Can it be done? {Tag: Cyd Bishop} COMPLETE

Sentimentality aside, running a crew had its advantages. More bodies meant bigger jobs, and having a larger list of skill sets to call upon opened up access to new opportunities. Those two reasons alone made splitting a payday more than worth it. A very lucrative job had just been put on the market, and after reading it Malik decided that it was time for their newest member to prove her worth. She was going to have to earn something for the pride. The lion contacted his people and set things into motion. By sundown a parcel was being dropped off to him with a mission packet and the deposit of a sizeable payment.

Back at the trailer docked outside the city walls Malik found Cyd by herself. Vanessa and Lis were out on their own doing Divine knows what. For being so different, the two of them fit together nicely despite the face that Nessa put on it. The heavily armored door closed behind him and he walked over to the where the sleek blonde sat curled up in solitude. "Got a minute?", he rumbled as he walked over to her. The question was rhetorical, more of a polite opening for what was inevitably coming. "In the war, you were an infiltration specialist right? Getting in and out through security systems and defenses without being noticed.... that type of stuff?" He hadn't seen her shift, nor had he pried into her past until now, but he had his hunches. Malik noticed the way Cyd moved through the world without making a sound or leaving a trace unless she chose to do. It was the hallmark of natural talent honed by good training.

He pressed the button on the wall that caused the table that they used for meals to rise up out of the floor, and he set the thick brown paper wrapped bundle down. With his cross locking utility knife, Malik opened the package that he had securely retied, and started setting out the contents. There was a blueprint of the building from the public works office, a wealth of surveillance photographs, and a strange looking device with a digital screen on it. "What do you make of this?" It was a two story building with twenty three rooms total. The outside perimeter was cordoned off by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. The photos showed nightly guard rotations of 10 guards outside. Two at entry gate, and eight roving patrols around the grounds and on the roof. There were close ups of the external security pads that staff used to gain entry.

"This building is a hardened satellite office for the Bri-Tech Corporation. They have data that someone else wants, and its stored here. The data pad is designed to automatically hack into their system, bridge it open and download the data they want. All that has to be done is plug it in and wait." He pointed to the room that was marked with a red 'X' and shook his head. "It's not the cake walk it sounds like, though. The moment the security alarm is tripped, the computers are severed from the power grid completely so they are inaccessible. Once the device is connected, it will keep the mainframe from being disconnected, but they will know we are there. In short....we have to get in undetected, get the data downloaded completely, and then fight our way out. Its good money, but no one has been crazy enough to take the job."

He reached into his oversized jacket that usually hid an array of weapons and pulled out a stack of wrapped bundles of money. He set it down in front of Cyd and looked her in the eye. "That's fifty thousand credits, a deposit on the payoff for us to use on operating expenses..... a ten percent deposit. If you were in the lead, and had me backing you up, could we do it?" His voice was as confident as it always was, and his eyes were fixed on her with that weighing gaze he would get from time to time. If she said it was too risky or not worth it, he would listen, but if she said she could do it, he would trust her. The green light was hers to give, because he believed that this was her specialty.

"Sure," she answered. Her voice soft, as in a moment of distant thought the sound rose and departed her lips like a caress of dark velvet in the air. Like the nocturnal among her natural kind, long catnaps in the heat of the day were the norm for this new woman among them. She had picked out a lone bunk. One that sat high in the transporter. Instinct had always kept her one to climb into trees. Scouting the land, the newest 'grounds' that her unit had been stationed.

Pushing herself up from the mattress, her saffron hair tumbled to curtain across her vision. Crystalline blue eyes gazed through the careless tendrils, before a hand would reach up and swipe the silken strands back and away behind one ear, as she sat up. The movement was synchronicity of slim muscle and smooth flesh. She was dressed in gray skivvies, boxer type shorts and a tank top. Long legs dangled for a moment from the bunk, then she slinked downward. Her bare feet meeting the floor without a sound.

"Yeah," came another simple reply. Except now, azure eyes would study him carefully. The trepidation of letting all her defenses down was still there, bits of barbed wire caution hard wired into her system. Her nostrils flared, drawing in his scent, and quickly reminded how deeply alpha this very masculine male was. Her soft pout remained in a careful stoic line. Where was he going with this? What exactly did he want? "You could say that."

She took to muted steps to step beside him, and watched as he unrolled the obvious blueprints to a building. Not just any building. He wouldn't even have had to say it, and she had known that it was one belonging to Bri-Tech. As secure as they wanted to pretend to be, they had a bad habit of using the same engineers for most of their jobs. It might have a few additional bits of tech, but they were lined up just like arteries from the heart.

Leaning in closer, she reached out to place a hand on the edge of a curled corner of the layout. Tips of her fingers moved over the sheet, almost caressing it like a lover beneath a tender touch. It wasn't braille, but it was the closest thing. If Malik paid close enough attention, he would see those elegant tips follow the lines. Important ones, as if she were redrawing the patterns before them, "It show me why they need to have that many guards trying to protect the information they hold inside."

Again, she fell silent. Letting him speak, as oceanic blue pools continued to drink in the information before them, painting this new visual memory against some shadowy portion of her mind. A slow nod of her head came when he talked about the X, and the fact that it was expected they would need to fight to get out of the situation they would place themselves in. Her mouth tilted into a crooked grin, and slowly, Cyd lifted her eyes to meet the alpha lions', "I don't enjoy cake walks. I never have."

An eyebrow lifted into a high pitched arch, as money was placed down on the table. Her hand still on the blue print, she stretched out a long finger to scrape a curled end of paper credit. Titling her head, Cyd narrowed her view slightly upon him. It was a moment when one cat sized up the other. Sure, his scent drifted and was nearly consuming in it's declaration of alpha maledom. It caused her own feline to pace inside the darkness of her belly. It's black tale sweeping erratically back and forth, as it rubbed it's side against the physical barrier of sinew and flesh. She had trusted them this far. But, with this? Something that could land her ass inside bars, to become someone's 'lab cat'?

"If I do this. We are even then," the uncertainty was still there. Still, the lone cat cautious as to what she was being lured into. Yes, the 'mouse' had been so very tasty. The bedding, the temporary safety. But, Cyd was still waiting for the woman Nessa to toss her out. "I don't like leaving any IOUs."

She wouldn't allude to the fact that she longed for others of her kind. That she hated being alone. It was a true sign of weakness that she couldn't afford. Her mouth flickered in a soft pout, then rested back into the full line. But, for a few seconds there would be a little give, a little tell tale, when she would accidental glance down at his mouth. The firm mouth that had caught her attention, wondering the taste of his kisses. Then her eyes shot back to his, waiting, hoping that he didn't catch the waywardness of her attention, when being around him, "Then, I'll be out of your hair. No memories, no names."

Malik watched her every movement once the information packet was placed on the table. There was no way that he missed his guess and he knew it. Malik had served with specialists and knew the signs. She caressed the material and devoured every detail. She thoughtfully analyzed it and seemed to be cross checking it against actual experience. He'd worked with some of the best providing back up, protection, or extraction when things went south. This one was the real deal and she didn't boast about it, which meant she knew the truth of life: 'anyone can have a bad day, and there is no such thing as too good to fail'.


Once he was sure of the skill his eyes turned back to her and watched the subtle hints in her body. It was less observation and more instinct on his part. Sometimes it was necessary to put yourself in the place of another to truly understand a situation. It was a trick that normal humans never seemed to master. They always thought of themselves as the center of everything. He felt the concern in her more than saw it in any movement or glance. "What we're doing is illegal and if we get caught it means a lot of trouble. That's why I'm going with you. I'd never ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself. We get out or we go down together." There was conviction in his voice. He didn't hesitate, nor did he seem like the type to desert an ally. In the time that she had been with him and his Pride, it would have been hard not to learn how much they meant to him.

While she continued to work the angels in her head, Malik crossed his arms over his chest and lifted one hand to place thumb against his lips while he traveled on his own train of thought. What she said next came as a bit of a surprise. He never saw from that angle, but wasn't surprised that she had. She was a loner after all. "You never owed anything, Cyd. That's not the way we work. You watched our back in the bar, so we watched yours. It's been that way ever since." He dropped his arms as he walked around the table towards her.

