"See ya, Mom! Thanks for stopping by and for the gift" she called out. Her mom left on her Uncle's Wyvern, Captain. The wyvern flew outta sight. She closed the door with a dark gray tabby with stripes at her feet. The cat did not look happy at all. "Placed in the hands of a mere kitsune? Why must I be punished" he spoke. The words out of the cat's mouth startled her a little bit. This cat seemed to be very irritated with the situation. Though, she felt a bit offended. Her fox ears twitched a bit irritation. "Excuse me? What just came out of your mouth? I can burn your fur off, puffball" she hissed. The cat smiled, looking a little nervous. He stammered to find an answer seeing as LeeAnn's finger was already lit.

"Oh would you look at the time" he meowed, then zipped off. She knew the cat's name as Salem and was previously a human. He was punished by the Council for trying to take over Fiore then the world. Obviously, he failed. He was sentenced to be in this form for the rest of his living days. How her mother had gotten him was beyond her knowledge. He was a gift to LeeAnn to help her cope with the loss of her Aunt. The cat was surely a new thing to bug her, but someone else to talk to other than herself or Zalor. She gave a heavy sigh and lied on the couch. Shortly after, she felt into a deep sleep. Hours passed when a loud crash came from the kitchen. She woke up to it being dark outside, the streets dimly lit. The house was dark as well. Seemed like the servants had gone home for the evening, which was fine. The only creatures in the house were her and Salem. Her fox ears perked up, staring at the direction for the sound.

"Salem? Is that you? Please tell me you're not getting into the food" she cried. No one answered. LeeAnn sniffed the air. The smell of death haunted the whole house. It made her gag and hold her nose. The cat was no where to be seen. She lit the area with her finger as she crept forward. Her eyes adjusted to the dark room. Even with the light from her finger didn't help. A glimpse of glowing, reflective eyes shined from underneath the china cabinet that held her father's airlooms. Slowly she crept forward, seeing it was Salem. The feline was trebling with terror. "D-Dont...go in there. There is something not human lurking in the kitchen" he whispered. Not human, eh? This perked the Monster Hunter's interest. She wonder what class monster broke into her home and terrified the fearsome feline to cower. She grabbed Sting and could feel the vibrations coming form it. It was a doozy. She slowly crept to the kitchen with no light, but hearing the sounds of gnawing and tear of flesh. LeeAnn peered in to the room.

Antlers? Skinny structure? Skull-like face? Oh...no.

LeeAnn's heart sank. Class 4! The creature paused, noticing LeeAnn's presence. Quickly, LeeAnn stood still trying to not move. Perhaps, it wouldn't see her like she had read in the book her grandfather had left her. She stood still. The creature came forward and sniffed the air, roaring and growling. This scared Salem into screaming. The creature then noticed movement, LeeAnn shifted into her wolf form and grabbed Salem by the scruff. She broke through the door. LeeAnn ran down the streets for their lives with Salem in her jaws. "What was that thing" he asked. LeeAnn could only huff from running to much, but managed to answer him.

"Class...4...monster....code name...Wen..digo" she muffledly, replied. She ran into the forest, hopefully to loose the creature. Her heart pounded hearing the screams of the creature right on their tail. Her legs began to feel tired causing her to slow down. She panted, letting Salem down on his paws. "A Wendigo? I have never heard of such a hideious beast. Don't let it eat me..please...I dont taste very good" he whined and begged. LeeAnn gave him a look and rolled her eyes. "They only eat humans! That thing is only going to eat me rather than you" she replied. The cat let out a huge sigh of relief. A few moments went by, LeeAnn began to regain her powers back and stood up on her paws once more.

"Look out!"

