Oregon

Thalia stared out the window of a quiet mostly empty train. She ran her palm over the glass as it fogged up, her expression blank. She had been in so many trains, airplanes, and cars that the landscapes blended together, all of them loosing their value. Ace was beside her, sleeping the way they almost always did when they where on a long trip like this. yet every time se closed her eyes, dreams escaped her. Thalia rested her face on the window as sleep finally overtook her. In her dreams, thick, raspy and thickly accented voices surrounded her, as rough hands pushed her and pulled her hair. An older man grabbed at the young Thalia. He wanted to hurt her- she could feel it. Her nails became very sharp and only about an inch longer as they tore his flesh. With a gasp, Thalia's eyes flew open. That was the bad thing- sleep could bring back terrible memories. A deep, throaty hiss escaped her as the break on the train squeaked loudly. They where here. Ace by her side, she flicked back her hair and stepped off the train.

No traces of her past disstress, the two felines entered the forest and shared a quick 'see you in a bit' before they split up to go to where they had been instructed to meet the pack they would protect. With more grace then any human or canine could posses, she easily jumped onto a treebranch, then jumped from branch to branch untill she started smelling dogs. From her perch high up in the branches, she spotted the pack. With elegant ease, sh jumped down and landed righ in front of the pack. "Boo."

Despite the fact that it was only mid spring, Thalia wasn't wearing much. But this allowed her to move with more ease. She wore short jran shorts, ablack tank top that reamed her lean figure, and black lether fingerless gloves. Her auburn curls cascaded down her back as she rested her hand on her hip. A single curl hung in her face, next to her golden/amber eyes. "I am Thalia. And i do not shake hands. As a feline, we have much more practical ways of greeting others." She stated, her voice deep and haunting with a slight russian accent. Thalia arched one thin brow, waiting for the alpha and the beta to introduce themselves. The others could introduce themselves to her aswell, but she had no intention of getting closer to any of them.

Jack Spader was not a patient man. He had tried, over the years, to learn how to be patient but it seemed patient was one of the traits he could never possess despite how much he tried. Leaning against a tree, the alpha sighed in annoyance and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier than it already was. He growled sofly "...where is she anyway?...she is supposed to be here minutes ago..." Jack's hands curled into loose fists as his patience was wearing thinner and thinner with each passing second. His ears twitched a little as he heard something coming his way. He looked up just in time to see a female landed in front of him "Boo" She said playfully and Jack resisted the urge to growl. Who did she think she was? Coming late like this? He looked at the clock.' Well...she just comes 1 minute late but still...'Jack scowled mentally before trying to calm himself down. First impression was important!

"I am Thalia. And i do not shake hands. As a feline, we have much more practical ways of greeting others." She spoke and Jack, once again, resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He spoke after her, his voice was somewhat rough due to the lack of use "...Good morning. My name's Jack Spader...and I'm the Alpha of the Eclipse Pack..." He introduced himself. He paused, unsure what to speak next. 'what do humans usually say to each other anyway?' He frowned slightly. He had forgotten how humans introduced another a long time ago. He sighed mentally and ended his little speech "...welcome to the pack..." Looking at his beta, he gave a gensture, telling the man to introduce himself.

Ace watched Thalia leap off with the grace that any feline possessed. A thin smile appeared and quickly melted away like ice cream in the summer. Stretching, he sprints off, leaping over stumps and river, passing by other rogue creatures without being noticed. Everything passed by him quickly yet slowly. Smelling the smell of the rangy mutts, he scrunched up his nose.
"Disgusting.." He murmurs, before appearing before them. Taking a calm breath, he begins to introduce himself..the nicest way possible.
A calming breeze ran through him rustingly his black jacket. He was wearing rather thin clothing, a shirt that was just plain white and some dark pair of jeans, as well as some headphones which were around his neck at the moment. [gotta get the annoying voices of humans out of his mind someway.
"Lets make this quick..Im Ace Hunter, here to supposedly "protect" the pack. I only have 1 rule for you guys, and Ill say it as slow as possible for you mangy mutts. Stay..A-..Way..from..me, if you do this, we'll be just fine." His piercing blue eyes look among the pack with slit disgust. "Where is the alpha.."
"Jeez lets get this over with.."
"Hi!" He turns toward the direction of the perky voice to see a girl with black hair and blue eyes. He arched an eyebrow at her with confusion. "What the h*ll?" Ace thought.
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Aurora peered behind a couple of others in curiosity. She smelt feline around so she knew the feline was here. Crawling between some other wolves and foxes, she spots the feline. He was..different then what he expected. She would have thought he would be more scarier..but he looks like a normal human to her. Forming a grin, she crept forward and waved. "hi!" She blinks at the respinse he have given him. It was like..What-the-heck Look. "hehe~ it looks like we became friends~"

Jon was meditating on a tree's branch, concentrating on the wind and the animals around the forest. He sensed another presence, a presence he wasn't so fond of, a feline. Not concentrating on the feline at the moment, he focused on meditating, but decided to stop and continue tomorrow. Sensing her more closer to the group, he opened his colored eyes, watching as the feline approached the pack, and hearing the feline speak,"I am Thalia. And i do not shake hands. As a feline, we have much more practical ways of greeting others." He looked over at Jack, sighing her dropped down from the branch and approached the feline and bowed,"It's a pleasure meeting you, Thalia. The names Jon, and I am the beta of the pack." He straightened up his posture.

