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Koru had no perception of time in the darkness that he had fallen into in that dark alley, and his senses to had seemed to have abandoned him. Or at least he thought they had, because as he moved through the darkness he began to notice that far off in the distance there was a light. It was bright white and looked so warm and welcoming, and despite his terror at the thought that if he touched that light he would never again wake, his consciousness was inevitably drawn towards it. Then he heard the voices, they echoed from all around him, calm and reassuring. He had no idea what they said or the meaning these voices tried to convey, but the closer to the light he drew the clearer they became, and for some unknown reason he desperately needed to know what they said.

As he moved into the light the young white tiger nearly screamed, the pain was beyond what he had ever felt in his life so far. The calm voices became panicked, and he was finally able to clearly hear what they said. "He's lost a lot of blood doctor, and as far as we can tell there may also be internal bleeding, but we couldn't tell how bad it may be." It was a familiar voice that spoke, and Koru turned his head slightly to the left, trying to both escape the glaring white light and see the owner of the voice. "I thought you said the cub had lost consciousness Ned." the obviously female voice spoke hurriedly, "He did doctor, he passed out shortly after we found him, most likely from shock."

Ned that was his name, Koru blinked slowly trying to clear the fog from his sight. "Well he isn't anymore, and if we don't get the cub into surgery fast I don't know if he'll make it." For some reason the doctors comment didn't bother Koru in the least, he was much too focused on getting a good look at the yet mysterious Ned. At least until he felt the paw on his maw, gently moving his head until he was again staring into that bright light. "Don't worry little one, we'll get you all fixed up and back on your footpaws in no time." As the doctor spoke this she gently placed a plastic mask over Koru's mouth and nosepad. "Now I just need you to relax and take deep breaths." The doctor's calm voice, and whatever acrid smelling gas was being pumped into the mask on his maw, soon had him again losing his grasp on wakefulness.

This time when Koru woke the light and voices weren't present, something that he was eternally grateful for. His head pounded, his body ached, and even the soft light that filtered into the small room from the open door made his adjusting eyes wince in pain. Soon though his vision cleared, and he was able to finally look around to take in the small room in which he now lay. It turned out that other than the medical equipment keeping track of his vitals, and the large hospital bed he found himself in, the room was actually quite homey, not that he had much experience in that department, but when he pictured a comfortable home this room would have definitely fit right in. he continued scanning the room for a few more minutes before realizing his maw was incredibly dry, and he desperately needed a drink. There was a glass of water sitting on a tray table in front of him tantalizingly close, but when he tried to lift his arm he realized he could only raise his paw a couple inches due to his current weakened state.

It took him a few seconds more to realize that some thoughtful fur had placed a small remote next to his right paw, and he realized quickly that this was most likely a nurse call button. Koru felt slightly bad as he pushed the button, hearing a quiet chime from very close outside his room, about pushing the button and possibly pulling the nurse away from her work, but he was desperately thirsty and he had no idea when a nurse would next be in to check on him. He was slightly surprised that after only a few seconds had gone by he heard footsteps quickly approach, and a young female cheetah entered looking around as if she expected to find someone else in the room with him. That is until she looked at Koru, and found him gazing back with half lidded eyes.

"Oh! You're awake, how are you feeling?" she asked immediately moving to his bedside and without him even needing to ask her, she grabbed the glass of water and held it for him while he took a long drink. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke, the doctors honestly didn't expect you to regain consciousness so soon. Speaking of which, if you don't need anything else immediately I need to fetch the doctor." She said as she smiled at him reassuringly. He had so many questions for the nurse but before he could even open his maw the she had turned and left, leaving him lying there trying to figure what had just happened.

For a few minutes the room lay quiet except for the rhythmic beeping of the medical equipment, and the quiet sobs of the young white tiger lying in the room's bed. He hadn't remembered feeling this alone in a long time, and even though he was embarrassed by his unbidden tears, he desperately hoped for somefur to walk through the door. His silent wish was soon granted as a svelte lioness entered the room, her face angled downwards as she carefully read the papers attached to the clipboard she carried. The lioness slowly made her way to his bedside still reading intently, and almost seeming to not notice the room's single occupant whose gaze was fixed upon her.

