IF not for the ringing of the collar Slan would never have been able to follow the neko through the house. As it was he scrambled through holes he'd never have thought to slink through and sneezed over and over again as dirt slipped up into the air. He laughed a bit when he saw Rai, all curled and comfy on the old four poster. With a shake of his head, Slan moved aside to rummage around in the closet and the pantry he found in a nearby hallway. He was relieved to see blankets, and snatched them up quickly.

Holding his prize, he slipped into the room again, and lay out the material over the neko with a smile. Then he was crawling under them and wrapping his arms around Rai. "It's real comfy now, and just right .. Don't you think? " There was so much to be thankful for now, realized Slan. There was Rai, there was being safe, and there was having food.

Rai closed his eyes and nodded in agreement, starting to purr as he snuggled into the human's warmth. He was exhausted from his actions that day. He also wasn't used to be awake during the day, having become a mostly nocturnal creature. Before he knew it, he was in a deep sleep.

His dreams came and went with a blurry quality, never really making a lasting impression. He twitched awake and sat up suddenly, his ears scanning for any noises that would suggest they had been followed.

Smiling softly to himself, Slan pet the neko. He took comfort from the other man so easily, even though he knew Rai had changed. There was more changed then Slan knew, and he was aware of that. No one could stay the same after going through as much as Rai had, and even there he knew that Rai had only told him a fraction of the past.

Unlike the neko, he stayed awake. Awake and listening. Slan was too wary to sleep just yet. He smiled a little when the neko awoke, only to freeze and lift his head. Fear slipped through him as growls erupted in the house, or where they? The human shifted and placed himself in front of Rai protectively. The growls were coming from dogs.

In a way, that was comforting. A slender form, clean, pretty, walked out from behind the walls. She smiled and whistled for the animals to heel at her side. "Another human! Oh this is great, can't wait to tell the others! And you have a pet ... You're gonna want to keep an eye on that one, might getcha into trouble, he might." The pale haired girl giggled, lifting a hand to cover her lips.

"Follow me." Said the girl, and started walking away with her little pack.

Rai stared at the new person in fear and readied his claws. If the girl hadn't had terrifyingly large dogs with her, Rai would have killed her before Slan could have said anything. He glanced at his friend as the girl disappeared, his heart beating so fast he could feel electricity shooting through his body. His tail was erect, and the fur fluffed out slightly. "S... Slan... What...?" he again looked to the human, trying to judge how he was feeling.

"Are you coming or not?" the girl called from elsewhere in the house, sounding impatient.

Slan froze, breath stuck in his throat. His eyes were wide. Another human? He had to follow! Those ears of hers, the way she walked ... That was all human. Slan didn't speak, but started following after the girl with a hopeful look on his face. He did think of Rai, thought of what might happen if a neko walked into a den of humans. It didn't sound good, not unless he really did make Rai look like a pet.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned to the neko and reached out to pull him close. "Listen to me. I don't know where the heck she's leading us, but I think there are other humans there. You need to listen to me, and you have to act like my pet. Understand?"

The girl peeked around the corner and rolled her eyes. "Hey you, can't wait all day! Stop playing with your pet why dontcha!" She stopped talking and swung away after Slan glared at her.

Rai frowned and shook his head, his ears pricked up and listening to the dogs that sniffed about in the distance. "I don't want to... What if it's a trap...?" He felt his guts twisting, as if something really bad was about to happen. He sighed and went to turn away from where the girl was telling them to go. "No, Slan, let's just stay here. Please."

He knew that Slan would want to go with the other human. If it was possible there were others like him, Rai would want to meet them. But he wasn't sure how he could contain his urge to kill the intruder. "I'm not a pet."

Slan shook his head, growling slightly under his breath. "Rai..." The girl's voice cut him off.

"There are others, they're coming. If you can't control the pet, I'm sicking mine on him." Barking resounded through the room and the dogs were surrounding Slan and Rai. They nipped at the neko, obviously trained to take down anything who wasn't human. Slan moved to push them all way, and at the same time pulled Rai along with him.

He glared at the girl, giving her the finger."Let me deal with this." The girl smiled and turned away again.

"Rai, you have to do this. Just act, I know it's not real, and you do, but they won't." His words were whispered hurriedly into the neko's ear as Slan pulled him close.

