I went hunting first thing in the morning and then met with Thomas. We planned my route and I stuffed the maps in a bag and tied the strap around my waist so it wouldn't interfere with my wings. The compass I strapped to my wrist. I said goodbye to everyone and left.

I flew high and fast. I'd never really cut loose like this, and wondered why. It was so exhilarating! I must have been flying two or three times faster than I ever had before.

I checked the compass to make sure I was going the right direction. I had no idea how long it would be until I reached the first landmass. Thomas seemed to think it would take all day, but I was hoping to do better than that.

Flying for hours at a time gets dull fast, even at the speeds I was flying. I was inclined to play a little to break up the boredom, but I wanted to get there as fast as possible.

After a few hours of flying I spotted land in the distance. How fast am I flying? I wondered. Another hour or so later I was flying over land. The shape matched what I'd expected, so I knew I was in the right place.

I landed to take a look at the maps. The longest part of the flight was from the island to here, so I decided to change my route and fly directly to Australia from here. It would be almost as far as what I'd already flown. I didn't feel the least bit tired, so I took flight again and, after orienting myself with the help of the compass, flew on my way.

By the time I reached Australia I was getting a bit tired, so I landed in the first secluded area I saw. I took a nap there under a tree. When I woke up I was starving, so I went hunting again. I was still sleepy after that, so I slept a while longer. It was almost light when I flew off again.

Finding the city the girl had been seen in was easy enough. I knew I had almost no chance of finding her on my own, though, so I looked for the hospital where Thomas' friend worked. The maps Thomas gave me included one of the city with the hospital marked, so it wasn't too hard. The hard part would be getting to talk to Thomas' friend before security came to kick me out.

Lacking any better ideas I came in for a careful landing in front of the hospital and walked in. As I expected, everyone stared at me wherever I went. There weren't any screams, which shows there had been enough mutants coming through here for me not to be too strange.

I tried to act normal as I walked up to the desk and asked for Dr. Morris. The woman at the desk gaped at me until I asked again. She shook herself and asked why I wanted to talk to him. I told her I was a friend and she said she'd let him know I was there. I felt immensely uncomfortable sitting down there in plain sight of all these gawking people, but what could I do?

Thomas must have warned Dr. Morris that I was coming, because he walked in only a few minutes later. "Would you be Catherine by any chance?" he asked as he walked up to me. I was impressed that he didn't react to how I look.

"Yes, Thomas said you'd seen a girl here a few times who is homeless. He said her name is Shawna Carson." I answered.

Dr. Morris nodded. "Her parents abandoned her here after she mutated. She has raccoon traits; ears, eyes, claws, fangs, and tail. She's four feet six inches tall and can move quite quickly. She's been in here several times since her mutation after being beaten. There are a lot of people around here that hate mutants. For whatever reason they've taken a particular dislike to her." He said.

"Yeah, Thomas said she'd been attacked a lot, that's why I'm here. Where can I find her?" I asked.

Dr. Morris shrugged. "I'm not sure. I only know where she was when she was found after each beating. Hopefully that's where you can find her." He said, and told me where she'd been found. It didn't mean a lot to me, so he showed me on the map. I thanked him and headed back out.

As I was walking out of the hospital a group of people were approaching the door. They focused on me immediately and I got the distinct impression they were looking for me. They didn't look friendly.

"Look at that, another freak!" One of them yelled out. The others joined in on the verbal attack. I figured it was only a matter of time for it to become physical, so I ignored them and headed towards the clearing I landed in so I could fly away. I didn't really think it'd be that easy, but I had to try.

Sure enough, they moved to block my path. "You're not going anywhere, freak!" their leader yelled at me. I'd had enough at this point, so I just kept walking. One of them tried to push me back, but all he managed to do was fall down when I kept moving as if he wasn't there. Several of them grabbed onto my arms and wings. A quick flap of my wings sent most of them sprawling. The others fell down when their efforts to hold me back failed and they were dragged along with me instead.

