Several days have pa.s.sed since the injury of Rashan and Kyera has become a constant presence next to the lion, nursing him through the poison . It has been several days since she had time to slip away and become a tigress . It was weighing on her system a bit, missing the smells and feelings she knew so well . Some of her muscles were becoming a bit tight from lack of use .

It was finally time to run the forest of Serenity hunting the traps that the lion fell into . With grace and elegance Kyera disappeared into the woods, alone . As she left the human area she let the shadow dress fall away transforming into her tigress form once more . She dashed off into the woods reveling in her reawakened senses .

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Wood from fires of the kitchen, horses from the stables, cloth and innocence of the children playing at breakfast with their grandfather . The soft spices and cool water scent of her favorite little cub . For a moment Kyera's nose centered on her sent, wondering what the little one was up to . Nothing so it seemed . The smell of inks seemed intertwined with her… 'perhaps calligraphy?' Kyera wondered for a moment, but then remembered she had a job to do .

In tiger form she covered more ground than she would have human . Sniffing and scanning the land from branches . The sun rose higher and the cool scents of morning became stronger and changed tone as items heated to a more fragrant state . The cool water of the river gathered her attention and she leaped down onto the river bank . As she fell her body s.h.i.+fted shape, shadows wrapping around her like a thin drape as she drank .

A twig snapped and Kyera froze her hand reaching for her dagger . The weapon being the only think not of shadow she could conceal as a tiger . She lifted her head to see a woman across the river, 5 feet away .

She was tall and willow thin, with hair of honey gold flowing around her body but dripping with water from the river . Mature with age and dressed in nothing but the warm afternoon winds . Kyera's expression hardened as the face looking back at her grinned, looking so much like her own familiar face . A growl ripped from Kyera's chest a warning to the woman .

"You choose to wet yourself in the river and coat yourself in perfume rather than face me properly . " Kyera spat at her, wiping the water from her lips . The woman sighed and folded her arms, looking at Kyera critically, but the young tigress had no intention in cooperating, the shadows darkening to hide her form . In her eyes this woman had long ago lost the right to a.s.sess her . Nothing Kyera was now had anything to do with the groundwork this woman had lain . She no longer called this woman mother .

"No, I chose to do so so i could speak to my daughter who seems so intent on ignoring my existence . " she replied her voice smooth and warm, it would be comforting if Kyera didn't feel so much pain from the sound . Each loving word was like the caress of thousands of needles in her heart . She pushed back the pain again, hiding it from her .

"Then, perhaps you should wait for her to come to you . " kyera replied standing tall as the shadows danced in the sunlight hiding her body and behaving like fabric in the wind . The other woman laughed as though she was mildly amused .

"The Kyera I remember would never be so forward . Even when she was angry her brothers would have to tease the reason from your lips . " she replied giggling again . The amus.e.m.e.nt in her voice brought tears of anger to Kyera's eyes . What she wouldn't give for another moment with those teasing words and tender hugs from her

"Kyera, how are your brothers? Does Keenan have a wife yet? Children" the excitement and curiosity in those questions caught Kyera off guard .