Once he was standing in front of her, Malik gave her a long hard look. It had been a few weeks since their paths crossed and Cyd had been with them ever since. "You've been with us a few weeks. Lis hasn't run you off, Vanessa hasn't put a bullet in you, and I haven't asked you to leave. The way I see it, if we pull this off, you've done more than proved yourself."

A large mocha skinned hand raised and moved towards her. There was no hesitation in his movements. He was ready to accept whatever the consequences were, whether she moved away from him, or tried to claw his eyes out. He had made his choice, and it was up to her to make her own. "You do this and you're one of us." he said quietly as fingers pushed into her saffron locks of hair. Tips curled around her ear to drag nails over the sensitive flesh of her scalp. "No debts...ever. You can leave if you want, but you'll always have a home to come back to."

There was a silent nod. She understood this. The fact that they would be breaking and entering. Worse, this was a corporation that held the purse springs of the government. It would be a simple matter affect of pulling a few of those strings to get what they wanted. And it wouldn't necessarily be that Malik or Cyd would go to jail. She had an idea that they would be made an example. A public show that one did not touch Bri-Tech and get away with it. And then once, the example had become faded, replaced by another more fascinating story, they would be handed over to Bri-Tech and their scientists.

Long years of war, being considered nothing more than an animal in the eyes of humans, she had long lost the trust or worry for such things. Or so, she wanted others to believe....

For a moment, she let what he said go. Yes. They would be in a lot of trouble.

But, what was that?

That was why he was going with her?

'We go down together'?

She had taken a glance. One quick flash that would capture him like a photo shot in her mind. An image that would become cast like the shadow of a cloud over the expanse of unrolled blue prints. Where she could see him like a ghost, studying both man and document in an endless seam of windows before her.

You never owed anything...

It was an idea that had long been forgotten. The time when a pride of soldiers worked together. When there was nothing but them, the pride and their assignments. Each having the other's back. It was expected, and yet never something that any of them had not wanted. Those days had long passed. And so it was with Cyd, that it had become an abstraction. She studied him. Her mouth parting to suckle a breath, to taste the closed in scent that spoke as loud as words.

Her gaze remained still, until he began to prowl towards her. The thick musk of lion moved with him. She could imagine the great beast, rising just above his beautiful and masculine features. It's gate languid and certain. This was his domain. And he trusted her. He had noticed her. Not that she existed, but that she had so easily become apart of the symmetry that was his pride.

Cyd looked down to the map just as he seemed to draw 'too close'. He glided with perfect grace, glorious strength, and she was doing all she could not to be lured towards him. The want and need to be close to her kind was like a drug now. One to which she had begun to struggle in her fight to ignore, the longer she had remained with them. She had told herself that at any moment, they would turn on her. That they would decide that they had had enough of the stranger in their midst.

And Malik. He had been so patient. Never once had he forced her into anything to which she did not want to do. He had given her a home, a bed, food. He had trusted her judgment. Was confident in the fact that she knew a little something about their moving fortress of a home, it's computers. He had been kind, just as he had been strong.

Soft lips flickered in an quivered smile, when he had mentioned that the others had yet to force her to go. Lis had even proven that she liked Cyd, remaining patient for one so young, even as Cyd had done her best to try and keep the distance that kept a lone feline safe. And despite Nessa's off comments, the woman hadn't spun a bullet into the dark leopard's brain.

The presence of warm fur began to slide over her like a warm and comforting blanket. He was close. So close, that the ebony creature within began to rise within. She could feel it. That and the delicious chills that came with the warm golden sun of his scent. The blonde's eyes closed. Her dark saffron lashes curtaining the flecks of feline citrine in the pools of her sapphire gaze.

For a fraction of a second, she tensed. Just as his hand began to ghost across her features. The shadow passing slowly, time seeming to gradually measure the moment. ...you're one of us... She felt the passing of calloused fingers along the frame of her ear. Silken champagne ribbons of her hair moving, as Malik pressed digits closer. Like small claws, his fingernails scraped into the sensitive flesh of her scalp. He could have easily brushed things deeper. Sending a swirling pattern of prickled waves to rush down the nape of her neck. The sensation slipping down the curl of her spine. And deeper, within, to where the feline rose and rubbed against the cage of her ivory skin. No debts. Home.

The lower rumble of her purr began to slip over her skin, causing her aura vibrate against his touch. A breath was expelled from between the slender part of her lips. It hissed against the line of her teeth, as she nodded her head. Her bright eyes opening suddenly, shooting down to the table and it's the building written in lines, and noted in number and code. She flattened her palms, pressing against the table, as if suddenly she needed it to stand.

"Yes, we can do this," She answered, trying to get herself back onto the course before her. But, instinct, need, the wanted would cause her to lean into his touch. Her head tilting ever so slightly into fingers that she wanted to never leave her form. She wouldn't vocalize it. But it would be written all over her movements. A barefoot that lifted to take a step the earned her a space closer to his beautiful body of warm mocha flesh. Closer to the deep and smooth sound of his voice. She wanted this to be home. She wouldn't do it for the money. Not for a percentage. Not for debts paid, but ..home, "When...do we go?"

There was no need for words among their kind. Spoken language was always secondary. The body was their first tongue. From birth their kind used and read body language before they learned to talk, and when they transformed and couldn't speak. It was a part of who they were. The way she moved ever so slightly into his touch told him everything he needed to know. She welcomed his touch, she accepted him behind her walls. The purr that escaped her chest was the first that he heard from her in all the time she had been with him. It's deep rich sound was music to his soul. Malik could have continued on like this forever but there was work to be done still.


Reluctantly Malik pulled his fingers from her hair so that they could concentrate on the task before them. He had opened the door, leaving the journey up to her to be made at her own pace. The first step came sooner than expected. He saw her single step closer to him, and stood his ground. For what he knew of her so far, that was the same as anyone else sprinting a mile. When Cyd focused on the maps once more, he leaned forward ever so slightly over the table, and consequently over her. When she asked about the time frame he said, " We go whenever you say. You're in the lead on this. We have a five day window to do the job and deliver the goods. It gets moved to the main office then. "


She had silently accepted his welcome, and now it was safe to move away from her since he had reason. Malik took a step back then moved over to one of the wall mounted shelves. He pulled out a note book that had a pen clipped to its spine, and placed it open on the table before her. " Here. Write down a list of everything you'll need. Anything at all, I have connections who have connections. Odds are, I can get anything you need. And don't worry about saving money. If we pull this off, there'll be plenty of it. If we don't, we won't be around to spend what we saved. "


There was a smile on his lips when he spoke the words, but his eyes showed something different. A fierce conviction burned in them. The smile made his words a reassuring jest. The truth in his eyes said, 'he refused to be locked in a cage, he was going to fight to the death'. This was why he was so ferocious when he went out into the world or took on a contract. He lived on his own terms and held to them life or death. "You're gonna have to give me some pointers on this stealth thing. My method of infiltration is knocking down the front gates, roaring, and killing anything that gets in my way while I'm stomping around. "


He moved about the table to rejoin her and leaned his backside against the edge so that he was comfortable. " I'm a quick study, and my M.O.S. and Drill instructors said I was a good student. I can pull an all nighter with you, and get up to speed." Malik looked up to her and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Are you a good teacher?"

A few days. She could do this. In the time that the war had ended, she had been on her own. Her jobs were done quickly. And she would move on. Remain the quiet thing she was, until something else came along.

Something else had come along. And here, this time, it would come with a home. And for once, is so many days it would be impossible to count, Cyd would take on a contract with someone else working with her. The knowledge felt good. Comforting almost, just as the hands had that now slipped away from the silken blonde strands of her hair.

Cyd took the pen and pad, taking a second glance down at the blue prints, then gave a reassuring nod towards Malik. She turned gracefully, hips shifting to the side, where she would settle back against the edge of the table. Her muscles more relaxed now, he would see the buttery sweet blanket of comfort hinting in her easy stance. Not because of the languid beast that she was, but that she was beginning to understand. She would be alright here. She wouldn't have to fight and run.

