Breathe Story 2

Never before had Breathe's feet hurt so bad. Never had her heart been so cold and alone. But she had made this choice. She had to move on.
Harsh, hot wind and rays of sunlight burned her coat and eyes, and by nightfall she was so exhausted that she could barely stand, let alone move her paws in a walking motion. Finally, she found refuge in a cave, which was cool and comforting. Flopping down on the ground with a groan, she fell asleep in seconds. Her sleep was fitful, and she dreamed of monsters and demons, all reaching out to her... calling her... wanting... waiting... and suddenly, she was Savage, and the demons and monsters were humans, and she couldn't stop herself from tearing them all apart- and enjoying it.
Breathe...
Who dared...? Wait... that voice... already she felt herself turning back to normal...
Breathe... come to me... please...
Max?

Breathe's eyes snapped open, and she jerked to her feet, gasping and panting. Max was calling to her... she needed to go find him! But... wait...
Wasn't he dead?
Hadn't he died in the fire she'd caused at the old lab?
Then, a feeling tugged at her concience, and she found herself turning south, spreading her wings, and flying as fast as she could towards the unknown. By  nightfall, she had arrived at a lab. It was huge, and dark, and looked even colder than her cave (which she now dearly missed). Calling her aura and power to hide her, she became invisible and unsensable. She slipped past the guards outside, and snuck in a window. The call was closer now... this way... now that way... down this hallway... left, right, and...
She came to an old, rusty door, with deep red-browns crusted on, like dried blood. She shivered at the appearance, then slipped inside the door and made herself visible. What she saw shocked her.
All around, Chimera were calling, moaning, complaining, and crying. And each one had a voice she recognized. These weren't ordinary Chimera. They were artificially created bodies- spare skin and fur, put together as well as possible- with the souls of humans. And not just any humans. These were the souls of the scientists at her old lab.
"Hey, I recognize that beast," a familiar, gurgly voice growled. "It's that stupid Breathe thing. She killed me, and then set the lab on fire while she was at it!"
Breathe glared at the new Gabe-creature as the other chimera began howling and wailing at her. "Shut up. You killed many more than I ever did. You deserved it."
Gabe let out a dark, evil laugh. "For now, I have killed more, but with this form, I can glimpse different futures, possible happenings, and so on. And guess what? In every one of yours, you killed hundreds and hundreds more than I did."
Breathe gaped her mouth in horror, not knowing what to say. She was going to kill that many? But... she used to be human herself... she couldn't... she--
"Don't listen to him, Breathe... he's still just mad at you. You're right, he deserved it. And we all died on accident. It wasn't your fault."
With a yip of joy, she turned towards the wonderfully familiar voice of Max to find a chimera very similar to herself, only with slightly thicker, more muscular features, a gold coat, and autumn-colored feathers on his shoulders. He smiled at her.
"Good to see you again, Breathe," Max said softly.
"You have no idea," Breathe responded. Then she moved swiftly forward to unlatch his cage. But just as she finally yanked the latch open, an alarm began to scream and wail, causing all the others to flinch and wail as it rang through their sensitive ears.
"Let's get out of here!" Breathe yelled, and she and Max dashed out. Down twisting hallways, taking sharp turns... and finally making it outside. The guards were gone, so no one grabbed them or managed to stop them... they were almost to the woods--
BLAM.
Max let out a screaming yelp and tumbled forward. Blood gushed off his shoulder, just below the feathers, and another shot hit him in the gut.
"MAX!" Breathe screamed. Her form became half-Savage, and her aura rushed off like semi-visible swords to slay the people who had dared shot Max. She managed to hoist him onto her shoulders and dragged him and herself into the woods.
Max's breaths came in shallow, and as Breathe set him down in her cave- she'd gotten there surprisingly fast- he winced and whined in pain.
"Shh... it's okay now. I'm here, and we're away from that dreadful place. You'll be just fine... I promise...!"
"Breathe..." Max whispered. "I can't seem to recall what you were called as a human..."
Breathe managed a small, pained smile. It was so like him to bring something up like this, even though he was in so much pain. She set to work healing him as she spoke to him softly. "As a human, my name was Aya. My hair was dark and reached down a bit past my shoulders, and my eyes were bluish-violet. I was pretty, but I was so shy, not many people bothered to acknowledge me. Now, I'm so strange, they all cry out in confusion and fear when they see me. But I don't mind. Especially with you here."
She finished healing him, and he sighed as the pain left him.
"I missed you so much, Aya..."
Suddenly, they both took on a human form, and Breathe leaned down to kiss him. After a moment she sat back up again, smiling contently down at him.
"Don't worry, Max. I'll take care of you, and you can take time to heal. And when you're better, we can travel around. You know, I've always wanted to travel the world... maybe even the oceans... and the snowy deserts..."
Both drifted off to sleep, and had happy dreams.