INFO
NAME: Feralyn
AGE: almost 16
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Waist-length black and orange striped hair, evergreen eyes, darkly tanned skin, leanly muscled, about 5'6", 130 lbs. when human (300 lbs. in tiger form)
PERSONALITY: kind, compassionate, quiet, predatory, calculating, fun-loving, & gentle
POWERS: I have the ability to turn into a full tiger/half-tiger, turn invisible, and read peoples' emotions & thoughts. I have all the tiger's advanced senses, stealth, & agility, & I can astral project.
BACKGROUND: I was born as the crown princess of Felina, a kingdom full of cat people, that's hidden deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle. I grew up as a relatively happy child. I had been taught how to hunt, fight, and rule. When I was almost 11-years-old, my parents died from a plague that was sweeping our kingdom before it was able to be detained. My parents were among the few Felinians that died. I was crowned queen about a month after my parents died, on my 11th birthday. I've ruled ever since then. At age 13, I was visited by a group of super heroes called the Justice League and their sidekicks to discuss matters of whether I'd find them a threat to my beloved Felina. The sidekicks Speedy, Robin, and Kid Flash saved my life when rocks were falling from a cliff overhang. Since then, they've stopped by as much as they're allowed and were the best friends that a queen could hope for.
CHAPTER ONE
I sighed as I listened to an underling stating the day's scheduled visitors. I was sitting on the throne with my elbow on the arm and my head in my hand. It was regular, day-to-day protocol. I hated it with a passion because it bored me to tears. I was just beginning a daydream when I heard two more than familiar names.
"Robin and Kid Flash of the Justice League will be coming in a few hours to discuss some matter dealing with their team of young heroes." The underling read from his scroll. I immediately perked up.
"You are dismissed. I must prepare for the meeting with the Justice League representatives." I waved my hand, and the underling bowed and backed out into the jungle.
I stood and shifted quickly into tiger form. I raced through the very open jungle palace to my room with its very large walk-in closet. It had everything, including disappearing compartments for the most expensive jewelry I own and clothes that I'm forbidden to wear in public.
I shifted back to human form and pulled out a dark green strapless dress that went past my feet with a small bit of a train. I checked the time and decided to order refreshments to be made since I knew Kid Flash would be starving as usual, so I ordered 5 platters of some of our finest food and a small platter of snacks that's popular in the United States.
I sat on my throne, waiting for my friends to arrive. I had slightly dozed off when a beyond familiar laugh woke me up. I looked around fully alert and saw my friends, Kid Flash and Robin.
I jumped on them and yelled joyfully, "You're here!" Not too queen-like, huh?
"Hey, Fera. It's nice to see you again." Kid Flash greeted me as he hugged me tightly and warmly.
"He knows you're going to feed him, so he's being extra nice." Robin joked, smiling happily. He hugged me just as warmly.
"Come. We have much to discuss, and there are too many hidden audiences here." I said, leading them to a private conference room.
After the door was shut and locked, I sat the boys next to me on the large couch. We chatted about how each of our lives have gone, people we've met, and other things. Finally, I asked, "So, what brings you here?"
They looked at each other nervously, and then Robin said, "We're here to ask you to join the Young Justice League. We could really use you're help with some of our missions, and we'd love to have you around."
"We understand if you can't come being the queen and all." Kid Flash added quickly.
I sat there thinking about their offer. After about 10 minutes, I spoke. "I will join you. The only problem is getting me out of here. If I sneak out, they'll think you kidnapped me. And I can't leave Kitty in charge. She's too young."
"What about leaving and having them call you over the face talking panel thingies if they need you?" Kid Flash suggested. Robin laughed at his poor attempt of naming the holographic screens used for communication.
"I could do that. When are you leaving?" I questioned.
"We're leaving today. We were instructed by Batman that if we couldn't get you to join today to leave almost immediately to return to our base." Robin answered.
"Hm. Well, I guess I'd better get packed and tell my sister I'm leaving. Follow me please." I decided, switching back to the queen speech. I stood up and motioned to the door.
They nodded and followed me as I lead them down the twisting hallways and up the staircases to my bedroom. They stared in awe at how large the room is and how open. It's in jungle colors to make it hard to see from out in the jungle.
"This is your room?" Robin asked, shocked.
"Yeah. This is my room. My walk-in closet's over through that door if you want to see that. It's a bit big, I warn you." I replied, pulling out a couple of suitcases and a duffel bag I stashed under my bed. I had actually been thinking about running away when I first came to the throne and had hidden the bags for the needed time of departure.
