Chapter 11

When I woke the next morning, I had a moment of panic from not knowing where I was.  After gathering my thoughts though, I slowly recollected my fight from last night.  That Argentine guy was definitely someone to watch out for.  I lay there for a few seconds more, letting the dawn rays of sunlight wash over me.  I supposed now was as good a time as any to start heading towards Amistris, I needed supplies if I was going to trek 7000 miles to find this so-called ‘Nadia’ person.
I got up, scanning the woods for any trace that Argentine, or anyone else for that matter, was watching me.  It was then that I realized that the horse that Zateal had left me was gone.  I cursed, seething with rage, as it dawned on me that Argentine must have stolen it when I was unconscious.  I let out a frustrated sigh; this was going to be a long day.

*

It was around noon when Amistris finally came into view along the horizon.  At least, what I hoped was Amistris.  I could faintly make out the unnatural rise of buildings, dotting the landscape in the distance.  I estimated that it would take a human at least twice as long to travel the distance that I had already covered, being a Felidae Warrior meant that I was naturally faster, stronger, and more accustomed to dealing with terrain-induced obstacles.
On the down side, I was still a long way off, I was hungry, and there was nothing between me and the blistering heat of the sun.  Growing up on a planet that’s about 40% desert helped, but I wouldn’t have minded some shade.  Unfortunately, there was nothing but open plains and rolling foothills for miles.  I sighed as I realized that anyone would be able to see me coming.
I contemplated waiting for night to fall before continuing on.  But at the pace I was going, I wouldn’t reach the city limits until nightfall anyway.  So I kept going, my head bent against the sun, following the worn dirt path that wound it’s way towards the city.
I couldn’t help but be curious about what it would be like.  The Felidae colonies on earth were more or less identical to the sprawling cities on the Felidae home planet, Nauven Zenth.  Everything was built directly out of the pre-existing rock, nothing was wasted.  Because of this, architecture had become a prominent field in Felidae society.  The wealthiest families would have extravagantly sculpted homes and palaces, sparing no expense when it came to out-classing a rival clan.
But being a Claws from the house of Panthera, I had never really seen many places that weren’t under Felidae control.  The current ruler, Empress Shiris, was from the house of Tigris.  Everybody knew that the houses of Panthera and Tigris were bitter rivals; her crowning had resulted in an expensive decline of favor for all Panthera.  Not to mention that the head of the clan had been foolish enough to speak out against the newly crowned Empress.
It was a known fact, but rarely talked about for fear of death or imprisonment, but Shiris was not the rightful heir to the crown.  She had an older sister, Aisha, who had been banished to earth years before on mass murder charges.  Though no one really wanted a murderess as Empress, she couldn’t be much worse than Shiris.  Shiris was an iron fisted and unfair ruler.  Though the armies of the Felidae kingdom flourished, not much else did.  There was currently an unprecedented amount of poverty ridden Felidae on Nauven Zenth, and the differences in ranks among theme were more defined than ever.  Although Felidae were excellent at masking their strife from the outside world, the inner turmoil of the entire planet was taking a toll on its people.
One of the main reasons I had left for the Felidae provinces on earth was to escape the hardships faced by my family back home.  Or what I considered family; others were often inclined to disagree.  I had grown up on the streets with a rag-tag group of others just like me; I had never known my real parents.  Being the oldest of our little group, I had naturally been in charge.  Making sure the other six Felidae that followed me around were safe and fed.  It had been years since I had last seen them.
One day, passing through a more upscale residential area, we stumbled upon a school for younger Felidae, as opposed to the huge Fighter Academies that Fighters and Sacrifices attended together to be taught, trained, and grouped into five-man squads.  It was that day that I had first met Nauri.  Being the docile and kind person she was, she was a natural target for bullying.
All I remember was seeing her getting picked on and feeling the familiar urge to defend those weaker than me, they had gone running with their tails between their legs.  Afterward she had run up to me, probably to thank me, and that was when I had first known that she was something special.  I’m not quite sure what had happened at that moment, but it felt like gravity itself had shifted from beneath me onto her.  She suddenly became the most important thing in my life; nothing else mattered so long as she was happy.  I felt like all the confusion in my messed up childhood had suddenly clicked into place, becoming crystal clear for the first time.  I knew, without question, that I wanted to stay by her side forever, no matter what.
I later found out that that initial feeling of attraction is known as imprinting.  It happens when a Fighter and Sacrifice meet for the first time, and they become spiritually bound to one another.  Nauri’s parents had taken me in, put me through school, and then paid for Nauri and me to attend the Hurricos Fighter Academy.  They had accepted me as a daughter, though they already had eight kids to care for.  I would be forever indebted to them.
Nauri and me had grown closer since our first meeting; we had become essential in each other’s life.  One could not exist without the other.  And the closer we were, the more I realized that I had feelings for her.  I knew her like no one else did, and I understood her like no one else could.  I was in love with her.  But it just seemed so weird, so foreign to me.  I didn’t know how to approach her about it; I wasn’t sure how she would react.  We had never kept secrets from each other, but this was something I just couldn’t tell her.  For fear of losing her.
We were eventually grouped up into our five-man fighter unit.  Me as the Claws, Nauri as the Ears, Kazana as the Fangs, Kisha as the Eyes, and Zaiger as the Tail.  We had been chosen, along with several other fighter units, to take up residence in the Felidae colony on earth.  Once we had arrived, we were almost immediately sent out on a mission.  We were supposed to be escorting a trade shipment to the city of Nyroc, but after the merchants in charge had been caught smuggling stolen goods, we had been forced to abort mission.
We had returned the shipment of what appeared to be illegal drugs to be dealt with by the authorities, only to find that a smaller, second shipment was being carried on foot.  They had managed to sneak out in our absence.  We had managed to track them down, only to find that the transaction had already been completed.  Turns out that whoever the thief was had been doing dealings with an Alchemist, a capital offence.  Well, he was now dead, slaughtered by the god fearing military dog.  But we had managed to catch up to him, and somewhere in the process of our fight, I had been killed.
Now that I think back on it, avenging a petty thief was probably not the best course of action.  But Alchemists were one enemy that all Chimera’s had in common.  It was considered illegal, by Alchemist standards, to create or be associated with Chimeras.  They were constantly hunting down all kinds of hybrid creatures, created by science or nature alike.  If one had killed a fellow Felidae, no matter how lowly, it was only natural that we would want to take revenge, to reclaim our pride as Felidae.  I guess I would never know if that Alchemist escaped or not.

