Final Fantasy XIII 1. Chapter 1

**Gift for Xianit as part of the fabulous fangrai - forever gift exchange. She wanted a modern fantasy AU, and according to her fanfiction profile she likes cats. Of course it may have been a profile for a different Xianit...If so I hope they like cats otherwise they are really gonna hate this.**

**Many thanks to Freestylesmiles for being my beta and vastly improving this chapter. **

**P.S. I've never had a cat...now I want a cat. Can someone 'lend' me a cat?**

**P.P.S. apparently Mau's have unusual vocalisations and mreh rather than meow.**

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"I don't see why I have to get a cat," Fang groaned at Vanille for the sixtieth time that day. The last thing Fang had wanted to do on her only day off was trawl the cages of a rescue centre looking for a cat. And yet here she was being dragged around the cages by the redhead when she should have been at home doing as little as possible.

"Because I think having a pet will be good for you. I know you've been feeling a bit abandoned since I started seeing Hope, and I think that a pet will make you feel less lonely when I'm not around."

Vanille was a great believer in the therapeutic benefits of pets and had been trying to convince Fang to get a pet for years. Mainly because she hoped that it would transfer some of the brunette's very sweet and loving, though bordering on possessive, affection from the redhead and onto the pet of choice. 'Affection' that had been becoming a little tiresome since Vanille had gotten a boyfriend. But she chose to omit that line of reasoning.

"Fine but why a cat?" Of all the possible pets Fang had always considered herself to be more of a dog person. Arms crossed, she bent down to look into another cage. Inside, the tabby cat sitting with its legs straight out in front of him looked up from cleaning his inside leg. Fang shivered in disgust and moved on.

"Because if you didn't have that stupid job with its stupid compulsory overtime you could have a dog." Vanille paused outside the next cage. "How about this one?" She pointed at the long-haired black cat.

Fang looked inside. "Too prissy," she appraised, making a face at the cute and adorable kitten. "That stupid job, as you call it, pays the bills," Fang reminded her.

"But _you_ hate it," Vanille countered, prodding Fang on the chest bone. "I keep telling you that you should just quit that crappy job and find something you love. I'm sure we could manage if we cut back on a few luxuries and moved somewhere cheaper, and sold the car. And maybe eat less and ..."

Fang rolled her eyes and smiled as Vanille worried about her. It wasn't the redhead's fault she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. In contrast to Fang, Vanille had always known she wanted to be a vet ever since they were children. While Fang was out hunting every animal that walked the earth, Vanille was nursing every injured one she found back to health. And Fang wasn't surprised in the slightest to return to the Orphanage from a long hunt and find a new patient hidden under their bunk bed.

Fang had thought that moving to the big city would give her some direction, or at least some sense of adventure. But instead she had found that the big city was just as uninspiring as the little village Vanille and herself had grown up in. So instead of waiting for inspiration she took the first city job that she was offered, and yes it may be dull but it was easy and the pay was amazing. Enough for them to pay Vanille's fees at Veterinary school and afford the rent on a cosy little house just outside the city.

All in all Fang had a very comfortable life. Perhaps, as Vanille was always quick to comment, a little too comfortable. She always complained that it was as if Fang was waiting for something to happen, and her adventure wouldn't just land in her lap.

"...It makes me feel so guilty that you hate your job," Vanille finished sadly looking away.

"Hey." Fang said softly, putting her arm over the shorter woman's shoulders. "You remember what we agreed when we came to the city. I help you with your dream and then you can help me with mine, when I work out what that is," she added with a smile and pulled Vanille closer. Vanille s responding smile was still too faint for her liking. Fang sighed in defeat. "Until then you can help me find a cat," Vanille grinned brightly up at her big sister, "to make me feel better about my crappy job and that you're deserting me for your boytoy," Fang teased ruffling the redhead's hair.

Vanille squeaked and forgot she was feeling sorry for the irritating brunette as she ruined her new hairdo. "Fang!" she blushed, pushing the chuckling brunette away from her. "He's not that young."

"He's not that old either," she countered, earning her another push. Fang grinned, sometimes Vanille was just too easy to irritate. "Come-on let's find me a cat so we can get on with our lives."

But finding a cat for the picky brunette was proving to be quite the struggle. Every cat they came across the brunette found fault with. The cat hiding in it's bed – too timid. The kittens wrestling with each other – too playful. The grey cat rubbing against its cage and purring – too needy. They grey cat lying down and staring out at them– too dull.

Two hours and fifty cats later Vanille had lost hope they would ever find a cat Fang would approve of. And Fang was left to wander the cages alone while Vanille played with a kitten.

_Too greedy, too hairy, too hairless. What the hell is that...is it even a cat? Too twitchy, too sleepy... _Fang stopped. _Two of the biggest blue eyes I've ever seen._

Captivated by the large blue orbs, Fang paused at the cage and crouched down to get a better look at the cat inside. Unlike the other cats in the centre who had either come towards her, run and hid or looked indifferent to the brunette's presence, this cat was sitting perfectly still in the middle of her cage just staring straight at her.

She was strange and beautiful. She looked more like those small African wild cats than any domestic breed Fang had ever seen. Her short-haired coat was a light ginger –almost blonde, patterned with dark grey spots and stripes apart from the white underside of her chin. She was a big cat, but her head was small compared to her body making her oval ears look oversized and bigger than they were. But the most unusual thing about the cat was its collar. It was the most ornate cat collar Fang had seen, consisting of blue and pink stone beads on several rings. And on top of that was a silver necklace holding a rectangle plate engraved with a strange symbol.

_Who puts a cat in a collar like that?_

Looking back up at the cat's face Fang realised that she had been under scrutiny too as cerulean eyes flicked over Fang's features. And when their eyes locked an understanding passed between them. What that was Fang couldn't say, but it was like they suddenly recognised something in one another and their choice had already been made.

