

Something clicked in her mind when she managed to go a nosefull of smell. "Smells like Hawk," she muttered and attempted to cuddle close. If she couldn't protect and comfort herself, Ayda would damn all if she didn't get close to someone she knew could protect her.

[Shinigami]

Hawk's inner self practically jumped for joy when Ayda groaned and began to move, and even more so when she began muttering. He almost was unable to keep his excitement for her semi-conciousness inside, but he managed - if only to not disturb Ayda. He leaned down to listen closely to her mumbling, hoping to catch a bit of what might have happened to her. When she mentioned that 'something got her' he tried to see if she could clarify. "Do you know what got you, Ayda? It looks like a bite, but was it a rabid animal or something else? A vampire or were, maybe?"

It didn't even seem like she had heard him as she mumbled on, but he was hoping she could remember -something- about what had attacked her. When she finally realized who was with her, only through smell, and cuddled closer Hawk found his cheeks warming slightly. He pushed the feeling aside, however, and lifted the girl carefully so she could rest her head against his chest. He told himself it was to keep her aware of his presense and help keep her awake, but it was also to help him feel better.

He put his hand back on her cheek after getting a bit of a closer look at the wound at Ayda's neck. Unfortunately whatever had attacked her had done so rather ferally, but he could tell it wasn't simply and animal. The bite was too large. "Stay awake, Ayda. I need you to stay awake, as awake as you can. Can you do that?" He checked his watch. His mother, should at least be home, and Tempest would be home soon. 'Should I risk taking her back home? Or should I go straight for the hospital?'

Hawk was forced to make a snap decision when someone started to aproach the dumpster area. He lifted Ayda bridal-style and moved into the shadows, laying her back down only long enough to rid himself of his jacket and t-shirt, before picking her up and shifting to his Custos form, taking advantage of his wings. He took flight silently, headed towards the hospital that his family had dealt with for years. The doctors there would know how to handle this... he hoped.

[Maira]

The fussing that came through the baby monitor woke Saiyuri from a snooze she hadn't meant to take. First instincts were to fling back the covers of her bed and run to her daughter's room but as soon as she opened her eyes it became perfectly clear to her she wasn't in her bedroom. When she realized that, she remembered everything that had happened before she'd drifted off. "Shit!" she growled as she threw the blanket off her and ran for the answering machine.

She gave a sigh of relief when she saw there were no messages. Next she fished her phone out of her pocket and again was relieved not to see any messages or missed calls. At least she hadn't slept through somebody calling about Ayda. Now she just had to fret over the time she saw displayed on her cell phone. It had been two hours since Hawk had left and she'd not heard a damn thing!

Hearing an adult voice coming through the baby monitor now, Saiyuri froze. It took her a moment before she realized it was her mother and she let out the breath she'd been holding and flopped back on the couch. Reaching for the handset, Saiyuri flipped the little button on the baby monitor and spoke into it, "Mom, can you come up here? I need to tell you something." She knew her voice was a bit frantic but she couldn't help it.

[Demeter]

Dion stared at the baby monitor for a moment and sighed. She turned to the baby and snuggled her close. "Lets go see what Momma wants, shall we." She hoisted Lani up and rested her against her shoulder. She snagged up the blanket Saiyuri had drapped over the daughter and headed for the stairs.

Once she reached the living room, she held up a finger to keep Saiyuri quiet while she fussed with the baby. It didn't take long to create a barricade of pillows and to settle the baby between the pillows and back cushin of the overstuffed chair. Dion sat next to Saiyuri and looked at her. "So, whats up?"

***

Ayda fought against whatever was forcing her to wake up. She didn't want to be awake, didn't the voices surrounding her get that. She twitched and hissed when a slow burning came from her neck. It wasn't like the feeling from earlier. That was rapid fire stinging all over her body. This was a slow, localized burned.

Ayda cracked her eyes open and whimpered as half a dozen or so bright lights assulted her eyes. She tried to turn away and curled into a small ball but there were hands grabbing at her, hands holding her legs and arms down. "Lemme go!" she mumbled as she tried to escape, even though her limbs barely responded to her commands.

[Maira]

Saiyuri was about to spill all her thoughts and feelings to Dion the moment she saw her come out of the basement door but Dion signalled her to be quiet. Curious, Saiyuri waited then watched as her mother settled Lani in the overstuffed chair before joining her on the couch. Once Dion was seated and asked what was up, Saiyuri let the dam crumble and all her worries of the past day rushed out like a flood.

