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Only the lightest rustle marked Nyxali's pell mell rush towards her home - away from these visitors. Being her had its advantages.

Her family home was built around a large, old tree. She and her mother had rooms in the branches. Her father and older sister had rooms on the ground. The ground was fine for moving and socializing, but not sleeping. That attitude was one of the non-physical differences between her and normals. Her feral nature even more than her appearance was what made her feared.

Visitors. Nyxali hated them. They reminded her of what she wasn't, of what her existance cost not only herself, but her family. Why did they have to come? Why couldn't they just leave her alone?

The door opened as she approached. Her mother smiled and stepped aside with a sly smile peeking out from under her mane. Ysea was a shifter. Her natural form was somewhere between complete feline and normal. However, she had learned - somewhere - to take a more normal form. Only her mane gave her away - it hung long around her face and ran down her spine even in normal form. When she was around normals, she wore high necked clothes and hats to hide her extra hair. But, here, far away from others, she padded around in her birth form - long black mane, a light covering of soft, smooth black fur, tail, slightly elongated feet and hands with retractable claws at the digit tips, her ears sat higher on her head and swivelled towards the slightest sound, but her facial structure was largely humanoid normal. However, her mother's senses were far more acute than most of their more humanoid bretheren. Ysea was the only one in the house who would have heard Nyxali's approach behind the closed doors and windows - or did she smell the approach?

Nyxali slowed to avoid bowling her mother over. They always greeted each other with a gentle brushing against one another as they touched noses to some part of the face, but Nyxali had learned early on that slowing down helped keep the bruising down. Ysea made a small inquiring "merp" as they greeted. Nyxali growled softly as she pulled away.

Oseeri, her father, came in from the kitchen with a tray carrying a pitcher, some glasses, and a shallow bowl. Aside from one hereditary trait, her father was textbook normal. Like all of her kind, his hair was short, smooth; it laid against his head and was the same color as his skin - tan. His clear, emeral green eyes were narrowed as he registered that no one was with Nyxali. As the tray clicked solidly on the table top, Nyxali watched his hands. If he was really upset, his nails would extend. Sure enough, ever so slowly, they began extending. It was the one thing that connected them; well, she had his ears, too, but since she wasn't sure they were as efficient as her mother's, Nyxali didn't really count this.

Ysea brushed past her and placed an elegant hand on her mate's chest. Oseeri's nails immediately clicked back to their normal length as he breathed in his love and relaxed. Nyxali cocked and squatted down as she watched her parents. They did this and time stopped. It was if all Existance recognized the purity of their feelings for each other. When her father looked at her again, he sighed and flopped into a chair. "I suppose that Mayana stayed behind to greet them?"

Nyxali jumped up and nodded.

"Go to your room and wait until we call you down." He paused and drew a deep breath before speaking in a soft, no-nonsense growl. "Do not even think of leaving or running, young lady."

Nyxali nodded at him and her mother as she darted up the spiraling stairway and into her room. She dove into her bed, letting the door slam behind her. She couldn't sulk, though. She paced her room and climbed on some of the furniture and hung halfway out of her windows in turn. She felt a little outraged. Her father had to understand how she felt about strangers. They were out here because of the reaction of their village.

She paused before her mirror when she heard the front door open and unfamiliar voices waft up. She was tan like her father with humanoid facial features, but she was covered in a tan down and had her mother's black mane which ran down her spine and covered the tail with black fur, elongated hands and feet with retractable claws. Her senses were more acute than her father or sister's but didn't seem quite as keen as her mother's. Her eyes were the real mystery: unlike anyone else's, they were a dark brown. She leaned into the mirror as she habitually did - looking for some sign of them lightening into a more acceptable gold color.

The scent alerted her to his presence before anything else. She jerked away from the mirror to see him reflected. He was a shadow being - a black cat on two legs. A black cat with eyes as dark as the rest of him.