The Reawakening

[Bumblebee848]

Ada stood cautiously, scanning the area around her. A bald eagle had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, accompanied by a teenage boy. It didn't take much for her to put the pieces together, and she cast a curious glance at Ashfur. The feline was crouched in a defensive position, her fur bristling as she growled. Ada didn't suppose the bear was helping any.
"Wha-" Nothing could mask her surprise, however, when she saw Jakob turn the corner across the street from her, with a...was that a hyena? Either he had run off and illegally obtained his favorite animal, or he had been sucked into...whatever it was that they were dealing with here.

~BAD~

Biting her lip, Ada crouched by Ashfur again, lightly touching her palm to the the cat's neck, attempting to calm her down. Raising a hand over her head, she waved widely, trying to get Jakob's attention.
"Jakob! Hey, Waltz!" As she waved, motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she saw Mishka standing right in front of the cafe, doing her own waving.
"Come on! You have to hide them before the police show up!" Turning, Mishka looked straight at her, and Ada straightened. "Hurry up!"
"Thank god," Ada muttered, standing. "At least she seems to have a plan. Come on, Ashfur." When she walked forward, though, Ashfur did not follow.

~No~

"What? Ash, come on!"

~Ashfur~

It would have amused Ada under normal circumstances, to find that the feline had grown so possessive of her name, but for now, the stress of the situation kept her serious.
"What's the matter?"

~Bad~

An image flowed into her mind, of a wild bear, vicious and feral. Ada shuddered, and to be quite honest, wasn't too crazy about the idea of being in close proximity of a bear herself, one that could presumably maul her in less than a second. Without the slightest idea of what was going on though, Ada felt helpless and desperate, deciding that she was willing to take that chance.
"Come here." Stepping forward, she swiftly hooked her thumbs under Ashfur's front legs, and lifted her up. Being twice as large as the average house cat, she didn't weigh any less either. Immediately, she began to hiss and growl, wiggling wildly, trying to find a way to hook her claws into Ada's skin. She succeeded twice, then settled from clamping her sharp teeth firmly on Ada's wrist.

~Down down down! Ground! DOWN!~

"Ow!" Ada grit her teeth, fighting to keep her grip on the cat despite all the abuse she was currently enduring. "If I put you down, will you come with me?"

~No. Down. Ground.~

"I'm not putting you down until you cooperate, or I'll just have to carry you over there myself. If you make me do that, I'm keeping you between me and the bear." Ashfur gave an agitated hiss, her tail winding slowly through the air.

~Yes. Follow. Down.~

"I knew we'd understand each other." Bending over, she placed the angry feline down lightly, and turned to run after Mishka. To her delight, Ashfur trotted after her, though she made her feelings on the subject very clear. Unpleasant images of Ada being bitten and scratched filled her head, which she wasn't terribly surprised by, but the image of her being sat on by the bear admittedly took her off guard. "Is that really necessary?" She asked, her tone of voice scolding.

~Yes. Sit.~

Rolling her eyes, Ada made her presence known to Mishka.

"Ok, Ada, right? Can you and...can you two crouch down behind the bin for a minute? The back door will be open in a few minutes, but..." She finished off with a shrug. Without saying anything, Ada nodded, and walked towards the bin. Ashfur, once again, did not follow.
"Ash..." Trying to turn the tables, she conveyed an image of her grabbing Ashfur by the scruff of the neck, and giving her a bath. She smiled smugly as a jolt of pure alarm made it through their...connection. Shuffling behind the bin, Ada crouched and patted the spot beside her invitingly.
Ashfur padded over resentfully, holding a constant image of Ada being sat on by the bear, and Ada sighed in annoyance. At least the cat was cooperating, regardless of what she was thinking in that unpleasant little mind of hers.

[Xartarin]

Breathing heavily, Nathan slumped down against the wall onto the tile of the employee bathroom. He wiped his face, sweaty and covered with a few minor cuts. The weasel had chewed on his arms and scratched up his face something fierce, but nothing serious. He was just playing around... mostly. Kyo was resting on the other side of the room, panting similarly. The human had put up a fair fight of running around the bathroom and waving his arms about As the very least they had worn each other out. After a minute or so of rest, Nathan rubbed his face against his arm and noticed some blood there. "You don't... have rabies... do you?" Nathan asked. Kyo didn't respond. It might've been because Kyo's vocabulary seemed rather limited at this point, even mentally, but Kyo probably didn't know what rabies or other zoonotic diseases were. Nathan sighed, and forced himself to stand up and walk over to the sink. He looked in the mirror. Noticeable, but not too bad. No black eyes or anything, just a little blood. He turned on the faucet, and pooled some water in his hands to splash on his face.