When she was done, Saiyuri looked at her mother with lost eyes and asked, "What can we do? Hawk hasn't called me and he said he would. If its taking him this long, surely it means something is wrong with Ayda. Either he can't find her or she's dead or hurt or.... or.... I don't know," Saiyuri finally ended with a sob. Ayda was her dearest friend and without her, Saiyuri felt she wouldn't be whole.

[Shinigami]

Hawk had managed to ge to the hospital, but it was all trouble from there. He had refused to be separated from Ayda, which the doctors weren't too happy with, and he had been succeeding in his mission to stay by her side so far. That was only because he had refused to shift back, and his wingspan in his Custos form was large enough to keep most of the doctors and nurses at bay, especially since he had a claw or two waiting for them if they managed to get past his wings.

They moved Ayda to a second emergency wing, being forced to keep her in a private section of the hospital because of Hawk's display, and that was were Hawk met his match. He heard Ayda mumble for the doctors to let her go and he moved to go to her side when the head doctor stepped infront of him. This was the Custos that had delivered him and his brother and sister, and he was older, wiser, and stronger than Hawk. The doctor forced Hawk back into the hallway, practically threatened Hawk into shifting back, and then sent him off to wait in the waiting room like everyone else.

Hawk was growling the whole way back to the waiting area, and flopped himself down in a seat with a huff. A few minutes past until he heard the phone at the nurses station ring and then he bolted upright in his seat. He had forgotten to call home! He made his way quickly to the nurses station and asked to use one of the phones. They reluctantly agreed, but some of the nurses were ones he had fought off earlier and they didn't want more trouble.

Hawk quickly dialed his home phone number tapping his hand on the counter and muttering into the phone. "Come on, come on. Some one pick up.."

[Demeter]

"If Hawk said he would call, that means that he will call." Dion reached out and stroked the top of Saiyuri's head. Dion started when the phone rang but she reached it before Saiuri. "Hello?" Dion twisted the phone cord around her fingers while she listerend to the person on the other end. "Yes, okay. I'll tell her and then we will be on our way." After hanging up the phone, Dion turned to her daughter.

"That was Hawk, he's found Ayda and taken her down to the hospital. Get your daughter and meet me in the car."


Wait and see, they said. Ayda snorted, wincing when the slight movement caused her neck to sting. They'd cleaned the wound and sterilized the best they could but since whatever it was made such a mess out of her, even the doctors were unable to isolate what sort of animal had done the job.

Ayda curled on her side and growled as best she could at anyone who even thought to approach her. She'd nearly taken a chunk out of the older doctor who'd scared Hawk out of the room. Ayda wrapped her fingers in the stiff hospital sheets and whimpered. She could smell the plants the nurses had placed around the area but when she tried to reach out, she felt nothing.

When the door clicked up, Ayda growled in the hopes of scaring whatever nurse with whatever syringe full of stuff away. When the person in the room turned out to be Hawk rather then the nurses who'd been bugging her for the past hour or so, Ayda whimpered, reaching out and grabbing a hold of him. She'd forget the fact that they disliked each other for the moment.

[Maira]

Having her head patted like a small child did not put Saiyuri on edge as it would have if she'd been angry. She was too upset and worried for anything that petty to upset her. Instead she tried to be comforted and had nearly succeeded when the phone gave a shrill ring. In an instant she was leaping to grab the recieve but Dion got to it first.

Anxiously, Saiyuri watched as Dion talked on the phone, she could almost hear the person on the other end. All she knew for sure was that the caller was male. Before Dion had hung up, Saiyuri had already started gathering up Lani's things and when her mother finally hung up and told her to get ready to go it only took her another few moments.

The last thing Saiyuri had to do so they could leave was gather up her daughter. She grabbed a blanket and scooted over to the chair Dion had settled the baby in. Gently, but with as much speed as she could manage, Saiyuri wrapped Lani in the blanket and lifted her. Once Lani was settled, Saiyuri reached down and grabbed the diaper bag then looked to her mother. "Okay lets go," she said quietly and headed for the door.

*****

The ride to the hospital was agonizingly long for Saiyuri but once they arrived she wasted no time finding her way to Ayda's room. She probably should have knocked on the door in case any doctors were in the room with Ayda but Saiyuri wasn't really concerned about that at the moment. The sight that greeted her when she opened the door didn't even faze her though, she just went to the side of the bed opposite her brother who Ayda was clinging to.

Still holding Lani close to her body, Saiyuri leaned across Ayda and kissed her brother on the cheek, "Thank you so much Hawk!" she whispered fiercely before turning her attention to her best friend. She leaned in, carefully so as not to squish her daughter between them, and gave Ayda a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Almost instantly she pulled back and her lips were curled in a silent snarl.

