The Kitten and The Hound

The entire Federation knew that High Executor Hawke once owned a cat. For that cat, hed sheathed his fangs, donned a collar, and willingly became a dog. Later, when he was on the brink of death, that cat threw him into the notorious Dead Man's Tower, a place synonymous with brutality.

Five years later, Hawke drenched District D in blood, all to find the cat who had betrayed him.

And I, the cat himself, was currently cowering in a pile of garbage, playing hide-and-seek with him.

From the alley entrance came the man's low voice.

"Teacher, have you hidden well?"

"If I catch you, your neck will be bitten through, you know."

"District D is under full lockdown. Once signs of subject S-09 are detected, report immediately."

"Those harboring him will be punished collectively."

"Informants will be rewarded thirty million credits."

"Those who capture him alive will receive ten times that amount."

A familiar voice echoed from the broadcast. I looked down at the half-eaten, expired ration bar in my hand. Ten times. Tsk. Hawke, that dog, I really did raise him to be expensive.

To think, when I picked him out of a pile of corpses, he was fighting even wild dogs for bones. Now, to catch me, he's blown the Federation's annual military budget. If I'd known, I would've added some rat poison to that suppressor injection five years ago. And ended it all.

If cats have nine lives. I probably only had half of my last one left.

That high-dose injection five years ago not only crippled half of Hawke's powers but also drained all my mental energy. I was now just an ordinary, slightly anti-reconnaissance, useless cat. Aside from being a bit faster and jumping a little higher, I had no great talents.

I had just ducked into an abandoned cardboard box. A dirty little hand reached in, tugging at my sleeve.

"Brother, spare some food."

It was a partially mechanized child, an artificial eye blinking with a red glow. Seemingly another refugee caught in this "purge."

I sighed. Handed over my half-eaten cracker. "Eat it and get lost. Stay away from me."

The child took the cracker, wolfing it down: "Thank you, brother! Thank you, brother! You're so kind. But brother, you smell so good, like... like expensive mint candy."

My face changed. Dammit. The suppressor patch had failed. Feline shapeshifters, under extreme stress, emit a unique scent. For canine shapeshifters, it was a walking GPS.

What's more, Hawke's nose was an SSS-grade anomaly.

"Go now!" I pushed the child away. Just as I thought of moving. A low howl suddenly echoed from a distance. It was a mechanical hound. Hawke's personal guard, the 'Black Fangs.'

I disregarded hiding my figure, my toes pushing off the box, propelling me forward. I had to get to the sewers. That was the only place that could block scents.

I couldn't help but recall the last time I saw Hawke. He lay on the ground, covered in blood, yet stubbornly clutched my trouser leg. His eyes were dark, his tone chilling.

"Teacher, if you're going to run, remember to run fast. Don't let me catch you, otherwise..."

Otherwise what, I hadn't taken it seriously. I even patted his head, smiling: "Good dog, let go."

Thinking back now, I was truly reckless, relying on the fact that I had saved him.

The sewer entrance in my memory was just ahead. I slid down the wall, rushing towards the iron grate. My steps suddenly froze.

The grate was gone. In its place was a ten-centimeter-thick blast-proof steel plate, fortified with a high-voltage electric fence. Not only that, all underground passages in District D were sealed. He had anticipated my plan. Hawke wasn't hunting mice; he was trapping a turtle in a jar.

The mint scent grew stronger. Without the suppression of my mental energy, that pheromone, unique to feline shapeshifters, was rapidly spreading. The mechanical hounds' barks in the distance had changed pitch, from searching whines to the fierce howls of discovering prey. They'd caught my scent. Too late.

I looked around. The alley was a dead end. The only cover was a few man-high garbage bins in the corner. They were filled with District D's rotting, foul-smelling household waste. For a cat with a clean freak tendency, it was hell.

But I wasn't in a position to be picky. I gritted my teeth, propped myself on the rim of a bin with one hand, flipped over and jumped inside, then pulled the lid shut. The stench immediately invaded my nostrils. I clamped my hands over my mouth and nose, trying to squeeze myself as deep as possible.

Tap. Tap.

Footsteps, unhurried. The absolute dominance of an SSS-grade canine shapeshifter instantly enveloped the entire dark alley. The primal instinct in my bones made me tremble uncontrollably.

Hawke was here.

The man's low voice slowly entered my ears.

"Teacher, have you hidden well?"

A few words, carrying a long-absent sweetness and madness, crawled up my spine like a venomous snake.

Silence outside for three seconds. His voice suddenly dropped, with a hint of cruel amusement.

