I walk past my tail twitching, I looked up and saw some sort of fox boy. I being a fox, thought this was strange to see a mix breed. I have even saw fox kittens but never one of these. He seemed to be holding something, or someone...

I walk through Lord Catastrophe's camp. Everything is well prepared. I shift my weapon to the other side of my shoulder. It is heavy and new, but it is the best one I could have. I hear Catastrophe's voice ringing through the tents. 

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT NAME?!"

I shudder. I don't like it when he yells.

But before I know it, a fire bursts out of no where. I run to aid them, but they are already out. Most of them. I head towards Lord Catastrophe.

"What was that?" I hiss.

"Someone must of had a bomb, or they started a strong arsen. Go, I saw them heading to the skies, but we injured their pegasus. They'll probably stop at that cliff," he says, pointing to the edge of a mountain. "But you have to beat them to it," he says. 

"How?" I ask.

"They'll fly slow. Injured pegasus become winged turtles," he says. "Now go, and don't be spotted."

I nod and slip off, heading towards the mountain. 

~~~~~~~~~~

I arrive just as the pegasus lands.

"Darn," a blonde girl says. She looks at the horse's flank.

The winged girl inspects the horse. "This isn't good. We'll have to stay here for the night until she rests."

The blonde girl nods. "You're right. We should be safe up here."

I step out into the clearing. They don't notice me. They are helping the horse.

"Okay, so in order to tend to this wound...." the winged girl begins.

But the blonde girl isn't paying attention. She has noticed me. She tries to say something, but words don't seem to form. 

"What?" the winged girl asks, looking in the direction that the blonde girl is looking in.

The winged girl gasps. "MINA!"

I unsheath my claws. She's about to run to me, but the blonde girl holds her back.

"Wait a second, something is off," she mutters.

I get my gun ready.

"Mina, what are you doing?" the winged girl asks.

I aim.

"Shadow," the blonde girl says. "SHADOW, RUN!"

"Shadow" realizes what is happening. They run towards the forest on the cliff, the opposite direction of me. I pursue them, and stop when I am closer to them. I aim and shoot at the blonde one. Her scream peirces the silence. I shot her leg. Shadow helps her up, both of them stumbling along. Shadow tries flying. I shoot at Shadow, aiming at her wings. I get the edge of them, as she yelps. They try to go faster, but I can easily get them.

Shadow finally stops, turns around, and looks at me. "Mina, why are you doing this? What happened to you?" 

She seems to be on the verge of tears. Who is this "Mina" that she keeps on calling me?

I turn around and tuck my head, covering my mouth while calling for back up on my radio. After I do, I turn back around. They are stil there. I expected them to be. It's not like they can go anywhere.  

~~~~~~~~~

I lead Shadow through the hallways of the base. Hrer wings are shackled, and her hands are cuffed. I keep a firm grip on her arm.

"Ow Mina," she mutters.

I reach her cell and unlock it. I throw her in, locking it behind her. She collapses at the door. She's crying now.

"Mina, no, don't leave me here!" she wails.

I keep a blank expression and turn around.

"Mina, what's WRONG with you?" she yells.

I keep on going.

"TRAITOR!" she screams.

I stop dead in my tracks.

I walk fast to her cell. It is made out of glass, so we can see the prisoner's every movement.

"Listen," I growl. My eyes turn dark, I unsheath my claws, and my teeth are bared.

She looks scared, and backs away from the door.

"Stop calling me 'Mina'. I don't know you. I am only here to capture and kill you. You're not leaving here alive. And if you do, that means that I'm gone. And that's not happening. You'll rot here, because you're the traitor to everyone," I spit. "You don't belong, but you belong here, in this cell. And that's where you'll ever belong."

I turn around briskly and walk away. Her screams echo through the hallway doors. But I keep on going. Nothing can get to me anymore. 

She seems to have been suprised that I was standing there. I had been standing there for a while now.

"Where did you put Icy?" she asks, her voice quivering.

"That is no concern to you," I reply coldy.

She looks at me. "Don't you remember anything? The inn? Diana? Eli?"