Salem's tail wiggled as he stood up on his paws. His eyes glowed a beautiful deep color before a defensive spell was casted. In a 10 meter radius, a dome appeared causing LeeAnn and himself to be spared of any damange. Above them, the tall creature stood slashing on the defensive spell. LeeAnn transformed back into her human form, showing off her fire. "If we make this out alive, I owe you my life Salem" she spoke. LeeAnn pulled out sting and emerged from the sheild. She started to move around the creature in a quick motion to confuse it, but that was not working. The Wendigo roared, slamming LeeAnn to the ground. The kitsune had the wind knocked out of her. Quickly, LeeAnn emerged fire from her hands causing the creature to inch back.

"I am NOT dying today! Nakamuras never give up" she hissed. The creatures paused. Standing up on its hind legs, peering down at the two of them. Salem moved closer to her, putting her within the defensive spell's range. The Wendigo stared at her, its beady white eyes staring right at her. It was uncanny.

"LeeAnn?"

A shiver was sent down her spine. Her eyes widen at the creature when it spoke her name. Salem nor  her had spoke her name at all. "LeeAnn Nakamura? My granddaughter" it spoke in her grandfather's voice. She hissed. This was a game. Wendigos mimiced the voices of those you loved and this was no different. It reached out its bony hand gently, but hesitated. Slowly, its eyes grew more kind and human yet still white and uncanny. "No need to be afraid, dear. It's just me. Your grandfather" he spoke. The Wendigo crouched down to her eye level, staring right at her. Its white, beady eyes stared right back at her. She couldn't move. Neither could Salem.

"Y-You're n-not my grandfather! He's missing! He's dead! You're not going to fool me with your mind games" she cried. The Wendigo shook his head and laughed, as if he found this whole thing funny. Usually, they would keep attacking her until she was dead. "You have learned well from the books I have left you. I knew you would take on my legacy as the famous Monster Hunter of the South" he said, cheerfully. LeeAnn paused and grew more confused. The kitsune knew her grandfather was called that and was the only one who left her those books. "Okay. If you're my grandfather then...what's my real name" she spoke. Handful of people in the family knew this information. Her grandfather was one of them.

The wendigo lifted his finger. "Sophie. Was the name you  were found with when your father founded you. Hikaru begged and fought your parents to name you LeeAnn and so you go by that to this day" he replied with ease. She lowered her stance and grew surprised, not expecting that answer. Now, Salem was confused.

"You guys know each other? i thought you said Wendigos were heartless, cannibals" he asked. LeeAnn ignored him. The dome was still remaining. All these years, he as missing in action according to the council. Right before her was him all along. Her grandfather, now a Wendigo. "It is you! It's really you?! How?! What happened" she replied. He sighed.

Her grandfather, Haru Nakamura, sat down in indian style with his arms crossed. Salem lifted the defensive spell, growing a sense of trust with this creature. "It's a...long story, dear. Though, all I can say in summary is I was turned into a Wendigo thanks to the Magic Council. I was the prime subject for what might happen if things go wrong" Noshi sighed. He seemed to not show much emotion with his skull face, but all could be given away by the way he talked and body language. LeeAnn's eyes widen. "You mean? They did this?! Things are starting to make more sense now" she said.
5129/8000

Salem 1600/2000:

Tail 8: 49/100

The pieces of the puzzle were starting to make sense. The Magic Council were always hiding dark secrets. It took her a while to let all of this sink it. What puzzled her the most is 'Prime subject for when things go wrong?' What did that mean? LeeAnn thought he as punished for something that was out of his control or perhaos he broke a secret rule they never told him? She stared at what her grandfather had become. "Tell me, why were you turn into this creature? Was it punishment" she asked. He gave a heavy sigh. "I was a test subject for an experiment. It backfired majorly...turned me into what you see now. Lost almost all of my humanity, what little I have left is hard to maintain" he spoke. LeeAnn felt back and could sumpathize with him. She felt bad for how much he went through. Her ghoul eyes was stood out to him when he stared at her more. He lifted his bony finger to her left eye.