She chuckled softly, the low reverb of her purr still hanging on the edges of her voice, "Isn't that the only way to live life? Like you don't have tomorrow?"

Her mouth twisted into a cat like smirk, as she began to write down the things that they would need. It wouldn't be a cheap job. And at least, he seemed to understand that. As the pen stroked across the paper, she unconsciously dashed soft little licks between the part of her lips. A little habit of her own, tasting the scents around her, as her mind played over the plan before them.

Cyd glanced up at him. Her eyes narrowing in thought for a moment, remembering the bold and large golden head of the lion that had burst on the scene the day she had met him. An abstract vision, it was something only their kind would see. Her mouth spread in a thin line of a smile. Her head tilting to the side slightly, "Well, no. Lion, you are the attack that frightens most of them into their graves before they have a chance to realize what is happening."

"But, you are good. You picked me out," She handed him the notepad to look over, then continued. Her arms crossed in front of her, as her velvet voice played through the air like the silken and stealth cat that she was, "You have to learn how to be the ghost that came and went. I am a shadow cat. My place has always been in the darkness. I shall have to teach you how to be a shadow."

She chuckled again, her mouth parting in the laugh, her regal jawline lifting a bit. Her blue eyes dashing a glance towards the ceiling, then over her shoulder to where he mirrored her against the table, "Oh, I'm a good teacher. The question is, Mr. Bold and Beautiful, are you a good student?"

"And.. are you ready to start now?"

The blonde waited for his answer. And when it came. She would begin immediately, "Put the pen and pad away then. You start now."

She pushed herself off of the table and began to walk away. Heading towards one of the doors of the transport, "Come with me. And don't grab anything on your way out."

He would notice that she didn't either. Still dressed in nothing more than her skivvies. Her feet bare. Bishop took off through the short corridor, then stopped. A brow arched, as she watched him join her, "This is your first test. Open this door without a sound. I want to see if you can do this, before I show you how."

Hearing her laugh was an unexpected surprise. It was the first time that Malik had heard it during her entire stay with them. It was a very pleasant sound that he could stand to hear more of. Even the way she moved had a remarkable change in feel. It was as if something in the world changed during the conversation they hand. Malik decided immediately that it was a change for the better. Cyd had finally relaxed.

His eyes followed her every movement as she jotted down the list, and moved towards him to deliver it. Malik took the parchment and gave it a quick read. A few of the items made his brow arch, and his pockets ache. Malik told her that she didn't have to worry about price or how much she spent, but some of the items listed were going to be difficult to get. Difficult was another word for expensive. He pushed the sting away because his word was his bond, and Cyd was obviously taking this assignment seriously. That's what they needed to succeed.

"Am I a good student?", Malik asked rhetorically as he put the list in one of the locked drawers on the console, and put his hands on his hips. Yes, he was a lion and there was a touch of arrogance in his confidence by virtue of the beasts nature. "I can start now, and show you just how good a student at the same time. " Even though he seemed to be full of himself at the moment, he still listened to every word she said. Only a fool closed his ears when he opened his mouth. She told him just what she expected of him, very high expectations. She also let slip that she thought he was attractive. When she turned around and walked away, Malik let the smile creep onto his lips and break the stony indignation he wore.

It was difficult to keep his eyes from wandering over her backside while she walked away, so he didn't bother trying. Malik watched Cyd as he followed her through the corridor and came to a stop before the cargo hold door. Open it without making a sound? He stood there for a moment thinking over what he could do to minimize the noise of the door being unlatched. It was a four bar cross latch with a circular handle in the center. It was similar to hatches found on naval ships. He'd never thought about opening it quietly, but he had enough experience with the door to know where the noise came from, and when it made the most in the past. Giving a resolute nod to himself Malik moved to the task.

His arms crossed over and hands wrapped around the edge if the wheel like handle and he tensed all of his muscles to brace himself. Pulling back, he tried to do everything he could with his strength and body weight to keep the locking bars off of the cross beams the slid along. Slowly Malik turned the wheel. His previous crossing of arms allowed him to turn the wheel a full rotation without needing to let go or change his grip mid turn. Once the locking bars were free their cross members, Malik braced himself against the door, and lifted up slightly to minimize the weight of the door being supported by the hinges in hopes that it would keep them from squeaking against one another. The entire time he worked, his ears strained to hear every noise he made so that he could figure out a way to correct it next time. Once the door was open, he looked to Cyd, and waited to be critiqued.

"Am I a good student?"

Her mouth would twist, a glimmer of a self-assured grin registering on her lips. It was as if Malik had opened a curtain. And he was now looking out the window into a new view of the woman who had been with them only in so few days. Her expression, demeanor, it had all changed. Suddenly, she had been placed in a familiar spot place. Not only reassure that she could trust them, remain here, but they did indeed see the use in having her around. Cyd had a skill set that most of their brawny or flashy species did not have. Luckily, she was willing to share. To teach.

Having led him to the door, she waited. The look of calm on her features cool as the night, reflecting the ease to which she had been blessed with patience. Cyd could wait there all day, all night. It wouldn't' matter the hours that would be needed to make sure that Malik knew how to open the door without a single sound, she could take them. That he was so easy on the eyes, well that was only a bonus.

The blonde leaned against the metal wall, folding her arms in front of her body. She would watch him. Taking to the door, watching the beautiful concentration on his features, the way his jaw shifted slightly then stilled. How the lean muscle of his body snaked beneath his skin, careful and controlled as only a feline could be. But, control couldn't always be perfect. Cyd knew this. There was always a fault in the mechanism. Always a scratch in the metal, that would grind, or give off even the slightest squeal.

She listened carefully, tilting her head slightly. Seeking that one sound that would have alerted sensors and gotten them in trouble had they been on a mission. But, it seemed Malik knew this door. Of course, he did. This was his outfit. Cyd caught his curious glance, when he had done as asked.

"Well, not bad. One more time," came the blonde's answer. She moved away from the wall though, and prowled about behind him. Her willowy height allowed her to reach up this time, her long slender arms placed over his shoulders, where silken palms were placed over his eyesight. "This time... blind.. to the dark."

It was a totally different world in the dark, in the dead of night. When one of your most powerful senses was taken away from you. Her intent to make it harder, when Cyd began to casually lean front of her body along the length of his back. Her soft curves pressing lightly, as she lifted slightly upon the graceful balance of her tip toes to watch from over one of his shoulders.

The gears moved as if coated in the richest of oil. Still, there hadn't been a sound. That was, until the very end. A light grate could be heard, when the door began to swing open again. Her nose crinkled at the barest sound of scoring metal. Her muscles tightening. It was hardly a sound worth mentioning, but it was there. She drew a light breath. Then nodded her head, as if he could even see her from behind, "Alright. So, I think we need to work on living in the shadows for now."

She took a glance outside, and could see it would be a long time before it would get dark again. With her hands on her hips, she turned to him. "We need a blindfold."

When he got her a strip of cloth, Cyd took it gently from his hands, then padded around behind Malik once again. Her mouth played in it's crooked smile, as she began to tie the cloth about his eyes. Her ivory fingers glancing casually against his warm mocha skin, the short crop of his hair from time to time, until she had him encased in darkness of the blindfold.

"I know you know this transport. You could probably tell me where everything is, knowing it as well as the back of your hand. But, you don't know me," She paused, considering the task that she had given to students in the past. Most of them younger. Most of them anxious, and not wanting to displease or ruin their chances with the older woman who many were more than just mentally interested in. She had the feeling that Malik would be different.

"Let's go back to my bunk," she said, turning to head back down the narrow line of the hall to where she had been asleep earlier. Her own scent beginning to fade away from him, as she stepped with a bit quicker pace.

When she got to the bunk, she grabbed her backpack and tossed it on the short table next to them. Her eyebrow giving a slight arch, as he wandered back to join her, "Computers, rooms, we will have to memorize each line we saw on the blue print before we go. Somehow, we are going to need to make up a simulated model, or just go with it, using our own imagination to guide us in our practice. To know what to touch. And what not to touch."

