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I stared in horror at the crumpled body lying awkwardly against the wall. "Shit, he's dead!" I exclaimed, noticing the unnatural angle of his neck. I didn't mean to kill him! But he just kept pulling on my tail and calling me that stupid name! Then one particularly hard yank and I backhanded him across the face. I'd just reacted, but my reaction sent him flying into the wall. I'd managed to keep my strength hidden until now, but I couldn't hide this!

"What's all that noise?!" an angry male voice called out.

They'll kill me! I've got to get out of here! I looked around frantically, but the only window in the room was barred. "Oh, what the hell!" I said in resignation as I took hold of the bars and pulled. The bars were tough enough, but the wall they were attached to wasn't. With one good yank they came free with a shower of sawdust and splinters. I threw them aside and kicked out the window, frame and all.

Before I could jump through the window the door was smashed open by an angry, armed man I knew all too well. He glanced aside at the dead trick and, snarling, brought his weapon up and fired. The force of the impacts drove me out the window and to the ground below, face first. Groaning, I pulled myself to my feet and limped away. He fired after me, but I got around the corner before he could hit me.

"Good thing I heal quick." I grumbled to myself. I didn't know this area at all well, they never gave me a chance to look around, so I just went in the opposite direction I came from and tried to put as much distance between myself and my 'owner' as I could.

Before long I was walking normally again, my wounds causing me almost no pain at all. Wow! I didn't know I healed that fast! A couple of Thai policemen spotted me and called for me to stop. Shit, I know my 'owner' pays these guys off! I can't let them get me! I began running away from them. They shouted and ran after me, but they couldn't keep up and were soon far behind me. I turned corners at random to make sure there were plenty of buildings between us so they couldn't see me. After running for a few blocks I ducked into a yard to catch my breath.

Once I got my breath back I started walking again. A few minutes later I heard shouts behind me and knew that I didn't have much time. My outfit screamed 'whore' to the world, so I'd have to find some other clothes if I was to have any chance of getting away. I spotted a clothes line nearby and turned towards it.

I was in luck, there was a dress that looked like it would fit me. I pulled it down and was about to pull it over my head when I heard footsteps behind me. I spun around and there was one of my 'owner's' men with an AK47. There was nowhere to run, I'd walked right into a dead end! Growling, I threw aside the dress and started running at him, hoping he wouldn't react fast enough. No such luck; he was firing almost as soon as I started moving. I dodged wildly, but he emptied his banana clip with more bullets hitting me than missing. As he struggled to load another clip I took a swipe at him with my claws extended and ripped his head right off of his body.

I sank to the ground in agony, dully watching his head roll as his body slid bonelessly to the ground. This is it, huh? At least I took a couple of the bastards down with me! I collapsed wearily onto the discarded dress. Absently I watched the dress soak up my and the man's blood as I lost consciousness.

Loud yelling in Thai woke me and I blinked groggily at the body lying next to me. I'm still alive?! How? I wasn't bleeding anymore, but I felt pain lance through me with every movement. Maybe I should lie here for a while longer... I gave up that idea when I heard what the yelling was about. Great, they're looking for me, with orders to kill me on sight now! I guess I'd better get moving.

Regretfully, I started up. I couldn't keep from mewling in pain as I shifted onto my hands and knees and slowly pushed myself onto my feet. I began walking, holding my left hand to my side where the worst pain was and using the other to prop myself up against the wall. I felt weaker with every step and my vision began closing in until it seemed like I was walking in a tunnel. It's no good, I'm too weak. I've got to find somewhere to rest. I found another yard and hid in a corner to rest, but there wasn't much cover. I was able to stay there for ten or fifteen minutes, but then I heard my pursuers again.

Sighing in frustration, I stood and began walking again. I felt like some of my strength had returned from even that short rest, and my injuries weren't slowing me as much. But I would still need to rest soon, and I needed clothes.

I stumbled along for a while, but I could hear my pursuers closing in. The locals were probably all too willing to tell them where the bloody tiger woman whore went; they were too afraid to do anything else. I couldn't fight them like this, I needed to rest before I ran into them. I found an empty house and ducked inside, hoping no one saw me. Grabbing a blanket I crawled into a bed and pulled it over me, covering myself completely. I tried to sleep, but the yelling kept me awake. I was finally starting to nod off when someone opened the door. I didn't dare move and waited.

