Bang! Bang! Bang!

  "Felix, for our sake keep it down and tell me what's happening!" Janette reached out with both hands around his arm, prying him back and cautiously shooting a gnce at the werewolf dozing off in her cell several feet away.

  Felix whipped his head around to face her, eyes frantic with one hand pced on the door. The poor fairy Tootsie was clinging on to his shoulder with both hands due to his frenzied body movement from constantly shoving his body weight against the door. No matter the attempts, it did not budge, not even a groan from the metal hinges. He pressed his forehead against the transom window, panting heavily with his face red and sweaty.

  "They locked us in here, Jay." He expined with a shudder, "The bastards shoved a chair from the other end, we can't get out!"

  Her lip quivered as she stepped back to process the information. "Fuck. We just can't get a break from these people, can we?"

  She started pacing around, exhaling and rubbing her eyes when her thinking was interrupted by his repeated attempt to force the door open. "Would you stop that? The door may be old, but I doubt you have a Giant's strength to knock it down yourself."

  He stepped away, combing his swaying brown hair back as it covered his eyes. His head started darting back and forth from one cell to the other. "Tools, tools. Maybe we can find something to knock it down."

  "Janette scoffed. "Tools inside a jail to break the front door down? I don't think they would make it that easy for the prisoners."

  "Magic." He mumbled as an idea sprung in mind, turning to his shoulder. "Tootsie, you have any magic to get us out of here?"

  "Oomph!" The fairy yanked herself over his shoulder, pnting her butt down and wiping her forehead with a sigh. "My magic may be plenty fun, but moving chairs cannot be done. Mental binding is my share, make people see what I want them to see. Object manipution is not my fir, if I could then we would be free."

  "Bst, and you can't fly with your wing all clipped still." He muttered, resting his head on the door. His shoulders dropped as he feared the worst.

  Janette turned to look at Reta, rubbing her chin in deep thought. "Felix?"

  "What?"

  "Did you get any good at that hand magic stuff Reta was teaching you?"

  He lifted his head with renowned hope in his eyes. "Genki, that's right!"

  "Shshsh!" Janette reminded him, pointing frantically toward Reta.

  He rolled his eyes. "We gave her that sleeping potion, she won't be waking up until daylight. Now stand back, I need some room to concentrate."

  "Err, is it safe for me to be here?" The little fairy squeaked from under his ear, holding onto his hair for support.

  Janette snapped her fingers and reached out, cradling her in one hand and retreating toward a safe distance away. She watched him close his eyes and take a few deep breathes, controlling his breathing as his chest puffed out with every exhale. The room got so quiet that she could hear the sweat drop from her brow out of anticipation, her hand trembling while Tootsie leaned her upper body over her fingers to watch. A swirl of gold dust began to surround his hand, slowly at first, then evaporating when he would lose focus. He gritted his teeth and felt his nerves acting up, swiftly repeated Reta's words in his mind to help him regain focus.

  Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.

  "Hyaa~!" Through squeezed eyes, he jutted his fist out and shattered through the door, sending the chair on the other side scattering as a mess of wood and shavings.

  "Oh my gosh, you did it!" Janette jumped up, nearly cpping her hands in joy when Tootsie yelped in time to remind her not to. She apologized and ran to congratute her friend, only to jump back and shriek. "Oooo~ooh my gosh!"

  "O~ow." Felix muttered through clenched teeth as his knuckles were stained in red, watching the blood drip from his fingers as he shook his hand profusely. "S-Still a work in progress-ss."

  Janette settled Tootsie on her shoulder, calmly gripping the bottom of her dress and tearing through the fabric until she yanked out a long strip of cloth. Raising his hand, she wrapped it around with gentle care before tying it up with a hard squeeze. He flinched and yelped but bared through the painful process, watching the bandage turn red as it absorbed the blood from his wound.

  "It'll hold," She stated, cradling his hand in hers and looking him in the eyes. "Should this continue bleeding, you'll need something stronger. Maybe we can find someone in Kershin Market or maybe Nihja knows a healer, but we need to move."

