Disclaimer: I do not own HunterxHunter, nor do I profit commercially from these writings.

Part 1

R is for Refuge

Kurapika Kuruta was bemused. But that was putting it rather mildly. The moment she found herself pregnant with Meta, she had resigned herself to her maternal instincts and duties. When she decided to 'settle down' with her former nemesis Kuroro Lucifer—gah, that sounds so wrong for her—she had known that she was stepping into proper family structure. When she found herself pregnant with the twins, she knew that she was going to spend more of her time as a mother than as a Hunter. However, she was pretty sure she hadn't signed up for this.

"Back off! Don't hurt them! Can't you see that she has cubs with her?!"

She's terrorising the animals in this forest! And I am having none of that! If Bara was any lions, he would have made a rather impressive snarl.

This meaning dealing with her children having a falling-out with their supernatural demonic unicorn over the fate of a wolf pack that consisted of only a she-wolf and her litter. Said wolf pack was safely shielded by a wall made of her children, bravely and stupidly standing protectively in front of a defensive she-wolf who had her shackles raised. The she-wolf was magnificent, with beautiful sky-blue and white mane and fierce golden eyes, although she looked a tad too skinny to be healthy. To Kurapika's relief and Kuroro's great amusement, the she-wolf seemed to intelligently recognize the children as her allies and focused her utmost malice towards a furious Bara only.

"Bara, you meanie!" Sarai shrieked.

Father, she's a predator. She's of higher trophic level (i.e. an organism's position in the food chain) than all the animals here except from us. It's in her nature. Una, standing on the sideline and unwilling to take sides, pleaded to her father to avoid bloodshed.

All the more reason to get rid of her!

"But she needs to feed her kids!"

"They are called cubs, Sarai. Kids are technically for young offspring of goats."

"But we're human children?"

"It's a slang, sister."

"Language lesson aside," Meta rolled his eyes, "you still can't kill them, Bara!"

Then she can jolly well hunt somewhere else! Not in this forest! Bara spat.

"I agree."

Chorus of "Mom!", "Mama!", "Mommy!", and a less scandalized and more like disapproving "Mother..." rang shrilly in the forest. Kurapika reeled for a while from the sheer volume, as did Kuroro who was by her side, but she recovered quickly enough to explain why she would prefer for the wolf pack to be off their Backyard Forest.

"First of all, the she-wolf there is an apex predator. She preys on all other animals in this Forest, meaning she eats and hunts all those little friends of yours."

At this, the children paled a bit. Score one for Kurapika.

"Second, the ecosystem in this Forest is stable and established, and most importantly okay. Introducing an apex predator into the ecosystem will mess up the balance and who knows what will happen because of that. Would you like to see that?"

The children exchanged nervous glances.

"Third, we already have two unicorns and one rapt—Sarai, where's Bibi?" Kurapika asked in alarm.

Sweet dear Lord, not again! Bara moaned.

Sarai made a squeak as she frantically looked around in order to locate her missing pet. Her elder siblings merely groaned. Sarai always lost track of Bibi.

"She wandered off when you started speaking." Kuroro said languidly, with an underlying snicker.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Kurapika hissed while slapping his forearm.

"I'm not her keeper." Kuroro shrugged, and then gave a reprimanding look at Sarai. "She is."

"I'll get her." Sarai said sheepishly, and began whistling.

When she found out that Bibi liked to wander off on her own, Sarai started developing a call system for the errant raptor so she could call her back whenever she needed to. She would whistle certain tone and pitch to call the raptor, with other combinations for other specific instructions.

Soon enough, a small baby raptor emerged from the bushes and darted towards her master happily. It made a strange bird-like chirrup at Sarai, before sitting by her feet obediently. Bibi had just recently started developing her feathers, which made her look like a strange gigantic chicken with scary rows of teeth.

[Author's Note: raptors don't look like the raptors in Jurassic Park. That's an outdated version of raptor. Recent discoveries say that raptors are feathered. Try googling them on Wikipedia]

"Bibi, don't wander off!" Sarai scolded her.

Bibi made a protesting sound and then proceeded to spit something out. It was a small bone; probably a rodent's.

"Oh." Sarai said lamely.

"You forgot to feed her." Kurapika crossed her arms and tapped her foot while glaring at her daughter.

"Eh-heh…" Said daughter gave her mother a weak I'm-sorry-please-don't-scold-me smile. "She's very independent."

"Because you are irresponsible." Kuroro said, his tone reprimanding.

"...I'm sorry." Sarai had the grace to look really guilty. "I'm sorry, Bibi."

Sarai bent down and pat the baby raptor on the head. Bibi chirruped happily and leaned to the touch.