It froze, obviously. Oh, right, THAT. Nathan had almost forgotten about that.

Nathan tossed the ice chunk away and decided to go find a first-aid kit. However, when he opened the bathroom door and walked back into the storeroom, he noticed someone he didn't recognize, who wasn't wearing one of the coffee shop aprons. Very long hair, and bearded, probably a hobo that had wandered into the back of the store and was now opening the garage for some reason.

"Hey, guy, you can't be in here!" Nathan shouted, pointing his finger menacingly and approaching. He was too late though, and the garage door was already opening quickly, revealing a bear and a bobcat, and their companions. While Nathan had seen the bear, after the freezing magic and attacking weasel, he had almost forgotten about it! And now the bear was there, with a friend, and probably about to kill them. Nathan started stammering a little, taking a small step backwards, trying to back away slowly.

~Calm. Similar.~ Said Kyo, hopping out of the bathroom before climbing up Nathan's back and onto his shoulder.

"What, are they ferrets?"

~fool. Here to help.~ Kyo replied.

Nathan took a deep breath. "Well I guess I already got magic and an animal sidekick, so whatever!" Nathan murmured to himself. Then he said speaking to the people that just showed up in the garage door, "Well, hurry up and come inside, but I sure hope you all have an explanation ready if the cops find us."

[Nemaisare]

It seemed Mishka got the point. Not a hard thing to manage when one knows full well that bears didn’t belong in the city and police sirens weren’t the best thing to hear coming towards you. He hoped she’d have a solution better than his, considering this was her city, she ought to know somewhere they might dash off to. He didn’t particularly like the thought of hiding a bear, and probably they should try hiding the rest of these animals too, in a building. Bears, and whatever that strange looking dog was, did not belong in buildings. Neither did eagles, for that matter, but he assumed the bird could just fly off, after all, he didn’t have to worry about the raven bothering anyone just now because she wasn’t here.

He didn’t really like the thought of lying to police either, but at least he’d done that before. Once… And not for nearly as good a reason as this. He only hoped these animals weren’t going to cause the problems those cars were coming here to try and prevent. Still, when she turned back from whatever she’d been doing with the bear, mindgames or other, with that determined phrase and an apologetic expression, he supposed that meant he might as well get used to not liking the whole situation. He sighed, but her revealed plan was at least better than stuff the bear in the dumpster. Or run like hell… He supposed he really ought to give her that.

And he followed after them, a little more reluctantly, considering he didn’t have this, whatever the hell connection thing, with the bear. It was a closed space, that alley, and it would get even closer if more folks came along to join them. He didn’t exactly like close spaces that consisted of walls and bears. Who did?

Still, he was close enough to hear her muttered damnit, and to catch the signs when she explained what the problem was. Well now… Shit. The sign just happened as he realised this meant she was about to leave him alone with a bear while everyone was panicking. Not to say that not panicking was likely to help just now, but he really didn’t- Oh thank the gods! God! Jesus, whoever! Grinning brightly through his beard, and not bothering to hide his relief, Al nodded quickly, signing his shared feelings about having missed her and headed back around to the front as soon as they finished the quick hug. He brushed by a young fellow who seemed just as gung-ho about getting near a bear as he did. Excuse me. He signed as he passed, sparing a thought to wonder if there was some reason the boy hadn’t turned tail yet. Maybe he was with the eagle. Crazy as that sounded.

Ducking to pick up his guitar on the way, he dropped both it and his backpack off just inside the front door and hurried through the empty café. The places always felt weird when there wasn’t anyone else in them. But he ignored the feeling that he wasn’t supposed to be there, and most especially that he wasn’t supposed to be in the back room, in favour of opening the garage door. Now he just had to remember what these door openers looked like… And… He paused with a hand on the button, glancing at the young man who stepped in from the bathroom.

Al offered him a brief wave as he gave the button a push, offering the only answer he could to the fact that he shouldn’t be there. He shrugged, and let the sight of a bear, a lynx? and a few folks do the talking for him. Was that a lynx? Bobcat? He didn’t know the difference, it was a cat, anyhow, and now he felt a little guilty over the start he’d surely given a kid who already looked like he was having a bad day.

