Chapter Sixteen

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

A large dark brown tom was sitting at a rustic looking table inside a nice, well built cabin deep in the woods. It had a chimney, two windows, a bedroom, small kitchen, and comfortable living area and was filled with simple handmade furniture and native decorations. The tom was presently in the kitchen and before him on the table were five bowls filled with different types of herbs.

His gold eyes were studying a page in a very old book that had been hand written by a distant clan member long ago. It held detailed instructions on many types of spells used for a variety of tasks. The one he was reading now was for allowing a Kat mated to a Saharas to take a primal form so mating was possible. Saharas tended to mate in both forms so it was necessary for those bonded to Kat mates to be able to do this as well.

This was a lesson Feral had forgotten, to his shame. There were many things he'd failed to keep up with since moving to live in Megakat City. He'd not known watchers were near since the appearance of the SWAT Kats and he had forgotten much of his specialized training as a Saharas. It had been his grandmother that had chided him for his laxness and he had promised himself he would get back into training once he'd finished the bonding cycle with Abi.

But here he was doing something he should have done before they'd even left the city together because, again, he'd forgotten the need for it. Various herbs known only to his kind needed to be harvested, dried, then mixed properly for this spell to work and that was what he was doing now. There had been some delay as he impatiently waited for the herbs to dry but finally he was able to being making the potion. He took a pinch of a yellow kind of leaf and ground it in his mortar with a pestle until it was nearly dust then added other herbs and did the same until all were mixed thoroughly.

He grumbled irritably to himself as he worked. It was inexcusable how much danger he'd put Abi in earlier when he'd altered to his primal form and tried to mate with her. She'd been brave and held him off until he'd regained his senses but, damn it, that shouldn't have happened in the first place. Everything he'd done since meeting Abi then mating her, had been fraught with danger because of his arrogance and failure to keep up his training. Well, no more, he swore as he patiently worked to get this done.

Magic was a big part of the Saharas lives, something he had shamefully forgotten and allowed to go dormant within him. He had leaned to much on science since his move to the city which meant he'd failed to keep an eye on what else might be going on besides the omegas. He could kick himself for his laxness.

Living among Kats who didn't believe in magic had been his downfall. Despite several magical events occurring in their midst, Kat kind still refused to believe it existed even though their own history had revealed the use of magic was rampant during the middle ages, especially during Queen Callista's time.

Sometimes, even Saharas forgot, like his younger brother Rinne who was fascinated by science and studied it. He came to believe only science could explain everything about the world and those within it. He even had the audacity to insist this was true to his older sister, Urabe one day when they were very young.

Feral chuckled at the memory of Urabe putting Rinne in a headlock and not letting him go until her little brother admitted that magic was just as real as science and just as important in their lives. She reminded him there were many things science couldn't explain.

Feral had wisely not interfered, choosing to watch and listen instead. Their grandmother finally appeared to break up the fight. Now as an adult, he, like his brother Rinne, now believed in both which should have made him aware of magical influences within the city but he had allowed that part of his heritage to grow weak and focused more on the science side of his life and work. He was paying for that stupidity now. Urabe would be downright pissed with him right now.

The door to the cabin opened then closed and footsteps came into the kitchen. He never looked up, knowing who it was that took a seat across from him and watched what he was doing.

"Oh my! What is that awful stench?" Abi said wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"A potion I should have made when we got here. It's a family recipe from our spell book. " he said, continued to stir the strong smelling herbs until they reached the consistency he needed it to be.

"A spell book, so you can do real magic?" she asked excitedly noting the hand written quality of the book he was using and that the language was Saharas'. She watched as he added a little henna ink to the mix from a small bottle that had sat nearby.

"Yes, every family has one and yes I can do magic. It is an integral part of our lives but we also believe in science as well." he explained distractedly as he added a few drops from the bottle, mixed, then added some more.

"But when the Pastmaster showed up and Mad Kat used his magic box, you seemed..." she began to object but he interrupted.