I was suddenly jerked out of my thoughts when I tripped over a ditch in the road.  My cat-like reflexes saved me from doing a face plant into the dirt, but it didn’t help my mounting frustration.  Amistris was now significantly closer, and the sky was also considerably darker.  I clamped down on my own weariness, struggling onward.  Another half hour and I would be inside the city limits.  
Now that I was closer, I could definitely make out the edges of the huge city.  There were more trees dotted here and there than there had been on the plains I had been traveling across, and there were tiny farmhouses with expanses of pastures for crops and animals everywhere.  I wasn’t exactly big on vegetables, but since I didn’t have much of an alternative I hopped the fence surrounding one of the numerous orchards and pigged out on apples and pears.
It was only after I had stuffed my face that I realized that there was a smoke house on the other side of the field.  The smells of preserved meat made my mouth water, but I didn’t dare to try to break in, lest someone caught me.  So I kept going, heading towards the heart of the city, weaving in and out of various farms and then into a more suburban area.  It was here that I noticed the symbols above the houses.
Above almost every door in this neighborhood was the Alchemy crest for protection or something.  Amistris was an Alchemy town, and here I was, a Chimera, wondering around in the open!  I had been lucky to not have been spotted so far, but I couldn’t risk going any further without some way to hide my cat-like features.  I took a sharp intake of breath as I retreated the way I had come, trying to sniff out an unoccupied home.  I finally found one where the scent was stale; the owners of the house had not been home in over a week.
My claws made short work of the lock, and I was inside before anyone could notice anything suspicious.  I was lucky that it hadn’t been locked alchemically.  I headed upstairs to find a new set of less conspicuous clothes.  To my delight, a girl around my age in human years lived here.  Finding clothes just became a whole lot easier, at least something good had happened to me tonight.
I quickly picked out a pair of durable, black, knee-length pants and a tight black tank top, over which, I pulled on a light blue, short sleeved, sweater-shirt, that was loose about my shoulders, allowing me to pin my Vyes to the black tank top without them being seen.  Lastly I found a pair of black converse and a black, knit beanie, with a light blue heart and cross bones on it I might add, and I was ready to go.  As a last thought, I swiped as much money as I could find, and then finally headed out.  With my ears and tail hidden, I quietly left the way I had come, re-locking the door behind me.