You know, I'm just not in the best of moods. In fact, I'm a little pissed. Today's just… not my day. Let's continue.

BTW, Longer chapters you wanted, longer chapters you'll get.

-Amicitiam a Umbras-

Sunlight shone through the leaves of the tall trees of the Ganfee Forest. The loud beats of their paws pounding against the ground filled the air. And they soared, passing many streams. "Raynor, are they still following us?!" The young, female spotted cougar said.

"I think so, just keep moving Frina!" The young leopard said. They began to travel through the trees. At a point, they came to a stop in one of the taller trees, to look back at their chasers. The large hogs still chased the young thieves. They managed to catch up through all of the hanging vines.

The branch they stood on began to crack under their feet. Raynor and Frina exchanged short glances at each other, and began to panic. Frina, being the one on the branch closest to the tree itself, slowly began to slide back. Trying to keep from being heard, she gently shushed Raynor, and he followed. The hogs stopped only a few hundred feet from where Frina and Raynor hid in the tree. The two seven year-olds looked at each other with concern. Raynor had backed on Frina to keep from breaking the branch.

"Why won't they leave us alone?" Raynor angrily whispered. He reached over his shoulder, grabbing the bow strapped to his back. He grabbed an arrow out of the bag and set his aim to one of the hogs.

He pulled back, and pulled back furiously. His eyes kept on the searching hogs. "Where did those two little bitches go?" One of them spat. Raynor was angry at his words and prepared to let go of the arrow aiming at one of their hearts. Frina gently shoved Raynor's bow down. "Raynor, no. You can't kill them." She whispered. Raynor snapped his look at Frina. She looked at him sternly. He rolled his eyes and put away his bow silently.

The hogs slowly started to walk away, when Raynor and Frina went soaring through the trees again. The armored hog snapped his head up to the trees again. "The little brats are traveling above us!" He shouted and signaled them to hurry up. Raynor and Frina sped up and soon dropped down onto a large rock that hung over a raging waterfall. "Raynor, why did you pull me down?!" Frina whispered raged. The hogs soon spotted them from where they stood. Raynor gave Frina a devious look. "Close your eyes." Raynor said. He saluted the hogs that started running their way and he laughed. He grabbed Frina and looked her in her brown eyes. "Hang on tight, toots." He said smoothly. Frina's eyes shot open. "Raynor, no-"

But it was too late. Raynor had held her and jumped from the large rock. They were soon plunging to the blue waters. Raynor held Frina closely and turned to where they were head-on diving. "JERK!?" She shouted mid-air, and their bodies sliced through the water. The hogs finally caught up, and watched from the large rock that the young felines jumped from. The cats weren't anywhere to be seen. The armored hog smacked the one beside him. "IDIOTS! We almost had them!" Then stomped off in defeat.

Raynor's head hit the surface, and he pulled up Frina as well. He coughed for oxygen as she did too.

"That has happened twice, Raynor! Stop doing that!" She whined.

"Oh, come on brown eyes," He laughed. "I was protecting you anyways." He pulled her paw until they reached the other side of the river, and onto land. She climbed up out of the water and her body hit the grass. She rolled over on her back and attempted to catch her breath. Raynor stood over her smiling. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You still have your bag." He stated. She couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, guess so." She said and sat up. "Just hope they were wrapped up good enough to survive that stupid fall. RAYNOR." She said and looked at him with judgmental eyes. "Oh just pull out the stuff, brown eyes." He said laughing.

Frina reached into her bag and pulled out two fairly packaged snacks. She tossed one to him and smiled. They opened theirs at the same time and stared in amazement with drool running down their chins.

"Cherry cakes." They said in unison. Frina and Raynor both quickly shoved the cakes into their mouths and bit into its soft sweetness. "Oh my…" Frina said with her mouth full. Raynor Finally took his out of his mouth and held it up. " To a year of friendship, brown eyes." He said, crumbs of cake spat out of his full mouth. Frina smiled and held up hers. "To a year of friendship."

-Tigress' POV-

If it wouldn't hurt Seytu's feelings, I probably would have killed him by now.

"Dai Lin… what do you mean you sent a letter to both academies?" I glared at him. "Tigress, I can't just sit back and let you never speak to them again. They were your teammates. Your fellow students, you can't just let them rot away like unwanted memories." Dai Lin sounded assuring, but he backed a bit as if in slight fear.

