Anarchy

Yuki awoke slowly, breathing in and out as her tail brushed the ground in a slow sweeping motion. Yawing and shifting her shoulder slightly, she vaguely realizing that Jeremy had put a blanket on her. Sitting up slowly, as to not irritate her wound, Yuki let out yawn before rubbing her eyes. “Good morning... what time is it?” Yuki asked, rubbing her face clear of drowsiness. She was still scared, even with Jeremy next to her, because staying with an injury and in one area meant that her perpetrators could catch up to her.

“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, shaking off the blanket that Jeremy put on her.

“I slept like a rock. Hey, thanks for the blanket, you didn’t have to put it on me.” She flashed him a small smile before wincing. “Oh, ow ow ow, that does hurt.” She limped and nearly fell, grabbing his shoulder just in time.

“No problem. Do you need any help?” Jeremy said, moving towards her slightly.

“Ow.. I’ll pass, but thank you.” She breathed in and out for a long second before gently pushing off of his shoulder and taking her sword, now in it’s sheath and leaning against a tree near Jeremy. She slid her sword sheath onto her back, the straps crossing her chest. Yuki crouched down and folded the blanket that Jeremy had put on her, standing up with some difficulty before she gave it back to him. “Weren’t you cold last night?” Yuki, didn’t wait for his reply and started to rearrange the rocks that were put around the fire last night, kicking at the marks the rocks made.

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

“I see. But to answer your question, if my perpetrators do come into this area, they won’t find me.” She turned away to throw a rock and hissed softly as she threw it, the rock whistling through the air. The rock fell with a soft thump on the snowy ground, causing her to frown and limp after it. In her irritation, she had forgotten to conceal her limp and threw it rather far this time accompanied with an irritated grunt. “There.”

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 leg is still injured.”

She turned and limped back, huffing and raising an eyebrow. “On the other hand, you froze in the snow after dousing out the flame,” she poked his chest once, “you also made food and prepared proper shelter for someone you barely know,” she poked his chest again, “and you also helped wrap an injury.” She poked his chest again before stepping back and crossing her arms. “Now I’d say that’s quite impolite to not help you in any way possible.” Yuki raised her eyebrow higher, challenging him to refute what she had said.

“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 long minute, opening her mouth for a retort and found none to aid her. “Well--” she stopped herself and sighed. “Yes, that’s true...” Searching her mind to find another retort but finding none, Yuk finally closed her mouth without speaking. “Yes, you’re right.” She mumbled in a defeated manner, Yuki limped over to the tree that she was next to during the night 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 mid-morning 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.

“Is something the matter? Here, you can use my walking stick to support yourself so you won’t have to put too much pressure on your injured foot.”

“No, no, I’m fine. Ah, thank you.” Yuki gently took the stick out of his hands, keeping her weight off of her injury as she stood up.

“Anyway, 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 lead the way.”

“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 prolonged period, though the two weren’t complaining about the silence. It was only when they noticed something strange when Jeremy 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—”

Yuki was silent and drew her mouth into a tight line as she cut Jeremy off. “That doesn’t mean that we leave people to die.”

“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.”

“Then, are you suggesting we leave them to die?”

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

Yuki set her mouth in a tight line, sighed as she looked on. “You have a valid point there.” She visibly deflated at least an inch, making a sound of bitterness. Yuki threw one glance back at the large smoke cloud before turning.

Jeremy’s voice startled her as he turned and shrugged. “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.” He sounded far too sarcastic to Yuki, and she opened her mouth to retort back before a wave of pain shot through her, her injury still a nuisance.

“I won’t, I’m not tha--” She was cut off by a large gunshot booming through the area, causing her ears and tail to perk up. “There’s no way you can ignore that.” She raised an eyebrow at Jeremy, challenging him.

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

She looked at the cloud before rolling her shoulders. “Then, I suggest you stay here.”

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

Getting an inkling of a feeling that she couldn’t argue with him and win the argument, Yuki sighed and rubbed her face. “Fine. I’ve no choice, do I? Besides, we’ve got people to save.”

“No...” Jeremy mumbled under his breath. “You’ve got people to save, not we.”