Grimacing, he held a finger to his lips and patted the air, hoping he’d stay calm and wouldn’t start shouting or something. But then, the strangest, most out of the blue occurrence made him blink. A mousey little weasel hauled itself onto the other man's shoulder. Well now, this was just getting to be a regular walk in the park, wasn’t it?

Al couldn’t help himself, he scowled at yet another piece of proof that the world had gone wrong and then frowned with a little more concern at those scratches when it seemed like the fellow wasn’t going to wind up running screaming down the street. He did bring up a good point as he invited them all inside though. If the police were coming, someone had phoned the bear in, so they’d know it was around here somewhere. They might look inside, they might not… But it was best they not take that risk. If they were just looking for a bear right now, someone telling them it had moved on would likely do the trick well enough. He’d do it himself, but talking would get the job done faster than signing, if they had questions.

He stopped eyeing those cuts on the man to look back at Mishka, trying to catch her attention. People see you with bear? He let you come to the front? We talk. Say bear gone after people run. He not let you he, he come out. His pointing towards the bear changed to pointing at the fellow with a miniscule weasel on his shoulder. He figured if the bear would let her and no one had seen her with the bear, they were set, but those were two big ifs. But whether or not it was her or Nathan, it needed to be someone wearing a uniform for this place. Talk with police. Small… rat hide. His memory skipped out when he tried to remember how to spell weasel, so he settled for the closest animal he could think of and used its sign instead. Hopefully, weasels couldn’t understand ASL. With the way things were going today, he’d not be surprised though.

[Jakhi]

With everyone all crowded into the alley things were beginning to get a bit tight by the time Al opened the door and motioned them all inside. Mishka twined her fingers into the bears fur and lead him towards one of the back corners underneath a window. She figured that if he sat, or crouched, or...whatever bears did when they weren't standing, underneath the window then if someone looked in he'd be out of their line of sight. Now she had to find a way to repeat that trick for the rest of the animals. Luckily the loading door's windows were high enough up that no one would be looking in them unless they had brought a ladder.

"Will you stay here while I go out front?" Mishka asked the bear, hopeful that he would decide to have a nap or at least sit calmly back here so she could redirect the cops in some random direction. She looked anxiously around the room, watching everyone getting settled. Things were going reasonably well, all things considered, so far only Nathan was bleeding. Mishka crossed her fingers and counted that as a plus.

Realizing how long the pause had been she looked behind her towards the big brown hulk, he had curled himself as far into the corner as he could, even shoving some boxes out of his way so he could huddle right against the wall with a bit of a barrier between him and the rest of the room. ~Stay. Listen.~ Along with the, slightly sullen, words he sent a picture of himself lying comfortably in the corner, but listening through their mental connection to what Mishka was doing. There was a very stern protective and cautionary note to the thoughts...A smile flickered across her face, Mishka had been taking care of herself for so long she had forgotten how nice it was to have some one else who was concerned for her.

"I'll be careful." She assured him before she turned to the rest of the group. "Ok, we can't let the cops come in here, obviously," She gestured around her to the animals who were spread around the room in various states of excitement. "I think it's going to have to be me who talks to them...I'd send Nathan out but..." She let the sentence trail off as she gestured to him, scratch covered and with little bite marks clearly visible. "Any other ideas?" With any luck someone else would have a brilliant plan, maybe even one that didn't feature her lying to the police!

[Bumblebee848]

Now that the door was open, Ada was beginning to doubt everything about this plan. Not only were there suddenly more people on the other side, but there were plenty of animals sitting around that looked...less than happy with the situation. She watched in awe as Mishka simply twisted her fingers into the fur of the massive brown beast, and led him in. At least Ada assumed it was a him. The fact that the creature wasn't mauling them all was enough to amaze her, but his docility was utterly astounding, and she doubted she would ever see something like it again.

"Why aren't you that nice and cooperative?" She asked, turning to Ashfur. The cat crouched, and let out a low growl, punctuated by a soft hiss at the end. It was enough to get the point across, but a single, supposedly undermining, word still permeated her thoughts.

~Furless ~

Clearly, her hair, or lack thereof, was not a respectable trait. Giving a strained sigh, she rubbed her temples, which still ached from the night before, and Ashfur's thoughts, feelings, and images were only making it worse. When you added in her attitude, Ada felt like she may as well just dig a hole and crawl into it to die alone, pitiful and sad.

