Naimeria has a minion!

I Kind Of Want To Eat the Real Mouse

A wild hiss filled the air, and Soren pivoted with barely a warning before he was greeted with a face full of an angry red blur. He lurched back, fangs bared and hackles raised at his yowling opponent. The blur landed in the grass and looked up, its own teeth bared and ears low. Soren’s own ears lowered and he growled deep in his chest.

What looked like a dog-sized tiger was crouched before him, tail thrashing. Its fur was an abnormally bright red color, six stripes on it's face the color of molten gold. Its bright emerald eyes seemed glow in Otherworld’s ethereal green darkness. What was most noticeable, however, were the thin golden flames around the cat’s ankles and at the tuft of its tail. It was menacing, feral, and every bit thoroughly pissed at him.

Soren raised his tail and tried to look as menacing as possible, but still felt he wasn’t doing a very good job at it. He had seen Kyo snarl and invoke fear in those that tried to rise against him, and the large wolf was as commanding as Soren would have ever thought possible. But little Soren, the lanky little brother of the Spirit Shepherd, felt incredibly incompetent.

But still, he brought his tail up and growled out a wordless threat. The cat yowled again, flaming tail waving through the air with such ferocity it made jagged lines in the darkness. “You tromp into my territory and threaten me?” The cat snarled, a dulcet female voice shocking Soren into staring. He hadn’t expected her to be female. Her glowing green eyes narrowed and she pawed at the ground. Soren vaguely wondered why the grass wasn’t yet aflame.

Soren’s ears slid to the side, but he did not back down. “It wasn’t my intent to intrude onto your territory,” he said, shifting to the side slightly. Those green eyes followed his every move, lips raised over shining fangs. They were not as intimidating as canine fangs, and that boosted Soren’s morale, if only slightly.

“Your words don’t change a thing,” she said, taking a step towards him. Soren did his best to look intimidating and apologetic at the same time, and got the distinct impression he failed. But nevertheless, he tried to defend himself.

“I didn’t know this belonged to the Felkna Clan,” he said slowly, taking another step back. The dense trees and tall grass did little to comfort him as they usually did, now that he knew he was an intruder.

The cat’s eyes narrowed and she suddenly sat back on her haunches. The move surprised Soren so badly that he felt himself mimic her without even thinking about it. Canine and feline sat about ten feet from one another, both barely moving.

“What’s your name, wolf?” she asked evenly. Soren was surprised by the sudden lack of formality.

“Sorenko Theran,” he said slowly. Her glowing eyes widened.

“You’re a Theran?” She asked, the shock evident. Soren growled.

“Not what you’d expected?” he found himself snapping. “I know I’m nothing like my brother. I don’t need a cat reminding me,” he said, clearly without thinking. She jerked back, and gave another hiss.

“Have a mouth on you, pup? You’re not what I expected, because you’re not the firstborn,” she snarled back. “Theran’s are supposed to be Shepherds, but I don’t see a lantern.” She knew she was hitting a sensitive spot, and she grinned as he cocked his ears forward.

“Just let me leave?” he said, resigned and more than a little frustrated. “I won’t bother you again.”

Her head cocked to the side, and she stood. “That really bothers you that much, huh?”

Soren gave her a look of deep incredulity. “You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t know it would.”

“True,” she said with a frankness that almost had Soren laughing bitterly. “I don’t know why, though. Shepherds have always struck me as stuck up. Coming and going wherever they please. You and your brother are different, though.”

“You’ve met my brother?” Soren asked.

The cat nodded. “Kyomei Theran, right? He’s pretty bearable. Intimidating, but he always consults our elder before trudging through our land.” She took a few steps forward, and Soren leaned back slightly, as though afraid her sudden calmness was only a façade to get close and sink her teeth into his throat. Which wasn’t really all too unrealistic, considering.

“Kyomei is very determined to try and remind others that Shepherds aren’t always what the common perception believes they are,” Soren said slowly. “He likes making everyone happy. He’s a peacekeeper.”

“I got that impression, the first time I saw him,” she said with a nod. Big surprise there. Kyo always left an impression wherever he went. “Honestly, I was surprised there was more than one Theran. I know the Kumara Clan, the Herders, all of their line can herd. But only one can shepherd in your tribe?”

“Until I come of age and am granted my own Lantern, I can’t shepherd,” he said. It was odd, having such a conversation with a creature of such difference. Least of all conversing about the Kumara Clan, the lions that thought they were better than the Theran Tribe.

Soren’s muzzle wrinkled in anger. The Theran hated the Kumara; it was something born in him. The Kumara had been around for as long as the Theran, their leonine line as long as his own wolven one; but they simply didn’t have the same ability. They had been given the ability to direct the fallen and lost souls, but could not aid them or collect them like the Theran could. The key was, of course, their lanterns. It also had something to do with the golden accessory each Theran wolf gained when they were gifted with their lantern as well. Kyo had his claws. Soren wondered what would be turned on him.

“The Kumara Clan isn’t exactly the same as our tribe,” Soren said evenly, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Apparently he failed, however, because the Felkna cat chuckled deep in her throat.

“Not a fan?” She asked. “I’ve heard from our elder that the Kumara and the Theran never really got along.”

Soren shrugged. “That’s pretty accurate,” he said stiffly.

The feline tilted her head once more, watching him. Her flames had died out, leaving her to look almost like an ordinary cat. Her bright eyes were the only thing that disrupted that particular illusion. Soren found, now that they had spoken without hackles raised, that he could come to like her. She was only slightly smaller than him, her lean muscles lined by the faint glow of the forest.

“I’m called Naimeria,” she said with a very small nod of the head. Soren was not familiar with feline facial expressions, so it was hard to judge her expression. It took him a few moments to realize it was a small smile that adorned her furred face. “Sorenko Theran, would you walk with me?”

Soren was much more accustomed to human emotion than animal emotion, so when she spoke, a very human date came immediate to mind. He knew that, if he lacked fur, he’d be blushing. “Why?” he blurted out.

“Shepherds are allowed in our Territory, Sorenko,” she said with an amused flick of the tail.

“I’m not a shepherd,” he said quickly. “Well, not yet,” he amended just as fast. Naimeria blinked and her mouth formed what Soren swore was a grin.

“Well, I’m twisting the truth a little. Are you going to complain, or are you going to walk with me?”

Soren stood after another second of staring, then approached the cat. He was still on the defensive, but something about her assuaged his paranoia that everyone was out to get him. She turned and walked slowly, tail tapping his, and Soren felt the amusement radiating off of her. It was rather infectious, and he soon felt himself smiling too.