A/N: Yes! A brand new title! All of you fans out there who don�t write reviews need to take note that I keep track of everyone�. So PAY UP!
Chapter One
�Leona! Be careful!� growled Leona�s father.
Leona Sage was standing next to the Leopard cage. One of the big cats was gnawing on a rather large bone. �I�m not doing anything!� she cried at him.
�Well� just be careful! I don�t want you mother to worry! This is her zoo after all!� her father, Mr. Sage, called after her.
�Alright!� she said.
Leona looked like your average thirteen year old. She had short, yet longish, wispy brown hair and grey eyes. She was rather tall and skinny. She wore oval glasses, as well, however, her overall look was one of awkward teenager.
She was born and raised in England. Her mother was a zoologist and her father was a writer. Her mother was American, though. Her father was English.
�Leona!� cried Mr. Sage. �Your mother wants you over here�. NOW!�
�OKAY!�
Leona ran over to the building her father was in. Mr. Sage was a tall, thin man with short brown hair and brown eyes. Her mother, on the other hand was smaller and slightly pudgy, with wispy red hair and grey eyes.
Leona ran in and hugged her mother. �Well hello there, young lady,� she said in a surprised voice.
Leona let go and stood back. �I missed you mum,� she said.
�As did I�� Mrs. Sage smiled.
Mr. Sage coughed. �What did you want to show us, Cybil?�
Mrs. Sage stared at Mr. Sage blankly. �I was going to show ya�ll something?�
Mr. Sage sighed. Leona giggled. �Mum, you are so funny!�
It hit Mrs. Sage suddenly. �Oh yeah! That�s right! I was going to show you two the new lioness we brought in!� she said.
Leona followed her mother toward where the big cats were. They passed a couple of tigers, a leopard sleeping and then there were two lions. One obviously male, and sleeping, the other one was female and she was walking around rather gracefully.
Leona pressed her hands against the protective glass. �She�s so pretty!� she said gleefully.
�Where did you find her, Cybil?� asked Mr. Sage.
�She had been wandering around the Nile River�. Poor thing was lost, I expect,� Mrs. Sage said. �But she is no more!� She beamed. �She was wandering around some people.�
�I thought they didn�t go near villages and cities,� Mr. Sage said.
�I didn�t think there were any lions in Egypt,� said Leona.
�Normally, no� there used to be, though,� said Mrs. Sage. Then, she suddenly remembered something. �That�s right! I brought something back with me from Egypt!�
�Oh! What is it!� said Leona, suddenly very excited.
They walked out of the big cats area and walked back to the information building where Mrs. Sage�s office was. Mrs. Sage went into her office and brought out a black box. �I found it when I was examining the lioness.�
She opened the box and it was a tooth. It was a pendent really, with gold at the top with a loop for it to be strung up. There were Egyptian markings on the side of the tooth.
�It�s very pretty,� Leona said. �Are you going to put it up in an exhibit?�
�Yes� I�m going to string a gold chain through this and put it in a display case in the small museum by the Reptile house,� Mrs. Sage beamed.
�That will be a great attraction, Cybil,� said Mr. Sage as he kissed Mrs. Sage on the cheek.
At dinner, Leona sat at the table listening to her parents talk. Her older brother, Max, was sitting across from her. He was only a year older than her, and he was over protective a lot, as well. He had auburn hair, brown eyes and was as tall and as gawky looking as Leona.
�By the way, Max� Leona,� said Mrs. Sage, �I think it�s time you were moved to a different school.�
Max perked up. �What?!�
Mrs. Sage beamed cheerfully. Mr. Sage rubbed his temples as he knew what was about to come. �You heard me� I don�t like that school that you two have been going to.�
�But I like that school,� Max whimpered.
�Even so�. I think you two ought to go�. It�ll be good for you two to meet new people,� Mrs. Sage said cheerfully.
�We do that normally,� Leona sighed. It wasn�t as big a deal for her. She didn�t have many friends at their school. Going to another school would be a nice change.
�You will start in September,� Mrs. Sage said, �The school is Errol Academy. It's a very nice school."
�Which means we won�t be coming home until the winter holidays,� whined Max, �This is just great.�
�It shouldn�t be as bad as all of that, Max� You�ll make friends easier than I will,� Leona said as she reached across the table and patted her brother on his shoulder.
His head hit the table. �It�s not fair� now I�ll have to watch the guys at this school!�
Leona and Mr. Sage gave Max a blank stare. Mrs. Sage was eating cheerfully. �They�ll all want to talk to you!� growled Max as he glared at Leona. �At least I knew all of the blokes at our school.�
Leona slammed his head against the table. �Idiot! It�s because of you that they never talked to me in the first place!�
�Children,� came Mr. Sage�s warning tone.