~Weak~

"Yeah, I'd like to see you deal with a hangover." Ada snapped back, grabbing the cat by the scruff of her neck. What followed was something that she was completely unprepared for. Ashfur's eyes glazed over, and she immediately tucked her limbs and tail in, allowing Ada to easily carry her. As she did this, a series of memories washed over both of them, completely overriding Ada's entire mind.

Ashfur's mother, taking care of her from birth. Clamping her jaws over the scruff of her neck gently. Carrying her over great distances to safety. A sense of love. An overprotective instinct. A vague threat. Safety. Relief. Love. Care.

Shocked by the sudden mental attack, Ada's fingers slackened, and she dropped the yowling feline to the ground.

"You had...a very caring mother." She said slowly, not sure what to make of what had just happened. Every emotion in that brief but vivid flashback had been so potent, they had felt like her own, something she herself had generated. They were incredibly similar to the feelings she associated with her own mother.

~Mother. Good.~ Ashfur agreed quietly.

The experience had clearly been a sobering one, as neither was able to come up with a satisfying insult towards the other one.

"Come on, you heard them. We've got to hide you, unless you want to be a pretty zoo attraction." Ashfur was surprisingly silent as she padded after Ada into the storage area, eying everything suspiciously. Immediately, she picked a cozy spot between some supplies, as far away from the bear as she could manage. Squeezing herself in between the boxes, she worked to to arrange herself primly and comfortably, aiming her nose at the sky. She looked like a snooty pampered brat, but Ada didn't complain. It was as good a place as ever both out of sight and out of the way. Now she just had to find something to do about herself.

As Mishka spoke, Ada lifted her head to look at the woman, wondering if she had anything to do with this...whatever this was. Nonetheless, she looked uncomfortable about the prospect of facing the police.

"Any other ideas?" She asked. After a moment of hesitation, Ada lifted a hand, and automatic reflex from her classes.

"Uh...I can go. I'm studying drama, after all. I can just consider this practice in improv." She shrugged, feeling a little nervous. "Plus, that silly cat over there doesn't look like she'll be needing much babysitting." The more she thought about it, the more it, unfortunately, made sense.

[Jakhi]

It had been a slow day, hell it had been a slow week, and everyone was on their very last nerve with paperwork and the other officers surrounding them. The coffee pot had called it quits after the third day straight with only a handful of calls, all covered by the uni's and nothing worth passing along to the bored and frustrated detectives. The only option had been to send out the secretary to Tims every few hours, but she always brought donuts back as well as the caffeine fix and the sugary carbs hadn't done anything to help the general mood along.

Lyle sighed heavily as he pretended to go over the paperwork in front of him one last time. The Lieutenant was eying him suspiciously from his office, and Lyle knew as soon as he was done typing this up he'd be called in. He kept his eyes on a slow alternating path between the long completed document and his computer screen, set to a youtube video of some dumb cop in the states beating up some smart ass. He had to work to keep the smirk off his face as the cop hit the kid again. Must have been a new guy, too dumb to get the gangster out of range of the dash-cam before he hit the punk. Oh well, for every one that goes down there were two more just like him waiting for the chance to get a baton or gun in their hands.

The video ended and Lyle made a big show of putting down the form, stretching, downing the dregs of his coffee mug and looking around blinking as if he was trying to make eyes exhausted from staring at a screen refocus. He ran a thick hand through his hair, smiling to himself as he saw the other detectives trying not to glare at his still-full head of hair. Well into his fourties and it showed no sign of thinning or receding. Finally he stood, shifting his weight onto his feet and pushing himself out of his comfortable desk chair. For the thousandth time he told himself he'd get to the gym next month, for sure this time. He didn't want to be like the rest of the detectives with their cushy rears and football physiques gone soft around the middle from too many beers and barbeques.

He couldn't avoid it anymore, so he looked straight into the Lieutenants office where the older man had his feet propped up on his desk, an ice pack resting on one knee. 'If the old asshole plays up that bullet wound one more time...' Lyle thought to himself, forcing a look of concern onto his face as he headed over. Lyle wasn't the only detective gunning for the job and hoping Lieutenant Mackey would retire soon, but he felt he was the only one who deserved it. Sure, there were others who were more senior, or maybe smarter, but Lyle figured that between his on the job work, and what he did on the side, he was entitled to a bit more respect; not that he'd ever admit to half of his out-of-work dealings, he'd never risk that nice fat pension, but a few of the other guys knew enough to stay out of his way.

