I land on the back of a snow leopard in mid-air. He seems a lot bigger and fluffier than average. His blue eyes too look somewhat familiar. I clutch his fur. He jumps onto the cliff and crawls up. However, when we mount back onto the top, Derek is already long gone.

I jump off the snow leopard's back. My heart is still banging - I've had a huge fright. For a moment, I thought I was a goner, and then this giant fluffy boy came to my aid. I wonder who he is. 

"Thank you, fluffy one!" I smile at him. Whoever he is, he deserves my gratitude.

He morphs into a human before my eyes. Just as I thought, he's a deviant. When the glow subsides and I can see him clearly, I understand why his eyes looked familiar - it's Knut. His shirt and trousers are gone, though. He is bare-chested, dressed only in black underwear.

"Knut?!"

I still can't believe it's him - he's saved me for how many times, now?

"Are you alright? I heard you scream so I got here as fast as I could."

"Wow, you indeed are fast."

If he's managed to get to this place all the way from the prison gate, he's got quite some speed. 

"Thank you, Knut. You've come to my rescue again. But, where are your clothes?"

"Ah, sorry!" His cheeks flush. He scratches the back of his head. "I tore them when transforming, I guess. Didn't have time to take them off, your scream was so sudden..."

"Really? I... I'm so sorry!" 

Damn, I've made the poor guy tear his clothes? I didn't know the complete transformation harmed one's clothes that much! Thank goodness, at least his underwear is unharmed, or else I'd probably go nuts seeing him naked up close.

"Are you... blushing?"

"What? No!" 

I do feel my cheeks burn, though. Curse it...

"So, anyway, what happened?" he asks. "How did you fall?"

"Derek pushed me off the cliff."

"Derek? You mean Derek Karcharias, the headman of the merpeople district?"

"Yes, him."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I saw him with my own eyes."

He seems quite shocked. I guess I'll have to go into details. 

"I've rejected him, so he grew angry."

"What?" A frown covers his face. "Any other witnesses?"

"No. Only he and I."

"That's bad - proving him guilty will be harder that way... Alright, Theo, leave that to me. I'll inform my brother about it."

"The warden? I thought you said you wouldn't wake him over our mistakes..."

"No, but this is serious - if what you say is true, it means that a headman has violated the law. He must be punished. My brother must know."

"Hey, Theo! Are you alright up there?"

Annabelle is calling me from below. I look over the edge of the cliff and wave a hand at her:

"Yes, all good!"

"What happened?"

"I was_"

I stop. I'd better not tell them. It will make things more complicated. Rachel, Rio, and Justina are down there too. I don't want them to know their headman has pushed me. I don't think they'll believe me, anyway. It's better to leave this matter in Knut's hands.

"I fell by accident!"

"Ugh, how clumsy can you be?" Annabelle is annoyed. "Just stay there! We will go whale-hunting alone!"

"Huh? No, I_"

"See you!"

They dive into the water and vanish from my view. So much for the first hunt...

"Wow, they dumped you? That was fast."

Knut stands by my side and looks over the cliff.

"Hmph, so much for friends... Only because I'm not a very good swimmer!"

"Wait, you can't swim, yet you went whale-hunting with merpeople? Are you really out of your mind?"

Just as I expected, he begins to laugh. He can truly be so annoying at times!

"I never said I can't swim. I'm just not good at it... Ugh, forget it. I'm going back."

I turn around to leave. Knut's hand grabs me.

"You really want to go whale-hunting?"

His blue eyes are piercing mine. His smile is so sweet... It makes me smile too, against my will. 

"Yeah."

I begin to lose myself, like back at the merpeople party, with Derek. But now, it is no longer some charm, or the music of nature banging in my ears. It is, rather, the sincerity and magnanimity in those feline eyes, and the benevolence in that beautiful smile. This time, it is for real. Before me, stands not a gruesome shark-man ready to devour me, but a good friend who's saved me many times.

He takes steps back, and my feet follow, against my will. I've begun to lose all my senses. Farther and farther towards the cliff, yet ever so close... Those arms, those eyes, that smile... 

We plunge into the abyss. Yet, I don't scream. Not as long as his hand is holding onto mine.

He puts my arms around his neck and morphs into the snow leopard. I clutch his fur while sitting on his back.

