Anarchy

Yuki awoke to the sight of Jeremy meditating in the early morning. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, her tail twitching slightly when she spoke. “Good morning... what time is it?” Yuki looked around as calmly as she could, thankful no one had tried to kill her, but on the inside, she was scared and nervous. Staying with an injury and in one area meant that they could catch up. Yuki forgot to tell Jeremy that she wanted to get going before the mid morning comet.

“Morning. Did you sleep well?” Jeremy asked, turning around as he stood up from his meditation. He had been up earlier to pack as much as he could without waking Yuki, but he made no mention of it. He helped Yuki stand up, pulling her forward slightly as she got up from a crouch.

“I slept well.. I think I passed out before you spoke again. My wounds on my leg and ankle no longer hurt as much,” Yuki flashed him a sincere smile, “and I appreciate it.” She limped to her sword that rested against the tree, and used it as a walking stick for a bit before putting it onto her back again.

“No problem. Do you need any help? I’d be glad to help.” Jeremy said, moving towards her slightly.

“Ah, no, I’ll be fine.” She smiled, and unclenched her hand, breathing in and out smoothly to hide the irritation that the wounds gave her. “Let’s get to work, shall we?” She said, and started to pick up the rocks and rearrange them, gently putting them in different places.

“Why are you re-arranging the rocks?” Jeremy asked, perplexed. To him it seemed like a pointless action to take.

“So then the people that I told you about yesterday don’t find me.” Yuki kept her back to him, her eyes darkening as she limped on, forgetting to conceal her injury.

Jeremy, however, had immediately noticed her limp, even though she had turned away from him. “Hey, if you really need any work to be done, let me do it; your foot is still injured.”

She turned back, her voice brighter as she flashed him a smile. “No, I’ll be fine. Come on, I’d be impolite if I didn’t help.” Yuki continued on, her tail slightly swinging.

“But at the same time, it would be impolite if you were to further ignore my warnings and get hurt again, I think.”

Yuki thought for a minute, opening her mouth for a retort and found none to aid her. “Well--” she stopped herself and sighed. “Yes, that’s true...” She tried to find another retort, but closed her mouth without speaking. “Yes, you’re right.” Yuki limped over to a tree root and slid down gently, taking off her sword and putting it next to her, resting the side of her head on the sword sheath. Yuki watched him and yawned before looking at the sky. “Hm.. It’s the mid-morning comet already.” She mumbled to herself before looking back at Jeremy work, only to blink in surprise to find everything already done.

“Wha?” Yuki said, her surprise barely concealed.

“What? You’re not the only person who has had people after you before. Sometimes I had to be ready to go in a moment’s notice myself. Here, you can use my walking stick to support yourself so you won’t have to put too much pressure on your injured foot.”

“Ah, thank you.” She got up and said, “I never meant to imply that I was the only one to have people after me.” Yuki held back a sigh and a slap to the face; she had sounded childish. “That was a bit rude of me, wasn’t it?”

“No, no of course not. I was a bit rude myself, actually. Anyways, all these formalities are only going to slow us down; we should probably get going. However, I don’t know the way to Weis, so you’re going to have to guide me there.”

“Alright.” Yuki limped on, taking his offer and using his walking stick to support herself, when she realized that she hadn’t noticed seeing the stick with him before. She shrugged it off, using the provided support to continue walking.

With neither of them having much to say, they travelled in silence for a long time. It was only when they noticed something strange when one of them spoke up.

“Hey... That cloud of smoke is unnaturally large. There’s probably trouble up ahead; it would probably be best to avoid it now, considering your injury—”

“We can’t just leave them if they’re in trouble!” Yuki threw a hand towards the smoke and looked at him with an expression in between pleading and anger.

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are people after you, we have no idea if the conflict involves innocent people, and that your foot is still injured.”

Yuki put her hand down, her expression dropping. “They can’t be left to deal with a threat that’s too big for them to handle though. That’s letting the others murder the innocents.”

“But that’s assuming that it’s innocents being under attack, is it not?”

Yuki opened her mouth to retort and closed it soundlessly, and then threw a pained glance at the smoke cloud. “But..!”

“Well, either way, I won’t stop you. I don’t really have a reason to tell you what to do; just remember that if you get yourself killed now, don’t blame me.”