"Well, I was saying, we already have two unicorns and a raptor here. When Bibi's grown up, she'll be an apex predator in this Forest and we still don't know how we'll deal with that." At that, Kurapika glared at Kuroro; which was dutifully ignored by the latter. "There's no need to complicate things further by adding a wolf pack into the Forest."

Indeed, Bara groused with a sniff.

"Are you going to send her away, too?" Sarai asked with dread. She quickly scooped Bibi up and hugged her close to her chest.

"Sarai, Bibi is capable of eating a man when she's big enough." Kurapika said with a sigh.

She might eat you when you forget to feed her again, Bara taunted evilly.

"Bibi won't eat me!" Sarai exclaimed; scandalised by the suggestion.

You never know~~

Father! Stop teasing the poor child! How old are you? Five? Una chided her father; scandalised by his immaturity.

She makes it so fun, Bara whined but stopped his teasing nonetheless.

"So anyway, back to this wolf pack." Kurapika said with a sigh. This was getting tiring. "They—"

"I think we should feed them first." Noah suddenly interrupted. "The cubs are starving."

Everyone in the vicinity turned their attention to the cubs, and indeed they were whimpering pitifully. One of them even started chewing on the grass in desperation. The mother wolf tried to comfort them with a low rumble, licking their face and grooming them to distract them from their hunger.

"Oh. Right. Meta, go home and get the meat."

"Eeeeh? Why me?" Meta whined shamelessly, but quickly dashed towards their home when he heard another chorus of whimper from the cubs.

"And some milk, too!" Kurapika shouted at him when he was at a distance. Judging by how thin the she-wolf was, she probably didn't have enough milk to nourish the cubs.

"Bia will get them!" Meta shouted back.

"WHAT?! Why, that insufferable…" Bia complained but still ran towards the house too.

It amazed Kurapika how Bia always projected her thoughts with her Nen just as naturally as how people spoke them although she didn't have the voice. It was like she could automatically project the thoughts that counted as spoken words but didn't project those that counted as personal thoughts.

"So! While we wait for those two…" Kurapika crouched down so that she was somewhat eye-level to the she-wolf. Well, not exactly a wolf… "You're a Lykaia, aren't you?"

"I'm guessing that too." Kuroro said with approving tone in his voice.

"What's that?" Sarai asked curiously.

"If you read your Encyclopaedia of All Living Things seriously, you would've read about them." Noah deadpanned.

Sarai gave another scandalised look and stepped on her twin's foot. Noah elbowed her in retaliation with a disapproving frown.

"So what is a Lykaia, Noah?" Kuroro asked airily.

"A highly intelligent species of animals with the appearance of a wolf, with the capability of human speech. In short, a talking smart giant wolf. Like a Kiriko, only without the shape-shifting ability."

[Author's Note: Kiriko is the shape-shifting beast that tested Gon and friends in the Hunter's Exam]

Succinctly summarised, the Lykaia said with an amused tone. Of all four children, you are the only one who treats me with the intelligence and respect I deserve. You found me out early, did you not? On first glance, I suppose?

"You feel different from normal wolves." Noah said in matter-of-fact tone. "You feel more like Gon's Kiriko friend."

"Indeed she does." Kuroro murmured. He could feel it, but only faintly. Noah seemed to have stronger instinct and intuition. Kuroro turned to Kurapika and their eyes met.

"I only found out because I observed her behaviour. She was listening to our conversation and responded like she perfectly understood them."

You have keen eyes, ma'am. I felt your eyes on me the entire time.

"I mean no ill-intention to you and your pack, but I am truly concerned of the ecosystem of this forest. This forest is too close to human settlement. Even having that baby raptor here is already a huge risk."

Your sentiment is shared. I would not choose this forest to settle down either. too close to the humans. The Lykaia spat the word 'human' with so much vehement that Kurapika couldn't help but to inquire about that.

"Did humans drive you out of your dwelling?"

That, they did. And more. The Lykaia began growling.

"What happened?" Somehow, Kurapika could sympathise and empathise with this Lykaia. Somehow, the Lykaia's pain resonated with her.

The humans killed my mates and destroyed my home. And this is my third litter. My previous litters never made it to maturity. The she-wolf hissed furiously. None survived. Oh, my poor poor precious cubs…

The wolflings sensed their mother's distress and mewled plaintively. All of them nuzzled deep into their dam's fur.

And their sires. My mates. The sire of my first litter. The sire of my second litter. And then the sire of this litter. All of them, killed by the humans for their meat and fur!

Kurapika said nothing. For some reasons, she was reminded of her old tribe. Of the late Kuruta tribe. Massacred for their Scarlet Eyes…

And then the humans went for war. Killing each other for petty excuses. Ridiculous. Their war burned down our forest, killing off our games. We had no choice but to flee. Our forest had turned into a field of death. The she-wolf curled her tail so that she enveloped her entire litter. The youngest of this litter, the smallest, didn't survive the journey here. I had to bury my young yet again...