I didn't want to carry them up into the air with me, so I shook them off. By now they were finally getting the picture that they were no threat to me and retreated. I wondered if they were the ones who beat up Shawna. At that thought I was tempted to go back and return the favor, but I managed to curb that impulse and fly off.

I didn't find Shawna where she'd been discovered before, so I circled the area looking for her. It wasn't long before I saw another group of thugs chasing a very small girl. Another group cut her off and they encircled her so she had nowhere to run. I didn't like the looks of this at all. They started beating on her, and I dived.

One of them had a baseball bat and seemed ready to hit her in the head with it, so I targeted him first. I smashed into him and used his body to cushion my landing. I hadn't extended my claws yet, so I figured he at least had a chance of survival.

Several other people were still beating on the little girl, so I jumped over the nearest ones and landed astride the unconscious girl. They were perfectly happy to turn their murderous rampage on me. Another flap of my wings sent several of them flying while I grabbed one with my tail and pulled him down. I was crouched over the girl to protect her, so I used my wings and tail to do my fighting.

Once I'd reduced their numbers a bit I stood up and tackled the nearest one. His head hit the ground with a dull thump and I turned on the next nearest thug with a growl. At least half the thugs were now injured, unconscious, or running away. This guy decided the latter was a good idea and ran. The others started to charge me, at least until I picked up one of their fallen friends and threw him at them. Several went down under the unconscious body and the rest lost the will to fight and fled.

I had to knock a few more heads together before the fight was over. Finally everyone was either unconscious or had fled. I walked over to the unconscious girl and noticed she had raccoon traits. This must be Shawna. I thought. I picked her up and flew her back to the hospital.

Once again I walked up to the desk and asked for Dr. Morris. As before he arrived pretty quickly. Seeing the girl in my arms he led me to a room and had me set her down on the bed. "So this is Shawna, I take it?" I asked.

Dr. Morris nodded absently as he checked the extent of Shawna's injuries. When he was finished he said, "Her injuries don't look nearly as bad as usual."

I nodded. "That would be because someone interrupted her attacker's fun. They didn't appear to enjoy being on the receiving end and ran away." I replied.

Dr. Morris laughed at that. Just then Shawna stirred and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Dr. Morris. "Dr. Morris?" she asked groggily, "Why are you here? Did they get you too?"

I looked over at Dr. Morris, wondering if he understood her strange question. "What do you mean Shawna?" he asked.

"Well, they set a trap for me so they could kill me this time. So this must be heaven. And here you are." Shawna explained. She sounded like she was still kind of out of it.

He looked at me questioningly. "Yeah, it looked like they were going for the kill." I answered his look.

Shawna looked over at me when she heard my voice. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Catherine." I said with a smile. "But you can call me Cat if you like. I'm here to offer you a home where being a mutant isn't a liability."

She smiled dreamily at that and closed her eyes, fast asleep. "She probably won't remember this conversation. She took a heavy blow to the head." Dr. Morris said.

I frowned at that. "I guess the guy with the bat had already hit her once before I got to him." I thought out loud.

"Baseball bat? I guess they were out for blood. Thank you for saving her." Dr. Morris said.

I shrugged. "I couldn't very well let them do that, could I? Besides, she's why I'm here. How long do you think it will be before she wakes up?" I asked.

"Her injuries are a lot less severe than usual, so I'm guessing a few hours. She heals very rapidly." Dr. Morris answered.

I nodded and took a seat in the only chair in the room. "If that's all then I'll just wait here." I said.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink while you wait?" he asked.

"That's probably not a bad idea." I said.

"Anything in particular?" he asked.

"Nothing sugary, please." I replied. He nodded and left. I glanced over at Shawna. I knew she was sixteen years old, Thomas told me that, but she looked a lot younger. She was truly tiny. I guessed she hadn't eaten much since she started living on the street. She was cute under all that dirt and blood though. Her raccoon traits were obvious when one saw her long fluffy tail.

Dr. Morris came back later with a sandwich and water for me. It was different eating like a human again, but the sandwich really didn't do much for me. I'd still need to hunt before we left Australia. Hopefully that wouldn’t put Shawna off, assuming she agreed to come with me.