I just look at her. I turn around and start to walk out.

"Mina!" Shadow exclaims.

I turn around. "For the last time, my name is not Mina!"

I leave her behind, as I hear her start to cry.

I wlak up to the scientists and guards guarding the door.

"Begin the interrogation process." 

The captain has a radio call in the middle of our meeting. 

"Yes?" he asks it.

"She is not cooroperating," a voice says.

The captain nods to me. "It's your turn."

I get up and start walking towards the interrogation room.

As soon as I arrive, everybody stands up. 

"She wasn't talking," Maverly, the new scientist, says. "So we turned off the electricity and gave it a break until you arrived."

I look past her and at Shadow. She is slumped in the chair, looking despondent.

I walk into the room, and stand in front of her. I being to untie her bonds, and she rubs her wrists. I then walk to the chair across the table.

I sit down and look at her.

"Okay," I begin. "So now I know how you play the game."

She glares at me. "This is a game to you?!"

I give her a paper from a file I brought with me. 

"Do you know him?" I ask.

"Of course!" she exclaims. "That's Jake! Where is he?"

"Dead," I reply. "The troops captured him, but he was already gone. He must have got mixed up in the crossfire."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Shadow wails. "IT WAS NO ACCIDENT! YOU MURDERERS!" she yells, bursting out of her seat. I motion for guards, and they sit her back down. 

"Now, I understand that you don't coorperate very easily," I say. "And I know that hurting you physically doesn't get the work done. I understand that to some extent. But everyone has a breaking point."

I wave at the guard at the door. He opens it, and in comes "Icy."

"Icy!" Shadow exclaims.

She is being guarded by a couple of guards.

"Coorperate," I say. "Or your friend here dies."

Shadow gasps, looking at Icy, as tears well in her eyes.

She turns sharply to me. "What will it take to remind you that this--this--murderous trait isn't the real you?!"

I just look at her. What is she talking about?

She notices the confusion in my eyes. So does Icy.

"She doesn't know, Shadow!" Icy exclaims.

Know what?

Shadow looks at me. "You were once Mina. Don't you remember anything?"

I stay still.

Shadow suddenley looks like she remembered something. "Leva! Do you remember Leva?!"

I feel like I was just shot in the chest. Leva. Why does it sounds so familiar? WHy is it such a painful reminder?

Icy looks at her confused and then slowly nods.

"If this 'Leva' was in Mina's dreams...Dreams can't be erased, can they?"

Shadow nods. "You're right, I think tha-"

"ENOUGH!" I bellow.

All action stops. They both look at me, suprised.

I turn to Shadow. "You tell us the information, or we will kill her," I say, poiting to Icy.

"No, Shadow, don't do it!" Icy cries.

Shadow looks at me and then Icy.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you," Shadow says, breaking down. "I-I-"

But before Shadow can finish, people burst into the room. No, animals. No, both!

Icy cries out with joy, and so does Shadow. The guards in the room drop out, one by one.

I take out my gun, and shoot at some of the animals. A fox shoots at my gun, and it darts out of my hands.

I then use my claws and my teeth to get the job done. I take out a few animals, but then they surrond me. The fox shoots me, and everything goes black.

~~~~~

I wake up in a room that smells like dirt. I'm not bound. I sit up, but groan and lay back down. My ears ring, and my head throbs.

A few seconds, when I feel better, I sit back up. I jump a little bit. In front of me sits a white fox.

"Hello," she says.

I glare at her.

She clears her throat. "Anyway, you're in an underground facility right now with animals that your army has worked hard to destroy."

I still glare at her.

"And," she continues. "You were brainwashed by Catastrophe, but you didn't know you were. We are working hard to reverse this, but so far we don't have any results. And we don't think we ever will. But until then, you will be contained here. In a few minutes, you will be brought out for tests."

She exits the room, and I am left sitting there wondering what she was just talking about.

~~~~~

A couple of aniamls and Icy are brought into the room.

"Please come with us," a wolf says.

