Dark Horizon

Note:Well, this is the seventh chapter, obviously… and I've just started school, so updates my be a little slower now. And, those of you wondering about the pairings… I shall not reveal my secrets… for they are an author's greatest weapon ((mysterious sound effects in background)). So if you wanna know, then stayed tuned. Enjoy the seventh chapter! Don't forget to review!

Chapter Seven: Cats, Rats, and Leeks (I know, so very original of me…)

It didn't take very long for them to reach the shack, but the silence of that walk had nearly driven Kara insane.

Opening up the door, she packed her things quickly back into their bags, which they'd barely been removed from. She hoisted the largest bag onto her shoulders and reached down to pick up the two smaller ones, but Yuki already had them.

"You don't have to carry those," she told him.

"It's no trouble."

She got the feeling that he'd said that before. Finally, it slid into place. "Tohru," she said triumphantly. "The other girl you found in the woods is Tohru."

"That's very keen of you to pick up on so quickly."

"And she still lives with you?"

"She's our housekeeper," he said simply, as if it explained everything.

"Funny… I wouldn't think anyone would be able to handle that Kyo's temper for very long."

His face tightened. "Miss Honda is… special… that way."

He likes her. I mean, really likes her. No wonder the fan club girls are unhappy. "I see," she said softly. "If you've known her for as long as it would seem… why do you still call her by her last name?"

Yuki's cheeks gained a little blush, barely noticeable, but present all the same. He didn't answer.

By now, she figured she could say essentially anything to him she wanted to, since she was going to leave soon anyway. She might as well ease her curiosity before then. "You're so polite. It's easy to see why all those fan club girls worship the ground you walk on, the way you talk. Since you don't like it, I really can't see why you keep up all the kind words. Nobody feels nice all the time, I would know."

Again, he chose not to respond for a long time. Then he said "I guess I just want to be accepted."

"And they wouldn't accept you if you were… I don't know… yourself, for once?"

"You certainly seem more willing to ask questions today."

"I guess that was a little rude of me. I have a bit of a problem now a days of wanting to tell my whole life story to anyone I meet, but since I can't, I turn to learning theirs instead, I guess. Call it the downfall of loneliness; being a little too friendly."

"I wouldn't mind hearing what you have to say."

Kara laughed. "Please. You really shouldn't get yourself into situations like these. When you don't want to hear something, tell the person. Not everyone is as good with reading people as I am." She turned bright red. She hadn't meant to say that. Why did he have to be so easy to talk to?

She didn't say anything else the rest of the way, even though she had to bite her tongue to do so.

When they returned, Yuki explained to Shigure what he had in mind. Shigure agreed, with nothing more than a "I will have to tell Akito sooner or later, but for now, she can stay."

"Why're you lettin' another girl stay here?"

Because she was living in a run down shed in the woods."

Kara stood red-faced and watched Kyo, who was looking like he might explode from anger. She found the look on his face incredibly funny and fought not to laugh.

"What're you starin' at?"

"Your expression just there… it was hilarious," she said quietly, still trying not to laugh.

"Oh yeah, you think that's funny?" He threw his fist at her and she put her hand up to catch it, as she'd been taught. He was strong, but she was just able to stop the punch.

"What the-"

"Kyo! What's gotten into you?"

"Aw, forget it!" He turned and ran off again.

"That was a nice catch, Kara," Shigure noted. "You know martial arts?"

She nodded. "I trained with several different masters, depending on the town I was living in at the time. Since I was four," she added as an afterthought. "Kyo is very good," she noted.

"So it would appear," Yuki said dryly.

"Well, Yuki has told me of your dilemma, and if Tohru agrees, you can share her room for the time being."

Just then, Tohru came out from the kitchen.

"Tohru!" Shigure exclaimed. "Just the girl I needed to see. Would you mind if Kara shared you room for a while?"

"Oh, not at all! It is your house, after all!"

