6 Why Are Arrows Happening?

Carniva gave me a warm smile, "Hello, my name is Carniva Hart." She held out a hand for me to shake.

"I know who you are," I said folding my arms, silently declining her request, "but what I want to know is what are you?"

Her hand fell and her face turned serious, "I am the head doctor here at the Clinic and leading expert on genetic mutations."

"And you have one of these genetic mutations?" I asked taking a step back.

"Yes," she frowned, "Is that what you saw?"

I nodded and her face softened, "I promise I'm not like that most of the time, I'm perfectly safe to be around so you don't have to be scared of me."

I gave her a skeptical look and she gestured to a moss-covered ledge in the corner, "Why don't you have a seat and we'll figure out what you are." I walked over and sat down on it. The moss ledge was soft so I climbed all the way up and sat slumber party style. Carniva brought over a chair, carved from the same pink crystal as the walls. She then walked back to the shelves she'd gotten the injection for the other cat from and brought back a plate of beef jerky. My mouth watered as I realized how hungry I was. "I doubt they fed you, they tend to forget other species can't go as long without food," she said, setting the plate down in front of me, "Go ahead." I swiped up a couple of pieces and shoved them in my mouth, chewing the dried meat, as Carniva sat down in her chair, "So what else do you know about this place?"

I swallowed the food in my mouth before speaking, "I know that this is Felinis Galisis, that your queen went missing and that you think I'm her."

Carniva tapped her arm and a holographic notepad and pen appeared. The pen wrote something down as Carniva watched then, without looking up, she asked, "What do you know that you haven't been told?"

I took another piece of jerky, gnawing on it thoughtfully, "I know that you, Laon, Vern, Coco, Elly, a cougar whose name I don't recall, and your Catgirl used to be friends."

The pen wrote something else, "Continue."

"I know that Coco and the Catgirl grew up just outside of Tiger Falls and that their mother was a tiger even though Coco is a cheetah. I also know that Speed and Wizz are sisters and that there are four other cheetahs, twin brothers, and two cats."

Some more writing and then she looked up at me, "You said they grew up just outside of Tiger Falls, is that correct?"

I nodded.

She tapped her arm and the notepad vanished, "You guys can come in now."

The others flooded back into the room and Coco came forward, "So?"

Carniva shook her head, "All things she could have heard around and she doesn't know where you grew up."

"Yes, I do," I said, outraged for some reason.

"I'm sorry but you don't, I've been to their childhood home and it's nowhere near there."

"You're wrong, I was there earlier today."

Coco's face changed and she walked over to me and grabbed me by the shoulders to look into my eyes, "Where did you see it?"

"An overgrown clearing in the woods a short ways from the lake with the willow tree," I said, a little intimidated.

She let go and turned to Kegan, "Take us to where you first landed." She grabbed my hand and hauled me out of the room and back the way we came. "Where are you going?" Laon called from behind is rushing with the others to catch up.

"Somewhere you can't," she responded before morphing into a cheetah.

"Get on," she commanded in my head.

I slid onto her back, "What is it with you guys and invading privacy?"

She rolled her eyes and took off, closely followed by Kegan, Speed, and Wizz. Once outside, Kegan took the lead, taking us all back to the clearing we started out in. Kegan touched down first with the cats landing next to him. We set down and I slid off Coco's back then she shifted back. "Where do your clothes go when you do that?" I asked taking a step back.

"Show me how you got there," she said, ignoring my question which, of course, will now be echoing in the back of my mind for hours.

"Why?"

"Just do it," she rolled her eyes and stepped back.

Ok then, five trees to the left of the oak.

For the second time that day I headed into the unknown yet familiar jungle only this time with someone I never knew I was missing. We walked side by side through the thick undergrowth until we came upon the same tree with the deep claw marks. I glanced up at Coco just quick enough to see something dance through her eyes before they went cold. She took a step back, her face just a little too neutral, and motioned for me to continue. I circled the tree again and felt that same instinctual pull calling me again so I began following my gut with Coco trailing a short distance behind me.

