Teachings of the Kitty

Teachings of the Kitty

Va'Shanna sat on the couch and glanced at the clock. It was nearly 10:24 at night and her training session with Angel would start in six minutes. Angel knocked on the door to the house just about a minute till the time to train. V started to get up as Nick crossed the room, now finally fully healed, and looked through the spyhole and opened it.

"Hey daddy!" Angel smiled at him before slipping inside quickly.

Nick's eyes narrowed as he grinned at his brother.

John entered and sighed. "Cat eat cat. You're looking better."

Nick shut the door as he nodded. V rose from the sofa and smiled at Angel. Angel smiled back, having for once worn loose clothing so that she would be able to move easier.

"Well, let's go into the training room, shall we?

Angel nodded softly. "Alright, anything I should know before we start?"

V led the way to the training room as she thought. "The transformation to your...animal being, if you carry that ability, can be painful at first. Until you get used to it. And there's a possibility of getting stuck in that form." She frowned at the memories of her own times.

She opened the doors to the room and looked back at her. "You have my...genes as well as Joreth's genes. So right now...I suppose both of us don't really know the extent of your powers."

Angel looked at her with wide eyes, now slightly scared at the prospect of being stuck in an animal form. "Um... any idea what animal?"

"You're close with John, right? Even though he is a were, he is a feline. Do you feel a pull to him in anyway?"

V stopped once in the middle of the room, which was rather large despite being filled with equipment. "Well...it's hard to describe it, but...you remember Kyle, right? And the other weres?"

"Did you feel as if you have any...control? Power over them? The panthers or felines...or the wolves...dogs?"

"I doubt anyone listened to me other then John..".

"And do you believe that's because he's attracted and loves you...or something more? He is a new were and very much untrained. Try to call him mentally."

"And...hmm..." V smiled. "Try to control his movements when he enters."

She grinned slightly at V.

>Can you come in here for a moment please?

"Try something subtle…" V thought. "Maybe kneeling? Mentally, of course."

Within a few moments, John entered with Nick.

/Kneel before me John! And I will ravish you later!/

V noticed the confusion in John's features. She turned to look at him, almost willing him to kneel.

/Uhm, Angel dear? Do not ask him...if that is what you are doing...? Force him./

/Kneel. Now./ She narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on his mind, willing him to lower himself before her.

/Angel.../ John sighed slightly as he moved slightly further closer to her and knelt down.

She smiled softly, looking to V then back to John. /Love you…/

"Mmm-hmmm..." V looked at Nick as he leaned against a wall quietly and watched. "Perhaps we should move onto the next step and see if it's real?"

V twirled herself around half-way before she shrunk down into a white wolf with a fine coat. A brow rose from Angel.

"I hope she doesn't get stuck again." Nick murmured as V in her wolf form trotted around Angel and John.

"What am I suppose to do?" She looked at the wolf, really confused.

The wolf growled lowly sitting on it's hind legs. /Concentrate inwardly. Ignore everything and reach...feel for your animality./ V's voice whispered.

With a sigh, Angel sat on the ground, closing her eyes as she searched for the kitty within!

/Just as you can feel and know where to locate your vampiric beast, your animality should be there as well./

/My vampiric nature is at the top…/

/Then look in the same area. Below it/

Concentrating hard, and with a sickening pop Angel's form crumpled down into a smaller form with black fur. V had, in the meanwhile, transformed back to her human form and grinned at the small cat.

"What in the..." John started forward and Nick held him back.

Through everyone that could hear her, /OOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!/

And more sickening pops as Angel suddenly appeared again, bloodsweat over her skin. V bent down beside Angel. "Deep breaths. Calm yourself"

Oh gods that hurt..." she coughed out, hands clinched tightly as she lay on the ground.

Nick got a few clean towels that were meant for the workouts and handed them to V who wiped the bloodsweat off of Angel gently.

"You said it hurt... but damn... that really hurt..."

"Well, yes, transformation of things like that do hurt the first few times." She smiled to show comfort.

"What the hell did I turn into?"

"A black...cat. Cute thing."

"God it felt like I was like... tiny..."

She sat up slowly, taking a deep breath before concentrating again, this time not so hard and with more pops, she shifted into a panther.

"Hey that's me!" John snorted softly, only to receive an arched eyebrow look from Nick.

