10 Panther & Reynold (1/2)

Talia awakens the next morning as Richy is getting ready for work. ”You have to go in,” she ask.

”Yeah,” Richy confirms none too happy about it. ”I have to set bail for Sheila. Margie called to let me know she used her phone call to call her mother. So her mother is supposed to be showing up with an attorney for her.”

”Maybe Uncle Bob should go with you,” suggest Talia.

”He's going to stay here with you,” Richy informs Talia. ”Keep an eye on you for me. I'll call him if I need his advice. You are to stay in bed except for trips to the bathroom. I'ld like you to sleep, but I know you won't without me here. Uncle Bob will be up with a breakfast tray for you in a few minutes. After I get back, we'll get you a shower and Cougar wants to irrigate your wound.”

Talia makes a disgruntled sound low in the back of her throat. The shower sounds good, but the wound irrigation doesn't. Richy simply smiles as he leans over Talia and gives her a deep kiss. And despite her wounded condition, Talia is just as aroused as Richy.

”Damn,” Richy says softly as he licks his lips. ”You gotta get well soon. I don't know how much more I can take.”

”Maybe after you get back, we just need to figure something out,” suggest Talia.

Uncle Bob comes in carrying Talia's breakfast tray, followed by Cougar.

Richy takes a deep cleansing breath. ”I'll be back as quick as I can. You try to rest while I'm gone. Cougar, try not to be a pain in the ass while I'm gone. I'll see y'all later.”

Cougar and Uncle Bob help Talia sit up and put pillows behind her.

”I don't think I have it in me to be a pain in the ass,” states Cougar smiling.

”No, not you old friend,” responds Talia cheerfully amused.

”I think I should have went with him,” says Uncle Bob concerned about the Sheila situation.

”Richy will call if he needs help,” says Talia patting her uncle's hand. Then Talia eats breakfast and self-sedates.

”Is she aware of us,” Uncle Bob asks Cougar.

”Yeah,” answers Cougar. ”You can talk to her. She'll answer ya if she feels it's necessary.”

Uncle Bob just has to test it or himself. ”Can you hear me, Talia?”

There's a silent pause before Talia answers with a disembodied voice, ”Uncle Bob… hear you… yes.”

”She sounds so far away,” says Uncle Bob concerned.

”Don't worry,” Cougar tells Uncle Bob. ”I wish my dad was here. He could explain it better than me. But she's experiencing little to no pain right now, and she's getting rest. If she wasn't wounded, it would be just as good as sleeping. But this allows her to be aware of her surroundings while she's resting. It' a defense mechanism, so nothing that could or would take advantage of her weakened condition can sneak up on her.”

While Cougar and Uncle Bob are discussing self-sedation, Roar is tracking Talia. He was curious when he smelled the change in her scent where she became her inner guardian. He nor anyone with him has ever seen Talia in her guardian form. Tracking with him of course is Cougar's father, Wildcat, his two sons, Talon and Howl, Talon's mother, Squirrel, Angel, a female guardian from his own tribe, Amazonia, the chief as well as a guardian of the Amazon Tribe, and Zenith, who's pregnant with her first child and Roar's third. Zenith is one of Amazonia's best guardians and she knows she's losing her to Roar.

They left before dawn with Roar carrying Howl, the oldest and heaviest of his two sons and Squirrel carrying Talon. Breakfast was eaten on the move. And around midmorning, Roar smelled it first: sulfur, the smell of guns fired maybe two or three days old. The hunters' path crosses Talia's. And then a little while later, there's the smell of Talia's shock, her pain, her panic, her blood.

Roar doesn't know how he would have reacted if he hadn't had his two sons and Zenith with him. But having them with him helps him stay calm. He finds the dry blood and flesh that was blown out of Talia. He ignores the smell of rotting flesh and the buzzing flies and pays attention to the direction of the splatter. His sharp eyes find the bullet that passed through Talia lodged in a tree, and he carefully digs it out and places the large projectile in a pocket.

”Are you ok,” Zenith ask Roar concerned because she smells how worried he is.

Roar nod. ”Do you think as a guardian, you could run with Talon on your back,” he ask Zenith.

”Yes,” Zenith answers with a confident nod.