We walked in complete silence, listening to the birds and other wildlife bustling around us. Occasionally I would glance back and find her staring at the ground or a tree that seemed perfectly regular to me but seemed to unlock a whole other world for her and I made me wonder what she saw when she looked at them along with a tiny inkling that I should know. We pushed out into the overgrown clearing. "Here we are," I announced, turning to face her and sweeping my arms out to gesture to the space around us. She spun in a slow circle, mouth hanging open. She looked back at me, tears pooling in her eyes, "Do you remember this place?"

I smiled at her and pointed to the smooth branch, "Mother used to spend every day up there." The tears spilled over and down her cheeks as she gave me a watery smile. I grinned back, tears pooling in my own eyes and opened my arms, "Come 'ere, baby sis." She dove at me knocking us both over and wrapped her arms around my waist, crying into my stomach. "Shhh, it's ok", I said smoothing her hair.

"I-I missed you so-o much", she sobbed into my shirt.

So I stay quiet, listening to her cry herself out. Eventually, her breathing evened out and she lifted her head off my now wet stomach. She grinned at me then wiped her face, sitting up. "I'm so sorry, it's just, I can't believe after all this time it's really you, Sunny."

Here we go again, I thought as my brain conjured up a new set of memories to go with the name of various Zonoya calling me by that name and the final memory made me pause. In it, a male cheetah, the one I'd seen in an earlier memory, grinned at me. He was laying in bed with me, sheets around his waist revealing his very bare, lean yet muscular torso. He reached out to brush a curl off my face and whispered my name before the vision faded. I smiled for a moment before realization snapped me into focus. I know that face.

"What face?" Coco asked, cocking her head at me.

"Honey, I love you but no going in my head until I figure out how to block better," I said, pressing my fingers to my mouth in thought. Then the realization hit, "Jake, is Jake a cat."

"You mean Spiltz? He was posted at your old school with Kegan," she said with a smile that quickly turned devious, "Why? Did you happen to remember him?"

"Yes, why are you asking like that?" I asked pointing at her.

She gave another sly grin, "No reason, what did you remember?"

I thought for a moment then it clicked, "He's my boyfriend." I hopped from one foot to the other as Coco laughed. "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go see him and umm," I paused for a moment and snapped my fingers looking for the name, "Ummm… ah, Danny, right?"

"Yep," she grinned then her face turned serious, "Wait, no, we can't go yet."

"Why not?" I asked, my excitement being swallowed by anxiety. "You're clearly forgetting something, think about it," she coaxed. I thought for a moment but drew a blank and shrugged. She sighed, shaking her head, "How did I figure out who you are."

"I brought you here," I answered, not following.

"Right, but how do I prove it to them?"

"Bring them here too," I said and that was when it hit me. "But we can't do that, can we?"

Coco shook her head and waved a hand in the air, gesturing to the trees around us, "Mother's spells."

I expected that to bring back a flash of memory but whatever that part of my life was like, it was now firmly locked behind closed doors. "I don't remember her," I said looking up at my sister, "What was our mother like?"

A flash of pain stole through her eyes before she knelt down with a smile and placed a hand on my shoulder, "It's probably for the best and right now we need to find a way to get you back to your old self without revealing this place."

"Right, and how do you suppose we do that?" I asked, crossing my arms and cocking an eyebrow at her. Coco opened her mouth to say something and then thought better of it. She paced for a while, thinking. I sighed and sat down.

Click.

Coco froze and whipped around to stare at me.

"What was that?"

Arrows shot from the forest through the clearing. Coco dove for me pressing her palms together, causing blue light to glow between them. She curled herself over me and the blue light expanded into a bubble around us. The arrows hit the bubble and bounced off at first but then swerved around to attack again from another angle. Slowly, as they struck repeatedly, the bubble was pushed closer and closer around us.

Coco grabbed me and shot off the ground taking the bubble up with us. The arrows were now coming from directly beneath us. "What are those?" I yelled as Coco began evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit.

"Now is not the time," she growled back.

"Don't you talk to me like that," I hissed at her.

