Neko glanced around.
Hmmm... It doesn't look like anyone else is here, but just to be safe..
He made his way up to the branch of a nearby tree and narrowed his eyes, scouting for intruders.
A delicate figure emerged from the shadows, her sleek hair pulled back in a neat braid. A hat covered the top of her head and a cardigan hugged her around the middle.
"What is a human doing here?" Neko wondered aloud, then quietly scolded himself for carelessly speaking.
The girl pointed her nose to the air. She appeared to be sniffing the area.
Neko froze as she followed his scent closer to the tree. He steadied himself and leaped nimbly to the next tree.
The girl glanced up at him. She had seen him!
Neko carefully climbed down and stood next to her, studying her. His hood was draped over his head, and only a few shaggy bangs were revealed. "Excuse me," he began, crossing his arms, "but this place is off limits."
The girl appeared to be surprised.
Neko narrowed his eyes, ice cold. "Leave, now!"
The girl was taken aback for a moment, but she soon matched his stare. "I walk where I please," She retorted.
Neko noticed her hat move, though she had not touched it.
Ah... So she's not a human after all.
He smiled and slowly took his hood off, revealing his own set of wolf ears. "You'd better listen to what a guy tells you," he said, moving toward her.
The girl threw down her hat, her ears pointed, and flicked her tail angrily. "You'd better not get to close to a girl who shows attitude!"
Neko quickly maneuvered around her and reached out to take her hand. "You should have listened to me."
The girl grabbed ahold of both of his hands and flipped him over her shoulders. In a moment's notice, she had him pinned down, hands hooked on his.
For a moment, Neko was surprised, but he quickly recovered and slipped away from her. "I can play this game!" He leaped back onto the first branch of a tree and stared down at her. "You'd better leave while you still can." His fists flamed in blue fire and he sent a wisp in her direction.
The girl did a agile somersault and the flame sailed just over her head. "That was futile."
Neko leaped down behind her and caught her with a kick.
The girl gritted her teeth as she was pushed back, but recovered quickly and hooked his legs out from under him with a quick kick.
Neko was on his feet in an instant and caught her with a punch.
The girl unsheathed her claws and raked him across the face before she did two backflips out of reach. She paused for a moment to catch her breath. "Impressive."
Neko took a step back to recover too. "You're not bad yourself." His fists flamed again.
The girl smirked as he took another step back and tripped over a small thread of silk that had caught around his feet.
Did she make this?
He was on his feet again in a moment and sent another flare toward her.
She ducked abruptly, missing them, and smirked.
Neko flinched as something struck him in the back of the neck. Darts. Ouch!
"You think that'll stop me?" He shrugged off the pain and grabbed ahold of her.
"Not so fast!" The girl held up her wrist. A small watch-like device was wrapped around it. She clicked a certain pattern.
A moment later, Neko felt himself being electrocuted. The darts had been programmed to shock him! He fell limp and lay still, paralyzed.
The girl stared down at him, her eyebrows raised. "You can't move."
Neko stared up at her and chuckled. "Only I can take that mark away."
The girl grimaced as the mark on her began to burn. She gritted her teeth. "I can't trust you."
"The same goes with you," Neko reminded her. "But you have my word. I won't do anything that's wrong."
"A word is just a sound in the air," the girl panted. "It's not a contract.
Neko raised his eyes. "My contract is on your arm. If I do anything against your will, then you are free to leave. I can't catch you again." His eyes narrowed. "But you can't go against anything I say, or the mark will burn you, like it's doing now."
The girl appeared to consider this. Finally, she nodded.
Neko saw her relax as the pain subsided.
She eyes him warily. "So we have a mutual agreement, then?"
Neko nodded and got to his feet as the paralyses wore off. "You coming?"
The girl gave him a stare. "Yeah, I'm coming."
She carefully unhooked the needles from his neck so the pain subsided from him too.
He chuckled and his eyes softened. "Thanks for that." He extended his arm. "I'm Neko."
The girl didn't say anything, just eyed him warily. Then, slowly, she shook his hand. "Ivory."
Ivory followed Neko up the steps of a small little house. It didn't look very suspicious, but she still felt she had to be on her guard.
Neko swung open the door. "This is my place!"
Ivory was greeted by five different girls, each who were watching with interest at the new arrival. Ivory flattened her ears. "Are you some sort of Neko trafficker?"
Neko only laughed. He settled on the couch in between the girls and said, "Girl, meet your new sister!" He looked back at Ivory. "Tell them your name."
Ivory felt her cheeks grow hot. Who did this guy think he was, anyway? "Ivory," she retorted, her tail flicking with frustration. She narrowed her eyes at Neko. "Explain yourself."