Then Roar, Zenith, Amazonia and Angel become their inner guardians. He places Talon on Zenith's back. She takes his weight easily.

”Hold on tight,” Roar growls out to Talon.

Talon's big brown scared eyes look up at his father's now wolfish face as he answers, ”Yes, Daddy.” Those two words are filled with innocence and trust.

”I've got him,” Zenith assures Roar.

Roar kneels and motions Wildcat to him and the man hops on Roar's back. Roar stands and Amazonia has Squirrel in her back and Angel has his son, Howl.

”Let's go find our girl,” Wildcat tells Roar.

Roar nods and they're off and running with Roar setting a steady but fast pace. As they run, Roar prays. When they come to Talia's first stop at the river, Roar tells himself that if Talia made it this far wounded, then maybe the wound isn't as bad as he fears. He lets Wildcat down at the edge of the river where Talia went in.

”We're taking a short break,” Roar announces as he steps into the river.

Wildcat follows Roar to the rock in the river where Talia rested, tended her wound the best she could and left her soiled ruined garments. There's a hand print in dry blood on the big rock, Talia's hand print.

”She was in guardian form,” says Wildcat noting the size of Talia's hand and knowing how petite she actually is. ”When the bullet hit her and when she left here, she was still in guardian form.” Then Wildcat picks up Talia's top disturbing the flies that had been attracted by the dried blood. He shakes it out and turns it to have a good look at it. ”Bullet entered her back on the left and exited out her front.”

Roar holds up his oversized guardian hand in front of the exit hole in Talia's shirt. His taloned fingers are splayed wide, and the hole is nearly as wide. He could definitely put his fist through it. ”I can hardly believe she continued on with a wound like this.”

”She's a guardian like yourself,” Wildcat reminds Roar. ”A guardian on her way to her true-mate. There's not much that could stop her except death itself. If they had blown off an arm, she would have picked it up and kept going.”

Roar knows Talia's a guardian like himself, but all he truly knows is that his baby sister was shot. His sharp guardian ears pick up the voices of men talking nearby. ”Hunters,” he tells Wildcat. ”This isn't a designated hunting preserve,” he growls angrily. ”Yet they keep coming here to hunt.”

Wildcat doesn't like it either. ”They just tell their authorities they were only camping. And even if we prove they were hunting here, the punishment is only a fine. They seldom get jail time. Even when they kill someone, it's always ruled accidental.”

Roar knows he can't take any real action against the hunters without attracting unwanted attention from domesticated authorities. ”I still want to talk to them. Send the others ahead with my boys. Tell them we'll catch up with them shortly.”

Wildcat nods his compliance to Roar. Then he wades out of the river and sends the women and children ahead. Then he follows Roar. When they step into the clearing where the three hunters have stopped for lunch, Roar is himself. But even as himself, Roar towers over the other men. The three men stand up surprised. To the hunters, the two wild men almost materialized out of the forest. One of the men reaches for a rifle.

”That's not necessary,” says Roar putting up a hand to stop the man. ”I assure you, even if you manage to get off a shot at me and my companion, none of you will walk out of this forest.”

The man decides not to test whether he can get the rifle faster than the giant wild man can get to him. To these domesticated hunters, Roar looks like an ancient basketball player, except instead of being dressed for a basketball game, he's wearing a deer-skin loin cloth and leggings. His long dreadlocks have been tied back in a leather thong. The smaller wild man is dressed similarly, and even though he's well-tanned, he's nowhere near as dark as the other wild man. He's obviously much older and his mostly gray hair is shoulder length. His eyes are a startling shade of blue that's rarely seen anywhere and are full of intelligence and wisdom.

”I am Roar,” his deep voice commands their attention. ”I am chief of the Animalistic Tribe. This is my companion, Wildcat. We came here to inform you that this is not a designated hunting preserve.”

”We're just camping,” the hunter who was going to try to get to a rifle lies.

”Rifles and shot guns are not necessary for camping,” replies Wildcat. ”We can smell that your weapons have been fired recently. And we can smell that you're lying.”

”Gentlemen,” Roar commanding their attention again, ”you appear to be the only hunters in the area and a woman was shot two days ago.”