Without warning the doctor looked right at him, her eyes instantly softening as she noticed the fresh tears staining his cheek fur. "Hello Koru, My name is Dr. Landau." She told him smiling softly, "Are you feeling a lot of pain right now? If you are I can have the nurses up the dose on your pain medication." Koru looked at her carefully before he responded, "Yes but it's not unbearable, I just....please don't leave me alone again." He said quietly, as fresh tears began to fall from his eyes. "Well normally a patient in as serious condition as you are wouldn't be allowed visitors, but I think I can make an exception for you." She said softly, resting a paw gently on his shoulder.

"I do need to ask you some questions first though, okay?" Koru shook his head to the affirmative, looking the kind lioness in the eyes the whole time. "Well first of all I'm going to give you rundown of your condition. The biggest issue was the blood loss; whoever attacked you left you with a lot of deep cuts, we also had to operate to stop the internal bleeding, and unfortunately for you that means a liquid diet for the next two weeks." She said this all very calmly, only breaking eye contact to consult her notes. "Now to the questions, well question. When you were brought in we noticed quite a lot of bruising, we understand that some of it was likely the result of the attack, but there were layers of them, some almost healed." Koru immediately broke eye contact, unable to look Dr. Landau in the eye as he spoke. "Mr. Moore.... he touches me.... and when I try to stop him or get away he gets angry, and he....he hits me." Koru looked up, as he again felt the doctor's gentle paw on his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me Koru, I know this hasn't been an easy time for you." She said quietly and smiling kindly.

"Well that's all I needed to talk with you about at the moment, I'll let the nurses know that you are allowed a visitor, I just ask that you don't over exert yourself. Your condition is still quite unstable and you need your rest." Dr. Landau told him sternly. "Thank you doctor." He said softly, already wondering if he would even have any visitors. Lily would definitely come, or at least he hoped she would, but he couldn't imagine any other furs who would even notice he was gone. He was so lost in his thoughts that at first he didn't even feel the warm paw resting on his, "Koru?" He slowly let his head roll to the side towards the source of the familiar voice, and before he knew it tears were falling into his cheek fur. "Next time I offer you a ride you're going to accept it whether you want to or not." She said smiling softly, gently stroking his paw.

Koru smiled tiredly at his friend, "I'm really glad you came Lily, I was afraid no one would even notice I was gone." She laughed as he said this, "Oh Koru, if only you knew how many people noticed." A look of confusion crossed his face, but before he could ask her what she meant, she spoke again. "I came to see you last night too but the doctor said you hadn't regained consciousness, and...Uh.....I kind of stopped by the Moore's to grab your stuff for you; it's over there on that chair." He tried to lift his head to look where she pointed, but eventually gave up with a sigh. "Thanks Lily, I was really not looking forward to going back there." She gave his paw a soft squeeze, before looking at her watch and then up into Koru's piercing blue-green eyes. "I'm really sorry Koru but I have to get to class, my mom said I could only miss half the day. I won't be able to come after school either; I promised snow that I would cheer him on at the game tonight, I'll bring him with me to visit on Saturday though if that's ok."

Koru smiled at Lily as she left his room with a happy wave towards him, again leaving him alone with his thoughts. He lay there for a long time afterword's replaying his conversation with his friend, and wondering what she had meant when she said he had no idea how many people noticed his absence. It wasn't long though before he began to feel extremely tired, and remembering the doctors warning he closed his eyes, letting himself drift off to sleep.

He woke slowly to the feeling of somefur gently shaking him, slowly opening his eyes to the sight of Dr. Landau smiling down at him. "I'm sorry to wake you Koru, but the detective here insisted on speaking with you as soon as you woke." The young white tiger looked to the large muscled male lion standing next to the Doctor, "Is this about Mr. Moore?" Koru asked quietly, looking over at the doctor questioningly. "No Koru, although I did inform the police of what you told me and they assure me that the Moore's will be held to account for their actions, Detective Blake is here to ask you about the man who attacked you."