"Not to believe it actually happen? That was pretend. I couldn't very well show I believed in magic because, as you know, Kat kind no longer believes in it so would have frowned on me believing in it and I would have lost my credibility. It always amazes me how people can ignore the evidence before their own eyes, but it's a true fact nonetheless," Feral grunted mildly amused. "Now the only ones of this era that believe are the more primitive cultures."

Abi sighed and nodded. "You're right about that. To my embarrassment before all those magical creatures began showing up, I too harbored some skepticism about magic truly existing. Of course, I believe now...but then..." she shrugged and looked a little sheepish.

"Don't let it bother you, Abi. You are a product of your training but, luckily, you have an open mind and when the evidence proves otherwise, you're quick to accept and then investigate for yourself, which is what I like about you." Feral said, pausing to smile at her warmly.

She smiled in return. "Why thank you love. So what kind of spell are you preparing to do?"

"One I should have done before we came out here. I'm so sorry for having nearly put you in danger because I hadn't done this. Anyway, as soon as I add a drop of my blood to this mixture and cast the spell, I will draw a tattoo on your back." he said then eyed her closely to see how she responded to that information.

Her eyes widened. "Why would you want to do that?"

"So you can change form just like I can, making it safe for us to mate in both forms." he explained.

"Uh...why should we want to do it that way?" she asked nervously.

"It's born into us to mate in both forms. I have mated you in our biped form but my primitive one needs to do it too but its too dangerous and I'm far too big for that to happen to you in your present form. Hence, this spell was developed for we who have bonded to a Kat, to help them change form. Don't worry, its safe and you'll love being able to hunt and run with me. It's also a great protective form for you as well." he gently reassured her.

A small frown creased her face as she watched him complete the spell preparations. Ulysses pulled out an odd looking knife from his pocket. The blade was the length of an ordinary pocket knife but had a wooden handle instead. On the handle were carved some symbols in the language of the Saharas. He brought up the blade to his index finger and made a small nick at the tip. Placing his finger over the mortar, he let a few drops fall into the mix. Once done, he brought the cut finger to his mouth to lick which healed the wound quickly.

"Ulysses, there is something else I want to ask before I let you do this." Abi said watching as his once red blood change almost completely to black when it hit the mixture.

"It about the blood isn't it?" Feral asked certain this was what bothered her.

"Yes. In all the texts and scrolls I've read about your kind, blood was brought up repeatedly. It is said your blood has all manner of special traits to it...is this true?" she asked.

Feral nodded. "Yes, its true. Our blood can and does imbue certain abilities to those that use or drink it but that is a closely guarded secret."

"Then how did Kat kind find out about it because it was in our history books about it whenever they mention your kind?" Abi frowned in puzzlement.

"Believe me we did keep it secret until Queen Callista betrayed us," he said darkly.

"What? But everything I've read said it had been an accident that revealed your blood's special traits."

He shook his head. "It was no accident but the Queen let it get about that it was but believe me its reveal was deliberate and she was the reason."

Abi gaped at him. She didn't know what to say. It appeared there was some dark secret that was hidden about Queen Callista and her relationship to the Saharas. She was fascinated despite herself

"I'm aware that history tends to paint a picture of how they want history to be not what it truly is so are you telling me all the stories about Queen Callista and your race are false?"

"Trust me, the one about her being angry when Kat Kind began to hunt us is a lie and the one where what our blood could do was released by accident. Some of the tales about her were true but on this everything was a lie or covered up thoroughly so Kat kind never knew the truth but we never forgot," Ulysses said flatly.

"What did she do to earn your species' enmity?" Abi asked, saddened that the wonderful Queen everyone thought to be the epitome of good had a dark side but she wouldn't turn away from the true facts just because they were uncomfortable to hear. She wouldn't be much of an archeologist if she did that.

"Let me tell you the true history of Queen Callista's court. Your suspicions that the First Knight was a Saharas was true. But the Queen's attitude toward him and her other knights was much the same as Ms. Briggs' behavior toward myself, the SWAT Kats and others she dates at times."