Yuki set her mouth in a tight line and looked away from the cloud, her voice tight. “Let’s go.” She took a step before there was a loud gunshot near their area and then looked at Jeremy. “Oh come on, you can’t ignore that.”

“Actually, I could. But don’t mind me, just go on.”

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a second—”

“On the contrary, I think I’ll tag along and see how you do on that injured foot of yours.”

Yuki gave him a surprised look before it dissolved into a grateful smile. “Thank you... now, come on, we’ve got people to save!” She turned and ran, taking out the sword in time to block a knife coming at her face. “Whoa!” Yuki ran on, baseball sliding and getting up in time to miss three more knives. Yuki got up and ran at a man covered in black, baseball sliding again and stabbing the sword into his shin, throwing the man into a tree. She wiped the blood off in the grass, getting up and sidestepping another man’s punch. “How are you faring over there Jeremy...?” Her voice trailed off as she noticed that Jeremy was just leaning against a tree reading a book. A knife flew towards his face, but he shifted ever so slightly that it missed as the knife embedded itself into the tree trunk he was leaning against.

Yuki stared at him before getting a punch to the gut, taking a few steps back and coughing, keeling over a bit. “Augh!”

“Careful, don’t let things distract you. You’re not in the best of conditions, remember?” Jeremy
snapped the book close, and in one swift motion put it away as he stretched. He then kneeled down to pick up a small rock, and, with a single glance up, threw it with amazing accuracy, knocking down a small bird.

Yuki dropped and sweeped the legs out from another enemy, lunging and punching his throat in hard enough to crush his windpipe. Another enemy pulled her off of her current target, swinging her leg up and then back, dropping from the vice grip. Yuki pivoted, her growl growing with each punch that she threw. She jump kicked the woman’s jaw, causing her to fall.

“Huh. They want more reinforcements, despite claiming to be on the brink of victory.”

Yuki looked up to notice a small piece of paper in Jeremy’s hand, and the fallen bird clutched in the other. “How mature.” She said dryly, ducking and throwing another flurry of punches at the enemy’s legs, aiming for major pressure points.

“Mature? If they already almost have the place controlled, why would they ask for more reinforcements?”

“If I could-- augh!”, Yuki had taken a punch to her diaphragm, coughing a bit while swinging the sword, “guess, then this is probably an advantage that they could use against the opposing side. Who the other side is, I have no idea.” Yuki swung her sword into a woman’s chest, placing a foot on her stomach and taking the sword out a bit too violently for her taste.

“But one doesn’t need reinforcements if they’re already so certain that they’ll have the place under control. Sending more reinforcements would be an inefficient marshalling of resources.”

Yuki pivoted, dodging a blade with a strange coating over it, and she frowned. “Yes, that’s true. Whoa!” She nearly fell, but was grabbed and pulled up by a vice grip. She kicked the holder, but the holder only tightened his grip, only for him to get hit right in the forehead with a small pebble, knocking him back.

“Hey, if you really want to save somebody, don’t spend too much time here. Just saying.”

“You--,” she was cut off by another enemy trying to stab her ribs, “you just stay safe while I go into the heart of it.” Yuki ran towards the smoke cloud, ignoring the pain in her ankle.

Jeremy somehow managed to casually follow after her while dodging blows. “...Huh, worrying about me already? But you know, I can’t observe you all the way from here if you go in.”

A few seconds later, all the hostiles around him were unconscious. “These guys can’t even be considered soldiers. No skill, no teamwork, no formation, nothing. Just like an angry mob. Now, let’s see how you fare, Yuki...”

Yuki jumped over a log, rolling and deflecting a short sword. She growled, pushing on the attacker, pushing down and then quickly stabbing the attacker’s rib. “Out of my way.” She snarled, throwing the body into a tree and quickly stabbing the sword into their temple. Yuki continued on, ignoring the ever growing pain in her ankle. Yuki didn’t notice a vine on the ground, gasping in surprise and rolling until she hit a tree. “Augh...” She got up slowly, coughing hard as she attempted to regain her breath.

“You’re quite reckless. You should take more care to notice your surroundings to your full advantage.”

Yuki looked up to see Jeremy, and smiled sheepishly. “The terrain here is different than in my home.”