It didn't hurt as much as the house cat, but it still hurt, after a moment or two, she was back in human form, her clothes having ripped some.

V nodded in approval. "Good."

Angel just lay there, eyes closed, making a few noises of pain every now and then when she moved some.

/Hurt... stiff. Ow…/

"You'll feel better soon."

Angel closed her eyes tightly, feeling pain all over. She whispered out through clinched teeth.:: It hurts!

"I know." V said softly.

Pained, she slowly moved onto her hands and knees, before slowly sitting on her heels.

"Angel?" John whispered, slightly concerned.

"Yes?" She glanced up at him, slightly unsteady.

He looked to V. "What are you making her do?!"

"Teaching her to call on her powers," V responded, standing.

She took a breath for some reason as she closed her eyes, hanging her head a bit. "V... how long did it take you to learn?"

"Oh..." V rocked herself on her feet. "With Pierre? Nearly two weeks and that's with everything...and making sure I didn't get stuck in any unusual form or space."

"You'll go through hell now, but it'll be worth it in the end."

"Naw... hell was hotter and less painful... "

V snorted quietly. She slowly got to her feet, a bit unsteady at that.

"Maybe you should rest before we go at this again?"

"Want me to get you something to drink?"

V nodded, then left the room, knowing the two brothers would watch after her. She came back a few minutes later with a full glass of blood and handed it to her. She had gone back to sitting on the floor. Thanking V for the blood before she started to slowly drink it. V sat down on the nearest bench. After she finished drinking the blood, she set the empty glass on the floor beside her.

"So feeling any better?"

"A bit. Gods that takes a lot out of you..."

V nodded. "It does."

"I think I want to try again…"

"If you are sure, then let's."

"John... can you…" /change... please.../ Angel looked up at him from where she sat on the ground. /To help me focus...?/

/Change into a panther?/

John looked at Nick before he took off his shirt and jeans until he was in his boxers and dropped them to the floor as he took a deep breath. /If it'll help, okay./ He groaned softly as he forced himself to transform. Bones popped and shifted and velvet black fur covered John as he dropped to all fours. Within seconds, he was in animal form.

/Thank you my love/ And with concentration, once again Angel's form popped and fur grew as she shifted into a panther, golden eyes where light blue ones used to be, black hair for gold.

Nick let out a low whistle, as he looked at V, who was nodding and grinned gently, approving.

And as she let go of concentration to return to human form cause it was odd being a panther...she found she couldn't. Sensing some distress from Angel through their link, V asked, /Angel?/

/Help.../ Golden orbs turned up towards V, distress was right.

>Yes...< If it was possible, the panther of Angel almost seemed to winced and lowered her head to the ground.

John, still in panther form cocked his head to the side slightly before it slowly dawned on him what had happened and he collapsed and rolled onto his back roaring with kitty laughter. Head rising, Angel hissed loudly at him, not finding this at all funny. Although it only made him laugh harder, if that was even possible.

"V, what's happening?"

"Angel seems to have, ah, gotten herself stuck."

Angel's panther form rose from the ground and stalked out of the room, hissing and growling at John as she passed. V followed her out of the room. Angel had positioned herself down the hall some from the training room, curled up.

"Maybe we took things too fast," V said, kneeling down beside her friend. "Your body's probably in shock and has locked up."

/You can get me out of this... right?/ Angel lifted her head from the floor to look at V.

/I believe so. If worse comes to worse…I'll have to force you back into human form and it'll really hurt more than what you've experienced already./

/Oh gods... / The panther winced some and laid the head back down.

/So... how do I get back into human form?/

/Well, try to relax yourself and…slid back into human form gradually./

Angel gave a kitty sigh before trying to relax; her form did change...the black fur turned to gold, eyes to blue, but as she took shape of a human, her...feline attributes stuck. Tail, ears, fur, face, paws.

"Uh oh," V whispered.

"What?" She could speak, but as she did so the whiskers moved and she caught sight of them and dashed off to the bathroom down the hall. "Oh gods!"

Nick walked out of the training room with a now depressed looking John. "What happened?"

"She's still having…trouble with her animality. She's back in form…uh, sorta."

