The trip was fairly short. Allan was, unsurprisingly, very knowledgeable about the ship. From what I gathered by his explanations and directions, I had just missed the hold by a single right turn, the Karaboudjan was shipping crab tins, and the captain was a bit… fond of the drink.

"I'd recommend you to stay away from his cabin. He may throw an empty bottle at you," Allan told me as we descended some of the stairs.

I glanced at him once we reached the base of the stairs. "So, you basically run this ship, huh?"

Allan looked down at me. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he grumbled.

I'd figure you to be happy to have an entire ship to yourself, with a captain who can't tell you what to do yet if something goes wrong he takes the fall. "I'm gonna guess that's why you were out recruiting, not the captain."

Allan nodded. "Aye." His tone told me to drop it, so I didn't press him anymore and the rest of the trip down the hall was made in silence.

Sweet, sweet silence. So peaceful. So-

ROLL

I stumbled and ran into the wall. "Rat piss!" I yelped.

Allan placed a hand on my shoulder to steady me. "First time on a ship during a storm?"

I quickly steadied myself. The sooner that hand left my shoulder the happier I'd be. "Not really," I admitted with a forced laugh.

Allan made a noise that I assumed was laughter, but I wasn't sure since it sounded more like a growl. "You'll get used to it," he said as he removed his hand.

If I'm around long enough to get used to it. Actually, I wasn't going to be. I had made up my mind. First thing in the morning when we docked I was gone. Poof. No trace, no nothing. "Er, thanks?"

He grunted as we approached an open door.

The ship's rolling was starting to get worse, the waves pushing us around. I stumbled once or twice, but after that had focused on keeping my balance or, at the very least, not running into Allan.

Allan walked through the door first, but I wasn't far behind.

The "card cabin" was a medium sized room, the walls wooden. Two large support pillars, also wooden, ran from floor to ceiling in the middle of the room. There were some tables and chairs off to my direct left, some crates stacked against the wall in front of me, and more crates clustered around the second pillar to my right as well as some bunks stacked against the wall past that. All the furniture was bolted down to the floor, and the crates tied in place by thick rope looped through large metal rings welded to the floor.

Sailors sat scattered throughout the room, some playing cards at the table via a pale golden swinging overhead light, some sitting on the crates in front of me and to my right, and some even snoozing in the bunks. I had no clue whether those were actually their bunks, or if this just served for overflow.

There were some crates stacked to the wall by the door to my right, but, with Tom sitting there, I didn't look.

Allan strode in and sat next to a man I did not recognize. I did recognize the man to Allan's no left, or rather, men. Bart and Rango. Unfortunately, the only seat was between Bart and Allan.

I felt too miserable to care, so I trudged over and plopped down between the two men. Allan seemed to be preoccupied talking with the other man, but it was nothing but small talk. Nothing I felt I should listen in on. Like he would speak about private matters with me so close anyway.

Bart looked down and grinned at me, his friendly expression making me feel a little better. "Hey, Shadow. Where've you been? After Tom came in without you we started wonderin'. He said he wanted to go check on you."

Good feeling's gone. I glanced over at Tom. The man had found something interesting on the floor to his right apparently.

"Everything ok, Shadow?" Bart asked, laying a hand on my shoulder.

I jerked in surprise and looked back up at him. "Er, yeah, fine. Just, a little sick I guess."

The bear of a man smiled sympathetically. "First voyage. You'll get your sea legs soon enough," he chuckled. "But, I do have something that might take your mind off it." He winked and pulled out something from behind his back. "You were saying you liked cats, so I thought you'd want to see these."

My eyes widened. "Eagle Claws!" I gasped. I snatched them from him, making him and Rango burst out laughing.

"Ah! So you know what they are?" he asked jokingly. By my reaction, he no doubt knew I had seen them before.

I nodded. These things were impossible to find anymore, banned for some odd reason or another. The only other time I had seen these in person was when we confiscated them from a drug dealer's home. But I wasn't allowed to keep them, much to my chagrin. "Of course! But how…?"

Another deep laugh. "I know a guy," was all he said.

I looked up at him then back at the claws. They looked so tempting to try on… "Can… can I try them on?"

Bart gestured towards them with an open hand. "Of course."

I grinned and slipped them on. After I got the first on, Bart helped me slip on the second one. I wriggled my fingers in them. They fit so perfectly. I unconsciously glanced up towards Tom with a smile on my face, but when I met his cold eyes, my smile slowly faded. My shoulders slumped and I hung my head.

From the corner of my eye I saw Allan frown, looking from me to Tom. "Hmm."

Ah great, he's suspicious again. Perfect time to get him agitated. During a freakin' monsoon. Just-

CRASH.

I abruptly stood, staring unblinking at the open doorway as I stood rigid. And just what was that?! I shook as my muscles trembled from the strain. That didn't sound good at all. Was "crab" the only thing they had on board? Or was there another animal, one that wasn't dead, minced, and in a tin can?

Allan slowly stood up, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Kid, what's wrong?" he asked slowly.

I looked at him with alarm. "You didn't hear that crash!?" I exclaimed.

He looked at the door, then back at me and slowly shook his head. "No?"

How could they not have heard?! I looked around the room frantically. The sailors had all fallen silent, some staring at me with confusion and others staring at me like I had lost my mind. I'm not crazy! Stop looking at me like that! I'm not crazy!

