Crossbreeds Ch. 6

Terra dreamt again. She looked around at her surroundings, feeling irritated. She was in a white room, similar to the one that she'd been kept in before her transformation. Except this white room had barely any furniture, only a bed that took up much of the space in the small, confined room. A dark observation window  was built into one wall. Terra growled and flicked her ears against the back of her head, she hated white rooms. There were too many bad memories tied to them for her liking.
Terra looked down at herself, at least she wasn't in one of those tasteless white dresses. Then she noticed something, she was transparent. She frowned slightly, weird dream. I should be freaking out. Oh well, I've had stranger dreams.
She turned her attention to the small bed shoved into the corner, her eyes widened. It was her, laid out on the bed. It was herself in quarantine. "Gah! That stupid white dress is coming back to haunt me in my dreams!" Terra exclaimed at the site of her quarantine self wearing it.
Terra looked at herself thinking, Wow. Talk about an out of body experience. Terra spun around when she heard the door click behind her. A scientist walked in carrying a bowl of oatmeal. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and from a nearby case she grabbed a tube and fed it down Terra's throat. She started pouring the oatmeal down into the small tube. Terra looked away from her limp body. Watching the scientist feed her like that was about making her sick. Although, she wasn't sure if her transparent ghost body could throw up.
The scientist took the tube out of her throat, and took it to be washed. Terra looked back at her body, and she noticed her body's fingers twitching. Her body's eyes flew open. Terra jumped back, they were wolf gold. Terra's body sat up and started to choke a bit, and coughed up a bit of the oatmeal. She wiped it away, a growl rumbling deep in her chest. She stood up, still growling, and looked at her surroundings with her strange gold eyes.
Terra gulped, hoping that she was invisible to herself. Her body seemed to be figuring out that she was trapped in the white room. With a panicked look she started to pound the walls, looking for the way out. When her panicking body couldn't find any escape out the observation window, she let out a bone-chilling howl.
Terra clutched her head as the sudden skull-splitting headache overtook her. She tried her best not to cry from the pain. She forced her eyes to open, and screamed. Her transparent 'body' was being sucked into her insane solid body. "Crap crap crap!" Terra exclaimed. She put her hands over her eyes, trying to wake up. Unfortunately, it was too late. Terra was being sucked into a nightmare.
Terra reopened her eyes, looked up at the observation window, and snarled. There was a strange red haze over her vision, she felt rage pulsing through her limbs like energy, and her eyes felt like they were burning. Terra felt so much anger burning in her bones. Let me out. I want out! The wild thoughts burned in her mind like an inferno.  
She let out a snarl, crouched, and leapt against the observation window, throwing her full weight against the glass. The glass vibrated with the force but didn't break. Terra growled, "Let me out! Gotta get out!" She threw herself against the glass again. Again, it didn't break. She tried a few more times more violently, but only to get the same results.
Her frustration finally boiled over, she let out another bone-chilling howl. "LET ME OUT!" She howled until her throat was dry. Her body hurt all over.
She growled softly, twitching her ears back and forth for sounds. "Emily..." said a faint voice. Terra snarled, "Let me out!" She focused her hearing on the source of the voice, the observation window. She stood up, growling angrily.
"She heard me!" the voice gasped, "Emily? You heard me, didn't you?" Terra growled, peering through the observation window. She squinted, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light.
There was a girl standing there. She had short golden blonde hair and black markings on her face. "It's me, Emily. Sam." She said. Terra snarled, ignoring the girl, and growled viciously, "I want OUT!"

"Terra! Wake up!" the same voice exclaimed. Terra's eyes flew open, wide and unseeing. With a snarl she leapt out of her bed, looking for the threat. Kaza gazed at her with a worried expression. Terra stopped growling, studying Kaza. "That must have been some nightmare, huh?" Kaza laughed nervously. Terra sniffed the air, there was a trace of fear in Kaza's scent.
Terra sat down on the ground with a bump, she started playing with the carpet threads. The room was silent for several long moments until Terra asked, "Kaza? Can I ask you something?"
