Chapter five – Friend and foe
Imported from SF2 with no description.
A young white wolf was slowly awakening in a very strange place. Her vision was still blurry and her body still seemed to be under the effect of sedatives, because she could not move one bit.
Aki quickly realized, that it was not the work of the sedatives. She could not move, because she was shackled up to something. All four of her paws were stretched wide apart and held by strange stainless steel made shackles. They held her on a vertical construction in form of a large ring by electromagnetic locks. Her large wings were lifted high in the air and held the same way and one of those things was even around her neck. Then Aki remembered again... She was caught by the security, so she must be in one of the ERF labs now. Aki looked around the room and saw Kendi crouched in the corner with two of the security guards around her. The black cat was shivering and was starting into nowhere. Kendi never was in a place like this, so she had no idea what will happen with her now. Aki wanted to help her so much. Normally, she would knock out the guards with her strong tail, but now she could not move her body, not to mention her tail. Lash has made a separate construction for Aki’s tail with massive reinforced shackle, because the rat learned the hard way what was that long thing capable of.
Mentioning Lash, she just came into the lab and walked directly to the shackled Aki.
"You've already woke up? How interesting..." - Lash said smiling.
The amount of so strong sedatives would knock out an adult man for two days, but Aki woke up just after few hours. However, Lash was not much astonished. The rat seemed to know a lot about the abilities of Aki’s new heart, or whatever it was.
The little wolf wanted to know why was Lash doing all this, what was the reason? Lash told her that eight years ago, after Aki's mother rescued them when she threw them out of the burning hall, Aki landed with her back on a piece of wrinkled metal and got injured as well. That was where she got the scar on her back from! They were both brought to the medical station. It was the place where they met Wuffy and where Lash also overheard that it was one of the ERF labs burning there. They were doing a test, even if they knew there were many furs still inside, but for the ERF they...
Lash’s story was interrupted when someone walked into the lab. The guards stood up in attention, because the person who entered the room was no one else, than the leader of the ERF Nare Darks. So this was Kass’ father? He immediately caught Aki’s full attention. He was a well-built, tall man dressed in a long white coat with black marks and had a black glove on his right hand. He had a short black hair and a circle beard, but there was something strange about him what was scaring Aki. In his black eyes was no trace of any feelings and his look was cold like Aki never saw before. This man was something completely different than Kass. No wonder that Kass did not like to talk about his father and any time he mentioned his family name, everyone shook from fear.
Darks looked at Aki and then turned back to Lash saying that it took her long to bring back the device. Aki could not believe it; she was nothing more to him than the device? As if he would not be upset enough on Lash for the holdup, she had to drag some stray cat into his lab... The scared kitten was now standing in the corner by the two guards. As Kendi saw that cold look in Darks’ eyes, she could not hold it much longer and tears started to roll down her cheeks. She was so scared, that she even wet those pink jeans of Aki from the fear. Darks asked Lash why she brought the cat to his lab. The rat answered, that she brought her from the Depth. She thought, that maybe they could use the cat for something, as she could survive down there near the energy lines for so long. As Darks heard from Lash the word "thought", he grabbed Kendi by the loose fur on her neck and dragging her close to him, he said something towards Lash. Aki could not hear everything, only the three last words. On the beginning, he was talking with a calm voice, but the end was loud, clear, and threatening!
He said to Lash that she shall not think, she shall just and only follow his orders, because he did not need there another useless stupid animal! And with the last word, he threw Kendi against the wall! The black cat hit the wall with her back and with the back of her head with such a force, that as she was slowly sinking to the ground a wide blood trace was left after her on the wall. After that, her body remained sitting by the wall without any sign of life.
"Please, no!" - Aki screamed out and burst into tears.
How could he had done that! Aki maybe was a creature, but that man was a monster! Lash bit her teeth together and closed one of her paws to a fist, but as Nare Darks ordered her to prepare the device for the test, the only thing she said was...yes, sir. Before he left the lab, he also ordered Lash to clean up the mess as well, alone. Then he walked out of the room followed by the two security guards.