“And all the more reason to take note of your surroundings. A single misstep can lead straight to defeat in battle. Now, get up. Didn’t you want to save people?”

She stood straight up and steeled her voice. “Yes, I do. Now are we going to stand around?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but yes, I think I will stand around. This battle really isn’t my business, anyways.”

Yuki nodded and hands him her sword. “Use it to keep yourself alive.” Turning, Yuki sprinted again, jumping and changing into a black wolf with scars on the bridge of her snout, under her eye and on her lip, and two on her jawline. She let out a roar as she finally got to her destination, jumping and biting into a man’s neck.

“... I don’t need you to tell me that, nor do I need your swords; you’re the one who’s going to need all it takes to stay alive.” Jeremy murmured to himself. “But a wolf, eh? Does that make her human or not? Doesn’t matter, I guess.”

Yuki growled at a man, who was holding a young girl hostage, her tail lifted up and her eyes looking for a way to kill him without hurting the hostage. Yuki turned her head in time to see another man running at her, and ran at the person who ran at her. She jumped and landed on him, pushing him onto his back and clawing his chest as she dug her fangs into his arm joint.

“Freeze.” A deep voice pulled Yuki inches from her enemy’s exposed throat, her breath on the neck. “Kill him and I kill the girl.” Yuki glanced back, not moving, and growled, pulling back from her target, stepping off of the man’s chest. “Now turn, if you can understand.” Yuki did what she was told, her snarl deepening when she saw a matchlock pistol in the man’s hand.

“Good.” The man said, and started to lower the gun before dropping the girl and shooting Yuki in a swift movement. Yuki yelped, the bullet finding it’s way into her right foreleg. She didn’t buckle, however, and ran at the man, jumping only to get knocked away. She rolled, and received another bullet from a second pistol to her left foreleg, letting loose a loud cry of pain.

“And stay down.” The man turned his attention to somewhere else, reloading the guns but was knocked to the ground by Yuki. Yuki snarled as she landed on him, claws digging into his shoulders as the back of his neck was ripped apart by her fangs. Yuki continued as the man cried out, and jumped off to dodge his hand. Yuki jumps on him again, her claws digging painfully into his chest as she quickly took out his exposed neck.

She turned, blood dripping down her muzzle, and growled as another enemy walks towards her. Yuki curls her lip up, her tail following suit as she takes a step forward, hoping to intimidate.

And both froze when they heard someone else sigh loudly. “Ah, matchlock pistols already? Time sure does move pretty quickly. Yuki, against a weapon like that taking cover is important.” The owner of the voice, obviously belonging to Jeremy, could not be seen.

Yuki opened her mouth but decided against a growl, and limped to hiding, only to be stopped by a pair of hands that picked her up. She struggled and yelped, attempting to free herself. She yelped as the pair of hands dislocated her right back paw. She stopped struggling after letting loose a loud cry of pain, but soon after that the pair hands suddenly left, and then she heard the sound of a body hitting the floor.

“And how many time should I repeat that you should be aware of your surroundings?”

This time, the sudden appearance of Jeremy caught her off guard. Next to him lay an unconscious man, who didn’t seem to bear any external injuries.

Yuki growled, her voice low. “I try.” Her voice sounded very angry to her, though, and so asked in a softer voice, “Besides, are you ok?”

“Me?” Jeremy asked. For some reason he sounded a bit sad to her. “Do I look injured? You should be more worried about yourself first, with your reckless fighting style.”

Yuki nodded, and couldn’t help but lay down from her wounds. She breathed hard, closing her eyes and attempting to push the pain from her mind. “Damn.. These wounds just don’t fade.”

Jeremy eyed her wearily. “Of course not, wounds aren’t supposed to recover quickly, much less in the time span of any battle. Try not taking injuries in the first place if you can, it helps. Here, let me put your right back paw back in. It’ll only hurt for a second.”

She grunted, not thrilled, but let him, breathing hard. “That’s what all doctors say.” She said dryly.

“Ok, fine, it’ll hurt for a few seconds, happy?” And before she ready, he had already forced her back paw back in place. “There. You’re all good to go.”

Her tail thumped against the ground, and she attempted to get up. “I’m too young to be this old.” She grunted, growling when her paw stepped on a bramble.