"Depends on what it is." Kaza said carefully. Terra looked up at her thinking, Only someone with something to hide would say that.
"I had a nightmare yesterday, too." Terra stated, staring at the floor. She felt cold shivers go up her spine at the memory.
Kaza snorted, "No kidding. Your bed stank of fear."
"It was about my Change." Terra said softly, her fingers embedded in the carpet.
Kaza stared at her, "Oh..."
"Why?"
"What do you mean...?" Kaza trailed off, confused.
"Why were you there?" Terra looked Kaza straight in the eye. Terra could almost always tell when Kaza lied to her.
"Where?" Kaza looked away, attempting to playing dumb.
"Don't you dare lie to me." Terra growled, digging her fingers into the carpet, "You know where. My Change."
The room fell silent as the last two words left Terra's mouth. Terra continued to stare at Kaza, waiting for an answer. Kaza fidgeted, trying to come up with an answer.
"All right." Kaza said softly, almost too quiet to hear, "I saw it. I was there." Kaza started shaking.
"Why?" Terra asked her. Terra had a bad feeling that the memory had probably scarred Kaza's mind in a way that her own change never would.
"The scientists," Kaza murmured faintly, "said that I was going to get the 'privilege' of seeing my room mate go through her change. I....wasn't looking forward to it, but I hadn't known it was you." She swallowed. "I was late, too. I took my time at breakfast so that I wouldn't have to see the worst of it. I was praying that whoever it was would be unconscious by then. After eating I left to see the rest of the Change," Kaza's voice cracked. "and then I realized it was you." Tears followed the paths of the black markings on Kaza's face. "I tried to help but I was too late. The Saber Guard dragged me out of there before I could try anything else."
"Kaza..." Terra said, worried.
"T-then about a month later I t-tried to see if y-you were alright!" Kaza sobbed, "I-I s-snuck into quarantine. A-and you were sleeping but t-then you w-woke up. B-b-but," Kaza's voice became very faint, "you were f-feral, like an animal. You kept s-snarling and g-growling. T-then you st-started howling. I-I think you heard me b-but y-you thought I was a threat or something. Then the scientists c-came in and I hid. Do you know what they did?!" Kaza's voice became near hysteria, "They smiled. Smiled like it was the greatest thing ever! They shot you with a t-tranquilizer and I escaped. They t-told me later that you were being moved to my r-room."
Terra was stunned, Kaza never cried. She was always the tough one. Terra could count on one hand the number of times that she'd seen Kaza cry. She was so dumbfounded that she said stupidly, "You're crying."
Kaza looked up at her puzzled expression with an equally confused face, with a few tears running down her face. "Huh?"
"You never cry." Terra frowned slightly, like she was trying to work out a difficult math problem. Terra reached out to Kaza's face and caught a tear on her finger. She studied the tears, almost wondering how they got there.
Kaza stared at her for a few moments. Finally she croaked, "Ya know, I was expecting a different reaction."
"Like what?" Terra cocked her head slightly.
"Like a 'Why didn't you do something?'" Kaza rasped.
Terra snorted, "You're part cheetah not part miracle worker."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaza narrowed her eyes.
Terra stood up, looking Kaza straight in the eye, "What could you have done? Kaza, you couldn't have taken on the Saber Guard all by yourself. You could have gotten hurt. Hell, maybe even killed. I'm glad you didn't do anything. If you think I'm going to yell at you for not doing anything in an already impossible situation then you're sorrily mistaken."
Kaza stared at her, dumbfounded. "I never thought of it that way."
"That's because you kept thinking 'What could I have done?'" Terra continued, "Well I have your answer. Nothing."
"Are you sure?" Kaza asked, her voice finally back to normal after crying.
"Yes," Terra added, "besides I might have never saw you again if you had managed to somehow stop them."
Kaza smiled, "How come you always make me feel better when I feel like I don't deserve it?"
"Because that's what friends do silly." Terra responded, "Now if we're finished with the drama let's go get breakfast."
