I wasn't sure exactly how long I had been asleep. There was barely any light out, so I couldn't have been out for more than a few hours. However, my awakening was hardly peaceful. I snapped up a little as I felt someone shaking me rather violently. I tried to mutter as I moved and opened my eyes, but before I could even speak, I noticed the barrel of a gun pointed right at me.

"Quiet. Don't move, and don't make a sound." I stiffened suddenly, and my heart was racing as I looked at the gun, letting out a nervous, choked noise. I tried to turn, but the firearm was suddenly pressed to my forehead. "Don't make me say it again."

I swallowed before giving a slow nod, trying to shift a little. The feeling of Likax's fur helped confirm that he was still right there with me. However, he wasn't moving at all, even as I felt a couple of hands grabbing my shoulders.

"Your big friend here's asleep.” I heard the voice answer as I was pulled upwards. “We might not be able to put him down for very long, but he won't do anything rash if you're out of his reach."

Even in his sleep, Likax's arms still pressed firmly on me and made it difficult for the men to get me loose. However, he wasn't in a position to resist, and in a minute or so, I was pulled free. I could barely move, and I couldn't even get a good look at our assailants. They were all in street clothes, but each of them was wearing the same vest, adorned with a splotch of white across the chest. However, as I was pulled up and slowly regained enough of my senses to get a better look, my heart sank. It was painfully clear that each of them was human.

I was dragged a short distance away, and I could hear one of them speaking. "Come on. We don't have time to loiter. At his size, the tranqs will only work for ten minutes. Get him secure." I swallowed as I felt the two men holding me pull my body back against a tree. Within a minute, I had been tied against it, and my hands had firmly been bound.

"W-what do you need me for?" I managed to speak out, but felt someone give my head a firm smack. It stung a bit, but I was quick to realize they weren't trying to injure me.

"Quiet. We're not interested in you." I heard one of the guys next to me speaking, keeping a rather disinterested voice. "We only want the bobcat. You're only here to make sure that he doesn't snap at us when he wakes up. If you cooperate, we'll be on our merry way soon enough." I grunted as I struggled a bit, but saw the man with the shotgun approaching.

"W-wha? If you think that I'm going to-"

"You don't even have to do a thing. He wakes up, he sees you like this..." I felt the gun pressed to the side of my head. "Then he'll talk. It'd be impossible for us to talk with him otherwise. All we need is for him to stay still long enough for us to talk. You're just our guarantee to make sure he doesn't run the moment he sees us. So as long as-”

"Grant! He's waking up!"

"Already? Even our conservative estimates said it'd be another minute... I suppose we'll have to keep this in mind." The man with the shotgun was quick to respond, and looked at me. "We're prepared. Get his attention over here."

"Mrrph... You awake, Carson?" My heart seemed to race as I heared Likax's voice. His arm raised up to wipe at his eyes, and he tried to look down to his arms. However, before he had any time to fully wake, I heard the man next to me speaking again, the gun held firmly to me.

"He's right here." One of the men spoke, and the unfamiliar voice quickly snapped Likax awake. His eyes seemed to jump immediately, and were pointing right to me within the span of seconds.

"Carson! Who..." He shook his head violently, standing up suddenly and glaring at Grant. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Just your cooperation. Things have been rough enough already. We figured this would be the only way to get close enough and make you listen. Just stay calm, and your little friend here will be free soon enough."

Likax took a heavy step towards us, and this time, I had to swallow. Even though he was clearly worried about me, it was impossible to ignore the threatening expression he had on his face. In addition, it was now clear that he had been growing in his sleep. However, while I had gotten used to the idea of him getting bigger, I simply wasn't prepared for seeing the twelve-foot bobcat like this. I could swear the ground was shaking as he moved closer, and his almost rabid expression and bristling fur couldn't help but make me nervous. His entire body was tense and ready, and he looked like he would be ready to maul someone in an instant.

I wasn't alone in feeling nervous. Grant kept his gaze on Likax as he spoke again. "D-don't move!" Though he was trying to keep his composure, his voice had clearly cracked a bit as he spoke. "You probably could take us all out right now. But you try, and this guy," he said, nudging me with his elbow, "is gone for good."

Likax kept his glare, and his expression remained tense, but his footsteps stopped as he just looked at the man. "You'd better be telling the truth about letting him go. If you are, I'll talk." He only gave them a silent glare, bending a little to look at them. "What is it?"

For a few moments, silence filled the air as the two stared each other down. It quickly became clear that Grant was the group’s leader, and judging by his grizzled appearance and gruff demeanor, he seemed like the type of guy who had probably stared down death without blinking at some point in his life. But even he looked to be sweating slightly when faced with handling an adversary more than twice his size, and the rest of the group looked even more nervous. I hoped that they’d all be able to maintain their cool long enough to keep from making any rash mistakes.

Likax seemed to be growing more agitated as the seconds ticked on. “I’ll only ask one more time,” he finally said, breaking the silence, “Who the hell are you guys?”

“Why don't you have a seat,” Grant replied, motioning with his gun, “and I’ll tell you.”

The bobcat growled but complied, sitting back down on the ground, crossing his arms over his knees and leaning forward. He kept glaring at Grant, a fierce anger apparent in his eyes.

“That’s better,” Grant said, relaxing only slightly. “Now we can talk. My name is Grant. I'm with the Enlightened Cabal. I doubt you've heard of our organization.”

