"The Shot of an Arrow"

         The Beginning
         It was half past twelve. As my wife and I slept, I heard a bang of a gun, a slash of a sword, and the whimpers of dogs. I woke up with a start. I swiftly got into my robe, and silently raced to the top of the stairs. I heard the door cracking but holding. Finally, the door gave way, and two small men came running in. I crept back into the shadows and listened. When they left the house, I transformed into my panther form and crept downstairs. I heard them racing back to the door. They gave frightened shouts and my wife came growling in her mountain lion form. She was trying to protect the cubs we found in the forest, and I could understand why. They were the same as us. They could transform. While I waited for her to pounce, I heard dogs running and sirens blowing. As my wife and I crept upstairs, we heard the robbers screaming and shouting, kicking and punching. We heard the handcuffs lock, and the cubs started whimpering. I raced up to help my wife care for them and made sure no one came and disturbed us. But my thoughts got a hold of me, and I didn't hear the police racing up the stairs. As I heard the doorknob turn, I knew it was the end.
         When the door opened I saw the police, and they saw us. I growled but all they were interested in was investigating. Then finally the middle one spoke.
         "I need all of you to search this room for cubs. If we find them we will take them and these two catamounts."
         I jumped when he said catamounts. He did know what we were. But why would they take the cubs? I motioned to my wife to hide the cubs, however they made too much noise. The police walked over to my wife, but she was too quick for him. She attacked him, and growled for me to take the cubs. I didn't want to leave her, but I also wanted to make sure the cubs were OK. So, I grabbed both of their scruffs and took them outside of the room. I hurried to the kitchen and stuffed them in the most secret place I could find. I transformed into my human form and I locked the door to the hiding spot. I felt pity for the cubs, for they were left all alone. But I had to save my wife. I ran upstairs and attacked the police.
         "Kara! Run!" I screamed.
         The mountain lion dashed downstairs to the kitchen, as we had planned where we would put the cubs when we were in a situation like this. I hoped she would be all right down there, and I hoped she would be stable and be able to protect the cubs. I realized this was going to be a tough job. I realized that our kin was in great danger, and that we might be sent to zoos because of our ability to transform. Finally, the police gave up and left the house. I settled down, and leaned against the wall.
         I just noticed a wound from the police, but it didn't matter to me right now. All I wanted to do was see my cubs and my wife, and make sure they were just fine. I transformed so she wouldn't get startled, and headed down stairs. But when I reached the kitchen, they were gone.
          Panic
         I stared at the lock, which seemed to be cut opened. The door was opened and there were also bite marks on the door, and a deep dark tunnel was revealed. I laid down and stared into the dark tunnel. I heard a quiet meow and crept closer. Then the meow got louder and louder, until..
         "Morrow!"
         Kara came out and started growling at me. She realized who I was and fell silent. Finally, she broke the silence.
         "I'm sorry Kilo....." she meowed.
         "It's ok Kara. You didn't mean for this to happen. It isn't your fault."
         I looked around.
         "Where are the cubs?"
         Kara looked at me with a look of fear.
         "Don't you know?", she said.
         I looked at her with wonder.
         "You never told me." Kara looked shocked.
         "What's wrong?" I said.
         She just stared at me in amazement.
         "Tell me where they are!" I screamed.
         Kara's head went down in shame.
         "Kara I didn't mean that....." She looked up.
         "They were taken by the police....", she said softly.
         I stared at her. Awful thoughts filled my mind. What are they going to do with them............. Why did they take them?.........Where are they?............Are they going to be OK?............What was I thinking? "Kara..... What do you think is going to happen to them?"
         I looked at her with fearful eyes.
         "I don't know.", she answered.
         We crept out of the tunnel, slowly and carefully. We transformed into our human forms; and set off for the long journey.