  "Right." He nodded through one eye closed, lifted up by his feet and passing a gnce at Reta. Her sleeping was a swift reminder of their responsibility, leaving him reluctant. "What about Reta?"

  "Felix, someone tried to hold us in here. Our friends are out there, they need us." She assured him. "Reta is fine, she's sleeping. Maybe no one will notice, we'll come back for her okay?"

  "Can Vardare keep watch?" He asked, looking at their owl friend.

  He cocked his head and snapped his beak. "All I can do is watch, but in the event that things do not go as pnned, I would suggest you take me with you out of caution."

  "He's right, he's our best chance at getting out of this mess." She agreed, scooping up the book and nodding for him to get in. He fpped his wings and flew into the open pages, fusing back with ease. She shut the book and pced it back in her satchel before carrying it over her shoulder, looking at Felix with a nod. "Let's go."

  Slice-Slice! Bang!

  The door was cut into a fine X like a knife slicing through butter, then kicked in the center as the four pieces crumpled with ease. Once the dust cleared, a shadowy figure stood at the doorway blocking their exit. He poked his head through, spotting Syri trembling behind Na'Vi who looked at him defiantly. To her left was Dimyri protecting her sister, and Syri was being cradled by another Nekomata blocked from view by the two girls.

  Leone narrowed his eyes, reaching for his belt and retrieving an object in his hand when a bit of dust fell over his hair.

  One he looked up, he was met by the missing cat girl as she swung her legs through the doorway, sending him back out of the house. He hit his head and immediately sat up, rubbing his wound as the object was sent sliding along the dirt before settling between them.

  "Leave us alone!" KuliKuli shouted, flicking her paws to extract her cws and readying for another fight.

  Leone stood up with a groan, patting the dust off his cloak. "It's my job as a Hunter, I always catch my prey."

  "Not this time."

  He turned and gave her a look, his hand stroking the handle of his sword. "Tracked you down here, didn't I?"

  She had enough, growling and stepping forward when she kicked away at the object. Her eyes darted toward it, realizing that it was a rusty looking colr with a shiny gem on the front. Her eyes watched it intently, focusing on the meaning behind these as new memories began to resurface. But these memories were incomplete, there were no visions to accompany them, only the furious beating of her heart as her instincts screamed for her to run as far away from it.

  Leone took notice of that. "Ah, so you do remember that. As you should, he said it was yours. When I informed him of your peculiar cognitive issues, Perdilius took it with interest. He wanted to see if this would bring in any sort of reaction, and it seems that it did."

  "What did you do to me?" She asked, stepping back as Na'Vi and Dimyri poked their heads out to watch.

  "I didn't do anything, I was brought in after you escaped." He calmly expined, reaching for the colr while keeping his eyes focused on her. "I was simply hired to bring you and your cat siblings back to him."

  "Why?"

  "I do not know, it's not my job to ask. I'm only tasked with getting the job done, and that requires you and your two siblings to come with me before anyone else gets hurt."

  "And should we refuse?" Dimyri asked, stepping in beside KuliKuli.

  Leone tilted his head, his silver eyebrows coming together. It was difficult to tell whether he was crossed or puzzled by her statement. "Then we keep this chase going. I followed you for miles and miles across the nds, although based on his tone he would much prefer we end this little game of cat and mouse we have. It's boring him, and ultimately he requested me to take you in, no exceptions. Of course, I am required to bring you in unharmed, but some cuts and bruising can be the exception. Now, be a good trio of monsters and come with me. There's no running away from this, you've tried, many times."

  He cocked his head again, staring at Dimyri with interest.

  Emyri sat against the back end of the house, cradling her youngest and whispering words of comfort. She could feel Syri's heart racing paired with her whimpers and quick breathes, she was never exposed to this kind of situation and struggled to comprehend it. It would seem that of her siblings, her instincts compelled her to run and hide.