The boys opened the door of my closet and switched on the lights. They gasped in shock, and Robin exclaimed, "I am officially overwhelmed!"
I laughed and carried the bags into the closest, leading my friends farther into the extremely large room. I set the suitcases down and started filling them with the forbidden clothes and the sun dresses that many of the elders frowned upon but allowed, if only begrudgingly. I pulled out my tiger's eye pendant and slipped it around my neck.
I put at the top of the 2nd suitcase the hunter's outfit made of tiger fur that's very special to me. My mother had made it for me for my 10th birthday. Mother knew I didn't like being restricted to sitting on a throne when I loved to hunt and run through the jungle. If she were still here…
I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. My train of thought would have just made me more grief-filled than I already am.
"Your closet has to be larger than my entire house!" Kid Flash exclaimed, looking around.
"Not mine. My house is pretty big." Robin laughed.
"Then, invite me over to see it. I really want to go to your house." Kid Flash whined, jumping on Robin.
"You know I can't do that. Batman would tie me up and drag me behind the Batmobile for 3 cities!" Robin said, slipping out of Kid Flash's grip.
"If you two start wrestling in here, I will certainly kick both your butts!" I threaten, packing my pictures, books, and music player into the duffel bag. I slipped my small jewelry case into the bag and then zipped it up.
My jungle green ballet flats made no noise on the tiled floor as I walked over to the boys. "I'm ready. Just let me stop next door to tell Kitty. She'll be worried sick if I leave without telling her."
I lead them to the room next door and knocked on the door. It opened slowly, and my 4-year-old sister's small, black-haired head popped out of the doorway. She smiled happily and exclaimed, "Big sissy!" She jumped into my outstretched arms and threw her skinny, weak arms around my neck.
"Easy. Don't get too excited now." I said, hugging her gently.
She noticed my friends and the bags and asked, "Are these your friends? Why are they here? And what's with the bags? Are they staying?"
I smiled gently as I set her down and leaned down to talk to her face to face. She prefers that she's spoken to like an adult. I spoke quietly, "These are my friends. They're here to visit, and they're also here on business. They asked me to join their Young Justice League, and I said I would. We're leaving today."
"You're leaving me?" Kitty sniffled. She's the only family I have left, and I hate to leave her.
"She can come if she wants to." Kid suggested, smiling kindly at Kitty.
"I-I can? I-I want to go with my big sissy!" she stammered, throwing her skinny arms around my neck again.
"You two will be in for a change then. We're pretty far from a jungle." Robin warned.
"We're going and that's that, Rob." I finished, carrying my sister into her room and helping her pack her things.
After everything was packed and I had notified the proper members of the council, Kid and Robin led us out onto a landing pad where a very sleek, red ship sat. I felt a vibration and realized that the ship was alive.
"This is the Bioship. It belongs to a friend of ours who's waiting inside to meet you." Kid explained as the door opened.
I inhaled the thick jungle air and caught the scent of something new. "Please tell me your friend is the Martian I smell." I hissed, a growl rising in my throat.
Robin and Kid Flash looked surprised, and a voice from inside the ship answered, "You can smell me? I thought the boys were exaggerating when they told us about your powers."
A green Martian girl with shoulder-length ginger hair floated down the ramp wearing a white shirt with a red X across it. Her blue cape flowed out behind her and was the same color as her skirt and boots.
I inhaled deeply and only smelled her foreign scent. I relaxed quite a bit. I greeted her with a welcoming smile. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Queen Feralyn and this is my little sister, Princess Katriana."
The Martian girl smiled back. "Hi. My name's M'gann, but you can call me Meghan or Miss Martian."
"This is a very nice ship, M'gann. Your ship, she's so calm and beautiful. You must do a great job of taking care of her." I compliment as the Bioship sends out another wave of pleasant vibrations.
"She thanks you for your compliment. C'mon. We should get going, so you can meet the team." M'gann said, leading us all onto the ship. We dragged the 5 bags onto the ship and took our seats. Kitty sat on my lap and fell asleep.
I spend my time discussing the types of missions the team goes on, their supervisors, and - most of all - the members. Robin pulled up their files for me to look at.
"Quite a diverse team you have here: an Atlantean boy, a Kryptonian boy, a Martian girl, an acrobat/tech-head, and a speedster." I whistled.
"And now, a queen." Kid added, smiling happily. I glance at Miss Martian, and she's staring at me completely puzzled and a little frustrated.