"Explain that" he spoke. His breath was staggered while he talked. She touched her cheekbone, forgetting it ever existed. LeeAnn was lost for words. It had been a long time since she really had thought about her appearance. Her face grew more concerned, thinking about what happened a decade ago. "Mom and I were kidnapped by the Church of Illumin. They were punishing Mom for arresting their cult leader of something. I turned half ghoul cause of it. Now, I have some sort of parasite making me eat humans in order to survive" she explained. She glanced up at her grandfather. This was not shocking to him, but gotten him angry. His bony structure grew tense. "D-did I sa something" she stammered.

"LeeAnn, that's a lie"

She froze. "But, what I said was all true!" Wendigo shook his head. "No, the Church of Illumin would not do such a thing. While, I understand. The Church is only a cover up for the Magic Council. I heard stories of a mage your age being the best result they had for their game" he spoke. Her lips parted slightly trying to speak, but nothing came out. Her mouth went dry. "Don't believe me? I saw you there myself. I heard your mother's voice that day and heard your name. Your mother was begging them to take her instead. That is something I will never erase from my memory" he spoke. LeeAnn stayed silent. She remembered being tied down with restraints. Her mother crying and begging for them to take her instead. They wanted to punish her for some reason, watching her daughter being tortured right before her eyes. LeeAnn could never forget those events. Just remembering a bit of it gave her anxiety.

"We get it! The big question is why were you all taken? That's what you gotta ask" mentioned Salem. The cat swayed his tail back and forth behind him. His yellow eyes stared at the two of them. "It's because they want to make super soldiers. The Rune Knights are funding a project that is beyond illegal. Testing on humans as their prime subject, taking innocent people against their will. It's the reason why we were roped into the Rune Knights to begin with generations ago" he replied. LeeAnn's blood began to boil. They tested on other people as well? Why would this surprised her. She was tired of them. What joy did they get out of it. LeeAnn hissed.

Her body began to steam from her fire, growing inside of her. Silently, her temper was rising. "They deserve to burn alive! I will find them and kill them all! Even if I die doing it" he stated. Leeann began to run off, but was quickly caught. Her grandfather held her by the cloak hood with his claw. Seeing that he was much stronger, she decided to give in. "Hold your horses, LeeAnn. It ain't that simple. First you have to find out who is behind this then find out what they want. IT took me ten years to find out why they doing to those people. The one thing the Rune Knights are good about is covering up their tracks" he warned. LeeAnn was put down, now huffing.

"What do you suggest we do, Skullface" asked the cat. Noshi wished he knew. He was lost of answers at this point. There was only so much he knew. The creature stared at Salem then at his granddaughter, whom was thinking. "I wish I knew" he spoke.

"Yo, you think this will do" shouted a voice. All three of them froze. Noshi gestured for them to follow him. Quietly, they sneaked to see the source of the voice. There stood two high ranking Rune Knights, talking in the open field of town. "I think so. The captain told us to not worry. He recieved the goods this afternoon. A large wyvern and that ex-rune knight Captain were caught for the thing" he spoke. The other knight hushed the other, looking around to see if anyone else heard. Of course, he didn't see the three of them.

"Shush, not so loud. You know that project is top secret. Don't go blabbing it about, you idiot" he spoke. LeeAnn felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. A wyvern and ex-rune knight captain? That was her mother. She rode her Uncle's Wyvern, Captain, and she was a previous Rune Knight captain. She hoped it wasn't her mother, but her gut was not letting that thought go. A mix of denail, terror, and anger conflicted in her eyes. Noshi's beady eyes stared right back at her then at the two high ranking knights. Quietly, he turned around having the two of them follow him deeper into the woods. Salem now felt the same feeling. Her mother may of been a previous Rune Knight, but he treated him kindly and respected him. "They have my mother...they have her. Nonononononono" she whispered, falling to her knees. Salem took a deep breath.