Bishop became quiet then, taking a slow and casual sweep of his body. It hadn't been the first time she had watched him. When she had memorized how he moved, how his body had been sculpted in the most majestic and sexy display of power and sex. And, she had known he had done the same with her. Even his stoic gazes, she knew that even if he might not have been totally interested in her sexually, he would at least observed enough to assess what kind of danger she might be.

"This, however is very simple. I have my pack out to your left. Without the use of sight. And using as little touch as possible, you are going to find a pair of cargos, a button shirt, and my boots. And you are going to dress me. Doing this without causing me to move one inch, and certainly without accidently pushing me over," She tilted her head, looking at him. Wondering what he might be thinking behind the shield of cloth over his dark eyes, "Now, I am allowed to move. And you are going to have to expect these movements. Be prepared."

Wrapping her fingers about one of his wrists, Cyd brought it up. His arm level, where she would place his palm flat against her sternum, "Now, you know where I am. This is more touch than you are allowed. Remember this. And, you can begin."

Cyd was correct in thinking that Malik would know the door like the back of his hand. This was his rig, the place they all called home, and he cared for it as if his life depended on it because they, his Pride, were his life. She was correct in her assumption that his knowledge of the rig would aid him when the door opened the first time without a sound. She was determined to make the retest a better gauge of his skill under pressure. The feel of her soft palms covering his eyes was nice, but the lack of sight didn’t hinder him very much. He could navigate the Mule in the dark, but that wasn’t the only curve she was grading him on. The sudden feel of her supple front pressing against his hard back took him by surprise. The moment he realized what she was doing his muscles tensed and the raucous grating noise caused his spine to cringe. Even if it wasn’t that loud a noise it was still failure. Cyd had successfully made her point.

” I get your point, “ he said in concession. Reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants, Malik fished around the random odds and ends to find what he was looking for. He pulled free a length of sturdy black cloth that he kept just in case he needed it to bind a wound, or someone’s hands and ran out of zip ties. He’d never actually thought he’d use it as a blindfold. Cyd proved him wrong when she plucked the strip of cloth from his hands and plunged him into darkness once more. Without a word Malik smirked and turned to follow her. Even with his eyesight taken, he knew where he was and how to get where she was going. He didn’t need to follow his nose to track her to her bunk. With a confident but careful stride, he made his way to her bunk, arriving on soon after Cyd did because she had the faster pace.

His head quickly shifted when the bag was thrown to the table, and an ear cocked to pick out the details of the sounds it gave off. Malik’s head turned back to her when she started giving him the details of his next test. His full lips curled into a smirk and he rumbled, ”This makes the door sound like a cake walk,“ while she lifted his hand to her chest. Part of the cub that remained in his heart caused him to forget that she could still see him even though he couldn’t see her. That smirk grew into a smile when she raised his hand and pressed it against her chest to set clear boundaries. He would remember that touch, every aspect of it from pressure to the rhythmic thumping of her heart. ”I can do this,“ he said more to himself than to her. ”I can do this.“

After a resolute nod to himself Malik pulled his hand away from her chest and turned to his left where the backpack laid the table. He used a single finger to touch the outside of the bag to find out if it was closed by zipper or flap and buttons. Finding the zipper Malik carefully opened the backpack and began to gingerly search the inside for the items he was tasked with removing. The boots were the easiest to find. Their shape and hard surfaces stood out inside the bag so one by one he removed them and set them aside. The second he found was the pair of pants. Its coarse texture was the same as the pants he wore. He just needed to feel along the length of the leg to find the massive pocket. Once he felt it the pants were set beside the boots on the table top. The last of the garments was the hardest. There were a number of other things inside the bag, but he patiently searched for the one that had a line of buttons in a row. That was the one he carefully removed and then searched over its form to make sure it was the right garment. Once satisfied he made sure the shirt was unbuttoned, the boots were unlaced, and the pants where unfastened.

With his preparations complete Malik gathered up the articles of clothing and turned to find Cyd. He had listened carefully while he searched to notice if she had moved at all. Straining his ears for signs of her presence, Malik moved towards Cyd then set the items on the floor off to the side of him. The first item he took up was the shirt. With it in his hands, he positioned it so that he held it by the collar on opposite sides of the opening. This was going to be a challenge, and he wanted to use touch as little as possible. Instead of reaching out to find her by touch, Malik leaned forward slowly. His nostrils flared, and drew in air searching for Cyd’s scent. Closer he drew to the source, bending at the waist so he was at the height he remembered her arms being. He hadn’t shaved at all today which left his face growing fresh stubble. The short black hairs were poor substitutes for the whiskers that graced the face of his inner beast, but they served the same purpose. Each individual hair was a tiny receptor telling him when he was close to something before his skin touched it.

Her eyes danced over the sudden brightness of his features. How his mouth tilted into a sly grin. His masculine chiseled cheeks lifting in the fullness of the smile. Her own mouth flickered in response, before forcing the smile away. It had been a beautiful response. To see his face light up, just as her own heart pounded a heavier rhythm to sound at the moment of touch.

Cyd remained still, as his hand fell away. Her own arms cascaded to her sides. Her shoulders finding their ease, she was becoming as close to a limp doll as one could and still stand their ground. At least for now. Cyd had run this test enough times now, that she could it blinded folded herself. Her own shadow cat abilities and keen senses were well practiced. Even beyond the tests. And this was where she would need to take him. To gently lead Malik, as was her way. Only, she would need to train him quickly. There was far too short of time.

Allowing him the moments that would be needed to assess what exactly was in her pack, sapphire oceans would continue to watch his every move. Unlike the young she had tutored before, this was a man who did not hold the lanky frame of youth. His body screamed to listen. His cat within demanded it, even if the man so far seemed to move through his life with a bit more ease. And so silently, she would enjoy this moment. The poetry of masculine muscle and flesh before her. As Malik took each mundane item out and prepared it, the blonde would study him with eyes that were more than just considering what level grade to give him for service in some war.

When it would seem he had everything settled and ready, Cyd watched him drink in the air of both sound and scent. The hint of smile that had played on her mouth now disappeared. She had reclaimed the art of being an instructor. Her mouth became a thin thin. The chiseled features of her face as still as her body had been.

As he leaned into her, Cyd would feel her own self becoming tested. Something she hadn't thought of, but then became conscious so very quickly. Just as Malik would take in scent to know proximity, so would his own manly aroma begin to flood her nostrils. Strong musk rushed through her nose. Inhalations suckling in the man before her, until she realized how deeply within she was breathing him, and would stop. Her skin giving away with heat. Perfuming the air with her own exotic scent, clearly giving Malik a true line of her being, and perhaps an understanding of what was now circling within the dark wanton places of her body.

Redirection. She moved her thoughts. Shielding herself against her senses, and the want to taste the air of him. She pushed the thoughts back, deeper and deeper. Until she found she could think again, as a teacher, and not a woman of other intentions.

Moving through a world of darkness by choice was something entirely new for him.  His inhuman eyes could cut through the darkness, and make use of the most infinitesimal amount of light present.  Only when plunged into complete darkness did his eyes fail to find what they needed to illuminate his path.  This was different.  There was light and Malik could feel it.  His skin was warmed by the presence of light and his eyes strained to find it.  The man was one in both body and spirit.  His senses worked in unison just as muscles worked in concert.  The world around him was incomplete but he continued to find his way in the unnatural darkness.  Leaning forward Malik drew air in through flared nostrils searching for her scent, and he found it.    


Her scent was alive and warm with a myriad of smells clinging to it. There were hints of the unscented soap she used, gun oil, and steel lingering about her, it they were all pushed aside by a rising heat.  Malik couldn't ignore it if he tried, every aspect of him invited her scent in wanting more.  Deep down inside the beast within him stirred knowing exactly what that heat meant.  A slight rumble o a growl came through his lips as he leaned closer and breathed in more deeply.  He restrained the bast inside as it threw itself against the bars of his resolve and roared in protest.  There was a task to be done and he needed to focus on it no matter what he wanted.  The tingle of his facial stubble brought his thoughts back to task.