"If I catch you, your neck will be bitten through, you know..."

My throat tightened; I didn't even dare to swallow. He knew I was here. He could smell me.

The footsteps resumed. This time, they were heading straight for the garbage bins.

Thud.

Something heavy hit the garbage bin next to mine. Trash spilled everywhere, and the mechanical hounds let out low whimpers.

"Not this one." He chuckled softly.

The footsteps shifted, stopping in front of the bin where I was hiding. I could even hear his slightly ragged breathing. He was excited.

"Teacher, do you know?"

"Back in Dead Man's Tower, every day I thought, when I claw my way out, the first thing I'll do is find you."

"Find you... then pull out all your claws."

"And then, chain you to the bed with gold chains, so you can only ever look at me..."

Creak.

The lid was pried open slightly. Hawke's eyes, half-smiling, locked onto mine.

"Teacher."

"Long time no see."

My pupils instantly contracted into a vertical slit due to the sudden bright light. My back arched uncontrollably. Instinct was screaming. Run. You'll die.

Hawke tilted his head: "Aren't you going to say hello?"

I gritted my teeth. "...Executor, you've mistaken me for someone else."

The words had barely left my mouth when Hawke chuckled. The surrounding mechanical hounds immediately fell silent, not even daring to whimper.

"Mistaken?" He leaned down slightly, propping one hand on the bin's rim. "Teacher, do you know the scent you're giving off right now..." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, his Adam's apple bobbing hard, "How much it attracts dogs?"

Hawke opened his eyes, undisguised greed churning in his dark golden vertical pupils. He extended his black-gloved hand, reaching for me.

"Come out. Don't make me come in and get you."

Five years ago, this hand would have awkwardly tugged at my clothes, wagging his tail, begging me for another glance. Now, it commanded with the absolute dominance of an SSS-grade shapeshifter, approaching with unyielding force.

The moment his fingers were about to touch me. I moved. A useless cat was still a cat.

I sprang from the garbage pile, my claws instantly hardening and extending, slashing fiercely at the back of his hand. If I could just rip his glove, even if only for half a second

"Rip!"

Hawke didn't dodge at all. He flipped his hand, seizing my throat.

"Ugh!" My breath was instantly cut off. All struggles ceased.

Hawke lifted me with one hand. My feet dangled in the air.

"You're weaker, Teacher." He looked up at me, a strange satisfaction in his eyes. "You were much fiercer five years ago when you disciplined me with that ruler."

My hands desperately clawed at his wrist. Just as I thought I was about to be choked to death, Hawke let go. I collapsed onto the ground uncontrollably.

"Five years. Do you know how I lived?"

Hawke squatted down, almost pressing his face against mine. Suddenly, his gaze fell on my neck, and his eyes darkened.

"Very clean, Teacher." His thumb dangerously caressed my carotid artery. "Tell me, should I bite here again, or..." His fingers slid back, stopping at the nape of my neck. "Or should I just turn you into a useless thing that can't live without me?"

My body stiffened. "Hawke... you wouldn't dare..."

"What wouldn't I dare to do?"

"You're no longer some high-and-mighty instructor. You're just a refugee in District D, a... wanted criminal for whom I've offered a three-hundred-million-credit bounty."

He stood up, pulling a silver collar from his waist.

Click. The clasp locked. A heavy weight pressed against my neck. This was an electronic collar used by the military to restrain the most dangerous war criminals.

"Take him away." Hawke commanded coldly.

Two Black Fangs guards immediately shifted into human form and stepped forward. They seized my arms, one on each side. Dragging me out of the dark alley.

I was taken back to the "White Tower," the center of the Federation's highest authority.

There was no interrogation room, no water dungeon. Even the electronic collar on my neck had been removed. I was thrown into Hawke's bedroom. And in the center of the bedroom, sat a giant golden cage.

A cat cage? I walked over and looked. The cage was lined with soft cushions and even had a ball of yarn inside.

When Hawke pushed open the door, I was staring blankly at the ball of yarn. I wanted to paw at it.

He had changed into civilian clothes. In his hand, he carried a tray.

"Are you hungry?"

He placed the tray on the table. It was a steamed fish. Its fish eyes stared dead at me.

"I don't eat fish."

When I was a cat, I did indeed love fish. But ever since I picked him up, to leave the good stuff for this growing pup, I forced myself to change my taste to nutrient paste.

Hawke raised an eyebrow. "True. Your taste has changed."

"You don't like fish. You like hardship now."

I was forced back against the wall. No retreat.

