Chapter Text
Title: A Cat's Tale 1: The Arrival
Companion series to Family Tree.
author: Lucinda
rating; pg, pg 13?
no pairing
disclaimer: I do not own anyone from BtVS or X-Men the movie.
distribution: by permission only.
Sabertooth was a big man, although there were those who would insist that he was not a man, but some sort of animal. He was Sabertooth. He didn't know where he had come from, his past had been forgotten. Occasionally, he had the feeling that he had once had another name, but it rarely mattered to him. He was over seven feet tall, long hair and rippling muscles, and feral mutation. He had claws, sharp teeth, and enhanced senses sharper than that of wild predators. He had a healing factor, and didn't seem to age. He was a mutant.
Society had treated him like a dangerous freak, and in retaliation, he had hurt people. He had traveled the world aimlessly until Magneto had found him. Magneto had taken him in, given him a focus. Had made him welcome, and trusted him. He would do anything for Magneto.
Unfortunately, he had failed to protect Magneto from those strange people that had fought him at the train station, and again at the Statue of Liberty. It was a terrible feeling, to have failed the one person who treated him like a person instead of a rampaging beast. Now, Magneto was locked away in a glorified cage somewhere. With no one to give him direction, Sabertooth was alternating between what he figured was guilt for failing Magneto and boredom.
Magneto had sent him a message. Sabertooth had read it slowly, words not being his strongest skill. There had been a picture in the envelope, of a young woman with red hair. She looked shy and fragile, like prey. Her eyes were the color of leaves. Her scent still lingered on the picture, clean, uncluttered by perfumes and cosmetics. The letter had said that she was Magneto's cousin. It had said she lived in a dangerous place, and Magneto was afraid something bad would happen to her. He was supposed to go keep her safe. She was in California, in a small town named Sunnydale. Magneto had asked this of him, he would go.
He hid himself in a boxcar, on a train going west. He hated traveling by plane, the changing air pressure made his ears hurt. Magneto had only said go, not how he should go there. So, he would use the trains. He would go carefully, so nobody would see him.
* * * *
He had only had to change trains three times. He was here, in this Sunnydale. The air felt off, somehow. There were faint scents in the air, of hunting things he couldn't identify, and of death. Magneto had been right: this was not a safe town. Sabertooth smiled to himself - he hated safe, boring places.
All he had to do now was find the girl, and follow her. Make certain nothing bad happened to her. As he walked through the dark town, he observed and analyzed his surroundings, in the way a hunting beast pays attention to it's surroundings. There were numerous shops, many of them empty. The allies were dark, and cluttered with trash. The street lights were far apart, and some had burned out. He could smell death in the air, and fear and blood.
Sabertooth followed the scent of blood and fear into one of the allies. There was a figure, like a man, stalking a young woman. She was afraid, and injured. She wasn't Magneto's cousin, so she was unimportant. The person stalking her smelled dead, and somehow... wrong. The scent caused a growl to rise from Sabertooth's chest, and he felt himself going into a crouch.
The dead man turned, snarling at the intruder who had interrupted his meal. The woman, even half blind in the dark, took the opportunity to run away. Dead man snarled and lunged at Sabertooth. They fought, and Sabertooth had to admit the dead smelling man was strong. His face was odd looking, with ridged eyebrows and yellow eyes and sharp teeth. It was fun to kill him, but rather odd that the body turned into dust right as it fell.
Yes, Magneto's cousin was in a place that wasn't safe. He would have to make sure no dead things ate her. It should be interesting. His life was looking up already. All he had to do now was find Red.
end A Cat's Tale: the Arrival.