"Hey Vanille," Fang called to the redhead on the other end of the room. Vanille head snapped up from the adorable kitchen she'd been scratching through the cage. "How about this one?"

Vanille crossed the room and the blonde cat's glare switched to the redhead as she looked into the cage. "That cat?" She asked sceptically, pointing at the only cat in the cage.

"Yeah." Standing upright Fang frowned at Vanille's frown. She couldn't understand why Vanille was looking so dubiously at the intriguing feline. "What's wrong with her? You wanted me to choose a cat, so I've chosen." She said defensively.

"Nothing, nothing," Vanille said holding her hands up in submission. She was right, she had let the brunette choose a cat but trust Fang to choose the angriest looking cat in the rescue centre. In her experience as a student vet it was always the quiet ones with shifty eyes that you had to watch out for, but she had to admit, cute and cuddly wouldn't really suit Fang's personality. "OK I'll get Hope," Vanille chirped happily, pulling out her phone.

Fang rolled her eyes at Vanille dopey expression as she talked to her boyfriend. Another reason why Vanille had dragged her here. As if Vanille wasn't seeing him enough she had to bring Fang to the rescue centre where Hope was a manager. That was how they met, when Vanille had volunteered here in the veterinary clinic. Fang actually liked Hope a lot, he was sweet, kind and made Vanille incredibly happy. But she was the big sister and Vanille's entire family so it was her job to give Hope the impression that her friendly demeanour towards him only lasted as long as he made Vanille happy.

"Hope!" Vanille squealed like a fangirl when he entered the rehoming room a few minutes later. Used to Vanille's affectionate welcomes he managed to catch the small, giggling woman as she launched towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

Hope smiled happily at the brunette over Vanille's shoulder "Hi Fang." Fang returned the greeting with a smile."I hear you're interested in one of our cats," he said, grunting slightly as Vanille's hold tightened around him.

Vanille released Hope with a quick peck on the lips and, holding his hand, led him over to the cat's cage. Interested by arrival of a human she recognised, the cat inside the cage was looking a little more animated, stretching her long slender neck as she looked between the three people talking outside her cage.

"Oh Lightning," Hope smiled, sounding pleased by Fang's choice of cat. "She was brought in about a week ago by one of our animal control officers. Let me get her for you." Hope unlocked the cage, picked her up, and brought her to the two women. Glowering at them with dark, narrow eyes and flat ears, Lightning looked even less happy about being handled than she did about being in the cage.

Fang wisely decided that petting the cat without her permission would probably be a bad idea. "Lightning?" Fang asked, folding her arms just in case she was tempted to stroke her soft looking fur.

"Because of the lightning-shaped scar on her left hip." He turned the cat to show them the ragged scar. "And you should see how fast she can run."

"Well she's an Egyptian Mau right?" Hope nodded. "Fastest domestic cat in the world," Vanille explained to Fang. "Is it recent?" Vanille asked leaning forward to examine the scar.

Hope shook his head. "There's no evidence of recent abuse. As far as we can gather from her behaviour, she's definitely come from a home as she recognises certain words and she is unafraid of humans." He scratched the top of the sulking cat's head and smiled indulgently. "She's very clever and a bit of an escape artist. We kept finding her in this corridor almost every morning until we put a padlock on her cage. I'm sure the only reason we didn't lose her entirely was because this door is locked every night," Hope pointed at the door leading into the room they were standing in.

"What's with the collar," Fang asked pointing to the beaded collar around the cat's slim neck.

"She was wearing it when she was picked up. We thought that she must have a devoted owner somewhere to have a bespoke collar like that, but it's been over a week and no one has come to claim her," Hope shrugged. "But the collar is not the weirdest thing about her." Adjusting his hold on the cat so she was under one of his arms, he parted some of the cat's chest hair below her collar with his free hand.

Fang and Vanille leant over to peer at a dark line revealed on her pink skin."What is it?"

"It's a tattoo."

"What!" Vanille snapped her eyes darkening. If there was one thing that sparked the small woman's fury it was animal cruelty. "Who the hell would tattoo a cat?" It was difficult to see with all the hair in the way but Hope was right the dark lines were too smooth and continuous to be natural.

"I don't know. It must have happened a long time ago because all her fur has regrown."

Scars, tattoos, Fang ran her hand through her hair. Sometimes she really couldn't understand how people could be so cruel. "She's really been through the wringer hasn't she. Poor lil' bugger," she said sighing sadly. She put her arm over Vanille's shoulder as the young woman's bottom lip began to wobble dangerously. Unfortunately for the two war orphans, it was another reminder of how callous people can be. Perhaps that's what she had recognised in the cat, another survivor. Hope silently responded with a nod and Fang remembered that he'd probably looked after thousands of rescued pets who had suffered much more than Lightning.

"Here," Hope said kindly and passed Lightning to Fang before she had a chance to feel nervous about handling a cat for the first time. He repositioned her hands to show her how Lightning liked to be held with a hand on her chest on her back legs tucked up underneath her. "I think Lightning would be a great pet for you Fang," Hope assured her, stroking Lightning's back as Fang held her. "She's independent, confident, she's not overly affectionate and she's happy to be left alone for long hours while you're at work. She can be a bit grumpy, and it takes a while for her to warm up to you but when she does she is a really great cat. I'd take her home myself, but I don't think she'd get along with my tomcat Snowy."

Fang could feel Lightning's little heart beat against her and it was surprising how warm and comforting it felt to hold her. And when the stubborn cat began to purr happily she knew that Lightning felt so too.

