Author's Note: Loki's life story continued. But without it, it would be really confusing, wouldn't it. I mean, a cyborg-werewolf? (Only a crazy, chocolate-high sci-fi nutter like me could come up with something like that o.O) But meh, better than some random OC with no past or purpose popping out of nowhere and right into Zabuza-san's arms, nay? Yeah. Anyways.

3. Truth

Perhaps Loki would've finished her training. Perhaps she would've become an unbeatable warrior, one of the best among other werewolf slaves. Maybe, just maybe she would've gone down in human laboratory records history as one of the most successful experiments ever accomplished, and her DNA would be frozen and saved to give birth to other highly successful werewolf warrior-slaves.

Maybe, just maybe, if on that seemingly ordinary day a glitch didn't occur in the system, unlocking all the doors in Sectors 13, 20 and 37. But that was the problem with all digital technology: from time to time, glitches did occur.

Incidentally, Loki's cell was located in sector 13.

She didn't have any training sessions that day, because the full moon was approaching and she was told to lie still and recuperate. She only got small breaks in-between her practice hours, and the energy drain before the full moon merely strengthened her current state of weakness.

Loki was lying with her eyes closed. Strange visions were sweeping through her mind, but they were so vague and engulfed in darkness that she couldn't make out what they could possibly be. It was raving, she thought. Just raving, as it usually happened before she had to transform.

The lights in her cell flickered on and off. Something close by gave a soft metal 'click'. Loki opened her eyes and sat up on the hard couch with a shiver. What was that? Was she still raving? Slowly, she got up from where she lay and made her way across the cell to the door. She peered around this way and that from between the bars and took a sniff of the stuffy laboratory air. Something was wrong with the giant machines running this place, she could tell. Hmm, interesting…

Intrigued, she gave the cell door a slight push. In the steel depths something clicked and whirred as it slid slowly open. Loki stood and stared for a bit; then, cautiously treading, came out of the cell. She was… free?

It was the first time Loki was out of her cell all by herself, without any monitors to supervise and lead her. She tried exploring by following familiar scents, but there were just too many of them, and she got lost quite quickly. Loki didn't mind, though. The girl could return to her cell anytime she liked, but she had a slight feeling she won't be going on another tour like that again anytime soon. So Loki took her chances and walked on.

Humans were strange in many ways. The corridors Loki chose were deserted, but she could hear the busy bustling of many people walking not so far off. There were always too many people in some corridors, while others remained quite unused. Why? Loki didn't understand that.

Once or twice some scientists ran by, and Loki had to cling to the ceiling or hide in random open chambers to avoid getting noticed. She took her time to explore such chambers. They were either storerooms full of machines (which Loki was tempted to thrash, but didn't dare take the chance), or different training areas. Once she found herself in a hallway of large tubes full of greenish, gooey liquid; and in that liquid, things floated. Half-people, half-beasts; they were pending in the tubes with wires attached to their bodies, their eyes closed as though they were asleep, slumbering forever. The room was dark, and the tubes cast a soft greenish glow on the floor, walls, and the curious werewolf-girl standing there, watching as though transfixed.

Loki gawped at the sleeping shapes for a while. Then, without a sound, she backed out of the room and shut the door tight behind her.

Class A-108 was a group of newly arrived student biologists that were going to be employed at the Centre once they passed an essential preliminary course. It wasn't very difficult, really. All they mostly did was watch videos about where and what they were going to work with, and conduct minor experiments.

That day they were watching a video. It was about wolves. Not werewolves, but ordinary wolves – their life, characteristics and natural habitat. It was considered base material for working with werewolves, because the two species were so closely related. But of course, most people in Class A-108 were considering themselves expert biologists who knew all that stuff anyway, so half the group paid little attention to the documentary. However, if they weren't so busy drowsing behind their notes, fiddling with pencils or floating around in some distant world far, far away, they would've noticed somebody who was paying attention. Somebody who wasn't supposed to be there, that was. A pale, skinny girl was sitting in a corner, watching the animals on the screen with wide, curious eyes.