From the closed bathroom door, Angel screamed in a mixture of horror and sadness before sinking down into a corner of the bathroom. V started to go, but John reached out to touch her shoulder and went to find Angel to apologize. Angel sat in the corner of the bathroom in Kitty form, even with tears streaking down her fur she tried to pull herself into some sort of actual form and soon her form pulled into a small black cat with lemonade eyes.

John frowned, bending down to pet the cat gently. "I'm sorry, Angel…I didn't mean to laugh at you. I mean…I did…but didn't. If I knew you were really freaking out…" He sighed.

The cat batted at his hand with extended claws, obviously still sore about his laughing at her, with a flick of her tail she rose and moved from the now open bathroom door, down the hall, and to Va'Shanna. Nick hid a smirk as he walked off to avoid the cat and leave her with V. He didn't want her to see, much less hear him laugh. The cat curled up at V's feet, but with sickening pops and rapid regrowth, Angel's form reappeared in human form, but with a howl of pain from her.

Va'Shanna quickly bent down to her, to try to calm her. "Focus."

The well... nude Angel just shuddered in pain out in the hall, her flesh covered in blood sweat. Seeing John starting to come out of the bathroom, V yelled, "Bring me a large towel and my robe. It's that dark blue one."

He brought her what she requested and she put the robe around Angel then use the towel to dry her face from the blood sweat. Angel shuddered still from the pain that wracked her nerves, muscles and joints.

"Bring a pitcher of blood with a glass, would you?" V spoke to John without looking at him.

He nodded and went off. He came back a few minutes later and put them down. V poured Angel a glass and helped her drink it. It was hard for her to drink while her mind was filled with pain from her body, but she eventually got some down. "Ow..."

"Well, I, uh, advise we stop for tonight."

"Please…gods it hurts."

"I guess…but it hurts…"

"Yeah, I can imagine." V smiled faintly. "Want to just rest here for a while?"

"Yeah…less movement…the better…"

V sat down on her butt and rested her back against the wall. "So besides the pain, how did it feel being something other than human?"

She chuckled softly. "Usually is."

Angel cracked her eyes open a bit to glance at V. "I'm sorry for being such a pain..."

"You're not a pain."

"No…I'm in pain…" Enough pain had subsided so that she sat up a bit, pulling the robe about her a bit more before lifting the glass of blood to her lips to drink more.

V looked at the blond. "There's a difference between a pain and in pain." She patted Angel's shoulder gently.

"Yeah…" Angel slowly moved to prop herself up against a wall, wincing through it all. "Well... I'm really going to sleep well after this..."

"I can't blame you." V smiled.

"Was it this much of hell when you went through it?" Angel asked from her wall, sipping from the glass of blood.

"Just about," she answered truthfully.

Angel lowered the empty glass and glanced around a bit. "Where is Nick and dumbass?"

"Nick is probably in the living room and dumbass followed."

"Oh…" Angel sighed softly as she glanced at the ground. "I shouldn't be angry at John... should I?"

"Honestly? No. But he did laugh at you and you were under stress at the time."

"Well, rest assure that you're not the only one that's ever got, um, stuck."

A brow rose as she looked to her mother.

"Oh no, you're gonna make me spill aren't you?" V snickered softly. "I didn't get stuck on my first time…but on the second day of our training and my recuperation, I did get stuck and I was so afraid that it took Pierre to force me back into my human form." She looked at Angel. "I blacked out. Not fun. And then there was another time…but it wasn't my fault! It was a bloody witch or voodoo thing…"

She smiled some at V, feeling better now that she knew she wasn't totally the worst. "Hey V... mind if I take a nap or something in one of the guest rooms?"

"Nah. Knock yourself out. Want me to send cat-man up there or?"

"If you want..." Angel slowly got to her feet, smiling at how she nicknamed John, and then moved into the guestroom closest to them, so less to walk. "Thanks V…"

"For being willing to help inefficient me." Angel smiled at V, her sire.

Angel nodded to V as she entered the guestroom, leaving the door ajar as she went to the bed and crashed upon it. A sigh escaped her as she sank into the soft bed, eyes closed. V picked up the pitcher and walked off downstairs to the living room where Nick and John were.

"Is she okay?" John asked quietly.

"She'll live cat-man. You can go and see her, but let her get some rest. She'll need it."