"Yeah, I suppose that was a bit much." Kaza laughed, "Especially barely two minutes after you woke up!"
"Yep, I have nightmares," Terra said cheerfully, "and you purr in your sleep."
"What?! I do not!"
"Do too."
"Do not!"
"Oh come on, you sound like a lawn mower." Terra teased.

After getting dressed, they both made they're way to the cafeteria. Kaza was still denying that she purred in her sleep.
"Ya know what?" Terra decided, "I'll record it with a video camera. Then you won't be able to deny it!"
"Yeah I will." Kaza mumbled as they walked through the cafeteria doors.
Terra snorted, "Sure you could, but it'll be a lot harder to deny it when I have evidence."
"Whatever." Kaza rolled her eyes as she sat down at their already crowded table.
Everyone else had already beat them there. Jazele and Drake were having a conversation about a difficult science class project. Ace was skirmishing with Briar in a milk carton battleship war. The milk carton battleships were made of milk cartons, straws, and napkins. Chloe and Dove were watching the ship war with interest.
"Your ship shall never defeat mine, Captain Fuzzy Ears!" Ace declared dramatically, pointing a finger in Briar's direction. Terra watched them with interest, they were far more fascinating than her waffles.
"You shall pay dearly for that insult, Pirate Dog Face!" Briar countered.
"Pirate Dog Face?" Kaza said with a cocked eyebrow. "What are you two doing now?"
"We are having a British vs. Pirates naval war!" Briar said with a fake British accent. "And we refuse to break character!"
"Pirate Dog Face?" Ace said, "Really?"
Briar gasped, "You broke character after I just finished saying that we refuse to! How dare you!" Briar shot straw missiles at Ace's ship by blowing air into a straw attached to the end of his ship. "Haha! Victory is mine!"
Ace rolled his eyes at Briar.  He slid his battleship over to Kaza, "Keep Captain Fuzzy Ears entertained for awhile would ya?"
Kaza said, "Kay."
"Sooo...." Ace turned his attention towards Terra, "What's up?"
Terra said the first thing that popped in her mind, "I found out that Kaza purrs in her sleep."
Kaza whipped her head towards them, her teeth bared, "I do NOT!"
"Do you have any proof that you don't?" Terra teased.
Kaza narrowed her eyes, stuck out her tongue, and resumed attacking Briar's milk carton ship. Terra laughed.
Terra turned her attention back to Ace, "Let's see....um...I also have been having awful Change related nightmares lately."
"Oh really?" Ace said casually, "Those kinda happen every once in awhile, but after you go through your first transformation you'll start having nightmares about that instead."
"Great." Terra mumbled half to herself.
"So what exactly were these dreams about?" Ace prodded.
"Well, in my first nightmare my entire life flashed before my eyes right before I relived the most painful experience of my life so far." Terra said freely while thinking to herself, God. He's so easy to talk to.
"That sucks." Ace asked, "Did you see anything in your life that made you smile?"
Terra stared at her plate of waffles. She had seen good memories, but she'd also seen her worst ones too. Her ears drooped slightly as she cut a bite off her waffle. "Some." She mumbled as she started to eat her waffle.
"Saw some things you'd rather forget, huh?" Ace stated.
"Yeah..." Terra said as she stared into space.
"Good thing, I know just the thing to help you temporarily forget your troubles!" Ace said cheerfully, with a wink.
"Oh really?" Terra asked.
"Yeah! We should all go swimming in the lake today!" Ace said more loudly so everyone else could hear.
"Yeah!" Briar yelled, "That sounds awesome!"
"Are you sure you want to go swimming boys?" Kaza teased, "Or do you just want to see us girls in swimsuits?"
"Both!" Ace exclaimed, obviously not thinking about answering in the smartest fashion.
"Oh?" Jazele said with a look that would kill.
"Um...I mean, uh, no, not at all. Heh heh." Ace laughed nervously.