Loki had heard the auditorium from a long way off. The corridor she happened to be in was one of the most deserted in the whole area she'd covered, and the sounds of the video playing carried a long way. When she'd approached the auditorium, she found that there was no heavy steel door blocking the dark gap of the doorway, as was usually the case. Apparently, the humans were certain that nobody would disturb their session, so they decided not to bother with the door at all. Or perhaps they thought that even if a miracle happened and anyone got interested in this amateur review material, that person had all the rights to come in and share the boredom. What they didn't expect, however, was a run-away werewolf warrior-girl to come in and share the boredom, or, in her case, make a discovery.

Loki lingered around for a while; and then, when she was sure no one was watching, she slipped into the dark, dusty room and hid in a corner. Eyes glinting with curiosity, the wolf-girl watched the documentary, mesmerized for the second time during her "tour". The vague visions she'd been having whenever she crouched alone and scared in the room of bright light were now dashing through her mind again, becoming clearer and clearer. Those animals… those places… that sky… It all seemed so familiar…

She listened to the narrator, taking in the information. It was all new to her; and yet, in a way, it seemed as though she was re-living some old, forgotten experiences. She watched the wolves on the screen hunt, and could almost taste the prey's salty, reddish scent on her tongue. She saw the little pups play, and could almost imagine herself scuttling around in the dust, chasing a dried bone or a lump of feathers. But was it all just imagination…?

Something stirred in the muddy waters of Loki's recollection. Something dark, wolf-shaped and savage. A feeling formed itself in her mind, a distant memory, filling her with strange new emotions and an unexplained longing for… something. Loki kept staring at the screen, the unknown feeling growing stronger and more alarming. Something was awakening inside her…

By the time the monitors had finally managed to locate the run-away werewolf, the documentary was almost over. But nobody, not even the instructor, was paying any attention to it now; the whole Class A-108 watched, open-mouthed, as four men in protective armour rushed into the auditorium and dragged a pale, wild-looking girl out of the shadows. It was all over in a couple of minutes. She didn't struggle much as they pulled her to her feet and out into the corridor, but she kept turning around, desperate to catch one last glimpse of the wolves on the screen. The biologists crowded out of their dark room to watch the armoured men lead the girl away. She walked between them, no longer resisting, her olive-green eyes cast down; and the student-scientists stood and stared after them for a long while after the men and the werewolf had rounded a corner.

Loki walked back along the complicated net of corridors, two of the guards alongside her holding both her arms, and one of them aiming a gun at her back. The fourth monitor was leading the way; he also had a gun in his hands. But those were rather unnecessary precautions – even if Loki's mind hadn't been too preoccupied at the moment with processing all the new information she had received, she would never think of attacking the humans. Although…

She kept thinking about the video. As they walked down the halls, she kept thinking about it. As the men pushed her into her cell and locked the newly-fixed door behind her, she kept thinking about it. And as her training was resumed in a couple of days, she still kept on thinking about it. The strange feeling inside of her was growing stronger each day. She began asking herself every time she trained, battled and was led back to her cell at the end of each session; why was she here? Who were these people? And could she really be…?

Thoughts came that she would never dream of thinking before. Memories arose from the darkest corners of her mind, filling her sleep with restless images. Questions dashed through her head like small currents of electric shock. For the first time in her life, Loki was interested in something other than training.

And one day, she'd made the decision.

She was called up to the Chief's office regularly, where he talked to her and asked her questions about her training, her strengths and weaknesses, and what she thought about the newest robot-opponents: that sort of thing. Well, Loki decided, it was about time she asked him questions. Normally, she'd never dare to; but now there was that wolf-shaped feeling inside her head that pressed her on. And so, for the first time in her life and in all history of werewolf-slavery, she asked the Chief a question. It was very brief, and she stuttered a lot as the words formed on her tongue. But she did it – Loki asked the Chief about the wolves. She also asked him if she had had a pack, too. If yes, she wondered, then where was it and why wasn't she allowed to see it?