Fang looked up at Vanille, they shared a smile and Vanille gave her the nod of approval. It was appreciated but Fang would have taken Lightning home either way.

The first time she had seen Lightning, the choice was already made.

xxXOXxx

The enormity of what Fang had just done hit her a few hours later.

Everything had happened so fast. She had picked Lightning, there had been paperwork, buying of pet food, a pet carrier, cat litter, toys, and various accessories. And then they were in the car with Lightning in a pet carrier, and Fang was feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness that she was bringing _her_ cat home for the first time.

But the return home had not gone exactly as planned. Vanille warned that Lightning might feel a little overwhelmed by the new environment so they had set up a safe room in Fang's bedroom where Lightning could hide and get used to her new home. But Lightning had other ideas, as soon as they opened the pet carrier Lightning had made a break for it sprinting through the partially open bedroom door and the two women had spent an hour chasing after the speedy cat trying to save the items on their window sills as the cat looked for a way to escape.

Lightning was certainly unpredictable, a living being with its own personality and notions Fang realised. And then it hit Fang as sure as a punch on the nose, for the first time in her life Fang was responsible for a living creature. Sure she had always looked after Vanille but nowadays the redhead practically looked after herself. But Lightning would always rely on Fang for almost everything for the rest of her life. Such responsibility was a little daunting and she was the one left feeling slightly overwhelmed.

The second thing that occurred to her, which Vanille had already figured out, was that Lightning could really stare.

Ever since she had given up trying to escape almost an hour ago she'd been sat in the middle of their living room starring at the two women sat on the sofa. It was becoming a little unnerving. All attempts to pet or initiate play had been rejected by the cat. So now Vanille and Fang were on the couch trying to watch TV, while pretending that they didn't know she was staring even though her glare was so heated they could almost feel it.

The psychological warfare was proving to be too much for the huntress. Without looking at the vet beside her she asked, "do cats always stare this much?"

"Not usually. Just don't look at her directly otherwise she'll see it as a sign of mistrust. She'll get bored eventually." Vanille said out of the corner of her mouth. And then wondered why they were talking about a cat so covertly.

"It's been an hour."

Vanille looked at her watch. "Holy potatoes," she exclaimed with a groan. "it's already dinnertime."

_Dinnertime! _Lightning's ears pricked and her head snapped up at the mention of food. _Well that changes everything. _She finally blinked. "Mrehhh," she told the astonished women. Standing up with a tail in a perfect curve she trotted towards the place where food was held. The two women sat still, a little stunned at being liberated by Lightning's powerful glare and her sudden change in behaviour. Lightning padded back into the Living room and frowned at the two humans still sitting on the sofa. She needed them to release the yummy morsels. "Mreeeehhh," she told them again, and this time she made sure they were following her to the place with the food.

Lightning looked up at the redhead expectantly as she dished out the cat food they had bought. Being excited by the prospect of food was something the brunette could understand, but the cat's sudden transformation from cantankerous to ecstatic was almost extraordinary and, Fang had to admit, utterly adorable. Vanille placed the small plate in front of the excited stray. The cat span once on the spot, elegantly dipped down on to sniff the food and immediately jerked her head back in disgust.

"Don't look at me like that," Vanille told the stubborn cat when it glared up at her and licked the offensive smell from her own nostrils. "You need to eat something."

Fang was finding Lightning's obstinate behaviour pretty funny, especially when she began pushing her food bowl around with her paw, but Vanille was not amused. "Quite the connoisseur huh?" Fang joked earning her a double scowl from the redhead and cat. She really couldn't blame Lightning, the wet food smelt like a mixture of beef and salty armpit. Fang decided that she had better things to do than endure the Lightning-Vanille cat food standoff any longer. She made up a small bowl of leftover chicken from the fridge for the furry fiend and grinned triumphantly at Vanille as Lightning immediately tucked in.

Fang licked her finger, a gesture of victory, "huntress one, student vet zero," she smirked.

"Well done," Vanille smiled sarcastically. "You've been manipulated by a cat." Fang's smile dropped. Vanille laughed at the indoctrinated huntress. Lightning was going to wrap the poor inexperienced pet owner round her little paw.

Lightning finished her meal and licked her lips in satisfaction, savouring every morsel of the tasty bird. Pleased and content she appeared to regard the brunette in a much more favourable light. With her tail upright she padded over to where Fang was leaning on the counter and surprised the brunette by briefly rubbing her head and body against her on her way out of the kitchen.

Intrigued by Lightning's friendly behaviour Fang followed the cat out of the kitchen with Vanille (highly amused) close behind her. The cat began to patrol the house, exploring every room and rubbing her head on everything within reach.

They followed Lightning into Fang's bedroom. "What the hell is she doing?" Fang asked the vet as the cat began brushing her cheek and body against a pair of Fang's jeans she'd left hanging on the back of her chair.

"She's putting her pheromones on everything she thinks is hers."

"Oh right." Fang chuckled impressed by the cat's domineering attitude. Lightning leapt up onto Fang's bed claiming it as hers as she settling down on the blanket to sleep_. Imperious little squirt, thinks it owns the couch, the dressers, my bed, my jeans, me_... "_Me_!" Fang suddenly realised. "She thinks she owns me!" _Did I look like a pushover to a cat! Someone a cat felt it could possess!_

Vanille giggled at Fang's open mouth and pale complexion. "Yeah she's a cat," Vanille shrugged. "She owns you…in an affectionate cat way," she added when Fang's mouth was still hanging open. "Don't worry," she patted Fang on the shoulder, "it means you own her too...sort of."

"We own eachother? What the hell what does that mean?" Fang questioned trailing behind Vanille as she left the room and made her way down the stairs to the front door.

"It means that you have a cat, congratulations." Vanille grinned at the new cat owner and the turned to put on her shoes.

