| She would occasionally glace behind her shoulder as she raced between through the forest. Her skin felt cold in the winter night as her brown hair whipped around in the breeze. She had to put as much distance between her and her home as much as possible before anyone discovered that she was missing. She knew that her father would send every available man out to stop her, no matter what it took. That old geezer of mine isn't gonna make me some prize of a pointless tournament she told herself as the running began to take its toll on her. Her legs burned as her pace gradually slowed down to a walk. Her body wanted her to stop, but time for rest was unavailable to her. Finally she collapsed, weary and breathless, sweat dripping from her forehead as it pained her too much to go any further. Panic filled her heart, however, as the distant sound of barking filled her ears. Everything else in her mind was thrown in the back as she got up and started running. She turned her head back to look and see if any were within sight range. The darkness of the night, however, made it nearly impossible to see very far in the forest, causing her pace to double in fright. But before she could look where she was going, she ran into something, causing her to tumble to the ground. She mumbled and groaned as she took a slow look at what she hit. She started to crawl away, however, when she realized that she ran into a person. Once she got a better look at his odd dress, however, her heart slightly at ease as he held his hand out to her. "So why are you running like crazy through the forest at this hour of the night?" She took his hand as he pulled her up to her feet. She wiped the sweat off her face as she paused to catch her breath. The barking grew louder and louder, but at this point she cared less. Fortunately, she thought, I can use him as an excuse. It's not my fault if he dies anyway, he shouldn't be here in the first place. Anyway, he would have died when someone else found him. "Gonna be okay, or do you want me to stick around?" She leaned against him, still panting and breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and smiled when the barking stopped, letting a peaceful calm fall on the forest for a few moments. They probably see him by now, and think that he kidnapped me. It's by luck that he appeared, but I won't get lucky the next time I try to run away. Three men from her tribe appeared, circling her and the human as he watched all three carefully. Slowly, the human pulled away from her, keeping one eye on her and the others on his foes. He let his rather large backpack slide off his shoulders, landing on the ground with a thud that surprised her. What is in that backpack anyway? Geez, it probably weighs more than him. The first of her clan stepped forward. "I, Branus, shall stop you, kidnapper, and save the Lady Dylina." The human blinked. "Kidnapper? I didn't kidnap her!" Branus took a step closer and examined him carefully. "A human....young, weak, and alone too... so what brings you out in Lunar territory and why have you kidnapped the Lady Dylina?" The human blinked. "You look perfectly human yourself, ya know." "Answer my question, human." "That's hard to explain..." was the human's shaky reply. By this time, Dylina noticed that the other two of her clansmen were getting irritated by the wait. No doubt, she thought, that they're getting bored of waiting for Branus to finish off the human quickly. Branus walked up to the human, growing more confident by the moment as Branus crossed his arms and grined at the human. "You lie horribly. I should kill you, but before I do, I'll give you a chance and let you strike me first." The human smirked. " I don't want to fight you, but if you insist...." The human struck Branus in the jaw with his palm, catching her clansman by surprise. Taking advantage of the situation, the human followed up with two blows in Branus's ribcage, then one in the neck. The human then kicked behind his kneecap, causing Branus to loose his balance as he was sent sprawling to the ground with a final blow to the chest. Before Branus could recover, however, the human grabbed her clansman's arms and stepped on his back, pulling hard on his arms. "Yield, or I shall pull your arms out of their sockets." Branus mumbled. "Why you..." The human pulled harder on his arms. " I said yield!" Branus cursed to himself. " I.... I yield." The human released Branus's arms and pulled his foot of his back. Branus shamefully crawled away from the human as Dylina blinked in amazement. He looks so weak.... The second of her clansmen stepped forward. "You are honorable, kidnapper. I, Kronus, challenge you now to save the Lady Dylina." The human blinked, shaking his head. "I'm not a kidnapper!" Kronus charged the human, extending his arm to closeline the human. The human merely grinned as he ducked under the arm, grabbing it as it passed over him. Then the human brought Kronus's arm behind him as he kicked behind Kronus's kneecaps, causing him to fall to his knees. The human stepped back, releasing his opponents arms as he watched Kronus carefully. "You have no chance at defeating me." Kronus growled in rage as he charged at the human once again, aiming to tackle and subdue him. The human merely shook his head for a moment before dropped down on his back at the last minute. Kronus reached for the human's throat as he dived at him, but the human grabbed his arms short. The human pulled on Kronus's momentum, kicking his foe in the stomache before throwing Kronus over him and into the tree. Kronus hit it with a hard thud, and remained motionless on the ground. The human stood up, walking over to Kronus for a moment and pressing his fingers against Kronus's neck. "He still lives," sighed the human in relief. Her third clansman spat on the ground. " Pitiful. A mere human, and a weak human too. Ah well, I'll make your death quick. You'll fear the name Agnus in the afterlife." Dylina gasped in horror. The tone held by Agnus scared her, but it was the human's face that scared her more. It was no longer the face of the 'child' that fought his first two opponents, but rather an empty, almost emotionless visage. "Then make me 'fear' you..." "With pleasure," snickered Angus. He raised his hands high to the moon that was barely piercing the forest with its light, chanting softly. The human observed him carefully as Agnus continued chanting as his body began changing. Skin was slowly covered in dark fur as his shirt ripped, unable to handle the expanding muscles underneath. Slowly, hands became paws bearing fierce claws as his face slowly shifted. Agnus blinked as she watched her clansman turn into a werewolf. The werewolf growled at the human. "Aren't you such a fool, human. You humans will never understand the full power of the Children of Luna." The human merely shrugged. " Tell me when I should be scared." Angus walked to the human, who slowly backed away from him. "You're scared already." The human stopped retreating for a moment, observing Angus carefully. The human then went on the attack, aiming punchs at the chest, but each blow didn't even phase the brawny werewolf as Agnus knocked the human into a tree. A large crack filled Dylina's ears as the human fell to his knees, holding his limp left arm. Slowly he stood back up, walking towards the towering werewolf. "You have a deathwish human. Why don't you run?" The werewolf swiped at its opponent again, sending the human tumbling to Dylina's feet. He mumbled for a moment before he pulled the extremely large backpack to him, opening and reaching into it. As he withdrew his right arm from the bag, Dylina noticed that he was wearing fighting claws now. The human held his broken arm for a moment before popping it back into place. The human stood, dusting himself off for a moment. "Ready to fight when you are." Agnus charged at the human as Dylina panicked and moved near a tree. She observed the two as the werewolf swiped at the human, who failed to step back out of range. The claws tore cloth and flesh, but only after the claws did their damage did the human attack. The fighting claws pierced through hard hide and heart as the human slammed his fist against the beast's chest. Agnus howled and screamed before he toppled over the human. Both fell over as the massive body buried the human under fur as Dylina approached the dead body. The human pulled himself out from under the werewolf, wiping his flighting claws on its fur before returning the claws to his backpack. Dylina kept a little distance between her and the human as he stood up, picking up his backpack with his good arm. Worry began to fill her as she saw blood flowing out of his chest wounds. "I need to thank you.. thank you for doing what you did, but please sit and let me tend your chest. What is your name, good sir?" The human sat down, droping his backpack and unbuttoning what was left of his shirt. "It's Ren." |