Nare Darks was a cold, heartless human. Aki’s painful crying did not touch him one bit. The only thing that interested him was to posses as much power as possible. Aki could not understand it; how could Kass be his son? Well, even that had its reason. In real, Darks did not hate the furs as it could appear. He did not care if it was a furry or a human, as long as he could get to more power. That was how Darks met Kass’ mother. She was a beautiful wolf female and she belonged to one of the only three families in whole COHAF that reached the LV9. The other two were human families, the Darks family included. By the time Kass’ mother was the main person in the ERF before Nare Darks. So, how could he get to more power than to harness control over the ERF. After the laws of COHAF, a human member of a mixed family could acquire the class level, privileges, and status of the furry member of the family, as well as could all other human members, but the furs could not do this. For them was any sharing of the class level and all other benefits forbidden by the law. This was why Aki was still listed as a LV2 even if Wuffy was very rich. However, it was not that easy for Darks to get to the ERF lead. It was used in low classes and in the middle-class to have a mixed family, but it was highly unusual for the highest class. And after the law, a human and a furry could be acknowledged as a legal family only when a child was born, what Darks forgot.
Anthropomorphic animals, that is...animals that possessed certain high level of intelligence, had hands with opposable thumbs meant for grabbing and holding, talked, and for all acted as humans were, at least after the law, equal to humans, so there was no legal or other barrier for having a mixed family. The only question was, if they could have a child... Thanks to the genetic research done in the past, it was discovered that furs became so similar to humans as if you would compare two different breeds of dogs! Thanks to this genetic anomaly, having a mixed family was not a problem at all. Although, the children of these families were born either as pure humans or as pure furs. There was no other combination possible! So, came Kass to this world, and then there was nothing more what stood in Darks’ way to take control over the ERF. And now, with Aki in his grasp, the ultimate power was a hand-reach close!
Aki, still shackled to the ring, cried so much, that her tears were falling on the floor under her like a waterfall of sorrow. Earlier, she asked Lash for a reason why she was doing all this, so Lash now took the kitten in her arms and turned towards Aki.
"Here you have your reason!" - Lash said silent with an angry voice.
Lash felt really sorry for the kitten. She served to Darks only because she wanted to change things like these, but to do that, she needed power. And working for the ERF and for Nare Darks was the only way to get to such a big power. Then Lash left the room with Kendi’s body, leaving Aki in there alone and crying. The time started to blend in for the little wolf. Even if she closed her eyes as tight as possible, she still saw Kendi’s face and heard that horrible noise Kendi made when she hit the wall. She wanted to cover her ears to not to hear it anymore, but she could not, her paws were still held by the shackles. Aki was broken, everything happened just because of that black thing inside her chest. She did not understand why someone have done that to her. Who could hate her so much?
A moment later, someone entered the lab. It was Lash again. She came to prepare Aki for the test of the device, because they wanted to know how was the device working, and how has Aki managed to control its huge energy. By this Aki asked Lash what she has done with Kendi, but the rat answered nothing and just continued with the preparations. Soon, she was done and left the room without to take a single look into Aki’s eyes. As the door closed tight behind the lab rat, a robotic arm appeared in front of Aki. When a large needle came out of the robotic arm, she started to fear. There sure was a reason why she could not move one bit! When Lash was preparing Aki for the test, she greased her fur above the device with something, so the fur would be kept cold and slippery, and that was bad. She never feared a needle, not even when she was in the medical station, but this thing was huge! Aki just hoped that they have not planned to stick that long, sharp thing inside her! Unfortunately, exactly that was going to happen, because to test the device they needed to access it directly. Aki started to panic, that thing was as thick as her fang and double that long! A moment later, it slowly started to come closer and closer. With extreme precision it passed through her fur and the thing slowly forced its way inside her body. This was madness! The pain as the needle slowly continued through her body and then stuck into the device in her chest was unspeakable! The pain as she touched the energy line was not getting even close to this! Aki was screaming from the unbelievable pain and fear, but the robotic arm felt no regret, it was only a machine doing what it was programmed for.
When the needed tests were done and the requested information gathered, the robotic arm took out the needle and moved back to its place. As the needle slide out of Aki’s chest, her head just hung forward. She was breathing heavy and her saliva was dripping down from her opened muzzle. This was too much for her, she could take no more. She wanted this nightmare to end. When Lash walked in again, she saw that Aki was still conscious, but she was in a very bad shape. It was not surprising after what they have done with her, but as Lash spotted the needle they used by the test, she was shocked. Half of that thing was missing, burned away by the enormous heat, and the rest of the robotic arm looked like it went through hell! What a power! Lash stepped closer to Aki and said that after analysing the test results, Nare Darks wants her to remove the device.
"...then why...you...gave it to me...the first place... ...when...you want it back...so much?" - the little wolf asked with a weak, silent voice.