'She can't read my mind because of all my training.' I laughed inwardly. As every young Feline learned, I had been taught how to protect my mind from beings that could read, manipulate, and scar my mind.
"Quit trying to read my mind, M'gann. You won't be able to no matter how much you try." I spoke out loud.
"H-How…?" she stammered, surprised that I realized what she's doing.
"It wasn't hard to guess after reading your file." I answered quickly.
After that, I started day dreaming. I dreamed of running through the jungle in my tiger form. I heard an unfamiliar boy's laughter, and I glanced through the trees to see the Atlantean boy who was on my friends' team. He was about to catch me when Robin was shaking me back to reality.
"Quit shaking me so that Kitty can sleep longer. She needs it." I hissed quietly and groggily, pulling my sister onto my back and grabbing 2 of the bags. My friends and M'gann each picked up a bag and lead me down the loading ramp. We were in a large cavern inside a mountain. Red Tornado and Black Canary were waiting for us.
"Welcome to Mt. Justice, your Majesty." Canary greeted us, smiling welcomingly and curtsying.
"Kid Flash, gather the team and tell them our guests have arrived." Red Tornado ordered in his mechanical, emotionless voice.
Kid sped away and was back in less than a minute. Robin laughed, "New record for calling the team, KF."
In a few short minutes, everyone had gathered in a sort of training/briefing room. M'gann went to stand by the Kryptonian. I guessed she liked him.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Queen Feralyn of Felina and this is my sister, Princess Katriana. Please speak quietly so that she can sleep." I said quietly.
"Welcome to the team, Queen Feralyn. I'm known as Aqualad. My name is Kaldur'Ahm, but my friends call me Kaldur. I'm team leader." The Atlantean boy said just as quietly. He smiled kindly at both my sister and me, but there was something I couldn't place in his light sea-foam green eyes.
"Superboy." The Kryptonian stated simply, giving an attempt at a small but somewhat warm smile.
"Why don't Superboy and I give you the tour since we live here full-time?" M'gann suggested happily.
"That sounds wonderful, M'gann, but Kitty would hate us if she missed the tour. She's already missed meeting everyone." I replied apologetically.
"It's alright. We can show you around later. We can at least take you things to your room." M'gann waved it off, grabbing a suitcase.
I grabbed my two suitcases and tried to grab my duffel bag when Kaldur picked it up, brushing my outstretched hand lightly. He said, "Let me carry these for you." He picked up Kitty's other bag.
M'gann led us through several twisting hallways and finally to an orange door with a green cat eye and tiger stripes on it. She turned around and motioned to the door. Quietly, she said, "This is your room. Mine's just down the hallway, and we'll fix up the adjoining room next door for your sister if you want."
"It's fine. Thank you." I smiled and walked into my new room. As I laid my sister on the forest green bed, Kaldur set the bags next to the others and motioned me over to him.
"Are you hungry?" He asked me in a whisper when I was standing next to him.
"I'm starving. Wally didn't save any food for me or Robin." I whispered back, smiling.
He silently nodded and led me to the kitchen. He had me sit down on one of the bar stools and tried to cook. I couldn't help but laugh when he tried to turn the stove on, and he turned the knob the wrong way.
I stood up, walked over, and moved his hand away from the stove. I smiled up at him and suggested, "Kaldur, please stop trying to cook before you hurt yourself. Now, how about you sit down and I cook?"
I made him sit on my previously occupied bar stool and opened the fridge to see what there was to use. There was some fresh fish that was really tempting, but with Kaldur being an Atlantean, I decided against it. I settled for the fresh tropical fruit. I cut and peeled the fruit, tossing most of it into the blender with some vanilla yogurt and ice.
I turned to Kaldur with a small slice of fresh mango. I held it up to him and offered, "Want some mango?"
"Yes. Thank you." He replied, smiling. He took it out of my hand and ate the slice in one quick bite. A bit of mango juice dribbled down his chin, so I grabbed a napkin and handed it to him.
He thanked me, and then I turned to blend up the smoothies. I poured two glasses with some left over. I handed Kaldur a glass and sipped on mine. I was about to put the rest of the smoothie in the fridge when a slight wind picked up and the smoothie was being pulled out of my hand.
"Sweet! Tropical fruit smoothie!" Wally cheered, pouring the rest of the smoothie into a very large glass. He was in street clothes and looked very hungry.
"Let me guess, your fresh food senses were tingling." I joked, sitting next to Kaldur at the bar.
