V2Ch73 New Tiger

The guild seemed to be more alive than usual. It looks like the preparations for the rank-up ceremony are almost complete. If Lokes is smart... and not totally drunk, he should be back soon.

I took an empty seat and let my head rest on the table in front of me. It didn't take long for the other three seats around my table to be taken. I tried to ignore their conversations but, I was ever the listener. They chatted about several things. Previous fights. A loss that left them all laughing. A guard was caught, picking his nose. One of them hoped to be part of the rank-up ceremony and reach D-rank.

After some time, the two males of the group had left. The female voice went quiet. I couldn't help but wonder what she was doing. Staring at me? Looking out over the room? Laying back on the chair with her eyes closed? I felt tense. I felt like my first assumption was the only true possibility. I could imagine eyes, remorselessly glaring at my head. If laser beams could come out of her eyes, my head would have a hole in it. I was sure of it.

I turned my head to the right. My hood covered my left eye but I could see out with my right. There was a face with a cute smirk staring back at me. Her cheek was against the table, same as mine. We simply stared at each other for what felt like five minutes. The smirk never left her face.

She was a tiger beast-woman. The lower half of her face around her nose and mouth were white. Outside of that area was orange with black stripes. Her cat whiskers were trimmed short. She had a more cat-like nose while the rest of her face was more humanoid. The hair on her head was solid black. Her ear had a white tuft of hair on the tip.

I had seen her around the guild before. I had never spoken to her.

"Sleepy?"

"A bit. It's been a long day."

"I knyow that feeling well. I like sleeping whenyever I can."

"Spoken like a true feline."

Her smirk turned into a large grin.

"Nya know it."

She brought a paw up and lifted my cloak away from my face. She poked my forehead with two claws.

"So... What are nya here for? Gonna watch the nyewbies fail?"

"I'm supposed to rank up myself, tonight."

"Nya? What rank?"

"C-Rank."

"OH!"

Her eyes went wide with excitement.

"You're one of the ones that finished last second. Good timing. Any later and nya would have to wait anyather month."

She began to stretch her arms.

"NYAAAAA!"

She smacked her lips in contentment.

"I can't tell by looking. What kind of beast-man are nya?"

She reached forward. I knew what was coming. I panicked and sat up quickly. I had a feeling she was going to remove my hood.

"Sorry. I'm not fond of revea..."

She lunged for my hood again. I stepped back and out of my chair. She claimed my seat as her own with all fours. Her long tail wagging about. Curiosity and a mischievous nature dominated her face. I don't know if I'll be able to avoid her curiosity forever. That doesn't mean I won't try to avoid it.

She lunged at me several more times and I dodged just as many times. I knocked someone out of their chair as I backed away from her.

"Sorry!"

I weaved through the tables and took the doorway into the training room. She followed without mercy. Only a couple of people were still in here since the ceremony was about to start. I started using extra strength in my legs to cover more distance. Her body followed with ease.

"Hnn-hnn-hnn-NYA! This is so much fun!"

Her smile was ever-present. It was like a game of tag and she was "it." I continued dipping and diving out of her path. Reversing directions while she was mid-air and leaping over larger obstacles.

I saw the three swords embedded in stone. I remembered the larger one was actually stuck. I ran straight toward it. She gleefully followed. I leaped high enough to rebound off of the ceiling. I aimed my rebound straight at the sword with extra power. I grabbed hold of the sword as my body flew past. She leaped up, just as I hoped. The sword came with me and tilted the wide rock upward, causing the tiger-woman to slam into the rock.

"NYOW OW OW! That hurt!"

The rambunctious nature of our game caused the other people in the training area to leave.

"That's it. I'm getting serious, nyow."

She slowly emerged from around the side of the toppled rock. I could see she was annoyed and very determined at this point. Her fur was slightly sticking up. She bore her fangs. I think I actually pissed her off.

She lunged straight at me. I couldn't think of anything other than up. I felt a claw scrape my ankle as we barely missed each other. I made another rebound off of the ceiling toward the opposite end of the training hall. I made another large leap that landed me near the wall. I turned to see where she was.

*WHAM*

I was slammed against the wall. She was sneering at me like a wild tiger. Her claws were embedded in my chest. She must have pierced one or both lungs since I started coughing up some blood.

As she realized that she had won our game of tag, she also started to understand what she had done. To anyone else in my current position, this would have meant death.

The fury in her face calmed down. She backed away and removed her claws. She looked at the blood on her hands. Her eyes turned to worry.

"Heh... Oh nyo... I'm sorry. I just... I got a little carried away. What have I done?"

Her eyes started to tear up. The sadness on her face was one I could sympathize with. I've killed many that I never wanted to die.

"It's just... Nyo. Please stop bleeding."

She started to caress the parts that bled. Like she was trying to massage away the wounds. I almost thought about telling her it was working.

"Hey."

She looked up at me with her sorrowful eyes.

"It's okay. I'm t..."

"Nyo... *sob* It's nyot okay. I can't save nya. I... HEL..."

"SHHHH!"

I covered her mouth before she could call for help. She must have thought that I was okay with death. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind at this point.

"I'm not lying. It's really okay. I'd rather not bring other people into this situation right now. I'm a lot tougher than I look."

"But..."

"Look."

I lifted my shirt and smeared the blood where my wounds were. She saw that no wounds were left. Only the blood that came out of them.

"What?"

"Something that I would rather keep secret. I would ask that you keep this a secret. Please. In return, I won't tell anyone that you thought you killed a guild member."

I winked and clicked my tongue at her a couple of times. She still looked upset. I wanted to hug her but I didn't want to get her covered in my blood.

"How?"

Her voice trembled.

"It's a special power. One of a kind. It cant be transferred or replicated while I exist. Even if I tell other people that, many would still want to try making it their own. I hide it for that reason. If you want to know more, I'd be willing to talk with you again later. For now, I should get cleaned up. If someone sees us like this..."

"Right."

We both began walking toward the door that led to the bathing rooms.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No. It only hurts a little when it happens. As soon as it starts to heal, I feel fine."

She became so quiet. Even knowing her for only such a short time, it felt odd.

"Hey. What happened to that smile? It suits you."

No response.

We both went to the men's side of the baths. I insisted that I was okay cleaning myself. She refused to leave or say anything else. She took my shirt after I unbuttoned it and began cleaning it. I only took a washcloth and wiped my upper torso. When I finished, She returned my shirt to me. It was still damp.

"It needs stitching. I can do that for nya tomorrow."

Her solemn face was bringing me down now, too. She looked up at me. She noticed something and grabbed another washcloth. As she reached up, I recoiled a bit. I was still overly cautious of my hood. Her hand pulled away and her eyes looked away in further disappointment.

"I'm sorry."

She managed to say. I scratched my head through my hood.

"BAH!"

She looked back at me in surprise at my odd tone.

"Since you are only the second person in Fricity to see my power, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make you the third person to know my race."

Her eyes showed a bit of confusion and maybe a hint of interest. I removed my hood to let her see me as a human. She reached up and touched my ears. I think she was relieved that I hadn't pulled away that time.

"Humyan?"

I nodded. Her eyes seemed to lighten up a little.

"Oh. Let me get that."

She began dabbing my lips and chin with the washcloth. I forgot that I had coughed up some blood.

"Thank you."

That seemed to trigger something in her. She lowered her hand and backed away.

"Nya shouldn't be thanking me. If nya were anyone else..."

"I'm not anyone else. I'm painfully aware of that. You shouldn't dwell on what could have been when we are both standing here, alive and well."

"Leo isn't ali..."

She turned and left before I could say anything else. I was at a loss for words.

Who is Leo?