�Sorry, dad,� the two children replied.
�Come on, kids! Let�s all have a nice time,� came Mrs. Sage�s cheerful voice. Max and Leona sighed heavily.
The next day, Mr. Sage had to talk to his publisher, so Max and Leona had to spend the day with their mother. It wasn�t so bad, though. Mrs. Sage let them wander around.
�Be good, kids, and don�t go into any of the cages. I don�t want to be missing one of my children because a tiger ate it,� she said in that bright voice she always had.
�Yes, mum,� said Max.
�Okay, mum!� Leona said cheerfully as they walked out of the building. Leona loved walking the park. It was the summer, so there were people wandering around.
�Where do you want to go?� asked Max with a faint smile. �Reptile house, so that the snakes can come out of their cages and creep around you!� Max made a scary face and advanced on Leona like he was ready to strike.
�ACK! Don�t do that! You�re scaring me!� she cried.
�Bwah ha ha ha! I�ll chase you!� He laughed a horrible laugh as she took off.
�You have to catch me first!� she laughed.
They ran through the park, laughing as Max tried to catch Leona. �I�m going to get you one of these days!� Max panted when they finally stopped.
�Like I said� You have to catch me first,� Leona smirked.
�Let�s just get some lunch before I gnaw your legs off,� Max said gruffly as he stood up.
They walked to the food court. Max kept getting closer to Leona as a small group of boys walked past. �Max� that is really getting annoying, you know that?� she sighed.
�Yes, but you�re my sister and I don�t want you falling into the hands of any of these strange blokes,� he hissed at her.
�Oh get off it, I�m thirteen!� she growled. �I am old enough to start dating.�
Max�s ears went pink. �N-No you aren�t and that�s final!�
Leona tapped the ground impatiently with her foot. �Fine� let�s just get some food, I�m HUNGRY,� she grumbled.
The Food court was packed. There were people everywhere, eating, talking, playing, it was completely busy. �This day has been completely boring,� groaned Leona. �There has to be something that we can do.�
�Yeah, otherwise no one will read this.�
�I mean�.We�re in a Zoo,� Leona began.
�That we�ve been going to since age five.�
�Where there are plenty of kids running around that we can talk to,� Leona said.
�And plenty of blokes I have to fend off.�
Leona glared at her brother. �One of these days, you�ll have to realize that I am not a baby.�
�Just not today,� chided Max with a grin. �Let�s go to the Reptile house; at least we can play with the python.�
The reptile house was stuffy and warm. �I swear that I can see steam coming from this place,� Max sighed.
�Let�s just go in,� Leona sighed as she grabbed her brother�s arm.
There were snakes everywhere. On the ground, slithering and swaying, on the makeshift trees in their pots. �What the bloody hell is going on,� Max gasped.
�These snakes are out of their cages,� said Leona in a shaky voice.
�Thank you Miss Obvious� care to have another go?� grumbled Max.
�I don�t like snakes,� she said.
Max turned and saw that she was completely white and rigid. �Oh no� snap out of it, Leona,� Max said in a paniced manner. He slapped her lightly on her back and she stumbled forward.
�Oh! Don�t do that!� she growled and hit Max across the jaw.
He stumbled back. �Nasty right hook you have.Come on, let�s get Arnnie; he works the Snake house.� He rubbed his jaw as he walked through the door.
Leona stalked after him. �Only because he�s a snake himself,� she grumbled.
Then, she heard something. It was very faint, but it sounded like metal scraping against metal. It was coming from the museum.
She ran over and peeked into the window. One of the office doors opened and out walked a man that she had never seen before. He was tall and thin, but muscular, with blonde hair and a blonde goatee.
He walked around the place looking through cases of artifacts that her mother and her colleagues had brought back with them. �Where is it,� he muttered.
Leona glanced around to see if anyone would see her, then she crept around to one of the other doors. She slipped in and walked through the back until she saw the case with the new artifact in it. The gold glimmered in the light.
She gulped and took a step toward it. It was as if it spoke to her. Then, she heard him coming. She threw herself to a small corner where she hid.
�He said it was in here, and I better bloody well find it and take it to him,� grumbled the man. �I�ll give him his comeuppance when I find it and sell it.�
He suddenly stopped. Leona managed a peek past the case and saw the man walking toward the Lion tooth necklace. �There it is. He said it was a tooth.�
She shook with fury and fear. The man opened the case and the necklace glimmered in the light even brighter than before.