"But I thought I already had a cat..."Fang frowned suspiciously as the redhead put on her coat. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm staying over at Hope's tonight."

"But-but you can't leave me alone with her. I don't know the first thing about keeping a cat!"

Vanille turned back to her sister. "That's what books," she waved at the living room shelves full of her books on animals, "and the internet are for. I can't be your cat whisperer forever ya know."

Knitting her brow Fang worried her bottom lip with her teeth, but Vanille knew exactly how to distract the huntress' anxieties. "You know the Egyptians used Mau's for hunting."

Fang released her lip and arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yep, look it up," Vanille suggested, slamming the front door behind her.

xxXOXxx

In the middle of the night Lightning awoke in the unfamiliar room. Tipping her head back, her nose reminded her where she was. Fang's scent was strong in this room but looking around her she found that she was alone in the brunette's bedroom. She jumped down from the bed, walked to the closed door and gave it an experimental scratch. It was shut. She looked up at the window, that was shut too.

She had no other choice.

She waited for a few minutes at the door until she was sure no one was moving around the house. Closing her eyes, she slowly stretched her body forwards on her front paws. A bright, pink light began to emanate from her chest, curling and wrapping around her body like a fine smoke. Where it touched fur fell, limbs grew, ears and her tail shrank and long pink hair began to grow from the top of her head. She reached the top of her stretch, pushing up onto her hind legs and then in a sudden burst of shifting movement the cat stepped out of the smoke as a human.

Lightning dusted the rest of the fur from her skin, and put her hands above her head stretching her human body, clicking her bones into place and flexing her fingers and toes. Idly she rubbed at the glowing scarab tattoo below her collar and it dulled back to black.

She opened the door and moved down through the dark house. It was more difficult without the night vision of the cat but with practised care, and her recon from earlier that day, she was able to remember the layout of the house and walk down the stairs and through the living room without alerting the sleeping huntress.

She was stretched across the couch one arm behind her head and the other across a book lying open on her lap.

Lightning had to stop for a moment to watch her sleep.

She was beautiful, for a human. Long dark hair, pointy chin, soft skin, full pink lips and the kindest green eyes (currently hidden behind her eyelids) Lightning had ever seen. And such warmth, she added remembering what it had felt like when Fang had held her at the cat prison, how she couldn't stop herself from leaning against her. She wasn't just referring to the woman's charisma either it was literal. Fang's body radiated a comforting heat that Lightning had been denying herself all day and she had to fight the cat's urge to lay down of the sofa and curl up beside her.

Wanting to stay was a novel concept. There was a period a very long time ago she recalled, when she had called somewhere home, but the memories from that time were mixed with pain and she didn't want to remember them. The reality was that staying was dangerous notion. She couldn't afford to become attached until she had finished. Even if she had felt comfortable enough to 'own' everything in this house they were still out there. She'd already lost a week in that prison and she had to find them all before she could rest.

So why was she still standing there watching the brunette sleep?

There was something fascinating about her, some importance Lightning couldn't quite put her finger/ claw on. Curious Lightning picked up the book Fang had been reading. 'The behaviour of cats' Lightning read the title and smiled. _Well if Fang is learning to adjust to the cat perhaps I can learn to stay...at least for a little while, _Lightning mused placing the book on the side table. Every soldier needs a base, and for once it might as well be somewhere warm and comfortable.

_And with tasty food_, the cat agreed licking its lips.

She unlocked the front door and stepped out onto the porch her tattoo already beginning to glow as she quietly closed the door behind her.

_Maybe this time I'll come back._

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**So there it is, hope you liked it. Bit different from my usual stuff.**

**If you want to read some excellent fanfics of Lightning and/or Fang as a cat I'd highly recommend the stories by Freestylesmiles and ElissaCousland hidden in their Flight/Fangrai story collections. Update: ElissaCousland has deleted all their stories….me sad. **

**Thanks for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

**The other day at my parent's house a cat was sitting in their garden and staring at me through their patio windows. I felt like it was a sign from the felines to continue my story...although my sister says he does it all the time...either way that kitty can really stare.**

**A big nerdy awkward internet hug (because she loves 'em) for my FF dudette whenanxietykicksin. I really didn't like this chapter until she gave it the once over and suggested a much better ending. She's so good to me. She pretends to be such a scally wag but underneath it all she's just an ordinary muffin pirate. Ta matey. **

**Warning: Things get a little perilous for our heroines so this chapter is quite dark and violent. **

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square Enix and I'm not Square Enix. **

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The sound of the closing door awoke Fang with a start.

Bolting upright and still confused by sleep, she looked around the dark Living room. It was rare for her to fall asleep on the couch (she always preferred her comfy bed) so it took her a while to realise she must have fallen asleep in the living room and a little while longer to realise what had woken her up. (The proud huntress added to herself that falling asleep on the sofa had absolutely nothing to do with trying to avoid disturbing the grumpy feline now occupying her bed. _Nope, nope, nope, not a Etro damn thing_).

Yawning she swung her legs around into a sitting position. "Vanille?" Fang called, thinking the closing door had been her sister returning home. She turned on the lamp and checked the time. It seemed odd that Vanille would come back from Hope's house so late at night. "If that dewy-eyed charmer has done something upset her, I'm gonna kick his little behind," she muttered, figuring that the only reason Vanille would return home so early would be a lover's tiff.