Aki had more than earned the right to know the truth, so Lash answered her question. By the first test to put that device to work, made by Nare Darks personally, happened an explosion. That was four days ago and it was this explosion, which left the whole COHAF run dry, but there was more to tell. The device started to produce energy while absorbing minimum warmth, so it was very dangerous, because, as Aki already knew, whatever this energy touched was burned to dust. Whoever would manage to control the device and its energy, would have access to almost unlimited power, or as a part of the body it could keep the person alive maybe forever. Aki froze...did the rat say forever? Aki hated that thing already and it was just few days, not to mention the whole eternity! Then Lash continued. There was only one small problem with the device; no one had an idea how to harness such an enormous power. They needed something that would adapt to the device and constantly feed it with warmth. Then happened the incident in the park and Lash heard about what Aki had done for the boy. Lash owned her life to Aki’s mother, so she wanted to pay her back by rescuing her daughter’s life. The rat learned a lot about the device and its past from her master, so she was able to use it. Aki wondered who she meant with master, Wuffy maybe? The rat smiled on this, she found it funny how Aki was calling the wolf, but she did not meant him. Lash meant the other wolf, Alex. After the explosion eight years ago the two girls end up by Wolf, but as Lash saw that Wolf was helping the humans as well, she run away from him. She could not forgive their kind what they did to her family. Back then, Aki maybe was too young to remember and understand what happened, but Lash was old enough. She loved her family, and they take it away from her! The rat ended up on the street where Master Alex found her.
Lash learned so much from him, and there she learned about the device and its past. Originally, the device was made by furs during the war as a last hope to end the horrible conflict. The furs made it for the humans, so they would have enough energy for themselves and stop destroying their common world, but the humans betrayed the furs and the device got lost and forgotten. It happened that the war had end somehow and the City Of Humans And Furs was built to sign the peace. This all happened many years ago. Then the device appeared again, and Nare Darks understood that the thing could fulfil his dream to get to the ultimate power. Lash immediately recognized the device from her master's tales and started to work for Nare Darks, hoping that with the power she could fulfil her own dream as well. It was a dream about a world where furs did not need to fear the humans. She persuaded Darks to let her try the device on Aki, as a second test. Unfortunately, it ended up as the first time; but as Aki run away, Lash had no idea how could that be possible!
Aki blamed herself for everything. If she would not became a creature, nothing of this would happen and maybe Kendi could be still alive. Lash said, that if she would not throw her life away for a stupid human, nothing of all this would happen. The little wolf answered, that Kass was not stupid, that he was her friend. Lash laughed! Humans and furs can never be friends and then, why she did not took the boy's hand as he was reaching for her in the Depth? She did not trust him as well, so how could she call that human a friend? Aki looked away; she did not know what to answer. It was hurting her to admit, that someone from Kass’ family would do something like that, but then that thing with Kendi... It felt horrible not being able to help, but the rat told her to let the cat go, because Kendi would need a wonder to survive the night. Aki’s eyes opened wide; survive the night? Should that mean that Kendi was still alive? Lash gave the little wolf a soft nod, but Aki should not make any hopes to herself, because there was no one who could help the cat now. Still, Aki did not want to give her up, and she just knew the person that could do the wonder. If only she could get out of those shackles. The problem was, that no one could get out of those things. The shackles were held on the massive ring construction by an electromagnetic lock what made it impossible to move them for anyone. On this Lash got closer to Aki and with a large smile she whispered something into her ear.
"It's impossible, but you're not anyone, are you?" - came the rat’s words.
Aki stayed surprised; why was she saying that? Then Lash walked to Aki’s tail which was held by the extra construction made personally by the rat. She moved the construction with Aki's tail backwards even more, so she would not get the stupid idea to free herself and escape through the small ventilation shaft above, through which they let out the enormous heat during the test. Until now was Aki’s tail stretched out to its maximum, but now it was hurting so much! She felt as if her tail will rip off any moment, so stretched it now was.
Meanwhile, Lash left the room. She said to the guards outside, that by personal order of Nare Darks, no one shall enter the room, no matter what. The guards confirmed the order and the rat walked away. Inside the room, the construction held Aki’s tail in position, while her muscles were painfully dragging it back. The only question was, what will rip first? Her muscles were quivering from the strain and she knew that she will not hold it out much longer. Aki put together all her remaining strength to a last desperate try to pull her long tail out before it will get even longer. She bit her fangs together and yanked with her tail as strong as possible. A loud blow could be heard from behind the guarded door followed by a sharp painful scream! A chill feeling ran down the spine of the two security guards as they heard the scream. What happened to that little furry? The guards wanted to enter the room, but they reminded themselves on Lash’s words that no one shall enter the room, no matter what.