"Not again! Why? Just why now of all times" she repeated. She slammed her fists to the ground, dust blowing everywhere. Salem stood in front of her. His yellow eyes staring at her. "What did the ground ever do to you? Calm down, we don't know if it is the same person you're thinking of. There are plenty of people with Wyverns who are ex-rune knight captains" he spoke. LeeAnn gave a glare

"There is a fairly good chance that she's been kidnapped again. Have you paid attention to this whole situation at all you dumb furball" she hissed. Salem's eyes widen with horror as she glared. "On secon thought" he spoke. He hid behind Noshi. This made him laugh a little.

"Usually its reverse, but oh well. He is right. We don't know if it's actualy her. I know plenty of people who own wyverns and ex-rune kight captains" he mentioned. She knew they were trying to keep an open mind about everything. It wasn't easy to maintain that mindset. After several minutes, she calmed down yet still panicked. Her grandfather kneeled down to her eye level. His bony finger lift her chin to his eye level. "That's no way to deal with a loss. You haven't lost her yet! Unlike your Aunt, you can still save your mother from certain doom. It's your job as being head of the family" spoke her grandfather. Her mouth gapping open still. This thing kept surprising her! "How? Nevermind, I am not going to ask. You're right, but where do I start? Where do I go" she asked.

Previously, her grandfather used to the be the head of the family back in the day until his son (her father), Nicolas Nakamura, was of age to take the torch. Her father now gave that to her and was not a very good teacher. It was something she had to learn on her own. Taht was a part of being a leader. She had to grow the confidence. "I can't tell you exactly which path to take, but I can give you some advice. Start where you know best and take that forward. Go to Fairy Tail, there you will find strong mages and someone there is bound to help you. It's the only guild that can match your strength. Yes, I know Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale are just as good, but with your spirit, I feel Fairy Tail is going to fit you more" he advised.

She stood up and dusted herself off. Her eyes stared at the ground, processing his advice. Start where you know best. She knew training always made her feel better and taking on jobs. The more she felt accomplished the better. "A pack is better in numbers than being alone. There is not such thing as a lone wolf you know? Make friends, get stronger and find where this person is and stop them" he ordered. He pointed his finger to her heart.

"Your heart and gut will guide you on your journey. You don't need me to tell you that. I will be here to help you learn a stronger magic too, one called Hell's Fire. A combo-elementl magic I recently encountered. Now I don't have much time left. Run as far as you two can, I can remain in this mind frame for much longer" he advised. LeeAnn scooped up Salem and began to walk. She paused then looked back at the tall, standing creature. "Will I see you again?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes you will. Now get on home before its too late" he spoke. She gave a nod and made her way home. Noshi walked the other direction back into the surrounding woods of Era. What her grandfather had spoken and finding out what really happened to him. It left her with a lot more on her mind, but a lot more motovation to get stronger. She would have to find the Fairy Tail guild. Perhaps someone there could help her find her mother and end this whole charde. Salem felt out of place. The cat was unsure what to say or do, but felt it was not the time to retort anything to her.

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Tail 8: 50/100

Her mind was trying to process everything on the way home. Salem stayed silent, sleeping in her cloak's hood. The kitsune had never thought this problem lied deeper than she had ever imagined. There was a lot more at stake than just a revenge for murder. There were multiple victims other than here family that suffer from such a tragedy. What else lied for her ahead. She could only imagine why sort of things could. She emerged from the woods, no one was around. Her fox-like eyes scanned the area in case anyone was watching. Even if there was no one there, she still felt a cold set of eyes placed onto her every move. She pardoned this with the encounter with her grandfather. Who would ever expect your grandfather to be a flesh eating fiend?