He was only allowed so much touch and he didn't want to use it unless he had to.  The strength of her scent and the tingling across both cheeks told him that he was dangerously close to touching the nape of her neck.  He stopped and stood statue still for a moment, and then moved his arms around her body as if to embrace her.  Instead of closing his arms upon her, they encircled, and completed their hold with the shirt between them.  Slowly Malik moved towards her shoulder, hovering just above her skin.   He followed the contour of her shoulder like it was a cliff, and dropped off the edge to fall in slow motion.  Once he found her wrist, its sweet concentration of her scent giving it away, he lifted the shirt up to trap her hand in the arm hole.  Carefully he moved to the other side of her body and searched out its mirror.  Once he found it, that too was trapped in an armhole.   


Finally he stood from where he knelt before her, raising the garment with him.  Its touch was feathery on her skin, but that was all she felt.  There was nothing in him of it.  All Malik was, was the guiding force bringing it to move.  Once it was resting on her shoulders, ghostly fingers followed the collar down to the buttons that lined the front of one side, and the holes that they were meant for on the other.  One by one, Malik matched the button to the hole, starting at the top and then meticulously moving to the next in line.  Soon the shirt was closed and Malik lowered himself to his knees before her.


Hands took up the pants, and  unfolded them.   With them opened, he gathered up all the fabric up in his hands so that he could hold them open like two holes to be stepped through.  He placed then on the floor of the room and leaned forward searching for the scent of her once more.  The heat was strongest here but he resisted the urge to follow it, and moved downward to find Cyd's long creamy leg.  Once he found the one leg he remembered what he knew of her to judge where her knee was.  There he sat with his head bowed or a moment as he held one leg opened against the floor in front of her foot.  


Just as he judged curiosity would be tickling at her mind he turned his head to the side slightly so that she could see the side of his face.  His lips were puckered as if in a kiss and then he returned to his position.  Now that she knew the shape of his face, her mind would be able to put together the image.  His full lips were just a hair's breadth away from her skin. So close that she could almost feel it. All she has to do was lift her foot and close the distance.  She said he could touch her or make her move but didn't give specifics.  He had to pass this test, and there was room for points for style.  Creativity and getting what he wanted were two of his personality traits that always shined through. If she did close the distance he would move the pants beneath her foot, and do the same with the other leg.  However if she did not move, he would have to come up with another approach. 

Shields fell down about her like a steel trap door. Locking the feline and yearnings of a woman within. Now, it was only the soldier that stood before him. Cyd placing herself in that realm to which only the practiced mind controlled. The predator, whose senses were focused on conquering and manipulating a mission to fit what would be needed and done.

The heat that had permeated the air of her own arousal would suddenly be washed away. Almost biblical in notion, causing the air about Cyd's body to become cold, leaving only the faintest bouquet of her scent to linger against the nostrils of the most keen of olfactory senses.

She followed him. As if they were two dancers. Moving in balletic grace, in the moment that Malik would begin to thread her shirt upon her body. Her eyes would study his, reading the passages of what would be written between them like a precognitive Magus. Long elegant fingers flexing to extend through the cuffs, one by one. An elbow drifting to the side, then a shoulder falling in a faint dip to barely caress the inside where sleeve would meet shoulder.

The fabric of the shirt was cool against her skin. Only the where his fingers had touched the textile would it be warm, almost heated against flesh. She noted how each button was carefully pushed through it's eyelet. No wrinkle of fabric. He was cautious, painstakingly leaving no mark where he had been. Good.

Had it not been the resolve of a warrior, the blonde would have succumb to other thoughts with such a man on his knees before her as the beautiful alpha Malik. Pheromones would have snapped into a quick flash storming bonfire. Careless, and she would have been on her knees with him. Straddling the frame of him, fingers gripped tightly in a possessive clasp to claim what she now so desperately needed...wanted.

Alternative, was where the woman stood stoic. Watching her pupils preparation of her cargo pants, the fabric bundled in the maw of his strong hands. Following his silent story, Cyd stepped forward. A graceful long foot stepping into the circle made of her pants. The arch like the spine of a harp, bent to step within without even touching the khaki material. Her foot slithered beneath. The silent step taken, then followed by it's mirror through the other offered opening. Here, she stepped within. So very close, that the warmth of his breath would invade beneath another fabric. His alpha aura caressing against that cold shield, with metaphysical claws reminding her own that he could fight and possibly win against such a defense.

Enough of a reminder, that she would find herself suddenly swallowing the lump that had settled dry in the back of her throat.

'Impressive' he thought to himself when the heat in her scent disappeared. It lingered for quite a while, such was the power of her femininity, but when it fully dissipated Malik felt loss. As her scent dissipated, Malik stood up knowing his flirtatious games were at an end. It had been a constant struggle to keep her sweet scent from clouding his mind, but it was a enjoyable battle. The fact that she was able to stamp down her urges was a testament to her strength. He respected it. Fortune had smiled upon the Pride when she drew her gun to come to their aid that day in the bar.

The pants rode easily up her long slender legs, barely touching her flesh, until he reached her ass. Muscle gave it shape and like a hill it needed to be surmounted by the fabric. Malik moved his hands around to the side of her hips and slipped his thumbs behind the waistband so he had a solid grip. Slowly he pulled upward. The fabric of the waistband rode over the rise of her cheeks, while the backs of his thumbs caressed the silken white skin that was exposed by the bottom of her panties. Once her pants were in place, Malik's grip loosened, and his hands slid around the waistband of the pants so that the met in the front. Very carefully he brought the two ends together, and threaded the button through the button hole. Finally his finger slipped into her zipper hole, and he traced his finger tip down along the brass teeth until he found the zipper itself. Using both hands he pinched the tab, and held the bottom of the fabric so that he could lift the zipper, and complete the garment.

Sinking back down to his knees Malik prepared himself for the part of the task that he saved all of his ability to touch for, the boots. He had unlaced the boots as much as he could without removing the strings entirely. He needed the opening to be as large as possible to make getting her feet in as easy as possible. Now was the moment of truth. With as gentle a touch as possible, Malik placed the fingertips of his left hand behind Cyd's knee, and started to apply pressure. He kept it slow and steady and only increased until she lifted her foot off of the floor enough for him to slip a sock and boot on. He wasn't worried at all about her balancing on one foot while he worked. He'd seen her move and knew that was no challenge for her. When both were on he let her foot find the floor once more.

He left the boot unlaced and moved to the other leg to repeat the same process. Once they were both socked and fitted into their respective boots Malik meticulously laced up each boot, and tied a standard double bowed knot so they wouldn't come undone. He ran his fingers along the crisscrossed lacing to make sure they were done properly, then backed away from her before standing. Piece by piece, step by step he went over his actions in his mind. She was completely dressed and everything was in place, but he didn't take the blind fold off. He missed something. Stepping forward he extended his hands and brought them down slowly until he felt the stray strands of her saffron hair against his palms. Lowering them still, he extended one finger on each hand and threaded it beneath her locks. Carefully he lifted her hair up and out of her shirt collar, so that it fell free on her shoulders. Now it was perfect.

"Is the test over? The only thing I didn't do was tuck in your shirt for you. I didn't think you wanted me getting that familiar with you." There wasn't any smile on his lips at the moment. He was submitting himself for a grade and the outcome was serious. This was training for an op, and her muted scent reminded him of that. He followed her lead and reigned in the side of him that still had hints of the playful cub he used to be. Standing there at attention, Malik waited for his instructor to pass judgment on him, and critique his work.

The rough texture of her cargo pants scraped against the satin soft plain of her long slender legs. The thick weave of the canvas rippling the waves of her aura like a small pebble dropped into a smooth pool of water. It would send the waves rolling, lifting up and around the curve of her backside, rushing upwards along the length of her gently bowed spine. It was then that he would touch her. Milky white flesh caressed by the slightest brush of his fingers. However faint, it was enough to send a rush of prickling sensations that would open pores and cause the fine hairs on her neck to stand straight on end.

Still, she stood beneath such reactions cool as the very water that would ripple about her flesh. While Cyd would feel the vibrations tempting to melt through her skin, she held them at bay. As much as she knew within that she wanted to know how it would feel with his body pressed to her own, Cyd would wait. Or, at least, she would attempt to do so.