Inside the room, Aki was still shackled to the ring and it appeared that she has not moved. The reinforced construction was still fixed to the shackle on her tail, so her tail was…raised high in the air and wagging slowly from side to side! That girl was fantastic; she ripped out the whole construction from the floor! The construction maybe was reinforced, but the floor was not; at least not there, where Lash moved it. It seemed that the rat was up to something, but that was the last thing Aki cared about right now. She needed to get rid of that thing on her tail and free herself completely, and she just knew the way to do it. Aki was not wagging her tail in the air from happiness, but she was concentrating, because the other construction was much bigger and made from very thick steel. She had only one try, because the guards will sure rush in this time. If they will see that she tried to free herself, they would not hesitate to use the tranquilizer guns with sedatives again, so Aki did not want to risk. One bite in her butt with those things was enough for today.
She wagged her tail in the air one more time and then she slammed the construction on it directly into the place from where the electromagnetic locks were fed with energy. That was a blow again! The construction on her tail fell to pieces and the shackles were released from the locks. Aki immediately fell down on the floor, and as she thought, the security immediately walked into the room. She found herself standing right between them. As one of the guards wanted to put her to sleep with the tranquilizer gun again, Aki’s tail quickly lashed through the air putting the guard out of balance. By this, the dart with the sedatives hit the other guard instead of her. The only thing she had to do now, was to quickly knock out the remaining guard, what was not a big problem. The guards will sure be unconscious for some time and no one else seemed to know that she was free, so she could finally take a moment to catch her breath. Aki sat down on the cold floor and started to pet her hurting tail.
"It's only trouble with these things, lucky humans, they do not have one." - she sighed, but was happy that she still had her tail in place.
Aki noticed that she still had on the shackles. She did not know how to put them down, so she must have walked with them. The shackle, she had on around her neck as a collar, was making noise any time she moved a bit faster, so if she wanted to find Kendi and get her out of there unseen, she must be careful! At first Aki needed to find a way out of the lab, because the doors there could only be opened by a code that she did not know, besides walking through the corridors was not a good idea anyway. Then she reminded herself on what Lash told her about the ventilation shaft. She did not really thrust the rat, but it was worth a try. She flew up to the high ceiling and the shaft was really there. When Aki took down the cover, she saw that it was a tight place ever for a little furry like her. In a situation like this she had no other choice, so she started to climb through, hoping that she will not get stuck in there with her big butt. The inner walls were still warm, so there must have been a real heat going through. She was thankful that she was a wolf with a perfect sense of smell, because without it, she would get lost in that labyrinth. Aki climbed through the shaft following the smell of fresh air until she reached the exit. She found herself outside on top of the main tower in the middle of the ERF building complex. It felt so good to be outside again, the fresh breeze felt great on her fur and she could finally stretch her wings on fully.
The ERF was one of the highest buildings in COHAF, so the city looked beautiful from up there, covered in the golden rays of sunlight. When this will be over, Aki must take Kass up there to see the great view too, but as she closed her beautiful eyes and imagined the scene, Kass’ father appeared in her mind instead of Kass. Aki immediately stopped dreaming and shook her head in fear. This was not good, Kass’ father has done all those horrible things... Aki suddenly remembered how cold Kass was to the furs as well before all this. No wonder she had doubts if she could still trust him. The little white wolf did not want to think about Kass now, but she just asked herself if he and Wuffy were all right...
Well, the two were not doing that great. They were very worried about her and they had no idea what she went through. After the security flew away with her, Wolf took Kass and they went back to COHAF right to Wolf’s house. Kass was really sad and angry that he could not rescue Aki. And then the look in her eyes when she took back her paw... It was hurting him more than anything else. She has rather chosen to go with the security than with him. Why only? Kass knew his father well, but he did not want to believe what Lash said to Aki to be true. He had no idea what he would do if that would be really the truth. Right now, Kass just wanted his friend back. He asked Wuffy why he has not tried to rescue Aki and just stood there in front of the other wolf, as if he would see a ghost. Kass also wanted to know who the other wolf was and why he said that Wuffy killed his younger brother.