He took his time walking across the open floor between his desk and one of the two offices the station had. He might as well take his time, it wasn't like there was anything else to do. Turns out he got lucky. Just as he reached the Lieutenants threshold the phone started ringing; cell phones, desk phones, every phone in the place seemed to start going off all within two minutes. Lyle raised his eyebrows and shrugged, as if to say 'Sorry boss, duty calls.' The Lieutenant gave him a wry look in return, but he picked up his own phone as it began buzzing and waved the detective away.

Lyle answered his phone, then almost hung up when he heard a nearly hysterical voice saying "Dear God, Lyle. It's a bear! A goddamn bear!" by the last word he knew who it was, a woman he'd dated on and off for years, currently they were off but she always called him with every little thing.

"What? Judy, slow down." Lyle tried to calm her down, but their relationship had never been a good one, and in any case when Judy got stressed she started yelling and throwing things. She'd always seen through his honest cop front anyways.

"I'm serious Lyle. It's a mother fucking bear." There was a lot of static, screaming in the back ground, lots of noise and confusion muffling her voice. 'Luckily' Judy's piercing voice managed to cut through the racket and he heard her loud and clear. "I'm at the coffee shop, and - JEEZUZ! Where are you going?! Hey! ohmigod! She's going outside, the waitress is going outside."

Lyle didn't think it was the time to tell her that if she was at a coffee shop then the girls behind the counter were called baristas, but the thought crossed his mind with a flick of irritation before her words sunk in. "Who's going outside? Judy?! Hello? Goddamnit!" He swore as he slammed the receiver down. The call had cut off before Judy could tell him what was going on, but what ever it was Lyle realized that if he had any intention of seeing Judy again he'd better be the one to get over there. As he stood and grabbed his jacket he saw that he wasn't the only one getting frantic calls. Half the calls had ended and a few desks were empty, other cops were running or moving quickly towards the exit.

For the first time in ages Lyle was glad he hadn't rated a stall in the parking lot the last time one came up, with his car parked on the street he'd be the first guy out of here if he hurried. He high-tailed it o to his car, jumped in, and looked up to pull out into traffic. he rolled his eyes as he saw the total gridlock. There was no way he'd get there anytime soon, but a report of a bear was a pretty serious one and he'd have to try in any case. He turned on his siren and his lights and pulled out into the space those demanded, weaving and jerking his way through at a snail's pace. He watched traffic try and re-order itself in his wake, and nearly screamed at what he saw in his rear view mirror.

"Jeasus, mother fucking christ! Holy shit!" Progressively more creative and erratic language poured from him in a river of profanity as he slammed on the brakes. It was a good thing he'd only been traveling at 10 km/h, but now he was a screaming police car blocking traffic.

All of that, sirens, blasting horns, and screaming drivers faded into the background as he slowly shifted his car into park, without taking his eyes off his rear seat, and turned to face the coyote that was sitting there. She was tiny, and he knew instantly that this was a female. He'd shot plenty of coyotes growing up on the farm, and he knew a bitch when he saw one, but she had an air of femininity about her that was undeniable.

~Human~ The voice in his head was clearly hers, rich and deep and seductive. She had tilted her head to the side as she spoke into his mind, and Lyle couldn't help but admire her dainty features and pert ears. ~Drive~ There was no question that it was a command, and Lyle found himself steering the car into the nearest parking lot before turning off the lights d sirens, then killing the engine. he turned back to her, his blue eyes meeting her intense brown gaze and he felt himself drowning inside of her.

~~

~Go~ her voice was a touch kinder now, more familiar, but harder in a way as well. He had no idea what she had seen, but he had a bad feeling that the images of himself gloating over piles of dead coyotes hadn't gone over well. It didn't seem to matter to her though, it was as though she had as little control over the situation as he did.