There, it was all over – she'd said it. The Chief stared at her for a long while. Then he laughed, somewhat nervously, and stared at her for another long while. Then he said,

"Foolish child. You have no 'pack'. You have no family. You were born at the Centre, manufactured by us, the scientists that work at this place. Moreover, I personally planned out your design and supervised your construction, and I must say that I wasn't mistaken in you. You are my most successful creation yet, Loki. You will be a powerful warrior one day. Now throw that idiocy out of your head and get back to your training, and stop wasting my time."

'You have no pack… you have no family…' These words descended onto Loki as heavily as a hammer on a nail head. She didn't quite realize it, but the more she'd been thinking of the wolves, the more she imagined herself being among them, playing like a cub, the more she felt that something very much like a dream began developing in her hardened heart. It was in its earliest stages so far; merely a hint of a shadow of a dream, but it was something to dwell upon when the pain became unbearable. It was something to think about with closed eyes, lying peacefully on the rigid bed back in her cell… and now it was being taken away from her… She was being told to throw it out of her head…

The Chief looked at the door pointedly, behind which two monitors were standing, waiting to take the girl away. He turned back to his computer screen and began typing something really fast. Loki didn't move. She watched him ignoring her, and realized that she was starting to feel angry. He lied, she knew. He thought that his half-smile and his calm behaviour fooled her, but he was wrong. She could feel his scent, and she knew he was lying. This meant that she had a pack after all, she must've had one, and this… this horrible man was hiding them from her! Why? She didn't understand. Humans were strange. She had trusted him, and now he wouldn't tell her the truth? He wouldn't get away with this, Loki thought, she wouldn't let him. But what could she do?

'Attack him,' said the wolf-shaped feeling in the back of her head. 'Threaten him, show him your claws. Show him what his "creation" can do. Attack him!'

It was the least sensible thing a werewolf could do, and if Loki was a bit saner as she was thinking this, she'd realize that. But at the moment she was swept over by rage as the wolf-feeling cheered her on. And when she felt she couldn't conceal her anger any longer, her hands clenched to form fists, and with a sharp 'sliinng' her claws sprang out from between her knuckles.

The Chief looked up from the computer screen, surprised by the sound, and found himself staring up at two sets of shining blades and a pair of olive-green eyes glinting maliciously from behind them.

Loki took a few steps forward, teeth bared.

"You tell me where my pack is right now," she growled. Her common sense tugged slightly on the back of her mind, but she ignored it. The wolf-feeling was in control now, and it wasn't about to stop and let her think about the situation.

"Now, now then, Loki, be rational," said the Chief, holding out his hands in front of him and moving slightly backwards in his chair. There was nothing she could do, he told himself. The werewolf-girl wouldn't dare hurt him. She wouldn't dare…

His computer was shredded to pieces, along with his desk, as Loki brought down her deadly claws with an incredible force. The Chief had to duck behind his comfortable armchair to avoid getting hit by the splinters. Loki looked at him, cowering among the clouds of dust. It was hard to tell what was angering her so much. It was everything. It was his scent, that pathetic reek of fear mingling with the other hurtful stenches of this place that she had come to despise so much. It was the visions, those vague recollections that suddenly materialized in her mind as she lay, exhausted, resting after the training sessions. And it was this new, savage presence that had awakened in her after she'd watched that movie about the wolves. The list of reasons was too long, too unclear. Loki only thought of it afterwards. But at that precise moment, she only thought about how extremely angry she was.

The girl was advancing on the man, eyes glinting wildly. Her resemblance to a wolf was striking. She raised a clawed hand again.

"Speak", she commanded, and wasn't at all surprised to hear a wolfish growl instead of her normal voice. "Speak!"

Suddenly, the Chief's hand jerked up, a small black revolver appearing in his fist seemingly out of thin air. He fired it twice. One of the bullets ricocheted off Loki's claws as she swung her arm to defend herself, but the other one pierced her shoulder, sending a jolt of pain through her arm. Loki was taken aback, but only for a second. She smiled nastily as her wound sizzled softly and was instantly healed. Her short-lasting confusion, though, was enough for the Chief to recuperate from shock and press an emergency button on the arm of his chair.