Terra rolled her eyes, so much for no perverts. At least Jazele seemed to have a firm hold on how far their jokes went. She sighed while thinking, At least they're cute perverts. She studied Ace, wondering how he came to the Institute.  
Kaza grabbed her arm, "Come on! We need to go get swimsuits!"
"B-but my breakfast!" Terra stuttered.
"We'll have food at the lake! Come on!" Kaza exclaimed.
"Why are you always in a rush?!" Terra exclaimed as she was pulled right out of her seat.
"See you later, Terra!" Ace called after her.
"You too!" Terra called back.

"Come on, Terra." Kaza encouraged, "Come out."
"No." Terra refused, "I feel stupid."
"Well, I suppose I could go tell Ace that you like him." Kaza said casually, "That is unless you come out."
Terra gasped, "How'd you know that?!"
"Oh please, you were staring at him like a lovesick puppy at breakfast." Kaza teased playfully.
"Lovesick puppy. Hardy har har." Terra laughed sarcastically.
"So how bad is it?" Kaza pried.
"How bad is what? This ridiculous swimsuit?" Terra said sharply.
"No," Kaza said, "how much do you like Ace?"
"Um..." Terra hummed, "It isn't a giant crush but it's not like casual. Ya know what I mean?"
"Not really."
"Honestly, I just think he's cute and funny." Terra stated, "There really isn't much else to it."
"Maybe." Kaza mused, "But I think he likes you back. Now get out here already!"
"All right. All right." Terra groaned. She reluctantly stepped out of the dressing room in a forest green bikini.
"There." Kaza said proudly, "That isn't so bad, now is it?"
"I feel like a beach bunny." Terra complained.
"Good, embrace it." Kaza responded.
"No thanks." Terra retorted, annoyed.
"I thought you might say that, so I went and found these." Kaza said happily. She held up a pair of green and purple tie-dyed swim shorts. "Try them on!"
Terra inspected them curiously. They weren't guy shorts, they were too snug and short for that, but they weren't excessively girly either. They were perfect. Terra grinned, they even had a hole for her tail. She pulled them up over her bikini bottom, tugged her tail through the hole, and inspected herself in the mirror. She smiled slightly, feeling better about her fashion statement.
"Much better." Terra said calmly. Kaza didn't answer. Terra looked around, she was gone. "Uh, Kaza? Where'd you go?"
"One minute!" Kaza called from the dressing room.
Terra rolled her eyes. Kaza had found a swimsuit that she had absolutely had to try on. She sat down on the floor to wait. Terra twitched an ear before she started running her fingers through her tail. She stared absentmindedly at it, her thoughts wandering towards Ria. She sighed heavily.
"Geez," Kaza teased, "I leave for one minute and you turn emo on me."
"Ha ha." Terra said sarcastically, "Anyway, I'm not emo. I'm absentminded."
Kaza snorted, "You can say that again. By the way, what you do think of this swimsuit?" Kaza was wearing a brown bikini with gold colored outline.
"Looks fine to me." Terra said honestly.
"Just fine?" Kaza frowned, "Maybe I should go look at those other ones..."
"Huh?" Terra said, confused, "Why? I thought you liked that one?" Then it hit her. Kaza was trying to look good for someone. A handsome he-someone. She smiled mischievously, "All right. Spill it. Who is he?"
"What? I don't know what your talking about." Kaza said nonchalantly, but her cheeks flushed pink.
Terra grinned, "Then why are you blushing?"
"Well, um, I, uh-"
Terra laughed, "Whoever he is, he has the cat by the tongue."
Kaza glared at her, cheetah tail twitching in annoyance. "Ha ha ha."
"Hey I'm just getting back at you for the lovesick puppy remark earlier." Terra grinned, "So who is he?"
Kaza mumbled something incomprehensible.
"What?" Terra asked, "I can't hear you and that's weird for me." She flicked her wolf ears up and down to make her point.
"Okay okay." Kaza said, holding up her hands in defeat, "It's Axel."
Terra stared at her, "The Saber?"
"Are there any other Axels around here?" Kaza retorted.