Angry, she turned to Hawk and growled, "Why didn't you tell Mom she'd been bitten? By a feline no less!" She leaned in closer to Ayda again, this time to sniff at the wound at Ayda's neck. The wound had been cleaned but already it was having affects on Ayda and Saiyuri could pick up the faintest hint of the leopard her friend would become. Unbidden tears rushed to Saiyuri's eyes and she stood up and turned away from her friend for a moment until she could get herself under control.

How could one of her own kind have so brutally attacked her best friend? A person she had known and loved from childhood, who she had secretly wished was like her for so long, was now going to Change. Saiyuri swore to herself she would be there for Ayda no matter what, she would help her with her new life. After they left tonight though she was going Hunting.

Once she had forced her tears to stop, and had dried her cheeks with her daughter's blanket, Saiyuri turned to face Ayda and Hawk again. "I'm sorry Hawk, I shouldn't have gotten upset with you. Her injury is my Pard's responsibility, not yours." Looking into Ayda's eyes she smiled sadly and said softly, "We're going to be even more like sisters that we were before. The thing that bit you was a feral leopard. Even now I can smell it the leopard coming alive inside you." Unsure of just what else she could say that might comfort her friend, Saiyuri stood and waited. If Ayda had any questions she would answer as best she could.

[Shinigami]

When the doctors had come up to him, practically begging him to go in and see Ayda, Hawk was more than relieved. The older doctor, the Custos who had forced him back to the waiting room, had explained that Ayda was growling at anyone and everyone, and had even lashed out at him, so they were hoping Hawk's presence would calm her. He couldn't blame them for trying, though he wasn't sure it was the best idea. After all, Ayda didn't exactly like him.

When he opened the door he heard the low growl from the bed he hesitated, but as he got closer Ayda stopped. He came around the end of the bed to the chair and sat and Ayda immediately latched onto the scrub shirt the nurses had given him. They didn't want him walking around shirtless after all. Her grip moved to his arm and hand, but he stayed as close to the bed as he dared, so she would know he was still there.

Hawk wasn't sure how long he had been sitting by Ayda's bed, but since he had a clear view of the door he had been able to warn off most of the prodding nurses, only letting them in if he thought it was neccesary. He was actually starting to nod off, secure in the notion that Ayda was alright for the time being, but was alert instantly when the door opened again. He glared, hoping to shoo off the latest nurse, but when he saw it was Saiyuri he let out a breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

In the moment he had closed his eyes, Saiyuri had made it across the room and to Ayda's bedside, and as he opened them again he felt her kiss his cheek. He blinked, looking wide-eyed, but gave her a small smile in response to her whispered thanks. When she snarled and growled at him he growled right back. So what if he had forgotten to mention the bite? They would have found out anyway, and it's not like there was anything that could have been done. He had saved her life, hadn't he?

He composed himself when Saiyuri calmed and apologized. He was a bit surprised to find out she had been bitten by a Pard, since the doctors hadn't been able to figure it out. He nodded, accepting her apology and stood, speaking as he went to remove is arm from Ayda's grasp. "I'll leave you guys alone, and warn the nurses to stay away a bit longer."

[Demeter]

Dion watched the scene from the doorway, Lani held against her chest. Instead of focusing on her children, Dion watched the girl stretched out on the bed. Having been around so many different types of things in her family, she couldn't help but feel that something was off. "Saiyuri...has anyone in your pard been turned, by a feral, while they were something else besides human." Dion spoke while moving closer. "Anything else you didn't mention to us, Hawk."

***

Ayda cringed away from the sound of her friend's voice. Away from what she was being told. She didn't want to be part of Yuri's pard, she just wanted to be able to feel the plants perched on the countertop over in the corner of the room. Ayda wiggled away from Saiyuri, reaching for Hawk once again.

Later, when she was more coherent and less weighed down by whatever drugs the nurses had pumped into her system, Ayda would apologize for her behavior. Something about her recognized the cat in her friend and she scambled, or tried to, to get away from it, so like the thing twisting about in side of her. It, that thing, didn't even feel feline to her.

[Maira]

Saiyuri flinched visibly as Ayda reached for Hawk and got as far away from her as she could. Thankfully, Dion had asked her a question and Saiyuri could focus on that instead of the fear and disgust in her friend's eyes.

