Chapter 2: "Hold Me, Animal."

"What is this scrawny thing doing here?"

"Found her by the beach. She didn't look too good."

"Maybe she's sick!"

"Get back here, idiot!"

"I can't see her face, this pink thing's covering it."

"Don't touch her!"

"Twiggy ain't movin'."

"Is she dead?"

She wonders dazedly if those voices are speaking about her. Surely not. She doesn't feel dead…

"Nah, I think she's just sleepin'. Let's wake her up."

Sleeping sounds much nicer than dead. Why don't they just let her sleep?

"Are you stupid? She'll start yelling and I hate yelling!"

Oh dear, lord forbid she wake up and shout at them for being obnoxious. She would be well within her rights to do so.

"Hey, she's moving!"

"Oh, my head…"

A splitting headache was pounding at her head, making it hard to her to think. She decided first to try and pry her eyes open, blinking away the black spots that danced around her sight. She heard faint shuffling and the crunching of leaves closeby. Seconds passed and her vision began to clear, revealing large, blurry figures with glowing eyes glaring back at her. She gave a tiny yelp and roughly rubbed the black from her eyes, hoping the sight would vanish like a bad dream. Only when she opened them again, she could clearly make out the bodies of massive, grizzly, menacing…

Monsters!

Maka shrieked in terror, clutching at her chest for dear life, stumbling backwards as her howl echoed through the pines of the dark, damp forest. Some bats awoke, scattering across the night sky. The loud sound startled the strange creatures as well; they all yelped in response, scampering away to climb up nearby trees or hide behind bushes and moss covered tree stumps with their hands over their ears.

"I told you she'd do the screaming thing! No one ever listens to me!"

Her heart beat was rapid and hard against her chest, wanting to break free from pure fright. This wasn't a dream. She was actually surrounded by monsters-big, burly things with malicious glowing eyes sizing her up, probably for their next meal-the sorts of creatures that she only thought up in her stories. Her head jerked up violently when she heard the sound of tree branches snapping, and caught sight of a pair of glowing yellow eyes plummeting to the earth.

"Ow!"

The silhouette sat upright on the ground, shaking out all the twigs and branches that had made their way into its thick mane. Its head snapped in her direction with a loud grunt. She was in for it now.

Maka, knowing she was cornered by beasts, could only manage to scramble about on the dirt ground, slick mud and leaf bits caking her hands and jeans. She unceremoniously backed herself into a tree with large, tuberous roots that the earth had abandoned. Cold panic set into her bones. She lost sight of those ominous eyes, twisted and turned and flailed to try to find them once more, but to no avail. She heard them though, the owners of those glowering orbs. She heard their low, rumbling growls. She thought of how silly it was of her to leave home. Of how Papa was tolerable if she avoided him, not a monster in the typical sense, no fangs or claws or anything!

She wanted to assimilate with the earth caking her skin and making her itch.

When she felt warm breath tickle the back of her neck, she wished her mud covered boots were ruby slippers. If only she could click her heels three times and return home to a safe bed, one without any creatures that go bump in the night-one without any that tried to explore her backside! Maka went rigid as the creature snuffled and grunted against the damp fabric of her sweater.

Maka daren't even breathe; no matter how much every instinct within her had screamed to get up and run, to strike the creature studying her, she didn't budge. Her eyes scrunched shut as she felt a claw tuck a strand of hair behind her left ear. Something panted in front of her; hot blasts of air that smelled of rotted animal and fermented berries. Her bones had turned to ice, sure to shatter if she dared to move an inch.

"You're a funny lookin' runt," the thing in front of her spoke in a singsong voice.

Maka's eyes flew open in shock. If that wasn't enough to put her into a coma, the sight of rows of serrated teeth tightly knit together in a cheerful and yet sinister grin should have tipped the scale.

"You smell real nice. Better than the old moose we had last week. Bet you'd make a good stew."

Maka's heart stilled at the mention of being monster food.

"Waddaya think, Liz, make a mean stew, right?"