"Good then, it's settled," Yuki said, going up the stairs with the bags. Kara guessed that she ought to follow. She could hear Tohru's footsteps behind her.

"It's huge!" Kara exclaimed, being used to small rooms. Then she caught herself and blushed.

"You mean the bed or the room?" Tohru asked.

"Both!"

Yuki smiled. "Compared to where you were living, I'd have to agree." He set her bags neatly in the corner. "Miss Honda, I believe you said there was some shopping you needed to do?"

"Oh right, the shopping! I completely forgot!" She rushed down the stairs.

"I was planning on going with her," Yuki said, turning to her. "Do you mind, Miss Silvers?"

"No… you go ahead." As soon as he left, she realized that meant being stuck in a house with the strange Shigure and Kyo. "If I just hide up here, I should be fine…" she told herself.

"What are you hiding from, exactly? Should I be concerned?"

Since she couldn't rightly say 'you', she instead settled on "Kyo."

Shigure laughed. "He can be a little frightening when you first meet him, but he's harmless."

She was about to say that she doubted it, but she decided on simply nodding instead. Maybe if she didn't talk to him, he'd go away.

"Let me help you unpack."

So much for that idea. "Alright…"

Since she didn't really own that much, it didn't take long for the two of them to put everything in acceptable places. In fact, they were finished long before Tohru and Yuki got back from the store, and Kara got some time to plan her escape.

Now… if I go while everyone's sleeping, then I'll be able to get away… but should I leave a note or just high tail it outta here?

While she was thinking, she walked aimlessly back a forth, until she couldn't take it anymore. I need to go somewhere quiet… somewhere that I can be alone. Spotting a ladder from her window, she decided that the roof would do nicely.

……………………

Meanwhile, Kyo was sulking, not on the roof, but by taking a walk to who knows where. Unfortunately, a random teenage girl was also taking a walk to who knows where, but her destination was in the opposite direction of his. As you might have guessed, they collided and Kyo transformed. Luckily, she wasn't paying attention and didn't notice, except that she must have run into something.

Since he was already in a bad mood, Kyo took it badly that he'd been careless enough to run into a girl like that. So, naturally, he headed to his favorite place to sulk; the roof.

……………………

Kara was busy missing her pet cat. She'd discovered that animals weren't affected by her 'curse' early on, and she'd had a pet cat named Tabby since she was very little. Over the years, Tabby had grown to be her only steady confidant. And now, Tabby was dead. Now there was no one to talk to… no one but herself who held all the memories of the dark past. She huffed and lay flat on her back, staring at the darkened sky.

I guess it's best that I just disappear without a trace… just up and vanish. Only, knowing Yuki and Tohru, they'd try to find me. They might even worry. I suppose Yuki would figure it out eventually, but…

A rustling snapped her back to reality. Standing there, staring at her, was an orange cat. She grinned and reached out to rub its ears, not knowing that it was Kyo Sohma.

Aw man, what do I do know? Kyo thought frantically. I can't let her see me turn back… but I'm going to soon and I don't think she's gonna let me get outta here that easily.

He was right. "Hey there kitty, you seem upset… but I guess things are easier for you than they are for me, right? What's your problem? Lost a good mouse in the woods? Or maybe… you ran away from home." She smiled and continued petting Kyo. "I'm going to have to run, too. Just not from a home. I'll probably never have one of those."

What the heck is she talkin' about? Well, it ain't my problem… but how am I supposed to keep from changing back? I guess I'm gonna have to…

He jumped into her lap and purred. She smiled and put her arms around him. "I just love cats," she told him. "I guess I love just about any animal, really… because I don't want to be alone, and them being around means I don't have to."

This sucks. How do I get out of here?

Tears glistened on her eyelashes and the smile faded. "Because it's my biggest fear… that I won't ever get to fall in love… get to share in that most precious part of life… because of this… because of who I am… Anyone I get close to will die. So how can I love, without losing that person?"

