Chapter 12: A New Encounter

While Ferral and Ms. Clare walked along the sidewalk, Ferral couldn’t help but feel uneasy. As if something was watching them. Stalking them. It made his fur stand on end. He kept his guard up, moving his darting all around the area. Even as they ate, he couldn’t help but feel that something was off. He took slow bites; every fiber in his body was tense. His ears, moving around under his hat, picked up every little sound.

Ms. Clare eventually took notice of his odd behavior and put down her water. “What’s wrong, Ferral? You’ve barely touched your lunch?” He didn’t respond. He was too focused on this uneasy feeling. Out of the blue, he stood up, turning his head all around. His gaze narrowed; he knew something was wrong. Ferral walked off. Ms. Clare was taken aback by this behavior.

“F-Ferral!” She started to get up, but he stuck his hand out. He stopped her, “Stay here.” Ferral said, keeping his back turned. He walked off, leaving Ms. Clare in dismay. What had got into him? She watched him while he was still in sight. His steps were careful, calculated. Almost as if the wrong step was made, something bad would happen. His body was stiff, every muscle was on the alert. Eventually, he walked into a group of people walking, vanishing from her sight. Filled with too much anxiety, Ms. Clare got and followed slowly behind Ferral.

He continued moving methodically, taking a quiet, deep inhale. Ferral closed his eyes before taking another. He walked to his left, following the scent he picked up. It was strong. This specific scent was a mix of citrus and roses. The scent led him to a small building down the street. He stood in front of it, looking up at the large sign it had hanging. It was a cake shop. Ferral sighed, lowering his guard after realizing he’d be worried for nothing.

“Mm, you just had to ruin my cake time, huh?” A girl spoke behind him. Ferral whipped around to see her sitting on a bench. Her back was turned, but he could see that she was eating a slice of lemon cake. The citrusy smell struck his attention. He inhaled deeply, picking up the smell of roses coming from her hair. The girl stabbed the slice and put it all into her mouth; it was very unladylike.

She put the plate down and stood up, turning to face Ferral. Her expression was cold and serious. Ferral examined her features; she looked to be a normal girl, around the same age as him. She wore a white t-shirt with three large cuts in it to resemble claw marks, revealing the bandages wrapped around her chest. The girl also had a black leather jacket with white fluff going down the sides of the collar. She wore torn dark blue jeans and a black choker. Her skin was golden brown, and her hair was long and puffy. Dirty brown with black tips. Her eyes were olive green, stern, and focused.

She raised her chin, her voice strong and proud. “So, you’re The Failure?” She scoffed, “You don’t look like much.” Upon hearing that first sentence, Ferral’s body became on guard. Yet, he was confused. This girl didn’t look like an experiment. No tail. No. fur. No. claws. Nothing. He narrowed his eyes, “Who are you?” “You don’t need to know, because it won’t matter after I take you back.”

Ferral sighed, annoyed, “Can’t they just leave me alone?” He was just about ready to rip off the bandages on his arms when he remembered they were around people. “Hold on, let’s go somewhere away from pe-” Before he could finish, the girl lunged off the ground and knocked him back, crashing through the window of the cake shop. He groaned, his back covered in blue frosting from a cake he landed on. The people inside ran back when they saw him hit the ground. The girl hopped onto the broken windowsill, standing over Ferral. How was she so strong without being an experiment? Who was this person?

Just then, the girl clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Fur started growing out from her elbow down to her hand and from her knees to her feet. The color matched her hair. Her body grew, nearly matching Ferral’s height of six feet ten! A lion’s tail shot out from her tail bone, and lion's ears grew upon her head. Replacing the normal human ones she had just a second ago. Ferral was in utter awe at this. She transformed into an experiment?! Was that possible? He didn’t have time for questions; he needed to get the two away from people and fast. 

He scrambled up, but before he could run out the door, she bolted forward, kicking him into some shelves. People screamed in fear, unsure what to do or even what was going on. Ferral tried to fight back, throwing a punch that she easily dodged. The girl grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder. Ferral was sent flying out through the door, heading straight toward the street. He slammed into an oncoming car and was sent back again, his body rolling across the ground until stopping by the sidewalk. 

He groaned in pain as he strained to get up. The girl grabbed him by the back of the hair, picking his head up before slamming it to the ground. She did this several times, blood coming out from a gash in Ferral’s forehead. She stopped, grabbing his right ankle and spinning him around. She flung him across the street, his body crashing through the window of another building. He landed on a table, and the people sitting by it jumped back before running away. 

Ferral growled in anger, gripping the table and pushing himself up. He turned to see the girl lunging at him, and he managed to elbow her in the face, sending her back, bouncing off a parked car before falling to the ground. She got up, massaging her jaw, surprised by his strength.

She chuckled, “Guess they weren’t lying, you’ve got some power behind those attacks.” She got into a fighting stance, “I’ll have to take you a little more seriously.” Ferral stuck out his hands, “Hold on!” He shouted, the lioness looking a little confused.

“Let’s take this somewhere else. I don’t want these people to get hurt.” The girl scoffed, “Please, they’re collateral.” “I don’t know what that means…OH WAIT! Is that thing you get when you eat too many eggs? Saw that on TV once.” She looked at him, almost offended. Rolling her eyes, she replied, “That’s ‘cholesterol,’ you idiot.”

Ferral looked down for a second, disappointed in himself. “Darn.” But he moved on and looked back at the girl. “Regardless, I still won’t fight until we’re away from people.” She shrugged, “Fine, easier for me.”