  Her mother sat with her, knowing it was her duty to protect her girls with her life if necessary. Still, she watched the others outside while muttering to her youngest, praying that it was somebody else they were confronting. But when Leone's face came into view, her eyes swelled with tears and she hung her head with shame, realizing the worst had occurred.

  Leone stood back and whistled, alerting the girls of sudden movement. It seems that the hunter was not alone, bringing in a group of Perdilius' men as they hurried in to surround the girls with wooden shields and spears in hand. Though their armory was cking in comparison to the city guards of Kershin Market, they remained an imposing force as the girls stepped closer to each other, realizing that their option of running was sealed from them.

  The hunter removed his sword from its sheath, turning his head from side to side to stretch his neck muscles in preparation. With his right hand, he made a symbol and whispered an incantation so that his hand would be surrounded by dust before catching in fmes. He held his gaze on KuliKuli specifically, aiming his sword on her with a look of a fighter ready to battle.

  "Pick your choice, you can surrender here in which your friends will be left unharmed. Or you can fight in which the repercussions will be rather painful for them. But I think you and I know what you've chosen."

  "Indeed." She nodded, approaching him slowly at first, then running at full speed on all fours. He unched the fireball from his hand into the ground, erupting into a cloud of thick smoke as she skidded into a stop just before falling through. Then she felt a gust of wind shoot through her hair, sending the smoke into her eyes. She covered them and yelped loudly, feeling them burn as she turned around and was kicked from behind. Rather quickly, he pnted his weight on her and pulled her arm to her back, whistling casually as he reached for her other arm to subdue her. Relying on past tricks, she felt herself surrounded by bright light before shrinking into her cat form, just to feel his rough fingers grab her body and lift her with ease.

  "Not a very bright mind, are you?" He clicked his tongue, holding her at bay as one of his men approached him to take her.

  That man was met with a sliding kick to his ankles, knocking him down as Na'Vi then swept her leg up at Leone's head. He stepped back lightly, feeling a breeze against his face as she missed him by an inch, then he stepped in and kicked at her other leg to knock her off bance. She colpsed headfirst, kicking up dust as she rolled away from him.

  "Sloppy." He criticized her, watching her seethe with anger.

  She charged outright, swiping at his face as he danced around her movements left and right, then tripping her with the sharp end of his bde. Na'Vi curled up and held her leg, feeling the cut across her ankle start to bleed. When she opened her eyes, he was looking down on her with a sword in hand, but not with a look of a hunter ready to end his pray. She was not who he was after, so he turned away from her, leaving her on her back as he put his focus back on KuliKuli.

  Dimyri was next to jump in, aiming for piercing movements by jabbing her cws out for his arms, He repelled her with his sword, watching the sparks jump out from their traded blows.

  "You're more familiar with this, aren't you?" He asked, retreating lightly as she pulled away and gasped for air. "Your moves carry more meaning behind them, but I can tell you have yet to test your prowess on an opponent."

  Dimyri remained silent, gring at him before catching him by surprise. She scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it to his face, forcing him to turn around to avoid it in time. But as he kept his eyes on his feet waiting for her, in that split second, he was interrupted by KuliKuli as she jumped on his back and cwed at his face. "

  "Agh!" He grabbed her wrist and flung her over his shoulder, rubbing the three cw marks across his cheek. He met her eyes and smirked back, like a fighter acknowledging another, then stabbing his weapon next to her head. She gasped and rolled away, realizing it was a warning of how easily he could end them if he wished. Even with their combined efforts, he was holding back.

  She licked her lips, retreating with Dimyri to a safe distance when Na'Vi leaned into her.

  "Kuli, do you remember Tat~tat?"

  She made a weird face. "What?"

  "Tat~tat." Dimyri whispered back, joining them. "A ritual dance amongst friends and lovers."

  "Na'Vi this is not the time-"

  "Trust me, I think we can get him with this." She argued, getting KuliKuli to stare at her. "Do you remember it, yes or no?"

  "M-Maybe, maybe not by name."

  "Okay then, just follow my moves." She stated, running after Leone.

  With nothing left, KuliKuli braced herself and ran behind her.