"And what if the masters receive the letter? What then!" I shouted. He looked around anxiously. Then he snapped his eyes back to me.

"Then Master Shifu would have finally gotten to seen his daughter, and his grandson."

And that was it. The words allowed my tensed muscles to relax, and my mind went blank. "Dai Lin… he… he wouldn't want to see me."

"And how would you know? You've been away for more than six years." He stated. Inside I shook, and stared at him vexed. "And if he treats Seytu the same way he treated me?" I said sternly, pointing to the faded scar on my jaw. Dai Lin eased himself and shut his lips. "He made a mistake, Tigress-"

"No, he made me see why I couldn't stay at the Jade Palace." My fists stayed balled, and he looked at me guiltily. "How long ago did you send it…" The words left my lips easily. He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with his paw. "Four weeks ago..." My eyes shot open and I was instantly angry again.

"Dai… Dai Lin it only actually takes two weeks to get here from both palaces!" He looked at me confused.

"But it took me three years to find you…" I growled.

"You didn't know where I was!" I shouted. Dai Lin realized the stupidity in his words. "Then that's good! Whoever got the letter would be able to show up today!" He stated enthusiastically.

"That's what I don't want to happen, Dai Lin." I growled through my teeth. He sat still and nodded with the same guilty expression. I stomped passed him, hitting his shoulder on the way out, and I slammed the door.

I went up to Seytu's tree. Dai Lin said he had made a new friend in town recently. Ever since then, Seytu had been playing with his friend in town. Ms. Fey promised to keep an eye on him when he arrived in town. Everyone could keep an eye on him, considering the town wasn't very big.

Dai Lin understood I was angry with him, and was smart enough to stay inside. I turned around to face the tree. It had Seytu's claw carvings. It was a picture I saw. I've seen it a million times, but right now was the time I truly looked at it. Two eyes, defined in detail. They were very realistic. The talent he had caught me off guard a bit.

Looking in one of the eyes, I noticed a bird. I couldn't make out what kind of bird it was. But it was set ablaze. It burned furiously, yet the bird seemed to stay airborne. It didn't give up trying to keep flight even though the fire seemed to eat away at its feathers. I decided to dig through my rag sewn bag, to find a certain bandaged paintbrush. The writing on the bandage was smudged almost completely off. "Sorry.- D."

The first actual time he decided to show emotion towards me. That simple word eased my anger for him completely, no matter how badly I didn't want it to.

-3 hours later-

I don't know why I stayed out here so long. I wasn't proving anything with being out here. Just to them, showing them I wanted to pout.

"Tigress!" A voice called in the far distance. I twirled around looking for the stranger.

"Tigress! It's me!" My good-hearing allowed me to hear it coming from over one of the hills. The voice was so familiar. But before I knew it, a black and white blob made its way into my view.

"Po?" I said lightly.

"Tigress!" He shouted. "Po!" He ran my way and reached me. He fell over and almost toppled over me. I swiftly dodged it and caught him anyway. I pushed him up. "P-Po, what are you doing here?!"

"Dai Lin's letter! I got it!" He shouted in joy, he threw his arms around me and I let out a small laugh. After he put me down, I was just fighting for the right words to say to a friend who I hadn't seen since a tragedy.

"Po, I-it's amazing to see you!" He formed a goofy grin. "Tigress!... Tigress…" His happy look went sad and sour in under a second.

"… Po I'm sorry…" I tried. "You left… for six years Tigress!" He seemed angry, but he was saddened. I kept a quiet tone with him and refuse to have it any different. "Po, I couldn't stay."

"So many people wanted to take care of you! We sent tons of letters to Luna, which most were rejected besides the first and a few others! Why did you leave!?"

"I was carrying a child, Po!" I shouted. But I wasn't angry. He instantly calmed down but he still put off an angry feeling. "I know that… but we… or Luna… or both could've taken care of you…" He was calm. Frustrated and calm.

"I wasn't going to let Seytu be raised… anywhere near any place where I or anyone else was hurt." His body relaxed and he closed his eyes and let his head hang. After a minute, he lifted his head again and revealed a small smile. "Seytu, huh?" I was relieved he finally smiled.
"Yeah… Does uncle Po approve?" I joked. So strange of me to do so. But Po's smile grew bigger and bigger until it was just too big for his face.

"So, where is the little guy?" He asked rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. Coincidentally, Seytu's being ran towards our home. Before he entered the door, he spotted us on top of the hill. Ms. Fey had walked him most of the way home. Po's eyes lit up. "He… he seems so grown." Po said amazed.