We land onto the water, yet we don't drown. Instead, ice forms under Knut's paws, and he walks on the surface of the ocean. I wasn't wrong - he truly is amazing.

We run ahead, towards the barrier that can barely be seen due to its transparent colours. We run towards Annabelle and her merpeople friends, who have already surrounded a big whale. 

We enter their circle. Rachel and Rio attack the whale and scratch it with their claws in multiple places, while Justina draws it towards Annabelle. This latter scratches its left eye. Rachel goes for the right one. The whale whistles in pain. It dives back into the water, but Rio and Justina are waiting for it there. It has nowhere to run, so it will jump back out.

"Get ready!" Knut cries to me.

"I'm ready."

I make my claws grow. This time, it is my turn to shine. 

"Theo, you're here?" Annabelle is surprised. "Who's that? Wait... Lord Knut?!"

I don't pay attention to her. I have to concentrate on the target. I will only have one chance. 

"When it comes out, we'll go straight at it. Use everything you've got," Knut says.

"Alright."

The whale soon emerges. Knut jumps onto its back. I get off him and bite the whale. I already have the poison in my fangs, so it should work.

Before the whale will dive into the water once more, Knut morphs into a humanoid snow leopard, stands on two feet, draws some water out of his claws, and forms it into ice. He stabs the whale with that giant icicle. 

The wounds received from Annabelle, Rachel, Rio, Justina, my poison, and Knut's enormous icicle, prove too much for the whale to handle. It stops moving and floats dead on the water.

"Haha, jackpot!" Annabelle gives a high-five to her friends. "Good job, Theo, Lord Knut!"

Knut transforms into a human and wipes the water off his forehead. He's all wet, just like all of us. The droplets' sprinkling down his muscles makes a truly delightful view - much better than that of a merman.

"Who knew? Hunting with you is pretty fun!"

Annabelle and her friends think Knut is talking to them, when, in fact, he's looking only at me. It makes me really proud - just some moments ago, those losers dumped me, when, if not for me and Knut, they would've never wrapped it up so quickly. I guess I really am cool to hunt with. 

"You too are good."

"Just 'good'? Hmph, one won't get a decent compliment from you, huh?" He laughs and hits me on the shoulder. "Let's go back?"

"What about the whale?" I ask. 

"Rufus' people can help carry it back."

He points me to the sky. Many vampires - bird and bat ones - are flying above us. I guess Knut's right - they can take care of it. 

Knut takes me to the shores in his snow leopard form. When we reach the land, he morphs back into a human, and we follow the path through the woods.

"I wonder what whale blood tastes like."

"It's quite good if we trust Rufus." Knut smiles. "But you're a raven. You don't need to only drink blood. Ravens are omnivores. You can eat anything."

"You're right. I do miss some exotic dishes, to be honest." I shrug. "I guess, whale sushi then?"

He laughs. I do too. He's really fun to hang out with.

"Knut, uhm..."

"Yeah?"

"I wondered, if..."

He eyes me with great curiosity. That intense gaze of his makes me even more nervous. 

"Well, if we could..."

"Hang out more?"

"Wow, you read my thoughts!"

"Sure, I'd love to. I'd have more chances to train you in swimming." He shrugs with a prideful smile.

"Oh, shush!" 

I hit him on an arm. He laughs. I guess he has fun teasing me, this bobcat!

"Knut!"

Bob runs up to us. What has he lost out here, I wonder? Just when we were getting to the good part...

"What?" Knut snarls.

"It's serious! The warden awoke without our knowledge! He's got no medicine left. He's gone rampant!"

"What?" Knut grows petrified, while I have no idea what's going on. "I told you to refill his supplies even yesterday!"

"I forgot. I've got many other responsibilities on my shoulders!" Bob frowns.

"Not only do you wake him over trivial matters, but you don't even care about his condition at all?!" Knut growls now, in such a thunderous voice that it makes me shudder. "Ugh, get out of my way, you bastard of an uncle!"

He pushes Bob off and rushes to the prison building, without even telling me goodbye. But I am concerned over other matters - Bob is his uncle? That means, the warden's uncle too?

The warden's gone rampant? He's in pain and needs medicine?

Just what is going on?