Anarchy

“That’s... not a dragon.”

Jeremy spoke the first thing that came to mind. He actually seen dragons before, and knew that facing one alone, much less two, is tantamount to suicide, but this one was slightly different from the dragons he had encountered before.

No, scratch that; it was very different.

“No.” Yuki agreed with a sigh. “People in the human country believe it so, but it’s just a simple and overrated Wyvern.” She scoffed, as if the idea insulted her.

“A Wyvern, huh? That makes more sense. There’s no way something like that could be a dragon.” If that was the case, this battle was probably quite easy. He had seen a similar species called Wiverns before, and although still dangerous, it was still much, much more manageable. In fact, this Wyvern here could just be another variant of a Wivern.

The only thing he didn’t like was having two animals being called by names that sounded exactly the same. Well, maybe they really were the same, but the fact that these two also looked a bit different nullified that theory.

“Well, then,” Jeremy started.”If you believe it to be overrated, I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.”

She looked at Jeremy as if he had just suggested she should shift forms again, grimacing as she took a step toward him. “Yeah. You try shifting from lupine to human and I tell you to go against a Wyvern straight after.”

“Well, I’m sorry for being human and not understanding how you feel right now. Do you want me wish all the pain away so that you can continue fighting without any pain?” he asked sarcastically. He did make sure to take note of the unfamiliar term she had just used, however, and to ask her later what it meant.

Yuki slapped a hand to her forehead, letting out a noise between frustration and exhaustion. “Sorry, shifting makes me irritable. And bickering doesn’t help either.”

“Well, no matter. Oh, and you can have your swords back, there’s no point on me holding on to them. Next time, don’t carelessly toss your weapons away like that, especially to someone you don’t know very well. Handing a weapon to someone who doesn’t know how to use it is completely pointless and will likely end up with the two of you killed.”

Yuki opened her mouth to retort, but once again, closed her mouth soundlessly. “Note taken.” she grumbled.

“Yes, that’s good. But now’s not the time to keep arguing, you have a Wyvern to fight.”

The Wyvern, clearly annoyed by the two ignoring it to bicker, roared and took a step forward towards the two of them, beating its wings in a threatening manner.

Yuki slipped from his supporting grip and took a step forward while taking her sword in a fluid motion. She stood in front of Jeremy, her sword in a defensive position in front of her. “You’re still an ass for making me do this.” She huffed, but ran at the Wyvern, jumping and stabbing the sword in between the Wyvern's scales.

“Well, you wanted to do all the fighting, so don’t blame me.”

“Since when did I say that?” Yuki yelled, yelping a little as the Wyvern bounced and attempted to throw her off, over the roar of the Wyvern, clinging to the back of the Wyvern and attacking the base joints of it’s wings.

“You might not have said it aloud, but your actions before clearly stated so.” But Jeremy actually had his own reasons for not fighting alongside with her; unfortunately, it was something he could not say.

Yuki opened her mouth to retort back but was stopped by the Wyvern trying to take off. “Oh no you don’t.” She mumbled, annoyed, and stabbed at the base joint of it’s right wing. The blade’s tip scraped the bone, causing it to flail and screech. Yuki grabbed at the two closest things near her, which happened to be her sword and the spike on the base of the Wyvern’s neck. She clung to it, growling as she kept missing the base of the wing. Yuki jumped off, dragging the sword across the thin membrane of the wing, rolling and getting up to face her target.

The Wyvern turned it’s head and lifted itself, roaring and running at Yuki. Yuki ran at it and jumped, flipping and landing on it’s neck, pulling it’s head back and turning it. Yuki growled and stabbed the sword into the back of it’s head, causing it to scream once and then fall to the ground motionless. Yuki pulled the sword out quickly before standing, jumping, rolling and skidding next to Jeremy. Yuki fell to her knees, a sudden coughing fit catching her by surprise.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it? If that message on the messenger bird was accurate, the only thing left on this battlefield should be those demons, whatever those actually are. But we probably shouldn’t worry about those. Let’s go back.” Jeremy said, offering a hand to her again.

Yuki nodded in agreement, and finally caught her breath. “Right.” She croaked, taking his hand and putting the sword onto her back.

It took them over half an hour to make their way back to where Jeremy had lead the victims to, due to the injuries Yuki had sustained. When the two finally got to their destination, however, the victims all shielded away from Jeremy and Yuki. Yuki just sighed and slipped out of his supporting grip and limped to a tree, sliding down it and into a sitting position. She put her head down, closing her eyes for a second before looking back up. “Seems like everyone’s fine physically. However, just to be safe..” She attempted to get up before growling, her legs still numb, causing her to nearly fall over and into the tree. Yuki stopped herself, grabbing a branch in time.

“Hey, you’re the one in need of medical attention, not them. But I have other things I need to check up on, so I’ll be right back.” And like that, Jeremy disappeared.

Yuki barely had time to reply, and since Jeremy had disappeared so suddenly, she only grumbled and lowered herself back into a sitting position again. It was fortunate that her injuries had already been treated earlier, who knows when, but even then too much movement was painful. With a sigh, she finally realized that there was almost nothing she could do in her current state to help the villagers.