One man's scent betrays him as the possible shooter as he says, ”What was she doing running around out here by herself as a deer?”

”This is her home,” states Roar. ”This is our home you're tromping through uninvited. And she wasn't a deer when she was shot. Plus, you're in the wrong area for deer at this time of year. Now this forest isn't safe for civilized men like yourselves. You could fall off a cliff or into a river and drown.”

”Not to mention all the different types of wild animals,” adds Wildcat, ”bears, mountain lions, poisonous snakes. There are lots of ways for a man to die.”

”Just show yourselves out of our home,” Roar orders the hunters. ”You don't want to be here when I pass back through. And you better pray to whatever God you believe in that I find my baby sister alive.”

”Hey, man,” the man that's sure he shot someone, ”We'ld remember if we saw someone as big and dark as you.”

”My sister is only this tall,” Roar shows the men Talia's true height with his hand, ”and she's tan like a deer.” Then Roar and Wildcat seem to disappear back into the forest.

Roar and Wildcat returned to where Talia had made her first stop at the river to rest and tend her wound. Leaving any sign of her presence behind other than her scent is uncharacteristic of Talia, but that just aides Roar in knowing how badly wounded she is. He puts her blood stained clothes into his satchel. Then he picks up Talia's cache from the base of the tree she keeps it in, and ties it back up in the tree for her.

Despite carrying Wildcat on his back, it doesn't take Roar long to catch back up with everyone he sent head of him and Wildcat. And not long after that, they come to Talia's next stop. Here they find the blood soaked towel Talia dropped next to an out cropping of rocks by the waterfall. Talia didn't put this cache away either. She dropped it back into place among the rocks, but the flat rock she had over it is still lying on its side on the ground with a hand print in dried blood on top from when she pushed it aside. Roar replaces the flat rock over her cache. Wildcat puts the blood soaked towel in a side pocket of his satchel. And everyone takes a long cool refreshing drink from the waterfall.

”Aunt Talia's scent, she smells sick,” says Howl worried and scared for his favorite aunt.

Wildcat explains, ”She was sweating from a fever. Fever for a domestic person is usually caused by an infection of some kind. For a guardian, it mean their body is working hard to heal a wound that would have been mortal for you, me or a domesticated person.”

”Mortal,” questions Talon.

”Fatal,” answers Squirrel in nearly a whisper.

”What's fatal,” ask Talon.

Amazonia answers the boy because she can tell no one else wants to. ”Causing death. If Talia wasn't a guardian, she would have died from the wound.”

”But I'm a guardian,” states Talon. ”Why would I have died?”

Wildcat explains, ”You're still a child, a future guardian for the tribe. You and Howl are boys who will be guardians if you make it to adulthood. Until then, you're both just as vulnerable as any other free boy or girl.”

”You can ask more questions later, Talon,” Roar anxious to get to Talia. ”Let's get moving.”

Roar and Amazonia are both immediately aware when they cross into Richy's territory. It's in the smell of the land as well as the feel of it. It's not a sensation either could describe, just an automatic knowledge. And when they reach the spot where Talia nearly turned her inner guardian off, the two boys shiver from the change in her scent.

Zenith's eyes get big as she says, ”She nearly shut her inner guardian completely off. The pain, I don't know how she kept moving. Why would she turn it down so low with such a bad wound?”

Wildcat speculates, ”Mist's two first cousins each have two children. She may have been afraid she'ld scare them. Fjord hates Mist. So his family is Fjord's favorites to pick on. Consequently, they spend more time here with Mist than with the Water Tribe. Plus, his house is also part of Bayberry Falls. She probably didn't want to take the chance of someone domesticated seeing her.”

Roar may not know what he looks like as a guardian, but he knows he's big and scary. So he follows Talia's lead and turns his inner guardian off. The others do the same, and then they follow Talia's scent trail to the house. Roar spots children peeking at them from a tree house as he approaches two women and a man at a fire pit. The adults nearly freeze as they stop what they're doing at the fire pit and focus on Roar, chief of Animalistic. Roar can smell their nervous anxiety.