"Well, he is a bit over six years of age." I said smiling. "Woah…" Po said staring at Seytu more while he ran our way.

"Momma!" yelled Seytu. His small body slammed against me, and his arms wrapped around my legs. I smiled and patted his back. He twisted his bouncy smile and faced Po. "Who are you?" He asked sweetly. I smiled at Po and looked back down to Seytu. "This is the Dragon Warrior, Seytu." Slowly, Seytu's eyes grew and grew. "The Dragon Warrior?!" Seytu bounced up and down. Po broke out into a loud laugh. I sat back and watched a new friendship form.

"Nah little buddy, you can call me Po." He said holding out his hand for a high-five. But instead, Seytu jumped on him, wrapping his arms around him as well. It threw Po off guard and he looked at me questionably. But I knew why Seytu showed such affection.

"Thanks for helping momma." Seytu said with his face pressed against the fur on Po's shoulder. Po threw on a small smile and slowly allowed his arms to wrap around Seytu. "We helped each other. It was a group effort. Every time we went into battle!" Po said excitingly. And I didn't know how much Seytu knew Po, besides the short stories I've told him. I watched as Po began to tell his own stories to Seytu. Seytu listened intently, as expected. I shared my friend with my son, because this wasn't just a reunion with old friends. A new bond was forming, before my very eyes. All three of us sat there under Seytu's tree. Sharing laughter and a bit of emotion. Though, I only smiled my way through all stories. I looked back at the house to see Dai Lin lean against the window, and smile in our direction.

I let out a small sigh, and smiled back.

The water seemed unbearable, but they knew they could stick it out.

Blain saw Millay, and snuck behind one of the underwater pillars. She circled around looking for one of them. But they were nowhere to be found. As soon as Millay was turned around, still distracted and vulnerable, Blain backed against the pool wall and pushed with his hind legs. He shot through the water like a bullet and collided into Millay. She turned around and got frustrated.

Blain smiled and they looked up spotting a hole in the pool tunnels. They swiftly swam up and got the relief of air finally. "Damn it, Blain. This is the third time you caught me this week. Where are you learning these swimming skills?" Millay asked rubbing her face and leaning against the side of the hole for support. "I'm just amazing, mate." Blain laughed. Pernei soon popped her head out of one of the nearby holes of the pool. She spotted Blain and Millay. "Who caught who?"

"I caught her." Blain stated smugly. Pernei pulled herself out of the pool and rested her head on the wet floor beside the holed pool.

"You guys, we got mail." Nulen said walking in from one of the other training rooms. The three turned to Nulen.

"And you won't believe who it's from."

A small dove flew through a dark cave. He landed on the shoulder of a dark-brown furred feline. White markings traced from his eyes down his jawbone. His eyes displayed a dull grey. The teenage feline stared blankly and tiredly at the cave floor. "She'd be seven today. And ever growing." Said the dove perching on the feline's shoulder. He was around the age of twelve. The feline did not reply.

"Kunedda... General Temi gave you one job. I just slop around, wondering if you'll actually go through with it."

Kunedda looked at his bird friend. "I have one job. I'll stick to it… because I want to. Not because I have no choice." He said sourly. The wind whistled lowly outside of the cave.

"Because you want to. Right. And what will you do with it once you have it? Nothing, because this is a rookie job you decide to do for someone else. No, not decide, you're obligated to. You think he gives a damn about you? You're not even a teenager. And he is forcing you to search for her, against others who would find out about... what she is. Others who could be in groups of hundreds. Even thousands. And he sends a child out to search for her." Kunedda looked angrily at the bird.

"Shut up."

"And you think he'd want you. But he doesn't, because you don't have what she does." The dove hopped off of Kunedda's shoulder and paced around in frustration.

"Shut up." Kunedda said with a voice deep and out of control.

"Watch yourself end up getting killed, because you're doing a job for General Temi. Who knows what he wants 'it' for? You see the way he is, there are plenty more people out there, who are in high places. And I mean high Kunedda. And they are exactly like General Temi."

"SHUT UP!" Kunedda roared, frightening the small dove.

Kunedda's body tensed and his fists balled. He slipped himself lower onto the floor so he was lying down. He turned away from the dove.
Well Hidalgo, Kunedda thought. I know more than you do. And I know that I, can only be led to success.