"Konway, this thing threw a full-sized pool table at least thirty-five to forty feet onto the top of my patrol car! Pulling that stake would be a very bad idea!"
Sarita flicked her ears and glanced to the she-kat at her comment.
"By itself? For a fledgling that's actually very strong. And not a good sign."
"Well it could have been both of them together. I didn't actually see who threw it."
The sokto jaguaress nodded. Two of them could do that.
"As far as how intelligent they are, they retain the exact same intelligence and memory as when they were mortal. There is no change there, although some do get smarter, and more cunning, the longer they 'live'."
"So that would be a 'no' then? Not even to just try asking him some questions?"
Feral considered Konway's request for a moment. He too was curious as to what the vampire would have to say.
"Very well. But strap him down as securely as you can, first. Were-cat, can you and your son hold him down if he somehow breaks the restraints?"
She simply shrugged her shoulders.
"If you and your scientist don't freak out if we need to change into our 'war-forms', then yes."
He didn't like the sound of that, but they went ahead with strapping the vampire's arms, legs, and torso down to the metal examination table. Sarita remained where she stood to the right side of the vampire. She motioned to Akin and T-Bone, who both walked over to help restrain the vampire if need be. Akin shifted up to his own sokto form, which made him appear as a tall and well-built young kat in his early to mid twenties with long black hair tied back in a ponytail. He was bare-chested while the clothing on his lower body and his arm-bands closely resembled what the ancient warriors of Katchu-Pichu wore, which was a very similar culture to the Mayans from whom the pair of jaguars descended. The scar across his shoulder showed even more prominent now with his much shorter fur. Feral looked over the younger were-jaguar and made a mental note to talk to his niece later about exactly how close of 'friends' she was with the shifter.
When the vampire was secure, Sarita reached over and gripped the stake firmly. Felina and Razor both stayed well back of the vampire, but Konway was too curious to see what would happen, and Feral also simply remained where he stood. In one quick motion, Sar pulled out the wooden stake and took a step back as the vampire's eyes jerked open, glowing fiercely red, and he hissed loudly, baring the vicious-looking fangs. He started to struggle, pulling hard on the restraint straps. Akin and T-Bone grabbed the beasts arms as Sarita put her hand around his throat, her claws pressing against the skin. She narrowed her eyes and snarled viciously at the creature with her ears pinned and tail lashing.
"Settle down, Asura-spawn. Else you'll meet your final death in numerous bloody pieces!"
The vampire glared hatefully at the she-kat, but began to calm down as he realized exactly who, and what she was."
"So, you're the bitch of a slut shape-changer who killed Ange, huh?"
Akin growled as both he and T-Bone tightened their grip on the vampire's arms. T-Bone glared at the gray kat.
"Watch you're mouth, blood-sucker!"
Sarita held her free hand up toward the two to get them to calm down. The vampire's words didn't bother her. She dug her own claws tighter into his neck.
"These kats here have some questions for you. Depending on how you answer, you may not get any parts of your anatomy ripped off."
He glared hatefully, but then the glare turned into a dark smile.
"Okay, go ahead and ask. I got all night."
She nodded and released her grip on his throat, though Akin and T-Bone still kept a firm grip on his arms just in case. Feral narrowed his eyes at the sudden show of viciousness from the female and he wondered at exactly how animalistic the pair really were, as well as if she actually planned to make good on her threat. Sarita remained where she stood over the vampire as Konway moved cautiously over to his left side.
"Okay, vampire.."
"Aaron. My name is Aaron dip-shit! Not 'vampire'!"
"Umm.. okay. Aaron, how long have you been a vampire?"
"Are you shitting me? I thought this was an interrogation, not Twenty Questions!"
Sarita narrowed her dark eyes, a hint of a growl in her voice.
"Answer the question."
"Fine. About five months now."
Before Konway could ask another question, Sarita came out with one of her own.
"Who Embraced you?"
He looked to the female shifter with a curious expression, then gave a cruel smile.
"Oh, so you guys do have some brains beneath all the claws and muscle. Moira's my sire. She's the first of Ange's childer, and she's gonna be the new boss of this city!"
Now it was Feral's turn.
"Who is this 'Moira'? And what exactly do you mean by 'new boss of the city'?"
He turned his head to look at the Commander with that same dark sarcastic grin.
"Okay, now you are as dumb as you look. Nobody knows Moira's last name, but she's the Top of the Food Chain, so to speak, now that Ange's gone. I never met the outlander bitch, but Moira told us all 'bout her. Said she had this whole damned city in the palm of her hand until spotty here took her out and messed everything up. But Moira don't hold grudges. And she ain't makin' 'friends' with the juice-bags either like Ange did."
Konway decided to ask the next question.
"What exactly are you vampires capable of? I've heard that you have extra speed and strength, but that you have other skills too?"