Concerned that her little sister might be upset, she called for Vanille again and gaining no reply stood and began searching the house for her but Vanille wasn't in her bedroom or the bathroom. Walking past her own bedroom door she realised that the door she had closed after Vanille had left was now slightly ajar, and surmised that the vet must have thought Fang would be in her bedroom and had gone there looking for comfort from the brunette. But poking her head inside she couldn't see the redhead or for that matter, the cat she had left sleeping on her bed. Turning on the light she stepped inside and made a noise, a mix of surprise and revulsion, as her bare feet met the cat fur covering her carpet. The feeling of cat hair between her toes and the soles of her feet felt absolutely disgusting. _I read some cats shed their fur but this is ridiculous, _the inexperienced cat owner said to herself as she hopped on alternate feet, turning each foot to brush away the cat hair.

Stepping over the pile of hair she searched every inch of her bedroom for the furry culprit but couldn't find her. All the other doors in the house were closed when she had begun her search so she walked straight down the stairs and into the open plan living space, but despite scouring every inch of their living room and kitchen the cat was nowhere to be found.

And that's when Fang began to worry.

There was only one possible, though unlikely explanation for the closing front door and the absent cat. She picked up her phone and called Vanille.

"_Fang_?" The redhead answered with a yawn. "_Do you have any idea what time it is?_"

"Vanille where are you?" Fang asked hurriedly, ignoring Vanille's question.

"_I'm still at Hope's. Why?_"

"Did you just come home and get the cat?"

Fang knew it was a stupid question (why would someone even do that in the middle of the night), so she did not appreciate Vanille's snort of laughter.

"_No," _Vanille sniggered._ "I've been here all night." _

Fang cursed through her teeth. Just one day with a pet and she had already lost the little bugger. But she realised there was one place left to check.

Hearing the worried curse Vanille wasn't finding it funny anymore_. "Fang," _she said seriously, _"what's going on? You're scaring me._"

Fang pulled on her shoes and grabbed a coat while relaying to her sister everything that happened since she had woken up, "...and now I can't find her anywhere," she finished.

Grabbing a flashlight Fang stepped out of the front door to look for any signs of the cat. The huntress' trained eyes focussed on the few strands of blonde cat hair trailing down from their porch steps to a set of fresh human footprints on their lawn "Just a sec...there's human bare footprints outside," she updated Vanille and followed them to find a set of handprints either side of a strange mass that was sitting on their front lawn. Crouching down she pulled some of it and her eyes widened in horror as she realised what it was that she was holding. "Ah yuck! There's a pile of pink hair on our lawn," Fang yelped, throwing the strands of hair between her fingers as far away from her as possible.

"_Like a wig?"_ Vanille asked.

"No long human hair, roots an' all," Fang groaned in revulsion and scrubbed her tainted hand on her jeans. Vanille was however, more concerned about the cat than her sister's exposure to some gross skanky hair, and began worriedly constructing an imaginative scenario which involved Lightning being kidnapped by gangs high on mind bending drugs that made them pull their hair out.

Keeping her cool, despite Vanille's verbal anxiety in her ear, Fang stood, searched around the hair and found a single set of cat prints heading away in one direction. "No, it looks like Lightning got loose and ran off alone," she told Vanille. She walked beside the trail, following it across their lawn to the sidewalk and then picking it up again on the other side of the road next to the small woodland leading into the city park. "And she's headed into the park."

She stopped at the tree line and frowned thoughtfully at the animal tracks. Standing still she shone her torch-light around the tracks and then away from her then back across to the pile of hair. Fang was perplexed. The clues and patterns didn't make any sense to the experienced huntress. There were the cat's prints leading into the wood but what had happened to the person who had taken Lightning from the house? Where was their trail?

It didn't really matter now, she decided. She didn't have time to get angry about someone breaking into their home and stealing her cat, or stand around trying figure out the mystery of what had transpired after they'd left the house. Lightning's tracks were still fresh, and thanks to the rain this morning, nicely visible on the soft ground even in the poor light cast by the torch. The huntress judged by the timing of the closing door and the probably speed of a cat that if she started following them now, she might be able to catch up with her.

Fang set off in pursuit using her torch to follow Lightning's pad prints through the trees.

"_Okay_," Vanille said agreeing with Fang's narrated plan, _"I'm coming to you with the car." _

"No Nille, ya don't need to do that."

_"Oh right, so when you find Lightning you're gonna pick her up and carry her all the way home?" _Vanille said sceptically.

An image of Fang trying to contain the squirming, angry feline in her arms suddenly entered the brunette's head making her stumble slightly mid-stride. "No," she admitted with a defeated sigh, moving a branch out of her way.

_"Well then stop fussing. I'll swing by the house, pick up the carrier and then come and meet you," _Fang heard Hope mumbling in the background. _"No it's okay Hope, if anyone can find her it's Fang. I'm only going to pick them up," _Vanille reassured her worried boyfriend._ "Text me to let me know where you are," _she told the huntress.

"Yeah, alright."

_"We have to find her Fang," _the vet added seriously. _"She hasn't bonded with us long enough to come back and she could get lost or run over."_

"I know, I know," Fang said gently, "don't worry I'll find her. See you soon."

Fang closed her phone and shoved it into her coat pocket. She quickly looked around her as she ran. Being in the city park after dark was not safe and the faster she got out of the dark woodland the better. So she concentrated on her hunt, but made sure to regularly refocus onto her surroundings and check for any signs of danger and unsavoury characters.

Finally she pushed through the trees and into the park without incidence and took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief before setting off again. The full moon and cloudless sky meant that the light was much better out from under the trees, and in the relatively open space of the parkland Fang was able to pick up the pace, occasionally slipping on the wet grass as she ran beside the trail. From what Fang could glean from her trail Lightning's tracks only showed a few signs of hesitation where the cat had paused and slightly changed her direction. One thing was for certain, they didn't appear to be the tracks of a frightened or lost animal, Lightning seemed to know exactly where she was going and she was going there fast.