“That should be my line,” Jeremy mumbled. “And I wonder if she’ll continue to be reckless even after what I said.”

“I can hear you.”

“Yes, I don’t mind if you can or not. Now, are you going to save people, or linger around here some more wallowing in pain that you carelessly received?”

“I’m moving as fast as my legs allow me before I beat the crap out of them again.” She shook herself, and then cast Jeremy a glance before growling and sprinting at other enemies. Her fangs found their way into many necks and joints, letting loose more growls and snarls.

Jeremy himself just stood where he was, hidden among the debris, watching Yuki fight. “Still quite reckless, I suppose. Her technique could use more improvement.” He sighed, before kicking up a small rock and catching it, which he used to bring down another bird. “Another message? What does this one say...?”

Yuki coughed out an enemy’s jugular vein, spitting it on the ground and running at another man. She was stopped midway by a well placed kick to her ribs, causing her to skid and turn her attention to the said kicker. “Fine.” She mumbled as she ran at him, snarling and jumping into the said attacker’s arms, slashing his wrists open with her sharp claws. Yuki growled and dropped, running to another enemy, slamming into the enemy’s side with her head. Her fangs found their way into the attacker’s side, ripping and shredding it as much as she could.

“Oh? Demons...? And dragons? I don’t really want to meet either again, especially if they are enemies.” Jeremy mumbled to himself as he looked at the message. “Yuki, If you want to save them you better finish up quickly. There will be much more difficult enemies on the battlefield.”

“I’m,” she was cut off by a kick to the jaw, coughing up blood before ripping out a tendon of an enemy, “going as fast as I can!” Yuki yelped as an enemy kicked her wounded right leg, causing her to buckle for a second before getting up and nearly ripping off the enemy’s nose.

“Well, in that case, don’t exhaust yourself. It appears that demons have appeared on the battlefield. To make things worse, they’re planning on sending in a dragon as well.”

Yuki cursed and jumped out of the way in time, dodging a kick aimed at her side. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“That’s what this message says... huh, that bird is certainly much larger than any other bird I’ve seen. Hey, Yuki, do you know what that is? Up in the sky?”

Yuki looked up and then back at him. “It’s a hawk, and it’s coming closer.. Help me get these people to safety!” Yuki dodged what would’ve been a well placed kick to her jaw.

“And I suppose you’re going to claim that you’re going to be all right by yourself.”

“If I said no, I’d be lying, now please, for the love of Etro, help me!”

“...Etro? I have no idea who Etro is, and I don’t care for Etro’s love, but I might as well. Hey, come here, you apparently innocent people, I’ve got to get you out of here, because that strong sister of yours asked me to. Don’t worry about her, she’s pretty strong. Even if she doesn’t look human right now... Oh, hurry up and come with me, I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Yuki nudged children and women to him hurriedly, and nodded. “Unless you want to get smashed by a hawk, I suggest you go with him.”

“Because apparently I can’t deal with a single hawk, no matter how large it is.” Jeremy mumbled under his breath. “Ok, people, time to go. Let’s not leave anyone behind, you hear? If you’re strong enough, help carry the wounded. We’re getting out of here. Yuki, how far should I take these people?”

“I heard that.” She shrugged it off, and replied to his question, “Two miles should be far enough.”

“Two miles...? That’s ridiculous, having to bring all these people is going to take forever. By then you’ll probably... not be breathing so well, so to say... Oh. I see.”

“Jeremy.” She said, her voice firm. “I can take care of myself.”

“I was about to suggest you use an attack with a bit less destructive power, but fine, be that way. I’ll give you a signal when we move out of range. Watch for a burning arrow. And take this talisman.” he said, tossing what appeared to be a simple small trinklet over to her. “All right, let’s go! Quickly! We don’t have much time, people!”

Yuki caught it, and then shot him a look before fastening it around her neck. With a nod, she ran back out, looking for the hawk’s dark and large figure in the sky. She heard its wings flapping hard before it came into view, and when it was within range, she jumped, clinging on with her teeth, growling and digging her claws into its brown back as it gained altitude. “Oh boy.” She said through gritted teeth, keeping a firm hold on the hawk as it tried to shake Yuki off. All the while, Yuki kept digging her claws into it’s back, deeper and harder as it gained more and more altitude. It screeched, dropping down and close enough to the ground to get off. She sucked in a breath and braced for impact as she jumped off, rolling and skidding into a tree.