As they sat down on the sofa, Wuffy pulled out the black collar and from that moment, his eyes did not turn away from it and a moment later, he started to talk. The white wolf talked about Alex as about a friend, as he still felt towards him, and how they bond their friendship with the collars. Then Wuffy turned the collar, so Kass could see the word that Wuffy engraved inside for Alex, but Kass could not read it. Wuffy told him that the word "beauty" was engraved in. The boy understood why, because Alex was really a beautiful wolf and the word suited him well, but Wuffy said that he has not meant Alex's appearance. Kass saw the point, but now he was curious about what was engraved in Wuffy's collar. Yet, the white wolf did not know that, because he has never put the collar down and said that he probably will never learn it, if Alex will keep his promise.
Kass wanted to know more about that; for all, what had Alex’s brother to do with all this? Wuffy decided to tell him about the device that was now pulsing in Aki’s chest, but his story will be a little different from what Lash told to Aki. Kass too learned that the device was made during the war by furs for humans, so the whole horrible madness called war would end, but Wuffy also told him that the talented mechanic who constructed that device was no one else than Alex’s younger brother, Kay! Kass was shocked! That would mean that Wolf as well as Alex were even older than the huge city they were in right now, but that was impossible! No one could live that long! Wuffy just smiled on this. He calmed Kass down, saying that it is not natural indeed, but their long life had other reasons, what he did not want to specify, because it would get Kass just more confused. Then Wuffy continued the story.
By the time, Kay was about the same age as Kass or Aki, so he was just a pup, but even then, he was already one of the four members of the legendary Shadow Wolves. That was again a shock for Kass! The legendary Shadow Wolves; and Kay was one of them... After this, it was not that hard for the boy to figure out who were the other members; at least the most of them. Kay never liked the war and when he fell in love with a human girl, he definitely wanted to stop it. He used all his talent and skills to construct the device, but the humans misunderstood it. Those beasts could easily win the conflict with the device, so why would they try to help? For them, it just had to be a trap! Instead of Kay and the Shadow Wolves, the humans never thought about to share the world with the other side. The two sides just could not understand each other, but as everyone saw how much Kay and Kathy loved and believed in each other, somehow it has brought them together. The peace was so close... Then, something bad happened and everything seemed lost. To the great surprise, people on both sides started to work together and saved the world from disaster. Then, as COHAF – The City Of Humans And Furs was built, the war had finally end. Sad was, that the two, who did the most for this, Kay and Kathy, never saw their dream to come true...
After this, Kass asked Wuffy, when he was earlier talking about the founders of COHAF, did he meant Kay and Kathy? The white wolf gave him a soft nod and added, that Kass and Aki were very alike the two young heroes. Kass felt honored that the wolf compared him and Aki with the two founders of this city. Now, as Kass learned that Kay died, he wanted to know if Wuffy was really the one who has done that as Alex said. The answer was strange... Yes and no, said the wolf, but that was another story to tell, as for now, they still had to figure out how they can help Aki, who was, at least after them, still captured by the ERF. Kass knew that his father was leading the ERF, so he really wanted to find out what was true on all this. The wolf agreed, even if it felt like a stroke against the fur, but at first they should stop by Jenny to let her know what happened. There they will figure out how to get Aki back from the ERF!
It took them some time to reach Jenny’s house. As they finally got there and Wuffy knocked on the door, they could not believe their eyes when they saw the person who opened the door.
It was Aki! It seemed impossible, but it was really her. She just stood there in the doorway with a glass of raspberry juice in her paws. As Aki saw that big white wolf again, tears shined in her icy blue eyes from happiness. She wanted to embrace Wuffy so much, but as she saw Kass, the smile on her mouth disappeared again and the happiness in her eyes changed to a look full of fear and pain. The glass in Aki’s paws fell down on the floor and only glitter was left from it. Aki stood in the raspberry juice like in a pool of blood; the pool of Kendi’s blood, because that was the first thing she reminded herself on, as she saw Kass. She was so confused! She did not know who was standing in front of her. Was it Nare Darks’ son, or her best friend Kass? As Kass reached his hand towards her, she closed her eyes tight in fear and stepped backwards.
"Stay away...!" - was all she said from the fear.
Kass wanted to come closer, but she pushed him away and run crying outside into Jenny's garden. Jenny was watching this and as Kass wanted to follow Aki, she stopped him, saying that it is not a good idea. It took Jenny a while to explain to those two how Aki ended up by her, but it seemed that Wolf was not interested in the story that much. Right now, he was interested in the only person he loved more than anything else on this world. This person had a shining white fur, beautiful yet sad icy blue eyes, and was now sitting on the soft green grass in the garden in tears.