"Heh. Not me. Ain't learned any of them yet. Moira though's got all of Ange's skills. She's a quick learner, even if she is kinda nuts."
"What kind of skills?"
"Y'know. Animal control, shape-changing, that kinda stuff."
Sarita pinned her ears back. If this Moira was barely a year turned, and already had these kinds of disciplines, that was a bad omen. She glared down at the gray-furred leech.
"Where is she?"
Now he gave a very dark, toothy grin.
"Heh. Do you really think I'm gonna betray my sire? Think again, spots! Moira's gonna rule this city, and you guys are gonna know just why you're supposed to fear the night!"
The vampire then began to struggle fiercely. He jerked hard and the strap around his waist broke. He then jerked his hands strongly, and managed to break the strap on his right arm. With another hard jerk, he pulled T-Bone off his feet and got his hand free of the tabby. Akin tried to restrain the vampire but couldn't do so with his crippled left shoulder. Feral moved to grab the vampire's free hand, but the creature grabbed him instead, and sank his fangs deep into the Commander's forearm. Faster than anyone could even see it, Sarita's blade appeared in her hand seemingly out of no-where. In a flash of steel and splatter of blood, the vampire stopped moving as his head rolled off the table onto the floor below.
Feral pulled back his arm and put his other hand over the bloody gash as Felina ran to his side to make sure he was okay. Feral just growled as he looked down at the now headless corpse.
"Damn. I thought you said that wasn't supposed to hurt!"
The jaguaress cleaned her blade on the dead vampire's clothing, not even looking up.
"Not fast enough. I didn't even give the Kiss time to take effect. Be glad that I didn't."
T-Bone got back to his feet with a growl, refusing the helping hand from his partner. Akin stepped back from the corpse, shifting back to his felis form as he did so. He snarled at the severed head on the floor and limped several feet back away from it. Konway, who had backed quickly away when the vampire began to break free, stared in disbelief at the sight. He was amazed both by the strength and ferocity of the vampire, and at the abilities and cold predatory nature of the jaguars.
Sarita walked over to her son and glanced back over her shoulder at Feral and Konway.
"We're done here."
She then shifted back to her own felis form, the blade vanishing along with her clothing as she did. Then the pair of jaguars walked toward the far window, shimmered, and vanished.
.
The Turbokat landed in the small clearing at the park. Once the jet's engines were shut off, the pair of masked kats jumped out and glanced around out of habit. Both then focused on the fetishes from Sarita: T-Bone on the spirit bound into the glyphs in the winged jaguar tattoo on his chest, and Razor to the pendant around his neck hidden beneath his flight suit. The spirits bound to the fetishes pulled them through into the spiritual Den Realm.
It wasn't far to the massive trees that hid the dens within their branches. They knew Nakela was most likely at work, and weren't sure about if Akin would be there or not, but they were both sure that the Hellcat herself had to be back by now. As they reached the top of the spiraling stairs, they could hear very soft kittenish growls coming from the den. Chance laughed softly at the sounds as he pulled off his mask.
"Okay, what's going on up here?"
Three small jaguar cubs, not quite a month old yet, looked up from their playing at his voice. Their mother was in her feline form still, laying down beside them. The jungle cat flicked her ears at hearing her mate and smiled, if a jaguar could form a smile that was recognizable to non were-cats. Jake also pulled his mask off as the two kats walked over to the jaguars. Chance kneeled down next to Sarita and picked up one of the kits. The reddish-furred male made a soft growling sound as he chewed on his father's hand, the tiny milk teeth not sharp enough to even reach the skin through his fur. Jake laughed softly as he sat down across from his best friend.
"Kayin is definitely your son, Chance. And he's gonna be trouble."
Sarita chuffed, a sound similar to a laugh in her felis form.
I agree. And Nakela thinks he might even become a shifter.
Jealous that his brother got the attention first, the more brownish kit pounced Chance's foot, trying to dig his own tiny teeth and claws in. Chance laughed softly and picked him up too.
"Okay Mateo, I get the picture."
The black-furred kit stretched casually, then decided to crawl up into her uncle's lap. Jake smiled and stroked the soft fur.
"Neema's a lot calmer than her brothers. How did she end up black, anyway?"
Melanistic. She's got spots, they're just hard to see. I do carry the gene. Many believe that Bahati would have been black if she wasn't albino. The black jaguars are stronger with magic while we golden ones are the stronger warriors. It's because we are descended from two different tribes, and so we carry the blood of both, but each tend to favor one over the other.
"Hey where'd you come up with their names anyway, Sar? I know it was you who named them."
Sar chuffed again and Chance also gave a soft laugh.
"Yeah, she didn't exactly give me much choice on that one."
They're names that are fairly common from the region where I was born and raised.
Jake smiled and looked back down at his 'niece' as she curled up in his lap, purring softly.
