Apparently, Saithe did not come back to the dissection lab. Pierre paced the room impatiently, spinning the hare skull like a maniac. "I should have known better to take in the Devil's spawn from France... So what if the Lakota boy is the only lynx researcher? He can tough it out himself."

Einhart, Tazzin and Annabelle Lucy, another wolf researcher, paid the boss no attention. Instead, they set to examining the dead mountain goat. Tazzin noticed a long metal wire on the tray and picked it, saying, "Saithe was right. The goat died from internal bleeding. Seems like her gut sens-"

"Do not speak of that infernal girl's amazing gut sense!" shrieked Pierre, waggling the skull in the air like a demented shaman.

Ignoring him, Lucy took up a magnifying glass and placed it at the neck. "These bite wounds are too shallow to inflict great damage. As we've said before we left for lunch, the teeth of the attacking beast was probably serrated. Notice how the skin here got torn."

Tazzin and Einhart crowded around her to get a better glimpse, and nodded sagely. "True," said Einhart, "This is no normal wound. It may have been a hunter's new weapon, who knows?"

Tazzin looked at him incredulously. "That's not possible. The bite marks look too natural to be a man-made weapon."

Pierre strutted over, taking the glass from Lucy and observing the wound himself. After a while of scrutinizing, he said, "Tazz is right, this is no man-made weapon. The depths are different for each tooth, and see how only the serrated incisors got into the flesh? Whatever bit it was small and weak."

The four scientists puzzled over it, failing to notice a red figure streaking across the vast taiga plains towards the woods.

***

With the forest in front of her and the vast ocean deeps behind her, Saithe never felt so alive. She ran with a sense of freedom and carefree joy. Ever since joining the Alaska Maritime and Terrestrial Wildlife Research Centre founded by Pierre Rodriguez, world-renowned beluga researcher, she hadn't regretted once leaving her home town in France or leaving behind her family and peaceful (but boring) life. She was one with nature, born to be wild and free!

Slinging her knapsack over her shoulder, Saithe was nearing the place where she saw the strange animal. Smiling with glee, she swerved into the forest path and nearly collided into a tall, green-haired guy. She stopped herself and managed to prevent an accident but tripped over a pebble and almost fell, were it not for the person catching her.

"Woah!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders tight and stopping her from falling onto the ground. "Where're you off to, running like that?"

Saithe turned over and stared into his viridian coloured eyes which were exuding worry, surprise and a hint of humour all rolled into one. She was shocked, not only from her narrow escape from ruining her face, but also at the prospect of meeting a fellow researcher outside. And a very good-looking one at that.

"S-s-s-s-salem..." she stuttered, still in a daze, allowing herself to be stood up by her colleague. "W-what are you doing out here?"

Viridian Salamander, a twenty-three-year-old Lakota Native, flicked a strand of red hair from her face, grinning cheerfully. "I should be the one asking, not you, Saithe Lúta Wakȟáŋgli."

"Err... What did you call me?"

"Lúta Wakȟáŋgli, Red Lightning."

"Oh. I keep... forgetting that little nickname."

Her heart beat was going a hundred miles per hour though she did not betray any signs of her feelings. Shrugging off Salamander's tribally tattooed hands which were still on her shoulder, she huffed a thank you and started to walk away. To her mild annoyance (and a lot of heart fluttering), Viridian Salamander followed her with his backpack of tools, enquiring, "Looking for an animal, Saithe? I can help. I've just finished collaring a mother cat and now I'm free."

Even if they have met for only one month, she knew him very well, with both of them specializing in the same animal, the lynx. They had worked together on many occassions, venturing into the taiga at dawn and returning to the Research Centre at dusk. Her many unpredictable actions and wonderful gut sense often times got them out of dangerous scrapes with the lynxes, and compounded with her deep red hair and sassy attitude, she had earned herself a nickname from Salamander - Red Lightning. In return, she called him Salem simply because 'Viridian Salamander is too long and complicated'. She had told him about her dreams of finding the long-lost tiger wolf, and unlike the other, more senior researchers who dismissed it as rubbish, he had actually listened to her and supported her.

So, there was no point in keeping her quest a secret, right? She continued walking along the path, bright eyes keen for any sign of the small orange beast while saying to Salamander, "I think I saw a tiger wolf around here, but I can't be sure. It had stripes and was small, like a fox cub. It was limping slightly."

Salamander perked up, looking around him dutifully. "A tiger wolf? Here? You sure it's not an illusion, Red Lightning?"

"Stop calling me Red Lightning and, no, I'm pretty sure it wasn't an illusion."

"If you say so..."