Dr. Morris left us alone and I dozed while I waited for her to wake. I was awoken by a shrill scream.

"Aaaahhhh! What are you?!" Shawna yelled in fright.

I tried to smile reassuringly, but I forgot my sharp teeth and fangs. She seemed even more afraid of me after I smiled. Sighing I said, "Please relax Shawna. A friend of your doctor sent me here to help you."

"Dr. Morris?" she asked fearfully.

"Yes." I nodded, "His friend, Thomas, asked me to help you. I live on an island with eleven other mutants. It's not fancy, but we're comfortable there. And you don't have to worry about anyone giving you trouble for being a mutant." I explained.

Shawna took a while to absorb all that. "You're the only ones on the island?" she asked.

"Yes. We were crewmates on a ship that was attacked by pirates. We ended up on the island, which was uninhabited, and set up a little village for ourselves. It's primitive compared to most places, but we do okay. By the time someone actually found us we'd mutated, so we decided to stay there. Especially after we heard how other mutants are treated, like you." I answered.

"So you're a recruiter or something?" she asked uncertainly.

I smiled at that. "That's not too far from the truth. Especially when you consider the reason we decided to invite other mutants to our island." I replied.

"What reason?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, I'm the first mutant. I got a much more concentrated dose than anyone else so I'm a lot stronger and tougher than other mutants. Some people want to get their hands on me to study me and my mutation. I assume so they can weaponize it. I'm not inclined to cooperate with that, so they sent armed soldiers to get me." I answered. I figured I should let her know what she was getting herself into ahead of time.

Shawna gasped. "They sent soldiers with guns, and you're still here?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Now we're worried about any future attempts. There aren't enough of us to keep watch effectively and still get everything done that needs to be. So we thought we'd invite mutants who are having a tough time where they're at. They get a, mostly, safer place to live and we get a more secure position. Hopefully we can get enough mutants there to discourage any further attacks." I replied.

After a few minutes of thought she said, "So either I stay here and probably get killed by those mutant hating jerks, or I go with you and maybe get killed by soldiers out to get you?"

I shrugged. "That's pretty much it. I'll understand if you don't want to get involved, but it looks to me like you'd be better off with us." I said.

She laughed bitterly. "Of course I'd be better off with you. I'd be better off just about anywhere else! But how could I possibly be any use to you? I'm tiny now, and I didn't get super strength or anything." She said dejectedly.

"Oh, I don't know. I think you'd make an excellent lookout. I'm guessing you have excellent night vision, right?" She nodded. "And you can climb well with those claws of yours. Your small size means you can hide better, and your speed means you can alert us to danger quicker. You're just about ideal, really." I answered.

"Really?" she asked uncertainly.

"Yes, really. You'd be an asset to us. There's no doubt in my mind about that. And I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe. Would you like me to come back tomorrow so you can think about it?" I asked hopefully.

She shook her head, "No, that's not necessary." She answered. I drooped a bit at that, I hated to think what would happen to her here on her own.

"I understand." I said and stood to leave.

"Wait! I meant I'll go with you." She said hastily.

"Oh!" I said and dropped back in the chair. "Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes." She nodded, "I'm sure. I don't have a chance here. At least with you I will." She answered.

"Okay!" I smiled. "Once Dr. Morris says you're safe to travel, we can go. Uh…I should warn you that I'm going to have to eat before we leave Australia." I said uncertainly.

"Why would I need to be warned about that?" she asked with a frown.

"Well…I inherited a lot of animal instincts with my mutation. Particularly hunting instincts." I replied tentatively.

"So what does that mean?" Shawna asked.

I fidgeted a bit before answering. "I hunt wild animals and eat them. The only food I really get anything out of is a…fresh kill." I explained hesitantly.

"Ewww! You eat them raw? That's gross!" she exclaimed. "Do all of you do that?"

I hung my head as I answered, "No, I'm the only one that became an animal."

"You're not an animal!" Dr. Morris called out sternly as he walked into the room. "You're not the first mutant I've met that had unusual dietary needs. That doesn't make you an animal. In fact, I'd say you're a hero."

"Hero? What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.