"Well, If you find me a truck-" Terra began.
"Ha ha," Kaza interrupted impatiently, "Please be serious with this, Terra."
"All right," Terra said reluctantly, "but why are you trying to look good in a swim suit when Axel isn't even going to be at the lake?"
"Well...I was kinda hoping to walk past the fence on our way there." Kaza said sheepishly.
Terra hesitated, "Are you sure?"
Kaza slipped on a gold sundress, "Of course I'm sure, now come on!"

"Whoo! Shake that tail!" wolf-whistled a Saber kid behind the electric fence. Terra couldn't remember who he was but she was pissed.
"Why you a-" Terra started to yell, but Kaza cut her off.
"I'll deal with this Terra. Hey! You! Saber! You only wish your girlfriend could swish her tail for you! Too bad she doesn't even have one!"
The Saber's face grew redder, and finally he yelled, "You only wish you looked half as good as my girlfriend!"
Terra yelled back, "Yeah? Well, tell that to my tail!" She turned around and stalked off with Kaza.
"Okay." Kaza admitted, "Maybe this was a bad idea, to bring you along here at least."
"Ya think? Although your comeback got him pretty good there. He made a really lame re-comeback." Terra growled, speeding past the fence. She wanted to teach him a lesson so badly. She snarled in frustration at the laughing Saber kid and his friend. She decided she didn't like Sabers. Well, the guys at the least.
"Come on Terra," Kaza said, walking away towards the forest, "you can kill him later."
"How'd you know I was thinking that?" Terra asked in bewilderment, catching up to Kaza's brisk pace.
"Because," Kaza said simply, with amusement in her eyes, "I know you too well."
"It's almost scary." Terra mused as they entered the forest, "Good thing I know you just as well or it'd be really creepy."
"Oh hey, there's the lake up ahead." Kaza said, pointing a finger at the sight of sparkling blue water through the dark trunks of the trees.
"Sweet!" Terra said as she broke into a run. She jogged through the thick forest, being careful to not hit any trees. Kaza, not about to be out done, easily passed her at a fast jog.
"You can't beat me when it comes to speed, Terra Sage!" Kaza taunted with a grin.
Terra rolled her eyes, she'd learned to not race Kaza long before she became part cheetah. Racing Kaza was like trying to lick your elbow, you're never gonna win. Yet, she had an overwhelming need to pass Kaza. She snorted, it must be a wolf thing. She continued at her pace, ignoring the urge to burst into a sprint and try to overtake her.
By the time she made it to the lake, Kaza was already ready to swim. Terra pretended not to notice. She slowed down, kicked off her flip-flops, and leisurely strolled towards the shore.
Again, everyone else beat them. Jazele and Dove were sunning themselves on beach towels. Chloe, Drake, and Briar were all swimming in the lake. Drake was acting like a human catapult by flinging Chloe into the water. A few other Crossbreeds were at the beach too, sunning or swimming.
Terra spotted Ace slinking along the tree-line. Before Terra could yell out a greeting, he put his finger to his lips and showed her what was in his hand. He was carrying a small water shooter in his hand. He was sneaking up on Kaza, ready to squirt her. Terra smiled slightly to herself, This should be good.
Squirt!
Kaza squealed as cold water was sprayed on her back. Terra and Ace both started to howl with laughter. "Thats cold!!!" Kaza exclaimed. Terra laughed so hard her chest started to hurt. She quieted her giggles and offered Kaza a towel. Ace made his getaway to the lake.
"That was priceless." Terra grinned, then noticed something, "Oh hey! Your tail got all bristled up from the cold." Terra laughed again, pointing at Kaza's bushed up tail.
Terra laughed even louder, and she tried to stop because she felt like her gut was going to explode. After she calmed down a little she managed to get out, "Maybe I should ask Ace if I can borrow that water gun." She silenced the rest of her giggles after that.
Kaza raised a fist in the air at Ace, "I shall have my vengeance!"