They trudged through the crackling pine needles side by side, eyes peeled for any sign of an orange hide. After two hours of birds, hares and squirrels (but no tiger wolf), the two friends decided to stop for a rest. Saithe moodily took out her sandwich (thankfully, she bought one) and offered half to Salamander, who took it gratefully. As she munched on it ravenously, the young Lakota suddenly put a hand on her arm and a finger to his lips.

"Ssshh... Something small just walked across those rocks. It's limping."

Hastily swallowing her mouthful of sandwich, she put aside the remaining food in its paper bag and grabbed Salamander's wrist, pulling him up with her and stealing towards the rocks. A faint hiss came from behind it, followed by a scared mewl.

All the butterflies in the world were suddenly congregated in her stomach. She felt excitement running up her spine. Salamander came close to her, whispering, "It sounds like a lynx kitten. The mother could be nearby!"

She shook her head obstinately. "No, my gut sense tells me that it's no lynx kitty. It's mewl sounded different, a bit deeper than normal."

"Well, if your wonderful gut sense says that... then I believe you."

They split, Saithe going towards the left and Salamander going towards the right to corner it. This is it, the moment of truth, thought Saithe to herself, blood pounding in her head.

She knew it. She knew it wasn't a lynx. Cowering against the rock was a small house-cat-sized animal with orange-brown fur and black stripes. It hissed at her feebly as it tried to twist away, looking ahead wildly, pupils dilating to the max and hind legs crouched into a spring. It was a flight stance. If they didn't calm it down, it would surely flee and they would never find it again.

"It's okay, little guy," said Saithe calmingly, edging closer to the small animal. It stared at her warily, pressing harder against the rock. "We don't mean you any harm. You're limping, right? We will help you feel better."

Rule number one : Never extend your hand to a frightened, hurt, wild animal. It may claw you.

Rule number two : Don't let yourself feel scared or nervous, the animal would sense it and try to flee.

Rule number three : Talk to it soothingly and make no sudden movements.

Rule number four : Never bring along a guy who has green hair and tribal ornaments all over him that makes him look like a monster.

The pup took one look at Salamander and yowled. Tiny claws lashed out blindly at the Lakota's arm as it made a run for it, limping painfully. But Salamander wasn't called Salamander by his tribe for nothing. He was the Fire-Breather, the Viridian Storm. He leapt onto the pup, much to the horror of Saithe, and grappled the small animal until he had it by the scruff.

"Salem!" she shrieked. "Why did you jump on him? You could've crushed him. See, he's screaming now!" said Saithe as she hurried over and tried to take the yowling pup away. It spat at her and bared its tiny fangs, as if saying, "Back off, weird animal, or I'll take your eyes out with my claws!"

"He certainly has a temper on him," remarked Salamander, examining the light scratches on his forearm. Saithe carefully took the pup from him and brought it to eye level, saying, "Calm down, little guy, we're just helping you. You've already punished the green man there with your claws, and I don't blame you. So chill, ok?"

The pup glared at her with light amber eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes Saithe had ever seen, most akin to the twinkling stars in the dark night sky. She was mesmerized. Seeing as the red-haired girl made no move to harm it, the pup relaxed in her hold, but kept up a low growl in its throat, 'Hey, no funny ideas, weird animal. I'm still not trusting you yet.'

Saithe laughed. "Okay, tiger. No funny ideas. We'll just fix up your leg and give you some food. Sound alright to you?"

It chuffed, pleased to meet someone who understood what it was saying. 'Sure. Just don't let the green guy touch me. And I'm a she, not a he.' Out of reflex, she glanced down at its hindquaters. It was female after all.

Salamander shot Saithe a confused look when she looked at him and giggled. "What? What's so funny?" he said, applying iodine on the scratch.

"Oh, nothing much. You just kinda scared the poor little girl, and now, she hates you," said Saithe, nudging his shoulder with hers playfully. He looked taken aback. "It's a female?"

"Yup."

"Whoops. My bad."

"Hissss." (Yeah, it'd better be your bad.)

"Man, she has ego." said Salamander, putting bandages on his wound. "By the way, she's a... tiger wolf right?"

Saithe nodded cheerily. "Mais oui! I knew they were still alive somewhere out there. My one month of hard secret labour has paid off!"

"Wait. What hard secret labour?" asked Salamander dubiously.

"Collecting data, putting secret video cameras in the forest, hunting around for dens and whatnot," she said airily, hugging the tiger wolf pup to her. It growled warningly. 'Hey, no hugging.'

"But you're just too adorable to be true!" she declared, hugging it even tighter. It whined in protest, trying to push itself away from Saithe but failed.

"Err... Are you guys like, talking to each other with telepathy or some strange, mystic power of the Earth Mother?" said Salamader, watching the pup struggling unsuccessfully. "And, she doesn't look too pleased to be hugged, Saithe."

The red-head moped. She released her hold on the tiger wolf and put it onto the floor gently, scratching behind its pointy ears. It chuffed pleasantly, a sound which tigers often make when they are pleased. 'Now this is more like it.'

