Changed

[Shinigami]

Hawk was sitting as his desk, flipping through a book, when he heard the light knock on his door. He knew who it was and wasn't surprised when the door opened right away. Ayda had been using his company as somewhat of a sanctuary since she'd gotten out of the hospital and he found he didn't mind sharing his private space with her. He nodded back as he watched the girl curl up on his bed, hiding a smirk behind his book.

Ayda had seemed drawn to him more than any of the other family members, but he figured it was because of his general quiet, lurking in the shadows nature. Though he was sure he was wrong, his heart was trying to trick his mind into believing Ayda was beginning to like him. At least as a friend if nothing else.

Plus, Hawk was also allowed to indulge in watching over her while she was in his room. He had even cut back on his smoking, which he would either have to go outside for, or bother Ayda with cigarette smoke.

[Demeter]

Ayda turned herself around on the bed so she could look at Hawk. "You think I'm silly, don't you? For hiding from Saiyuri like this? I know she's doing her best to find the thing that did this to me but.." Ayda never finished but raised her hand to the still present gouges on her shoulder. They were more like deep scratches from a severally pissed off house cat now then the wide rips a week ago.

***

Demeter looked up when Saiyuri entered the office. "So, I heard about what happened to Ayda." she didn't even bother to explain why she was over at her sister's house, somethings just need to be done without explaination. "Did you know that attacks by a Feral are showing up all over town, Ayda wasn't the only one. Yesterday a child was a attack, he survived."

Before Saiyuri could react, Demeter turned to look at her. "I didn't tell you that to make you angry. I told you that because someone needs to stop this thing. I know you are doing the best you can do right now but I don't want you to just focus on what happened to Ayda, don't do this out of revenge for your friend, do this for everyone else who's life has been affected.

"That little boy's family is completely human, they thought some wild dog had caused the attack and were freaked out when the pard leaders showed up at the door to explain. They rejected the idea and called the cops. That little boy will never be the same." Demeter said before patting Saiyuri's shoulder and leaving the office "By the way, Ayda is up in Hawk's room, again and Lani is napping on the downstairs couch, Rowan is watching her and would scream is she so much as twitched."

[Shinigami]

(Couldn't help myself. I needed something to do while I was waiting for DM work to load ><;; )

Hawk looked up from his book once more when Ayda spoke. He gave a light sigh as he put a stray piece of paper into his book to save his spot before discarding it on the desk. He stood and sat on the edge of the bed, flopping himself backwards into the space that wasn't already occupied by Ayda. He spoke, but his voice was quiet."I don't think your silly for hiding. It's only been a week, and it wasn't as if you wanted it to happen."

Hawk's gaze was fixed on his ceiling as he spoke. He was so comfortable with Ayda's close proximity that he didn't realize he was still speaking allowed. "I know a little something about hiding. I hid a lot when mom left, not wanting to accept the possibility that she didn't want us. Hell, I still hide, and now I know better."

A deep blush stole across his face when he realized he was still speaking. He cast a quick glance at Ayda before diverting his gaze to the opposite side of the room.

[nyoka]

ooc: I hope its still okay I join this, if not delete it ^_^
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It had been a while since Fiona had been in a hunting position. There was so much going on it was plain hard to track, especially in this town. Sitting at her computer desk she occupied herself with those stupid computer games everyone gets stock. 'Gee look how much fun I'm having...'.