         The Animal Prison
         The journey was long and hard. We passed wolf packs, crossed fields, and leaped over rivers. We even had to secretly bypass a clan of cats, which was extremely tough. We finally made it to the zoo.
         "Kara" I looked up at her.
         Her ears were pinned back, and I looked in front of me. Then we were thrown into a cage. As the zookeeper's pulled the cage into an environment perfect for our type of cats. They opened the door and we crawled out. We transformed into humans, and they screamed. We were extremely confused by this. But they ran away before we could figure out what was wrong. " Kara........". She looked over at me.
         "What's wrong Kilo?", she said calmly.
         "I'm just nervous", I answered.
         We didn't transform for a long time. We heard the gates open, and a bunch of humans flooded in. We hid in the trees for most of the time. But when we saw the meat we couldn't resist coming out.
         "Kara, stay here. I'll get the food." I meowed.
         "OK." she meowed back.
         I crept out slowly, looking around to make sure no one was near. I grabbed the meat and started to turn away, but then I heard voices. I turned back around. I saw two younglings, two adults, and a couple more families. They kept yelling and shouting at me, and I flattened my ears. I wanted to repress the irritating sound of their yells. I run to Kara and she nodded, understanding the situation. We run to the woods and the people's voices were drowned out by the wind.
         We ran faster and faster until we could not run anymore. I looked over at Kara. She was panting really hard. Then I saw a pond nearby. Kara was walking over to it.
         "Kara, don't push yourself."
         "Kilo I'm fine........." She was still panting. I went over to her slowly making sure she saw me coming. "Kara, get on my back right now ok?"
         "Fine."She came over and slumped onto my back. I started to walk over to the pond.
         "Kilo stop."
         "Why? I'm bringing you to the water."
         "I can get there."
         "No. I'm taking you there myself."
         She growled quietly. "Why can't you ever listen to me?!"
         I kept thinking to myself, Kilo just make sure you don't snap......Don't snap......OK THE REAL PERSON WHO WON'T LISTEN IS KARA!!!!!! "Kara, why don't you think about what you just said, and think about the situation we are in."
         "I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT KILO!!!!"
         Then she got off and was looking at me angrily. Then she walked over to the other side of the pond. She started drinking the water, then she looked up. She was glaring at me so I had no choice but to walk away. I decided to find a cave, perfect for us to live peacefully.
         It was almost dark and Kara hadn't returned yet. Maybe she didn't know where I was? I walked out of the cave, and went to the pond. Kara wasn't there. I was starting to worry. Where is she?! Why did she leave?! Why didn't I stay with her?! I was getting really nervous and I had no idea where to look.

         The Search
"Kara! Kara! Where are you?"
         I kept shouting louder and louder, but I couldn't hear anything but the hooting of owls and the chirping of crickets. Then I heard a long, loud, howl. I covered my ears. It was way too loud to be far away. It was almost like the wolf was right behind me. But it really couldn't be there......... or is it? I looked behind me and a couple feet away stood a wolf.
         I realized it was a red she-wolf at once. I turned around. Maybe if I stay still it won't see me........ I thought nervously. Too late. She started growling, and I got more nervous. Then, she started running at me. Why!!!! The wolf had triggered my instincts to transform. I felt the power pulsing through me. I turned around and stared at the she-wolf. Its ears were pinned back, and I felt a low growl forming in my throat. I let it out to show the wolf that I was the boss, and he needed to leave me alone. The she-wolf didn't listen. It came closer and closer until.....CRACK! He had tripped on a log and fell down. She was bleeding a little, so I thought I could get closer. But the she-wolf attacked me and I fell down as well. She jumped up and stared at me really intensely. I stared back. She retreated slowly and let me pass by. I got up cautiously and walked away. When she was far behind, I started running. And that's when I saw her. Kara was lying on the ground, very still. I walked up and began to shake her side with my paw. She started to move a little.
"Kara?"
         She groaned slightly and moved her shoulder. "Kara, wake up!"
         She turned over towards me. She had a grin on her face. "Kilo.......guess what?"
         "What?"
         She moved away and I saw what I never thought I would see again. She had found the cubs.
         "YOU FOUND THE CUBS!!"
         I was filled with joy at the sight. "Yeah and there's more......"
         She moved over, revealing two newborns. I stared in amazement. That's why she left. And that's why she didn't want me to be there at the pond! She had a wide smile on her face. I transformed to make her feel better. After all she was in her human form too. Then she picked up the newborns, and I picked up the cubs. I started to lead her to the den, but she stopped. She looked depressed. "Kara are you ok?"
         "Yeah. I'm fine. Just worried that's all."
         "About what?"
         "The reason that we are here. How will we take care of four cubs?"
         "The same way we did before, just we will hunt this time."
         I hated to see her this way. It just didn't seem right. I didn't like it when she got worried, because she was always the catamount to tell if something was wrong. She was always the first one to tell what to do. Until yesterday, she was always full of ideas and plans to keep our secret, and make sure that when we were in trouble, that we would be ok. I looked at her again. And I wanted to reassure her.
         "Kara it's going to be OK. Let's just go home."
         "Yeah."

         The Dream
All of a sudden, I was in a misty forest. There was not a single sound except yelling. I turned around. The cave was burning, and Kara was running out with the cubs. The first ones were almost adults, but the new cubs were the same size as they always were. I yelled to Kara but she didn't hear me. I ran in front of her, and she looked up.
         "Kilo! The cave! We've been ambushed," she yelled.
         The cubs transformed and started to run faster and faster.
         "Why couldn't you have come sooner?! I told you not to leave for food! We had plenty and now- Why can't you just listen for once?"
         I was shocked. She never acted like this. "Kara, what did I do? I don't remember going to hunt!"
         "Well too bad because I know you're lying Kilo! Since you can't seem to manage a family, why don't you leave?! I'm sure you can take care of yourself!"
         "Kilo wake up!"
         I opened my eyes and I saw Kara looking at me with a worried look. "Oh Kilo! You're alright!"
         "What do you mean?"
         "You were mumbling and crying in your sleep!"
         "Oh I'm sorry for scaring you......."
         "Kilo, what happened?"
         "I know your lying Kilo, tell me the truth."
         "I.......I'm not lying......."
         She looked at me like she felt like I was far away, and walked over to the cubs, her tail drooping. I felt like I had done something terrible not telling her, but I didn't want to put pressure on her.