Salamander had brought over their bags and equipment and set them down next to Saithe. "Examine her left hind leg. She was limping on that," said the Lakota. Saithe promptly picked up the pup and prodded the hurt limb slowly, trying to locate the problem. It looked at her fingers suspiciously, amber eyes wide and alert. Tugging the limb this way and that, she finally announced, "The little guy's sprained her foot. We'll have to get her back to the Centre and treat her."

The pup did not look too pleased as it mewled. 'I'm not going somewhere weird, and you can't make me. And my name's Teravfon, not little guy.'

"It's for your own good then, Tera," said Saithe as she quickly bundled the pup up in some blankets.

"Tera?" asked Salamander.

"Yup, she told me that her name's Tera. Teravfon to be precise. "

"How very... enlightening."

Tera grunted, giving a small sneeze. At once, Saithe squealed most abominably, hugging the bundle to her chest and jumping up and down. "Kyaaaaaaaa! It sneezed, Salem, it sneezed! How very adorable! Trés mignon!"

"How very... fascinating..." he said, hefting his bag and ruffling Tera's fur. She hissed at him. "C'mon, we should be heading back for the Centre. They'll be wondering where you've gone, knowing you and your sudden tendencies of disappearing."

They began their long trek back, with Tera squirming in Saithe's arms. They haven't walked for more than ten minutes when the pup gave a small bark. 'Where're we going? Angeline wouldn't be too pleased if I went too far away from home...'

"Angeline?" said Saithe, halting. Salamander almost bumped into her. "Hey, why'd you stop? Who's this Angeline?"

They didn't hear the soft padding of a big cat's footfalls. They didn't catch the sounds of silent breathing. But Tera did. A loud growl came from behind them. Saithe and Salamander slowly turned behind in apprehension. 'It's Angeline!' yipped Tera happily.

A fully grown black mountain lion, or puma, stood behind them, hackles raised, ears flattened to the skull and snarling in the most aggressive manner. 'Release the pup, or I'll make goatmeat out of you two!'

The pair gulped, retreating out of the range of the enraged puma's deadly claws. Saithe tried to reason with it. "Angeline - that's your name, right? - Ter-"

'ROOOOOAAAARRRR!'

"AAAHHH!" screamed Saithe, pressing herself against Salamander, who immediately held her protectively. "Okay, okay, relax, I'm putting the pup down, see?" She lowered Tera and allowed the tiger wolf pup to scramble out and limp across to Angeline. The big puma licked her head affectionately while keeping a hostile green eye on the two researchers.

"What's your gut sense telling you to do now?" whispered Salamander, his hand locking onto hers. She squeezed his palm for reassurance, whispering back steadily, "It's telling me to leave them now and come back later with Jade. She would know what to do. And besides, we've still got to help Tera recover from the sprained foot. For all we know, she's the last of her litter, and of her species."

The big cat glared at them. 'Well? Are you two waiting to be turned into goatmeat? Stop whispering and leave us now!'

Saithe raised her hand in defeat. "We're going, see? No harm done." They backed away from the bristling puma and as soon as they reached the fringe of trees, Angeline took up Tera in her jaws and bounded away swiftly without so much as a backwards glance.

"What's a puma doing in Alaska? And a black one that can roar at that... I thought they were silent felidae. I'm glad they're gone though," said Salamander, a bit shaken from the encounter. However, Saithe could not bear to see the pup being borne away by the black puma. After nineteen years of waiting, she had finally seen a tiger wolf, albeit still a pup, but it had been taken away from her by a demonic mountain lion which wasn't supposed to be here.

No matter, she will go back to the Centre and find Jade. She would know how to track the puma and reach her lair. Then she would meet her beloved tiger wolf and prove the whole world wrong.

"Come on, Salem," she said, still holding onto his hand (much to his delight), "Let's go..."

Just to make things clear, Saithe can somehow understand animal speech and body language, but not the others.
And it's so kyaaaaaaa!!! XD She's hugging a tiger wolf pup!!! (Excuse me, I'm going fanatic)
And Angeline has appeared... *horror music in background* She's a black puma, and you probably can't see one in real life, nor one in Alaska. And, they don't roar either. This is fiction after all lol. I'm trying my best to make it sound and feel realistic, but I can only do so much. Hopefully, one day, I can be in Alaska and become a wolf researcher myself ^^
Fun fact : A chuffing sound is made when a tiger blows air forcefully out of its nose. Humans can make that sound as well by blowing air out through the lips and rolling the tongue upwards. If you do that to a tiger (in a zoo) it might just chuff back at you ^^
P.S. Jadenite_12 you're coming in the next chapter, and Teravfon101 don't you just seem sooooo adorable? XD

~SaitheVivana