When Seungri had fallen off his horse, he’d managed to avoid getting hit by the animal’s powerful legs, but the shock of falling off his horse combined with the scratch on his arm caused him to lose consciousness.

“What the?” He blinked as he took in his surroundings. This was not the dark street in Hanyang that Seungri had been traveling down with Donghae, nor was it dark. A rustling noise behind him had Seungri reaching for a sword that physically wasn’t there, while he turned around slowly. He let out a girlish scream as the black panther jumped out from the bright green landscape that had sprouted around them. He would never live down that scream if anyone else had heard it.

‘Don’t be afraid.’ The voice came unbidden in Seungri’s mind as he scrambled back away from the animal.

“Who said that?” Seungri demanded, spinning around.

‘I didn’t say it. Stop moving, I want to get a good look at you.’ The voice seemed amused about something.

Seungri spun around to face the panther again, his instinct to run proving greater than his wonder at why a panther was sitting passively in front of him as he tripped while trying to backpedal away from the animal. He rushed into the foliage and kept moving as he heard the panther behind him, a low huffing sound announcing his presence behind Seungri every time he stopped.

When he heard another human voice, he’d felt relief that he would be saved from the predator, not realizing in his fear that a real predatory animal would have already killed him. He’d lost track of how long he’d been in this strange bright world that seemed to grow more colorful.

When the leopard appeared out of thin air next to Daesung, Seungri felt his legs go out from underneath him. This wasn’t a bad dream, and he wasn’t crazy. The panther sat in front of Seungri. ‘Good, you are realizing the truth.’ The voice said inside Seungri’s head again. He didn’t see Daesung or Ji Yong’s lips move, so he knew it wasn’t them.

Seungri gazed into the eyes of the panther, feeling a soothing comfort as their eyes connected. The panther felt warm and welcoming, and Seungri found himself moving without fear as he placed his hand on top of the panther’s head. A warm burst of happiness slammed into Seungri from the panther.

‘You are Seungri.’ The panther purred as he climbed into Seungri’s lap. ‘I do not have a name yet. To give me a name would seal the bond between us.’

Seungri thought for a moment. The only thing that came to his mind was relief that the panther wasn’t going to eat him. His eyes caught movement from behind Daesung and looked up as Ji Yong smiled at him and before he realized it, he spoke. “Dragon, your name is Dragon.” He pictured the fiercest dragon he could imagine to the panther.

The panther’s satisfaction grew. ‘Dragon….sounds strong and scary. I like it.’ The panther snuggled into Seungri happily, which relaxed Seungri even more.

Ji Yong came closer to the pair, glad this had a better outcome than some of the others. “We have to go now Seungri. It’s important for you to remember that the bond between you and your feline is forever and that he will help guide you through the next step.”

Daesung stood, his feline crowding around his legs before disappearing. “Once you have completed the next step, we will be waiting for you to wake with food and water.”

Seungri nodded, somehow knowing that he would be ok. “Thank you.” He said, bowing his head toward them as both Ji Yong and Daesung faded from his vision.

**

During the time Seungri was training with the Clan, the Conclave happened. As it was a special meeting of all shifters, the Clan had been invited. There was a lot of posturing, jockeying for positions and dominance tests as the 3 packs and the Clan gathered. Seungri had adapted well to his new life as a shifter and had been excited to be told he would be going along with the Clan to the meeting as he’d been stuck in the Clan house learning their rules and about shifting in general and felt like he was going to suffocate if he didn’t get to go roam around, a sure sign that he was physically adapting to the change well.

When Seungri got there, he was shocked to see some of his family members at the meeting, and surprised to learn he was the only feline shifter from the Lee family. He didn’t remember much of the Conclave in between meeting other shifters and having to prove his strength in dominance contests with some of the Clan members that came from other villages.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this hyung.” Seungri overheard two males on the second day of the Conclave. “The issues needs to be dealt with.” A familiar male voice said, exasperation in his voice. “The poor boy was just changed a few days ago, and I won’t stand for any more innocent humans being changed without consent.”

It was Daesung talking to another feline shifter named Zhou Mi. Seungri had met Zhou Mi the night before when the shifter had arrived from one of the port towns on the northern edge of the Joseon territory. He was one of the few feline shifters that orginiated from China, coming to the area despite the increasing restrictions that Joseon was placing on international relations.