One of the villagers, a small child, cautiously approached Yuki. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, no doubt from the incident and the trek away from the village. If it weren’t for the dirt Yuki believed it would have been a beautiful dark forest green dress. Yuki vaguely recognized her as the one being held hostage earlier.

Yuki looked at the small child curiously, trying to swallow her pain. “Ah.. hello.” She said politely, breathing shallow, pained breaths. Her body still throbbed from her previous injuries, and she gave a pained smile to the child.

The child’s grey eyes lit up, and made a “Wait” sign with her hand. Yuki patiently waited, watching the child run out of her view before cautiously approaching her with a medium sized roll of linen bandages. Yuki smiled gently, taking it gently from the child’s hands as she shifted nervously, causing her shoulder long dark brown hair shifted with her. Her dark green eyes were barely visible as she peered through the leaves and at Yuki.

Yuki began to peel away her old linen bandages, hissing slightly as she started to wrap more bandages around where her injuries were located; they had already been treated earlier, probably by Jeremy, but who knows when he did it? A few more bandages couldn’t hurt. Her tail thumped softly against the ground, as she gritted her teeth in pain as the linen pressed further against her wound.

An older woman came and collected the child, pulling her away quite forcefully, scolding her with a hushed voice. “Don’t approach her Adriyll!” The older woman hissed, and Yuki looked up in time to see the child cast one glance back before going with her, from the looks of it, mother.

Yuki waved and smiled before sighing once the child was out of view. “It’s the same as always.” She mumbled, before leaning against the rough tree trunk and closing her eyes. Though she struggled to stay awake, the day had finally taken its toll on her. She finally collapsed into an exhausted and dreamless sleep, her head still against the tree.

--------

When she finally opened her eyes again, it was already night, which caught her by surprise. “How long did I sleep?” She mumbled, and put a hand to her forehead, sitting up and groaning. Yuki looked around, and took out a leaf that had attached itself to her bangs. She got up slowly, hissing as she got up, her boots crunching a few twigs and caused her to stop abruptly. It took her a few minutes to realize there was nothing that would swoop down and attack her, and she pushed off of the tree and walking towards the warm glow past the thin line of the trees. Yuki pushed a few branches back gently, watching before stepping out and nervously coughing. “Uhm... is everyone ok?”

The attention shifted to Yuki, and she shifted uncomfortably under the attention. “H-hello.” She said nervously and looked around. “If anyone needs to, I can help treat woun--”

“You destroyed our village and then expect us to instantly like you because you “saved” us? You’re kidding me, right?” An angry voice spoke up, and the owner revealed herself. She stood up and took a step forward, her hands firmly clenched. “You vain---” she was cut off by a small child, the one that had given Yuki the roll of linen bandages, tugging on her arm and shaking her head furiously.

Yuki couldn’t help but feel touched by the little girl’s actions.

“What now, Adriyll? This... subhuman just destroyed our homes! And now you want to defend it?” The woman growled, shaking in anger.

“But didn’t she take out those men that tried to attack us?” The child, apparently named Adriyll, stepped back though, fearing that the woman would hit her.

“Yes,” the woman snapped, “but that doesn’t change the fact that everything our grandparents worked hard to build for us is now gone!” The woman threw out her hands, causing Adriyll next to her to flinch and shy away. “Do you realize how ignorant you sound?” The woman snapped at her, slightly lowering to Adriyll’s point of view, causing her to shrink and shy away.

Yuki frowned. “If you’re angry at me, keep your anger at me. Don’t snap because of a child’s naivety.”

The woman turned back to Yuki, barking out a humorless laugh. “And you speak with the same naivety.”

“Naivety?” Yuki raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “At least I don’t take my anger out on children.”

The woman simply seethed, and Yuki couldn’t hold back a smirk, which she covered by fake coughing into her hand. However, that fake coughing turned into coughing out blood in the span of a few seconds, making Yuki try to regain her breath, but to no avail. Yuki leaned against a tree and caught the woman smiling.

The same brave child that cut the woman off ran to Yuki’s side, holding Yuki’s free hand and giving her a worried look.

“Wha- No, don’t approach her, she’s dangerous!”

Yuki finally caught her breath, and she glanced at the small child. A small smile appeared on Yuki’s face before Yuki scowled at the woman. “There’s something wrong with this image. A young child, at least six, is approaching me, a,” Yuki made air quotes with her left hand as she spoke, “dangerous subhuman.” Yuki set her mouth in a tight line before speaking again. “If you care about her so much, then why didn’t you step up to approach me first?”

The woman scowled. “Because you’re dangerous! You’re not to be trusted!”

“And that makes Adriyll more eligible to approach me?” Yuki threw a hand out in exasperation. It felt a bit weird to call the child by her first name after a few minutes of meeting her. “You’re kidding me, right? Look at me! Look at her! We’re holding hands without me going berserk and killing everyone! I helped save you all from a group of bandits, maybe they weren’t bandits but from the Duke’s army, and a hawk! A hawk for Tor’s sake! What do you think I am, a bloodthirsty maniac that will kill anything that moves?!” Yuki cried out in exasperation, her hand still held by the small child’s.