The hawk swung around, it’s dark brown feathers dropping off unceremoniously. It screeched louder, gaining speed as it attempted to smash Yuki into a tree. Yuki dodged it in time, jumping out of the way and jumping back at it to rip at it’s wing joints, attempting to stop it from gaining altitude and speed the next time it tried to attack. The hawk shook her off, flinging her into the ground. Yuki rolled, narrowly avoiding a talon by a hair's breadth. She took this opportunity to bite and dig her claws into the leg of the large hawk, ignoring it’s attempts to shake her off.

She let go of the hawk, rolling and running after it as it took off into the sky again. She growled, annoyed by the hawk’s ability to fly, and kept her gaze fixated on the sky, waiting to see the hawk’s large figure in the sky again. Yuki snarled as it became quiet, and she ran into a foliage of trees, hiding her own figure from the hawk. “Where are you...”

It couldn’t have been five seconds later that a loud screech erupted and startled Yuki, turning and getting tackled by the same large hawk. It screeched loudly in her face, and she roared back, digging herself into the ground to stop moving. She closed her fangs over the base of it’s beak, tasting blood and nearly choking on it. She let go, coughing the hawk’s blood out, but the hawk took this opportunity to fly away from Yuki. Yuki began to breathe hard, but ignored it as she ran after it and roared, attracting its attention and it’s steely black eyes back to her. She ran and jumped, clinging to it’s face and ripping at it’s sensitive face. It screeched loudly, it’s scream echoing across the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Jeremy was having a much easier time than he had expected. Many of the people were in better shape than he had dared hoped, and they were making good progress. But it felt too good to be true, when he noticed a third bird with a message attached to it.

His eyes had become much better than an ordinary person, so it wasn’t hard for him to realize that this one was also a messenger bird. Besides, it was also unlikely for this kind of bird to be flying alone at this time of the year. He quickly brought it down with another rock, and picked up the down bird along with its message: Some of the villagers are escaping. Stop them at all costs!

“Well, I suppose it was only my good fortune we even made it this far without this much trouble.” He murmured to himself. “Alright, let’s pick up the pace. They seem to be after us now for some reason. But don’t worry, I can easily hold them off. Let’s go!”

It wasn’t long before there were armed men after them. Fortunately for Jeremy, though, none of them seemed to have firearms.

“Ha. It’s a good thing they underestimated us. The fact that I wasn’t really fighting earlier helps, too.” He smirked to himself, before addressing the people that Yuki had insisted on saving without even knowing whether or not they were truly innocent. “Let’s go! Don’t look behind you, and keep going! I won’t let a single one get pass me!”

“How brave. There’s ten of us and only one of you, and you’re not even armed.” One of the men sneered at Jeremy. “You weren’t even fighting earlier because you don’t know how to, don’t you?”

Jeremy stared at them in silence for a moment before speaking. “...You’re right. In fact, I’m only here because I was forced to be here. I don’t even care for those people behind me; you can have them all if you let me go, hmm? How about it?”

The man who spoke to Jeremy wasn’t fazed, but whispered to another man. After a few minutes of whispering, the man who spoke to Jeremy grinned sadistically. “Well, well, well, finally, a cooperative and sensible person. You know, you could also work for us with that attitude of yours.” The group of men walked passed him, all clapping his shoulder or patting his back. The man who spoke first stood across from him.

Jeremy smirked back at them. “Yes, I suppose I could work with you. It’s really too bad that this battlefield happened to be ablaze, and I wasn’t the one to set it alight.”

The man raised an eyebrow before smirking back. “Your work can start now.”

“Oh, but of course. E’is!”

Flames flickered. A flash, a small bang, and every one of the men fell, unconscious. Jeremy looked around with a worried expression on his face, but his eyes told a different story.
This was too easy. Furthermore, his stall for time had succeeded; they had spent so long whispering among themselves that the people he was supposed to escort had already reached the edge of the battlefield. All that was left was to get them to the outside of a two mile radius. Jeremy smiled to himself as he too fell down himself; but just before he hit the ground, he took off, sprinting.