The cubs whimpered and pressed closer to their mother; distressed as the memory of their brother's demise was still fresh in their young minds. The mother groomed them to comfort them, but her heart was also grieving.

"No parents should outlive their children..." Kurapika muttered solemnly. She didn't want to imagine burying Meta's cold lifeless body. Or Bia's. Or the twins'.

I hope you will never feel this pain. The Lykaia said quietly. Wistfully.

"We won't." Kuroro suddenly said, firm and sure and determined. "We will make sure of it."

Kurapika shot him a grateful smile. Sometimes she really needed his optimism.

"But that aside, although I don't want them staying permanently in the Backyard Forest, I can't very well let them all starve to death. Where can we put them safely?" Kurapika asked Kuroro.

Kuroro raised his hand and covered his mouth in his trademark thinking-mode.

"Well…"

"You are expecting me to put them in the forest in Wallachia? Are you insane? I already have a gang of baby dinosaurs running around there, and now you want me to add a pack of Lykaia to the count?!"

Of course, Kuroro's solution was to consult their family friend Lucian Virgiliu. Lucian was eager to help, but once Kuroro stated one of his suggestions for relocating the family of Lykaia, Lucian began thinking of making strategic retreat.

"You're still keeping those dinosaurs?" Kuroro asked in amusement as he sipped his hot tea.

Right now they were in his house, discussing on how to help the Lykaia family. Kuroro wasn't too eager to help, but the children and Kurapika wouldn't let him off. The Lykaia was resting in the living room in front of the fireplace, safe from the element and warm. It was autumn and nearing winter, so the weather outside was rather cold. Fed and warm, the cubs had quickly drifted to sleep. The mother Lykaia, however, decided to stay up and observed the discussion. So far, she found the vampire very amusing.

"What do you expect me to do? Kill them in cold blood? Before you start, yes my blood is technically cold because I'm a vampire. Figure of speech, brother."

"Your blood is cold?" Kurapika couldn't help but to gawk.

"I'll show you later," Lucian quickly said to Kurapika before turning back to Kuroro. "And I can't just dump them back to the Dark Continents because they are still babies."

"You can drop them in Ryuusei-gai Forest." Kuroro said with a raised eyebrow.

"And have all those crazy beasts rip them apart? Hell no!" For someone who was trying to get agang of baby dinosaurs out of his hair, Lucian was awfully concerned of their well-being.

"You can try asking Gon's father about it. It's his specialty, I think." Kurapika tapped her chin thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, Gon once told me that Ging has dinosaur friends. Or was it dragon?"

[Author's Note: refer to chapter 66]

"Really?! Give me his number!" In a flash, Lucian had his phone out and ready.

"Regretfully, I don't have his number." Kurapika said with a wry smile. "Neither does Gon, by the way. The guy is unreachable unless you have a specific way to reach him; which very few people know."

Lucian practically melted to the ground in despair.

"Try Anansi. He always knows where to find him. There was a time when those two were inseparable." Kuroro said with a slight grimace that had Kurapika raising an amused eyebrow.

"Bad combo?" She asked teasingly.

"Bad for my mental health." Kuroro mumbled grudgingly.

Kurapika couldn't hold back a snigger; which didn't falter even when Kuroro glared at her.

"On that note, perhaps we should ask Ging for assistance in regards to Asena and her cubs." She said after she finished her sniggering.

Asena was the name of the mother Lykaia that Noah somehow managed to coax out of the beast. Out of all of them, the Lykaia was most receptive to Noah. Perhaps out of the mutual respect because Noah had treated her since the very beginning with the supposed respect that she deserved as an intelligent being.

"Perhaps." Kuroro shrugged.

Kurapika nodded, and proceeded to stare at Kuroro.

And stared.

And stared.

And staaaaaaaaaared.

"Yes, Kurapika?"

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Contact Anansi, you dolt! When are you going to do it? Next year?"

"You want me to contact him?"

Kuroro had sounded so incredulous that Lucian couldn't help but to guffaw.

"Sometimes you are so incredibly dumb" Kurapika rolled her eyes. "First of all, he is practically your father."

"He is not—"

"Blah blah blah yeah whatever. Second, he is your familiar. So it's your job to contact him."

"He is the one who needs him." Kuroro jabbed a finger at Lucian.

"We do, too!" Kurapika smacked his arm. "So go! Now!"

"Insufferable woman." Kuroro muttered under his breath as he walked away. He didn't need phone anymore to contact the Spider Incarnate because of the bond between master and familiar. Telepathic communication was just so convenient.

"Ditto to you too." She rolled her eyes again. She then turned to Asena. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait for a while."