The woman refuted, her anger bubbling over. “But that could easily be an act! You could be pretending to get close to us!”

Yuki sighed and shook her head. “If it was an act, then why isn’t everyone close to us killed? Why did I risk my life just to get you out and safe? Why would I let a child hold my hand?!”

“And how is it that you weren’t orchestrating this entire thing?” The woman shot back, a smug grin on her lips.

“Why would anyone be stupid enough to kill others just to prove to others that they’re a threat? That’s a horrible use of men and leads to the deaths of many others. I don’t know about your morales, but I don’t murder others without a reason.” Yuki frowned, her free hand rubbing her right temple. “This arguing is getting us nowhere, and I’m willing to help rebuild your village. If you won’t join me, then I’ll go do it by myself.” Yuki let go of the little girl’s hand, dropping down to her level slowly. “Thank you for holding my hand.” Yuki said, smiling gently, getting up and walking back to the destroyed site.

She didn’t expect for anyone to follow her. Besides, she was classified as a “subhuman”, wasn’t she? However, it wasn’t long before she began to regret what she said. It would probably take her forever just to rebuild this village by herself, not including her injuries from the hawk and bandits beforehand.

It was about an hour later when a few people showed up, and in their hands shovels, saws and a few bags. “We thought about your offer,” said a young man, “and we decided to help you. It is our home, after all.”

Yuki smiled slightly, limping over to clap the man hard on the back. “Then get ready to work!” She joked.

The work was difficult, even more so on Yuki who was still badly injured, but they continued to toil throughout the day. Gradually, people continued to join them, all helping in their own way. It wasn’t long before it was time for dinner, and although only a few people were willing to sit and talk with her during the break, it was enough to see them starting to warm up to her.

Yuki talked with a young man, different from the one that spoke to her earlier, listening to him ask questions about her race. “So, you’re telling me that there’s not one clan but seven clans?”

“Yeah, and we all have clan meetings. It’s quite complex, and I wish there were people that were more open to learn our ways and communicate with us.” Yuki shrugged, and continued to explain a bit more of her home, getting into it and using her hands and arms to show what she meant. A few children drifted over as Yuki was explaining the history of storytelling, and how it was passed down. Noticing the children, she began to tell stories of her own clan, such as ones of Tor and Fenrir, and the pesky Nyx that ate the moon.

“And that is how we got our moon back.” Yuki finished.

“Another!” Cried out a child, and Yuki had to shake her head. “Awww, but please?”

Despite the hostility before, it seemed that the majority of the villagers had begun to warm up to Yuki.

----

It wasn’t until a few days later when Jeremy suddenly showed up again without a word about what he had been doing. He glanced over the progress Yuki had made with the villagers, and nodded slowly.

“I see you’ve gotten pretty friendly with these people. Have you found out why they were being attacked?”

“No, no I haven’t.” Yuki turned, frowning and poked his chest. “And you were awfully helpful, running off to leave me alone by yourself like that.”

“...Anyways, the reason for the attack was that this village was apparently a hideout for a group that was called... ‘Ryi’Kyan’, or something like that.” he said, ignoring ignoring her sarcasm. “Turns out this Duke didn’t like them, and decided to just destroy everything. But see, that also means that the villagers aren’t entirely innocent, either. But no matter, that’s why I’ve been gone for the past few days.” He paused, thinking over everything he had just said. “What do you know about this ‘Ryi’Kyan’, anyways?”

Yuki paused and bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Well, taking from context, I’d say Ryi’kyan is an opposing group, but that’s obvious.” Yuki shook her head. “Until now, I’ve never heard of them.”

“I see.” Jeremy nodded slowly before scanning the landscape again; the villagers were all hard at work, even a young girl that was probably no more than 7. The marks of destruction caused by Yuki hadn’t faded away yet, but that was to be expected; it had only been a few days, after all. Next to him, Yuki swayed as she stood, wincing as she put weight on her right leg. “Hey. What have I said about taking care of your injuries?” He said in slight exasperation.

“Hm? Oh; right. That.” She laughed sheepishly, and rubbed the back of her head. “I was helping move items and I helped build a house, so my injures aren’t.. er.. well, clean.”

Jeremy paused for a moment, contemplating over something before replying with a sigh. “...You know what, I don’t even care anymore. You can go off and do your own thing for now.”

She sighed and looked back at the villagers hard at work. “I’m going to help them. I’ll be careful.” She then limped back over to a group of villagers.

She lifted a board of wood and dragged it to another group, smiling as her injuries felt like they were all on fire. Wincing, she put down the board before continuing. She smiled wryly, thinking of how much scolding she’d get from Jeremy for overworking herself. Still, the villagers needed help and being the reason to destroy their village, she wanted to help rebuild it.

Yuki glanced at him and paused before she folded his arms. Her ear flicked irritably as a fly landed on it, and she batted at the fly, hissing softly. She limped over to him and waved before raising her eyebrow at him. “And why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Who, me?” Jeremy asked, looking up from where he was seated on the ground reading a book. “Am I supposed to be doing something, Yuki?”