Terra yawned, observing her surroundings. Dove had joined everyone else in the water, flying up about ten feet before coming down in a big feathery cannonball. Kaza got up and joined everyone in the lake. Terra was about to follow, when she noticed something. Jazele was still sunning herself on the beach.
She was about to ask her why she wasn't in the water when Ace called to her, "Come on Terra! The water feels great!"
"Coming!" Terra hollered, sprinting towards the water. Terra pumped her legs as hard as she could, flying across the sand, her bushy tail waving like a flag in the wind. Terra grinned to herself, laughing inwardly at everyone's worried expressions. They were afraid she'd hit them, or trip. Terra leaped when she got to the water's edge, and yelled, "Cannonball!" She quickly curled her body into a ball, with her wolf ears flattened against her head, and kept her tail close to her body.
Sploosh!
Terra's head popped above the surface with a big grin on her face. Everyone was laughing. Terra realized that she'd gotten Kaza completely soaked when she hit the water. Terra joined in the laughter. Kaza's bangs hung over her eyes soggily, making her look like a sheepdog.
"You," Kaza began, "are a dead wolf." She slicked her hair back out of her eyes, glaring at her.
Terra smiled, "Maybe, but can you swim as fast as you can run?"
"Says the wolf girl to the fastest thing alive."
Terra held her hands up apologetically, "All right all right. I get it, stupid question."
"I'll get back at you later." Kaza vowed, heading towards shore. "I have a certain dog boy that I need revenge from first."
Terra rolled her eyes. She swam out into some deeper water, kicking rhythmically. She treaded the water lazily, gazing back towards shore. Kaza had stolen Ace's water gun. She was viciously spraying him with the icy contents, while Ace was stupidly trying to escape her. Briar was arm wrestling Drake, they were both having a difficult time winning with their even strength. Chloe was preparing the picnic by setting out the blanket, and Jazele hadn't moved an inch.
Terra frowned slightly, Is she sleeping? She stared at Jazele at for a few more moments before shouting, "HEY! JAZELE!"
"WHAT?!" Jazele snarled back, startled. She sat up with her tail lashing furiously.
"Why aren't you swimming?" Terra cocked her head at a loss, "It's really hot outside today."
Jazele gave Terra her 'I can't believe you asked that' glare. "I don't like water." Jazele said icily in a voice laced with a warning not to pursue the subject.
Terra had never been good at 'letting sleeping dogs lie.' So even though Jazele clearly didn't want to have a water related conversation Terra directly asked, "Why not?"
"I can't swim, okay?!" Jazele fumed.
"I can teach you." Terra said brightly.
"Look." Jazele began, "I just don't like water in general. So no way."
Terra didn't like giving up so easily. In her eyes, swimming was tons of fun. She just didn't understand why Jazele didn't like water. "Oh come on Jazele its not like I'd let you-" Terra felt something grab her foot. "-drown?"
The next thing Terra knew she was being dragged under the water. She was disoriented for a minute before she realized something was pulling her down. Terra slammed her foot into something leathery, and the grip on her foot was released. Terra kicked up to the surface, taking a gasp of air.
"HELP!" Terra screamed as loud as she could. Her shout vibrated through the air.
"Terra?" Kaza turned away from her assault on Ace.
Terra felt the thing grab her tail, she took in a huge gasp of air. She was yanked unkindly beneath the dark water, as she tried to fight back.
"They thought they could replace him." growled a silky voice. Terra wanted to shout 'who?' but couldn't risk losing the precious air left in her lungs. Luckily, her question didn't go unanswered. "They thought they could replace Circe! After they murdered him! But let me let you in on a secret wolf girl..." Terra felt a leathery clawed finger stroke her cheek. Her heart started pounding in her chest. "...I won't let them. Nobody will ever replace Circe! Nobody else will carry wolf genes except his bones!"
Terra panicked, she caught her attacker by surprise by swinging her fist into him. She jabbed her foot into his chest, but instead of hurting her attacker, she bruised her foot on the rough scaly skin. She was about to punch him again when the dark attacker grabbed her wrists to prevent any further blows.