Neko raised his eyebrows. "Well, these girls didn't listen to me, and now I'm their leader." He gave Ivory a smirk. "Just like you."
Ivory placed her hands on her hips. "And what exactly are you planning to do now that I'm here?"
"Well," Neko paused for a moment to think. "Maybe I'll go into town for the girls?"
"So do you control my life now?" Ivory let out a small hiss. "And my movement or something? What's your motive?"
"I don't exactly have one," Neko admitted. "But you didn't listen so you have to do what I say until I break or take away our contract. Think of it as me protecting you until I feel like you don't need it."
Neko glanced her up and down. "Sorry, but you're stuck here until I say so."
Ivory sighed, then shrugged. "I got no family anyway and no where to be anyway." She settled on the couch next to the other girls and whipped out her phone.
Neko snatched it from her and, for a moment, she was startled. But then she leaned back and closed her eyes. "Have it," she said. "I don't need it."
"You don't get a phone unless your going out," Neko told her, placing it in a box that was already half-full of phones.
Ivory didn't move. "Okay."
Neko sighed. He turned and shuffled outside, closing the door behind him.
*
Ivory's eyes opened to the sound of a gentle snore. It was coming from one of the girls. She crept silently toward the window and peered out.
Neko was lying on a tree branch, his tail fluffed out. He appeared to be asleep.
Sure she was safe, Ivory snuck out the back door.
Now to get out of here!
She had made it just outside the city when the mark on her arm started to burn.
Neko appeared in front of her. He was not amused. "Really?" he chided.
Ivory attempted to move past him, but he reached out and took ahold of her arm. He was getting angry.
Ivory yanked her arm away. "Why do you even care what I do?" She retorted, her voice raising. "I was minding me own business and you just had to barge in and take away my freedom to walk in a forest alone for an afternoon stroll! What gives you the right?" She narrowed her eyes to slits. "And I don't need your 'protection!'" She spat.
Neko closed his eyes for a moment. He was clearly trying to keep calm. After a moment, he opened them and laughed. "Do you think I do this for fun?"
Ivory had to restrain herself from tearing those fuzzy little ears right off his head. "I don't understand what's so funny? You say you don't do this for fun yet you laugh! You said you had no motive!"
Neko was silent for a moment. "If I don't then another leader will get you, and they will do bad things to you." Ivory thought she saw him shiver, but she wasn't sure. "Really bad things."
Ivory's ears flattened, but her tail stopped thrashing. "Oh? Do any of these rapists have names?"
Neko stared at her, anger in his eyes. "You want a motive?" He turned around and slowly took off his sweater. Scars ran all along his backside. "I didn't want you to get a leader like mine," he told her flatly. Then, tail bushed, he growled, "THAT'S my motive!" Flattening his ears, her continued. "Happy now?"
Ivory was speechless for a moment. She felt her own ears draw back. "I see. So laughing was a cover up for your sorrow." She thought her words through. "What am I supposed to do now? Why did you give me the option of walking away the first time we met?"
"That was a test to see if you would listen or not." Neko pulled his sweater back over his head. His expression was hard to read. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." His eyes softened. "My old leader did the same test to me. That was the worst day of my life."
Ivory nodded. "I understand what's going on. But maybe if you had told me this before it would have been different."
"Well, I did what you did," Neko admitted. "I challenged my old leader and I lost."
Ivory raised her eyes. "The way I see it, if I had listened and walked away, you wouldn't have saved me. Then I'd have been alone to deal with those evil leaders."
Neko smiled. "No. If you had listened to me, you would not have needed any leader."
"So if I had listened, I would have been free from all leaders?"
"Yes."
"If another leader saw I was a Neko girl and they captured me, they wouldn't have been able to use their fire to bound me to them? How does that work?"
Neko laughed. "I think we should get home before you get me in any more trouble."
Ivory thought about all had been said. For the first time, she felt herself relax. "I guess so..."
*
Neko led the way back to the house. He felt it was safe to explain to her how the forest worked. "See," he began, "The rest of the leaders are vampires. I'm the only one who can bound others by fire." He showed her a bite mark on his arm. "That's how I lost my freedom." His eyes grew apologetic. "I didn't mean to take away yours."
They reached home and Neko swung open the door. The other girls had gone to their rooms, and he and Ivory were alone.
"So how did you break away from your leader?" Ivory questioned, curiosity shining in her eyes.
Neko shrugged. "I didn't. I just grew strong enough to deal with the pain." He was quiet a moment before he continued. "The only time it doesn't hurt is when she's close.