I'm handcuffed and brought out of the room. As we walk through the hallway, I hear gasps and other things from the animals around.

Traitor. Beast. Puppet. Double-crosser.

I turn my head slightly to look at the animals, and they stop.

We finally pause at a glass room, filled with human scientists looking under miscroscopes and bottles of colorful liquid.

And right in the middle of the room in a little seat with straps.

"That's for me, isn't it?" I mutter to Icy.

She nods. "It's mean, but it's better than a cage."

I look straight ahead. Shadow walks into the room with a couple of other people. The guards escort me to the seat, and they tie down my hands and arms.

"To start with," a scientist begins. "Do you remember your first encounter with Catastrophe. Do you remember anything?"

I look straight ahead and don't answer.

Another scientist walks up. "Do you know anything before you became one of the higher ranks for Catastrophe's army? Did he say anything important, that struck as interesting to y-"

"I don't have to tell you anything!" I spit.

The scientist nods to another scientist. She's new. Her name tag says Kat.

Kat takes out a shot. Hang on a second. Kat. Cat. Catastrophe! I nod to her slightly, a small enough gesture so no one can tell. She nods back a little bit. She's the contact he told me about if I ever get into trouble. 

She blinks at me in morse code.

O-n  m-y  s-i-g-n-a-l

O-k-a-y  I reply.

She's about to give me the shot when, lightning fast, she takes out a small ball from her pocket and throws it onto the floor. Smoke and gas fills the room. I hear some of the scientists scream and others cough. She quickly gets rid of my bonds, and we run out of the room. But we're stopped by a flanks of animals and humans who surrond us. Kat tries to run past them, but they shoot her. She doesn't get up. Now I'm alone.

I unsheath my claws and start attacking. One animal aims a gun at me. The other animals have me pinned down so I can't move. I bite and try to scratch but it doesn't work. They have armour on.

I wait for the blow of a gun when I hear a voice from the hallway.

"WAIT!" it screams.

Everyone stops and turns their heads towards the voice.

Was it Icy? No, it sounded squeakier. Was it Shadow? No, still squeakier. But I've heard this voice scream before. Who...?

I crank my head around, and there stands a girl cat with a beautiful pink dress with flowers on them. Her fur is the color of mine, and she is younger.

Suddenely the dream flashes before me.

The fire. The village. My older sister. My younger sister. Leva.

But how did she survive? 

I'm still pinned down, but Leva nods to the guards and they let me go. 

Now's my chance.

I bolt down the hallway.

I don't hear the sounds of footprints behind me. But I do pick up with my ears Shadow and Icy conversing.

"She'll...never...no where to run....send guards anyway...."

But I keep on running anyway. Eventually I trip and land flat on my stomach. I look to the side of me on the floor. I still don't know who Leva is, but she sounds like someone in a dream I had once. And I thought in the dream she died.

"Psst." I hear.

I stand up and look around.

I finally spot a girl. It's Kat.

"How did you get out?" I asked.

"They were paying attention to you, so I slipped by," she replied. "Besides, I was only shot with a temporary stun dart." 

I suddenely hear the sound of guards behind me. They catch up and pull out their weapons. But Kat seems to be ready. She takes out a tiny dart gun and shoots both of them so fast they didn't even have time to think about it. She's definentley trained by Catastrophe's army. 

"Right," I reply. "Do you know how to get out?"

She hesitates. "Yes, but...."

"What?" I ask impatiently.

"Catastophe wants you to work as a double agent for him. Act like them. Know them. Be them. Obtain information. But don't get caught. That could blow everything."

I nod. The job seems reasonable.

"Good luck," she says, running down the hallway.

I take a deep breath and head back towards the place where Shadow and everyone else is.

I walk into the place, where Leva and everyone else is waiting. 

The guards walk up to me and handcuff me. Everyone's staring.

I look at Leva and she nods. She gives me a look like, Coorperate. Please.

I shrug it off. I don't even really know that cat anyway. 

I stay curled up on the bed in my cell. I hear the door open. I look slightly to discover Leva. I shrug and continue to face the wall.