Abi blink at first then blink again, "How could that be? Did Saharas keep their true species secret even then?"

"No. As soon as a Saharas came to work for any lord or lady including the Queen, they knew immediately what they were. It was never a problem until Callista did something so stupid and bad that caused Kat kind to begin hunting us for our blood."

"What did she do?"

"You need to know what she was like first," he said quietly. "Callista had many suitors which was not unusual for an unattached Queen. She flirted and had brief relationships with many but picked none because she wanted only one, her First Knight."

Abi immediately understood. That's what he meant about himself and Briggs. "And he denied her because he had someone else."

Feral smiled at her quickness. "That's right. When the Queen learned of it, she was furious."

"Was his relationship bonded?"

"Yes it was."

"Then what could she do about it? From what I've learned, the bond is for life and if she knew about your kind, she would have known this."

"She did, but didn't care. She wanted only him and no one else so she did something unspeakable. She had her First Knight's mate brought to her."

Abi's eyes widened in shock. "How could she do such a thing and what did she expect to do about the bond?" She asked scandalized.

"Oh she could do something alright. You have to understand, Callista wasn't just popular because she was kind and loved by her people, she was also a powerful sorcerer. To make the people content and believe in her explicitly, she cast a spell over them that made them admire her and never question the things she did that weren't so nice. They just wouldn't see those bad things at all. But she couldn't effect the Saharas. We knew exactly what she was truly like."

"She did something to make you not trust her besides the spell. What was it?" Abi asked, realizing this hatred for the Queen had to have started sooner than the incident with the First Knight.

Feral sighed, "She did indeed. In that time period, both Kats and Saharas could wield magic. So when someone was born with the ability they were normally taken under the wing of a skilled sorcerer to be trained. At the time, Queen Callista was the most powerful one alive until the Pastmaster came along and caused her and us grief but that's another story." He flashed a rueful smile at her.

Abi nodded. This was something she had read about and that history had gotten right at least. "So what did the Queen do that was so bad?"

"What she did that was so heinous was steal another's gift and make it her own."

"What?" Abi was shocked. "How did she do that?"

"By using that pendant she always wore."

"Oh, I know about that. She wore it in all the pictures shown of her. The history scrolls tell us it held power of its own."

"That's correct and with it she stole away many emerging magic users powers and made them her own with the help of the pendant."

"How did your kind find out about it?"

"Tory, the First Knight began suspect that's what was going on when too many new kittens displaying magical gifts suddenly lost them shortly after seeing the Queen. She hid her dirty deed under the guise of meeting them in person and welcoming them to her castle. It was then she would use the pendant and Tory had witnessed her doing it on more than one occasion."

"How horrible!" Abi cried, shocked Callista would do such a thing.

"Indeed it was. But before Tory could take her to task for her bad behavior, the Queen had stolen his mate and tried to take her gift. She had been born with skills that could nearly rival the Queen's. Doing this she hoped to break the bond between Tory and his mate."

"Did she succeed?"

"No, not exactly. Oh, she did attempt to drain Ariel, Tory's mate, but she fought back. This caused the Queen's Knights to come to her rescue, killing Ariel. At that moment, Callista learned the secret of our blood." He stopped his tale when he saw Abi pale and look strickened.

Abi was horrified. To learn Queen Callista was capable of such a terrible deed made her feel shame, sadness, and regret for what her kind had done to the Saharas. Unbidden tears suddenly began to fall down her face. Warm arms surrounded her and pulled her into a comforting embrace.
Through their bond she felt a of warmth, comfort, security and relief.

"My love, why are you crying?" Feral asked angry at himself for making Abi upset. He had risen swiftly and embraced and soothed her.

"I'm sorry...to know my kind could have done something so horrible made me feel ashamed and sad. I didn't expect it to hit me so hard, though." she shook her head wiping the tears away with her fingers.