I do not mind. As long as my cubs are safe. Asena said quietly, and rather contently.

She mistrusted humans in general, but these humans seemed okay. They seemed rather extraordinary. First of all, which normal humans were close friends with a powerful aristocratic vampire? (For all his goofiness, Asena could still see an aristocratic creature when she saw one) Second of all, these humans had tamed two renegade unicorns and had a raptor pet. Third, the man of the house seemed to have a rather inhuman heritage in his blood. In her book, these humans were the closest thing she had to an ally. They might not want her in their forest—and she could truly respect that, because in turn these people were respecting and protecting the forest—but they were trying to help her. Find a place for her and her cubs to live safely. From the sound of it, they even went as far as contacting people from distant places. Asena was a honourable creature, and she would be damned if she did not show these people the respect they deserved for offering her so much help when they didn't have to. They could've just left her in the cold and starvation, and she wouldn't begrudge them for that because it was within their rights.

I thank you. You and your family have the eternal gratitude of my pack. She bowed her head low, paying her respect to her benefactor.

"Thanks the kids. If they haven't made such a big fuss in the forest, we wouldn't have come to investigate and we wouldn't have known about you guys at all." Kurapika said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh? What happened? Tell me in details." Lucian said with childish curiosity.

"Well…"

As Kurapika told Lucian the story, Asena pondered about her words. The woman was right, of course. Those little humans were the reason that she and her cubs were warm and full in this comfy little house. She didn't know why they did it, but they had fought tooth and nail for her pack's welfare. The children meant well, but there only so much they could do. The bulk of the aid—the house, the food, the contact—might have mainly come from the parents, but without the children's naggings her good fortune would probably wouldn't go this far.

Then I shall give them my gratitude personally. Where can I find them? She asked politely.

"Oh just stay there. I sent them to buy more food, but they should be back soon. I'm pretty sure Kuroro can make Anansi convince Ging to help somehow—or I'll just blackmail him, no problem—but it'll still take time for Ging to come and help. It'll be a few days; a week at least."

"The cubs will need a lot. They are too thin for my liking." Lucian sniffed in disdain when he saw how malnourished the cubs were.

"Agreed." Kurapika said with a frown.

Asena was astonished and speechless. So astonished by their generosity that she didn't give a peep of protest when the kids came back and home, hastily stuffed all their groceries in the fridge, and began fussing over her and her cubs. She didn't protest either when Bia started grooming her with some sort of brush and Sarai began cooing at how warm and soft she was as the girl petted her head; generally treating her like a house pet. She certainly wasn't going to protest when Noah started scratching her behind her ears and Meta started petting her back. She was just glad that they locked their raptor pet somewhere else in the house.

"Kuroro will complain though." Kurapika said with a sigh. "He doesn't like doing charity when it's not him who initiates it."

"I thought by now he's already used to saving poor unfortunate souls left and right, with you and the kids around him all the time and dragging him along?" Lucian said with a raised eyebrow.

"He still tries to escape every time." Kurapika rolled her eyes. "Besides, count it as community service for all he's done with the Spiders."

"Geez, what are you? His parole officer?"

"My part-time job." Kurapika gave him a conspiring wink.

The rest of the day was spent by Asena observing the quirky family. The rest of the week was spent interacting with them as they waited for the arrival of Ging. The children always played with her cubs, while the adults usually engaged her in a conversation regarding just anything that came to mind. Sometimes they asked about her species, sometimes they asked about the places she had gone to. Sometimes they just traded words of wisdom and philosophies—which the children quickly tuned out. When Ging finally came to relocate them—fortunately without needing Kurapika's blackmailing skill to 'convince' him—Asena was rather sad to leave these strange humans.

Perhaps, one day when her cubs were grown and strong, they would visit them here in this mountain. Perhaps she could find a way so that she could cohabit with them in this mountain. The mountain was big, big enough for her pack to live there without disturbing the ecosystem too much. Right now the problem was that her cubs were too weak to fend off the larger predators roaming the mountain's forest. However, when they were all grown and strong, that wouldn't be a problem.

Perhaps, she really could stay with these humans. Then, she could repay their kindness. After all, their kindness might very well have saved her entire pack. She was a creature of honour. She would repay this life debt.

Author's Note: Finally another chapter! This chapter was inspired by the article I read about cougars in National Geographic magazine. It says that although cougars are highly skilled hunters, that doesn't ensure their survival. Many cougar cubs don't reach maturity, and many adults are killed or poached before they can make another pack. It's sad, really. The Lykaia wolves in this chapter are these cougars. I do believe humans have a hand in contributing to these beautiful hunters' dwindling numbers, directly and indirectly. And probably Asena and her cubs will make a reappearance?