Kyo was a bit intrigued now, although he'd never admit it. His embarrassment faded just a little bit behind his interest.

"Have you ever read one of those books… where you just know the person couldn't have gotten through their trials without their friends, family, and even their boyfriend or husband helping them along? Of course you haven't. But… I have. And… it scares me. It scares me because now, I can see it. Yuki, Tohru, Shigure and even Kyo… they might have been those people to me. I don't have any family, not a real one, but I think they could almost be a replacement in my heart. And leaving them… it hurts so bad I can't even muster the strength to think it through properly."

He started to say something, anything that would make her stop crying so much (it was getting him wet, for one thing) but then he remembered that she thought he was just a cat, and cats couldn't talk.

"Well, thanks for hearing me out," she told him. "I needed a good cry. But now… I think I'll go and pack. Tonight's as good a time as any, especially if I don't want them all getting sick."

For some reason, he felt the need to make her stay. It just seemed wrong for her to be alone. He probably felt bad for her because she reminded him of his own troubles as the Cat of the zodiac. Whatever the reason, he put a paw on her leg, as if to say 'stay'.

She stood up, shaking her head. "I can't stay here, kitty, even if I wanted to."

She hopped off the roof with lightning speed and headed to the room she was to share with Tohru.

Sighing, she looked around her at the room, which showed every sign of being inhabited by a teenage girl, except for the character messiness. Now, Kara's things were resting there as well. Several books were stacked nearly to the ceiling in one corner, and her clothes were visible in the closet, which she and Shigure had left open out of carelessness. And the most precious things that Kara owned, aside from the silver locket that had once belonged to her mother that hung around her neck, a photograph of her parents and her grandfather's favorite hat, were resting atop the stacked suitcases.

She picked up the hat and pressed it to her chest, saddened by the memory of her grandfather, but happy nonetheless to be able to hold this reminder of him near.

"These are the things that I'll always have here for me," she told herself soothingly. "No matter what happens, I'll have these three things to remind me of my life as it should have been."

"Um, Miss Silvers?"

She jumped a little and dropped the hat. Her hand still rested on the locket. "Yes?"

"Dinner is ready."

"Okay."

She followed him down the stairs, trying not to think about the last dinner she'd had in the company of friends and family. It had been the day before Grandfather had died. Her two best friends were over for a little sleepover. The three girls and her grandpa had eaten together, laughing and smiling, not aware of what changes to their lives the next day would bring.

"This food is amazing, Miss Honda. Is it a new recipe?"

"Yes. I found it in a magazine."

"It's wonderful."

"I have to agree with Yuki, Tohru. This meal is splendid."

"Will you two shut up and just eat it already?" Kyo snapped.

Kara noticed that his plate didn't include the leeks that everyone else's had in abundance.

Meanwhile, in a secret location, evil brews its latest scheme…

"She has found others. This must be rectified if we are to meet our goal."

"Well, sire, there seems to be an abundance of leeks in the household she is staying in, if I am indeed sensing it properly. My powers have been limited as of late…"

"She grows stronger even as we speak. Her need for companionship drives her to subconsciously blot us out. But fear not… these will be the last to go before she breaks. I can sense the weakness in her even now."

"And when she loses all hope, we will be there."

"Of course. Our plan cannot fail. Kara Silvers will be our next queen… my queen. We shall rule together."

"And from her power, we will draw all that we need to control the minds of all the powerless humans on this planet."

"But first, we must curse the leeks, so that all that pass through the lips of any non-psychic will taint their bodies and eventually blot out their life force."

"Yes, sire, first the leeks."

"Get on it. I tire of the long process, and you do not need my great power for so simple a task."

"Of course, sire. Right away, I shall tell the others, and we shall do it once more."

"Once more… that is all it will take… that is all."

End note: Well, there you have it, chapter seven. I know the Kyo thing was a tiny bit of a stretch, and a little OOC, I suppose, but work with me here, 'kay?