Two sets of footsteps could be heard as two men began searching the house. It was a small house, so it wouldn't be long before they got to me. I knew they'd be thorough, it wouldn't do for one of their slaves to escape, after all. I slipped quietly out from underneath the blanket and waited behind the half open door.

I waited until the first man was in the room before slamming into the door, knocking the second man back. The first one turned on me, but I knocked his gun aside and disemboweled him with a slash of my claws. I pulled the door open and left him to try and put his insides back where they belonged. His partner was on the ground, groaning and clutching his head where the door had struck him. I kicked his gun away from him and fled.

I heard him yelling behind me and berated myself for not at least knocking them both out. That's what I get for panicking! More men were coming and I stumbled into an alley to get out of sight. My wounds still hurt, a lot, and I felt like I'd pass out soon if I didn't rest. My pursuers were close behind me, so I kept moving. Rounding a corner I came face to face with two well-armed thugs. Shit, I'm dead!

Just as I was thinking that I felt someone grab my shoulders and I was suddenly yanked off the ground. I stared down in amazement as I was lifted up above the gleaming corrugated metal rooftops, and then even above the banyan trees! I looked up at the smiling, winged woman who was carrying me and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Cat. And you look like you might be in need of a career change about now..." she replied.

I just gaped at this beautiful winged woman when I realized she was that famous mutant, Kittyhawk! How lucky could I get?! Everyone knows she's a champion of mutants, even if some people try to make her out as a terrorist. I'm saved!

I relaxed and found myself drifting off as Kittyhawk, or Cat as she called herself, carried me towards the pier. She set me down softly on the pier next to an amphibious plane. "You look pretty wiped out, you'd better lie down." she said. I couldn't argue if I wanted to; I was barely aware of my surroundings. She guided me over to the plane and handed me off to a fox woman. She practically carried me to a nest of blankets and laid me down and I was out instantly.

I floated in and out of wakefulness for a while. I heard the fox woman say something about my body cannibalizing itself one time, and Cat say something about hunting another. Or maybe they were the same time? It was all pretty confusing. Finally I sank into a deeper sleep.

When I woke my body ached all over, I had a horrible headache, and my stomach was growling and rumbling like it would consume me from the inside out! I groaned and tried to sit up, but I was so weak I almost passed out from the effort.

"You're awake?" a woman asked. I glanced around and saw the fox woman was sitting next to me. She looked worried so I nodded. "I bet you're hungry, right?" Another growl from my stomach answered that question. "I'll take that as a yes. All I've got are some berries Cat found right now, but Carl is cooking something up for you. Here, I'll prop you up so you can eat without choking yourself." she said. She propped me up and turned away to get a box of berries and a bottle of water. I took a drink first as my throat was really dry, and nearly choked on it. After a few small sips I was able to drink it more easily. The bottle was empty before long and I started on the berries.

There were a lot of berries, but they didn't last long. I wanted to ask how long I'd been there, or what her name was, but I got really drowsy and dozed off. When I woke I was still kind of achy, but the headache was gone. I was still ravenous, though. The fox girl was sitting next to me again and noticed I was awake right away. "Who are you?" I asked weakly. My voice was kind of scratchy.

"My name's Tina. I've got some more water here for you, and some stew, if you're up for it." she replied. I nodded and she stepped out of the plane. She returned a moment later with a bowl of stew and another bottle of water.

"Thanks, I'm Kim." I said as I took the bottle. I guzzled about half of it before digging into the stew. It was rather bland, but I didn't care. I devoured it quickly. "I don't suppose there's any more of this?" I asked hopefully.

Tina laughed, "Don't worry, there's plenty! I'll be right back." She took the bowl and returned a moment later with it filled. I drank some more water and got back into the stew. I was amazed at how much I was eating! After my fourth bowl of stew and two bottles of water I was finally feeling full.

"Wow, I've never eaten so much at once before!" I said, amazed.

"We expected it. You must have lost a lot of blood. You were looking rather sunken and we think your body was cannibalizing everything it could to keep you alive. You'll probably eat a lot for a couple days before you're back to normal." Tina replied.

