She wasn't so sure now. She'd been with Greed for a while, so she'd caught the scent of lots of other Chimeras, some predatory to felines!
"What are you worried about? I can tell you're nervous." Greed chuckled at her jump.
"Ky-ky-yu-yu..." she trembled.
"Oh. You can smell things like Dolcetto. So you can smell all of my other henchmen on me. And the fact that some are carnivorous. Don't worry, no one's gonna eat you." Greed chuckled.
Did this man ever just plain talk? Or was it all sneers, chuckles, leers, and exclamations?
He stopped outside a bar called the Devil's Nest. She froze up. He lived in, under or over a bar? How drunk was he normally? "Don't worry, it's just a cover." he told her, looking back at her shocked face.
A cover? That meant it just hid whatever he and his henchmen did. She relaxed and scampered after him.
But, as they were entering the building, she got tense, nervous and scared again.
"Come on, scaredy-cat. No one's gonna hurt you."
She continued, right next to him now. Hiss hissed softly, his forked tongue tickling her cheek. But she was still terrified.
Greed opened up a door to a room, and the few people in there looked up. She recognized the dog-man, Dolcetto. The woman over there smelled like Hiss... She was a snake-Chimera. The others she wasn't so sure about... What, there was a lizard and an alligator...
"So, she agreed to come?" Dolcetto asked. She stiffened up, her tail and ears twitching.
"Yeah, she did. She seems an okay kid. She has good traits, for one thing." Greed nodded.
She was introduced to the others. Dolcetto, Roa, Bedo, and Martell. She was stock-still through it all. she'd grown up in a science-lab, so was lacking on courage and people-skills. It was natural for her to be nervous like this, wasn't it?
The fact that she couldn't talk, read, or write was quickly discovered. She was embarrassed, but the others agreed to teach her, so she loosened up a bit. Hiss was getting along with them well enough, so why shouldn't she?
She lived with Greed and his friends for about a week before they were asked to do something.
"A soul bound to a suit of armor..." Greed said, almost dreamily. "That sounds like immortality to me! I want you guys to bring him here!"
She didn't know what was going on, just followed the others. Armor... That sounded familiar, why couldn't she place it?
They stood outside the Nest, waiting patiently. She didn't know whom for, just that they were waiting.
She laid, curled up on the ground. Hiss was wrapped around her, making a protective ring. She was about to drift into slumber when a metallic scent reached her. She sat bolt-upright.
"Something wrong?" Martell asked her.
Now Dolcetto stood up. "He's here!"
There were heavy foot-steps, and she stood now, her tail bristling. Just barely, she knew that scent. That scent had been present when she was escaping from the lab!
Seeing who it was, she hissed and ducked behind Roa. She knew it was cowardly, but she also knew that person! He had been there! He had also been at the train-station with the boy in red!
"So, you know him, Kyu?" Roa asked. She nodded, peering out around him.
"'We know your secret. Meet us at the Devil's Nest.' What's this all about?"
That voice was very young... And there was no flesh-scent beneath the armor! She squeaked, ducking back behind Roa.
She watched fearfully from behind Roa until Dolcetto was punched. She'd actually become better friends with him than the others. With an angry hiss, she leapt at the armored person. They were surprised, and stumbled back. Martell quickly knocked off the helmet and invaded the hollow shell. She and Roa then pinned the armor down.
"Ky-kyu?" she mewed, peeking in the armor at Martell.
"Just fine, thank you." the woman said through gritted teeth.
"You people aren't human, are you?" the person asked.
"No, they're not. They're Chimeras, and they happen to be working for me..." Greed said smoothly and slyly, emerging from the Nest.