Rai was near tears as the dogs were circling him, shuddering visibly and fluffing his tail out like a scared cat would. He had bad experiences with large dogs, though weres didn't usually own them. They were loyal companions to humans, and didn't respond well to werewolves' commands. He shook his head again, readying his claws for a fight. "Slan... I can't..." He couldn't explain why, he just didn't want to go with him. "I want to stay here, please Slan....."

As the girl sighed with impatience, one of the dogs lunged forwards and bit Rai's tail. He screamed and pulling away and running to hide elsewhere. He huddled under the bed, trembling in pain and holding his stinging, bleeding tail. The dog had taken part of it. Rai cried and continued to shudder. He couldn't believe Slan wanted to go with the girl that had her pets purposely hurt him. He cried more, afraid that he was about to lose his friend and his lover for the second time.

He crept slowly back towards Slan, keeping a very large distance from them and still holding his tail. He stared up at Slan, feeling betrayed, his glowing green eyes displaying his hurt. He didn't say anything more, waiting to follow them to where they were about to go. Once he'd get there, he'd convince Slan to leave and they would live somewhere else, far away.

Rai's scream slammed through him like a jagged knife, slipping past guard he hadn't even known where still there. Whirling around, Slan turned on the girl and her pets. "Leave him be, call them off!"

"Why? They keep killing us. Now it's their turn .. And since he doesn't obey you, why the kitty has to be one of them." The dogs surged forward, aiming for Rai with their slobbering, meat hungry mouths. Fangs bared they lunged, but Slan was already moving. Yelling, screaming, he felt their bites as he punched and heaved until the dogs were backing away, or rather until the girl had called them back to her.

She shook her head. "What a shame ... Get out. This house belongs to humans, not walking animals and their pets. Out!" Slan grunted, and tried to stand. His limbs gave out, red trickling down them from the wounds the dogs had created. Chunks of flesh had disappeared, and it hurt so bad. He didn't know how he did it, but he stood after much grunting and panting, holding out a hand for Rai's expectantly.

Rai itched to attack the girl. How dare she insult and hurt them? This house was just as much theirs as it was hers. He moved towards her, and then turned to Slan, licking his wounds and sadly rubbing against him. It was his fault that he had gotten his friend hurt. He glared at the girl, but then blinked, frowning and giving her his sad eyes. She hesitated, before sighing again. She made a strange whistle to the dogs, which made them limp away to wait for her outside.

She approached swiftly, avoiding the cat-eared man but going towards Slan. "You didn't have to make it difficult, you know?" she snapped at him, pulling out bandages from her small bag. Grabbing the the man's arms, she carefully bandaged his wounds, glancing at Rai. "My name is Cherry."

Rai slunk away, hiding in the shadows again as the girl fixed Slan up and stood. "Just come with me. I know our leader would like to meet you. Even if..." she again glanced at the neko. "Just make sure he doesn't attack us. Else I will change my mind."

Slan wanted nothing more then to wrap his arms around Rai, and chase away all the hurt and the pain which he had caused so carelessly with his actions, or lack of them. He did so, or tried to. It was too late, the neko had already slunk away. "You better keep those mutts away from him," growled Slan angrily. He didn't care that she'd bandaged his wounds, or that she would lead him to other humans. "That man is my friend, and I won't go anywhere that won't accept him .. Understand?"

"That isn't up to me. Just come on so you can figure that out!" She was getting angry all over again now.

With a last glare at her, Slan moved to where the cat eared man had hidden. Reaching out tentatively, he ran a hand through Rai's hair, rubbing gently when his fingers met the soft fur of Rai's ears. "I really want to see other humans ..." He was pleading, but if Rai said no ... Slan honestly didn't know what he would do.

Rai nodded slowly, still very afraid of the girl and her dogs. He was pleased to hear that he wouldn't stay if the other humans didn't want Rai to stay with him. He crept after the two carefully, still holding onto his bleeding tail. It really hurt, but he wasn't going to complain. He wasn't going to open his mouth. He didn't want the girl to get mad again.

They crawled out of the house and walked deeper into the forest. Eventually they came to a small village built high up in the trees. Rai thought that it was clever, as werewolves couldn't climb. Cherry stopped near a large tree, whistling up at the hut above. A ladder fell down, ready to be climbed. "You two go up there, I just have to go tie up the dogs," she instructed, taking the dogs to several kennels where other dogs were kept.