Besides, for now, she was his teacher.

Her head would tilt a little to the side, watching his face once more as he stood before her. Assembling her pants about the slender line of her waist. The tug of the zipper causing material to move against the more sensitive lines of her body. A brow would arch, flicker slightly, when heated swirls were felt. Dark blonde lashes feathering together, when she felt the steel of her aura's shields waver.

There was something in the way that he would dress her. It didn't really feel like a test. But, reverence. A tender homage towards her skills, her body. She followed his lead, the test continuing to move like a dance between them. Fingers at the back of one knee would cause her leg to bend. One, then the other, giving way to careful and yet an easy balance. Her toes pressing into the weave of her socks, spreading her weight proportionally in a stance to which she could hold forever. Such was something that her own teachers marveled. How every little muscle within her long body seemed able to take on the task of others unable to be used. She could stand for long hours in the oddest of positions. Waiting.. until it was time to move... time to pounce.

Her mouth flickered in a grin. Her imagination at play every time that Malik would stroke those skilled fingers over the pieces of her clothing, enjoying something within move sweetly at just the sight of how he stroked the laces of her boots to make sure each criss cross was in order and perfectly flat.

She had thought he was done, when he stood back up. The blindfold still resting across the bridge of his nose and his sight. But, then he moved. Closing the space between them, causing her aura to once again ripple. The blonde felt the light tug of her hair. Strands gently lifted from between her shirt and skin. A tickling sensation that would cause the heat to flare along the length of her back, and allow the escape of one wanton soft breath. Her mouth would close quickly, but not fast enough to capture the sound before it would leave.

How did he do that? Her mind scrambled in frustration at herself. She was good. Goddess, she knew she was good. But he was....like the warm sun spreading over her skin. A sweet liquor to which she wanted to taste. Cyd felt her mouth suddenly become dry and water at the same time.

Is the test over?...

His question drew her out of the intoxication of her thoughts of him. His words causing her mouth to flicker into a smile that danced with the feeling of her thoughts having been laid visible before his senses. Cyd was relieved that his own oculars were covered. Surely, he would not sense the smile that had come and gone, when he said something about getting 'familiar'.

"Thank you. I think I can tuck it in myself," She answered, grasping the edges of her shirt and tucking it into the waistband of her pants. "You've passed. And rather well, I might say."

"You can take the blindfold off," She added, leaning forward a little bit to push the tips of her shirt down the back of her pants. It was then, that the rub of the shirt against her lower back, where the tips of his fingers had caressed the curve just above her backside. It registered swiftly, her shields sweeping fully away. Her eyelids closing heavy, when she imagined it would be his fingers then stroking the smooth plane of her skin there.

Cyd glanced up at him, one line of her brow lifting, as her blue eyes found his. Her lips warm with the hint that this test was over, at least for now, "That will do for now. I'm hungry."

In fact, I'm starved, She would think. Not only for meat, to devour the heavy need for protein with their kind, but for him. A long sleep as she had had would leave her stomach empty, and every fiber of her body needed to be fed and fed soon, or she would easily wipe out. It was the one true weakness she would have with a metabolism on overdrive, "Would you like to hunt with me?"

There it was the reprieve from the headsman's axe that hovered above him. Something as simple as hearing he had passed her test gave him such a sense of relief. The strip of black cloth kept Malik from seeing the smile that spread across Cyd’s lips as she had her moment of enjoyment, but he was having one of his own. His full lips bowed and moved. They parted to show teeth and an elated smile spread across his face. Malik was almost caught up in the moment to the point that he did a victory dance, almost. Arms flexed to begin the jig, but they satisfied themselves with a manly pump but nothing more. That was celebration enough for him.

A hand rose, and fingers felt blindly about the back of his head looking for the dangling end of the blindfold. Finding it, Malik gave a long draw, and the knot slipped free. Milk chocolate irises grew in size as pupils constricted when light found them. A slight squinting at the edge of his eyes shielded him from discomfort while his senses adjusted to the world being returned to them. ”I was worried there for a minute,“ he confessed to her. It was the first time that he had been tested without his life being on the line since the drill instructors of his youth. It was a lot different when the failing grade wasn’t immediate, failure meaning death.

Malik folded the strip of cloth end over end so that it was a neat pile. The smile remained on his lips while he looked at Cyd. He had even more appreciation for her sleek beauty thanks to the sightless experience. In the darkness he had to hold on to ever detail that he could remember of her, and assemble them into a mental likeness. That was what he had to go on while he moved about her body, dressing her. Now that sight was returned to him, she was burned into his mind’s eye, and the moments between his blinks were spent comparing his image to the real thing. He was close, but it wasn’t as vibrant as the real thing. ”I could eat…. “ That was the admission he made to let her know she would have company on this hunt.

Since he was closer to the door than she was, Malik turned on his heel and started towards the Ops door that would lead them outside. His long stride brought him across the common area that the Pride shared with one another, and somehow managed to coexist without killing one another. It was a feat to be marveled at. The entire world was large and the people in it couldn’t share it peacefully, but this small microcosm was made larger by the people who shared it. When large hands wrapped around the steel handle, Malik couldn’t help but make use of the things he learned not long ago. With eyes opened he paid attention to the door, and did as it commanded to keep it silent. The door swung open without a sound, Malik looked over his shoulder and gave Cyd a playful wink. ”See? I told you I was a good student.“

It was black outside. Darkness had fallen across the land known as the Proving Grounds which existed outside the city of Librium. It was a wasteland only in the sense that it was still untamed. The Enlightenment had returned Terra to a wild state that Man and Child alike needed to battle. They had forfeited their place in the world, and needed to prove they were fit once more. Personally Malik felt that they needed to learn how to coexist with Terra’s new form, but that was the animal in him. Instincts guided him through life and he listened. The Mule was parked a long way from the city of Librium, so that they had privacy from the traffic and guard patrols. Even at this distance, however, the lights of the city burned on the horizon like a signal fire reaching skyward.

Not bothering with the steps, Malik leapt from the doorway and landed on the grass covered ground. The blades were unseasonably low for this time which meant there were herds in the area. Centuries of war had decimated Terra’s ecology, not just the land, but wildlife as well. Many species went extinct, but the Rifts brought with them new life. The Church said that everything happened for a reason, and the Rifts brought good to balance the bad they caused. Yes they opened the gates for monstrous beasts, and creatures that preyed upon people, but they also brought a second chance. Animals from other realms, and those that survived flourished over the last decade. They brought life back to the wild, and chain of life was made whole. The Children fought fervently this time to preserve animals, and keep mankind from repeating the mistakes of his past.

Malik agreed with them. It was in him to be a part of nature, to exist in the food chain, and protect it as if his life depended on it. The Pride didn’t take more than they needed, unless it was a matter of firepower. Standing in the cool night air, Malik looked to Cyd and saw that she didn’t have any firearms that were suited for hunting. ”I think I dressed you up for nothing,“ he laughed quietly as his arms crossed before his chest and he grabbed hold of the bottom of his t-shirt. With a swift motion he pulled it up over his head to reveal his chest. His toned body bore a great deal of scaring from a lifetime of battle, and his upper arm bore a single tattoo. It was were the males were marked with brood, and serial numbers that Omni used to keep track of them. That was covered over by the visage of a lion’s mane crowned head, though there was no sign of the bold black letters and numbers beneath the vibrant colors.

Cyd’s eyes would be able to make out a slight puckering of the skin that was disguised by the ink breaking up its outline. A long rectangular scar spread across his shoulder. There was no real mystery to it. The numbers couldn’t be seen beneath the ink, because they were gone. Malik had cut them from his body, and then covered the scar with his own mark. The t-shirt was thrown into the still open doorway, and he crouched down to unlace his boots. ”I didn’t feel like cooking anyway.“ Looking back up to her as he finished tugging he laces slack, Malik had a fiery excitement in his eyes at the prospect of a true hunt. He stood up and kicked off his boots through the lit doorway. ”The Mule’s been parked here for a few days. The herds are probably done being wary of the area. We may be able to find a few scattered herds bedded down for the night within a few miles.“ With that said his hands went to his belt and started to unbuckle his pants. The change was coming soon, and he needed to be prepared to welcome it.