He started the car, and jolted as she hopped into the passenger seat to stare out the front window. Mentally shrugging he pulled out and headed for the coffee shop, luckily Judy was a creature of habit and there was only one place she's accept her fixes from. Too good for Timmies, it had always driven him crazy to take her out for coffee when she insisted he drive her all across town. Now he was glad she had stuck to her guns, it made his job that much easier.

~~~

Mishka thought for barely a second before she nodded. "That will work." She had spoke to the girl many times, mostly just about the weather and other small talk as Mishka made her drink, but Ada had always seemed calm and well-spoken. hopefully she'd be able to send the cops off on some wild goose chase long enough that they could all find somewhere to go to figured this all out. her head was starting to ache and Mishka reached back and loosened her ponytail before rubbing at her forehead. "Alright. Perfect. Um..."

The next step was escaping her, so she closed her eyes and tried to force the thought into being. ~Out. Front.~ The deep voice in her mind was soothing, and a few of the aches smoothed away at the caress his voice held. Taking a deep breath she nodded again, to herself, and then said "I know she'll be ok without you, but will she be ok with the rest of us?" Sitting back here with the bear was one thing, but sitting back here with the bear, a weasel, a lynx - without...her person? - and a hyena, of all things, would be a bit nerve wracking.

"If you think she'll be ok I trust you." Mishka felt herself saying, as her mind was overwhelmed with the urge to touch the bear. "Hang on..." She said, and turned back to him. ~What?~ Mishka concentrated and sent the thought the the animal she was beginning to think of as her partner.

A vision of herself clasping her forearm to Ada's, as the Bear stood next to her and touched noses with the lynx filled her mind, along with reassurance and a sense of significance. "Ok, if you say so..."

With a shrug and an awkwardly cocked eyebrow Mishka turned back to Ada. "Um..I know this sounds weird, but the bear wants us to clasp arms..." she let the sentence trail off as she saw the glazed over look in the other girls eyes. 'Is that what I look like when he's speaking to me?' she thought as she watched the girl looking down at the cat next to her.

Nathan caught her eye, in the brief pause, and she exchanged shrugs - his almost toppling the cute looking ferret-thing that was on his shoulder - with him, and gestured to the cabinet with the first aid supplies. "Maybe you should put something on those." She suggested, keeping her hands low and her tone non-threatening. With this many wild animal in the room, even if they did seem to be under some sort of control, she thought it might be a good idea to keep things fairly calm...if they could.

[Nemaisare]

Al watched quietly after he’d offered up the best suggestions he could think of on short notice, waiting as everyone got comfy in the storage room. How they all fit was something of a miracle, especially when one of them was a bear and the only small animal among them was a weasel. Those things had tempers on them, so he’d heard. Or maybe that was stoats… He wasn’t sure there was any difference.

Mishka was the one who ought to be making the decisions. Her and the other fellow who worked here. She was a responsible woman and knew the place, he might have been the oldest one there, but that didn’t mean he’d know what was best for them, just how to get things done. She seemed to have something of a plan already set out, so he’d leave her to it. The more interesting thing was how the cat and girl got along, which didn’t seem all that well, and trying to figure out what that dog-thing was. He was certain it was familiar, but the name escaped him. Although it certainly didn’t look native to Canada, so he imagined it was probably something from a zoo. He hadn’t been to one of those in years, so being rusty on his world animals wasn’t surprising.

Thinking about how all these animals were here and interacting reminded him that they were two short. That eagle had flown off, which was probably lucky since it was a bit cramped, and that black buzzard wasn’t here yet. He felt a distant irritation when he thought that, and grinned idly. She’d stopped to rest just outside the city, and had been paying more attention than him to what was going on. So she wouldn’t be coming in to see him for as long as she could manage. He sent her an image of the park he could remember, thinking she might find some good shelter or maybe an abandoned lunchbox there if she looks a little. Might be a good distraction from the pull she’d let him feel a little of on the ride here. He wasn’t sure, but he’d appreciate a raven’s intelligence, nonetheless.

At least she was trying not to be trouble. For the moment, though given the way she’d helped him greet the day, he had a feeling that was a rarer facet of her personality than it might seem.

And thankfully, while he’d been distracted, another had volunteered to head out front, so it looked like he wasn’t needed. That was fine with him, and he began looking around for a place to sit, or maybe just something to sit on. It might be a good idea if someone stayed near the garage button. Just in case… With a wry twist of his mouth, Al rubbed at his lips and conceded to himself that he was being rather pessimistic. Then again, looking around, where he was standing seemed to be the safest place. Away from all the claws and teeth and well, furry terrors… He wasn’t sure why everyone seemed to be handling this so calmly, but it was probably for the best, still, while the humans weren’t up to much, if one of their new friends started acting up, he knew he’d be much happier if he was as far from them as possible.

