Chasing You (Arcs 1-7)

Meow~? (XI)

By the end of the night, news had spread about the Silver Reaper forfeiting in the fight with the King of the Beasts and how the King of the Beast took the Silver Reaper away. Rose had been searching for them throughout the city, she had to get one of them if she couldn't get them both, Her family's status would rise and also she wouldn't have to worry about weak pests that would come to bother her. Unfortunately, they weren't even in the city anymore.

Rose's previous group with Lance and the others had just arrived in the city and she had spotted them passing through the city gate's checkpoint. Great! Just what I needed, a group to protect me. It was already dangerous enough that she, who was a human was in the were-cat's territory alone. She didn't have any fighting power and if she accidentally provoked a were-cat, she would be doomed. But many of the were-cats were loyal and followed the rules, there was an treaty that was signed by both sides preventing any bloodshed from happening.

Their King had announced that he didn't want any unnecessary blood to spill on their lands and the were-cats upheld his decree as his words were like gold, and they obeyed it without hesitation. Unless they were provoked first, they wouldn't dare to pick a fight with the humans.

But the humans were weary creatures that ran on paranoia. They wouldn't venture into the were-cat's territory in fear that they would be picked off like ripened fruits. They also would treat were-cats who entered their territory with fear that the were-cat would go on a rampage and destroy the city. They would have to have an armed escort 24/7 with them, while they were in the human territory.

Rose walked up to them with an angelic smile and waved, "Lance!"

Lance and the others turned to her but instead of bright smiley faces like always, their face held some contempt. Rose's hand froze in the air. She gripped onto Lance's arm and pouted, "Lance, what's wrong?"

Lance shook off her hands, paid no heed to her. He turned back to his comrades, "Let's go, the inn should be over there."

They turned and started walking away from her. Rose was astonished at their cold treatment, she chased after them. In a small voice, she tried to gain their attention, "Hey, guys... did I do something wrong?"

They continued to treat her like air and continued to walk. Rose was furious inside. Hmph, just some better than average were-cats! Don't think that you're so special. I still have the Silver Reaper and the King of the Beasts. You should be proud to have my presence here and me even talking to you low rankings. Just you wait until, I get them. Hmph!

Even though Rose was dissatisfied with their reactions, she couldn't deny that what she needed right now was some protection. She sucked up her complaints and displeasure. She stopped and put on her cutest face, in hopes that they would noticed that she wasn't following them and that they would turn back to her.

But she had forgotten the consequences of her actions back in the woods, she readily abandon them and instead of helping Lance, she yelled at him and left him there to die. She didn't even bother to get help for them and went to the city alone. They didn't bother to stop and kept walking. Walking, until they disappeared from her sights.

Rose gnashed her teeth. How dare they? She had even put on her extra sweet face in order to please them but they ignored her as if she just a passing fart! Rose marked Lance's group in her mind as to get pay back for ignoring her.

Rose stomped her feet, now she had to find some 'new' group to escort her. She couldn't venture into the forests or fields incase an animal attacked. Rose should bless her good fortune that she was in one of the largest cities in the were-cat territories. Even though Lance they declined her, there would be other were-cats that would fall into her honey trap.

Rose decided to go to the towns square and see if she would have any luck there and get a group of strong were-cats to look after her.

---

Sairi on the other hand decided to roam around the were-cat territory and explore. Since his body was healthy in this world, and he wanted to see the sights this world had to offer. He knew that wherever he went, Regnier also would follow him. As Regnier had already been doing it these past couple of weeks.

Sairi had departed from the small town and headed over to the nearest city. Regnier was a piece of gum stuck under your shoe, he wouldn't let go. He chased after Sairi. Wherever you saw Sairi, you could see Regnier. The two of them would only separate when they were challenged for their position.

Sairi didn't care any longer about the first rank position since that mission was completed, though he would spar with Regnier from time to time to improve his battle experience.

Sairi's notoriety increased by folds as he defeated all of his opponents within one move. It was ruthless as they didn't even have a chance to fight back once their match started, many people deemed him as a reincarnation of the Grim Reaper and his list of challengers decreased by a lot.

Whenever they had to camp outside, Regnier somehow knew which prey Sairi favored over the others. He would always bring more than what was needed back with him when he went and hunt.

When they slept, Regnier would huddle around Sairi and intertwine his tail with Sairi's. He would also lick Sairi's face and ears while they were in their feline form, which often resulted in a paw-slap to his face. Regnier would only whimper pitifully but his tail would betray him as it would thump enthusiastically.

More than often Regnier would slap away the unwanted flies. He was a natural fly swatter. Sairi noticed that the female were-cats were keeping their distance from him lately but didn't understand why. He didn't care why, he just brushed it off as a gift and continued to do what he wanted to do. Sairi would test Regnier from time to time and gauge his responses and actions. The more time they spent together the more, Sairi was sure that Regnier was Long Zixi. His feelings were quite complicated.

---

Fate seemed to always have things instore for Sairi and Regnier. Though they separated and didn't have much contact with Rose, they somehow ran across her and her minions one day. They were hunting in the Deadman's forest north of Wiloa, when Rose and two of her remaining minions ran into them. They were in bad shape and were bleeding profusely from deep wounds, only Rose didn't have any deep wounds on her. She had some light scratches but that was all.

When she saw Sairi and Regnier she leaped in joy. She had found a group, but they were much weaker than Lance's group. She was planning on dumping them once she found a much stronger group, but they must've stepped on major dog shit* that day or else they wouldn't have somehow found one of the smaller bases of the poachers.

(A/N: Stepping on dog shit is like having major bad luck. It's just a saying... it doesn't mean literally stepping on dog shit.)