Koru visibly shrank in upon himself at the doctor's words, still terrified by even the thought of what he had endured at the paws of that shadowy fur. "I know this might not be easy for you cub, but we need any information we can get about this bastard." The detective stated bluntly. The young fur looked at him for a second, a question forming in his mind. "Has he done this to any other furs?" An uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a few minutes before the detective spoke. "Yeah he has cub, but you're the only one that's survived so far." Koru just stared at the detective, unable to think for the fear that welled up inside him. "But he said he didn't want to kill me or any other furs either. Was he lying to me?" The words rushed out of his maw before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry cub I really couldn't tell you, but he's killed at least three other furs in the last two months so anything you can tell me would help." Detective Blake's voice had an almost pleading tone to it now, making Koru look up and meet his gaze. "He was a large Black wolf probably around six feet tall and covered in muscle, he was at the school watching the football practice and he must have followed me when I left." He stopped talking at that point and tore his gaze from the detective's, trying and failing to stop a few tears from rolling down his cheekfur. "That's enough Detective Blake, Koru needs his rest and your questions are clearly causing him distress."

He lay there for a few minutes as Dr. Landau lead the detective out of the room, and cried himself quietly to sleep once again. Koru didn't sleep well that night, nightmares haunted him and the dark empty room he woke to brought him little to no comfort. Eventually though exhaustion overtook him and he slept deeply, and when next he woke he was surprised to see that somefur had opened the heavy curtains in his room letting the bright morning sunshine in. He blinked a few times letting his eyes adjust to the light, and then tried reaching for the ever present glass of water on the trey table in front of him. Although he had some trouble, it seemed that he had begun to get some of his former strength back.

After a long drink he sighed feeling slightly better, he was looking forward to seeing Lily and Snow and finding out what she meant about people noticing him being absent, but at the same time he felt a bit of trepidation. He waited for what seemed like hours, talking to the nurses as they came and went until finally he gave up, sure that Lily had found something better to do, and laid his head back against the soft pillow. The young feline was still reeling from the last few days, and laying there alone it suddenly all caught up with him. He was unable to stop the first sobs as they burst forth, causing him immense pain as his young frame convulsed, jostling his still healing wounds. Before long he was almost delirious with pain, both physical and emotional, so much so that he didn't even notice the two furs that had entered the room. It wasn't until he felt the soft furred arms wrap around his shoulders that the sobs began to wane, allowing his battered body some relief from the pain caused by his sadness.

"Do you want me to call the nurse Koru?" Lily asked him, her worry for him quite apparent. He shook his head slowly, "No I.... I guess things just kinda caught up with me, I'm sorry if I scared you." She smiled softly at him, as she gently wiped the tears from his cheekfur. "You don't have to apologize to me; you've been through a lot so if you need to let it out I won't judge you for it." Koru smiled at her as she released him and stood back, seeing snow standing awkwardly by the door, and for the first time noticing that both of them had dyed their headfur white. "Lily why did you and Snow dye your headfur, and what did you mean last time about furs noticing I was gone?" she looked at him with a sneaky grin on her muzzle. "Now what fun would it be to tell you that, you'll have to wait till you go back to school to find out."

Giving up getting any information out of his evasive friend their conversation moved to other items, Snow commenting about their overwhelming victory at last night's football game, and all the gossip Lily had gathered about who was running for homecoming court, along with many other lighthearted topics. Eventually though their carefree conversation was interrupted by a soft knock at the door to the hospital room, followed shortly by the entrance of a slim male cougar. "Hi hope I'm not interrupting anything, I just wanted to stop by and see how you're holding up." Koru looked at him curiously, almost recognizing the voice but at the same time wondering why the stranger cared. "Oh sorry, my names Ned, I was one of the paramedics who brought you in." without missing a beat Lily shot out of her chair and hugged the stunned paramedic.