A window popped up on her screen from the police department, she had an alert system for any vague or undescribable cases which were mostly tied to the dark ones. Scanning over the alert, it seemed there was an attack on a girl in a alley, but a brutal one that she walked away with a 'large scratch of some kind' as it said. "Well, well, well... Looks like there is activity now." Reading on, she saw that the family lived on the other side of town and she could get over there this afternoon. Figuring the family might need some answers or whatever, Fiona grabbed her equipment and hopped in her jeep.

~~~~~
Pulling up to the address, she opended the door and was hit with intense aura of 'magic', if that's what you wanted to call it. Shaking it off she walked up to the door and knocked.

[Maira]

Saiyuri knew everything that Demeter had told her regarding the Feral but knowing that her aunt had heard about it too just hit her incredibly hard. The Pard leaders had called an emergency meeting after visiting that child's parents the day before. They had given all hunters, warriors, and scouts permission to use every power or skill they had to bring the Feral in.

The scarriest part, in Saiyuri's mind, was that this was the second Feral in as many months. The first turned out to not be a true Feral but a woman just very close to the edge. Rose, one of the other Pard members, and a mediator, was working with the woman and she was doing wonderfully so far. Luckily, Khyber had been accounted for during all of the attacks so far.

She was still brooding when Demeter told her that Ayda was up in her younger brother Hawk's bedroom and that her daughter was downstairs being watched by Rowan. Not realizing her temper and Silence were so close to the surface, Saiyuri clenched her fists and yelped when claws dug into her palms instead of fingernails. "Down girl," she mumbled as she took a couple deep breaths to calm herself and the leopard clawing to be let out to hunt.

"Thanks Aunt Demi, I think I'll go check on her then go get Lani and hide in the basement.
' Before she shut the door and left her aunt alone, Saiyuri walked in and plucked a few weapons from Dion's arsenal. "Can you tell my mom I took these please? I'll give them back I'm just trying to find what works best for me. I'm not sure if Silence will find the Feral first or the Vengance Custos side of me but either way I want to be prepared." That said, she stalked out of Dion's office and headed to her brother's room.

Knocking, Saiyuri said softly in case Ayda was sleeping again, "Ayda? Hawk? Aunt Dem told me you were in here. Can I come in?" She figured she'd either get no answer, or an angry one so she was already backing away from the bedroom door when there was a knock on the front door to the house. The sound apparently woke Lani and the baby started wailing. In an instant, Saiyuri ran to the banister and launched herself over it totally ignoring the stairs. Thanks to her feline reflexes she landed softly and quietly. Running to Lani, to quiet her, Saiyuri told Rowan, who was covering his ears and cringing at the volume coming from his infant cousin, "Go get the door sweety, I'll be right there."

Rowan, more than willing to help since it meant getting away from screaming Lani, ran for the door and flung it open. "Hiya lady!" he said enthusiastically followed immediately by, "Who're you and what d'ya want?" Saiyuri came up behind him just about at that point and she ruffled his hear and apologized to the woman standing at the door, "Sorry bout his manners, he's a bit of an imp." Lani squirmed in her arms then nuzzled in close before falling back asleep and Saiyuri had to stop herself from purring with contentment, the woman at the door didn't smell anything but human and she didn't want to scare her off.

[nyoka]

A little child had answered the door more than screaming a greeting at her. 'Oh goody' Fiona thought. Trying to put on a friendly face, which she hardly ever did, she smiled and was about to ask if his mom was home, fortunatly a woman had come up behind the child. "It's alright. I'm Fiona, I got word that there has been a strange attack recently, one that local authories have been stumped with." She lost her train of thought for a moment feeling rather overwhelmed suddenly, this was not a typical mortal home. Clearing her throat and regaining focus "I believe I can help in this type of a case, all I need from you is a bit more information." She smiled at the woman in the doorway hoping that her features were reading friendly.

[Demeter]

Ayda twitched at the knock but sighed when Saiyuri left the door in a hurry, no doubt to answer the door and quiet Lani. Ayda scooted herself up the bed and curled into a ball against Hawk's side. "Like you said, it's okay to hide. Besides, your mom's back now and she wants you."

Ayda grinned when Lani quieted and scooched off the bed. She wanted to know what was going on. She tugged on Hawk's sleeve, wanting him to come with her. She left his room and sat down on the top step of the stairs, listening into the coversation going on below.

The newcomer was female and she was asking about the attack. Ayda turned to Hawk. "Has there been any other attacks? No one is really telling me anything."

[Shinigami]

Hawk's eyes had flicked towards the door when Saiyuri knocked, but she left almost immediately after, allowing him to draw his attention back towards Ayda. He smiled a bit as she curled against his side, whispering a soft 'thank you' for her comforting words.

He blinked when Ayda made her way off the bed. He too was curious as to what was going on downstairs, and since he was the resident eavesdropper, he didn't hesitate to follow when she tugged at his sleeve. He stood a couple steps below Ayda, leaning back against the wall. He sighed before nodding to Ayda, speaking in a hushed voice so only she heard. "There have been a couple that I've heard of. One was a boy."

Hawk was always known to be leery of strangers, and wanted very much to show the feral a piece of his own mind. He had refrained from the hunt, however, in order to stick by Ayda and offer his presence if she needed it.