“At least helping distribute the wood would help them greatly.” She limped to a tree trunk and leaned on in it, barely hiding her relief as she took her weight off for a little while. Her ears flicked again as more bugs attempted to sit on them, and she looked at him again.

“...Heh. At least you’re not asking me to help build something. But let me tell you this, Yuki. I have no obligation whatsoever to help these people, especially when they have some involvement in a conflict and are not entirely innocent as you make them out to be. I’m only here because I’m travelling in the same direction you are at the moment. ”

Yuki raised her eyebrow higher, and crossed her arms. “And who is truly innocent? A parent could’ve said the same, but they could’ve been involved with a darker tunnel than one could think. And if they’re not as innocent as I make them out to be, then care to enlighten me?” She asked in a softer, slightly irritated voice. Her tail swung around, whipping the tree trunk.

“Were you not listening? The Duke attacked because they were harboring spies against the Duke. They are clearly directly involved in a conflict with the Duke, and from the Duke’s point of view, it was probably justified. Whether I agree or not with that is an entirely different matter, but by supporting the village, you’ll become drawn into a conflict that I want no part in. And if you would care to enlighten me,” he said, throwing the same words she used back at her, “what makes these people as innocent as you make them out to be?”

“The Duke has his claws in everything, and I’ve no objections to them opposing the Duke. I’ll not go into the history of what he did to my clan alone,” she said, waving it and a fly away, “and these people need help rebuilding something that I destroyed.” She shifted, her tail still batting away bugs.

“Even if you did tell me... it would make no difference to me. Unlike you, I’m not involved in this conflict, nor do I want to be. Furthermore, the fact that the Duke has done things to your clan means you could be more biased than you think. And while it is true that you did destroy the village, I did not, so while you might have an obligation to help, I don’t. I will choose to stay neutral and see things for myself before making my decision, and that’s final.” With that, he turned back to his book and started reading again.

Yuki sighed; Jeremy had a point and it was pointless to argue further. She nodded silently before pushing off the tree. “Alright. I’ll not argue further, but if you need anything, call and I’ll get it.” And with that, she limped away to help the villagers again, nearly getting whacked in the face by a man carrying a board of wood. “Whoa! Careful there!”

She preoccupied herself with carrying and helping the villagers lift the wood. Even though she knew what Jeremy had said was true, she still wanted to help. Shaking her head, she snuck a glance around her. Because of their hard work throughout the day, two sheds have been rebuilt, two structures were in the process of rebuilt, and three homes had been rebuilt. She smiled to herself; it was nice knowing she had helped the villagers, and reminded her fiercely of her own village back home.

For the second time that day, she smiled wryly at her thoughts.

----

Night was beginning to fall when Jeremy finally closed his book. With a sigh, he started to stand up when he felt someone tugging on his sleeve. A single glance told him that it was that same young girl he had noticed helping out earlier.

Jeremy had noticed her glancing his way multiple times by now, and had even come close a few times, but he hadn’t paid her any mind each time. This time, however, he couldn’t ignore her, not when she deliberated went out of her way to catch his attention.

“What is it?” He asked, sighing.

She gave him a small smile before shifting nervously. “Are you that girl’s friend?” She asked in a soft voice. She then crouched to his level before realizing she was shorter than him, and stood up again. “And did you help us before?” She asked in a curious tone, as if she zoned out when the incident happened.

“Am I her friend...? No, not really, just a traveller going in the same direction. And I didn’t really help you before, either.”

“Before Slean left, she said that people who get involved in others businesses and make a better im.. im..” She struggled with the word before spitting it out fully, “impact are helpers.” She smiled before sitting next to him. “What’s your name?”

“Slean...?” Jeremy paused for a moment, before realizing it was most likely the name of someone the girl knew. “Well, while Slean might be right, I didn’t do anything in the first place, so I can’t be a helper.” He didn’t say anything after that, knowing full well he didn’t give his name. After all, he wasn’t the helper she thought she was, so there was no need for him to tell her.

“I’m Adriyll.. that girl stopped someone from hitting me and she nearly fell helping build homes.” Adriyll ignored the fact that Jeremy hadn’t said his name, babbling about what happened when she was there.

Jeremy said nothing as Adriyll continue to heap praises on Yuki with slightly incoherent sentences. While it was true that she did go out of her way to help these people regardless of her own well being, it wasn’t something he could give praise for. Adriyll stopped the flow of her praises and poked him in the shoulder lightly. “But you.. I remember you didn’t.. you weren’t really there.”

“See? I didn’t do anything. Why don’t you run along now and go bother Yuki or something. There’s no reason to talk to some stranger who isn’t a helper.”

Adriyll looked down sadly and slouched a little. “I don’t fit well with the others.. they try to make me di.. di.. different.” She frowned a bit and attempted to kick at a rock near her feet, but to no avail. “I like to be quiet and when they’re ob..obnoxious, it makes me irri..irritable.” She stumbled over words, but still kept trying to kick at the rock.