Wuffy walked into the garden and sat down beside Aki who immediately pressed herself against the wolf still crying. The wolf sat there silent, without a word, just to make her feel that he was there for her, and that she was not alone. It seemed to work, as after a short while, the tears stopped dripping and Aki calmed down by herself. Then the little wolf started to talk. It was the same story Jenny was now telling to Kass, about what happened in the ERF, and what happened to Aki, but for all about Nare Darks and Kendi. Now Wuffy understood Aki’s sudden reaction when she saw Kass in the doorway. She hated and loved the boy at once and she looked so lost between her mind and her heart. Aki did not know what to do. She begged Wuffy for help and as he turned backwards, the answer was suddenly clear! Kass maybe will stay Darks’ son for the rest of his life, but he surely will stay Aki’s friend for all eternity, if she will only want to. She gave Kass her own heart and that changed so many things. Maybe she should now listen to that heart, because Kass was standing behind them in the doorway into the garden. His golden eyes were filled with tears as he learned what happened in the ERF. Wuffy let them out there alone and walked back into the house.
The two young ones now stood on the soft grass in front of each other, afraid to look into one another’s eyes. Kass felt so very sorry for what happened, he did not dare to look at Aki. Then, the first words have been spoken and with each more word they came a step closer to each other.
Wolf and Jenny were watching this from the living room through the large glass-made wall that led into the garden. Jenny asked, if Kass and Aki could get over this and be friends again. Wolf really believed in that, because the two were the last hope for the future of COHAF. He knew well, why he was putting all his hopes into the two young ones. By the next look through the window, he saw Aki and Kass still standing in the garden, but this time in an embrace. Wolf witnessed once already how the love between a human and a furry saved the whole city; he just hoped, that this time it will not end the same for the two heroes. Soon, the two walked back inside the house hand in hand, or rather paw in hand and sat down nest to Jenny. Almost everything seemed to be back to normal, but there was one thing that still bothered Wolf and Kass since they saw Aki in the doorway. The ERF will come after her again, it was only a matter of time.
Everyone stayed surprised when Aki told them that Lash helped her to escape, or at least she thought so. She said that after her escape, she wanted to find Kendi, because as the rat told her, Kendi was still alive, but she had no idea where to start her search. Aki flew through the whole ERF and peeked in every place there to find the cat. It took her some time, and it was very dangerous too, because the security was everywhere. Aki risked her life on every step, but it was worth it. She found out that the white lab rat brought Kendi into one of the underground recycling chambers. The room was packed with all kind of useless stuff and the walls were reinforced like inside the shaft, which she escaped through. After all, it was meant to hold out extreme pressure and heat by the recycling process. The black cat laid in the middle of the room and the wound on her head was bandaged. After the scent on the bandages, it was Lash who treated the wound. Kendi was still alive, but she was unconscious and needed help quickly. Soon, there was another problem. The room they were in had an automatic locking mechanism, so as the door closed, they sat there tight. The only way out was through a large tunnel in the top of the room which seemed to lead back into the ERF.
Kass interrupted Aki and explained her that the heat from the recycling process was used in power production. They have learned it in school before Aki came to them. It was still strange. Why would Lash leave Kendi there if she wanted to help? She must have known that the extreme heat by the recycling process would leave only ashes from the black kitten! Aki agreed with Kass, but she added that after what she saw, it was the least secure place in whole ERF. If she would not get locked inside, it would not be too hard for her to bring Kendi out unseen. Then she continued the story.
Carrying the black cat in her arms, Aki was flying through the long tunnel back into the ERF. As they were halfway through, the temperature started to rise very fast. Another wave of heat was going through the tunnel right now and the temperature started to be too high for the girls. Aki must have flown as fast as she could if she did not want the kitten to end like a toasts; and Aki never liked toasts. As she flew out of the tunnel, she found herself in one of the filter rooms of the ERF ventilation system. It took her too long to find the right ventilation shaft in this room, not to mention to put down the cover as well, so she expected the worst! The heat wave was about to reach her and Kendi any moment! Now it will come, she thought, she was going to be a toast... To her big surprise, just a warm breeze rushed through her fur and made it messy... Who will now say that black cat brings bad luck will have to do with Aki! It seemed as if the kitten would really have nine lives. After this, she did not want to wait a second longer and climbed with Kendi through the ventilation shaft outside, back on top of the ERF main building.