Turning towards the cloud, with her cloak billowing behind her, she ran as fast as she could only to have her cloak catch on tree branches. “Alright, this is getting ridiculous.” Yuki turned and took off the cloak, putting it on the tree branch it recently caught on. Yuki forced herself to run faster than before, flying over tree trunks, her footsteps making little to no sound. Seeing a mercenary, Yuki growled, pulling her lips back a bit to reveal her canines, jumping off of a fallen tree trunk. Her blade went through the unlucky mercenary’s shoulder, the force of the blow causing her to fall and land on the mercenary’s chest.

She got up and jumped back, taking the blade out of their shoulder, grimacing when she heard the sound of her blade running through muscle, accompanied with screaming. Not wanting to cause any more noise, she stabbed her blade into his chest quickly, ending his life. Looking up, she noticed that a band of men rushed at her, their angry voices reaching her ears before their thundering footsteps. Yuki let them come to her, waiting patiently as one of the men swung his sword at her, making the foolish mistake to come close to her. In a flash, she had dug a part of her sword into her opponent’s chest, the other behind her.

Yuki pulled her blade out violently as she gripped the blade harder than before. Running at the mob, she slipped into their ranks, sending a flurry of slashes. She jumped out of the mob, pivoting and looking at her handiwork for a second; the majority of the men were on either on the defensive or on the floor bleeding heavily, and the others had either dodged the attacks or gotten shallow but long cuts on their bare skin. Her injury screamed in protest as she moved, bouncing on the balls of her feet. During this all, her tail was lifted, stuck to the small of her back and her ears pressed hard against her head. “Ugh.. This is when I wish I didn’t have long hair.” She muttered under her breath as she ducked a deadly looking club, its nails whistling past her face.

She rolled forward to dodge another club, landing where she had been seconds ago. Yuki swung her sword, cutting down her enemies with simple and swift movements. She looked over to her right, just noticing Jeremy. How did he follow me.. ? I didn’t hear him follow.. Oh well. I’ll have to ask him a different time where I’m not in battle.

“How are you faring over there Jeremy...?” Her voice trailed off as she noticed just what Jeremy was doing; that guy was just casually 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. “Augh!” Yuki stumbled back before ducking and nearly getting hit with a club.

“Careful, don’t let things distract you. You’re not in the best of conditions, remember?” Jeremy said without even looking up. He then snapped the book close, and in one swift motion lifted it up to intercept another knife. He removed the knife before putting it away, yawned and stretched, before kneeling down to pick up a small rock, and, with a single glance up, threw it with amazing accuracy at a small bird, knocking it down.

Yuki dropped and sweeped the legs out from another enemy, lunging and punching his throat in hard enough to crush his windpipe. Another enemy lifted her off of her current target, causing Yuki to swing her leg up and then back, dropping from the vice grip. Yuki pivoted, and with each slash that an enemy received, she seemed to get slower. I got enough sleep! What’s going on with me today? But she didn’t have time to answer as she jump kicked a enemy’s jaw, causing them to fall as she landed. Yuki hissed and looked up in time to roll out of the way of a dangerous looking club, its nails hitting where she was a second ago with a loud thud.

“Huh. They want more reinforcements, despite claiming to be on the brink of victory.” Jeremy’s voice suddenly rang out, slicing through the sounds of battle.

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 slashes at the enemy’s legs, aiming for major pressure points.

“Mature? That’s a strange choice of words. Well, anyway, 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 violently, causing the body to fall into a crumpled heap on the floor.

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

Yuki spun, arching as she dodged a blade with a strange coating over it, frowning. “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 unconscious.

“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 before locking blades with them pushing back as hard as she could, “you just stay safe while I go into the heart of it.” Yuki knocked the enemy over, lunging and stabbing the enemy in the throat. She pulled back, wiping the blood on the smaller sword onto her leather vest, shrugging and wiping the bigger sword onto the grass before disappearing.

Jeremy glanced at her figure already disappearing into the distance. “...Huh, worrying about some stranger like me already? But you know, I can’t observe you all the way from here if you go in. And you’re going to worsen the injury on your leg like that.”

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...”

And then, he managed to casually follow after her while skillfully dodging projectiles.