Jeremy continued his silence, but this time it was to contemplate what she had said in broken sentences. “...But why not go talk to helper Yuki instead of me?” he finally asked, giving Yuki the title of ‘helper’ befitting the description that Slean had told Adryill.

Adriyll shook her head. “The other kids are there and Yuki’s really loud sometimes.. she’ll be quiet and then really loud.” Adriyll rubbed her temple. “I saw this from the adults.. this means a head.. headache, right?”

Jeremy glanced her actions, pausing before speaking. “...Yes, I suppose you could say that. But, are you saying you would rather go up and talk to a ‘not helper’ stranger like me?”

Adriyll nodded and gave him a small smile.

“Why?” Jeremy was curious; it seemed like most of the children flocked to Yuki instead of him.

“Because you’re quiet, and I like quiet people.” Adriyll looked up at the dark clouds that rolled by and stayed silent, true to her fondness of silence.

Her statement caused Jeremy to blink in surprise. He supposed that while it was difficult for her to approach him at first, she did talk a lot. Perhaps ‘shy’ would have been a more accurate word, but he didn’t care at this point. She was only a child, after all, and they generally weren’t the best when it came to vocabulary.
“Jeremy. My name is Jeremy.” He finally said, sighing as he finally decided to humor the girl for a bit.

Adriyll smiled at him and offered her hand. “This is what adults do, right?”

Jeremy glanced at her hand, and paused once again before taking it. “Well... anyone could, really, not just adults. Anyway, it’s getting a little late; we should probably go grab something eat.”

Adriyll nodded and stood up with Jeremy and nearly stepped on a sharp rock. She moved her foot out of the way in time but nearly fell on her face before Jeremy caught her.

“Careful.” Jeremy held her up, making her feet dangle a few inches off the ground before gently letting her regain her footing. “You don’t want to be getting hurt now, do you?”

Adriyll shook her head and stared at the ground intensely before smiling at Jeremy. “The ground’s safe to walk on now.”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” he said, letting go of her. “Let’s go, it looks like they’re already starting to eat.”

Adriyll smiled and ran a bit farther before turning and beckoning him. “Come on, it looks like they’re almost done.” However, In reality, it looked like they were in the middle of it, so they had enough time to walk over.

“Yes, yes, I’m coming.” Jeremy said, not quickening his pace as he walked over, stretching. Sitting still reading a book for so long made him awfully stiff. He had almost caught up with Adriyll, however, when he froze. Adriyll cocked her head to the side before looking around them. Adriyll took a few steps forward before letting loose a scream as she was suddenly grabbed by a man, and felt something sharp pressed to her neck.

“Well, well, well, it looks the weakling survived, along with a weak girl.” The man sneered at Jeremy. “Didn’t think I was alive, did you?” Behind the man stood another 9 men; Jeremy recognized every one of them, even if they were all slightly deformed now.

“Ah, it’s you guys, the one who said I could join you side. I’m surprised to see that you also survived the girl’s explosion. Other than that, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The man sneered and pressed the sharp object harder to Adriyll’s neck. “Don’t play dumb with me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jeremy repeated calmly, shrugging his shoulders as if he didn’t even care. “But if you have a grudge, you should direct it towards her, not me.”

Yuki, who had heard Adriyll’s scream, came sprinting down, skidding to a stop when she saw the men. “You!” she exclaimed, recognizing his attire as one of the men who had attacked the other day.

The man grinned. “Me.” He turned and showed Adriyll to Yuki. “I take it you know her?”

Yuki’s mouth drew to a tight line and she frowned. Saying that she knew Adriyll could put her in more harm. The man’s weapon glinted dangerously, catching the moonlight. Yuki growled before putting her hand on the hilt of her sword, drawing it before the man tsk’ed her and shook his head.

“Ah, ah, ah, not so fast. This poor girl might get hurt if you do that.” He applied more pressure to Adriyll’s neck, grinning at Yuki. “If you hadn’t gotten into this, you could’ve played hero somewhere else.”

“You see, he’s right. You should have played hero somewhere else, just like he said.” Jerermy said calmly. “But this doesn’t really have anything to do with me, so I guess I’ll be going now.“ And with that, he turned around to leave.

Yuki’s brief shock turned to an icy glare at Jeremy. “There are reasons, Jeremy.” She said coldly, looking at the man again. “Drop her. She has no part in this.”

“Why, so that you can kill me and be a hero?” The man scoffed. “Please, is this what all girls---” He stopped himself, looking closer at Yuki’s head. “You.. You’re a subhuman. No wonder!” He laughed without humor. “You little, ignorant subhuman, you’ve no business here.”

“Neither do you.” She spat at him. Her ears pressed against her head as she curled her lip up slightly, revealing her canines.

“Actually, yes, I do.”

A voice cut through the tense situation. “Hey, you. Does your previous offer still stand? I’m still perfectly willing to take it.” It was Jeremy’s voice; Yuki shot him a hurt glance, but his back was facing everyone. It appeared he hadn’t left yet, after all, but she didn’t like where this was going.

The man glanced his way. “And who are you to still think the offer still stands after what happened?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play stupid with me! You must have done something!”

“I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Would you care to elaborate on just whatever it is that you think I did?”