She followed him through the corridor with her own languid pace. Enjoying the view of his physique from behind, even clothed he was a marvel to delight one's senses. His masculine scent lingered behind him, allowing Cyd to glide through and enjoy it's redolent caress against her skin. Then she paused, watching him as now he stood before the door. She could see how he lingered in thought. Then, carefully caused the door to open without uttering a single moan or clink. The blonde tilted a crooked grin, when she heard his boyish hint for approval, "Yes..yes you did."

"Perhaps, I should give the others a fair warning now to your new found talent," she continued, watching as he bound through the door to the ground. Her tongue responded to the inner suggestions of her body, lashing a lick against her lips, as Cyd leaned against the frame of the door. There was more than heat from the air about them that moved against her frame, enjoying how he seemed to hold a quiet power, when surveying the area around them.

"Perhaps. But, then, you wouldn't know as much as you do now, would you?" Cyd hinted, believing there was more to just learning silence and space, in the lesson he had just learned. Her suggestion falling away from her mind, down where lower things began to twist tighter at the sight of his now bare torso. The shirt whipped against her boot, prodding her to stand now in the middle of the frame of the door. She was about to be left behind, for all her lurking and gawking it would seem.

Cyd reached to the bottom of her shirt, grasping it with long fingers to pull the buttoned top out from her pants. Fingers moving over all the workings that he had made. They still seemed warmed from his touch. Buttons loosening, until she would tug the linen away from her bare ivory shoulders. Bishop moved easily. What took him longer minutes to cover, now began to shine with milky white flesh exposed to the hint of moon in the sky.

Finding the belt, she released it from it's needle, then undid the cargo pants. Unashamed, her blue eyes remained pinned upon his own body. A heated study of perfect lines of muscles moving beneath his dark caramel skin. She gazed towards the scared tattoo, knowing the mark that had once been there. Cyd kicked away the boots, then allowed the cargos to fall. Her thumb tucked in the hem, nudging down her underclothing with the pants over bare alabaster hips. There, her own mark would, too, be seen. Camouflaged under ink of flowers and vines, the numbers only viewable to a close inspective search.

Finally, she grasped the hem of her tank top, and removed it from over her head. It was tossed with the other bits of clothing, like debris from an autumn tree. Cyd flashed a crooked cat like smile, then stepped towards the edge of the door and leapt. Springing through the air, she seemed to hover for more than a few seconds. Her arms forward of her body, Cyd dove as if to fall into a lakeside spring. The long line of her pale flesh began to mottle, dappled quickly with black that would soon flood her body in a soft thick ebony coat.

Thick large paws landed without a sound. A large black leopard taking to the ground in an instant run. She was off. Bounding through the tall weeds, heading for the tree line.

Malik saw the pools of light dancing across the ground as the shadow being cast from the doorway moved.  His eyes shifted and looked towards the shadow’s source and saw Cyd tossing aside her shirt.  There went his best efforts and he never felt better about his work being undone.  When he first looked at her she was nothing more than a silhouette, but feline eyes adjusted quickly to filter out the contrast between light and darkness.  Soon darkness yielded detail and shadows became flesh.   She pulled her sports bra over her head and saffron locks of hair rained down over perfect petite breasts.  Malik's heart started to pound.  It was the first time that he had seen her in such a state of undress.  Even in the confined living arrangements that the Pride shared, she had managed to evade his eyes completely.  


With great effort, his eyes finally tore themselves away from her torso, to move upwards, and he saw her sapphire eyes burning through the darkness towards him.  Malik didn't feel the sense of acknowledgment that came when eyes met, so he knew she was staring elsewhere.  He couldn't help the excitement that ran through his body, making his lungs fill and his back straighter.  She was looking at him, and he liked it.  There was no shame in him, he was rather proud of his body.  The other benefit was that she could not get mad at him for looking at her now.  A smirk came to his lips as his thumbs hooked between the waistbands of his pants and boxers at the same time.  May as well give her a good show, he thought to himself as he removed the last barriers between her eyes and his flesh.


He stood there for a moment, completely naked for her and all the world to see.  It wasn't his body that gave him pause, it was hers.  She stood there without shame or need of it.  In the moonlight Cyd looked like a statue carved from alabaster.  It was a perfect melding of form and function to make something undeniably beautiful.  Seeing her like this was well worth the wait.  Suddenly she leapt from the doorway, and soared through the air.  The magic inherent to her was unleashed, and white skinned disappeared beneath black fur.  She all but vanished against the backdrop of a night cloaked world.  "Beautiful", he growled quietly as the beast within him broke free of his restraints.  


The beast was loose and the pain was soon to follow.  The magic that made the the children of the moon possible was a wondrous thing.   For some the transformation was quick and painless.  Some of them described it as diving into a cold pool of water and resurfacing reborn as something new.  They were smaller, and the magic could work more quickly to make their forms mirror what lived inside them.  Cyd was one of those blessed, but Malik and others like him were not as lucky.  The beast inside him was larger than life, and to mirror it Malik had to suffer.  Bones broke, muscles tore, and expanded so that the Lion could be reflected in his flesh.   The transformation was painful the first time he experienced it.  It never got any better and he never got used to it, but he was glad to endure it for the pleasure of freedom that came with it.


By the end of the transformation, Malik had more than tripled in size.  He clenched his massive jaws to bite back the urge to roar and proclaim his arrival to the world.  The beast wanted to cry out, but the man was still intent on learning all that his teacher had to offer.  Somewhere between those two extremes existed the individual that Malik Karver was.  It was a constant compromise between waring sides, but that was the nature of his balance.   Massive claws dug into the earth as he dropped onto all fours.  His nostrils flared and drew in the air finding even more than the heightened senses of his human form was capable of.   There was prey on the wind.  He would not roar to proclaim himself.  He would take it by surprise, and make it yell in surprise to announce him.


Something else came to him on the wind, and took his attention like a sweet perfume.  His head turned windward, and feline eyes changed from narrowed slits to wide circles, making use of all the light there was.  It was then that Malik saw Cyd's inner self for the first time.   A low rumble elicited from his chest as he drew in more of her air.  Cyd's scent was different, yet he knew it.  He knew her, even though it was their  first meeting.  In that intense first moment muscles tensed and fur tufted tail lashed back and forth.  Malik took the first step moving towards her.   Being timid was against his nature.  He was the dominant male, and his aggressive nature drove him to act first.  He stalked towards her, investigating who she was, leaving it up to her to react to him.

There was a sound. Muted by the thick grass that blanketed the earth. Yet, she would indeed here it. Like a heartbeat thrumming through the ground, it thumped a solid beat as each heavy paw met the earth. It would be enough to draw her attention. To spin the large ebony panther upon her back paws. Claws tearing into warm ground, as Cyd faced the large tawny creature that had been behind her. His magnificent mane spread out like the sun from his broad shoulders.

A quick jerk of her head, her muzzle rising into the air signaled the wariness of the beast. By every account, he was much larger than she. Being male, and being lion, on the open ground he could take her down easily. She would be nothing but a toy that left a few long gaps in his hide. Broken. Her dark ebony tail swiped at the air back and forth. And she watched. His stride cautious, even, respectful. His scent carrying no hint of malice, no intent to shred her to pieces.

Silent paws began to bring her forward, as golden eyes retained their watch of the male she knew as Malik. Ground that could have been covered easily, quickly, was drawn into a slow walk. Then reaching him, the black cat lifted her muzzle to his. Whiskers drew crisp against his maw, nostrils drawing in the musk, memorizing this new scent that still hinted of the man back at the Mule.

A sudden twist of the sleek line of her obsidian hide, and the panther turned towards the forest. Her sprint now a more playful lope. She was hungry. But, there was something else in the way she sprung over the grass. She was happy. Her tail no longer thrashing like a knife, but a soft ribbon in a gentle breeze.

Something in the air would change all that. The dark feline suddenly dropped to the ground. Her shadowy form nearly one with the ground. In the air drifted the scent of boar. Pungent, sweaty, it was soon followed by the huff of fleshy muzzles digging into the ear. Hooves scrapping furrows in search of a hogs own smaller prey.