She arrived home, safe in her quarters. It had been a long night already with adrenaline and, blood pumping through her whole body. Now, she was too awake to fall asleep now, falling victim to insomnia. The redhead placed Salem on the couch in his favorite spot. She stared at the dark gray tabby. He may of been a kink in her neck, but he really did look out for her in a strange way. LeeAnn would never grow to understand the feeling, but found him to be a good companion despite all the issues. Her nails scratched behind his ears then retracted o her side again. A small smile laid on her lips, then went to the kitchen to clean up the mess. Bits of food lied all over the place. Her stash of human remains were completely gone. She growled in annoyance from the mess and now the loss of stash of most of her food. LeeAnn at least had a few more slabs of human organs and remains in the deep freeze within the cellar. Picking up the mess and throwing it into the trash bag, she could see this would take a while. There were still small crumbs of food on the floor. Her grandfather really left a mess. All she would ask at the least was to clean up his mess. After a few hours, she placed each of the crumbs into the bag or swept them up. She threw the trash bag into the garbage can outside of the manor. She would step around the area to gain more perspective of the mess and make sure not a single crumb was left behind. Closing the pantry and food storage, she went back to the couch.

Salem was still asleep. It was only mere hours ago that her mother had dropped of Salem as a present. Takumi she knew was safe in the hands of her father and family. That was at least something to be relieved about Though, now the council had her mother and her Uncle Simon's Wyvern, Captain. She was now worried sick about both of them. It felt like history was no repeating itself. The same thing happened to her father and to her grandfather. It was all just crumbling down. What did her father do? It was eight years for him to find any information on her mother. She was not going to let that happen. The fire burned inside of her as she stared at the empty fireplace. Her elbows leaned against her kneeds, thinking deeply. If there were any clues. This time around, she had dirt on them. They will go down like flies, one by one.

She sat there scowling at the thought of the council even touching her mother. They took her Aunt Paisley from her, they were not going to take her adopted mother away too! The fire in her eyes burned again, but this time with anger and determination. She was not going to feel sorry for herself any more. Salem stretched his limbs and yawned. Looking up at LeeAnn brooding, he decided to finally say something. "I see you are thinking about how to deal with this new challenge" he asked. Her mixed matched eyes stared down at the cat, then back at the empty fire place. Trying to formulate her answer. "Yes. Yes I am" she spoke. it was dangerous. As dangerous as the fire itself.

Like all parents told their children, never to play with fire.

LeeAnn...wasn't one of those children.

7573/8000

She was tired of being pushed around by society and it's terms. It felt from the beginning she was in a contract with society. If she didn't meet certain terms, she would be exterminated. That's how she thought and felt at the same time. Salem's tail swished back and forth some. He saw that spark in her eyes, one that she he had never seen before. It was new. All he ever saw was defeat and uncertainty. Now, he saw confidence and determination. Something inside of her awakened. "Good. That's what I like to hear. I will be by your side no matter what" he spoke. Her eyes shifted to the cat, the tabby only gave a small smile. "Are you wanting something in return" she asked.

An evil glare lied in his eyes. "Why yes, yes there is" he spoke. She gave an annoyance glare and sighed. "What is it" she asked. The cat sat up, with his body relaxed. "Smash them and make them pay" he replied. She liked where he was going with this. Leeann knew he probably did something to piss off the council, but she didn't care. He was helping her find her mother, seek revenge, and be on her way. Who knows what will happen after that. For now she just wanted revenge, she was hungry for it like a hungry animal. There was no doubt about that. LeeAnn gave a mischvious grin, as so did Salem. "We'll both make them pay and get my mother back! That's not a promise, that's a threat" she grinned. Salem nodded, with a firm grin.

The kitsune got up from her spot and picked Salem up. The cat purred in satisfaction. They both were glad they could finally agree on something for a change. Rather than being at each other's throats all the time, it was a nice change in pace. LeeAnn made her way to the old training room that her parents put her in during her younger days. There were a lot of memories in here, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her mother's training was ruthless, but taught her how to read people, movements, and visual cues. Her father's training was more on the body rather than the mind. LeeAnn took well to the mind training rather than the body. There was one thing she always picked up from her mother and the as the mentality of battle. It was a good trait she picked upon. Once she was in the zone, it was difficult to pick her back up. The kitsune sat down Salem. "You know stuff about magic, right?"

Salem nodded. "I used to be a high ranked magic, I will be your coach. Time to train, foxy" he called out.

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-exit-