So while they all figured out their own place, he dragged a box over to where he’d been standing and settled on it quite comfortably. He was used to making do with what he had. If a box was it, he was fine with that. But maybe he shouldn’t just sit idly… And when Mishka told the boy with his weasel that he should look after his cuts, Al raised his hand slowly to catch Nathan’s attention and gestured the young man over while also pointing at the first aid kit. He wasn’t a trained nurse or anything, but he did know a thing or two about having injuries seen to, and one of those little facts was that faces were hard to do by yourself. So were most other injuries unless you enjoyed hurting yourself. Besides which, he wanted to be doing something useful with his time.

[Bumblebee848]

"You sure...?" Ada asked, as she got a similar image from Ashfur. Ashfur herself didn't seem too pleased about the image that she was being...compelled to send to Ada, but it looked like she didn't have much of a choice. There was something greater than all of them at work here. Ada shrugged, turning back to Mishka. "Well, alright then."

The bear lumbered closer to them, and Ada immediately cringed back, taking light shuffling steps back, but remained roughly in place. Ashfur let out a low growl, but remained similarly glued in place. Ada took a breath, pulling a face that screamed 'this is crazy', but she reached out and gingerly grasped Mishka's arm. At the same time, Ashfur allowed the bear to lightly touch his nose to her.

A curious sensation overtook Ada. She seemed to be heating up, as if her heart were lighting itself up in a small flame, and spreading the warmth throughout her body, pumping fire through her veins rather than blood. While the thought seemed unpleasant, she felt content and at peace, warmed in the way that you warm your hands over a campfire on a cold night. At the same time, she suddenly became vividly aware of the three others; her eyes were closed, but she could feel Mishka, not just her arm, but her presence, body, mind, and soul. Ashfur stood a few feet away from her, relaxing slowly as similar sensations overtook her -- in Ada's mind, she could almost see the bobcat as a ball of living fire, the bright warm substnce coursing through her small feline body. Amazingly enough, she could feel the bear just as well, standing over them, protective and possessive, ready to lead them through whatever trials they might face, and prepared to stop at nothing to protect his human counterpart.
Ada felt all of this in a split second, before it receded into a much duller form. Opening her eyes, she let go of Mishka's arm, staring in awe at them. She could no longer sense every aspect of their existence, but there was something there that wasn't there before, some kind of bond that held the four of them together.

"What...just happened?" She asked, staring at Mishka in awe. She had always liked the foreign woman, but never had she felt so...close to her before. Before she could say any more, however, an image forced itself violently into her head, of humans barging in on them and gunning them down. "Ash, they're not going to shoot us."
The cat growled from where she sat, unbelievably close to the bear, and glared at Ada, the expression almost human.

~Go~

"I got it, I got it..." Ada muttered, unbottoning her coat. She quickly arranged it to look asif she had hastily thrown it on, and ran her fingers through her hair with expert precision. When she was done, she looked as if she had been frantically running in some wild trajectory. Taking a small breath, she gave Mishka a curt nod, and ran right out of the garage.

As she turned the corner, she tried to make herself look wild-eyed and panicked. It wasn't too much of an act, as she wasn't expecting the police to be this close. Throwing her arms into the air, she took a deep breath, and shrieked at the top of her lungs. "BEAR!" Waving her arms, she continued to try and get the officer's attention, even though she had gained it long ago. "There was a god damn bear here! Oh my god, do something!"

[Jakhi]

When she clasped the other girl's forearm Mishka had felt a wash of sensation jolt through her body followed closely by a strong sense of togetherness. It was as if she suddenly just knew she could trust Ada and Ashfur, that they would stand together and protect each other. The two animal had such a strong presence, the lynx radiating fire and heat, and her bear strength and steadiness.

When her eyes flashed open as the initial wave receded she found that she stared straight into Ada's equally astonished hazel eyes; she suddenly knew that they had felt the same sense of connection. Mishka thought she could almost feel the other girl's anxiousness receding as she focused on sending a wave of reassurance and confidence towards Ada. She smiled, nodding in return before Ada ran out to the front of the store.

It had been a decidedly discomfiting experience and Mishka found herself sitting heavily onto a nearby box, the bear settling himself onto to the floor next to her. "Wow." Words seemed to have completely fled from her mind, so rather than try and explain what had occurred between herself and Ada, she looked around to see what the rest of the people were doing.

Al and Nathan were sitting near the staff table, a box of first aid supplies between them as Al dabbed at the boy's wounds and Nathan tried not to flinch. The cute little weasel alternating between diving into Nathan's apron pocket and climbing the barista like a tree.

In the corner closest to Mishka the boy who had arrived with the eagle was sitting quietly on another box, observing with wide eyes everything that was going on, and next to him Jakob and his hyena were crouched seeming to be deep in conversation with each other. Shaking her head to herself Mishka wondered what on Earth had happened to cause such huge changes, and such a profound mental switch within herself, that this was beginning to seem natural after such a short period of time.

For a time she simply sat there, allowing her mind to adjust slowly to the idea of having a bear to share her life with, since that was clearly his intention, and wondering what it would be like. She watched the other people in the room, and found herself stroking Ashfur's coat as the cat paced over to sit next to herself and the bear. The lynx was clearly nervous about Ada being out front without her, and now the presence of Mishka and the bear - once terrifying to her - had become calming and comforting.