The Police Return

         I crept out of the cave, and looked around. The grass was covered in frost and the morning wind wisped through my fur. I got up and started pacing around our new home.
         I smelled a different smell than I had the other day, and it smelled of gas from those 'cars'. We catamounts never rode in those or even thought of touching them. So when I smelled one, I knew something was up.
         I growled under my breath and transformed to my human form. I decided to investigate around, and find where these cars were. I came to a road, where there were so many police cars I couldn't count them all. The sounds of the sirens, the blue and red lights flashing off of the cars. All the noise and lights were too much for me to handle and I turned around and started to walk away.
         "Hey you! Come over here, we need to ask you some questions."
         I turned around and felt fear prickle down my spine. "Y-yes sir?" I said. The policeman looked like he was at the top of his league. He looked at me with an emotionless stare, and I shivered slightly.
         "Sir we need to ask you some questions." he repeated.
         I nodded and came over to him. I tried not to show how anxious I was to go back in the forest, but I know he saw a flash of nervousness in my eye. "Yes sir, what do you need to ask me?"
         "Ok. I need you to tell me all you know about catamounts. And don't you lie to me, cause everyone knows about them."
         "Yes sir, I know. Well one thing about the-" he cut me off.
         "No no no. What I mean is tell me if you have seen any in this forest. And believe me if you lie you will be taken hostage."
         He looked straight at the eye that signaled that I was a catamount. We catamounts also had a certain mark of a claw. It was hung around my neck that very moment.
         "What's this?"
         Before he had time to get near me, out of instinct I transformed and hissed at them. My black pelt gleamed in morning sunlight. The policeman stared in awe, for it was very rare to see a catamount transform in the middle of humans. He grabbed a tranquilizer gun and shot me with it. My eyes glazed over and I collapsed.

          The Lab
         
         I woke up in a cage. There were many other cages that I saw as I looked around, which kinda made me nervous. I didn't remember changing form, but for some reason, I was in the human form, not my panther form. I leapt to my feet and looked around. Some of the cages had large black figures, some had small figures, and others were about my size. This freaked me out a bit. "H-hello? Anyone here?" I called out, but I soon regretted it.
         A low growl came from the other corner. Startled, I jumped, and I clinged on to the ceiling. Sweat dripped from my forehead and neck.


          "Show yourself" I growled back.
         And in fact the creature did. The cheetah crept into the light, and I starred. I let go of the ceiling and sat down, always keeping my eye on the large cat. "So, what are you doing in here?" the cheetah meowed.
         A catamount...
         I jumped at the sound of her voice. I had no words, for I had never seen a cheetah catamount. "Uh- I-I......" I stammered.
         "Ugh, why is this so hard to understand!" she growled. "I'm Catherine......what's yours? And why are you here?!"
         I whimpered a little, just like a cub...."I-I'm Kilo.....also a catamount...."
         I decided I should transform...so I did...in front of the lab assistant..
         The assistant spoke, "WE HAVE ACTION!!!"
         The others came running and started taking notes. My necklace fell off, and I needed it. I looked around for it and saw one of them grab at it. I snarled and snapped at their hand, making all of the scientists back away. I transformed back to human and put my necklace back on.

         Crests
         "Don't you feel annoyed that these scientists only care about us transforming?" I asked the cheetah.
         "It's normal. I heard that if you don't do anything then they will leave you alone. So that is what I am trying to do."
         "Oh."
         I fiddle with my necklace for a minute. "I've never seen a necklace like that," she says,"How come yours is different?"
         "Well......It's hard
         I will be writing the next book for the series soon, I just need some ideas.
         to explain..."
         
         "It's fine. They don't understand Catamount tongue."
         "I didn't even realize I was speaking in it...." I lied. I was only speaking like this because it was the only thing she could understand. "Anyways, my necklace has a different crest than yours Kilo."
         "Oh well....I've never seen your crest either..."
         "You're a panther right?"
         "Yeah, why?"
         "I'm a cheetah. Each cat species has a different crest. Sadly I'm one of the last shapeshifting cheetahs...."
         "That's weird. I'm the only panther in this generation."
         "That is kinda strange."
         I look around the lab again and Catherine looks at me for a moment.
         "Why do you act like a cub? Don't you have someone to protect?"
         ".....Yes....I was taken from my family...four cubs and my wife, Kara...."
         "So you are the famous Kilo...and your wife Kara.....ya'll are the ones who escaped from the Zoo aren't you?"
         "Yes, Catherine...we were just doing it to protect the cubs...we were running out of patience, and we were growing very lazy..."
         "Well I think I can help you there, Kilo."