Yuki roared as the hawk swung down one last time, it’s large wings folding, aiming to smash Yuki into the ground. She ran forward, and at the last minute, jumped to the side, rolling and skidding. She turned, breathing hard as she saw the hawk get up one last time, swaying. Yuki’s muscles shifted unnaturally, causing her to run and desperately find shelter. The hawk, however, wasn’t going to let her go that easily. It beat it wings, slowly lifting itself off of the ground as Yuki dashed into a vast forest east of the group Jeremy escorted. The hawk screeched again, flying over the forest, waiting for Yuki to come out of the forest.

Yuki dived under a large tree root, bumping into the tree and muffling herself, her lupine pelt turning back into human skin. She arched her back and bit her right arm in order to not bite her tongue off as she felt waves upon waves of pain. Yuki coughed up blood as she curled back into a ball, her vision fuzzy with the darkness creeping up on the sides of her vision. It took all of her strength to keep herself conscious as she continued to change, regaining her senses and limbs. Surprisingly, her clothes weren’t too ripped up, making it easy to move inch by inch to another tree root, grabbing hold of it and pulling herself up. Yuki looked around for her blade and realized that she had given it to Jeremy, smacking her face. “Dammit!” She muttered.

The hawk landed on the tree Yuki changed under, screaming out, attempting to draw her out. Yuki ducked under the same tree root she shifted under, and tried to regain feeling in her legs. “Come on, come on...!” She muttered hurriedly, breathing hard. A wave of pain rushed over Yuki’s senses, causing her to wince. All she could do was wait for the painful sensation to pass, her eyes closed and attempting to curl her toes, but to no avail. She opened her eyes and finally regained her sense in her legs, and as she got up, something glimmered in the dirt. Curious yet cautious, she unearthed it and saw that it was a scrap metal piece, long enough to be a dagger.

Thanking whoever forgot about this scrap metal, she sprinted out and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Over here, you stupid hawk!” The hawk turned it’s head towards her smoothly before lifting itself off of the branch it perched on, diving down and aiming for the small figure. Yuki ran to the side, missing it by a few inches, and in a single motion, jumped on it’s back and began to stab it’s right wing base joint. The hawk screamed again, buckling and trying to shake her off, but to no avail. Yuki set her mouth in a tight line as she continued to stab it’s base wing joints, alternating as fast she could. “Hopefully they’re alright...” she muttered to herself, jumping off of the now grounded hawk and gripped the metal piece tighter.
The hawk screeched at her, trying to fly but barely lifting it’s wings. Yuki ran at it, raising her arm and stabbing into her opponent’s base joint again, driving it down as far as she can, her arms and a bit of her face splattered with blood. She took the metal out and took a few steps back, snapping. Her right hand engulfed in fire and she looked at the hawk with a grim task at hand.

It didn’t take long for Jeremy to catch up with the the people he had been tasked to rescue. However, they had slowed down, already thinking they were safe, which wasn’t very helpful. “Let’s keep going. We have a long way to go before we’re truly safe.” Looking back at the battlefield, Jeremy wondered if they’ll ever manage to get out of range in time. He glanced down at his hand, now holding a pocket watch that he had just taken out of his pocket. “... We’re taking too long... this is ridiculous. Even at running speed, it should take us at least fifteen to twenty minutes total just to get out of range...”

Yuki glanced up in time to see a flaming arrow streak across the sky. “They must be out of range by now.” She looked back at the dying hawk and set her mouth in a grim, tight line. She took a step back and took a deep breath, staring at the hawk. Her fingers snapped, lifting her right hand she watched it become engulfed in a dark blue aura. Her left hand hovered over it and moved to the left, drawing it out and letting it hit the ground with a soft thump. She then put her left hand down, still watching the hawk with an increased intensity. She moved in a smooth motion bringing the whip like aura back with her hand and then down onto the dying hawk, who let out one last scream before it made contact with the hawk’s bloody body. Then, a blinding flash; the world around her was torn to shreds as all the pent up energy was released at once with a deafening roar. Yuki, now exhausted and drained of almost all of her energy, stumbled forwards a few steps, violently coughing as the breath she had unknowingly been holding in was being expelled from her system. The view around her was not a pretty one; destruction could be seen in all directions as far as her eye could see, but the view would not last long for her, as her vision was now growing dark. But the last thing she noticed as she fell into the sea of unconsciousness, however, was the glowing pendent Jeremy had given to her.