Yuki jumped over a log, rolling and locking blades with yet another short sword, wielded by another faceless enemy. She growled, pushing down on the attacker, quickly stabbing the attacker’s rib before kicking the body out of her way. “Out of my way.” She snarled, before quickly stabbing the sword into their temple to ensure their death. Yuki continued on, ignoring the ever growing pain in her leg, but at this point, she had begun to limp, causing her to fall and roll a bit before getting up.

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

Yuki looked back to see Jeremy, and grunted. It wasn’t time for an argument, or a lecture. “It’s different here. Now, can you help me up?”

He ignored her question, continuing on. “And all the more reason to take note of your surroundings. It might be different here, but it doesn’t change the fact that a single misstep can lead straight to defeat in battle. Didn’t you want to save people?”

He really is like a stern parent or brother. Yuki thought, though she Frowned and muttered under her breath, “Okay, apparently not, let the injured hybrid get up on her own.” before she piped up and answered him. “Obviously. What are you going to do, stand around?” Yuki said bluntly, getting up slowly.

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

Yuki nodded and handed him her sword after putting it back together. “Use it to keep yourself alive.” Turning around, Yuki began to sprint again, when she fell forward onto all fours.

“Hey! I don’t need...” Jeremy’s voice trailed off as Yuki was suddenly covered in a sudden flurry of dark flames that surrounded her, seeming to burn and melt her body into a new form. Before Jeremy could speak another word, a black wolf stood in Yuki’s place, its face marred with scars, its sleek black fur bristling as it turned towards the sound of battle. Its lips pulled back into a snarl, before snorting softly and relaxing a bit.

“Oh...?” Jeremy mumbled to himself. “What is this? Transformation of some sort?”

The wolf that he recognized as Yuki glanced at Jeremy with her bright silver eyes before she nodded to him. She ran off, a black blur save for her eyes that made a small but visible trail as she plowed her way through the battlefield. Yuki brutally ripping out the throats of the enemy men that stood before her fangs, releasing a war cry as she slipped behind a man, ripping out a tendon in his right foot.

“... And I suppose that would explain why she gave me her swords, seeing as she probably wouldn’t need them right now.” Jeremy murmured to himself. “But a wolf, eh? Does that make her human or not? Doesn’t matter, I guess. I’ve seen enough not to be surprised by things like this anymore.”

It was multiple kills and a few more injuries later when Yuki was eventually forced to come to a halt on her rampage. She growled at the sight in front of her; a man was holding a young girl hostage. She lifted up her tail and looked for a way to kill him without hurting the hostage, but to no avail. Yuki turned her head in time to see another man running at her, and ran at the foolish man. Jumping and landing on him, her paws dug into him as she pushed him onto his back, digging her claws further into his chest as she quickly sank her fangs into his elbow, growling. Giving a feral roar, she pulled out, spitting out excess blood from his elbow and aimed for his exposed neck while he fumbled with a matchlock pistol, attempting to arm himself. Not so tough now, eh?

“Freeze.” A deep voice pulled Yuki inches from her enemy’s exposed throat, her warm breath on the bare neck. “Kill him and I kill the girl.” Yuki glanced back, not moving as she made a noise in between rage and , pulling back from her target, stepping off of the man’s chest slowly. “Now face me, 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. Yuki did not relax, however, and noticed immediately when the man suddenly raised the gun again at her. She leaped out of the way just as the gun fired the lead ball at her. Yuki tumbled into the ground with a short yelp as she landed, and didn’t get up again.

“And stay down.” The man turned his attention somewhere else, pushing the hostage to the side so that he could start reloading the gun. Just as the girl scrambled to safety, Yuki suddenly appeared again and knocked the man down to the ground. “What in the...?” Those were the man’s last words as Yuki’s fangs dug into the man’s flesh and violently tore out the man’s throat, spitting out the excess blood. She quickly bit into his temple, just to ensure the man was dead, and spit out the unknown parts that broke off in the killing.

Yuki had been lucky. The lead ball had only grazed her leg, causing her to stumble as she landed. It had taken her a short while to get used to the pain, causing her to whimper in pain occasionally, but it was enough to take advantage of the time it took for the man to reload. She shrugged off the pain, turning and looking around, blood dripping down her muzzle, and growled as another enemy walked towards her, another matchlock pistol in hand. Yuki curled her lip up, her tail following suit as she took 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, haven’t you just learned your lesson earlier? Against a weapon like that, taking cover is important. You nearly got shot in the leg, didn’t you?” The owner of the voice, obviously belonging to Jeremy, could not be seen.