"Lily let go of the poor guy, you're embarrassing him." Snow said, as he began to laugh at her usual unreserved display. "It's ok, although I'm not used to furs reacting this unabashedly, it is nice to know what I do is appreciated." The paramedic chuckled as Lily released him, and before long he had been absorbed into the conversation of the three young furs, laughing and telling stories with them. "So Koru, I know you're a ward of the state and all, but have you ever wondered about your past. You know like who your parents were, or why they gave you up?" Ned asked the young tiger. All conversation immediately stopped, and the jovial atmosphere dissipated. There was a long silence before Koru spoke, "Yeah I.... I guess I have always wondered who they were, as for the reason why though that's pretty obvious." He said carefully keeping his eyes from meeting anyone else's. "The only thing I have is a stuffed animal that they found with me and my first name." the young tiger pointed to his open suitcase on top of which rested an obviously well-loved stuffed tiger.

Ned walked over and picked up the stuffed animal carefully, examining it closely before walking next to the hospital bed and gently placing it on Koru's chest. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to dredge up painful memories. I am honestly happy to see your recovering though, and you seem to have great friends too." He said somberly, before waving goodbye and leaving the young furs to themselves once again. "That was kind of weird." Koru and Lily looked at Snow as he spoke, and seeing their questioning looks he continued. "I mean why would somefur you barely know want to know something so personal?" He stated quietly, as he looked towards the rooms door. Suddenly Lily jumped out of her chair, startling the other two youths. "Crap Snow we've got to get going I promised mom I'd be home ten minutes ago." The two furs quickly said goodbye before leaving, promising to return to visit at the next opportunity.

The next two days passed rather slowly, and except for another visit from the paramedic Ned who had a few more uncomfortable questions, and visits from Snow and Lily, it was rather uneventful. It was on his sixth day in the hospital that things changed. He had been up walking around with a nurse when Dr. Landau had approached the nurse and the two of them had stepped aside to talk in private, and afterwards the nurse had escorted him back to his room and helped him back into bed. Despite the time he had spent resting in the hospital, he was still recovering and tired quickly. Just as he had settled in, exhausted from even the small physical exertion, Dr. Landau entered the room followed by an older ram dressed in a very severe looking dress suit. "Good morning Koru, I'm glad to see your recovery seems to progressing quite nicely." The doctor said smiling kindly, before gesturing to the old female ram. "Hello Koru, my name is Beatrix Carroway, and I'm going to be your caseworker from now on." She said this sternly and without emotion.

Koru just looked at her not really sure if he was expected respond or just listen, for this reason he stayed silent. "Now I am aware of the issues with your last placement so I have personally arranged for your next caretaker myself. The good doctor here assures me that you're ready for release tonight; as such Mr. Thompson your new guardian will be to fetch you sometime after noon." And with that she curtly nodded to both Dr. Landau and Koru before swiftly turning and walking from the room. "Well Koru as you are now aware, you're set to be released later today so I'll leave you to get dressed while I go get some paperwork and instructions ready for your new caretaker." With that the doctor turned and walked out of the room as well, leaving Koru alone and slightly fearful now that he knew that by the end of the day he would be in another strange home among furs he didn't know.

The young tiger slowly lowered his head back into the pillow, so lost in thought that he didn't notice when the cheetah he had seen the first day he had awoken in the hospital entered his room and padded over to his bedside. "Are you alright Koru?" he started slightly at hearing her voice, "Yeah...it's just.... it's always just a bit difficult and scary to start over in a new place again." The nurse watched him silently as he spoke, before gently moving her paw to cover his. "Don't worry cub, I'm sure things will get better for you especially since the results of that DNA test came back as a match although they never did tell us who it matched. Well regardless let me get that IV out for you." With that the nurse expertly removed the needles from his arm, leaving him with yet more questions and even fewer answers. "What did she mean DNA test results were a match?" he asked the now empty room as he slowly pulled himself out of the bed and made his way over to his suitcase.

Without thinking the young white tiger reached into the suitcase, quickly grabbing a pair of black jeans, a teal t-shirt, and found his shoes next to the chair his suitcase sat upon. He quickly got out of the hospital gown before carefully slipping on his street clothes except the shoes, and looked himself over noticing how ragged his clothes were. He never felt right asking his foster families for anything, and figured most of them wouldn't have responded favorably anyway seeing as most of them treated him with disdain. A wave of fatigue suddenly washed over him as he stood next to his suitcase, and without thinking he grabbed his stuffed tiger off the top of his suitcase and on wobbly legs crawled back into the hospital bed wrapped his arms around his plush tiger and instantly began to fall asleep.