"I brought you some bread and soup," she says.

I stay silent.

"It's about dinner time. I'm about to go eat, but I brought this for you."

"What was her name?" I ask quietly, still facing the wall.

"Who?" she asks. But I can tell by the tone of her voice she knows who I'm talking about.

"Our older sister," I reply.

She sighs wistfully, as if remembering a tucked away memory. "Nira. And our mother's name was Mater, and our father's name was Imper."

I pause. "I had a dream about the destruction of a village once."

She gasps slightly.

"It was ours, wasn't it?" I ask.

"If it involved mother and father getting shot and Nira trying to protect me but dying in the process, and then our village bursting inot flames, then yes."

I nod to myself.

"In the dream, you died." I say to her.

"Yes, well, I almost did. But just as the entire village caught on fire, I was pulled out by some animals. But by the time I tried to tell them that you were still back there, you were already gone."

"What happened to me?"

"That wasn't in your dream?" she asks curiously.

"No," I replied. "My view point was that I watched you all helpless and at the end the fire ended up swallowing the village and then consuming me."

"Oh," Leva says, her voice a little shaky. She clears her throat. "Well, I think you were taken by SOCS."

"Right," I reply.

It is silent for a little bit.

"Anyway," Leva says, breaking the silence. "Will you need anything else? Do you want me to take the food away?"

I might eat later. I'm starting to get a little hungry. "No, and you can leave it. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Leva replies as she starts to head out.

I suddenely remember something. "Oh, and Leva?"

"Yes?" she asks.

"Was it my birthday the day our village was destroyed?"

There's a period of silence.

"Yes."

I acknowledge it as she walks out the door.

Now my past is kind of cleared out, but it's what's going on now that I need to focus on.

But why would Catastrophe hie me from this much of knowledge? 

~Icicle 'Icy' Soul

I pull Shadow aside into a spare room, careful not to touch her bare skin. Or else I'll reveal my secret too early. 

"We need to talk." I say quietly. "Huh?" She asks. "This is about the Powers...and how I, uh, know so much about them. I planned to meet you in Bog and Burrow, but this is a good place as any." I say softly. "Okay, go ahead." She says.

"The truth is, you're not the only one with wings." I say, very, very quietly. (It's true. I don't want to seem like I'm copying you--I've had my wings for a long time, before you had yours. Also, mine are fairy wings.) "Who else..?" Shadow asks. And then her mouth forms into a perfect o of confusion. I touch her arm, and my fairy wings burst into existance, along with my blue glow.

"My only magic, really, is being able to...feel the Powers. To understand them. Me and my twin, Anwen, are the only ones of the bloodline left...We call it the PowerFriend." I say. "What?!" "When the Powers were created, there was a fairy that was created with them. Celesti. Like a Power, but not a Power. I'm descended from her." I say slowly, trying to explain as well as possible. I toy with my hair as I speak. "She was created to protect the powers..." 

And then I sigh. "And I guess to protect you." Shadow's taking it very calmly. "Can you teach me how to fly?" She asks. I try to flutter my wings--and it doesn't work. I reach my hand towards them, and it goes through. I blush. "I don't think I can activate my wings by touching you. After all, you're only part Power." 

I gasp ever so slightly, regretting it. But they didn't hear me. 

A recap to before I got here:

I slipped out of my cell while the guards weren't looking and started wandering around. I then saw Icy and Shadow walking into a room, so I walked over to the door to see what they were talking about.

Anyway, I was suprised at what I just heard. They whispered very quietly, but my cat ears could pick everything up. Wait until I told Catastrophe.

I tried to tip-tor back, but just then, Icy and Shadow walked out of the room.

"Hey!" Shadow exclaimed as she and Icy ran over to me.

Icy looks frantic. "What were you doing?"

"Well," I say, trying to stay calm. "I was just heading somewhere to where I could tell someone that I am joining the animal's side. I have decided to change my ways."

Shadow looks at me skeptically, but Icy looks relieved.

"Well," Icy says. "Welcome to the team! We'll get you a better room that's not so much like a cell now. Right?" she says, jutting her elbow at Shadow. "Shadow?"