Terra's eyes widened. Her attacker was Shale, the silent loner, although something was off about him. His eyes... She would have acted more surprised but her lungs were screaming for air. Terra saw black spots go across her vision. "What's wrong wolf girl? Running out of air?" Shale mocked.
Terra felt her rage flare up like a forest fire. Shale was mocking her. Terra would not die without a good fight, she refused to. Terra felt something familiar rise up to her consciousness. It felt wild, ferocious, and viciously angry. A strangely familiar burning stung her eyes as a red haze descended over her sight. A burning feeling ignited in her limbs. The black spots were gone, replaced by an overwhelming instinct to kill. A single thought resounded through her mind, I will not die!
Terra sank her fangs into one of the hands holding her wrists. Shale screeched, darting away into the dark. He'd fled. Terra was unconcerned. Her instincts were more focused on not drowning. She kicked towards the distant surface. Somewhere deep in her mind, she realized that Shale had slowly been dragging her to the bottom. The surface was too far away.
Terra struggled with the cruel water weakly. Her limbs felt like lead. She wanted to howl her frustration to the sky. Slowly, her body started to sink. Terra continued to kick weakly, she refused to give up.
Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind. She fought back, thinking it was Shale. She tried to bite the arms holding her, but he kept them out of reach of her unforgiving incisors. She struggled, losing strength.
They broke the surface. Terra gasped in the fresh air. It tasted like candy to her starving lungs. The red haze was still over her eyes though, so she continued to fight. As long as she was being held from behind, Terra felt like she was in danger.
"Terra!" yelled a desperate voice. Other voices joined in yelling her name.
Terra growled to herself, "Danger! More attackers!" She continued to fight the force dragging her to shore.
"Terra...feral..." warned a gargling voice. It came from the thing dragging her to shore.
Terra had had enough. She let out a loud snarl, swinging her fists at her rescuer. "Let go! I bite!" To her surprise, she managed to hit him in the face. He screeched, letting go of her. She tried to leap away, but only got a few feet away because of the weakness of her legs. She panted as she shook from exhaustion. She shook the water out of the fur on her tail, wanting to get dry. She looked back at her rescuer, a fish boy. A vague name emerged in her mind, Gill, but nothing more. She decided he wasn't a threat like Shale.
"Terra?" squeaked a small voice. Terra whipped her head around with a snarl. The source of the voice was a girl with golden hair. She had wide fearful eyes traced with black cheetah tears below them.
"Be careful, Kaza..." said a silver skinned boy, "Terra isn't herself." Terra decided to keep an eye on him. He seemed like a threat.
The girl approached her cautiously. Terra growled a warning, "Stay away!" The girl continued to come towards her, Terra held her ground. She let her growls get increasingly louder as she got closer.
"Its me, Terra." The girl said, "Kaza." Terra growled, not understanding.
"Kaza," a muscled boy said, "Just stay back and let her calm down."
"But she needs help." The girl protested, "Plus I think she recognizes me."
"No," said a dark haired boy, "She's saying to stay away."
The girl glared at him, "How do you know?"
"She's speaking canine." The boy said with a flick of his ear.
"Terra needs help." The blonde girl declared stubbornly.
"Kaza don't be stubborn!" a grey haired girl snarled, "You'll make it worse!"
The girl ignored them, coming closer. The silver skinned boy stepped forward to grab the girl, but Terra growled even louder. Terra warned her one last time, "Stay back! I bite!" She continued to make her way towards her.
"Kaza!" the dark haired boy exclaimed, "She's warning you to stay away or she'll bite! Get away from her!"
"No she won't." The girl muttered, reaching out a hand towards Terra, "Come on Terra let's-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence. Terra leapt at her with a snarl, sinking her teeth into her wrist. She felt her teeth scrape the bones. The girl screamed from the pain, hurting Terra's sensitive ears. Terra jumped back, hands over her ears. A few of the others started to run towards the girl, but Terra snarled and bared her teeth even more.