Koru was almost asleep when he felt the gentle paws lift him and place him into a wheelchair the movement woke the youth quickly, and when at last he was fully woke he saw the cheetah nurse placing his shoes on his footpaws. "Sorry Koru, you just looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you." The smile on her face was very friendly as she spoke, and suddenly a question forced its way into his mind, "Why didn't any of the people here treat me like I was some sort of disease?" the nurse looked slightly taken aback by this. "Because Koru, you may be different but, unlike the older belief systems, most furs realize now that the color of your fur does not determine how you act or make you bring bad luck. Although I know some still cling to those beliefs." With that the nurse ruffled his head fur smiled at him, and began pushing the young tiger through the halls towards the patient pickup area. "I'm sorry, I've been here almost a week and I never asked your name." he said, looking over his shoulder at the kind young nurse. "My names Andrea and you don't have to worry about it you've had it rough and I don't blame you for not asking."

The two chatted amiably the rest of the trip to the patient pickup, stopping only once they exited the building. At first Koru thought that whoever his new guardian was had forgotten to pick him up, but after only a few minutes a large black S.U.V. with tinted windows came within site slowing to a stop in front of the nurse and her charge. Andrea immediately waved to the driver a warm smile on her face. "Hey Ned, I didn't realize you and Erik fostered cubs." Ned looked back at her smiling, "Normally we don't but this is a special situation, also its kind of a surprise for Erik." He then turned to Koru still smiling, "Sorry to interrupt your nap cub, but I wanted to make sure you were settled in before tonight." The paramedic said all this as he made his way around the vehicle and opened the passenger side door, and then as he finished speaking turned to help Koru into the passenger seat. After the cougar had made sure the seatbelt was fastened, he turned back to the nurse grabbing a stack of papers from her before waving again and hopping into the driver's seat.

"Ned, who's Erik, and why do I feel like everyfur is privy to some big secret that I'm not allowed to know about?" Koru was staring down at the stuffed tiger in his lap as he spoke. "Well Erik.... he's my mate, yes I know we're both males but hey love is love right cub? As for the secret, you'll find out soon enough, don't worry though it's nothing bad I promise." The cougar said as he pulled out into traffic. The rest of the trip was made in silence, the cougar smiling to himself and the young tiger lost in thought as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The trip seemed to take almost no time at all, and before he knew it Koru was staring out the window awestruck by what he saw. The house was huge, at least in the young tiger's eyes, and looked like a piece of modern art constructed of shining stainless steel, concrete and glass. "This is your house?!" he asked looking at the cougar in shock, "Yeah, when Erik and I became mated he and I built our dream house. Nice isn't it?" the cougar said as he pulled up to the front of the house.

"Is everything all right cub?" Koru looked over to the cougar as he spoke, but said nothing, instead looking down at his feet. "Listen I know a lot of furs have treated you badly in the past, but that won't happen here I promise you." The youth looked over as he felt a gentle paw on his shoulder, "I'm sorry.... I just need some time ok?" Ned smiled at him giving his shoulder a firm squeeze. "Take all the time ya need cub, but if ya need to talk you can always come to me." Koru nodded solemnly toward the cougar, before getting carefully out of the vehicle. "Ned? When is Erik going to be back?" the cougar looked up as closed the back of the S.U.V. after retrieving the youth's suitcase, "He should be back some time tomorrow, although I'm not positive his trips sometimes run longer." The young tiger looked over at Ned as they got to the front door of the modern mansion. "What does he do for a living?" the cougar didn't even glance over as he keyed in his code to unlock the house. "Have you heard of Gideon Industries? Well he's the founder and CEO."