"Teacher, five years ago, in the depths of Dead Man's Tower, do you know how much hardship I endured?"

"It was full of failed test subjects. They had no sanity, only tearing and biting. To survive, I drank dirty water, ate decaying flesh, and even had to guard against rats biting my flesh while I slept."

I lowered my eyes. Of course, I knew what that place was like. Because I had personally chosen it.

"But every time I was close to death, I thought of you."

Hawke's fingers wrapped around my hair, tugging hard, forcing me to look up. "I thought, what is Teacher doing now? Is he enjoying himself in some warm embrace? Has he long forgotten that there's a dog waiting for him?"

"There was no warm embrace." I wasn't taking the blame for something I didn't do. "I was scavenging." After my mental energy was depleted, I couldn't even complete basic tasks; if I didn't scavenge, I'd starve.

Hawke froze for a moment. Then, as if he'd heard a joke, he laughed, his shoulders shaking. "Scavenging? You? The pampered Instructor You, who usually can't even be bothered to put on his own shoes, went scavenging?"

"Believe it or not."

"Of course, I don't believe it."

Hawke's laughter abruptly ceased, his eyes instantly turning ruthless. He seized my wrist and dragged me towards the golden cage.

"Get in."

I struggled desperately. "Hawke! Are you crazy? I'm human!"

"You're a cat."

Hawke's strength was astonishing, allowing no resistance. He pushed me into the cage, then followed. With a click, it was locked. I gripped the golden bars, trembling with fury. "Hawke, if you have the guts, kill me."

Hawke watched me silently, then pulled out something. It was a white pill.

"Killing you would be too boring." He shook the pill between his fingers. "Teacher, don't you like raising dogs? Now, let's switch places."

"Eat it."

I stared at the pill. "What is it?"

"Don't be scared, it's not poison." Hawke's lips curved into a wicked smile. "It's a high-concentration gene inducer."

My pupils contracted violently. Gene inducer. That was a forbidden drug specifically used to accelerate shapeshifter traits. The side effect was that it would make a person lose their sanity within a short time, completely submitting to instinct. That meant, if I ate it... I would completely become a... a cat in heat, entirely dependent on him.

"I won't eat it."

Hawke wasn't annoyed. "You don't have to." He looked at the watch on his wrist. "The purge of District D isn't over yet. I heard there's still a child there? Something like... Ah-Ji? And a partial cyborg?"

My heart violently skipped a beat. It was the child I had pushed away. How did Hawke know?

"What do you want?"

Hawke shrugged. "Nothing. It's just that the mechanical hounds have been hungry lately, and they're very interested in the taste of semi-metal."

Despicable. Shameless. Vile. I cursed Hawke's ancestors eighteen generations back in my mind. But I knew he would do it.

"Give it to me."

Hawke smiled. He placed the pill in my palm. His fingertips brushed mine, almost imperceptibly.

"Good."

"Now that's my good cat."

The drug took effect faster than I'd imagined. In just five minutes, my body temperature began to soar. Even as Hawke pinned me beneath him, I couldn't believe it. That Hawke would go to such lengths for revenge. How much did he hate me?

"Teacher, focus." Hawke whispered in my ear.

I was flipped over, forced to my knees. The bell Hawke had forced onto my collar jingled against my collarbone with every movement, a mockery, a constant reminder of my current identity.

"It rings so beautifully." Hawke hooked the collar, yanking it back. I was forced to tilt my head up. "Five years ago, when I knelt at your feet wearing this, Teacher, were you listening like this?"

I couldn't answer. I couldn't even control myself from sticking out my tongue, licking the fingers he clamped on my chin, begging for a tiny bit of mercy, or a tiny bit of touch.

Hawke's eyes darkened. "So good." He leaned down, his teeth biting into the nape of my neck. It hurt, but it also felt good.

"Haw... Hawke..." I pleaded incoherently. "Don't bite there... it will... it will mark..."

In the shapeshifter world, the nape of the neck was the most private gland. Once bitten through and injected with another's pheromone, it meant a month-long period of absolute submission. That was my last line of dignity as an 'instructor.'

Hawke paused. "Mark?" He scoffed, his laughter full of vengeful satisfaction. "Teacher, don't you understand? I, I want to mark you."

The next second, his canine teeth fiercely pierced the soft flesh.

"Ugh!" My scream was muffled back into my throat by his hand. My vision completely darkened.

In the second before I passed out, I heard Hawke whisper in my ear, almost obsessively:

"Jenny Crawley, Teacher, you're mine."

"This time, you're mine forever..."

"Don't ever think of escaping again."