Wildcat takes the lead with a smile as he greets warmly, ”Seal.” He hugs Richy's aunt and inhales her scent. Then he does the same with her daughter, ”Otter,” and her son, ”Bass.” Wildcat says, ”I'll be quick with introductions. I'm sure you know, we're anxious to see Talia. This is Mist's Aunt Seal, his cousin, Otter, and his cousin, Bass. This is Talia's older brother, Roar, her nephews, Howl and Talon, her friend, Squirrel who's Talon's mother, and Angel. And also with us is Amazonia and Zenith.”

”I'm sorry to arrive uninvited,” Roar apologizes.

”Family doesn't need an invite,” responds Seal pleasantly. ”Follow me. Talia is in Mist's bedroom. Cougar and her uncle Bob are with her.”

Roar's response is a simple nod as he follows Seal with the others trailing behind him. Seal stops at Richy's bedroom door and nods for Roar to enter.

Sitting in a chair next to the bed is Uncle Bob. It's been a long time since Roar has seen Uncle Bob, but he only gives him a quick nod of acknowledgement. Cougar hops up from where he was lying across the foot of the bed and crashes into Roar. Roar hugs Cougar tightly and inhales his scent.

”She's self-sedated right now,” Cougar informs Roar. ”She won't bring her guardian on full. And with Richy gone for work, she won't sleep.” Then as Cougar hugs his father, Wildcat, Roar crawls onto the bed.

As Roar's scent invades her nose, Talia unsedated herself. She gasps slightly as the pain hits her, but recovers quickly. She smiles at Roar as he carefully takes her in his arms and starts to cry.

”Roar,” Talia tells him softly, ”please don't cry.”

Yet Roar lets his tears flow freely as he kisses her forehead. He shares with her, ”I was terrified I was going to find your body.”

”You found it,” says Talia putting her petite hand to his strong jaw as the others move in close enough to touch her, ”I'm just still using it.”

”Thank Mother Earth,” says Roar kissing her forehead again.

”Aunt Tali,” Talon concerned, ”you're hurt. I smell it,” he says crawling onto the bed.

Talia smiles at Talon. ”I think if you give me a kiss, it will help me feel better.”

Roar helps Talon lean over so he doesn't put any weight on Talia, and he kisses Talia on the lips.

”Thank you,” Talia tells Talon with a smile, ”I really needed that.”

”But it doesn't smell better,” says Talon worried.

”But it feels better,” assures Talia smiling, ”here in my heart where I needed it most, it feels wonderful.”

Squirrel has knelt at the side of the bed by Uncle Bob. Her face is wet with tears as she tells Talia, ”We were so worried.”

Talia puts out her hand to Squirrel who presses Talia's hand to her cheek. ”I'm a little tougher than you all seem to think I am,” responds Talia.

Howl squeezes around Squirrel to wiggle onto the edge of the bed just behind Talia's left shoulder. He opens his mouth to say something, but the words are lost to tears as he buries his face in Talia's neck and puts an arm across her and hugs her.

”You're all upsetting my boys,” says Talia becoming upset too.

Then Richy, having just arrived home from work, steps through his bedroom door minus his shoes he toed off at the front door, and he's not happy. He heard what Talia said and smells that she's ready to cry.

”Damn it,” says Richy, who was already in a bad mood from being stuck at work most of the day when he wanted to be here with Talia. ”She needs all your love and support, but I can't have you upsetting her.” His voice has all the authority of a chief in his domain.

Uncle Bob stands and asks, ”Have the boys met the other children yet?”

”No,” answers Wildcat, who's been standing against the wall out of the way with Cougar and Amazonia, ”I don't believe they have. Besides, they need to stretch their legs properly after spending the day toted on someone's back.”

”What's your name young lady,” ask Uncle Bob.

”Squirrel,” she answers.

”Squirrel, I'm Talia's Uncle Bob. Would you be so kind as to help with the boys?”

”Here, Squirrel,” Roar orders, ”Take Talon and go outside with Uncle Bob. Howl you go with them.”

”But I want to stay with Aunt Talia,” Howl protest.

Angel slips forward, leans over and gives Talia a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she picks up Howl, who begins to cry harder as he protests he doesn't want to go. And seeing his older brother upset, Talon begins to cry too.