"What?" Shadow says. She then regains herself. "Ah, yes, yes!"

Icy walks away, but Shadow stays in front of me. She then grabs my arm and pulls me into the spare room. I try to get free, but she keeps a tight grasp.

She closes the door to the room, and locks it.

"Alright, Mina. Time to tell the truth. Spill it."

I look at her innocentley. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh!" Shadow exclaims. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. What did you hear?"

"Nothing," I say bluntly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She sighs and looks at me. "Okay. I can't do anything to make you tell me. But I know you heard it, so don't think I don't."

I shrug. "Okay."

She unlocks the door, and we walk out of the room.

Suddenley, an alarm sounds. Shadow and I look up.

"What was th-" but Shadow's interupted.

A huge boom! shakes the entire underground base. 

"Catastrophe?" she asks frantically, looking at me.

"No," I reply looking up, furrowing my brow. "He doesn't use these types of bombs....wait a second."

"What?" she exclaims.

"How many animals and people that are 'unique' do you have here?" I ask, panicking.

"Uh, I don't know, the whole base is basically filled with them."

I look at her and she finally gets it.

We both say it in unison. "SOCS."

Guards that aren't from this base stream in and try to capture us. 

Shadow fights them and so do I. But more and moer stream in, and they have weapons. We're not going to win.

"Shadow!" I exclaim.

"What?!" she yells, fighting some guards.

I fight next to her. "We need to surrender. We're going to die."

She looks at me sadly. She nods.

We raise our hands above our heads as the guards escort us outside of the base. We walk out into the open sunlight where everyone else is. Icy is lined up next to me.

"How's it going?" she asks me.

"It could be better," I mutter.

She smiles.

All of us are lined up, facing the ships and guards.

"Okay!" a person who looks like a captain exclaims. "You are being captured for experimental purposes. We are part of SOCS."

Shadow and I exchange glances.

The captain walks over to some of the guards. "This is how it is going to work," he says to the guards, not very quietly. "We do not need everybody. So the rest, we get rid off. If I point to them, get rid of them." 

The guards nod, getting their guns ready.

He starts down our side of the line. He looks at a scientist. He points to him. I look away as I hear the sound of a fire. He then goes to a guard on our side. He points to her. I hear the sound of a fire. But I still look away. One by one, the humans by our line drop out. They finally get to Shadow.

He looks at her and then looks at her wings.

"We'll keep this one," he says, making a waving motion for a guard to come.

A guard takes her to where she is facing the line. She looks at me with a slight look of fear in her eyes, but she's holding up her chin and being brave.

The captain comes to me.

"Can you talk?"

"Yes," I reply, trying to stay calm.

He waves for a guard to come over. I am put next to Shadow, letting go a sigh of relief.

He then goes to Icy. He's about to point to her when he pauses.

"Wait," he tells the guard. He leans in to talk to her.

"How old are you?" he asks.

"E-eleven," she stammers.

"Are you a scientist or guard?" he asks.

"No," she replies more confidently.

"What are you?" he asks.

"A human," she replies.

He smiles sarcastically. "Okay. Well, I'll know more in the experiments."

He waves at a guard, and she is placed next to me. She whimpers for a second but regains herself.

One by one he goes down the line. Some are placed by us, and some are not. Finally, it comes down to the last six.

A wolf, a human, another human, yet another human, another human, and Leva.

He keeps the wolf and two humans, and gets rid of the other two. He finally comes down to Leva.

He smiles at her, and then looks at me.

"You two sisters or something?"

Leva nods.

He looks back at me.

"Both of you the same species?"

She nods again.

He looks at the guards.

"We only need one."

He points to Leva, and the guards shoot her.

She crumples to the ground.

In a split second, I feel fear, sadness, regret, and guilt. But most of all, I feel a sharp pain of anger. 