Despite being worried about the cat, Fang was finding the experience kind of exciting - the blood coursing through her veins, her leg muscles aching with the activity, the challenge, the anticipation - Fang had forgotten how much she had missed the hunt. Vanille was right, sitting behind a desk day after day, doing a job she hated was really sucking the life out of her, leaving a gaping hole that gradually filling with apathy and boredom. But at least the proud Yun was pleased to find that she hasn't forgotten any of her tracking skills as she managed to follow the animal in the dark across the entire park and out into the edge of the well-lit clubbing district of the city.

"Damn it!" She cursed turning off her torch. She really wished she had caught up with the cat in the park. Even for a seasoned hunter like herself, tracking on concrete or any hard stony ground was virtually impossible.

Fang stepped back to make way for a large group of loud, giggling ladies to walk by. This end of the city street wasn't particularly busy with people as it was more of a thoroughfare from the city bars to the trendy clubs located further up the street. But there was enough traffic for Fang to predict that any trace of the cat, hair or muddy prints, would probably have been disturbed by revellers using the road to reach the nightclubs.

She was going to need reinforcements. She texted Vanille and the redhead arrived ten minutes later looking as worried Fang when she saw Fang was without a cat.

"I'm sure I was close behind her so she couldn't have gotten far," Fang explained after updating her sister on the situation. She grabbed the spare torch from their car's glove compartment, handing it to the redhead. "Let's split up," she suggested locking the car doors with her set of keys. "You take this side of the road next to the park and I'll take the other."

"Okay," Vanille nodded and immediately set off down the road calling for Lightning as she searched the bushes and trees around the park's edge. Fang crossed to the other side of the road to start her own search shining her torch into the alleys between the expensive cafes and restaurants that lined this side of the street. They had shut hours ago and the street was becoming more deserted as the two women searched for the lost cat. The taxis and late night clubbers passing them by became rarer and rarer until eventually only Fang and Vanille were left on the street.

An hour later the two Pulsians had ended up right back where they had started. "Anything?" Vanille shouted across the road.

Fang shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. She hasn't found a single trace of the cat. "She could be anywhere by now," she said in defeat as Vanille crossed the road to join her, "either that or she's hiding in the network of backstreets nearby."

"Then we will just have to come back during the day to look for her and keep phoning around the rescue centres."

Hands on her hips Fang thoughtfully nibbled her bottom lip while she tried to think if there was anything else they could do to find her tonight. She always hated going home from a hunt empty handed but being worried about her uncaptured prey was a first. "I guess so," she finally agreed when her mind came up blank and emitted a long, deep audible breath.

Vanille linked arms with the glum huntress and began leading her back to their car. "She's micro chipped so I'm sure she'll turn up eventually," Vanille said confidently but Fang wasn't reassured. There was something about thus entire situation that didn't sit right with the brunette and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Help me!"

They froze as a woman cried out to them from the alley they were walking by. "Did you hear that?" Vanille asked looking up at Fang. Cat forgotten the two women stopped walking and peered into the dark alley.

"Help me please!" the woman cried out to them again between gasping sobs, sounding desperate and terrified.

The city could be a dangerous place and only criminals and idiots wandered its back streets at night. Fang wanted to help, of course she wanted to help but the alleyway was so dark. She couldn't see anything of what was waiting in there even with her torch, and she was not about to go in there blind and risk Vanille's safety for anyone.

Fang clenched her fists and remained where she was, but another cry for help was enough motivation for the redhead. Fang grabbed her sister's wrist before she could move. "Wait. This isn't Oerba ya know," she said seriously." We should call the police and wait for them to turn up."

"It could be too late by then," Vanille whispered harshly. "We can't just stand here and do nothing."

Vanille matched Fang's stare and the brunette could see by the determined glint in her sister's eyes that there was no use reasoning with her. Someone was in trouble and that meant Vanille was going to help the woman whether Fang was with her or not. Fang groaned. Sometimes her sister could be irritatingly heroic. "Just stay behind me," she ordered moving in front of the shorter woman. Taking her hand she turned on her torch and quickly led Vanille into the narrow passageway.

But the long alleyway was suspiciously empty. Even as she eyes adjusted to the light she couldn't see any woman or any possible attackers. It was just an ordinary alley littered with rubbish and a few large industrial bins from the restaurants either-side. _I don't like this_, she thought. It was too quiet, too dark and eerily empty. Curiosity she suddenly realised, had brought them half way down the long alley and she was not going to take Vanille any further away from the street. "I don't like this," she repeated aloud beginning to turn back to her sister.

As she turned she suddenly noticed little details that sent her feeling of unease into full blown hair-raising dread. The alley was a dead end, the only exit was behind them, the wall mounted security light was smashed to make the alley dark.

Vanille's eyes widened as a dark shadow appeared behind Fang. She shouted a warning to the huntress but it was already too late.

The hard punch from behind surprised her, striking Fang's cheek and forcing her into the alley wall and making her drop her torch. But this wasn't Fang's first street fight, although shocked she reacted intuitively, immediately lashing out at the general direction of where her foe had stood. But her fist sailed through the air without coming into contact with anything. Instead they suddenly reappeared beside Fang bringing their elbow up towards the huntress's face. This time Fang managed to turn enough to block the jab with her arm. She twisted out of its way, opening their stance intending to follow with a knee to her attacker's gut but as she adjusted her balance they was gone.

It was like fighting smoke. Her attacker moved faster than Fang had ever seen. Fang's attacker, who Fang could now see was a small blonde woman, seemed to disappear in one place and reappear in another, always dodging the huntress's attacks and laughing merrily before striking the huntress' face or ribs. For every punch Fang blocked another two would find its target and Fang was becoming more desperate as her vision began to blur with the brutal force of the hits. Breathless and dazed she lost her focus and wildly lashed swung out all around her trying to hit her evasive foe and didn't see the woman appear behind her.

