Hey! Listen!

She raced out of the hospital room as fast as she could, not realizing that she was barefoot, and that her feet felt weird as she came upon her first cross-section in the hospital's hallway. She paused, briefly, to confirm the location on the make-shift map, and to look down at the changes that had happened to her. She double-checked the map, making sure to go left, then checked herself out. The pads on her feet were rough and course and she felt that as she rubbed her hand over the soles of her feet. Her toe nails and finger nails were clawed and shaped sharp, and she noticed that they were very hard, in terms of nails that is. She checked her hair and found a pair of pointed ears on top of her head that twitched as she reached for them. They felt soft and silky, which is weird, considering her hair was nasty from mistreatment and of not showering lately. (Being on the road will do that to ya). She knew that she needed to check the rest of herself, but she needed to go rescue her group members - her pack. (Pack? Where did that thought come from?) Her tail swished happily as she thought of the that term, pack, and she thought that it looked cute, until she realized that has a TAIL. She looked down, and picked up her hairy appendage, which twitched upon contact with her hands, and just like with her ears, her tail was soft, silky, and slightly ruffled from her run from the hospital room. She cocked her head to the side as confusion had started in, but quickly lowered her tail and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She needs to focus and save her group, so she shook her head once more, turned toward the left corridor, and took off toward her destination - The Containment Ward.

As she raced down the left corridor with deep concentration, she didn't realize that she was being followed, and she didn't care for she already knew her mission, and nothing was going to deter her from completing it.

The map was crudely drawn, and hard to understand, which made me confused when I followed it. Good thing that I can hear my group members, considering how loud they are, they made it so that when I did get lost, I could back track until I found the right corridor, and continue toward the right destination.

I caught up to the group when I rounded the last corner and raced forward as fast as I could, but as I came closer, a new group appeared and swiftly pushed me back and away from my group, who didn't even notice me until the other members moved. This new group consisted of about twenty black-claded individuals who blocked my path from my group, who were being herded into the next room. As the last member of my group was being ushered into the room, she looked back and noticed me and shouted, "Leader! Help!" The last member was cuffed in the head to keep moving and I glared and growled at the guy who hit my member, which he jumped and stepped back in fear. I smirked, but turned my gaze back to the twenty black-claded individuals who currently block my path, and I positioned my body into an attack position. I raised my arms, positioned my hands into a pair of loose fists, positioned my feet to allow for swift movement, tucked my tail around my waist, and made sure that my pointed ears remained straight up so that I could hear of any sneak attacks. The black-claded individuals readied themselves before launching themselves at me, and I growled and rushed them.

I laughed at their audacity in believing that numbers were everything, especially when in a tight - fitted hallway. I was a blur of black and blue (Shirt: Blue, Pants: Black), and they couldn't touch me, but I could touch them and touch them I did, and they did not get back up. I felt invincible, and I knew that I wasn't, but I loved the adrenaline high. I was doing good until someone blew a whistle when there was about ten soldiers left, and I clamped my hands over my pointed - backwards - and - pressed - into - my - head ears. I looked around to see if anyone else had stopped and when they did not I ruled out school yard whistles. So, what had the tone to make a sound that no one else could hear? (Of course! A dog whistle!)

When my hands clamped down on my ears to escape the sound of pain that was permeating my head, I bit down a whimper that had threatened to escape. The soldieers had paused when they saw that I had stopped and covered my ears, and now that half of my strength was gone, they continued their attack with renewed vigor.

The soldiers attacked all spots that I couldn't defend, but still I didn't go down, and I still brought down five more, leaving only five left. The soldiers were getting tired, but not the female in front of them. Oh, sure, she was breathing heavily, but her eyes and body were hard. Tense. I was ready to bring down the remaining soldiers, but before I could attack, I heard something. The whistle sound had stopped, the soldiers had stopped, and we all heard the sound of someone clapping from down the hall.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

Slow, rhythmic, clapping was heard, and as one, we turned toward the sound. We gasped, well, they gasped, I just looked unsure. The clapping person was none - other - than the King himself, who was flanked by his Guards. Those Guardsmen were grim-looking individuals who seemed to be very irritated, and from my position from about ten feet away could actually see that they were indeed very irritated. The irritation was due to the appearance of greenies, young men who appeared to be just out of training camp, and these young men were constantly swivelling their heads around, which was making the veterans irritated. From my vantage point, I could see 5 veterans and 5 newbies, spread out in two parallel lines, with the King right out in front. The King was dressed in formal combat garb of hard, fabricated, kevlar plates that covered him from the neck to the legs. The color scheme of the combat garb was a mixture of forest camo's in one, his boots were black, combat's, with dark green laces, and his shield was visible on his left chest pocket. The shield consisted of a red lion eating the world while holding a shield and sword. From where I was standing, I couldn't see if the shield was on his back or not, but if this is the real King, then it should be there. He wasn't carrying his helmet, so I assumed that he either left it, or had one of the newbies hold it. (Such an honor it is!). The Guardsmen wore the same uniform except the boots were sandy brown with black laces, and their helmet's were colored with different stripes. (Different stripes and colors to depict rank among the King's Guard).