Terra growled, annoyed. She examined the cat girl from where she crouched. She was clutching her bleeding arm. She looked like she was trying to control something. Trembling from the effort, the girl took large huffs of air. "Emily...I'm Sam..." the girl whispered.
Terra eyed her, something was wrong, that name.... Her tail bristled, something was very wrong. She flattened her ears against her head and snarled, "You don't scare me!"
The blonde girl whipped her head up at her snarl, her eyes were almost all gold-amber colored now. The girl snarled, and Terra instantly knew it was a threat. The girl had plunged into her own instincts. She let out a snarling yowl.
Before Terra could prepare herself, the girl leaped at her, and as she left the ground and was in the air, she instantly transformed into a cheetah. Terra jerked back as the cheetah raked her claws across her face. Pain exploded just underneath Terra's eyes. If she hadn't jerked away when she did, she could've lost an eye, and most of her face.
"Terra! Kaza!" yelled a winged girl. "Stop!"
Terra flicked an ear back, towards the sound of whistling air. Without looking, she leaped straight up. Ten feet below her the cheetah leaped to try to catch her feet. Terra returned to earth, leapt, and sank her fangs into the cheetah's shoulder.
The cheetah yowled in pain. Claws bit Terra's lower leg as she backflipped off the cheetah's back, but she managed to land without any other difficulty. She panted heavily, almost like a dog would. Terra's legs started shaking, the weakness from almost drowning was beginning to affect her. She glared, snarling at the cheetah. She received a vicious hiss in return.
"STOP!"
Terra's ears perked up, surprised. She could understand someone. She scanned her surroundings for the source. Her eyes rested on the dark haired dog boy.
The grey haired cat girl ran up to the enraged cheetah, growling and meowing. The cheetah released a little tension, considering whatever she was saying.
The dog boy approached her, "Be calm. You're safe." She stared him down, but his eyes held nothing but honesty. "Be calm." He repeated, touching her shoulder. She stared into his brown eyes, reflected in them was a girl with gold eyes. She frowned slightly, that wasn't normal. "You're safe." The boy repeated himself again. Terra closed her eyes, the way he said it was comforting. She dropped to her knees, letting her instincts slip away.
The red haze had finally left her vision, leaving her with blurry vague images of what happened. She opened her eyes, looking around confused. "What happened?" That's when she noticed the blood dripping from her mouth. She wiped some of it away, a sick feeling beginning to bubble up in the pit of her stomach. Then she noticed the stinging pain in her face, across the bridge of her nose. She touched the cut with a frown, her face was slick with blood.  There were claw marks on her calf bleeding rather slowly as well. "Ow." She said dumbly, frowning a little. She noticed that Ace was sitting in front of her, gripping her shoulder rather tightly.  She searched his face, he was concerned.
"Are you okay?" He asked with a worried tone. "Do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah I'm fine." Terra answered, "I'm drawing a blank on what happened though. I remember getting really angry at Shale for mocking me. Then I bit him, I think. Then the rest of it is kinda fuzzy." She stared at Ace. "What happened? Did I hurt anyone? And what happened to my face?" Terra clutched her head with a bloody hand, trying to will the blurriness to go away.
        Ace was about to answer, but then Terra looked over and saw cheetah Kaza. She was lying on the sand with Briar and Jazele next to her. Kaza's shoulder and arm were bleeding heavily. What worried Terra the most was that Kaza wasn't moving or speaking. Terra looked down at her hands, she felt a bad taste in her mouth. Terra spit on the ground next to her, and saw it was filled with blood. A sick feeling started boiling up her throat.
        Terra vomited until her body stopped wanting to retch. Tears leaked out of eye's against her will. Terra turned to Ace with a horrified look on her face and croaked, "What happened?" She had a good idea of what did happen, and she had no doubt in her mind that the blood on her hands and teeth were a mixture of hers and Kaza's.
        Ace leaned over and hugged her from the side and whispered in her ear, "You and Kaza went feral."