Chapter Ten

Corny's POV

When that dreadful scream shattered the peace of the forest, Jasmine, the dear girl, jumped nearly three feet in the air in fright and bolted. I fully expected for her to run away in the opposite direction, but she surprised me by heading towards the ghastly wail.

It didn't leave me much choice but to attempt to follow.

I use the word 'attempt' because she soon left me to lag behind as she darted through the gaps in the trees faster than I thought her capable. I lost her among the darkening shadows almost right away and minutes later decided that I would have to continue come morning if at all. I would never be able to find her in the dark, not if she kept up that speed.

I lighted soundlessly on the branch of the nearest tree, a pine, and scooted as close to the trunk as I could. Tucking my head under a wing I, couldn't help thinking that, in reality, I would probably never see her again.

I was a rover at heart, going where ever the wind took me and never staying any where very long.

Ah, well.

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Jasmine's POV

Lets back up for just a moment and take a look at the big picture. (i.e. what's happened in the last eight hours, give or take.)

1.) I (this part's a bit fuzzy) get mugged while walking in a park.

2.) I wake up as a cat and take a walk with a talking canary (which I've seemed to have lost).

3.) I rescue a girl (who was being attacked by a rather sketchy man) and run after her in the rain.

4.) Presently, I was chomping on a fox.

A fox.

A live fox.

With the fur still attached.

I was freaking out in my head, unable to say anything because my mouth was still full of fox. I began to panic and backed away, pulling my teeth free with a yank. I cringed as the fox howled in pain at my none-to-gentle handling.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" I kept muttering, out loud or in my head I didn't know. I didn't care.

Something liquid dripped onto my tongue and I automatically swallowed, tasting blood. I knew this time it wasn't mine and I wanted to throw it back up, but couldn't. Stomach churning, I backed up a step and was stopped by a tree. The rough bark of the trunk dug into my side as I pressed up against it in an attempt to get farther from the wounded animal. My stomach rolled as blood welled up and began to flow in a slow trickle from what was clearly the indentations of my jaws.

The sound of galloping hooves echoed off the trees as other people came bursting into the small clearing. A spear flew through the air and stuck in the tree behind me, ruffaling the fur on my back as it passed. Adrenalin spiked and I jumped away, nearly landing on the girls. Something was clamoring in my head, telling me to run, telling me that I wasn't the hunter here. I mentally squashed it and crouched over the still unconscious bodies.

While I had been distracted with the…animal…we had been surrounded. Another spear shot forward and I lunged, catching the shaft in my mouth and ripping it out of my surprised attacker's hand. It was hurriedly dropped when I saw a third start to move out of the corner of my eye and turned. The tip seemed to glint in the dark as it came towards me. It was too fast or I was too slow, but either way, I knew I was a goner when I saw the look on his face.

I hunched my shoulders and turned slightly in anticipation of a hit that never came. I looked up through my lashes to see the dreaded thing held posed over me, frozen in mid thrust. I followed the shaft up with my eyes, taking in his muscled horse legs and crush-you-to –dust hooves, his black beard and mane that had been allowed to run wild, and finally his face.

Following his gaze while trying to move as little as possible, I inched my head around to see the little girl conscious and alert. That wasn't what made my eyes widen though. It was the fact that she had, without me even noticing, crawled up to my side on her hands and knees so we were almost shoulder to shoulder. As I watched, unable to move, she lifted a dirty hand and carefully ghosted it down my side.

Then, without any tangible warning, she rocked back on her heels and launched herself at me. My breath whooshed out under her abrupt wait as she landed half on top of me, arms wrapped securely around my neck, her mud streaked face buried in my damp fur. A muffled "No!" was heard upon contact, surprising all.

An order was called and the horse-man with the spear lowered it. Another one and he –reluctantly- slid it into a contraption on his back. One knelt down on his nobly horse knees (what were these creatures? Horse-men?) to attend to the fox. The others, with a few left to watch us (read: me), started to talk among themselves, an occasional gesture or look, friendly or otherwise, sent our way indicated the subject. I wasn't paying as much attention to them as I probably should have been, but I got that much at least.

Instead of trying to eves drop on their little huddle, I was focused on the petite little thing now balling her eyes out on my fur.

"Hey, hey," I said to get her attention. "It's alright. You can stop crying now, they won't hurt you," I said in my most soothing voice.

She slowly looked up at me with a tear stained face, eyes bright and red rimmed. "I…hic…I… hic," she tried to say something, but started to hiccup in the middle, hindering her process. The continual stream of tears didn't help either.

"Shhhhhhh," I told her after the fifth attempt and hiccup. "It'll be fine, you'll see." Of its own accord, my tongue darted out and licked up a big fat tear that had been midway down her cheek.

It tasted salty.

The girl gave a watery smile and giggled at the funny look I must have had on my face. Could you blame me? I mean, seriously, I just licked her face. I wrinkled my nose. If that wasn't proof that I was getting comfortable as a cat, I didn't know what was.

The clearing of a throat brought my attention, as flighty as it was at the moment, back around to the group of weapon-wielding horse-men.

Uh-oh.

Time to get down to business and it was looking mighty grim if the faces of the horse-men were anything to go by. Even before I saw the way one of the younger ones was cradling the fox, I knew the consequences were going to be hell.

That was the moment all the adrenalin that had surfaced when the fox first appeared deiced to drain away, leaving my with an aching head and an even more aching legs. I don't think I had ever run so far in my life.

I started to shake uncontrollably and the world seemed to spin all around me before beginning to recede.

"Kitty!" came the little girl's voice through the haze. "Kitty, what's wrong?"

Pain.

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. My tongue wouldn't move, not even to swipe over my teeth. For a moment, it hurt so much I thought I was going to die then the pain faded into numbness. I couldn't feel my legs or the little one as she tugged at my fur.

I couldn't feel anything.

"Kitty! Kit-!"

I floated away then, and it all disappeared.

A\N: If the last couple of chapters seem out of order, I'm sorry, but I think it came out alright. Happy 2013 everybody and I hope you enjoy this update.