"You got it, babe." Kid flashed me his best flirty smile, and I laughed at his ridiculousness. He sat on my other side at the bar and nudged me in my side, hoping I would be ticklish.
"I'm not ticklish, Wally." I stated, taking a large drink of my smoothie.
Wally pouted and chugged his smoothie. He held out his glass to me and ordered, "More smoothies."
"Wally, can't you make it yourself?" Kaldur asked, for some reason sounding agitated and frowning.
"It's alright, Kaldur. Wally, if I show you how to make it, you have to make it yourself from now on, got it?" I bargained, getting out more fruit, yogurt, and ice.
"Got it. So, show me how to make these delicious, fruity concoctions." Wally agreed, watching me closely.
"First, you peel and chop the fruit." I chopped up some fruit and handed him the knife. "Here, you try now." I moved my hand around his and helped him chop some pineapple. "That's it. Good job. Now, try on your own." I moved away and watched. Wally chopped it a little clumsily at first but got better.
"Now what?" he asked, his hands covered in various fruit juices.
"Next, we put everything into the blender." I answered, picking up the fruit and dropping it into the blender. Wally threw in the ice and scraped the yogurt into the blender with a spoon.
"Now, we blend it up, right?" Wally prompted, smiling.
"You guessed it." I said, smiling back.
After it was all blended, I poured it into Wally's glass. There wasn't much left, so I carried it over to Kaldur.
"Refill?" I asked, smiling.
"Yes, please." He answered as I filled his glass. I finished and refilled mine. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome, Kaldur." I said, smiling as I sipped smoothie through the purple straw.
"Let's see if your sister is up. I'll give you two the tour if she is. If she isn't, we can just talk." Kaldur suggested, carrying his glass in one hand and offering his other arm to me.
I held his arm with my hand, feeling like the queen I'm supposed to be. I said, "She'll most likely not be up. She has nightmares often, but some nights are worse than others. She needed the sleep pretty badly. I swear, Kitty is afraid of the world. I'm surprised she even came with us."
We reached my room and opened the door. I dropped my hand from his arm when I heard my sister stirring. Kitty was just waking up when we were walking into our room. She looked over at us and held up her arms, motioning for me to pick her up.
I sat the smoothie on the bedside table and scooped her up into my arms like an infant. I kissed her forehead and asked, "Sleep well, Kitten?"
"Very." She answered groggily, burying her face in my neck. She looked at Kaldur and asked, "Who's he?"
"This is Kaldur, and he's my team leader. He's going to give us a tour of our new home." I replied, handing her the smoothie. She drank it happily, the fruit reminding her of home.
"If you're ready, we can start the tour now." Kaldur said, his voice flowing like water.
"We're ready." I said over Kitty's loud slurping.
He smiled and led us out the door. He started the tour in the kitchen where Wally was raiding the fridge again. Everyone we met was dressed in street clothes. We ended up in the living room where Superboy was watching TV.
I had introduced Kitty to the heroes that we met, but we didn't see Robin or M'gann at all during the tour.
"Hi, Superboy. Kitty, this is Superboy." I introduced my sister to the Kryptonian.
He smiled kindly and waved, and then he went back to watching TV. I saw it was the news, and Superman had just appeared on the screen. Superboy turned the TV off and stormed out of the room.
Once he was out of super-hearing range, Kaldur explained, "Superboy has unresolved anger with Superman. When he was introduced to Superman, he was handed off. He'd thought of Superman as a father-figure. He's still mad at him, but he's getting better."
I nod in understanding. I set Kitty on her feet, and she jumped onto the vacated couch and started watching TV. The news was still on, but the story wasn't something I wanted my 4-year-old sister watching. I grabbed the remote and put on the most harmless cartoons possible.
M'gann walked in and yawned like she'd just woken up from a nap. She smiled when she saw us, and she sat down next to Kitty and hugged her.
"Hi, Kitty. Mind if I watch with you?" She asked, smiling.
"Not at all, M'gann." Kitty replied, smiling her gap toothed grin.
"Queen Feralyn-" Kaldur started.
"Please. Call me Fera. No need for this honors stuff when I'm with friends." I interrupted, smiling warmly and facing him.
"Fera, we need to discuss an upcoming mission. Batman wanted you briefed as soon as possible." Kalder finished seriously.
"Okay, business talk. M'gann, could you watch Kitty for a little while?" I asked, turning to the couch.
She looked up at me and replied, smiling, "I'd love to!"
"Thanks." I said as Kaldur led me away to the room where I'd met everyone.