Likax shook his head. “No, I haven’t,” he replied.

“Good,” Grant nodded, “Then we’re doing our job as intended. It’s much easier to get our work done when no one knows to look for us.”

“So what do you do, then?” Likax asked, sneering. “Are you with the government?”

Grant burst into laughter. “You're about as far off as you can be with that. No, we're an independent group that exists to, shall we say, help fix things that need fixing, especially when it comes to the anthro community.”

'Fix things that need fixing?' I thought to myself as I eyed the various weaponry in the hands of each of my captors. That didn't sound good at all.

Likax seemed to be thinking along the same lines I was. “So is that why you're after me? Come here to ’fix’ me? Perhaps change me into one of your kind?” With each sentence, his muscles seemed to tense up more and more, as his hands clenched into fists. I could tell that he was thinking back to what he had seen before he had escaped from prison, the bodies of anthros who had been the victims of those sick experiments.

Grant smiled, a strange smile that seemed genuine, yet cold and calculating. “No, my dear bobcat, the very opposite is true. The very purpose of our group is to help anthros achieve their destined superiority to humankind.”

Likax appeared puzzled at this, and I didn't blame him. “What?” I said aloud. “A group of humans that fight against humans? That doesn't make any--!”

My words were cut off as one of the gunmen closest to me leaned over and smacked me across the face with the butt of his gun. “Shut the hell up, vermin!” he yelled, scowling.

Within seconds, Likax leapt from his seated position and lunged towards me, paws raised with claws extended, letting out a deafening roar that seemed even bigger than his already enormous size. With one swipe, he knocked my assailant to the ground, sending his gun flying. Likax quickly pinned him down with one huge paw, ready to slice him into ribbons with the other. The remaining gunmen seemed startled for a moment, but they quickly recovered and raised their weapons at Likax. Just as they were about to fire, though, I heard the sound of Grant’s voice booming throughout the entire forest: “Enough!”

Both Likax and the gunman stopped. Likax turned his head towards Grant, his face still enraged and his breathing heavy, but after a moment, he calmed down, stepping back and sitting down again, obviously struggling with a multitude of emotions boiling inside him. Shaking my head, I eyed Likax warily. I couldn't believe that this was the same bobcat who I had carried out of the woods, frail and half-dead, just the day before. It was awe-inspiring to see him jump to my defense like that, but the ferocity and power he now commanded was undeniably frightening.

The man who had attacked me slowly rose to his feet and scampered back over to the rest of the group, grabbing his gun from where it had landed. Grant shot him a look of apparent disapproval, but after an awkward moment, continued on with the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“Anyways, Mr. Rufalo,” he said, “I promise that we’re here not to hurt you but to help you reunite with a friend. I'm sure you know who we’re talking about, correct?”

Likax’s eyes narrowed as he slowly began to nod. “Mujexa.”

“Yes. Mujexa. You see, the Enlightened Cabal has been allied with the Comradity since both our organizations were founded, and when Mujexa returned from his stay in Kentucky and asked us to bring you in for a chat, we were happy to oblige.”

My head began to spin as I tried to process all of this. “Wait, so you’re trying to take us to Mujexa?” I said. “That’s exactly who we’ve been looking for!”

Grant walked over to me and shook his head. “No, we’re taking the bobcat to Mujexa. You, boy, are going back to Kentucky.”

For a moment, I felt my blood turn cold. I started to protest, but decided to keep silent as the other gunmen aimed their weapons back at me, hoping not to create another incident like before. But there had to be some other option, right? I had been through too much with Likax for it to end like this; it seemed all completely wrong. But there didn't seem to be anything I could do .

“So, Mr. Rufalo,” Grant continued, turning back to face the bobcat, “if you come with us now peacefully, we’ll take you to see who you were wanting to see anyways, and your human friend will return back home, alive, safe, and no worse for the wear. Everything works out for everyone. Agreed?”

Likax sighed, his shoulders slumping, as he rose to his feet. The gunmen tensed up again, but Likax simply crossed his arms, looking back and forth between Grant and me. He clearly didn't like the terms he was being faced with, but it did seem like it might be the only way for things to end peacefully. I knew that Likax must be as torn up inside over this decision as I was: neither of us wanted to leave each other. But if this was what was best...

“No,” Likax finally said. “We stay together. Either Carson comes with me, or neither of us go.”

A frown crossed Grant’s face for a moment, and he shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, Likax. For one thing, neither the Comradity nor the Cabal know anything about this kid. There’s no way we can trust him enough to bring him into a base, especially one of such strategic importance as this one.”

Likax closed his eyes and turned his head down. “He saved my life,” he said in a low voice. “I trust him more than anyone else on Earth.”

“This isn’t up for debate, Likax,” Grant muttered. “Comradity tradition says that the only living humans allowed in their bases are members of the Enlightened Cabal. Mujexa would never agree to letting him in with you.”

“Fine. Carson and I will go back home to Louisville and see if we can find someone who can help both of us. Together.” Likax took a firm step towards me, the ground trembling under his feet.

“That’s not going to be possible, either,” Grant said. “If Mujexa has said he wants to meet with you, he will meet with you, the easy way or the hard way. I hope for your sake that it's the easy way.”

Likax kneeled down, bringing his face right in front of Grant’s. He didn't seem angry anymore, but a sensation of intensity emanated from him, something almost indescribable. “Then,” he simply said, “we have a problem.”