Rai glanced at Slan and drew close, hearing the humans above moving around and talking quietly. "There are a lot up there... I can hear them..."

Slan wanted nothing more then to climb up that ladder, but he was afraid for Rai. Every human had an obvious distrust for the neko, something which Slan couldn't blame them for. He'd been afraid too, at first, and Rai had changed since then. He shook his head and wrapped an arm around the taller man. It was a little awkward, but he lifted his lips to brush them gently across his love's cheek. "I'll stay right beside you."

That said, the young man moved to climb up the tree. His heart beating fast, he smiled at the sight of so many humans. It was amazing! "Welcome, welcome ... It has been quite some time since another human has come to us." That was an elderly woman, who stepped forward with a kind grin.

When Rai joined them, a hush fell across the little hut. It got worse when the young an wrapped an arm possessiely around Rai's waist.

Rai cringed from Slan's touch and hid behind him, lying low in the shadows and licking the wound on his tail. It felt weird, as if a finger or toes had been cut off. It may have been just the tip, but it threw the neko's senses off entirely.

The hut they had been welcomed to was large and round, filled with photos and books, treasures and trophies. The older woman, who was the wife of the village's leader, stared at the neko before retreating towards the old man sat at the back of the hut. He had the aura of authority, and someone who shouldn't be messed with. Before anyone talked, Cherry joined them, going straight to the leader and bowing low.

"I found them in the house," she said. "The cat-eared one seemed afraid of my dogs..." She chuckled lightly, as if the thought of her dogs attacking Rai amused her. "This guy told me that it was his 'pet', but I heard it talk and it acted like a intelligent creature. But... If it were a were... It would have killed me and this human when it could."

The man stroked his long grey beard as if deep in thought. He then lifted his hand and made a gesture. The others saw it as an indication to be silent and soon the room was as quiet as though no one was in there. "What is your name, boy?" he asked Slan, watching Rai lick his tail in the back ground.

It hurt to see Rai like that, so hurt and distrustful of him. A tear welled up at the corner of his eye, bit the young man swept it away with a hasty movement. "Slan .. Slan Dempsey." There was a shiver of recognition through the crowd, as if the name was one everyone knew.

"You are that child? Theirs?" That was a man who looked remarkably like Slan, though much taller, more well fed. They could have been relatives.

He stared at him. "W-who are you?"

"Your uncle, if your parents were Arlen and Sonya."

The shock made him back away, eyes wide. He turned away and moved to huddle by the neko's side. He just wanted to get some kind of comfort from the neko. It was probably a bad idea, showing how horribly important Rai was to him and all. There were snorts of disgust in the crowd as Slan moved to pillow his head against Rai's shoulder. "S-sorry." The word was whispered, so only the cat-eared man could hear.

Rai's ears flicked at the mention of a last name and Slan's parents' names. So it seemed that his family was here. Rai had no right to keep Slan from his family. He kept a straight face as he stared up at the leader, wondering what was about to be said.

"Why do you cuddle that creature?" Slan's uncle asked in disgust, moving forward as if to brake them apart, but stopping before he got too close. Even though the apparent disgust and dislike was visible, it seemed that the humans were still afraid of Rai.

"What are you?" the Leader interrogated Rai, staring intensely at the creature.

"My name is Rai. I am a neko," Rai replied, not wanting to ruin Slan's chances of being with his family that he had never met, and to live with his own kind. "My mother was a human, my father a werecat."

At the mention of his parents, the humans hissed in disgust and made signs as though Rai had told them something truly unsettling. The Leader looked offended and seemed to swell up, before booming in a very loud voice, "No human would taint themselves with were blood. You should not lie to me, cat."

Rai shrunk back, longing to run away. The humans seemed more threatening, as though they were about to pin him down and rip him to shreds.

Slan lifted his head, eyes annoyed at these people. It seemed like the only decent person he would ever meet was Rai. "Listen up, he's mine! I don't care what you say about me, but leave him be." He moved to stand protectively before the neko, arms spread to show his sincerity.

The other humans grumbled and whispered, while Slan's uncle turned away in disgust. The leaders shook their heads. "You will be welcome here, Slan, so long as you abandon that thing." Slan tensed, and shifted his stance. He wanted to get Rai out there, to safety.