She shot me a glare and muttered, "Remind me why I wanted you back." I bared my teeth at her so in response she dropped me. I glared up at her from the bottom of the bubble and she smirked at me. At that very same moment, an arrow shot straight through the bubble at her head. "LOOK OUT!" I shrieked at her and she swerved just in time so it flew out the bubble on the other side. More arrows pierced the bubble on all sides as cracks appear through it. I could tell it wouldn't last much longer so I grabbed her arm just as the bubble crumbled away. She hauled me up and transformed into a cheetah in mid-flight. I crouched low on her back as she aimed for the forest floor.

She landed running on a branch and jumped to the next one. Now running full tilt through the trees to avoid the arrows I suddenly registered we were actually outrunning them. However, not by much. The extra weight was clearly being to weigh on her and the arrows were gaining on us. She made a slight miss-step and nearly tripped. She managed to recover and I began working on a plan for when we would eventually have to stop running.

Ok, I count 15 arrows. They can clearly follow us and if we could trick them into hitting each other they would have by now.

Suddenly, Coco tripped again and we were thrown from the trees and into a small clearing. I landed and rolled for a moment before skidding to a stop, relatively unhurt. Coco was less lucky. She rammed into a tree on the other edge of the clearing so hard the tree fell backward with the force of the impact as did the tree behind it. I stood just in time to see the arrows shoot out of the jungle towards me. New plan, wing it. I leaped over the first one to reach me, snatching the next two out of the air. I landed and ducked to dodge the next ones. They all swerved around and plummeted back towards me, twice as fast as before. I glared at their approach snapping the two in my hands in half before dropping them. I bared my teeth in a snarl.

Let's do this.

***

I landed with the final two arrows, having landed a flip on one, crushing it and having the other caught been my teeth which I promptly crunched down on, snapping it and spitting the pieces to the ground. Breathing heavily, I took a shaky step forward but my leg gave out beneath me. Pain arched up it and the adrenaline from the fight began to wear off. I vaguely registered someone yell to me as I stared in horror at the deep gash where a broken arrow stuck out of my thigh.

Oh right, forgot about that.

I reached out and gingerly touched the wooden shaft. The pain began in a dull ache in my right arm, slowly becoming more and more overbearing until fuzziness entered the corners of my vision. I have never fainted this much in one day. I swayed backward into Coco's open arms, as soon as I touched her the pain intensified to white noise and a flash of light. I heard someone, possibly me, scream and then everything went black. Again.

***

Whack. What the-

"What on galisis were you thinking".

"I don't know, maybe oh crap, I'm gonna die?"

"And your immediate response to that is run, how did you survive your childhood?"

"By RUNNING".

Footsteps of a third party entered the room, "None of that matters, is it her?"

"Yeah, I think it is."

I cracked an eyelid, only to be met with bright white light. I quickly shut my eyes again, "Perfect, I'm dead".

"You're not dead," a nose nudged my arm, "If you were she wouldn't be here."

I cracked my eyes again, turning my face to view towards the voices. I came face to snout with Speedet, so close she only had one eye. I pulled back, "Dude, personal space."

Scanning the room, I realized I was in the medbay. Speedet and Wisdom shared a look and Coco rushed forward to hug me, hesitating before she made contact. She pulled her arms back around herself, "Thank Calious, your alive, I thought for a minute there you wouldn't wake up, that I'd..." She trailed off, averting her eyes. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room before the door was thrown open with a clatter that made me wince.

Kegan and Jake or maybe it was Spiltz, strode in. The two had their chests puffed out, both seeming to try and appear more regal than the other. Spiltz's silver gaze landed on me and he suddenly appeared at my side, scooping me up off the table and crushing me to his chest despite everyone's protests. Wrapped in his arms, I inhaled his scent and it all came rushing back.

I saw him lying next to me, his face slack as he slept. I reached out to trace his face with my fingers, running them along his strong jaw to his lips. His long eyelashes fluttered and a soft smile graced his face. His eyes opened and a lean, muscular arm came around my waist and he pulled me closer. We smiled at each other for a moment before he leaned in a gently kissed me. It was a short and familiar embrace one that brought forward a warm, happy feeling that made me feel safe as he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, "Hi."