Yuki opened her mouth but decided against it. How did he know it grazed her leg?

She decided to ask him about it later, however, and began to limp 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, stopping her struggling after letting loose a loud cry of pain. Fortunately, soon after that the pair hands suddenly let go, and then she heard the sound of a body hitting the floor. She dropped to the floor herself, rolling and shying away from the body.

“And how many times 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, probably the one who had grabbed her, who didn’t seem to bear any external injuries.

Yuki growled, her voice low. “I try.” Her voice sounded like a poorly muffled ill-tempered comment to her, and quickly asked in a softer voice, “Besides, are you ok?”

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

Making a futile attempt to stand up, Yuki instantaneously collapsed to the floor, her leg giving out on her. She breathed hard, attempting to push the pain from her mind. “Dammit. This is great, isn’t it?” She asked sarcastically, eyeing him as he moved closer. To her surprise, Jeremy was completely without even a single scratch or mark since she had joined the fray.

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 by the fact that he’d be shoving her bone back into its socket, 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, and was quickly treating her injuries with bandages. Ironically, the pain really did only last a second. “There. You’re all good to go.”

Her tail thumped against the ground, and she attempted to get up quickly before taking it at a slower pace. “I’m too young to be this old.” She grunted, making a sound in between a yelp and whimper when her paw stepped on a bramble. She took it out quickly, kicking it away with the front of her paw.

“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.” She growled out, not amused with Jeremy’s comment.

“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 until I break a bone.” 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 as she swiftly dodged projectiles and different weapons.

Jeremy just stood where he was, hidden among the debris, watching Yuki fight among the havoc and sounds of battle mixing in with the sounds of disarrayed villagers. “Still quite reckless, I suppose. Her technique could use a lot of improvement.” He sighed, before kicking up a small rock and catching it, which he then 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. She ran at him, snarling and jumping into the said attacker’s arms, slashing his wrists and arms 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.”

“Dammit, 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? The one that looks like a hawk, but is clearly too big to be a normal hawk?”

Yuki looked up and then back at him. “It is hawk, and it’s coming closer. Now, 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 Ariylls, help me!” Yuki said frantically.

“...Ariylls? I have no idea who Ariylls is, and I don’t care for Ariylls’ 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 said dryly in response to his mumbling, 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... Oh. I see.”

“Jeremy.” She said, her voice firm.

“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 small simplel trinket over to her. “All right, let’s go! Quickly! We don’t have much time, people!”

Yuki caught it, fastening it around her right forepaw. With a nod to herself, she ran back out, looking for the hawk’s dark and large figure in the sky. She heard its wings flapping hard before it clearly came into her view, and when it was within range, she jumped blindly, almost falling with relief as she clung onto the feathers with her teeth, growling and digging her claws into its back as it gained altitude.

“Oh boy.” She said through gritted teeth, keeping a firm hold on the hawk as it tried to shake her 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 Yuki 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 as 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,almost too quiet her paws hitting the ground the only sound as she ran into a foliage of trees, hiding her own figure from the hawk. “Where are you...” She mumbled as she gazed up at the sky, her eyes searching every cloud and tree line for the hawk.

It couldn’t have been a few seconds later that a loud screech erupted and startled Yuki, allowing her to turn and get tackled by the hawk. Yuki got up as it screeched loudly in her face, and she roared back, sprinting at it. 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. Luckily, it had not flown high enough to her to miss the jump completely. 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 were far better than an ordinary person’s, 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 downed 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, ignoring the impossibility of striking a bird so high up with only a single rock. “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 with a sigh. “...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; they cold, hard, serious. 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, its 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 harder, almost hyperventilating as she saw the hawk get up one last time, swaying. Yuki’s muscles shifted unnaturally, causing her to release a suppressed howl, running to find shelter. Her limp had come back, and she had to find something, somewhere.

And quickly.

Her muscles gave another painful spasm, causing one of her legs to buckle, but she pulled herself up quickly, dashing over the open area. 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.

It was a while later when 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.