"Perhaps, I should hold off telling the rest of this story for now," Feral murmured, moving away a little but keeping his arms around her. "Why don't we do the tattooing now, hmm?"

Abi thought about a moment then nodded. She knew he would never hurt her and she was curious to see what this would do to her. She watched as he left her side and went back to the table. He reached for the mortar along with a small bottle with a metal tip on it.

She scrunched up her nose at the smell while she watched him unscrew the metal tip off the bottle then used a big spoon to ladle the stuff from the mortar into the small bottle until it was full then put the strange metal lid back on.

"Take off your shirt and uh…" he indicated her chest and blushed.

"Bra? You can say it you know," she smirked at him amused.

"Yes, well…it sounds more perverted coming out of my mouth then it did in my head." Feral shrugged and smiled.

Abi couldn't help but shake her head as she stood up did as he asked removing her shirt then her bra, placing both carefully on the table. "Anything else off?"

"No that's fine. Let's go into the living room where you can lay face down so I can apply this to your back," he said leading the way.

She followed and noted there was a pillow and blanket waiting on the floor. Her eyebrows rose. She thought she'd be on the couch but apparently this required being on the floor. Shrugging, she made for the blanket and laid face down on it, her chin resting on the pillow.

Feral knelt by her side. He stroked her back with his large paw for a moment then said, "This is going to be a little cold and you might feel a slight tingling sensation as I work." he warned her gently. He placed the metal tip to her back and began drawing something there.

Abi gasped when she felt the mixture hit her skin followed by the promised tingle that made her fur stand up. The tingling feeling began to spread all over her back as Feral worked. Before long it began to feel more like ants crawling on her back causing her to squirm and whimper.

"Easy love, not much longer and I'll be finished," he promised, finishing the drawing as quickly as he dared sending waves of calm through their bond to help her get through this easier. "Alright, now I have to place another drop of blood on the tattoo then speak the spell then I'm done."

"Uhm, what will this do to me?" She thought it best to ask now rather than after the fact.

"It will allow you to take a primitive form, one that would have been yours had you been born in the distant past." he explained.

"Really, how cool. I can't wait to see what I'll become." she said excitedly no longer afraid.

He chuckled then went serious as he pulled his knife out again, cut his finger and let a single drop of blood touch the center of the drawing.

The drawing immediately began to glow with a silvery light causing Abi to gasp even louder. She heard him begin to mutter a chant in his native tongue, his voice soft and rhythmic. As he droned on she began to feel her muscles spasm and jerk. It felt like liquid fire was racing through every part of her body then her bones began to break. Pain roared through her but her mate's thoughts were there helping her ride it out.

"Easy love, just let the pain ride through, it will be over soon. Don't fight it, let it do what it must...that's it..you're doing well." Feral murmured encouragingly to her over their bond as he watched her body go through the change, pleased he'd gotten the spell right.

Her body stretched and grew in size; her torso lengthening; her legs pulled in to become shorter and more powerful, centered more underneath her; her face pushed out to form a bigger muzzle holding longer more sharper teeth and her ears were longer and wider; her tail became longer and bushier; her feet were larger and possessed long, deadly claws; powerful muscles rippled beneath her skin as the change reached its end and settled.

It had felt like forever and only her mate's voice kept her from panicking. Finally it was over and she blinked through sharper vision that could see more than her normal Kat ones had and her nose picked up all kinds of interesting smells. Her body felt heaver and lower to the ground. She opened her mouth to comment on what she was feeling but only a low rumbling growl came out.

A low chuckle made her head jerk upward to see her mate smiling down at her. He smiled and said through their bond, "Once second, love." He left the room and returned holding a large mirror which he set on the floor before her face so she could see herself.

She stared in amazement at the large creamy, brown cat with black stripes and big ears that stared back at her. Opening her mouth, she saw gleaming fangs, two of which were long enough to stick out the sides of her mouth when closed. She was the size and shape of a primitive cougar from the past.

'How amazing!' She thought as her large brown eyes studied her new self.