Chapter Four: Unexpected Guests and Ridiculous Werewolves
"From Ashley." Jazmine murmured as she skimmed over the letter quickly. Her expression quickly became frustrated. Her eyebrows came close together and her eyes narrowed, almost like she couldn't believe what she was reading. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it and continued reading.
Clyde sighed and shook his head. "You are taking forever." He barked snatching the letter from Jazmine's hands.
For a moment, Jazmine looked like a toddler who had just had her favorite toy yanked out of her hands. "Clyde!" she whined. "I was reading that!"
Clyde snorted down at her. "Oh, boo-hoo! Get over yourself and stop acting like you're four." He said. Jazmine frowned. "Yeah?" she snuffed. "I'd like to see a four-year-old do this!" As she finished her sentence she pounced on Clyde and sent him tumbling to the ground. She landed hard on Clyde's chest but he still had the letter firmly clutched in his fist. He held the letter parallel to the ground and his head held back as he tried to finish reading the letter. Jazmine shook her head and saw the letter in his hands. "Give it!" she huffed scrambling forward and reaching for the letter. Clyde rolled over quickly and tucked his arm, the letter, and Jazmine's legs under his chest.
Jazmine grunted under Clyde's weight and tried, unsuccessfully, to pull herself out from under him. "Get off!" she shrieked as her necklace flashed and she sank her lion fangs into his shoulder. Clyde howled "Don't bite me!" he slid his arm up, freeing Jazmine, and tried to slap her away. The letter floated away and Jazmine clamped it in her powerful jaws. She pranced triumphantly back to her place and uttered a mrrow of laughter.
She was aware Jacob and the other two werewolves gaping at her, but she paid them no mind, and started to set the letter on the ground when Naruto tackled her. He was in his fox form for the first time in Forks and Bella and Edward joined the wolves in gawking at them. Naruto snipped at the letter with his small, yet sharp fangs but Jazmine swung her head out of Naruto's reach. Jazmine shook her body and Naruto fell off of her. She stepped on his stomach and slowly started applying pressure until he wailed with defeat.
Jazmine let Naruto up and he looked at her angrily. Swishing his tails he stalked off towards Vivien. Vivien squealed with laughter. "Crikey!" she said taking on an Australian accent. "It's the rare three-tailed fox! How lucky we are to find 'im! Look at his bew'e'ful tails! Gorgeous! Just gorgeous!" Vivien said bending down to yank on one of Naruto's delicate tails. He let out a loud yip and turned to swipe a small paw at her hand. Vivien pulled her hand to her chest with lightning fast speed. "Aw, he's a cranky boy! I'm not gonna hurt cha, boy!" Vivien giggled.
Naruto bared his fangs and twitched each one of his tails. "Yeah, but I'm gonna hurt you!" he snarled rushing forward and sinking his fangs into Vivien's leg. Vivien yelped and smacked Naruto off of her. Bella studied Naruto's tails. Why did he have three and not one? Was he special?
"Um, Jazmine," she asked quietly. Jazmine flicked her ears towards her and then glanced over her shoulder. "Why does Naruto have three tails?" asked Bella.
Jazmine flicked her ears again and Edward caught a hint of amusement in her bright, yellow eyes. She set the paper down on the ground and turned fully around to Bella and Edward, with her back to the wolves. "It's a long story. Very long." Jazmine said tilting her head. "It started when Naruto was born about sixteen years ago."
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Bella nodded and watched as Naruto walked over to Jazmine slowly, sat down beside her, curled his tails around himself, and closed his eyes.
Jazmine looked down at him with affection and rasped her tongue over the top of his small head. Jazmine looked up at the sky and blinked, trying to put the story into words. "Far away from here, there are ninja regions clustered together." Jazmine started. "One of the biggest and strongest regions was the fire region. At the heart of the fire region, there was the Leaf Village. The head of the Leaf Village is called the Hokage, then and now. The Hokage is determined by the village's elders who have seen all of the ninjas grow and work to achieve their goals in life. The Hokage protected the village and would, if needed, save anyone who lived in the large town." Jazmine paused for a moment and Naruto's ears twitched expectantly.
"There are all sorts of threats that could bring a village to its knees: powerful rogue ninjas, other large villages in other regions, and . . ." her voice trailed off into a croak. She shook her broad head and continued. "And demons. Large, powerful demons that destroyed everything in their paths, if they wished to do so. At the time, the most terrifying demon for the Leaf Village was Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Fox." Jazmine saw Edward's eyes flick over Naruto curiously and then back to her face. "The Nine Tailed Fox attacked the village one night. The Hokage, the Fourth Hokage at the time, sent out all his warriors to stop this menacing beast before it got to the village, but many great ninja were seriously injured or killed in that battle that night."
Naruto shook his head. "I was born that night," he added. "The Fourth Hokage took me and put a powerful seal on my belly and then went off to the battle grounds to the fox. He stood on top of its massive head and sealed the huge monster inside of me and, to make sure the seal was strong enough, he gave his life for the village." Naruto's eyes were solemn as he looked at Edward and Bella's shocked faces.