Turning to look at her mother, Saiyuri answered her, "I honestly don't know. That would be a question for the Pard Alphas and Elders as they would be the ones with more extensive knowledge concerning Ferals. What I do know is that once the victims recover from the attack by a Feral, their leopard is just as normal as anybody elses. What causes somebody to go Feral is a psychological imbalance between their Beast and their Human side. Unless the person attacked was not quite sane to begin with its rare they will go Feral too."

Saiyuri felt more than saw Ayda flinch even more as she talked and Saiyuri couldn't deal with it. She turned and looked at her friend who was clinging to Hawk as if her life depended on it and she said softly, "I'm so sorry Ayda, I really am. I'm going to do what I can to help you but I'm not going to push. Call my cell phone when you're ready to talk, when you think you can stand to have me around." She had to take a breath to keep her voice from shaking as she said even more softly, "I love you, I am -so- sorry." Then she handed Lani to her mother and left the hospital.

She ran down the sidewalk from the hospital until she came to an alley. Ducking inside, and hiding behind a dumpster, Saiyuri summoned up the side of her heritage she had come to know as her Custos side. She felt her wings burst forth from her shoulders and tear her shirt to shreds. She gave them one testing flap then leapt into the sky. She needed to swing by the house to gather a few things from her mother's office, then she was going Hunting...

[Shinigami]

Hawk glanced up at his mother while he was trying to free his borrowed shirt from Ayda's grasp. He heard the question and thought about it for a second, his head tilting to the side as he tried to remember. "I don't think so. Ayda hasn't spoken much, so it's not like she said anything."

He watched when Saiyuri leaned closer to her friend, hoping Ayda would turn to her and free him for a bit. He was starting to get uncomfortable with the whole situation, and his mother had a nasty habit of being able to read her children like large print books. Hawk was surprised to see Ayda turn towards him and tighten her grip, and he looked back up to the others in the room. He frowned and watched as Saiyuri apologized to Ayda and handed her little girl over to his mother.

Hawk let out a sigh, just wanted this whole thing to be over with. Instead of removing himself from Ayda, like he had originally planned, Hawk moved back towards the chair he had been using and flopped back down into it, placing his elbow on the bed, careful of Ayda, and propped his head up. 'So I guess I'm staying...'

[Demeter]

(Hey guys, speeding up this thread just a bit)

Ayda rambled around Saiyuri's mother's house. Everyone involved agreed that it was for the best. No body thought to ask her. She wasn't angry at Saiyuri but everything made her want to search out a new sorce of comfort.

As she mounted the stairs towards the second floor of the house, Ayda twitched. That thing was still crawling around inside of her body and blocking her natural ability with plants. Ayda softly knocked on Hawk's door, opening it before he had a chance to answer. Ever since the attack, she's gone to him for quietness, dispite her supposed hatred of him.

She nodded to Hawk and curled on his bed, snuggling into his bedding. Ever since her attack, she'd been able to smell better and his scent was about the most addictive thing she'd encountered.

[Maira]

Saiyuri had been irritable and short with everybody the past week. She had also been incredibly distracted. Well, just distracted from everything but what had happened to her best friend. Ayda had been attacked by a feral wereleopard a week ago and Saiyuri had been hunting the beast since. She was home when she had to be, so she could feed, spend time with and cuddle her daughter. Other than that she was out with the rest of the Pard or on her own Hunting what had hurt her friend.

Aside from trying to find her friend's attacker, Saiyuri hadn't really had anything to do with her friend. The first day after the attack, Ayda had flinched from Saiyuri and since then, Saiyuri had backed off. She didn't want to make the transition from human to Pard any more difficult than it likely would be. Ayda was a magic user, not just a normal human, and so far her powers were on the fritz and from the way that Ayda had looked at her that first day, Saiyuri was pretty sure that Ayda found her partly to blame.

As she pulled into the driveway, Saiyuri looked at her mother's house and cringed. She had to go in there but she didn't want to bother Ayda. All she could hope was that her friend was asleep from her pain killers or something. The last thing she wanted was to see that look on her friend's face again...

Getting out of the car and making her way into the house, Saiyuri made sure to be quiet just in case Ayda was sleeping. She toed her shoes off just inside the door and went on a Lani hunt. She followed her mother's scent upstairs to her office and poked her head in after knocking very gently, "Hey Mom, is Lani up here or down in her nursery? Its her dinner time and I really need to feed her." Breastfeeding, Saiyuri had decided recently, while a great way to bond with her baby was a bit of a hassle. Things got tender real quick if she didn't feed on a regular basis. The past week the feeding schedule had been anything but regular.