Not really liking the greeting she did , or her so far, but he'll give her a chance. Looking away then back at her, he decided to ask her a question or two. "Was your way here okay?" Not like he cared for her getting here, he just wanted to at least build a certain relationship with his so called 'protector'. "It took longer than usual, for you to get here." He tried to make his voice a little more less rough, knowing that was not possible.

Thalia looked over the alpha of the new pack. He seemed. . . . agitated. She smirked. Her nails became very sharp and only about an inch longer as she extended her claws. She ran her nails over Jacks palm, almost soothingly and when her claws reached his fingertips she retracted her claws. When Jon introduced himself, she did the same to him. "Thats how felines say we could hurt you, but instead we will protect you." Thalia seemed somewhat thoughtful for a moment before looking over her shoulder and giving a quick, loud whistle to tell Ace she was alright. It was something they had done since they where kids when they where seperated.

"Ive heard dogs arent known for their patience. Our train had a short, unexpected stop. I don't know -nor do I care- why. I don't think you do either." Thalia spoke to Jon, rested a hand on her hip. "I've been told I'm supposed to show you the basics on how to defend yourself against a feline. So I'll show you how a feline would come at you. I'll try not to break you too much. Now who's first?" She gave an alluring, daring smile as she looked over the two.

Victoria sat well away from the rest of the group, resting by the roots of a larger tree, she sunk herself into the noise that blasted through her headphones, its source coming from the IPod that rested in the left pocket of her skinny jeans. Her stormy blue-and-gray eyes focusing on no one for too long as she saw them move around, talk to each other, to the new girl, the feline, their mouths moving, yet their voices never reaching her.

She sighed softly as the song slowly ended, and moved on to the next, the rhythim changing. Her fingers softly tapped her thigh to the beat of the song unconsciously. Unlike many, she was quiet, never the first to approach. She had never been a stand out in the crowd, but it never bothered her, knowing that those who would really care, would bother, and if not, what had she to loose? Getting bored of the scenery, she took out the white touch-screen device, switching to a small game of Cards she had downloaded.

Jasmine walked along the forest in peace, letting the soft wind blow her long, dark brown and golden hair blow freely. Then, she realized there was something in the wind. The feline. Jasmine ran until she saw the man a few feet away.

He introduced himself, but Jasmine was not impressed. She winced and took a few steps back as a feline, Ace Hunter, stepped closer. Jasmine didn't dislike the felines, she was just afraid of them. There was no reason for her fear, she was just simply afraid. Aurora suddenly stepped out next to the feline and Jasmine jumped. She quickly stepped forward next to her black haired friend and took a bit of a protective stance. These felines were sneaky and Jasmine looked warily at Aurora and then back to the feline. This man was much taller and probably faster than Jasmine and at least a few inches taller than Aurora. Jasmine squinted, trying to mask her fear, and failed at an attempt to look angrily up at him.

"I know you're here to 'protect' us," she gave a quick gulp, hoping that no one hadn't heard and continued, "but let's face it, you don't give a sh*t about our pack." Jasmine didn't sound angry as much as she sounded sad and she had to look away. She just wanted the alpha or Aurora to leave. She just didn't want to deal with those stupid cats.

Attius sighed. He was scheduled to attend a pack meeting later, till then there was nothing to do. Nothing at all. "Attius.." He heard his dad yell. Attius grumbled, then escaped out his window without planning to do so. He didn't like the company of his dad..thats why he did so. He ran to the woods, while in the middle of running he shifted. His dad and him lived in the middle of no where so he didn't fear risking his secret. He was tempted to howl, out of frustration. But he knew that would be a risky move..even if he was well hidden within the woods. Instead he let out a soft whine that humans would be uncapable to hear. Days like this got on his nerves.