Jazmine felt a pang of sadness stab her heart as she looked down at the small fox. "Well, the people who remembered the battle hated Naruto for it. They thought that the fox could somehow escape Naruto's body and some thought that he was the Nine Tailed Fox. Naruto fought to prove his loyalty and courage. He was put on a team with two other children his age. A girl named Sakura, a boy named Sasuke, and their teacher and friend Kakashi. With that group he fought long and hard to become the next great Hokage."
Naruto's hackles rose and he bared his teeth. "That was before Sasuke ruined it all! Sasuke!" he growled with his three tails lashing furiously behind him. Vivien hissed angrily at Naruto and Jazmine silenced both of them with a flick of her tail.
"About two months ago, I was in badly need of a vacation. I took Vivien and we traveled to places I've never been before. With luck, we stumbled across the Leaf Village. We snuck past the guards and almost instantly met the inside patrol, Naruto and Sasuke." The hint of amusement returned to Jazmine's eyes and she purred a laugh. "They obviously thought we weren't much of threat but they tried their best to take us seriously. Sasuke is a little more harsh then Naruto is and he wanted a fight." Jazmine and Vivien chuckled under their breaths and Jazmine continued. "We had a few good laughs before we convinced them to travel to New York with us and from there we arrived at Toronto. Sasuke asked of his own free will to be given a necklace so Vivien gave him one. A black panther he is." Jazmine said nudging Naruto with her paw.
"Naruto, on the other hand, was bitten by a scoundrel criminal know as Blake who wanted to get back at Jazmine for achieving more than him." Clyde chipped in from where he still laid on the ground. Jazmine nodded. "Yeah, and for Naruto it was either die or change, he couldn't make the choice so I did." She said.
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"Naruto only had one tail at first. He was a perfectly normal looking fox." Jazmine teased. Naruto snuffed and raised his head and tails proudly. "Sasuke had a small grudge against Naruto and his newer instincts told him to kill Naruto. So he burst through the wall and attacked him. The attack triggered the necklace which triggered the fox demon which triggered Naruto to start getting bigger and start sprouting tails." Jazmine said. "I managed to stop the full transformation by throwing him up against a wall, knocking him out." She said.
Bella had forgotten to breathe and she sucked in the air. "You threw him against a wall?" she asked.
Jazmine nodded. "Yeah." She said. "It didn't hurt him and he looks pretty cool with three tails."
She suddenly felt an unexpected nudge on her back. She turned slowly to see Jacob looking at her with large eyes. "You aren't that bad, Jazmine." He murmured. Jazmine seemed pleased by his compliment. "Why, thank you, Jacob." She purred. "You're not so bad yourself." She added raising a paw towards him. He flicked his ear. "But you are still a nasty bloodsucking leech." He teased. Jazmine growled playfully. "And you are still a stinky dog brained mutt." She joked.
Jacob turned to leave when his tail started to bristle. His hackles rose and he looked at the woods were a patch of thick bushes grew. Jazmine lifted her nose the air and just over the strong sent of werewolves she scented the sweet scent of one of her fledglings. A purr rose in her throat and her motherly instincts took over. She padded gently over to the bushes. A large black nose met hers and she was suddenly staring into the large black eyes of Rachel. A humming came from Rachel's throat, almost as loud as Jazmine's overjoyed purring.
Naruto's ears perked up as he saw Rachel and his fur bristled with joy. Vivien was just getting over the shock of seeing her. She squealed with pure delight and happiness. Her necklace flashed and she bounded as a cheetah toward the black wolf that stood in front of Jazmine.
"Rachel! I'm so happy to see you! What are you doing here?" Vivien asked coming to a screeching halt beside Jazmine. "What?" Rachel asked with sparkling eyes. "Can't a girl come see her own family if she wants?" she laughed.
Jacob made himself know quickly. He barked and then howled at the three girls. Jazmine turned and snorted. "What?"
"You didn't tell us your kind could turn into animals and you certainly didn't tell us that you could turn into wolves!" he snapped. Jazmine couldn't understand his anger. It wasn't like he was being made fun of or anything. But before Jazmine could voice her opinion, Rachel pushed forward with her chest puffed out. "Yeah, dog brain? Well, who says you got to be told anything? It ain't Jazmine's job to inform you of your enemy; that should be your pack leader's job." Rachel turned her nose up. "Or does he ignore you because of your road kill smell? You three smell like you taunted a skunk and got the bad end." She said screwing up her eyes.
Vivien exploded into giggles. "Rachel! Stop! You're killing me!" she laughed. The three wolves growled at Rachel and she didn't look twice at them. She stalked over to Clyde with her dignity on the tip of her nose. "Rachel." Clyde replied coolly. "Clyde." Rachel said sitting beside him and angling her body toward Edward and Bella. "You two must be Edward and Bella." She said inclining her head in greeting. "Nice to meet you. I'm Rachel." She turned her head to Edward. "Edward, I am sorry about being on your territory without permission, but I had to talk to Jazmine for a few minutes." She said, she wasn't asking, she was telling.
