:Part 2:

The thing keeps coming towards us and I'm powerless to stop it. I step back, spreading my arms and glaring at whatever it is. It'll have to get through me to get to Circe.

"It's okay, Rex," she whispers in my ear, pushing my arm down. "He's a friend..."

I watch as she steps around me, my stomach tying knots. Then the creature steps out of the darkness into the light of the fire...It's a huge lion with a brownish gold mane of fur around its face. What surprises me is that the lion is...purring and Circe is petting it, crooning to it in a soft voice. Okay... This seems extremely out of place. Did I just hear the lion talking to me not too long ago, too?

"Maybe I was wrong about being...completely alone here," Circe says, looking fondly at the big lion. "I have lots of friends that live all over the island...but they're not...human."

"Not all of your friends are meat eaters, are they?" That lion is unnerving me. She might be it's friend, but it's looking at me like I'm an all-you-can-eat buffet. And since I've lost all of my powers, I'm powerless if Big Kitty is hungry.

"No," Circe says, with a laugh. "They're harmless. They're my pets, Rex. And they don't attack anyone unless I tell them to."

That comment makes me remember the earlier attack, how the sand sprayed at me from all sides. "Are there any booby traps set up around here?"

"No... "Circe says, her hand buried in the lion's mane. "

"Who set up those booby traps around your home?" I ask. Whoever did it is gonna pay dearly, once I figure out what happened to my powers...and figure out who did it...
"Don't worry about them," Circe replied, standing up and walking over to me. "The sand thing was unexpected, but I've set up a defense system to protect myself. We'll be fine..."

She took my hands in hers and then she looked up at my face. As soon as I was looking at her face, those eyes, those lips, I couldn't bare to look away. "Just you and me, Rex," she whispered. "It was meant to be..."

She's made me speechless again. I'm putty as soon as she reaches up and touches my face with her hand. Now her face is so close, her nose is pressed against mine, her hot breath steaming onto my face. It's driving me wild. Every part of me is giving in to intense feelings.

"You're mine, Rex," she says. "Don't forget that." That's when she pulls away and I can feel my head spinning. "I hope you're hungry," she adds, walking over to the turkey and beginning the process of preparing it again. I watch her, unbelieving of how easily she can make one moment intense and then just go back to routine the next. The entire world is spinning for me. At any moment, I'm gonna topple over because of how strongly I'm feeling. It's taking everything in me to suppress the urge to run over to her and just kiss those ruby red lips-

"Rex?" There's that soft whisper voice again and this time, I feel something furry brush my arm. When I turn around, I'm looking right at the lion and it's looking at me. It's speaking to me and it knows my name. I cast a nervous glance over my shoulder at Circe, it's tamer, and then back at the lion.

"Please, don't be scared," the lion says, yet it's lips aren't moving. "It's me...Noah."

"Noah?" I repeat back, then he glares at me. The voice sounds the same as his if he were whispering, but am I really supposed to trust a talking lion?
"I'm talking to you telepathically," the lion says, irritated. "So she can't hear me."

"I thought you were her friend..." I think back to it. "You looked so-"

"Oh, you shouldn't believe anything she says," the lion continues. "It may be hard for me to prove, but I am Noah. I can't really explain everything to you now because Circe's around and she'll detect my telepathic connection with you any minute now... "

Am I really supposed to believe I'm talking to a lion? Especially a lion that claims he's actually Noah? I must be going insane or something, but then again, there's a lot that isn't making any sense at all right now.

"I will say this much," the lion continued, looking angry. "Circe was the one that turned me into a lion. Don't. Eat. The. Turkey. She might be planning to turn you into an-"

I tune out the lion when I smell something absolutely delicious. That's when I find a very tasty-looking turkey leg thrust into my face.

"Take a bite," Circe urges. It looks so good and my stomach's rumbling. I'm so hungry, I can feel myself drooling. It's practically irresistible when Circe presses it right against my lips and looks at me.

Don't. Eat. The. Turkey. The lion's words explode in my mind and for some reason, I look away from the food, into the great lion's eyes. That's when I see it: I can see Noah's face in the lion's face. The lion is Noah.

"Rex?" Circe asks, making me look back at her. "Is something wrong?"

Something seriously doesn't feel right. My appetite is gone, replaced with confusion and it feels like I'm tying myself into knots on the inside. I can't look at Circe. Something's making me look anywhere but her face.

"I'm...I'm not hungry!" I manage to choke out. "I'm going for a walk..."

Circe touches my shoulder, and I can sense her reaching towards my face. I feel so conflicted inside and I cringe away from her.

"Do you want to talk?" she asks, concerned. I want to look at her so badly, to wrap my arms around her and just sit there holding her, but I can't. Her hand is still on my shoulder and it's taking everything in me to keep from looking at her. "I...I need to think," I tell her, standing up and taking one step, then two.

Then I just break off into a run, right into the dark forest of palm trees and other things without looking back. I feel a huge pang slice through me; I want to turn back around, just go back towards her. But something really doesn't feel right. I don't know why, but it doesn't.

I run so far, and I keep running until I fall to my knees from exhaustion. It's darker than before and the night is filled with the loud chorus of animal sounds. I'm too tired and confused to be scared. All I know is that my mind isn't working right. All I can think about is Circe, but the other part is thinking about other things...

I let myself just fall to the ground, stretch out and look up. I can't see anything. For awhile, I just lay there like that, but eventually, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

*****
When I wake up, I'm looking up into the face of a lion. For about a minute, I'm confused, ready to bring out my my big fists, but then everything crashes on me like the weight of a freight train and I remember what's going on.

"Noah?" I ask the lion aloud, hoping that the lion is Noah and not a wild animal that would eat me without a second thought.