”Look at your aunt,” Angel whispers in Howl's ear. ”See how weak she is right now. Smell how tired she is. And you and Howl upset is upsetting her when she is already weak, tired and in pain, now, let's be a big boy about this for your aunt's sake.”

Howl nods his compliance and allows Angel to carry him from the room. Squirrel carrying Talon follows, followed by Uncle Bob. Amazonia steps forward and gives Talia's hand a reassuring squeeze and heads out of the room too. Zenith sits on the edge of the bed by Talia and Talia runs a hand over Zenith's swollen belly and is rewarded with a kick from within.

Zenith smiles as she presses Talia's hand to her cheek. She tells Talia, ”Rest, we'll be close by.” Then she walks over and stands by Cougar, who doesn't hesitate to put a hand on her belly. Then Cougar suddenly gets sad as he realizes he won't get to do this with Sheila. Zenith pats his hand wondering why he's suddenly so sad.

Roar runs his thumb over Talia's cheek as he tells her, ”I don't want you upset.” He looks up over at Richy, ”But before I go outside and let her rest, I need to see the wound.”

Richy nods his understanding and sits on the edge of the bed next to Talia. Wildcat and Zenith come and peek over his shoulder as he slides the sheet down, pulls the t-shirt up revealing the bandage that's ready to be changed. Then Richy carefully peels away the soiled bandage with his neutral cop face in place. He's too angry to put on his good old boy smile.

At the sight of the wound, Zenith puts her hand over her own mouth to keep herself from making a sound. But she can't keep her distress from scenting the room or her eyes from welling up with tears.

Cougar rubs Zenith's back as he assures, ”It's looking much better. And it's not leaking half as much blood as before. It's mostly just fluid now to keep the wound moist as it heals. The muscle is starting to regrow already.”

”You're all so young,” Wildcat tells them. ”Thank Mother Earth, this isn't near the worst a guardian can heal, and she'll heal this. Of course, you'ld heal much faster Talia if you were your full guardian. You don't have to suffer like this.”

Talia doesn't respond as she looks down at her clawed finger tips seeing the heat of her own hands.

”Let's get you a shower,” says Richy as he helps Talia from the bed. As Richy is leading her to the bathroom, Talia glances back to see Roar hugging Zenith.

”Go out and check on the boys for me,” Roar request of Zenith. ”Wildcat and I will stay.”

Richy gets the shower ready as Talia leans against the sink. She can tell by Richy's heat pattern he's mad and she states, ”You're angry.”

”Yeah,” admits Richy as he steps back over to Talia, ”but not at you or anyone here.” He helps her out of his t-shirt. Then he undresses. When he's naked too, he helps her into the shower. He had his own shower that morning, so he's about the business of washing Talia. The wound keeps her from lifting her left arm without a lot of pain.

A while later, she's sitting on the chair her uncle was using. Cougar irrigated the wound, washing out some nasty looking clots and it's now covered with a fresh bandage while Talia is wrapped in a towel. Zenith back in from checking on the boys is behind her towel drying her hair. Wildcat is sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the stubborn young woman he couldn't love more if she were his own daughter. Richy has gone downstairs to get Talia and himself some dinner.

”Dearest, why are you being so stubborn about this,” Wildcat asks Talia.

Talia sighs and asks, ”What if I'm really big scary ugly? I don't want the children to be afraid of me. And what if I'm so big hairy scary that Richy is repulsed by me.”

Zenith smiles, ”You can't possibly be half as big, hairy, ugly, scary as Roar, and it doesn't change how I feel about him. I even enjoy mating with him like that.”

”The children will get over it,” Wildcat tells Talia. ”They may be frightened at first. But they love you and will forget their fear quickly. Mist is your mate. It will change nothing between you.”

”Zenith,” Talia takes her hand, ”I want … I want children with Richy. What if he doesn't want children? What if seeing me as my guardian makes him not want children with me?”

”Dearest, you think too much,” Wildcat tells Talia, ”too much domestic education and living I suppose. I can tell you this about Mist: he's a family man. He wants children. But he doesn't want them with just anybody. And you ain't just anybody. Stop thinking so much and just let nature take its course.”