He pulled up several files, showing them all to me. I read them down to every last detail and studied the charts and pictures meticulously. Kaldur started talking about what has been reported, the mission's function, and anything else that would be helpful.
"It's a stealth mission, correct?" I asked, reading the last bit of the file and then looking up at him.
"Correct. You need to retrieve the case and get out of there without getting caught. There shouldn't be anything too challenging. Reports show that it's very low on security." Kaldur answered.
I sighed, "I'm going to have to be in costume, aren't I?"
"Yes, but I don't know how you'd hide your face if you're trying to hide your identity." Kaldur said, a little surprised.
"I got it covered." I waved it off, quickly shifting into my half-tiger form. Tiger fur covered my body from head to toe, my ears and tail had appeared, my face configured to look like part tiger and part human, and my bone structure changed to that of a humanoid tiger.
Kaldur's eyes grew wide, but then he smiled. "That will work."
'Unreadable smile. Definitely not a good sign.' I thought, keeping my face void of emotion.
"M'gann and I will drop you off at the lab, but we can only stay around for so long. They have a system for detecting alien and Atlantean DNA." He continued.
"Then, how come you expect me to be able to get in?" I asked, confused.
"It's specifically wired for Martian DNA. Your people rarely leave Felina, so they don't have Feline DNA wired into systems." Kaldur explained.
"Let me get changed into my costume, and we can leave right after." I said, changing back into my human form.
"Alright. Meet M'gann and myself in the hangar when you're done." He said warmly as he pointed towards the door to the hangar.
"I will." I waved and ran back to my room. I stopped in the living room and told M'gann and Kitty what was going on, then I went to my room and changed into the tiger skin hunters' outfit.
I was the first to the hangar surprisingly, so I decided a little meditation wouldn't hurt. I sat cross-legged in front of the Bioship and concentrated on breathing. I picked up on emotions and scattered thoughts. I felt a warm, happy emotion coming from someone here. I'd never felt it before, so I concentrated on it more. I could feel the source coming closer to me, and when someone cleared their throat close to me, I jumped into a battle stance, ready to pounce on whoever was threatening me.
I saw Kaldur and M'gann standing there, looking a mixture of surprise and a large amount of fear. Surprise was understandable, but the fear made my insides feel hollow with sadness.
"Oh. Uh, hey." I said lamely, feeling my face fall and my body go limp.
"Hi! Ready to go?" M'gann asked, trying to keep us in higher spirits.
"Yes." I answered, my face hardening into the unreadable mask of a predator going in for the kill.
We boarded the Bioship without another word, and the ride to the lab was fairly quiet. The only thing I felt was the guilt coming from both in waves that threatened to drown me. Finally, we arrived at the lab. I shifted into my half-tiger form and renewed my predatory mask that was my face.
I was about to silently leap down onto the building when Kaldur stopped me by grabbing my hand. I looked into his eyes and then looked away quickly. Sadness and guilt were very readable in his eyes.
"Fera, I'm sorry that we made you feel sad. We're both very sorry." He apologized as M'gann nodded in agreement.
"It's fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to complete." I said, leaping down onto the building silently and invisibly. My face may have been invisible, but I kept it an unreadable mask all the same.
I snuck in through the air vent which was as easy as disappearing into the humid Amazonian jungle. I slid along silently until I reached my objective, the lab computers. Dropping down carefully, I easily hacked my way into the computers.
'Way too easy. Keep your guard up, Fera.' I thought.
I finished hacking and found the files I needed. I had no clue what they're about, but if the League needed them, they must be important. I downloaded them onto my thumb drive, deleted the originals, and leapt up into the air vent. I slipped through them silently, and I made it to the roof. I was about to jump into the Bioship when the alarms went off.
I cursed myself silently as three security guards plowed onto the roof. I whirled around, dropping my invisibility. Growling, I slowly stalked towards them.
One of them shouted in fear and ran back down the stairs. The other two advanced with lack of caution. They didn't even realize they were down until I was leaping gracefully into the Bioship.
I shifted back into human form, tossed Kaldur the thumb drive, and sat staring out the window the entire ride back. They tried to talk, but I was seriously not in the mood. I was still sad from earlier, and I was honestly a little mad at them. They were supposed to be my new friends, right? Then, why didn't they treat me like a friend? Friends aren't afraid of each other.
We landed in the hangar, and I was the first off the ship, not speaking to either Kaldur or M'gann. I just walked back to my room and collapsed on my bed. I fell asleep instantly.