The young white tiger froze; every fur had heard of Gideon Industries, it was at the forefront of almost all major technological advances in the last five years, and was a rapidly expanding company. Ned turned to Koru chuckling softly at the look on the youth's face, "C'mon in I'll get you settled on the couch for tonight. I took the next week off so we can start getting a room set up for you tomorrow." The cougar said leading Koru into the living room, setting down the cub's suitcase before walking over to a closet and producing a pillow and blanket for the young fur sitting on the large comfortable couch. "You look like you're ready to pass out cub, I'll grab you some water so you can take your pills, and then you can lie down if you want." With that Ned went to the kitchen coming back a few minutes later with a glass of water and a pawful of pills, and carefully handing both the young tiger on the couch.

"While you down those I'll get these shoes off for ya, unfortunately I don't have any pajamas for you so you'll either have to sleep in your clothes or your underwear. I do need you take your shirt off quick though I want to check on your bandages." Koru had finished taking his medications by this point, and Ned had removed his shoes and shirt as well, he then began looking over the youth's bandages, checking to make sure none of the wounds had reopened or stitches had burst. "Ok everything looks good, do you want your shirt back on or would you feel more comfortable without it?" The young tiger looked at the cougar tiredly, "This is fine." Ned simply nodded before helping Koru get comfortably situated, and then he walked into the kitchen with his phone already in his paw. The young tiger lay there for a long time listening to the sounds of the cougars muffled conversation drifting from the kitchen, and before he knew it his eyes began to close slowly and he fell into a deep slumber. Ned stood in the kitchen doorway a happy smile playing on his maw as he looked forward to seeing how his lover would react to the surprise he had planned for him.

Koru woke slowly the next morning feeling a gentle paw shaking him, "Rise and shine cub, hate to wake you but you need to take your meds and eat your breakfast." He sat up gingerly grabbing his pills and downed them quickly before reaching for his breakfast taking a few gulps before setting it back down. "Wow this stuff is a lot better than the goo they were giving me in the hospital, did you make it?" Ned smiled as he sat down on the couch next to Koru, "Yep glad you like it. Now how are ya feeling today, any major pain?" the young tiger set his breakfast back down after another drink, "I feel ok, the pain isn't too bad more just an ache unless I move to fast, or certain ways." Ned nodded looking pleased at the news, before quickly pulling out his phone as it chimed. "Oh good looks like Erik is on his way home too, he should be here in about ten minutes."

An uneasy feeling began to build in Koru's stomach, and it must of showed on his face, "Don't worry, I know for a fact that Erik is going to be more than happy to have you here, trust me." The cougar gave the younger fur's shoulder an encouraging squeeze, and then stood heading to the front door. "You just stay there and relax cub, I'm going to catch him before he comes in." With that Ned gave a wink in Koru's direction and stepped out the door, leaving the younger fur a ball of nerves. He nearly jumped out of his fur as his phone vibrated in his jeans pocket, pulling it out and checking the screen he saw a familiar number, "Hey Lily.... yeah they released me yesterday, sorry I didn't call you I kind of passed out...... they put me with the paramedic that visited...... yeah Ned and his mate..... nope not yet, listen Lily I'll talk to you later ok looks like he just pulled in."

Koru slowly set his phone down on the end table by the couch, his paw shaking, and hugged his stuffed tiger tightly; it had been many years since he had held this toy but for some reason when he did it made him feel just a bit calmer. At least until he heard the voices echoing from outside, he recognized Ned's voice but couldn't make out the words, the other voice was unfamiliar to him. At first they both sounded happy but as the conversation continued the voice that must have belonged to Erik began to grow softer until finally the young tiger swore he could hear somefur crying. "I bet he's mad at Ned for bringing me here." the youth said quietly to his plush tiger, talking to it like he hadn't in years. "Nothing could be further from the truth cub." Koru jumped as he felt Ned's familiar paw come to rest on his head, "It's just a lot for him to take in at once, I'm going to go see if he's ready to come in yet, you just sit tight." And with that Ned was once again out the door, although this time he was gone for only a couple minutes, and reappeared holding the paw of a large Bengal Tiger leading him slowly into the living room. The tiger had obviously been crying and Ned was rubbing his arm trying to comfort the large musclebound handsome male. "Erik I'd like you to meet Koru, now he may look pretty beat up but trust me he looks a lot better than when I first met him." The cougar gave the young white tiger a reassuring smile before continuing. "And Koru this is Erik Gideon, your father."