I then leap at the captain and shred his face. He screams and tries to get me off, but I don't let go. The guards try to shoot at me, but Icy seems to have created some kind of force field around us. Shadow attacks the other guards. I continue to bite the captain and scratch him. Finally, more guards that came from the ships yank me off and handcuff me. They do the same thing to Icy and Shadow.

They make us stand in the same place that we did, while they help the other guards and the captain, trying to sort things out at the same time.

I finally collapse to the floor, crying and wailing. I can't cover my face with my hands to soak up the tears, so I let them flow. Shadow and Icy crouch beside me. They don't say anything. They just let me cry. Icy glares at the guards and the captian as Shadow looks ahead.

I look at Leva on the ground. I start crawling over to her, stumbling along the way, but I still do it. I finally reach her, and hold her in my lap.

I kiss her head. But I discover that she's still alive.

"Leva," I sob. "Don't leave me, please!"

She looks at me. Tears lightly and slowly stream down her face.

I take a little dandelion and put it in her fur on her head.

"Beauty," I chuckle slightly, still crying.

She smiles. She's still crying too.

I kiss her on her head again.

"Mina," she whispers weakly.

"What is it, my love?" I ask. My tears aren't stopping.

"I love you-" she coughs. "Even though our...our reunion wasn't that long, you...you've always been my sister...I don't want to leave you."

My tears flow faster. I stutter. "I-I love you too, and I don't want you to leve either. It-it doesn't matter that our reunion wasn't that long, I still love you."

I sob.

"Don't cry," she says. She's crying too, though.

She coughs and shivers. I look at her wound. It's on her side. There's nothing we can do to fix it.

"Leva, don't leave." I whisper, looking at her through blurred eyes. I blink a few times.

"You'll be okay," she whispers.

"No, I won't!" I cry.

She raises her hand to my cheek and puts it down. She's weezing and shuddering.

Icy comes over. She looks at me.

"This will go on for a little while longer," she says gently. "Do you want her to go through this?"

"No, but," my voice is shaky. Tears are flowing down my face. "But--but I have so little time and I haven't been with her for very long."

Icy puts her hand on my shoulder. "Tell me when."

I nod. Shadow comes and sits beside Icy. She's crying softly.

I look back at Leva. Her beautiful, big, tear-filled brown eyes are looking at me.

She's fading away. I cry harder. Her breathing is getting weaker. 

I nod at Icy.

She puts her hand gently on Leva's head and presses down softly, and moves her hand across her head. She lifts it off, making a fist. Leva smiles warmly. She looks at me, her eyes half-closed. I can tell Icy's energy is draining, but she continues. Her fist is still clenched. 

"Tell me when," Icy says quietly.

I nod, and then look back at Leva. 

"I love you," Leva whispers with her last breath.

"I love you, too," I whisper back. 

She looks at me and smiles. I smile back. I kiss her again, and put her head against mine.

I nod at Icy. She realeases her fist.

I feel Leva collapse on me. I cry harder now, and I wail. Shadow wails with me, and Icy stares ahead. 

The guards try to come up to me, but Icy does something so that they are thrown back about ten feet. I continue to cry. I look at all of the animals and some of the humans around me. They all have their heads down, and some of them are also crying. I look at the guards. They look ahead. 

"All right!" the captain exclaims. "Time to get moving, lets go!"

The animals and humans are escorted onto the ship.

"Let's go," a couple of guards say to Icy and Shadow. But they wait for me.

"Come on," a guard says, trying to get me up.

"No," I say. "What will you do to this place?"

"We are going to burn it." the guard replies.

The guard tries to get me up again.

"No!" I scream.

I fight the guard, but then another guard points a gun at me. Shadow and Icy nod. I have to get up.

I look down at Leva one more time.

"Goodbye, my love," I say.

I'm taken to the ship. Icy, Shadow, and I look back, only to see the camp errupt in flames. We are taken on the ship, and fastened in seats as we take off. I am between Icy and Shadow. I'm exhausted. I fall asleep on Icy's shoulder, and I feel Shadow's wings gently wrap around me. 

All information has been gained:

Conclusion, thay have almost minimal information on any threat to the Animals. The conquest of humanity can begin in earnest.