With tense muscles, she carefully lifted her body from the ground. Yellow eyes peered through the grass to see large bristly hide of at least three hefty hogs. Her mouth hung open, panting in the flavor, the knowing of how good they would taste. It would not be an easy task. Not seeing the ivory that glinted in the moon from their dark muzzles.

For something so seemingly simple, whiskers were amazing things. They were the embodiment of a sixth sense that worked to enhance the other five in ways that other species couldn't hope to understand. When she took the tentative steps towards him, his nostrils flared to search for her scent on the air, and the whiskers on his muzzle stretched forward. When their muzzles touched all of his senses came to life, taking her in every way possible. Touch, sight, smell, and even though his tongue did not leave his mouth, he could taste her. It felt as if electricity were being channeled from her through his whiskers, making her more real to him than anything else at that moment.


A growl passed his muzzle and he lifted his head along hers, giving her his scent and taking hers in turn. The massive mane crown head lifted slightly, allowing her to pass under his chin. It was a sign of acceptance and trust, because he offered her the place where he was most vulnerable, his throat. Once they greeted and accept one another, it was time to move on to fulfilling primal needs, and the parting was mutual. Malik waited for Cyd to test the air and decide which way they were going to take their hunt. The animal in him wanted to take the lead, but it knew the value of learning so it compromised with the human and set to purpose. Once Cyd bounded off across the grassy fields, Malik leapt into motion.


The rules were different in this form. When he was human he had to make learn how to be a creature of stealth. Even if this form was so large that being completely silent was impossible, stealth was in the very nature of his other self. Massive paws cushioned the beasts weight as it landed, and muscles moved in perfect concert to make him glide over the ground with every bounding leap. The landscape became a blur around him, and gleaming amber eyes strained at the darkness. The darkness meant nothing to them, but it was almost impossible to keep track of Cyd ahead of him. Her entire body vanished in mid stride, as it bended perfectly with the night. It was almost like she were teleporting from one place to another. The grass and dirt would be disturbed as she leaped from her spot, and she would vanish completely, until her feet touched the ground again. To keep track of her, his nose and whiskers searched the air for her trail, and followed her scent unerringly through the darkness.


When they reached the tree line Malik caught wind of the boars and fell still. Just like Cyd, he searched the world for the trail, eventually finding it, and set off to follow. This time, they couldn't travel the same path. Malik broke off pursuit when Cyd went for the underbrush, and he chose broader paths that could accommodate his size. Even though they were moving separately, Malik still had an innate sense of her. He knew her target, he knew how she moved, and he knew their shared nature. Off of these things kept her present in his mind and guided his movements. As quietly as he could, Malik moved through the trees quickly so he could circle around the loud sound of rutting and squealing that were the sign of the boars.


Malik finally reached the spot that he was searching for and then crouched down. He lay motionless, becoming a piece of the land itself, a shadowy rock that slowly expanded with each deep breath. The night was silent save for the sounds of pigs, but he knew that Cyd was out there, drawing closer with each heart beat that marked the passing moments. He waited for her to move first. The silence was broken by the pained squeal of the first boar that she took. That was the sign he was waiting for, and the trigger that sent the other boars into a panic. Instinct took control of their bodies and they ran away from the sounds of the kill. Unfortunately for them, away was exactly where Malik was waiting for them.


They burst through the underbrush running as fast as their legs could carry them, making a loud ruckus that ears twitched back and forth to track as they drew closer. Just as the first pig entered his reach Malik's massive right claw lashed out. Eyes cut through the darkness, ears locked on to sound, and whiskers felt the trembling of leaves and air around him. All of these came together to guide his claw to its target. One swat and the pig screamed, drowning out the cracking of bone and cartilage as its back snapped. Malik felt the satisfying break beneath his sensitive pad, but his focus was on something else. His weight shifted, crushing the boar into the ground, and his other claw slashed through the darkness. Massive talons found flesh, and tore open the rib cage of another boar as he slapped it hard. It's body went tumbling through the brush all but forgotten, as Malik's attention was drawn by the boar that managed to run passed him.


True to his feline nature, Malik pivoted sharply, and leapt into motion. His hulking mass broke and tore down low hanging branches that were too stiff bend in his passing. The time for stealth was passed and his prey was getting away. Every instinct bid him give chase, and one bid him fly. Giving in to it, Malik leapt through the air with all his might, and came down hard. His jaws opened, and lashed downward seeking the back of his prey's neck, as was written in his very dna. Everything moved as it should, but scale was something that couldn't be coded in his genes. Despite the ample size of the boar, Malik's jaws were large enough to fit around the wild pigs entire body when they closed. It squealed and thrashed, as fangs punctured all along its flanks, but Malik did not release it. He lifted it from the ground and held it aloof as it bled and suffocated to death in his jaws.


Once it fell silent, Malik lifted his massive head and ears twitched this way and that searching for more sounds of the hunt. All was silent. Cyd had no doubt taken down the rest of the group, and now all there was left was to regroup. Malik retraced his steps and followed his senses to find the other two large boars that had fallen victim to his ambush. One was found bleeding to death in the underbrush, while the other lay twitching in the dirt. He gathered them both up, one in each claw, and walked upright on two legs for the first time since transforming. With the third boar still in his massive jaws, Malik pushed his way through the foliage until he found Cyd. Where ever he found her, he would add his kills to hers, and then settle down. It was time to feast.

Soft wind blew over the valley. It's lush green grass, a world away from the dark cities of the corporations. Blades of grass tickled against her nose, as they moved in a languid dance back and forth. The long tendrils filtering the scent of the large hogs that nuzzled the ground not but a few yards in front of her. Her nostrils flared silently, taking in the smell of warm earth where bugs and worms squirmed away from probing snouts. Golden eyes moved slowly with each step they took. Waiting. Patient.

The panther knew that her hunting partner had traveled away from the small herd, moving his rich feline scent downwind. A flicker of citrine oculars, shifted. Tendons curled beneath satin black fur, as she inched closer. The sea of grass barely moving for the slow stealth of each step she would take, her belly only inches from the ground. She moved cautiously towards them, and yet into the very wind that would lift her scent to their nostrils. Then, in the second that the wind seemed to twist and prepare to give them warning, she bound.

A large inky cloud rushed through the grass to the hogs. Sending them scattering towards the waiting Malik, but not before a large paw swept the feet out from under one. She pounced, her tail twisting behind her to keep her level. The panther sunk, then drug sharp teeth into the swine's neck. It's squeal a clarion to the others to run faster. Danger was indeed real. Death was alive and moving towards them.

She shook her head, breaking it's neck. Then rose, bounding through the grass again. The next would give her a more troubled race. Leading the large were cat through a maze of trees, kicking up rocks and clumps of dirt. One sharp turn, then it spun right back towards Cyd, hearing the cries from it's mates in the moment that Malik dove into the hunt.

Sharp claws played, the cat jumping onto the hog and tumbling into a roll. A sharp hoof grazed her side. A tusk clipped her shoulder. The panther scrambled, not releasing her hold. Her mouth biting down on the beast's face, then finding it's muzzle, she clamped down. Lips spread wide around nostrils, her strong jaw kept the pigs mouth shut. She was cutting off it's breath. It bucked and fought wild, mad with furry and fear. It seemed hours, ticking away in the cat's mind, until the hog gave up it's last breath.

She let it go, panting heavy and giving the hog a tired look over. Gripping the large swine in her maw, she drug it over to the first. Then dropped it heavy. Her own body falling in a needed thump to the ground, she reached out to sink claws into a hog, and drug it towards her, and began to eat.

The sound of someone moving close to her kill caused a low possessive growl to roll in her chest. She looked up with golden eyes to see the lion walking towards her with his kill. She huffed, air expressed through her nostrils, a slight warning towards the 'other'. Then, she realized it was Malik. His scent pulled across the bodies of her prey. Cyd relaxed then. It would take a little time to get used to being in a pride, a unit. Fur rippled across her back, as the calm began to settle along her spine. And she could finish her feast.

[/end chapter 1]