Kyo blinked as he woke up in a smoky mist. All around him was fog that swallowed anything that could have been there. From behind him he heard a low growl, but as he turned he saw nothing. Then suddenly it was all around him, the deep growl that sent shivers down his spine. Frantically he searched for the noise, he would rather face it head on than not having any idea where it was.

He turned just in time to see something large flash past him. His eyes widened in disbelief, just a glimpse of the thing and he automatically knew what it was, the thing he dreaded the most; the cats true form. He could feel warm breath on the back of his neck, and smell the rotting flesh made his stomach churn. He turned slowly as the the cat stared into his eyes, it sniffed at his feet then let out a loud moan, it stumbled to the side, and fell over with a loud thud Kyo was a little scared but he somehow got a weird feeling that if he turned his back on it, the results could be devastating. He got on his knees and started to study it when a voice came booming, get sickly out of it. The cat never moved its mouth though, almost like telepathy.

Kyo stared at the monster with eyes full of grief, and dread. For years he hated living with the thing, hating it, having it tear him apart inside. It kill him to look at it, but inside he felt shame full, no matter how much he wanted to, he could never deny the fact it was part of him, and he was in it's dept; otherwise he might have never meet Tohru. He stood as bravely as he could "What do you want?"

The cat sneered at him"Show me respect! You humans weren't blessed with out spirits for anything, for hundreds and thousands of years the twelve zodiacs were the protectors." The cat let out a moan of pain "But of course you don't know the true story behind it, do you?" The cat let out a snort as Kyo stared curiously at it. "You mean the one with the damn rat lying to the cat, and the big party?" The cat let out a low growl "Lies! That never happened. You could never know the truth, all the documents were destroyed the only thing left is that pitiful incomplete calendar." Kyo became to curious to resist asking "So then what's the true story?"

The cat shot his eyes and looked at him "A long time ago, before this world was corrupted beyond repair, there was a time when the zodiacs were all gods. Thirteen tribes, the Rat, the cow, the boar, the rabbit, the tiger, the dragon, the horse, the ram, the monkey, the snake, the dog, the cock, and the cat. Each tribe worshiped one of these animals, each with its own skill, the cats skill was the will to never give up. At the time it seemed so right, but they were foolish to not realize when there was no way to win, to foolish to realize they held to much power." he shook his head in disappointment. "You were foolish." Kyo stiffened as he shot the cat a death glare "How the hell was I foolish, I wasn't even born!" The cat stood and arched his back "Do not speak until I am finished!" he roared before toppling back over "You were foolish, had you not been jealous of the rats wits, and happy with your own gift, you would have never went out on your own, this is your story of how you doomed all the Sohma's, and how you betrayed yourself, and your love."


***********************

Kyo stumbled through the desert, his throat was dry and the rays of the sun beat down on him like a death ray. Why had he been so foolish? He left his tribe only about a week ago, his water gourde was empty, and soon his fire log would break. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head as he begged "Please Neko Help me, I cant go on, send me help, rain, or send me to the good places." His stomach turned as the sun baked his back, his eyes blurred and he passed out. He woke up in a small damp cool cave. Next to him a girl sat, she had her hands cupped under some dripping water as it filled her hands. She vary carefully yet skillfully turned her body and held her hands to his lips. Kyo drank eagerly careful not to spill, if it had been his own hands he might have been tempted to like them. The girl smiled as she helped him sit up, the she used her hands again to get more water.

After doing this ritual for another ten minuets Kyo finally relaxed. He searched her eyes, they seemed blank, She had Long brown hair and brown eyes darker than anything he'd ever seen. "What group are you from? I am of the cats." He waited patently but never got an answer she just simply starred at him and smiled. He started to feel uneasy "Do you have words?" This time she stood up and went over to his fire log. She emptied out the embers and put some dry grass on it and blew. Slowly the fire got bigger and bigger, but she never said a word all she did was stare into the flames. Kyo moved closer to her, he searched her eyes a final time finally seeing a flicker of life.

She looked at him as if noticing him for the first time. "Hello my name is Tunuh, but the gods call me Tohru." Kyo felt tingles cover his body "They speak to you? What do they say?" Tohru thought for a moment "They tell me 'man is in desert, he is sick and needs help, go find him.' so I searched two day and found you. With their help I carried you back to cave and care for you, they tell me what you need and I give." Kyo closed his eyes relived, he had been saved. "I give you and the gods thanks" he said bowing. Tohru blushed at him. "They also told me to tell you to go back home, and do not look for a greater power." Kyo looked away "I cannot stop, the other groups are greater, with better gifts, all my group has is the will to not give up." Tohru smiled as she pulled her hand in his "This is a god gift, this gift makes you strong, more strong than another group. The Cats are special people, that is why dogs don't like, cats are closer to the big god."

Kyo puffed out his chest "But other groups look down on us and I do not like this." Tohru looked down as she bit her nail "Then I cannot let you go alone, I will come with you." Kyo blushed" But this is dangerous, what if we find nothing? What if we die in the desert." Tohru looked up and smiled at him "This is fine the gods tell me not to let you go alone." Kyo nodded as he spoke to her "First I must make a new fire log, the we need more water gourds, and food that doesn't spoil." Tohru nodded as they set to work. She found a good log and gave it to Kyo so he could carve it out. Next she retrieved some old animal hives and knotted it together flawlessly, Then she took some strong reeds and tied then together to cover the inside of the hides. She did this three times. The next day she crawled over to see how Kyo was coming along.