What happened later was still a blur in Loki's mind for a long while after it was over. As the monitors rushed in, their double-barrelled machine-guns loaded, they found the Chief lying under a black heap of what had a second ago been his armchair, and a vicious-looking… something standing in the middle of the rubble, growling menacingly. The creature that they saw could hardly be called a girl. It was partly human-shaped, partly transformed; it had fangs and a tail, and its eyes glowed with an inhuman craziness. It roared in fury and rushed past them at an unimaginable speed before they could even think of firing their guns; and before they knew it, the two monitors were down on the floor, their stomachs torn apart by the merciless metal claws.

…The alarms went off as half-girl-half-wolf sped past the corridors, tearing up everything in her demented run. There was only one concept in her mind, one thought only. Escape, she thought. Outside… freedom… forest… pack… She was angry and confused. She followed scents, broke down doors, rushed into rooms, was greeted by horrified screams, ran out, broke down other doors… The girl, no the werewolf was soon lost in the maze of hallways, but she was sure the exit was somewhere close by. She just had to find it…

More men with guns ran after her, as the message of a dangerous run-away werewolf was passed along the whole giant of a building. Bullets fired, but they either missed or left Loki with minor wounds that healed right away. More humans appeared in front of her, but she tore them apart as easily as though they were sacks filled with sand. She didn't think anymore. The savage wolf-feeling was in control now, leaping and thrashing and howling as Loki, in response to that calling, wreaked havoc on her surroundings. She was twice her normal size now, a sight of wicked glory and awe-inspiring power. But as splendid and frightening as she was in her pursuit of freedom, she was clearly outnumbered. And besides, humans had a terrible weapon themselves.

If Loki were to stop and think, she'd realize many important things, one of which being that she was being led into a trap. It was like a wolf-hunt, only on a larger scale; and the goal of it was to chase her into one of the Centre's multiple "emergency rooms", designed especially for cases like this. Loki, no, the wolf-feeling thought it was being in control; but it was wrong. Loki was behaving like an animal would – and she was going to pay the price.

Surely enough, she soon found that she had nowhere to run. The wolf-girl came to a dead end. She rushed back to the doorway, only to find it slammed shut in her face. She grinned widely at this little setback. The humans seriously thought that this was going to stop her? She raised her claws, prepared to tear the door off its hinges… and stopped suddenly. Something was wrong here… She sniffed the air. Her pupils narrowed to slits, and her hackles rose as she growled softly, preparing to attack. But then…

One thousand clicks filled the chamber with a metallic echo as one thousand apertures sprang open in the flat, white walls. And from those dark, glaring gaps one thousand gun barrels appeared and as one pointed at the wolf-girl. She whirled around and stood in one place, unmoving, eyes wide with terror. Realization was finally beginning to dawn on her. She would not escape this place…

Her last thought was interrupted as the automated guns went off, spraying her with a hail of pellets. She recognized that hateful scent from far away, that overwhelming, overpowering scent, the only one that she knew she wouldn't be able to fight. Loki hadn't had any close encounters with such a thing before, and she had no knowledge of the genetic weakness passed down to her through generations and generations of werewolf-kind, but she could feel that it was something dreadful, something she couldn't possibly win against. She knew she was going to die. She might as well do it with honour. She might as well struggle. At least then she'd know that she'd tried.

Loki completed the transformation and rushed back towards the door as the hail of silver plummeted through the air and down on her sleek, lupine body, spluttered with sweat and blood…

End Chapter! Dun-dun-duuun. Oooh, dramaaaatic! Heh, I just stuck it all in one chappie because I myself want to get it all over with and get to the Zabuza and Haku part already. x3 But anyway... read on, my dear readers, read on... --tries not to look scary-- --fails--

Oh, and yes, Loki was indeed inspired by Wolverine. But then again, long metal claws seem to be the very thing this year... --reminisces of all the wonderful shows that used them-- One just can't help oneself, they're that good. x3