"Didn't you save Shawna's life?" he retorted.

"What?" Shawna asked.

Dr. Morris turned to Shawna and said, "Catherine here stopped those thugs from killing you and fought them off. You would most likely be dead right now if not for her."

"Really?" She asked wide eyed. Dr. Morris nodded. She turned to me and said, "Wow, thank you!"

Dr. Morris said, "We're not the only ones who thinks you're a hero."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

In answer Dr. Morris walked over to the TV, switched it on and set the channel to a local news station.

"…flew off. A young boy saw this happen." A reporter was saying. She turned to a boy of eight or nine years. "What did you see?" she asked him.

"I saw this big hawk flying in circles. Then it flew down and tackled a man with a baseball bat. Then she fought off all the men. Then I saw that she was a kitty cat, not a hawk. But she had wings like a hawk. So I guess she was a kittyhawk. And she picked up a raccoon girl and flew away." He said excitedly.

"The boy's mother managed to take a picture of this mutant with her cell phone." The reporter said, and a picture of me flying with Shawna in my arms was shone on the screen. The resolution wasn't very good, but it was obviously me.

"That woman is a hero." The boy's mother said. "She saved that little raccoon girl's life. Those men were trying to kill the girl, and then tried to kill her."

At that point Dr. Morris turned the TV back off. "It just repeats after that." He explained.

"See, I'm better off with you, even if you do eat disgusting stuff!" Shawna said with a smile. I smiled weakly back.

"So, Dr. Morris, when can Shawna leave?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

He examined Shawna. "As I expected, she's already healed up. She can leave at any time." He answered.

"Ready to go Shawna?" I asked. She nodded. "Thanks for your help Dr. Morris." I said.

"I should be the one thanking you! I did what I could for Shawna, but it wasn't nearly enough. Thank you for getting her away from all of this." He answered gratefully.

I nodded uncomfortably. I knew that where I was taking her wasn't necessarily safe. Still, she didn't have to worry about being attacked just because she's a mutant. And she didn't have to live out of a dumpster!

Shawna said goodbye to Dr. Morris and we walked out. Shortly after we left the hospital a group of reporters, including the one from the newscast we saw, came running up to us. "Kittyhawk, why did you attack those men?" one of them shouted out. I remembered the kid from the TV had called me that and hoped it wasn't going to catch on.

I was just about to answer that when another one yelled, "Are you kidnapping this girl?"

"Where are you taking her?" Another asked. The questions kept coming too fast to make sense of. In frustration I picked up Shawna and spread my wings. The reporters backed up hastily to avoid them and I was able to get to a clear area and take off.

Once we were in the air I asked Shawna, "Are you okay?" She nodded, so I kept flying.

I set us down in the same area where I'd napped before. "Will you be okay here while I go hunting?" I asked her. She nodded, so I set her down and flew off to find me something to eat.

That didn't take long, so we were soon on our way again. Shawna was so small and light it was almost like carrying nothing at all.

By the time we reached the first stopping point I used on the way over I was getting tired. I landed there and found a place to sleep. I curled up around Shawna and covered us both with my wings to keep us warm. I told her a bit about the island and the other people there before we fell asleep.

In the morning I went hunting again. Once I'd eaten I returned for Shawna and we flew off towards the island. I was surprised, as we came in sight (for me, at least) of the island, that the ship Thomas arrived on was nowhere in sight.

I almost used the Cat Pad to land, before remembering that I had a passenger that might not handle that well. Instead I made a careful landing in the square. Most of the village was already there, and the few that weren't straggled in shortly after I landed. I set Shawna down and almost as soon as I straightened up I found myself in Paul's arms. I guess he missed me!

When we came up for air I saw that Shawna was grinning widely at me. I blushed and wrapped a wing around Paul before making the introductions. "Shawna, the hunk here is Paul. The wolf man over there is Mike. The fish man next to him is Greg. Then there's Vincent, Leonard, Sarah, and Jill. The fox girl is Tina, and the glowering jerk over there is Jacob. The lovebirds in the corner are Connie and Elaine." I said, pointing out where Connie and Elaine were cuddling up on a log we used as a bench at the last. "Everybody, this is Shawna."