John nodded and slowly moved upstairs. By the time John would have reached the upstairs landing, Angel would have fallen asleep on the guest bed, just laying on top of the sheets, V's robe about her. He stood still at the doorway, wondering how he could apologize. If he let her sleep, she'd be happy. She was still a bit sore from the various transformations that her body went through, from panther form to house cat form, it was hard and it hurt. Especially the house cat, with it being so small.

Instead, he walked quietly in to sit down in a chair and he simply watched her. About an hour later, Angel started to wake up, she found herself curled up in a robe, otherwise naked underneath it. Glancing about the dark room, she found John. His right cheek was resting comfortably on his open right palm. Angel whispered softly to him from where she was. "Hi..."

"Mm?" He straightened some in the chair. "Hey."

He glanced at the clock. "Nearly two A.M."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm glad." He grinned.

Angel slowly got up as to not rush herself, still sore but not as much, now it was just mainly discomfort. "Where is V and Nick?"

"Watching some movie and arguing about what to go see in the theaters."

"Can you get my bag from the training room?"

"Sure." He stood up.

Angel tied the robe about her more as she moved cautiously from the bed, down the hall, down the stairs and to the living room where V and Nick were.

"League! Pirates! League! Pirates!" The arguing could be heard from where Angel was at then there was a big thump.

Angel finished going down the stairs and stared at the two, a smile on her lips. "Ahem... did I interrupt anything?"

V pushed Nick off from on top of her. "Ah…no, no. Did we wake you?"

"No...just woke up." Angel yawned as she ignored their... situation of bodies, and sat down on the end of one of the couches, waiting for John.

"Angel, back me up. If you'd go see a movie out in the theaters, what would you go see? League or Pirates?"

"Sean Connery or Orlando Bloom... hm...?" Angel thought a moment.

John came down the stairs and looked at them.

"Some guy in eyeliner or almost every person from stories and legends?"

"Hey! He's a pirate!" Nick argued. "GAH! Angel! How could you?! John? Pirates or League."

"Uh...Pirates?" He shrugged some as he sat Angel's bag down on the floor.

She grinned and took her bag from John, rummaging around inside it for something. A moment later she produce a wrapped rectangular package and handed it over to V and Nick.

"By the way, Happy early Anniversary."

"Thanks," V said, smiling slowly. Nick nodded his thanks also. "Can I open it?" V asked.

"Of course." Angel smiled and pulled her feet up under her as she leaned back into the couch, watching the two.

V took off the wrapping, then opened the box and looked at the silver frame with a picture inside of it. She lifted it up some and as Nick looked at it, he snorted and broke out laughing as did V. Angel smiled brightly, glad they find joy in it. "Like it?"

V nodded silently as John frowned a bit. "What's so funny?" He looked over, trying to see the picture. Angel had to laugh as well, knowing perfectly well that John was in the dark of the gift.

Nick, whose face was already red as a cheery looked at his brother in astonishment. "You don't…you don't know?!" He roared in laughter as John looked over more and saw the picture. Red rose up in his cheeks as his narrowed.

She laughed more and tipped over and lay on the couch, holding her stomach as she laughed; she couldn't help it.

"I thought those were destroyed!"

"You didn't even know I was taking them when you were like that! I destroyed the photos... but kept the negatives!"

His jaw dropped open. She grinned innocently at him.

Looking at the vampire and his brother, John flustered and ran upstairs.

"No…but seriously…the real gift is under that photo." When V and Nick would have removed the photo of John it would have shown a picture of V and Nick on their wedding day before everything went wrong. Angel stood and moved upstairs after John, not as fast as he moved but fast enough.

John had stopped and his back was resting against a wall.

"John... I'm sorry... but I couldn't resist." She whispered softly as she slowly approached him.

"Pay back, huh?" He sighed, looking up at her.

"Pay back for what?"

"For laughing at you."

"I had that in my bag before that."

"I will get you back."

"I thought we were even…" She frowned and turned to go downstairs, pushing a strand of gold from her face.

She stopped, looking down at the ground.

She glanced up at him, and without a second thought, went to him and hugged him gently. He hugged her back.

>I'm sorry about the photo...< She told him through a mental link that sometime in the past had been brought up and set in place to link their minds together.

She smiled softly up at him before taking his hand and leading him downstairs again.

"So…what's this real gift?" John asked slowly, smiling at Angel.

"A wedding photo..." She smiled sweetly at him over her shoulder.