Cat, now in her panther form, turned round to look at me and roared at me angrily. I didn't react, werecats and werewolves were a common sight in Srrin and were treated as fairly as the humans in Srrin. In Srrin, I had become used to werewolf howls and werecat yowls so I wasn't scared of werecats and werewolves. However, it appeared Cat thought I was a human. Cat was quite spooked and no wonder, she must have been terrified that she would fully transform in front of everyone. After a few minutes, Cat had calmed down a bit and transformed back into her normal form. Once she was back to her normal form, Cat still looked quite panicked. She said stressfully,

"Why didn't you go away? Why were you not frightened? How come you were so fast... Oh just answer me and explain why you helped me!"

Cat said, her blue eyes wide with fear.

I replied,

"Because I am a migrant from Srrin and hide a secret like yours."

I could've slapped myself. Why was I revealing a huge secret to someone who I didn't know well?! But Cat appeared to be interested in me now and less stressed. She asked me,

"Did you just say you are a Srrin migrant, Layla?"

I nodded.

"I am." I continued, "why do you want to know?"

Cat replied,

"My family also emigrated from Srrin. I assume the war has gotten worse there?"

I responded,

"Yes, it has." I sighed. "I had to leave my family behind because they couldn't afford the potion tax. So now I am here in Atlo, living with my foster parents, Dean and Kate."

Cat replied,

"Goodness, that must've been tough. I couldn't live without my family."

I just said,

"Yeah, I suppose it was. But I am kinda fine now."

Then I asked Cat,

"How come you were unable to control your transformation? Is there anything you could've done to stop yourself transforming?"

Cat replied,

"I couldn't have that time. I guess it's the cat in me. I can transform at will - all transforming humans can. But sometimes, when cat instinct kicks in, I cannot help it and all I can do is get back to normal after fully transforming. That time, I was secretly angry with that dumb boy for he was making everyone suspicious of where my family lives, so then cat instinct took over and then I tried to control it. But none of my controlling methods worked and everything was spirralling out of control..." Cat continued, "When you came to help me escape, I tried to get you off my scent because I didn't realise you were also a Srrin migrant. I would like to thank you for saving me from displaying my other form in front of everyone."

Then Cat asked,

"Hey, wait. I know you are not one of the cats like me, or indeed one of the wolves. Hope you don't mind me asking but what is your other form?"

I responded,

"I only transformed for the first time a few weeks ago, so I don't know how to transform at will. However, I shift into my form at sunrise, on the 'sunrise' mountain cliff, every night. If you don't believe me, see for yourself tonight."

Cat said to me,

"Ah, the sunrise mountain cliff is your spot. My family transforms not too far away from where you shift, in the forest near the sunset mountain. Speaking of which, we need to do something important now."

"What do we need to do now?" I asked.

"Right, Layla. As a transforming human, you already know you must keep your other form hidden from any other human. Now you know my form, you have got to promise to keep my other form hidden as well. Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise." I answered.

"I'm glad you've promised." Cat replied in relief.

I looked around the wood where Cat had led me. It was a pine woodland, with trees dotted around, but with clearings too and a shallow river. Prehaps we could run around in it, have a laugh and have fun. Then I remembered we had run away from school. We would be in so much trouble if we returned and we would be late for our next lesson. Cat also seemed to remember about school and asked me,

"What should we do about school? Should we return?"

I replied,

"No. If anyone asks why we left school without permission, we can both say you had to leave school because you were sick and I forgot to tell the school we were leaving."

"Thanks for the excuse." Cat said to me, smiling. "We should probably return to our homes now, so we don't forget our routes back home."

"Yeah," I replied. "Do you want to visit me tonight when I transform?"

"I'll be there, don't you worry, although I will be in my other form." Cat told me.

We both said goodbye to each other and walked out of the forest, heading back home. As I wandered back to my house, I realised that Cat and I were starting to become friends.