Edward saw no other choice but to nod and Rachel stalked back to Jazmine with Naruto tagging along behind her. "Jazmine," Rachel said. "I'm here to tell you that you are upsetting Daggorith."
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Jazmine's ears laid back flat against her head. Her tail twitched nervously and her body started to tremble slightly. "Wh-what do you mean . . .?" she asked with wide eyes. Rachel's face was filled with pure pity as she looked at Jazmine and then it turned into aggravation. "Don't you see, you trembling fur ball?" she snapped. "Daggorith is your brother. He was hurt when you didn't invite him to go with you, so he tried a lie. Something big to bring you back and you tried to send him away because of it. It's Daggorith you're playing with not a child and Daggorith needs his sister with him." Rachel growled stepping forward to look more serious.
Jazmine had crouched down during Rachel's rant. Her nose was touching the ground and her eyes were down. Her ears twitched as Rachel muttered something in the animal language. Jazmine bared her fangs and looked up at Rachel with red eyes. Jazmine lurched to her full height and swiped at Rachel. Rachel ducked swiftly and raced to Jazmine's side. Jazmine hissed something at her in the animal language; Rachel dipped her head, and hurried over to Jacob and his pack members.
Jacob curled his lips back in a growl and then stopped abruptly when Rachel started talking to him in wolf.
Jazmine watched them with a grumpy expression and then sat down with a heavy sigh. Vivien scrambled up to her and pressed her nose to Jazmine's shoulder. Vivien gave Jazmine's neck a comforting lick and nudged her carefully. Jazmine snorted at her and started to lash her tail again. Vivien's ears laid back on the top of her head and she looked over at Clyde with big, uncomfortable eyes.
Clyde's necklace flashed and the bobcat sprinted over to Jazmine. He sat down beside her, pressing his flank against hers.
Jazmine gave him no objections but sat silently with a strange look on her hardened face. It was almost as if she was listening to something that was very quiet and she was sitting very still so she could hear it. As the werewolves left quietly and Rachel turned to tell Edward what he already knew, Jazmine let out a sharp cry.
Rachel turned quickly, just in time to see Jazmine smack Clyde in the face sending him sprawling backwards. He laid on his back, laughing and kicking his feet in the air.
"You gross little pervert!" Jazmine screeched with a playful flick of the tail. Rachel rolled her eyes. "Keep your love talk G rated please, Clyde." She snorted, twitching her nose.
Clyde's playful purring could be heard across the yard as he pounced on Jazmine's back. Jazmine screeched again and her fur bristled as she tried her best to shake him off.
Bella couldn't contain a giggle as she watched them tumble around for a few minutes. Edward glanced at Bella with a smile and then looked back at the two cats.
"Get off!" Jazmine barked. "Don't." she whined collapsing on her side and rolling onto her back. Clyde laughed and picked Jazmine up with his hind legs. Instinctively, Jazmine rolled onto her stomach and right onto the ground. "Oof!" her teeth clicked and she nearly bit her tongue.
Vivien and Naruto laughed like hyenas and Rachel rolled her eyes again. "Juvenile!" she spat sticking her nose in the air. "You have no self-decency." She grumbled. Jazmine sat up quickly and looked at Rachel with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Oh, Rachel," Jazmine said stepping forward. "While we're on the topic of self-decency," the tone in Jazmine's voice made Rachel's ears lay flat against her head. "Were my eyes deceiving me or did I see you sneak out of the house going towards the dumpster?" Jazmine said with a wink. Vivien barked a laughed. "Busted!" the cheetah shouted. "Most likely to see Matt." Clyde threw in with a laugh.
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Rachel froze and her eyes widened. She shook her head and snorted. "Believe whatever makes you happy." She said sticking her nose in the air.
Jazmine laughed. "Well, Edward," she said turning to face him. "As you already know, it is time for us to depart," she bowed her head. "I thought we'd be staying a little longer but my family is crazy and I need to take care of them." She mused with a gleam in her eye as she scanned her team. "I understand, Jazmine." Edward said with a smile. "We were happy to have you, Alice will be sorry she missed the good-byes." Jazmine loped towards Edward and Bella. "Though, I'm sure she already knows, tell her good-bye for me, and you are always welcome in Toronto." She purred. Edward inclined his head. "We give our thanks."
Jazmine shook her head. "No, Edward, I give my thanks." She turned to Bella. "And Bella, it was so wonderful meeting you. I'm sorry our time together has been cut short, but I hope to see you again some day." Jazmine said with a nod. "Oh, uh, sure." Bella stammered. Jazmine giggled. "Right, bye you guys." She said with a flick of her tail. "See ya." Edward said. "Bye." Bella murmured. Jazmine turned her back to them and faced her team. "Move out!" she commanded.
There was a flash of light in the clearing and then they were gone, leaving Bella and Edward by themselves, yet again.