Everyone greeted Shawna. I told them about my trip and Shawna chimed in to tell them about the TV news coverage and the reporters we waded through on our way out. Paul seemed to like the name Kittyhawk, despite my glaring at him whenever he used it.

"So your parents just abandoned you when you mutated?" Mike asked at one point.

"Yeah, I never saw them after I started mutating. They left without even saying goodbye or anything." Shawna answered with wet eyes. I wrapped my other wing around her in a hug to comfort her.

"I guess there's no point in trying to get in touch with my parents, then." Mike said. He was the youngest person in our group after me. Not that it was obvious, we all looked younger after our mutations, especially those who changed the most.

"Makes me glad I don't have any family left." Connie said sadly. She was the oldest of us. She looked as young as me now, but she'd been grey haired as Conrad.

"So now what?" Shawna asked. I suspect she was trying to change the subject. I was glad of it.

"Well, first we've got to settle your living arrangements. Unless we empty out the storage house we don't have an empty house for you." I replied.

"Um…actually we do." Sarah said, blushing and looking at her feet.

"How did that happen?" I asked curiously.

"I moved in with her." Leonard said, hooking his thumb at Sarah. I smiled, my suspicions had been accurate after all!

"Okay, unless you've already allocated Leonard's house, then Shawna can use that." I said. There were no objections to that.

"So when did Thomas' ship leave?" I asked.

"Just a few hours after you did." Greg answered. "We assumed they were following you."

I shook my head. "If they were, they didn't have a chance of keeping up. I figure I must have been flying at least two hundred miles an hour."

"I figured as much, with you getting back so quickly." Paul said.

Shawna's stomach ended that conversation by grumbling loudly. We put together a large meal for her and she dug in like she hadn't eaten for days.

While Shawna ate everyone got me up to date on what had been happening since I left. Thomas had returned to the ship shortly after I left, which had left soon after. Other than Leonard moving in with Sarah, not much had happened.

Mike brought up the question of where we'd get our next mutant. I was leery of going back to Australia with the news coverage I'd gotten there. Besides, with the hostile attitudes we'd encountered we figured other mutants would be keeping a low profile. Without Thomas to tell us, our best source of information on the outside world was Shawna.

Once she'd finished eating we asked her what had been happening for the last couple of years. She didn't know much (What teenager would?). She did say that she'd heard something on the news about mutants in Japan being treated worse than in most other areas.

The next few days went by quickly. Shawna settled in quickly and was very helpful. Especially to Jill, the two of them got along wonderfully. I noticed that Leonard seemed to have come out of his shell a little, no doubt due to Sarah's influence. She seemed more confident, as well. We all discussed bringing more mutants in, and agreed that Japan was our best bet. It was a similar distance away as Australia.

A week after returning with Shawna I prepared to leave again. Paul was no happier about it than before, but had to admit that having Shawna around was an improvement. Hopefully I could find another mutant who would fit in as well.

I left early and headed towards Japan. I'd be flying for at least six hours if my previous trip was anything to go by.

Two hours out I heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach, this couldn't be good! I kept on towards Japan, hoping they would pass me by. No such luck.

The first indication that they weren't just passing through came when I heard gunfire and felt several impacts. Rubber bullets? They're better prepared this time.

Now that their intentions were clear I turned and spotted the helicopter. It looked like a fairly standard helicopter except for the men with machine guns who were strapped in on either side of it. I climbed as I approached. They followed suit, preventing me from attacking from above. Not that I was particularly inclined to use that suicidal approach!

I dived when I was just a few dozen feet away. I pulled up as soon as I was below them and climbed again, managing to grab hold of it before they could get out of reach. The guy with the gun on this side fired it point blank at me. Fortunately I had a good grip, or the force of the impacts would have knocked me clear of the helicopter. As it was I wasn't able to move until he had to stop to reload.

As soon as his gun clicked empty I surged upwards and sliced the harness that held him in place. Now it was him that was holding on for dear life. I jumped inside and knocked the other gunner out. Turning towards the pilot I found the barrel of a gun pressing into my stomach. The pilot was the man Thomas arrived with!