I at last looked to Tom, who was also staring at me like I had gone mad. "Tom! You're closest to the door! You had to have heard something!"

Tom only shook his head. "I didn't hear nothin'."

Click, click, click. The hair rose on the back of my neck. That was never a good sign. With all the time I spent around them, I adopted some of their mannerisms and my senses had gotten stronger. They didn't call me "the Cat" at the agency for nothing. One thing I had gained from it all was a good sense of danger. Especially if it was…

I looked to Allan again. "Are you carrying any type of canine on board?" I demanded.

His eyes widened, telling me there was one on board. Those click of nails sounded like a dog's nails on the steel floor of the ship. And they were getting closer.

I looked towards the entrance again, panic rising. My eyes darted from sailor to sailor, then back to Allan who was still looking at me with wide eyes. "How did you-"

I shook my head. "No time!" I gasped. I realized I had just cut off the Wolf, but if I didn't act there may have been an actual wolf about to come through that door. "Is there any possible way it could have gotten out?"

Tom stood, shaking his head as he walked over to us. "Not possible, Eddie tied the crate down." He paused and his pale gaze shifted over to a man in the corner.

I followed his eyes and what I saw wasn't reassuring in the slightest. A red faced sailor sat avoiding eye contact as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Allan followed our gaze as well, and I heard him growl, "Eddie? Did you tie that crate down like I asked?"

"Er, well, I may 'ave fergot…" Eddie mumbled.

I beat Allan before he could yell at the man. "You forgot?! How could you forget to do something that important, you stale end piece of white bread?!"

His eyes widened as he looked up, no doubt unused to an insult like that. Even Allan was looking at me strangely.

Something out of the corner of my other eye made me jerk my head around towards the door. A large, shaggy furred wolf stood in the doorway, teeth bared in a savage snarl. Saliva dripped from his jaws onto the floor. He looked hungry. And not a haven't-eaten-in-a-few-hours. No, this was a few days hungry.

How the hell does something like this even happen?! "Wolf escaped!" I yelled, pointing at the wolf.

Tom spun around as the wolf decided to charge, teeth bared and claws outstretched.

I saw Allan reach for his waist, where I assumed he had a gun. But he wouldn't have been able to shoot the wolf before it got to Tom. I was closer.

Realizing my only option, I readied myself to jump. Time to pay you back, Tom. I shoved into the much taller man with all my might, making him stumble to the side and out of the wolf's open jaws. Unfortunately, that put my left bicep and shoulder in the way instead.

When the teeth dug into my upper arm, blood immediately burst from the wound and a scream from my throat. I had been attacked by a feral dog before, but this was a much bigger cousin, with much bigger teeth. And they went deep.

The wolf, just as content with my arm as he would have been with my neck, growled and started to shake me.

Oh, hell no! I will not lose my arm to some damn mutt!

I snarled, raised my right hand, and brought the eagle claws down on his face. The sharp tips slashed downward across his left eye, blinding him. He howled and released his grip on my shoulder as we fell away from each other.

I gasped in pain as blood flowed freely from the deep wounds. I gingerly touched my shoulder with my right hand. I then hissed at the pain. I jerked my hand away and glanced at it. Blood dripped off it, mine or the wolf's I wasn't sure.

Speaking of that son of a bitch…

I glared at the wolf, who was shaking his head back and forth with pained yelps. Flung from his face, drops of blood splatted the floor. He stopped then glared at me with his remaining yellow eye. Snarling, he rushed again.

Matching his snarl with one of my own, I slashed at him with the claws on my right hand as my left arm hung loose. They caught his neck, but only scratched the surface.

He backed away, yelping, then readied himself for another jump. He wasn't giving up on the prospect of a meal so quickly, and had already had a taste of blood. He was going for the kill or planned to die trying.

Luckily for me, it was the latter.

BANG.

Smoke curled up from the barrel of Allan's drawn pistol. I glanced at him, hand covering my shoulder, and looked back to the downed wolf. Clean shot between the eyes.

Suddenly, I began to feel lightheaded and stumbled. The ship, which was still rolling, was really not helping me as I staggered backwards.

I fell, but thankfully Tom caught me.

"Shadow! Are ya ok?!"

I felt relief wash over me at the worry in his tone. I glanced back up at him. "We're," I groaned in pain, "Even."

Confusion flooded his face, but then he realized what I meant. "Shadow, ya didn't-"

"Take him to Omar, now," Allan ordered, holstering his pistol again on his right hip. "He needs that stitched before he bleeds out. Go!"

Tom nodded and picked me up. I hissed through my teeth when the movement jostled my wounds. He muttered a sorry and walked out as quickly as he could.

As he walked down the halls as straight as possible with the ship moving, he asked, "Why, why did ya do that?"

I looked up at him, ignoring the fuzzy lights above him. "You're my friend, aren't you? I couldn't let you die."

Tom lowered his voice. "But ya plan to bust me and Al-"

"To hell with that. I'm running after this. I can't turn you in. Or Bart… or Rango…" I could tell my voice was getting weaker, and I didn't appreciate it one bit. "If I even live to run tomorrow."

Tom seemed to notice my slur too, for he cursed and walked faster. "Don't worry. I'll get you to Omar. He'll fix ya up…"