~~~

Lyle wove his way through traffic, trying to focus on the road rather than the petite coyote curled up on the passenger seat. He had his lights and siren on, but traffic was blocked on nearly every street he encountered. 'The damn bear will have wandered off by the time I get there.' Lyle grumped to himself, ~Go.~ The coyote said in him mind, so he went.

The more he tried to think about why he was listening to a coyote, and why she seemed to have a sort of hold over him, the more confused and angry he got. A dozen times over the course of their drive he opened his mouth to tell her off, tell her to get out of his brain and leave him alone to do his job....and each time he found himself in nearly physical pain at the idea of her trotting away from him and never coming back.

By the time he finally got to Cool Beans he had worked himself up into quite a mood, so much so that he didn't realize the whole street was empty as he parked his car sideways to block off the area. As he got out of the car a girl jumped out of the alley, waving her arms frantically and looking agitated about something. After staring at her blankly for a minute his brain jerked back into motion and he reached for his gun, bellowing "Where, which way did it go?" As he un-holstered his weapon and pointed it at the ground between his feet.

He tried to dance gracefully around the car to get closer to the girl, but it had been years since he was on active duty and the desk time took it's toll on his movements. "How long ago did you see the bear?" He barked at her, keeping his eyes roving around to check any possible hiding spots. The alley behind the coffee shop was dark, since the girl had come from that direction she had probably been running away from the bear. "How fast was it moving? Where did it go?"

He took a few steps towards the alley, readying himself to run in that direction as soon as she pointed her finger.

~Listen~ the mental voice of the coyote was insistent, trying to force him to calm down a bit and talk to the girl. Lyle concentrated on trying to tamp down whatever hold she had on him, and only realized he'd missed what the girl had said when he looked up to see her staring at him, as if waiting for a response.

'Dammit' He cursed himself mentally, forcing his attention onto the girl. "Repeat that." His tone was still gruff, but he tried to modulate it a bit more. He was a big man and he knew he could be intimidating sometimes, a fact he was not at all above abusing if he felt it would help a situation. She repeated herself, looking a bit, understandably, miffed, that she had to. This time he caught what she had to say.

[Xartarin]

The cuts on Nathan's face were too small to use the bandage strips on, just tiny scratches from Kyo's tiny weasel claws. However, Al was making liberal use of the disinfectant, which thankfully wasn't having the same reaction with Nathan's skin that water had. It stung, and Nathan winced, but it didn't freeze. Somehow the medicine staying liquid was now a highlight of his day, a pleasant surprise in a sequence of tedium and annoyances.

As Ada left the building to talk to the cops, Nathan gave a look around the storage room at the other animals. He hadn't bothered to pay attention to who was with who, but Nathan figured they all had animal partners and powers, like him. Great, we're like the Sailor Scouts or something, Nathan thought, and grimaced at the prospects. "Psst, Kyo, how many days of classes am I gonna miss on this spirit journey?" He whispered to the weasel, who had crawled onto his shoulder.

~Don't understand~ The weasel tilted his head slightly while looking at Nathan, and then scurried around the room, poking at corners. Apparently he was looking for some stray mice to eat.

"Of course you don't," Nathan muttered to himself. Al finishd applying the disinfectant, and Nathan thanked him. Kyo returned jumping onto his leg and then up his back as Nathan was rubbing in the disinfectant. Nathan lost his balance just a little as Kyo got on his back, bumping into the staff table behind him a little bit.

Apparently this made Kyo a little uneasy. ~Sit down,~ Kyo commanded.

"No, I'm good, actually."

~SIT DOWN, BOY.~

"Alright, geez." Nathan spoke in hushed tones when he was talking to Kyo, sure that the others couldn't hear the weasel's mental speech the way he could. Nathan dragged a box out from under a rack and looked at what was inside. Coffee beans, predictably. Nathan took a seat and said "Happy now?" to the weasel. The weasel did not respond.