The memory faded and the headache returned, my momentary reprieve from the throb, over. I let out a groan and he quickly released me. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry, Sunshine," he said running a hand over his buzzcut, curly hair. I tried and failed, not to contort my face at the nickname. A snicker came from the back of the room. I rolled my eyes, "Its fine, I just have a bit of a headache." I offered him an awkward smile.

Kegan let out a growl, "No, you can not have th-"

He was cut off as he was dragged from the room by the back of his jacket collar. Speedet threw me a wink as she shut the door leaving us in the now empty room. "Well that was embracing," Spiltz said with an awkward laugh. He grinned at me his whole face lighting up. I smiled back, trying not to think about how weird this all was. "I can't believe you're here," he reached for my hands and folded them into his own.

"I can't believe you're an alien or wait, if I'm also Zonoya does that make me an alien too or does that make humans the aliens cause they're technically the ones from another planet, to you, or to us anyway," I trailed off at his amused expression, "What?"

"Earth certainly has changed you," he said with a shake of his head.

"How so? What was I like before?" His expression shifted to one of concern. "I'm sorry", I mumbled, suddenly self-conscious, "I don't really remember much."

"No, no, no, it's not your fault, you don't need to apologize for anything," he squeezed my hands which he still held. "Tell you what, you tell me what you do know and I'll fill in any gaps I can," he said, sitting on the table next to me and scooping me up. He gently set me on his lap, cradling me. I loosened myself from his grip so I could stretch my legs out along the table. Now that I was sitting in his lap, he draped one arm across my legs, other used to prop him upright. I curled my hands in a nervous ball, shifting constantly. He either didn't notice my discomfort or didn't care, as he asked me, "So do you know who I am, not as Jake, of course, but as me?"

"I have flashes of memories of us together usually in umm…", I trailed off as a blush rose in my cheeks. "In bed?"

"Yep," I squeaked. I cleared my throat, trying to shake off the fact I was currently sitting in not just a handsome guy's, but my old crush's lap, "I mean, yes."

Pull yourself together, woman, I thought giving myself a mental slap. "I know we're a couple," I blurted before covering my face with both hands and groaning. I peeked through my fingers when I heard him chuckle. So, there I was, dying inside as my ex-crush/boyfriend laughed at me, not to mention the headache was yet to subside. I was considering the logistics of becoming a potted plant when he finally said, "You know, you may be the most adorable thing I've ever seen right now."

As you may have guessed this did not help things. I felt my whole face heat as I muttered, "I hate you right now."

He peeled my hand from my face and tilted my head towards his face. He kissed my forehead then gave me a soft smile, "Hey."

"Hi."

***

"And then, you just took off with the top hat and the goat, and that's how we won Rydus-239 back from the Esta."

I giggled, clutching my bruised ribs. He grinned at me, shaking his head, "You were so proud." He thought for a moment, "In fact, I think we still might have the hat somewhere."

I smiled at him standing up and stretching, "Sounds like I have a lot to remember."

"It'll take some time but I'm sure you'll get there," he said, leaning back on his arms. He tilted his head, watching me silently, ears twitching. I frowned at him, "What?"

He just shrugged, "I don't know, I guess it's just kinda weird finally have you here again." I raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms and he sat up hastily correcting himself, "Not weird like bad weird, like good weird and not really, like, weird, I mean, like, nice or something…" He rubbed the back of his head, "Familiar?" I made a confused face at him, chewing on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling like an idiot. He leaned forward, sighing, "What I'm so elegantly trying to say is I missed you and I almost need someone to pinch me cause I never imagined I'd get to see you again."

I blushed, looking at the ground, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Coco chose that moment to walk into the room, "Alright Spiltz, time to stop hogging my sister." I shot her a wide eyed look and she wiggled her eyebrows at me. Before I spontaneously combusted from embarrassment, Spiltz came to my rescue, "Stop trying to get back at your sister while she's defenseless, Coke, I was just telling her about some of her escapades, you know, jogging the memory." She looked between the two of us with a mischievous glint in her eyes but then something shifted and a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. Spiltz groaned and dropped his head into his hands, "Oh no."

I squinted at her for a moment before raising my eyebrows, "Wait a minute, I know that face, I make that face, nothing good ever comes from that face."