“I don’t know, but you must have attacked us in some way—”

“And if I did, why would you still be alive? I was knocked down there, too, by some unknown force. So I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I know is, you still have the advantage here, and all I want is that if I must take a side, I want to be on the winning side.”

The man paused for a moment before speaking. “I see. So you really were a cooperative and sensible person, after all. I take it back; the offer still stands.”

“But of course. “ And with that, Jeremy walked over to the men, and turned around to face Yuki and the other villagers who had gathered, his arms crossed a smirk on his face. “And that’s how it is, Yuki.”

Yuki’s mouth opened slightly in shock at his words when she noticed that with his back towards the men, Jeremy winked at her.

“See? Unlike you, Here’s a sensible m—eh? What in the...? I...” And suddenly, the man holding Adriyll collapsed, dropping his knife.

Everyone froze at the unexpected scene that had just taken place. Everyone, that is, except Jeremy. With two quick movements he caught the knife, pushed the man out of the way, and grabbed Adriyll, taking over the man’s place. But instead of bringing the knife up to her neck, he held it out towards Yuki and the villagers, and spoke. “Yuki. Adriyll has been secured. You are free to wreak havoc.”

Yuki blinked once before nodding and lunged onto one of the men, tackling the one of the men to the ground. She growled as her fist landed against his cheek, and leaned back to dodge a hand aimed at her throat. “Oh no you don’t.” Yuki pressed down on his face, her long black hair tickling his face, with her free hand and punched at his neck repeatedly before putting her other hand down onto his face. “Jeremy, I need something sharp--” She growled at the man as he attempted to push up and throw her off, “and now!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Yuki. Whatever makes you think I was on anyone’s side?” Jeremy asked, tossing the knife in his hand aside casually like he didn’t care about it. Despite the flippancy of his action the knife flew towards Yuki.

Yuki caught it, snorting as she stabbed it deep into the man’s chest, near his stomach before pulling out and stabbing into his heart. “Pathetic, cloth does not equate to armor.” Yuki pulled the knife quickly and got up, turned towards the other men. “Anyone else?” She asked in an irritated manner, but her silver eyes glinted dangerously in the moonlight as her tail swung behind her.

Jeremy, on the other hand, had continued to stand there, holding onto Adriyll. Out of the corner of her eye, however, Yuki saw Jeremy pocket something, so discreet yet casual at the same time, that she almost missed it. But it looked like Jeremy wasn’t going to do anything, so it looked it was up to her to defeat the rest.

Yuki dodged a man who ran at her by sidestepping him, patting his back before stabbing the knife into his shoulder and swinging him back into the cluster. “Come on, I’m not waiting all night.” Yuki taunted, raising an eyebrow at them before grinning. “Or are you all too weak?”

All the men glanced at each other, before raising their weapons above their heads and yelling as they all charged at the same time.

Yuki scoffed. “Idiots.” She ran at them before jumping over their heads and weapons, laughing as she landed behind them. “Not too bright, are you?” she asked, crossing her arms as the men turned and ran at her. Yuki just sighed, shrugging as she waited for the men to come closer. She then ran at one, quickly slashing his neck and stabbing into his chest. She pivoted on her heel, swinging the man into his comrades, and grinned as she heard a loud thump.

Her victory was short lived, however, as someone turned her around and hit her stomach with the hilt of his sword, causing her to grunt and keel over a bit. Her visible eye glinted dangerously as she looked up to the man, scowling. She snapped with her right hand before punching her opponent’s stomach, her hand engulfed in flames in an attempt to intimate the men. “Think again.” Yuki muttered to herself, jumping back to dodge an axe.

Yuki’s expression slid from a scowl to expressionless as she ran at the men again, slipping in between them and digging into their skin as she ran past them, drawing screams from their lips. Yuki glanced back, and pivoted before ducking under a throwing axe. Springing back up, she had jumped off the ground a little to have her meet an enemy eye to eye as she stabbed the man’s forehead. Pulling his head down, and with him his entire body down, she pulled her knife out and landed behind him and in front of two men holding axes. She waited for them, tilting her head slightly to the right as they charged at her. The two swung their weapons down at the same time, making it easy for Yuki to dodge them as she spun to the right, her dark hair fluttering behind her.

Too easy.

She stopped, stabbing the blade into his back, and with most of her strength, pulled him up and pulled her blade out violently. The blade quickly found it’s way into his chest, causing him to cough up blood before she pulled the blade out, allowing him to fall the ground. Yuki then walked to the other man, who was still having difficulty pulling his axe out of the ground and quickly stabbed her blade into his head. She pulled out the blade and wiped it on her already dirty shirt, giving the other men a glance before turning to them.

One ran at her, a sword in hand, and aimed a swing to her side. She jumped back, and running quickly towards the swordsman, she punched him hard in the chest with her flame engulfed hand. Yuki quickly kicked him away, allowing him to scream and roll on the ground, engulfed in flames. As he rolled away, she dropped the knife and took his sword, her expression non-existent as she gazed at the others. Never taking her eyes off of the men, she crouched and picked up a fairly large rock, bouncing it in her right hand. As she shifted the rock to another arm, she snapped her right hand once more, causing the fire to slowly dissipate. Yuki took the rock out of the crook of left arm, bouncing it in her right hand again.