"I'll leave, and so will he. Just leave us be!" He wanted to live in peace with his neko. Slan didn't think of Rai as a pet of course, but he still thought of the neko as his. They were much more then friends after all.

Rai tugged at Slan's top, his ears drooping and his heart aching at what was going through his mind. "No, Slan... These are your people... Your family... You belong here... I... I don't belong anywhere..." He glanced away, feeling his eyes sting. He couldn't believe what he was saying. He was giving up the one thing that made him happy, the one thing that kept him from losing his mind... Because he wanted the human to live with his family and have a chance of a new life.

"Rai..." The young man turned from the human leaders to kneel by neko's side. All the others had left, they were too disgusted and disturbed to watch the neko and one of their own. "You do belong somewhere, with me." Slan wrapped his arms around the neko, nuzzling the other man's cheek as Rai had done before. He didn't want the cat eared man to leave his side, no matter what happened.

"I let you down once before, and I don't ever want to do that again ..." He murmured the words softly. The other humans kept making faces, those that were left anyway. Slan wanted nothing more then to wipe the smirks of their faces, but he didn't want to leave Rai alone.

"Then leave this forest and never return!" the leader barked at the two, guards wielding deadly looking spears appearing on either side. Rai stood up and glared at them, readying his claws in case the humans decided to attack. How dare they be ordered out of this forest. It was Rai's home as much as it was theirs. "If we see you in the forest again, we will kill you."

The young man turned away from the other humans wordlessly. He shifted his arm around Rai, and urged him to follow with a motion of his free hand. They needed to leave, and leave soon. The people of the village didn't trust them, and they were afraid. Such a combination could lead to frightening things, and Slan didn't want to stick around long enough to find out what those things might be.

He clambered down the ladder, and waited for Rai to join him at the base of the tree. The dark haired man turned about upon himself and stared around to try and decide in which direction they could go next. One way lay the place they had just left, another was obviously part of the village's territory but the third and fourth were both complete unknowns. They seemed like the best choices, but which way to go?

"Rai, why don't you decide where we go next? Seems like my choice was a pretty bad one .." He glanced to the ground, almost afraid to look at Rai after what the neko had been through for him.

Rai followed quietly, his heart thumping loudly and blood rushing in his ears. He stared at the ground, feeling slightly off balance as his tail was shorter than normal. He shrugged, realising that the only places left for them were either the Vampire's territory or a mountain range no one had explored before. He looked back at the huts in the trees, amazed that Slan had chosen a life of a fugitive with him rather than living amongst his kind.

"Maybe there are others... That aren't so... Mean..." Rai spoke to his friend, patting the human's shoulder. He turned to face the mountain range in the distance, his ears twitching at small noises he could hear around them. "It's either the mountains or Vampire territory."

"How's your tail?" The question slipped from his lips as he turned towards the mountain. "Over there looks good, where no one else is... In the mountains." They could be alone, they could make their own way and their own rules. He couldn't wait to go there!

The smile beginning to cross his lips faded. Slan moved to wrap an arm around the neko's waist. "Is your tail hurting? I could try and find some herbs to put on it ..." There were sure to be a few around, especially once they were further from the village. Roads less traveled tended to have more in the way of herb supplies because people weren't always picking at them.

Rai frowned and nodded, again holding his tail to lick the wound. It still hurt, but it was no longer bleeding. "That sounds good," he replied to Slan, continuing to walk towards the cooler air of the mountains. They had to be careful. Many strange and dangerous creatures lived in the mountains, from snow lepards, wolves and bears to dragons, golems and trolls. Rai shuddered as he thought of this.

He kept an eye out for any herbs that might have been of help to the neko. It was the only reason why Slan said not a word as they walked. He pulled away from the the neko after they'd been walking for a while, and ran to a nearby patch of green leafy things. Without worrying too much over how Rai was going to react, he moved swiftly to grab the other man's tail and started crumbling the herbs up to squeeze the juice from them onto the neko's wound.

"This will help it heal faster, and it should numb the pain too." The neko's tail was so soft ... He didn't think he'd touched it yet. No, now was not the time to get distracted! Slan looked up at the other man questioningly, wondering if the herbs really had helped after all.