He picked it up and gazed at it in his hands. �Oh you�ll fetch a decent price, you will.�
Leona was trying to creep closer when suddenly, she tripped. She landed face down in full view of the thief. The man snapped around, dropping the necklace.
It landed a few feet from her. �What�s this? A girl watching me? Oh dear, dear, what am I to do,� he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.
Leona got on her hands and knees. In front of her, the necklace seemed to beckon her. She stared at it for a moment.
She was broken out of her concentration by the man picking her up by her collar. �And a pretty little girl,� He said as he took off her glasses.
�Let go of me, you sicko!� she growled as she stamped hard on his foot. He let go of her and she grabbed the necklace.
�Get back here with that necklace!� he growled as he hopped towards her.
�What are you going to do, hop on me?� she said with a smirk, then she started for the door, putting on the necklace as she went.
A hand stopped her dead in her tracks. He had her up against the wall, smiling down at her. �You aren�t going anywhere,� he growled. �Now give me that necklace!�
His hand reached for the necklace, and suddenly, he was thrown back by a flash of white light. �What the bloody hell?� he growled as he regained his mobility.
He glanced up and saw a terrifying sight. Leona�s eyes had gone bright yellow and she was giving him a stare that sent chills down his spine. She growled an inhuman growl.
�Holy shhh�" he started. He got to his feet and ran out the door that Leona had come in.
Leona ran after him. She broke through the door when it closed on her. She ran after him until she caught up with him.
It was like he had been knocked down by something huge and heavy. It was Leona that was circling him, instead. Her eyes were the same scary yellow and there was a hungry look in them, like a hunter. It was like an animal.
�D-Don�t hurt me,� he whimpered in a shaky voice.
Her head cocked to one side as if she didn�t understand. He used that moment to run. Leona growled at him as he ran into the distance.
Suddenly, Leona jerked. She ran to the office buildings toward her mother.
Mrs. Sage walked into her office and found Leona lying on the couch in there, like a leopard in a tree. �Leona? Hon, what are you doing in here?�
Leona woke up. She got to a sitting position and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. �Leona, what are you wearing?�
Leona didn�t realize what her mother was talking about until she looked down at her shirt. Through the collar, her mother�s hand brought out the necklace. �What are you doing with this?�
�There was a thief and he was going after this, so I took it away from him,� she said. �Don�t remember much more than that though.�
Her mother tried to pick the pendent up, but it was like trying to pick up something extremely heavy. �It� It won�t come off� why..?� She grunted as she tried repeatedly to take the necklace off.
�The thief tried to take it away from me and he was blown back by some weird light,� she said absentmindedly.
�How unusual,� her mother said with a large smile. �How very interesting.�
�What is, mum?�
�I was doing some research on those symbols. I read that this kind of necklace gave its bearer the ability to become the animal it came from,� her mother said. It was almost like she had just made a new discovery. �But I read that it chooses its bearers.�
�What do you mean, mum? What are you talking about?�
Her mother shook her head in disbelief. �But it was just a story� could it be real?�
�Mum!�
Her mother gazed up at her from her kneeled position. �Honey, there was a man that showed up in the medical tent. He had scratches all over his body from some animal.�
�What are you saying��
�You have a little bit of blood underneath your nails,� her mother went on, �That means it was true.�
�What am I, mother,� came the desperate voice of Leona.
Mrs. Sage glanced up at Leona. �Leona, you turned into a lion, because of that necklace.�
�What?�
�How very unusual, it wasn�t a myth after all,� her mother went on. �You are the necklace bearer, Leona. You are the keeper of this necklace, now.�
Suddenly, Max threw open the door and walked in. �MUM!� He saw Mrs. Sage and Leona sitting on the couch staring up at him blankly. �The snakes are all out of their cages!�
�That�s quite alright, dear. We�ll get Arnnie to get them back,� she said with a cheerful smile.
Max looked confused. He gazed over at his sister and noticed that she was wearing a necklace. �Hey� yo�� He started, then saw what necklace it was. �I thought it was going in the exhibit, mum.�
�I decided to give it to Leona. It�s better if it�s worn anyway. It�s lasted this long in the sands of time, then it can last a bit longer while being worn,� she beamed up at him. �Now be a dear and fetch Arnnie.�
Max sighed. �Alright, mum. I�ll go get him.� Then, he walked out.
Both Mrs. Sage and Leona let out the breath that they were holding in. �You can�t let him know. He will get extra protective of you and that won�t be good at school at all.�
�Don�t worry, the last thing he needs to know is that I�m some sort of were-cat or something,� Leona said.