Ace heard a whistle in the distance causing him to grin lightly. Turning his head toward the sound, he whistled back "confirming" the message. He was a bit happier until a female said something, a little "girl" shouldn't say.
"I know you're here to 'protect' us," she gave a quick gulp, hoping that no one hadn't heard and continued, "but let's face it, you don't give a sh*t about our pack."
He walked toward her and look down at her with a disappointing and a bit of a pissed off look.
"I dont know if you underestimating our species hearing, but I can hear you perfectly," He leaned forward and extracted his claws. Lifting her chin up to look at him direct in the eye, he continued. "but your correct I dont give a sh*t or a damn about this pack, yet im still here, not to kill you all, but to protect so your very lucky.." He speaks in a low, husky voice. "but I can kill you in a blink of an eye so you better watch your tongue..." Taking a step back, Ace turns around and walks back to where he was.
"Well I suppose if i were to protect this pack, I have to train you to defend yourself from other felines, so who wants to participate.. and don't worry only a limb or two may be lost, nothing too much.."
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Aurora growls at the felines actions. What did Jasmine do to get this kind of attention! "He is not fun after all.."
She thought. Once the feline walked off, she hurried back toward Jasmine and looked around for any cuts or blood. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
Aurora looked back over her shoulder to see his back. "psh..to protect us, yea right.."

Jasmine looked shocked up at the feline and cringed as he held a claw up to her chin. She didn't hear any of his words, just stared straight into his eyes. Jasmine was so scared that the rest of the world turned into a blur. As soon as he turned, Jasmine jumped back. However, she had become a bit dizzy in those last few seconds and she wobble and tripped. She caught herself and straightened up. She was angry at the feline for what had just happened, but more than that she was scared. It wasn't that what he had said though. It was his eyes. There was something in them that she couldn't quite put her finger.

She stared at his back for a moment before Aurora's face popped into view, frantically asking her if she was okay. Jasmine gave her friend a smile, not wanted Aurora to fret over her. "Don't worry Aurora, I'm pretty sure I'm fine." Aurora scoffed at the feline and Jasmine laughed, wanting to lighten her friend's tension a bit. "I know, right?"

She looked back to the feline again and scoffed. "Hey, Kitty, so if you're here to protect us, then why should we 'lose a couple of limbs'?" she added sarcastically, not noticing what she had said or even that she had said it. It just sort of came out. She then covered her mouth, realizing that that may not have been the greatest choice of words.

Ace smirked ever so lightly. "Oh, talking back I see kit, for you to loose a limb is to taste the feeling of the pain of being killed, being defeated by the ones stronger then you, none of you have been able to grab this feeling. And in this situation I would be the dominate one, so why dont you learn to keep your little mouth shut, unless you want to participate.." His eyes shine with no mercy and were cold. He takes a step forward and extends his claws once again. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared, and was behind Jasmine whispering quietly in her ear.
"You know your weak, you know you wont be the one to succeed, so I suggest you just back down and be the submissive female you are..." Ace's voice was alluringly cold yet threatening. "You dont know anything about survival, seeing you are protected by others and you only kill the lame and weak. Dont deny it.." With these final words he backs off and look out at the crowd.
"Any other words, or comments perhaps?" The crowd was quiet, letting Ace step back up to where he stood once again.
~*~*~*~*~*
Aurora trembled in anger at the feline's actions. Not thinking before she act, she pounced on the feline and slashed her claws against his back. Her eyes widen at her own actions. "Why has she done that!" She franticly asked herself, she fell back, and begin to scramble back.
~*~*~*~*~*
Ace stopped feeling something that feels like a scratch against his skin. Looking over his shoulder, he sees his jacket ripped as well as his shirt. He frowned smugly at these, but returned to his stotic facial appearance. Turning around once again, he crouches down looking at the girl straight in the eye and asked. "You did this correct..and If your not stupid you should know well what happens to the ones of lower class that attacks their elites.."
He paused and then continued. "So you should accept the punishment that will arrive, correct?"
Lifting his arm, he slashed downward. Nothing happened for a second, until blood spurted out of shoulder. Aurora gave out a scream at this sudden pain. Standing up again, he looks down at her. "That will heal with proper medicine, just feel grateful i didnt stab you.." Ace stops and rips off a strip of cloth from his ripped shirt and drops it down to her. "Wrap it, and stay alive..so you may suffer the scar that was made by your foolish actions."

Jasmine was frightened and trembled a bit as the feline was suddenly behind her. She felt anger boil in her blood. She did not really see the entire scene because her sight had begun to blur a bit, but she did see that suddenly her friend screamed and was on the ground with blood spurting out of her shoulder. Jasmine ran to her side and frantically looked her over.

The cut was not too bad. It was obvious that he had no intention to kill her, but Jasmine being Jasmine, went on instinct. She could hardly ever keep her mouth shut and even though he was much taller than her, she felt the sudden urge to lunge at him. And she did exactly that. She lunged for all she was worth, slashing at his leg and taking him down with her. She knew she wouldn't last in a fight like this and that his words about being a submissive female were true, but for right now, she didn't really understand what exactly she had done. "Don't ever do that again," she growled out, using the best angered voice that she could manage. And to her own surprise, her voice didn't waver once.