Up there, everything was silent. It appeared, that until now, no one have caught wind about her escape, so she put Kendi down and sat beside her to rest for a moment again. All the flying and excitement made her breathing heavy and then, she was so hungry! She has not eaten since the morning. Aki was just sitting there and softly pet the cat’s bandaged head, when suddenly she felt as someone took her long tail in hands and started to caress the fluffy tail tip. Aki turned red in her face like a fox; because as known, the tail was a very intimate and a very sensitive part of the body, and then, it felt so pleasant, no wonder she blushed so hard. The only person who was doing this to her before was Wuffy, but he was far away from that place, so who held her by the tail? She turned her head to see whom she needed to thank for this favor and saw the last person she would expect it from. It was Wuffy’s best friend Alex. Aki was not scared, at least not too much. She was more surprised to see the black wolf there. Alex just stood behind her, held her tail in his paws, and could not stop to wonder how much the device changed her body.
As Aki mentioned Alex in her story, Wuffy’s ears perked up in attention. She was not afraid of the black wolf, because she knew him from Wuffy’s stories, even if she never thought that they were really true. At first, Alex did not wanted to let her escape, but then he let go of her tail, put a paw on her head and stroke through her white hair. Somehow she reminded him on his brother Kay. The black wolf never wanted to hurt her, the only person Alex wanted to see suffer was Wolf. Alex lifted up Kendi and put her into Aki’s arms. He said, that he is not like Wolf, so he will let her go to her beloved Wuffy, so she could enjoy the remaining time with him. Then, after Aki's words, he gave her a soft kiss on her forehead and walked away.
"You are like Wuffy; that is why you let us go!" - Aki called after the black wolf.
This was the point where Aki’s story had end even if there was more to tell about what happened between her and Alex. The rest was about how she carefully flew through the city, how she came to Jenny, who treated all Kendi’s wounds and gave the girls some clean clothes, but also about how Aki eat out the whole fridge from the big hunger. She was lucky that the two males living by Jenny as servants had a great appetite as well, so the fridge was always packed with goodies. After that much food, nothing refreshed the little wolf better than a glass of raspberry juice, and the rest of the story we all already knew.
Even if it appeared a little more than strange to Wuffy that Alex would let her go just like that, he was more than thankful that he got his precious little Aki back safe and sound. Now, they were all together again and enjoyed the little time of peace they had, because no one of them knew what will happen next. The ERF must have already found out that Aki was gone... What will they do? Why was Lash helping Aki, and will Alex keep his promise and kill Wolf; but for all, will there be enough energy for Niaa’s little sister and the others before it will be too late? There were still too many questions hanging in the air and the time began to be late and our heroes began to be tired.
The sun was already setting down and as the last golden rays of sunlight vanished from the sky, the night put the whole city into her embrace of peace and silence. All were laying in their beds as the silver moonlight watched over their dreams above their heads. Really, all? Not quite...
Two wolves were still awakened. Standing outside in the fresh night breeze, their eyes were looking high at the beautiful silver eye, shining on the night sky with all the stars. The fur of one of the wolves was black as the shadows of the night, while the other one’s fur was white as the fresh fallen snow. The twinkling stars were reflecting in their eyes while both held a black collar in their paws close to their hearts, sunk in thoughts on those they loved. They were looking at the silver eye on the sky, as if they could see each other’s reflection on its surface. As if the rays of the silver light would carry their thoughts to each other.
One of the silver rays got strayed through an opened window and softly touched the fur of a little white wolf. The silver light woke Aki up from her sleep and she sat up on the bed. She looked outside the window where the light came from. Instead of the moon she looked at Wuffy who was now sitting outside in the garden and seemed to be worried. Aki slowly opened the window on fully and silently glided down to Wuffy. As her paws touched the soft green grass behind the wolf, he silently asked her why was she not asleep. Strange, she just wanted to ask him the same, but instead she sat down beside him in silence. The last moon they were watching together was Aki still on the wheelchair and since then so much happened. Wuffy apologized to Aki, saying that he almost lost her again, but he just could not fight Alex. The little wolf understood his feelings. It was the same like between her and Kass, so Alex must mean a lot to Wuffy. It was not surprising, as Alex was the only one left from Wuffy’s old life, not to mention that he never thought to see the black wolf again after all the time. Aki said that maybe Alex felt the same way; why else would he then let her go? Wuffy knew that she meant it good, but this was not about him and Alex, but it was for all about her. Even if she was safe now, she was still a creature. As long as she will have the device, as long will the ERF and the security be after her. The ERF has for sure already noticed that Aki was gone and they will want to get the device back no matter what, so no one knew what will happen next. There was only one thing Wuffy knew for sure. If he wanted to protect his beloved Aki, the ERF must be stopped; but it seemed that Aki felt just fine right now, because she fell asleep in the very safest place she knew, in Wuffy’s embrace.