"Yeah, it's me," he replies through telepathy. "It's a good thing you ran from her. Now we can talk in peace without Circe interrupting..."

My insides twisted and lurched as I sat up. "She really turned you into a lion?" I said it aloud, but it sounded weird. Something in me knew that the lion was Noah, but I couldn't believe that it'd been Circe that had transformed him into one. If she was the one that had done it, why?

"Yeah..." Noah sighed. "I hate being a lion! I can't stand walking on four paws...it's just so weird. And, I might as well warn you right now, Rex. If I get hungry, I'll try to eat you...but it's not my fault, okay? It's the lion's instinct and stuff... Circe was lying when she said that she has control all the time. Out here, anything can happen..." Yeah, Noah, that really makes me feel better. If he tries to eat me, I won't be able to outrun the guy! I can't fight him either...No powers...This situation is really sucking so far, the only hi-light being that I got my first kiss with Circe...

"I'm sorry," Noah continued. "I haven't been able to talk to anyone without them either freaking out, running away, or being that witch Circe. So, I had to tell somebody about how terrible it is to be a lion! Seriously..."

"She's not a witch!" Nobody calls mi amor a witch.

"News flash, Cassanova," Noah says rudely. "She turned me into a lion. I have every right to be mad at her right now!"

"Why did she turn you into a lion, Noah?" I shouted at him, becoming irritable. Noah roared and I could see his eyes narrow as he angrily pawed the ground.

"I don't know!" he cried. "All I know is that after I got shipwrecked on this island I couldn't find you, Six, or Dr. Holiday. Circe was the first person I found and I was so hungry and thirsty. She gave me food and water, but right after I finished both, I became a lion! A lion. Circe's been keeping me in her personal zoo, Rex. As if I'm an animal and not a human! She did this to me!"

I watched as Noah pawed the ground and then fell back on his haunches and opened his jaws. Wide. Revealing every last sharp tooth in his mouth and roared, long and loud at the sky.

"Rex!" Noah screamed telepathically. "RUN! I can't control myself!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I turned and started running. As the roar ended, I began to run faster. That was when I heard another loud roar behind me and Noah's paws crashing through the plants and trees around him. My adrenaline was pumping and I was running at my top speed now, desperately trying to get away from him. It was my only chance of surviving.

I could feel Noah getting closer. But I couldn't run any faster. I could barely keep running as it was; I kept going, getting myself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. My heart kept sling-shotting between my stomach and my throat, filling my ears with it's sound. Every part of me was terrified beyond any kind of fear I'd ever felt before in my life.

I couldn't run forever.

Somehow, I fell to the ground and then Noah planted a huge paw in the middle of my back. He pressed down, crushing me, making the air squeeze out of my lungs. I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. All of my senses were in full alert. I could feel the drool spilling out of the lion's maw down onto my face; it was thick and gloppy.

Desperately, I began to squirm and kick under Noah's paw, but that just made the air escape from my lungs that much faster. I could feel my brain beginning to shut down. "NOAH!" I screamed. "NOAAAHHHH!"

Suddenly, the paw was off and I let my face fall into the dirt. I couldn't breathe and my heart was skipping beats now. Just barely, I could hear another voice, somebody new had arrived and was talking to Noah:

"I'm not afraid to fight you," the person said. "I can kill you in a matter of seconds..."

I felt somebody picking me up and I coughed, pain creeping through my chest where Noah had stomped on me with his paw. Next thing I knew, somebody was pressing their lips to mine, breathing into me. My eyes widened as I began to come back completely. I was getting a bit dizzy now, but the shock that somebody new was doing something similar to kissing me-CPR?- was shocking me into consciousness.

I could feel myself blushing when the person pulled away. I'd recognize those bright green eyes anywhere... Doc Holiday?

"Rex!" she cried, smiling, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I'm so glad that you're alright!"

"Get Rex outta here!" another familiar voice yelled.

Before I can even ask what's going on, Doc Holiday grabs my hand and drags me away. Over my shoulder, I see Six taking out his two swords. Noah's snarling and growling. I know that Noah's probably pretty tough as a lion, but not tough enough to take on Six and survive. I pull my hand out of Doc Holiday's and start running back towards where Six and Noah are.

"Rex! What are you doing?" Doc Holiday calls after me.

"Rescuing a friend!" I call back over my shoulder.

I run right in between Six and Noah, spreading my arms to block attacks from either. Six is gritting his teeth and glaring at me, but I'm determined to keep between him and Noah. Yeah, I'm probably gonna get hurt, but I know Six would do worse to Noah if he got into a fight with him. If I can just get Noah to cool his jets, then everything'll get resolved.

"Get out of the way, Rex!" Six growls angrily.

"No!" I yell back at him. "This isn't a regular lion...It's Noah!"

"That thing almost killed you!" Six replied. "You're delusional, Rex. This island is full of dangerous beasts! You're lucky we caught this one in time! Noah would be lucky if he's survived this long alone!"

I shake my head and turn towards Noah. He's still ready to spring into attack, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Noah..." I say to him telepathically. "It's me, Rex...You need to calm down..."

"Rex..." he says back. Carefully, I walk up to him, holding my hand out. As I walk closer and closer, it seems that Noah's calming down. He comes out of attack mode and his eyes soften. Lightly, I place my hand on his mane and run my fingers through it; it's surprisingly soft.

"That feels good!" Noah says, then smiles at me, or as much of a smile that a lion can manage. "I'm sorry, Rex...and...thank you."

"Can't you speak to Six and Holiday telepathically, Noah?" I ask him.

"I can try..."

Looking up, Six and Doc Holiday are standing there, shocked. I probably had the exact same expression on my face when I originally met up with Noah in his new form, too.