Seungri knew better than to eavesdrop in on a private conversation though neither Daesung nor Zhou Mi were trying to shield their conversation from any passing shifter. He hurried on to where Ji Yong was waiting for him with another member of the Clan.

Daesung heard the familiar pattern of footsteps, as he sat with Zhou Mi in a room of the Pack house. “Ji Yong asked me to ask you to investigate because you are not easily recognizable as a shifter and we need your predatory skills to sniff out the culprits. We learned from Pack leader Kim that Pack Cho has had a sudden influx of new shifters emerge that is not natural.”

Zhou Mi sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. He knew Daesung meant well, and that 3 of the 4 shifter leaders were all worried about a possible rogue shifter or 2 attacking people outside of the code and increasing the population of the shifters. “Alright. I’ll investigate, but I’ll need to send for my second. She’s more adapt at investigation than I am.”

Daesung’s scent changed from worried to relieve as his smile radiated from his face. Zhou Mi in a breath. “Thank you hyung, you won’t regret it!” He said.

Zhou Mi tried to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling that bloomed in his chest. He waved at Daesung dismissively, avoiding the other shifters eyes. “I’m glad you think so.”

After Daesung left, Zhou Mi had to meditate to keep his balance emotionally. The whole reason why he’d left China was to avoid persecution for liking men, but it seemed a common theme in the various countries that a man liking another man or being involved with another man was still considered a taboo and punishable by death. Shifters had a harder time dealing with such restrictions because of how much they related to the animal side of nature. It wasn’t uncommon in the Pack and Clan houses to find some of the shifters of the same gender snuggling with each other for comfort, even if it was against the laws of the land.

Zhou Mi wasn’t sure if Daesung liked other men or not, and refused to ask out of fear of being rejected by yet another potential mate, so he stuffed his feelings into his meditation and focused on his upcoming task. First was to sniff out this Cho Kyuhyun and ask to meet the new shifters in his pack after he sent off the missive to his second in command at his pack house. ‘I’d stick my paw on someone in Cho Kyuhyun’s pack.’ His feline, Niqui informed him lazily. Zhou Mi imagined the cheetah was lounging in a sunny spot in his inner sanctum, stretched out while cleaning a paw.

Zhou Mi chuckled. ‘Of course. With Kibum gone, I’m sure one of his lackey’s decided he wanted more pack mates.’ He thought back. ‘Doesn’t explain the rogue feline shifter though. And Ji Yong said all the local Clan members are accounted for.’

‘Could be a non-clan affiliated shifter then.’ Niqui replied, sounding more alert at the idea of a non-Clan attacking humans.

Zhou Mi added the speculation to his possible list of suspects. The biggest thing that bothered him was the fact that Cho Kyuhyun had succeded Kibum quite suddenly and without any warning from the other shifter. Lee Hyukjae had personally interogated several members of Pack Cho and reported back that it was the oddest succession recorded in shifter history. One of those canine shifters, Im Jinah, had told Hyukjae that the day Kyuhyun succeeded Kibum, everyone had been going about their daily duties like normal. She’d even mentioned that it seemed too normal of a day around the Pack house. Hyukjae had mentioned to Zhou Mi that up until that day, Kibum always had something going on that disrupted what a normal Pack life was supposed to be like, but he wasn’t sure of the details since no one in Pack Cho mentioned them outright.

Zhou Mi sighed. He had too little information to even pinpoint a true starting area outside of reviewing the recordings of the interviews. Hyukjae had at least been smart enough to have a couple of scribes on hand who could record the interviews onto rice paper to keep the succession records accurate.

‘We should interview the people that Eunhyuk says seem suspicious.’ Niqui told him suddenly. ‘Eunhyuk said that when his human was interviewing the other shifters, they were trying to hide something.’

‘Well, that is a good starting point!’ Zhou Mi chuckled. ‘Who should we start with first? It might be prudent to get a hold of all the shifters Hyukjae interviewed before the Conclave is over, but I’m afraid that may prove to be not as quiet about the investigation as Ji Young would like.’

‘That girl, Im Jinah, her wolf is Nana, says she’s available to talk. Nana seems a bit jittery too.’ Niqui purred soothingly. ‘I don’t like how she’s jittery. Like she’s the prey for some larger shifter and is hiding.’

Zhou Mi stood and stretched. ‘Well then, tell her we will meet her someplace she feels safe.’ He straightened his hanbok, frowning over how creased it had become while he’d been sitting. He strode out of the Pack house and waited for Im Jinah’s wolf to respond to the meeting request.