"Yeah, I was surprised that I survived my injuries at all. I knew I healed faster than before, but not that much faster!" I said drowsily.

"Sounds like you're ready to sleep again." Tina said.

I yawned, "Yeah, I guess so..."

The next thing I knew it was light out and Cat was curled up next to me, sound asleep. I felt a lot better and was able to sit up on my own without any trouble. Glancing around the crowded cargo area of the plane I realized Cat wasn't the only one there. It was hard to tell how many because at least one of them was partially covered by her wings, but it looked like there were a few other girls there, too. By their clothes they'd been enslaved whores like me. I guess she was busy last night!

My stomach growled so loudly I was sure it would wake them all up. Guess I'm not done healing yet, like Tina said! I couldn't see Tina in the plane so I crawled out of the blanket nest and made my way out onto the pier.

The first thing I saw as I climbed out of the plane was these huge pair of silvery white wings. As I stepped around to get a better look I saw that they were connected to a woman with similarly colored hair. She was beautiful, but what really caught my attention were all the swords and daggers she had strapped to her body, and the sword she was busy sharpening. A board creaked under my feet and with a blur of motion she spun around and had the tip of her sword at my throat before I could react! I didn't dare breath until she relaxed and lowered the sword.

"Sorry about that, we've had a tense time." she said apologetically. She slid the sword home in the only empty scabbard she had strapped to her and held her hand out, "I'm Kestrel. What's your name?"

I couldn't help but think that my 'owner' would have loved to get his hands on this girl! Cat girls are pretty common, but winged girls like this were pretty rare. I'd only seen one other winged mutant in Thailand and she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Kestrel. "My name's Kim. Where's Tina?" I asked.

Kestrel nodded farther down the pier. I followed her gaze and saw Tina and two men were blocking off the pier. All three of them were armed with handguns and wore body armor, by the looks of it. "Like I said, we've had a tense time. The people who fancied themselves the owners of you and the others tried to take you back a couple of times. Cat fought them off, but she's sleeping now. She'd be up in an instant if she was needed, but we're trying to keep any excitement well away from the plane so she can sleep." Kestrel explained.

"Let me guess, the police have been conspicuous with their absence?" I asked sarcastically.

Kestrel nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure they're making plenty of money off of those creeps. For now, anyway." She said the last viciously and I almost felt sorry for my former 'owner'!

"Has Tina gotten any sleep?" I asked, remembering her helping me last night.

"She's had some. When the guys got back they took over guarding the plane so she could get some sleep. I'm afraid I stirred them up even more than you did, though, and they followed me here. That's when the first fight happened. Fortunately Cat was here or things would have been rough. You sound like you're from the US?" Kestrel noted curiously.

I nodded, "Yeah, I am. I was here on vacation when I was grabbed. I don't even know by whom. I just know they injected me with something and a few weeks later I was a tiger woman."

Kestrel gripped the hilt of her sword angrily for a moment before calming herself. "I'd heard they were doing things like this, but it still pisses me off! I take it you didn't get any 'useful' abilities out of your mutation so they tossed you aside?" she said.

I smiled wryly at that, "Oh I did! I just didn't let them know about them! I couldn't hide the fact that I healed fast, but they seemed to expect that. They didn't test how quickly I heal, thankfully, or they might have kept me around. I didn't even know I healed as well as I apparently do, until that guy emptied an entire clip into me and I survived! But it was my strength that I kept hidden."

"Why'd you do that?" Kestrel asked curiously.

I shrugged, "Wouldn't you? I was a prisoner, and I suddenly found myself with super strength! It wasn't enough to get me out of the cell they had me in, but I figured the less they knew about what I was really capable of, the better chance I'd have of escaping. I didn't know that being seemingly without useful abilities would get me sold to those slime or I might have done things differently!"

Kestrel gestured for me to sit and, sitting next to me, began sharpening her sword again. "I think you did the right thing. From what we've heard being 'useful' is only a good thing if you're tractable. If you couldn't convince them that you were docile and obedient they would have killed you as being too dangerous to keep around." she said as she worked. I could see that her sword had taken a bit of a beating and would take a while to get all the nicks out.