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the traitorous female ex-soldier, what are you doing here"? The King sneered.

The Veteran Guardsmen had all sneered at me when the King did, and the other soldiers, the ones left standing, had all gasped, again, as they turned to face me in shock at who they were fighting.

I smirked as my tail un-furled from around my waist, and my ears went back to pointing straight on top of my head. The King narrowed his eyes at my new appendages, but he didn't say anything. I relaxed my stance, glanced briefly at the King, then I turned around, ignoring his question all-together, and moved to the containment ward. I had my hand on the handle to the door when I heard someone cock a side-arm at me; I turned slowly around to see all of the King's Guard, spread out, and aiming their weapons at me. My ears laid flat against my head as I glared at them and their King, who was standing in the middle of the group with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Going somewhere? I didn't give you permission to leave, now did I, Ex-soldier?" The King was smiling. Nothing good comes from a smiling King, especially when he's surrounded by men with guns.

"Yes. I'm going to rescue my females - in - arms from the Containment Ward, so that I can be on my way to liberating wayward females". I glared at the King until I saw something in my peripheral's. I flicked my eyes to the right and saw some people down the hall, trying to hide, and failing. These people looked like those rebel scout's that I've been hearing about, and have been trying to find to complete my mission. I can tell that they're rebel scouts, because they're wearing the same garb as the Guardsmen, except that they're caps are forest green with a gold 'S' on it. I flicked my eyes forward, and saw some more scouts from behind the King and his guards. I think I heard more behind me, but I wasn't sure. I tried not tot alert the King nor his guardsmen of the scouts, as I wasn't sure if they were friend or foe.

The King just 'hmm-ed' me before waving his hand, and the Guardsmen lowered their weapons, but they didn't put them away.

"Is that all? Just liberate some girls from the ward?" The King questioned as he cocked his head to the side.

I nodded and lowered my hands back down to my side. I put one hand on the handle to the ward, and started to twist the handle when said handle had twisted and opened on its own. I jumped back as my group came out, and I stared at them with wide-eyed confusion written all over my face. I turned my head to look at the King, who was laughing at the confusion that I was trying to control. I kept stepping back until my back found a wall, and I stayed there as my group came further out of the ward with glassy-eyed looks and blank faces. (That can't be right. The process takes a couple of days, not minutes. What the Hell is going on?).

"That's right! You didn't know that the scientist's had just finished the process of making the females more subservient, about three days after your 'departure'. Now, we are able to make the rebel females come to heel without chaining them up or imprisoning them," the King bragged and boasted as I stood there processing the information. (The King sounds off). I shook my head, and closed my mouth, but the thought was stuck.

I turned and narrowed my eyes at the King, "Are you sure you are the REAL King?"

The "King" stopped laughing and sputtered, outrageously, "W-what? Of course I'm the Real King! How dare you say otherwise, you traitorous swine"!

Yep. That sentence just sealed his fate, because the King that I know would NEVER say the word, "swine", unless he was talking about a virus, or the type of meat that was being served for dinner, or something NOT related to this situation. I smirked before schooling my features, but by this imposter's narrowed glare, he caught my smirk.

"No, you are not. The King that I know, and used to serve, would never stutter nor would he say the word, 'swine', unless he was talking about a virus. Now, stop playing games, and answer the question. Who Are You?"

The fake King's mouth had fallen open when I started, but after I had finished did he notice and promptly closed it with a click. The Guardsmen all started to smile, some even started to snicker, and others went further and bursted out laughing; the other five (surviving) soldiers had fainted from shock overload at seeing the 'King' close his mouth, but from also seeing the other Guardsmen laughing instead of attacking.

"Fine. Ya caught me. Happy now," the imposter said.

"Ecstatic," I replied with very little emotion, and I was very tempted to roll my eyes, but I held tight. Now that the fighting had stalled enough, my body could hardly hold me up, so I leaned back against the wall that I backed up into from before. As I leaned back, some of the glassy-eyed females came over, slid up beside me, and supported me so that I could lean on them instead of the wall. When they came closer, the glassy-eyed look almost looked like unshed tears, and I gaped in confusion, but I couldn't ask anything, so I turned my face toward the still laughing guardsmen and the fake King.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The Imposter and his crew had finally simmered down, and said, "Not here. Come with us." After that was said, they started to walk away, but not too fast so that meant that they weren't in any hurry. (Suspicious activity, but if they're impersonating the King, then it seems legit to follow and get away without anymore suspicioun). My group started to follow, but I stopped them and did a head-count just to make sure that everyone was here when I hit a snag. The numbers don't add up. It appears that I'm missing about fifteen others, and the others are the children of my group. I glared and growled out loud, and everyone stopped and stared at me. My tail was curved, in intimidation mode, and my ears were laying flat against my head, in anger, and I pushed away from my crutches to assume the attack position rom before. Everyone was starring at me, in apprehension, and started to back away slowly.

"Where are they? Where are the children?"