The remaining men shifted nervously and watched her from afar, and as they did, the sky had turned to a dark blue, the stars glittering fiercely. Yuki looked up at the stars for a second before back at the cluster, and just in time to see a blade swing at her side. Yuki dodged it quickly, jumping back before chucking the rock over her current opponent’s head and into the cluster, her lips holding a ghost of a smirk. Yuki ignored the cluster and focused on her current opponent, swinging the sword up and then into his stomach, twisting it before kicking his chest and sending him flying a few inches away from the group.

The last two ran at her, one breaking off in a feeble attempt to hide from her. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t in her sight or not, and since her hearing was sharper than most humans,Yuki could hear where he was for the majority of the time. A large man swung his sword down at her head, causing the blade to blur. Yuki frowned slightly, jumping to the left on instinct, but she was still nicked by the blade’s tip on her left thigh, causing her to suck in air and frown more. Skidding and ignoring the pain from her injuries, Yuki ran at him and swung up, locking blades with him.

As she locked blades with him, the man who hid himself came out of hiding, jumping from the right and thrusting the tip of his blade into her side. Yuki had been so focused on her current enemy that she forgot that the other one was waiting for her to be stalled, and cried out when the tip of his sword ripped her clothes and entered into her side. She growled and pushed off of the man whom she locked blades with, dragging the tip across her skin and across her clothes. It wasn’t a smart move, but it was the only move she could make. Landing and glaring at the two and holding her now throbbing side, Yuki tried to think of a way to fend them off. However, the men didn’t skip a beat as they ran at her, grins painted onto their faces.

Yuki ran at the two, snapping her right hand again and slashing upwards on the larger man’s chest before punching his stomach with her flame engulfed hand. She kicked at the man’s knees, causing him to back away slightly before screaming in pain as he burned. Yuki ran past him, attempting to inflict some burning on the other man, but to no success. “Damn.” She mumbled, pivoting and swinging her sword at her last opponent.

He dodged it easily and swung at her face, causing her to lean back and stumble a bit as she attempted to regain her balance. The man grinned, and her ears perked up as she heard the blade whistle through the air and towards her face again, hoping to knock her over. Yuki’s heel caught on a rock and she fell, her back slamming onto the ground as the man’s blade whistled past inches from her nose. The man grinned, stabbing his blade into the ground next to her head, causing her to flinch.

The man took his sword out and leaned down, his grin growing as he thrusted his sword towards her open stomach. Yuki growled, quickly thrusting her sword up and into his stomach, past his organs, as she forced the blade to poke out the other side. The blade glinted as she twisted it to the left and right as much as she could, growling as he screamed in pain. The man dropped his weapon, the flat side of the blade landing on her stomach with a soft thump as he was supported by Yuki’s blade. “Are you done?” She hissed out before placing her foot onto his stomach and pushing him off her blade. He landed a foot away from her as Yuki stood up, keeping a tight grip on her blade.

Yuki raised a hand to her face and felt the blood that rolled down and onto the floor. Shaking her head, she looked around before realizing how far away from Jeremy she was, and attempted to run only to flinch from the pain, hissing as she stopped. The aftereffects of focusing on only her opponents also meant that she had completely ignored her pain, and only after the battle end did she realize how much her injuries actually hurt. Yuki stopped and took in a shallow breath before trying to take in a larger breath, only to have her chest feeling like it was burning.

She started to make her way over back to the others, but it wasn’t long before she started to limp again like she did earlier that day. Her clothes were worse than they were after the fight with the hawk; her leather vest was in tatters around her stomach and near the hem, and was covered by a thin layer of dirt from today’s work. Her pants swayed with her as she limped, the ripped threads following her gait. Luckily, her boots had survived the chaos, and so did the belt across her chest. Yuki felt for her dagger belt before realizing that she had taken it off, and promptly began to chastise herself for it. “Stupid, stupid.” She muttered to herself as she walked on. Her bracers had survived the chaos as well, making her blink in surprise.

Yuki then pressed a shaky hand to where the man had dug his sword into the ground after making a mental note to replace her clothes, frowning as she felt a warm, wet substance that could only be blood. Her ears dropped and hung on her head limply, as if they were tired from all of the concentration that the fight required, making it harder than normal to hear. Yuki couldn’t muster the strength to yell at Jeremy and the others, who seemed farther away than what she expected, and only managed to growl. She tried to run again, but to no avail; her thighs burned and felt like lead, making her stop. “Great.” She whispered, and swaying as she limped, she continued on.

Yuki dropped the sword, hearing it land on the ground with a soft thump and a high pitched ring as the blade landed on a stone. Yuki winced, and rubbed her temple from the loud noise. It was then that Yuki saw Adriyll run over with everyone else. “Are you --?” Adriyll asked, but since Yuki’s hearing had dropped, she could only catch bits and pieces of questions and praise from everyone.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine, just let me get back to the fire to sit.” Yuki hadn’t really heard what she was saying but forced the words out of her mouth anyways and forced a pained smile. Adriyll, however frowned. “What’s wrong Adriyll?” Yuki asked her gently. She had noticed gentle sounds and low voices worked best on the little girl.