"What happened to your sword? You said that Cat fought off the slavers." I asked.

"She did. But I also told you I stirred them up more than you did. I found a couple of girls that were being tortured because they refused to work. I got so mad I killed all the slavers and took the girls away. We were fired on a couple of times so I had to set them down and deal with them. My swords got quite a workout!" Kestrel replied.

"So is that what you're here for, to rescue slaves?" I asked.

Kestrel nodded, "Yes. When Cat heard about the Bangkok Zoo she was ready to tear it apart with her bare hands! I was more than willing to help her, too! Mike, Paul and Tina volunteered to help and here we are. I had to rest after rescuing the two girls as I'd been hit a couple of times, so I only got the two so far. Mike and Paul found one, but they're going to have to stay here to guard the plane, now. Tina was already doing that, so that left Cat to find more. Between finding food for you and the others, fighting off those slime, and rescuing a couple more girls she's really earned her rest!"

"So you've already rescued six?! What are you going to do with all of us?" I asked apprehensively. I was overjoyed to be out of there, but I was beginning to worry about what their plans were. I didn't want to escape one enslavement only to find myself in another one!

Kestrel looked at me oddly and said, "Do with you? We're setting you free, of course! I don't think it's safe for you in this area, but our pilot Carl will fly you back to the states if you want."

"So you'll fly us anywhere we want?!" I asked incredulously.

Kestrel shrugged, "Well, we don't have unlimited fuel. We may have to get creative to get everyone where they want to go. I could carry someone wherever they wanted to go in a reasonable amount of time, and Cat could do it even faster. Or you can come back to the island with us. We've got a friend who is trying to get it set up as a protected sanctuary for mutants. Even if that doesn't work, Cat will do what she can to keep the island safe. And the rest of us will help her as best we can."

"So you want more people to protect the island?" I asked.

"That's up to you. Cat wouldn't make you do anything. Besides, we came here expecting to rescue low powered, traumatized mutants, not exactly your best choice for fighters!" Kestrel replied.

"Yeah, I guess not." I agreed. She kept working out the nicks in her sword while I thought about what I'd do now. I'd just been focusing on staying alive up til now. I thought about going home, but there was no way to prove I was still the Kim that left the states...how long ago? Months, at least. There really wasn't anything waiting for me at home, anyway. But I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved in their fight at the island, either. Remembering why I'd come to Thailand in the first place, I felt guilty for not wanting to get involved. I'd been part of the problem, hadn't I? Shouldn't I do something to help the other mutants who found themselves in the same predicament I did?

"Kestrel?" I said. She stopped running the whetstone over her blade and turned to me. "I really don't know what I want to do, I certainly can't go back to my old life! Do you think...that I could help you guys?"

Kestrel smiled beautifically and gave me a one armed hug. "I was hoping you'd say that! We can use all the help we can get. But you're not doing anything but resting for now, okay? I suspect you were rather undernourished even before your injuries. You're all skin and bones and you don't have a lot of loose skin to indicate that you were in better shape before your body started cannibalizing itself to keep you alive."

That idea gave me pause. "I...you might be right. I really don't know how this body should look. I've been a prisoner the whole time. Do you think I'll get even stronger?" I asked.

Kestrel shrugged, "Probably. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up being one of the strongest of us. Tigers are pretty powerful animals, after all."

I mulled that idea over and wondered how different things might have been if I'd been eating enough all this time. Maybe I would have been able to break out of that cage after all? But then, maybe that's why they fed us so little, so we couldn't escape. But if I was really going to be that strong... "Other than being ravenous, I'm feeling a lot better. Maybe I could help you guard the plane?"

"Let's compromise. I'll get you another bowl of that stew, and you can guard the other girls from inside the plane. OK?" Kestrel replied.

A loud rumbling growl from my stomach ended any argument before it could start. "Okay, for now." I reluctantly agreed. I figured at the rate I was healing up I'd be ready to more actively help pretty quickly. Maybe I'd even get a chance to deal with some of those goons that worked for the guy who thought he owned me!

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 To Be Continued...in Kitty Hawk Part 11
 

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« KittyHawk - Part 11 »

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Thanks again to Laika for the character of Kim and the Bangkok Zoo! Thanks Laika!! :)