Owoooooooooooo…..
She froze. No, no, no, no... They were back. Her mind screamed and she curled up against the thing, wrapping herself around it as close as possible. [Safe.]
Michael and Evelyn flinched at the new sound. The little fox looked scared half to death, so the brunette scooped it up in her arms and cradled it close to her body. Michael had decided to find a very large chunk of wood and was now wielding it like a very heavy baseball bat. The sun had disappeared by this point and the only light in the area stemmed from their make-shift camp. Both siblings knew this and stuck close to the fire.
"Ev make sure there's something you can use just in case..." Michael trailed off as five sets of yellow eyes peered at them from the same bushes the little fox had come from. It seemed like they were hunting it, following its scent. Evelyn trembled in fright, and watched with wide eyes as, one by one, dark figures emerged and prowled towards them, fanning out into a semi-circle. The alpha, it seemed, stepped ahead of the rest with hungry eyes and locked on to Evelyn's shaking form. She was sure if it could have laughed, it would have, because the next moments were a blur and rush of colour as it sprang forward to attack, the rest following soon after.
Michael watched in horror when three of them darted after his sister, the wood in his hands almost splintering in his grip as he swung it heavily toward the nearest wolf. With a yelp, the dark furred creature tumbled to the side and landed next to its pack member, jaw set in what looked like feral rage. In that split second, he didn't want to ruin the opening that was created, so his feet danced deftly towards his sister. He swung again in an attempt to scare the wolves off, but it only seemed to invigorate them even more and instead of backing off, they jumped at the both of them with open jaws. The stick in Michael's hands was torn away and another second later more teeth were poised to snap his arm between them.
"Aaaaah!!" The pained cry that came from his sister chilled him to the bones and sent a rush of adrenaline through his system so he could push forward, narrowly dodging razors in between. However, he wasn't lucky enough and a jagged laceration appeared on his leg through tattered trousers. He grunted in agony, hobbling further forward to get to Evelyn, who still had yet to let of go the fox cub, and snatched a burning branch from the fire. His body ached, his hands were sweaty, and he could feel the heat almost searing his fingertips, but he promised them...He promised to protect his baby sister with his life!
If anyone were to ask him how long it took him to reach her, he would have responded with 'a life-time' and even longer before he could see the damage the alpha had inflicted. His teeth were dripping with a coppery liquid that looked almost black as it hit the floor. The image burned itself into Michael's memory and sent him into a rage like no other.
Shocked, the wolf couldn't jump away far enough after unclamping its jaw from Evelyn's leg. Fur began to singe and the smell of burning made it yelp and scatter back. It wasn't enough to make them leave, though. As the humans huddled together, covered by the protection of their dying amber flower, the pack circled them once more. They watched with a sick glee as the threat died into nothing, and finally dove into action one after the other.
Only the siblings with eyes squeezed tightly shut, heard five heavy thuds instead of blinding white pain. It was almost as if they'd run into a wall.
"Tch." An unknown voice. "Leave, now."
Mizuki had followed his instincts after the rumble had subsided, driven mostly by curiosity, and trudged across the expanse of land on light feet. He had taken a break at one point to gather his bearings and search for any abnormalities. It was at that very moment when the smell of heavy spices and water lilies smacked him point blank in the face. His nose twitched at the foreign but familiar scents that intertwined with a bitter tang of copper. By now the shadows had crept across grass and trees to blanket them in darkness, leaving silver to shine through the canopies in little beams of light. There was another twitch of his nose as he felt it prickle when the scent of copper became stronger. There's not enough time for this! He thought quickly and disappeared out of sight. His good eye narrowed when he spotted the tell-tale sign of a campfire, and he pushed himself once more to flit between the trees at such a speed no mere mortal would have been able to comprehend. It took him seconds to arrive, and when he did, he saw the damage immediately. Two humans, lovers perhaps, lay clutching each other on the ground, both were bleeding extensively from wounds on their legs and arms. Surrounding them, he noticed with some distaste, were five pitch black wolves with red eyes. They couldn't hide their true form from him, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, hands raising and fingers working seamlessly in some type of language formation. Once he was finished, a large silver bubble popped into existence around the broken mortals and blocked the next assault. This caused a chain reaction of confusion, rage and then distraction between the animals as they swayed on their feet. Stunned. At this point they had finally noticed the new figure standing on the edge of the field, white hair billowing in the mild wind. There was an animalistic growl that came from the back of Mizuki's throat.
"I said…Leave, now." The amber of his eye glowed ominously as the wolves gathered themselves, each set of eyes glowering at the towering figure behind matted fur and gnashing teeth. He wasn't going to tell them again, if the woman's state was anything to go by, he needed to finish this now.
His hands moved unconsciously and a ball of bright blue flame erupted in front of him, just as he dodged one set of brownish coloured teeth. It split once, then once more until it equalled the number of opponents. Each time he had to slide effortlessly to the side to avoid being nipped. He huffed in irritation, drove his left hand forward and directed his fire to strike all at once. None of the wolves could avoid the burning flame that engulfed them, and they fled immediately with whimpers and yelps echoing into the forest. Mizuki sighed, dropped the barrier and quickly scooped up the almost unconscious woman. Curious, he rose an eyebrow.
Two yellow eyes peeked out from under her arms, a quiet purr erupting from the confines. He felt his mouth twist up into a fond smile as he recognised the sound, glancing down at the mortal who had risked her life to save that of the little fox cub in her protection. A groan broke his observation, and he switched his gaze to the tall male staggering to get up. The injury on his leg, though it looked serious, was quite superficial in comparison to the bite mark layering the right leg of the mortal woman in his arms. He adjusted his grip lightly.
"Pick yourself up and walk. We need to leave now before your blood attracts much worse than those disgusting cretins." Mizuki felt a crinkle appear in his brow at the mention of the pests he'd chased away. It was doubtful they would return, but there was much more danger around now than ever before. The male nodded his head and bent down to salvage a particularly long piece of wood, cleverly using it as an aid to walk. He nodded his head and began the slow trek back to Ryō, already concerned by the strange material these mortals had on their person.