Nora and Keita

1.

  Keita's life was perfect. Nora was starting to show and he loved the way her curved body felt under his hands. He was even getting used to his human form, something that he had not quite appreciated in the past, preferring to stay in his lycan form. But, as he swam, he appreciated the lithe feeling of the water on his skin, cool and slick, letting him dive further and faster below the murky pond water. He could never have imagined his past nightmare catching up to him. Not on this beautiful day, not with Nora waiting for him on the bank. 

2.

Fear. That's all he remembered. Why, he had found himself suddenly alone near the edge of the woods, he never knew as he clawed his head. His pitted stomach jutting inwards over his ribs. Hunger. Pain. It was never ending, he shook himself. His ginger fur settling over the patchy scars that ran down his body. His mended back leg that had been fractured by two lab creatures, ached slightly, but that was the least of his worries. He shivered, outwards he was no more than a young pup, a lanky half grown lycan, who was gulping in fresh air by the lungfuls. He whined and thought of his mother, J0N4, still inside, perhaps wondering where he went. A loud sound cracked through the air from a distance, caused him to run off, into the woods, his tail firmly tucked beneath his legs. 

3.

  Nora, had been sitting on the blanket near the pond, waiting for Keita to return, when she'd seen the flash of ginger fur and yelps as the creature had seemed to tangle with some nearby briers. To her shocking surprise, after a few moments, it wasn't Keita who had emerged as she had thought, but a youngling that was could have been his identical twin. The poor creature was so starved that every rib and spine bone could be counted against the patched scarred hide and as she called out to it, he turned his gold eyes to stare at her in fear, cringing back. 

4.

  He saw the girl on the blanket and the offered food in her hands. Oh, he wanted it. So badly, but he was afraid. He cowered and flattened himself, hesitating and trying his best to pretend that he was invisible. His gold eyes traveled to a basket beside her, he could smell something. Greasy, creamy, butter. He could hear her voice crooning, something as he got so close, that with effort he could touch with the tips of his claws the smooth roundness of a peach she offered and graze the edge of her hand. He watched as her other hand moved to the basket. "Its ok. Its ok" were snatches of what his brain caught as the movement startled him and he let out a coughing snarl, jumping back at her movements of lifting the basket. His eyes reflected shock and slight surprise at her voice, the small surgical scars on his throat were perhaps the reason he could give no more than a small yelp or coughy snarl as he knocked the basket over and snatched the butter.

5.

  She pitied this small creature who, lunged slightly away,  and grabbed the ball of butter; she watched him dash back before cramming the whole thing into his mouth so voraciously that it oozed and squelched out the sides of his jaw. Nora couldn't help but laugh at it

 - Keita,there's a curious little youngling that looks just like you here. Ginger fur, gold eyes...maybe you should hurry up and come look- was her mental message to Keita who was still swimming in the pond. To the youngling she pointed to the sides of her mouth "You're oozing butter."

6.

    Keita had just captured a good sized trout when he received the message, causing him to snort u p a good ounce of water- Aaakhh, wha..? Is it Logan?- Logan was one of his other cubs, that Kate is ex-mate usually prevented him from seeing, he sent her the mental message back as he broke the surface of the water with a loud thrashing sputter. 

7.

  Having scurried back a few paces, he was running his tongue around his jowls as if trying to catch every drop down to the essence, but his one ear flicked curiously towards Nora's laugh and he studied her curiously.  He watched her pat the blanket beside her and his ears caught a "Welcome to sit her with me." his gold eyes almost caught in the trance of her voice. 

8.

  Nora sent the message back to Keita - I don't know, no voice. Scars over his throat. He likes butter though.-

9.

  Keita got up onto the bank, grasping the trout by the gills and tromping quite noisily up the pat. - Doesn't sound like Logan...- He came into full view and seeing the overturned basket, turned to Nora "Are you ok?"

10.

  The noise that Keita was causing seemed to break the trance, causing the youngling to scurry with a cringe as if being struck, back into the bushes.   

11.

  Nora clicked her tongue, and reassured Keita "oh, I'm fine! He voraciously ate my butter, but its ok. He seemed so hungry!" she said getting up and clicking her tongue softly as she meandered towards the bushes and holding out her hand. "Hey, it's ok! Come here." Keita set the fish down, looking very crestfallen " He ... ate the butter..." he picked up the skillet and followed her, hoping to catch a glimpse of the butter thief. 

12.

  The youngling was intrigued by Nora, but catching a glimpse of Keita wielding a skillet, only caused him to butt scooch further into the bushes, flattening himself like roadkill against the ground. Only his eyes glittered flickering wildly back and forth.  

13.

  There was reassurance in her voice, a comforting kind. Not the hypnotic one that he had grown accustomed too in the lab. His mind began to travel back to it.
  Nico's lab may have been the sign of sterility and cleanliness, but the cruelness was evident on the bodies of all the creatures that resided there.