The night slowly turned into a day and the bright rays of sunrise covered the whole COHAF in a golden light. As the golden light peeked into the windows of our heroes, they slowly woke up from their dreams, one after another. The fastest one to wake up was Kendi, who just opened her eyes for the first time since her injury, and was now looking around the room she found herself in. She was calm and relaxed as she smelled Aki’s and Wuffy’s scent, so she knew that she was now in safety. Kendi noticed, that with her, there was also someone else in the room, in the bed even! She pulled up the covers only to see a beautiful snow leopardess laying besides her. The only snow leopardess the cat knew about from her friends was Niaa, so it must have been her. She carefully pet the female’s bandaged head noticing that she had bandages around her own head too! Kendi did not really remember what happened, but the bandages were sure there for something, as her head was hurting pretty much. There was still something strange about this place. It was the light, the bright golden light that was coming inside from the window! She never saw a light like this, it was so...warm. It was something completely different from what she was used from the Depth. And then, as she walked to the window, she could not believe her feline eyes of what she was seeing outside. The whole COHAF was looking as if it would be made from pure gold and the many glass-made building surfaces were glittering bright in the morning sunlight. This was the most beautiful thing the cat has ever seen. She immediately ran downstairs to tell everyone about what she saw outside! Kendi was so excited that she completely forgot to dress herself into the clothes Jenny left there for her beside the bed. On the way through the house, she bumped into someone and they fell down on the floor. Kendi’s head was still hurting from her injury and this hit did not make it any better. She lifted her head to see who she bumped into while still sitting on the person’s chest.
A scream echoed through the house and the garden, where Wuffy and Aki were still asleep on the soft grass. The two white wolves woke up and immediately ran into the house to see what happened, but it was too late! Wuffy and Aki only found Kass sitting on the floor with deep claw marks on his right hand and the wound was bleeding hard.
"What happened?" - Aki asked while she was helping Kass back onto his feet, but she did not need to ask twice.
The scent on the boy’s clothes and the wound itself explained who did this to him. They only did not know why. Kass explained that he was on his way into the garden to wake them up, when suddenly, Kendi rushed down the stairs directly into him and they fell down. As the cat saw who she bumped into, the only thing she said silently was his family name. Kass’ mood was down; he hated that name... Darks. As Kendi spoke it out, her eyes filled with tears and she was scared to death. Then she screamed out and ran away. Kass tried to stop her and grabbed and held on her paw, but that just scared her even more! She cut him with her sharp claws to free herself and then she ran away outside, somewhere into COHAF. Aki sighed, because she knew only too well how Kendi felt right now.
Kass and Aki wanted to go after Kendi right away to bring her back, but Wuffy stopped the two adventurers. First, Kass was injured and the wound needed to be treated, and second, Wuffy reminded them on how it end the last time they went out just on their own. The two looked so sad that they could not even help their friends. At first, they could not fix the problem with the energy lines in the Depth to help Missy, and now, they could not even help Kendi. They felt really bad about that. Then, as Wuffy cleaned and bind up Kass’ wound and walked into the kitchen to wash his paws, he heard a car engine in front of the house. Few seconds later, Jenny walked inside. She was in the medical station to look after her patients and also to check on Missy’s condition. The news she brought were hard. Just a day or two longer and it might be too late for the little snow leopardess. When Jenny saw the bandages on Kass’ wrist and their sad expressions, she understood that they had a hard morning as well. She started to worry when she learned that Kendi ran away and was now stray in the city. After the yesterday's escape, the whole COHAF was full of security, searching for the dangerous creature. The people in the city were talking about nothing else. Everybody was now worried about Kendi. She was not used to this end of the city. It was something completely different than the Depth and then, she had no ID collar, so if the security will catch her, it can end very bad. The laws were very strict to furs in these things. The cat needed to be found and fast! Let just hope that the Lady Luck will not abandon the black cat now.
As if our heroes would not have enough worries with Missy’s bad condition, ERF, and Nare Darks! Now they needed to worry about Kendi as well. Who will find the black cat first, the security or our heroes? We will see, because there is another adventure waiting in the streets of COHAF…