Jeremy watched in silence along with the rest of the villagers as the explosion wrecked destruction across the land, eradicating all within it. Some stared with a blank expression while others turned their faces, but only one watched with a calculating look on his face.

“...That, while certainly effective, is not the attack of a hero, but rather a desperate move to wipe out everything near oneself. Has she overestimated herself?”

But Jeremy wasn’t one to care whether or not she had. The bow he had used to fire the signal had now folded over and retracted back into his left sleeve as he crossed his arms. “I wonder if anyone noticed the gap...” He murmured under his breath, as his right hand continued to grasp the pocket watch inside his pocket. “And what of the so called dragon or demon that was on the battlefield? Such an uncontrolled explosion, while certainly effective against weaklings like us, would cause nothing more than a scratch on either of the two.”

But he really couldn’t do anything about it. His task was to keep the so called “innocent” safe. He glanced over at the people he had led to safety. Was it worth it? Should he have done so? And were these people really innocent?

Jeremy weighed the odds. It would probably be better to find Yuki and make sure she was safe than stay with these people. His original goal when Yuki ran off to fight was to watch Yuki and measure her worth, after all.

And as for his final goal, there would be no point if Yuki was dead. Well, he might be able to complete his final goal even if she died, but things would be much easier if she survived.
The advantages of keeping these people alive were much, much smaller than keeping Yuki alive.

And if they all died, well, that wouldn’t be too bad, either, he could always just continue on his way.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back; I need to check on something. Don’t worry, you’re all sufficiently far away from the battleground to be safe here.” Jeremy didn’t think that they would actually be safe here, but there were other things that were more important to deal with at the moment.

And so Jeremy disappeared, melting into the shadows before the anyone could protest.

About thirteen minutes later Jeremy found Yuki’s body. It wasn’t too hard; all he had to do was run towards the center of the explosion. He had highly doubted that the area after the explosion would have negative side effects, and he was probably right, considering the nature of the debris that lay within the range of the explosion. But the explosion was created by an unknown cause, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

Mumbling a few words to himself, he crouched low to examine the injuries Yuki had received. “Normally, I would be surprised that the body itself hasn’t been torn to shreds under the pressure of creating and using such an explosion centered around oneself,” he spoke aloud to no one in particular. “especially when considering all the injuries she had received from the hawk.” Those particular injuries were obvious; it was unlikely that they were caused by anything besides the talon or beak of a rather large hawk.

Jeremy sighed, and began to treat Yuki’s wounds, carefully applying medicine and bandages. He then reached for the pendant he had given to Yuki earlier; as Jeremy had expected, it was still glowing softly.

“If it weren’t for this pendant, she probably would have died...” he murmured to himself. He had been right to give this to her, but it would no longer have any effect now that it had saved her life. He removed the pendant, watching the faint glow fade away before putting it away. With a sigh, he turned back to Yuki, still unconscious on the floor, and began to gently shake her awake.

“Hey. Now’s not the time to be sleeping. Can you hear me? Wake up.”

Yuki groaned as someone shook her awake, her hands finding their way to one of her wounds, gently applying pressure to it. She vaguely heard someone speaking to her, and it took her a few seconds to clear her head before she realized what was going on.

“You’re finally awake. You do know that sleeping in the middle of a battlefield is quite dangerous, hmm? How are you feeling?”
“Everything feels like it’s on fire...” Yuki opened her eyes and winced, her head throbbing painfully.

“Next time, don’t be so reckless.” Jeremy said, holding out his hand. “Here, stand up.
And next time, please don’t resort to such drastic measures. You’ll only bring death upon yourself if you do so at every minor incident.”

Yuki took his hand and cried out in pain when she got up, her joints still stiff. Yuki stumbled forward a few steps, and limped back, trying to ignore the pain. “Note taken.” She said, nodding very slightly.

Jeremy wondered if she would actually listen to his advice, but didn’t say anything about it. “Ok, let’s go, back to where the others are.” And the two slowly made their way back, Jeremy supporting Yuki as they went.

But then, a mighty roar stopped the two in their tracks; and, when they turned around, they came face to face with a dragon.