[Maira]

Saiyuri felt Silence rebel and she had to fight hard to keep the leopard at bay when the woman, Fiona, offered to help find the Feral. Despite Demeter telling her not to take the attack on Ayda personally and go after the Feral for that reason, Saiyuri couldn't help it. She felt responsible. This woman being so nonchalant about the whole thing and offering her help just rubbed her the wrong way.

Instead of hissing and snarling and slamming the door in the woman's face, Saiyuri stepped back and opened the door farther saying, "Come on in. We'll go down to my apartment in the basement to talk. As Fiona entered, Saiyuri looked back up the stairs and spotted her friend and her brother watching the goings on. The last thing she wanted was the woman cornering Ayda and bombarding her with questions so she hurried to show Fiona to the basement stairs.

[nyoka]

Upon entering the house Fiona spotted the two on the stairs just before she was escorted to the stairway, apparently she was the center of attention for the moment.

Letting out a heavy sigh as she followed the woman downstairs, "So you know what I am here for, but I would like to hear more about your side of the story and a bit about you history with the victim." Fiona lost her friendly demeanor, now it was business time. To get to the point with no side stepping of the issue was what she came here for.

[Demeter]

After Saiyuri and the stranger left for the apartment, Ayda scooted down the stairs, sliding down on her bed one step at a time. She knew that the basement door was thinner then normal and had issues closing all the way. Ayda peered around the corner and looked back up at Hawk. "Door's still open."

Not waiting for a response, Ayda scooted around the corner and sat down on a middle step. She listened in as Saiyuri talked to the stranger about the feral. When her friend switched topics to her own life, Ayda leaned back. She didn't need to hear this part as she knew it first hand.

Ayda raised her hand to the still healing wounds. She'd taken to wearing thin-strapped tanktops while the wounds closed as the stratches were irritated by anything else. Ayda ran her fingers along the marks. Her the dean of the biology department had visited her in the hospital and had told that he'd chewed the desk clerk who hadn't done her job properly and led to the attack. The girl girl was facing a disipline committe now.

Ayda turned her head and held out a hand to Hawk. "Help me up? I think I'm gonna go lay down for a while. Mind if I make use of your room again?"

[Shinigami]

Hawk raised a brow as he watched Ayda slip down the stairs, letting her get a few stairs ahead of him before following her. He stood in the doorway as Ayda situated herself to eavesdrop. His interest wasn't really peaked by the new woman saying she could help, so he was just content to lean in the doorway and keep an eye on things.

He blinked when he noticed Ayda turn and hold her hand out towards him, his own hand already reaching out to help her up before she had finished speaking. He helped her up and couldn't help but smirk as she asked to lay down in his room once again. He nodded. "Sure. You're better company to keep than most, anyway."

He turned to lead the way back up the stairs again, not realizing he hadn't bothered to let go of her hand.

[Demeter]

Ayda wasn't sure how she made it up the basement stairs as she was starring at her and Hawk's joined hands. She was sued to his touch by now. He was the one who comforted her after the attack and despite his harsh exterior Ayda found his touch to be gentle. But this was something different. Since when did Hawk willingly hold her hand like this?

Ayda shuffled along behind Hawk, yelping when her toes rammed into the base of the second stairs. And she went down, pulling Hawk down with her when her hand tightened on his. After the confusion of falling cleared, Ayda rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. After all she'd been through during the last few weeks, she reamined a complete klutz. As this realization filtered into her mind, Ayda started to laugh. Cats were supposed to be graceful, weren't they? Saiyuri certianly never found herself tripping over her own feet. And her shew as was tangled on the stairs with Hawk.

This wasn't the first time that she'd tripped on the the stairs and involved the man. When she had helped Saiyuri move in, her feet had tangled around a extension cord and she'd fallen down the basement stairs, bumping into Hawk and taking him down as well.

Ayda rolled back onto her stomach and crawled up the stairs so that she was level with Hawk's face. She grinned and giggled at the dazed looking man. "Well," she said while looking down at Hawk, "That park of my is still the same." Ayda wasn't sure why she made her next move, maybe some wild voice was speaking to her, but she leaned her head down and planted a kiss right smack on Hawk's mouth.

[Maira]

They had barely made it into the basement apartment that Saiyuri called home when the woman, Fiona, started grilling her. Now that she was away from Ayda and attention wouldn't turn to her, Saiyuri let Silence out to play a bit. Turning back to look at the woman standing in her home, Saiyuri glared at her with golden leopard eyes and growled, "The 'victim' is my best friend so if you want any answers to your annoying questions you might want to change how you go about asking them."

Knowing that Silence was ready to pounce, Saiyuri took a couple deep breaths and forced the leopard into submission. "Sorry, we both get a little sensitive..." Saiyuri apologized when she saw the look on Fiona's face. Then, before the other woman could answer or say anything, Saiyuri rattled off all the information she knew about Ayda's attack and the attacker.

Saiyuri had just finished speaking when she heard a yelp and then some crashing noises. At the same instant, Saiyuri felt herself falling and slam into the ground only she hadn't moved... "Damn it Ayda," she mumbled under her breath as she bolted to door leading to the stairs. She had just reached the door and flung it open when she saw Ayda plant a kiss on her younger brother. Gasping in surprise, Saiyuri quickly backed out of the stairwell and shut the door, leaning on it and laughing.