He smirked at me, just before pulling the trigger. Big mistake! I barely felt the bullet tear through me. It didn't slow me a bit, either, as I grabbed the toad by the throat and squeezed. His eyes bulged just like the toad I thought of him as. He managed to pull the trigger one more time before I yanked the gun out of his hand. I tossed it out the open door, followed shortly by him.

I assumed the helicopter was on automatic pilot, so I decided to leave it alone. The gunners would have a chance of getting control of it and returning to wherever they came from. The toad would have to swim home.

I continued on towards Japan. I felt a little guilty about throwing the toad out of the helicopter; I wasn't entirely sure he would survive the fall. And I also wasn't sure that the gunners would be able to pick him up, or get someone out quickly enough to do so. On the other hand, that hurt!

I put that out of my mind. After a long and boring flight Japan came into view. With renewed energy I winged my way over to the least populous looking area I could see. I hunted for a snack and then settled down to rest.

After a short nap I took flight and started looking for a likely place to find mutants. Coastal areas made the most sense. I found a fairly large city on the coast and started searching. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I found it pretty quickly.

I saw a lot of people running away from one building, while what looked like police vehicles encircled the building. I was about to dismiss it as unimportant to my search when I saw an obvious dog mutant speed out of the building and attack the police! He was fast, at least as fast as Paul. In seconds all of the police were down. I suspected some of them were dead.

This wasn't what I'd come for. I'd come to find mutants who needed our help, a safe place away from those who would hurt them for being different. What I had here were mutants using their powers to hurt people and take whatever they wanted! In an instant my decision was made and I dived.

The dog mutant was staying outside the building, watching to make sure the police didn't come in, I guess. He was thrown off his feet when I crashed down right behind him, my abrupt landing cracking the pavement and shaking the ground under his feet. Damn, that was the hardest landing yet, and all I got out of it is a little soreness on the bottoms of my feet, which is already gone!

He was back on his feet in a flash, but I was on him just as quickly. With a quick punch I knocked him out. Running inside the building I found what I suspected I would, a bank robbery in progress. There were four of them. Two were not obviously mutated, though I suspected they were mutants. They were armed with handguns. One had fox traits like Tina, the other was a bull mutant. The horns were wicked looking, and he was very heavily built.

They greeted me with a babble of Japanese. I didn't understand a word of it, but I got the distinct impression that they thought I was on their side. I let them believe that for all of a second before I was rushing the two that were armed. The first had no chance to react before he was disarmed and unconscious. The second shot me in the arm. That slowed my knocking him out as I had to switch which fist I punched him with while the other arm healed.

By the time the second gunman was down, the fox hybrid was all over me. He wasn't as fast as his friend outside, though. One good hit and he was crashing into a wall. He didn't get back up.

The bull mutant hit me from behind and I was thrown onto the ground. I rolled and turned in time to meet his charge by grabbing his horns. He seemed stunned as I brought his charge to an abrupt halt. My instincts told me to twist the horns and break his neck, and I almost did. While I was fighting with myself he grabbed my arms and tried to break my grip. He was strong, at least as strong as Elaine, but not strong enough. With a knee to his face I knocked him out.

More police had arrived by this time and tended to their injured colleagues. More came poring in and surrounded me with guns drawn. Several people in the bank talked to them and they put their guns away and bowed to me. I'd seen enough movies to know to bow back.

An older man I took to be the bank manager approached me a bit fearfully and bowed his thanks (I assume) several times. I bowed back and left. Nobody tried to stop me thankfully.

I spotted a pair of eyes watching me from an alley across the street as I left the bank. They widened fearfully when I looked their way and disappeared as their owner ran away. I took flight in pursuit as I suspected he might have been working with the mutants in the bank.

The owner of the eyes ran back through the alley and then started climbing…nothing! A gleam of light on a strand gave me the clue that he was climbing a giant spider's web. I realized that the web would give him access to the rooftops. I landed on the roof and waited for him.

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 To Be Continued….
 

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