“You’re --- okay.” Adriyll said with a stern face, and frowned at Yuki.

Yuki could barely flick her ears to show she was fine, but slowly flicked them. “See? I’m okay. I can flick my ears with ease.” However, Adriyll only shook her head and ran back to where the fight had originated. Yuki couldn’t chase after her; besides, one of the older villagers would run after her.

“You know, when I said to wreak havoc, I didn’t mean to include yourself among all that was to be wreaked.” A familiar voice rang out through the clamouring of the villagers trying to see if they can help Yuki, but they all grew silent and avoided him as he casually approached.

Yuki only caught half of what he had said, but laughed sheepishly anyway, knowing he was probably scolding her again. “Hey, at least I got them away from the villagers.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go get something to eat now. You villagers,” he said, addressing the silent crowd, “You guys should probably tend to her. “ And like that he disappeared into the darkness.

Yuki shook her head and smiled. “I’ll be okay for now, you guys go back to the fire.”

The woman who had argued with her when Yuki first introduced herself wrapped an arm around her waist and around her shoulders. “You’re a horrible liar, you know that?” Her voice, to Yuki’s surprise, was gentle and kind as she allowed Yuki to lean on her as they walked back to the fire with the rest of the villagers.

It took the group around thirty minutes to get to the fire, and once they were all there, Adriyll tried to sit next to Yuki after eating her fill. Adriyll had noticed Yuki wincing and straining to hear some of what the villagers had said, her ears moving at a belated pace than before. She also noticed that even though Yuki had balms applied to her wounds and had them wrapped, Yuki still sucked in air to prevent herself from hissing in pain. However, although she was worried about her the other children were also surrounding her, raining questions and statements of awe on Yuki. She never got along well with the other children, so Adriyll jumped off of the log that she sat on, and looked around for Jeremy instead. But strangely, he wasn’t at the campfire, considering that he had left to eat first.

Jeremy himself sat some distance from the campfire, eating from a bowl that he had produced from his belongings. He highly doubted anyone would look for him, after today’s events, and that was what he had wanted. He wasn’t going to sit near the campfire and take some of their food, either; that food was for the villagers who worked hard rebuilding their village, and he hadn’t done anything.

Strangely enough, 10 mins later Adryill stumbled upon him, and quickly sat next to him. “Are you okay from today?”

Jeremy blinked. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Being away from the noise.” Adriyll stated bluntly.

“So why here?”

“Because it’s quiet.”

“Then why next to me? Or rather, why did you even go looking for me anyway?”

Adriyll, for once, was silent before answering. “Because you became a helper today.”

“And what exactly did I do to become a helper?”

“You helped that girl cut those men down.” Adriyll’s stuttering fled as she looked at Jeremy seriously.

Jeremy paused. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” he said, repeating the same phrase he said earlier.

“You helped her by fooling the men and us.”

Jeremy froze for a second. Although that was technically true he had his reasons why he didn’t admit it. In fact, he had helped a lot more than he had let on; he had noticed the men long before they appeared, and so when Adriyll tripped, while he had caught her he had placed a small, unnoticeable special cloth patch on her dress, with a relatively harmless drug applied to it. When the man held her hostage, his bare arm had come in contact with the patch, slowly weakening the man as Jeremy continued to stall for time. And when he said that he was willing to join with them, that was naught but a ploy to get close and infiltrate the group of men, allowing him to stay close to Adriyll when the man collapsed from weakness due to the effects of the drug. And after he took over, he just as easily removed the patch, discreetly pocketing it away to remove the evidence; he wouldn’t be affected, as he wore leather gloves, and even then there had been barely enough to knock out one person. However, he still refused to say just how much he had done.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jeremy finally repeated, resuming his meal. “I didn’t do anything to help. “

Adriyll poked his shoulder with a stern face. “Then why did you step in? You tricked the men to get close, and then when the man holding me collapsed you took me away so that Yuki could fight properly. And when Yuki asked you for a weapon you gave her one. How can you not be a helper?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jeremy continued to stubbornly insist. “It was all just pure coincidence.”

Adriyll made a sound close to a scoff. “Adults make that noise, right?”

Jeremy looked at her, before chuckling at her attempt to act like an adult. “You know, I suppose they do. “ he finally said, gently patting her on the head. “I can see you’re not going to stop bothering me, so you might as well sit here with me.”

Adriyll beamed, now smiling openly as she got up and moved to the other side, sitting closer than before.

For the rest of the night the two of them sat together, enjoying the silence as they watched the starry night sky.

-----

By the time the fire died out Yuki had retreated to a secluded clearing, where she had a clear view of the sky. Yuki’s head rested on her arms comfortably, as she closed her eyes and listened to her surroundings. Yuki’s eyelids felt too heavy to lift, and she didn’t care as she slipped into a dark, dreamless sleep with a smile playing on her lips.

She did some good with Jeremy’s help, and that was all that mattered.