Tears of mirth were streaming down Saiyuri's cheeks and when she finally remembered the Hunter in her home, Saiyuri apologized again but this time she was still laughing, "Sorry, my brother and his friend just had a very awkward moment. If you knew my brother and what just happened you'd understand." She took a moment to get herself under control and then Saiyuri asked Fiona, "So, is there anything else you want to know? And just what did you have in mind to help me and my Pard catch and kill this Feral?"

[Shinigami]

Hawk had been completely oblivious to the fact that he still held Ayda's hand. That was, until he felt her grip tighten and pull against him, effectively dragging him down along with her as she tripped and fell on the stairs. He sucked in a breath, trying to brace himself as he was a few stairs ahead of her, but got the wind knocked out of him for his efforts.

He was effectively stunned for a few moments, only coming back around when he heard Ayda's laughter. He was momentarily annoyed that she had managed to knock them both over on the stairs again, but his thoughts were cut off when Ayda's face was suddenly in view. He blinked, starting to smirk at her comment until he felt her lips on his. He instinctively leaned into the kiss.

The second he realized what he was doing he pulled back, just enough to look Ayda in the eyes. Hawk felt his cheeks heat up, knowing his face was probably beet red, and his heart was pounding. he wasn't used to being so flustered. All he knew is that he was very confused. Ayda didn't have any feeling for him... right? "Ayda?"

[nyoka]

Fiona wasn't completely prepared when she was almost face to face with a leopard. Being left defenceless after leaving all her tools and toys in the jeep, she immediately tucked her arms reaching for her small hand gun tucked under her left arm. But when Saiyuri backed off, so did she.

Listening to the whole story, not much was different from the reports she had received. She did however get a better idea of what she was looking for. Fiona was startled when Saiyuri bolted away from her and returned laughing and crying. Standing up, Fiona gathered her notes she had taken and brought "I think I have all the information needed from you, I would like to speak to the Pard Alphas to see if they have any more information. If that is quite impossible speaking to.. Ayda would be my next step and examining her would bring me closer to getting a visual of the feral."

[Maira]

((sorry Demeter, gotta sneak in real quick, Saiyuri demands it lol))

When Fiona stood and gathered up all her papers, Saiyuri watched and resisted the urge to glower. She understood the business like manner of the woman but she didn't appreciate it at all in this case. If it had involved anybody but Ayda she may have felt differently.

When Fiona stated matter of factly that she needed to speak to the Alphas, Saiyuri nodded understandingly. Then as the woman continued to talk, her hackles rose again. Nobody would examine Ayda. Nobody would put her through anything else, she'd already been through too much and Saiyuri wouldn't stand to see her go through any more. Instead of pointing to the basement's outside entrance door and demanding Fiona leave, Saiyuri said as politely as Silence would let her, "Leave me your name and number to give to the Alphas. I'm sure they can accomodate an appointment with you. Speaking with Ayda however is out of the question. She is not yet fully adjusted and is barely tolerating anybody she doesn't need questions being poked at her or being examined right now."

[nyoka]

Fiona repressed her urge to confront Saiyuri about her refusal, whatever the situation was between her and the victim at least getting near Ayda would help out the case greatly. Though there had been other attacks, the first one held the most promise of tracking.

Fiona's facial expression went sour and she stood for a moment just staring at Saiyuri then dragged out a peice of paper and scribbled her information on it. Ripping it off, Fiona folded it neatly in half and walked closer to Saiyuri. "Here it is," after handing her the paper she continued ending with a sour smirk "You do know I have a better chance of finding and tracking the feral if I do see Ayda."

[Maira]

That was it, she'd had it! When Fiona handed over the piece of paper with her name and number on it, Saiyuri shoved it into her jean's pocket and glared as she listened to the woman in front of her talk. Her hackles were already up but now not only was Silence threatening to come out and teach the woman some manners but so was her Custos side. Having to pick between the two or loose to both, Saiyuri reveled in the feel of her wings tearing from her back and springing into existance. Once the shift was complete and her dragon-like black wings stood behind her like a thudercloud, she turned her full attention and blood red eyes back onto Fiona and said in a deadly quiet tone, "I appreciate your offer but pester Ayda without my express permission and you will wish you hadn't ever gotten involved in this at all." Then, without any chance for the woman to comment, Saiyuri stalked to her door, opened it and growled out, "You can leave now, the Alphas will contact you."

[nyoka]

Fiona took several steps back as Saiyuri's wings espanded out from her back. She was expecting the leopard not a Custos and to say she was surprised was the least. Somewhere during the comotion Fiona had drawn her handgun but kept it by her side, the last thing anyone needed was to have bullet fire.

Putting the gun away she made her way towards the door Saiyuri demanded she exit. "Thank you for your time," Pausing before she exited, she looked the girl in her blood-red eyes still carrying her sourness, "Oh and after my meeting with the alphas and the other victims, I will be back to see Ayda." and with that she exited the doorway.