"Get away from her," Vanille yelled while running to Fang's aid, using her flashlight to hit their attacker's on the head before it could strike her sister. It pitched forward holding its head in agony. Turning towards the blonde, Fang used the momentum and the closing distance to her advantage to finally give it a solid punch to side of her head that sent her attacker sprawling onto the floor.

"FANG!" Vanille screamed as a pair of arms grabbed the younger woman from behind before she could strike the woman again.

Fang looked up from her opponent and her eyes widened in horror saw her worst nightmare realised; a tall blonde man was holding a struggling Vanille captive with a hand tight around her throat and his other hand over her mouth.

"No,"' Fang screamed furiously and made to run to her sister but before she could move something hit the back of Fang's skull and she felt herself falling face first onto the pavement.

Fang had no memory of the strike or the fall and it was only when her senses slowly returned that she put what had happend together. The feeling of the wet, cold ground pressing into her clothes, the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, her throbbing, dizzy head. She heard a clatter of wood beside her and realised the woman must have used something to deliver a blow to the back of her head. Groaning and feeling sluggish Fang slowly rolled onto her back blinking rapidly as she tried to clear her blurred vision.

That sinister laugh trickling through the alleyway again, its joviality a cold contrast to what the assailant was about to do. Fang screamed in pain as the woman stamped on Fang's right shin bone. The fogginess in Fang's brain was replaced by sharp, translucent pain and she rolled onto her side to clutch her damaged leg as her laughing attacker circled the huntress and kicked the stomach hard enough to crack her ribs and silence her cries of agony.

The pain was almost overwhelming. She battled against her body's response to shut down, breathing through clenched teeth she forced her heavy eyelids to stay open._ Don't pass out. Don't pass out. Don't pass out... _Fang repeated in her head trying to focus on her terrified sister, willing herself to stay conscious for Vanille.

"Did I choose well my love?" The woman purred, smoothing down her clothes which had been deshevled by the fight and running a hand through her hair

"Yes Mother," he replied dully, comparatively unemotional and sounding almost bored. "You know how I like mine to be so very sweet."

"And I enjoy breaking the fighters, so no squabbling over the food," she said with a disturbing toothy grin and closed her eyes for a moment as she tasted the dribble of blood from the corner of her own mouth.

Vanille's hand still gripped her torch and its light flicked around the alley as she struggled against the man's grip to light their attackers' shadowy features. The mother and son, as that was how they referred to one another, were well dressed: him in a dark suit and her in a matching dark dress with high heels and a short jacket. It was too dark to differentiate all of her features but there was enough light to show she had too many teeth and her face was just...wrong, and her eyes looked like they were shining with an ethereal green glow. And so was the son's, Fang realised as the male growled lowly and bared his teeth at his mother in a hideous smile revealing rows of small narrow pointed teeth and long oversized fangs. It sent a chill down the brunette's spine that settled uncomfortably in her stomach. It was more than fear it was a primal instinct of a threat and the huntress knew a dangerous predator when she saw one.

"Why don't you feed first," she suggested to her son looking down at the fallen huntress. "I think this one deserves to watch."

Whimpering with wide terrified eyes, Vanille struggled against his hold, clawing at the man's hand that clamped around her throat as he leaned in to nuzzle Vanille's long red hair.

"Don't..." Fang mumbled groggily trying to push herself upright, "don't you touch her you basta—ugh." The woman's shoe pressed into Fang's neck, forcing her back onto the ground until she could hardly breathe let alone make a sound. She clawed at the foot on her neck and the woman's bare leg but the woman seemed unperturbed. Fang was always proud of her extraordinary strength but this woman's was like a lead weight on her throat, immovable and heavy. She leaned down towards Fang.

"Keep struggling and you can watch him break her neck instead," she promised Fang. She may be smiling but her large green, glowing eyes were cold just like her son's and hard enough for Fang to know it wasn't just an empty threat. If she moved they would kill Vanille outright, but if she waited maybe, just maybe she could find an opening she could use to save her. And so all Fang could do was watch the scene unfold in front of her. It was the hardest and most horrifying thing she had ever had ever do in her life.

There was intensity in the air, like a pressure on Fang's chest that began to build and buzz with tense energy as the creature picked Vanille up by her throat. Vanille's nostrils were flared and her eyes were wide open and now fixed only on the man as he effortlessly held her out in front of him inches from the ground. Smiling darkly he whispered something in Vanille's ear and the redhead's torch dropped to the ground as her body went limp, her hands falling to hand loosely at her sides. Fang thought Vanille had fainted but as he positioned his mouth above Vanille's, the redhead's mouth began to slowly open of its own accord until it gaped ghoulishly open, much wider than should be humanly possible. He opened his mouth wide, curling back his lips and exposing his long teeth. But he didn't bite, he breathed in, and an iridescent white light burst from Vanille's mouth illuminating the monster's features and lighting the alleyway. It was pure and bright, almost too intense to look at directly, and it was becoming brighter as his cheeks hollowed sucking in the wisps of glowing light that flowed from Vanille's mouth.

Fang was done with being patient.

Fang couldn't understand what was happening but somehow she knew it was killing her sister and that was more terrifying than anything anyone could do to her. She tried to move, pushing at the woman's foot but the woman reminded Fang of her dark promise with heel of her shoe. Fang choked and gripped the shoe to try and stop it from crushing her airway completely but the woman was too strong and continued to press upon her throat. Fang was losing consciousness fast, but she couldn't not yet, she had to stay awake and find an opening, something, anything she could use to her advantage. But what happened next was unlike anything Fang could have never have predicted.

A voice came to them through the night air, strong and clear. Fang didn't know it then but it was the voice of their saviour, and from the most unlikely of sources.

"Mreh,"

The son's mouth snapped shut and Vanille's closed as well, the bright light disappearing as her head lolled to the side. His eyes snapped to his mother. "What was that?" He snapped.

"I cannot see." The pressure on Fang's neck lessened as the woman searched the alley and Fang was able to take a few short, shallow breaths. The woman's face dropped in fear. "No...no, no. Oh god." The woman wasn't laughing anymore. Fang's eyes tried to follow the woman's fearful gaze but she still couldn't see what was terrifying their attackers.

"_Mrrrooooowww_," the voice said followed by a long threatening hiss.

Wait a second Fang knew that growl! She squinted into the dark and a pair of glowing, piercing blue eyes appeared followed by the rest of their lost blonde rescue mau_._

_Of all the bloody times to turn up..._Fang wanted to yell angrily at her cat but if she had been in a position to speak Lightning would have been unconcerned by her owner's threats and reprimands. Hissing and growling, her ears flattened against her lowered head, Lightning only seemed to be interested into their two attackers switching her gaze between them as she stalked closer. And the attention of their attackers was now solely upon the new arrival.

This entire scenario was descending into madness. As far as Fang could see it was just Lightning, it was just a cat, but the mother and son seemed to be terrified. They shrank away from her but responded in kind, hunching their shoulders and baring their long teeth at the approaching cat as Lightning came closer and jumped up onto the bin beside them.

Fang may not understand it but that didn't mean she wasn't going to use it. She pushed the distracted woman's foot from her throat and rolled onto her knees gasping for air. And as if Lightning had been waiting for that moment she bolted to the edge of the bin and with a high-pitched screech pounced at the man's head claws first.

He howled in pain releasing Vanille to pull Lightning away from his face with both hands. "Vanille!" Fang yelled as the redhead dropped to the floor. Grimacing in pain from her injured shin and ribs, she crawled the short space across the ground and turned Vanille onto her back. Vanille looked up at the brunette with a confused frown. "Fang?" She breathed a sigh of relief. Vanille's response was groggy but otherwise she looked unharmed.

Protectively crouching over her sister Fang's eyes were drawn back the fight happening above them as Lightning dodged and swiped at Vanille's attacker. Repeatedly jumping away and onto the ground as he made his strike but then using the walls and bins to gain some height and pouch back towards his head with her claws outstretched. Her attacks were fast, accurate and effective. And it wasn't long before the blood from his injuries began running down his face and into his eyes, making him stumble around the narrow alley bumping into the walls on either side as he tried to defend himself.

His terrified accomplish pushed past the pair locked in battle and without stopping to help, the cowardly woman ran for the street. Lightning with her paws locked around the man's throat, paused to watch her run away, seeming to hesitate over whether or not to give chase. And her distraction was long enough for him to pull her from his face, screaming as she tried to maintain her hold with its claws tearing his throat with shallow cuts.

Stubbornly Lightning continued to fight struggling and wriggling against the strong grip around her neck, and trying to claw at his enraged face even as he held her out of arms reach.

Seeing that Lightning was in trouble and thinking of nothing but helping her, Fang tried to get up and grunted as she thoughtlessly put all her weight onto her damaged leg. She cursed through gritted teeth and fell onto her side as blinding white pain pulsed through her body again. And could only watch in horror as he brought his arm back and hurled her cat against the nearest wall. To fast to right herself Lightning's small body slammed against the wall with a sickening thud and fell lifeless to the ground.

He pulled back his leg intending to finish the unmoving cat with a kick. "Bastard," Fang roared and utilising all her anger and adrenaline she focused her brain long enough to reach forward from her position and grab his raised leg yanking it backwards as she leaned back with all her weight on her good leg. Unbalanced he fell onto his injured face as Fang fell back. And then he was up on his feet, holding his face in his hands as he scrambled after his mother, and Fang was in no fit state to follow him. After releasing his leg she fallen hard onto her back, and exhausted by the exertion and her injuries, she made no attempt to break her fall and her brain rattled in her head as it met the hard pavement.

At least the pain had stopped, that was good was all she could think, the numbness felt like such a relief. But the loud ringing in her ears was more than worrying and so was her fading vision. Vanille was leaning over her, looking worried and saying something but she couldn't hear a thing. The huntress tried to mumble something to reassure her she was okay but she was struggling to find the words in her confused brain.

And then Vanille wasn't there anymore and she was alone with her.

Fang's head rolled to the side to where Lightning was still lying unmoving. And as she finally gave in to the encroaching darkness only one thought was clear in her mind.

_It's all my fault._

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

**So I bet you guys weren't expecting that, especially if you're familiar with my other stories (I generally write crac fics). WAKI asked me if I was in a bad mood when I wrote it and the short answer is yes. Although I was always intending for the story to go this way I just had to wait until I was in a bad mood to write it. **

**And not that it needs to be said because you're intelligent people - I mean you're reading my story so you must be *fwa fwa haw haw ha*, but no seriously - do not walk through a parkland or down alleyways at night its really, **_**really**_** frigging dangerous.**

**The fight scene may seem a bit extraordinary but as you've probably noted Lightning isn't an ordinary kitty and those are not vampires in the strictest sense. I don't want to give too much away but things will be revealed over the course of the story (I know its amazing! I have a story plan, ain't I growin' like). **

**Gonna be afk for a while, might not be back till next year (my messy life is always getting in the way) so I hope you can put up with my slow updates. As I've always said my updates are few and far between but I always finish my stories...eventually.**

**Hope you liked it and thanks for all the follows, faves and reviews. I find them really encouraging you lovely bunch of people. **


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