"With that crazy set of pipes, I think you should back away from her, Patty." The branches in the trees rustled as another creature, similar to the first except slightly taller, made its way to the ground. "What if she's some sorta land siren? She'll blow up our heads!" The creature glared at Maka. "You're not a siren, are ya?"

Maka nearly shook her head off her body, signaling a 'no'.

"Or," it directed its attention back to the smaller one. "What if she's sick and has worms, you know, those nasty long brown ones that killed Sid?"

"OOooooooh ICK. But sissy, that old lady Sid ate smelled funny. This one doesn't!"

"Just get outta there!"

"Fineeeee. Gosh, always spoilin' all the fun."

"Well, how rude, sis. Talking about dinner plans and the meal's still alive, ya know?"

"We did that to the moose, and he didn't seem to mind!"

"Hello there, supper, please excuse my rude sister. Long story short, we're all really hungry, and hope you do not have worms or those little bird bones, because bird bones get stuck between the teeth and are the actual worst to get out-"

"Cut it out you two."

Another monster with blood-red irises and a demonic smile appeared from behind a large tree. It was he who halted the dinner plans.

"Oi. I think that's enough guys, she looks about ready to piss herself."

Something in her snapped, and she just about knocked the wind out of his lungs with a square punch to his stomach. His fur felt matted and unkempt beneath her knuckles, and for a moment she felt just a bit guilty, until she reminded herself that he was indeed a monster, who just so happened to insult her as well.

"On second thought," he wheezed, "rotisserie, anyone?"

"You know what I always say," the tallish-brown one replied. "Got a problem-?"

The shorter one finished the sentence. "Eat it!"

The monsters took a moment to share grins, and Maka took the opportunity to run. She ran far and fast, tripping over those damned tree roots and scraping up against barren berry bushes and gnarled tree bark. Behind her, she could hear the excited howls and frenzied scraping of claws against the dirt floor getting closer and closer to where she was.

"No use in running, little runt! I'm gunna catch youuuuu!~" The tinkling, sweetness of that voice was at odds with the malice in the words. Maka ran faster, propelling herself forward with so much force it had given her whiplash. The leaves sliced her cheeks and her eyes watered. She had started to prepare herself for a fight, until she saw it.

The perfect tree.

She wasted no time clamboring up, perching high within its boughs and hugging the trunk tightly. She tried to drown out the infernal scratching of the bark below, believing that maybe if she stayed up there long enough they would tire and leave her alone. Her tiny sliver of hope was shattered when she spotted glowing red eyes inches away from where she stood.

"We can climb too you know."

With a shrill shriek, she toppled backwards, hurtling toward the unforgiving earth. She tried to curl up in upon herself to brace for the impact, but it never came.

She felt a clawed, furry hand circle about her ankle. The grip was tight, but surprisingly cautious. The claws made no move to puncture her fragile skin.

She flailed about, spitting curses and grasping at flimsy branches, all of which betrayed her every time they slipped from her grip, whipping her face harshly. She heard amused laughter from the branches above, and the grip on her tightened.

"You're lucky I got hands big enough to catch your fat ankle, wild one. Now tell me, why shouldn't I let my friends cook you up for dinner? Do you actually got worms or something?"

"Help me up, dammit!" Real smart, Maka, like a monster trying to eat you would ever help you to safety.

"Give me one good reason, 'runt'. Maybe if it's good enough, me and my friends will go find us another moose, or a not-so-innocent bystander. Go on!"

He shook her nonchalantly, yawning dramatically and chuckling with a low rumble. She spat more curses at him, stalling while she wracked her brain for something to tell this creature that might halt his dinner plans.

"Just don't let them eat me, I can't be eaten!"

"Reason being?"

I'm too young to die! echoed in her head, but what good would that do? In the midst of her frenzied searching for a convincing response, all the ridiculous nicknames her obnoxious father slathered her with as a child came rushing out of her memory bank, and one in particular proved to be useful in conjuring up a different answer.

"I'm not like other girls. I have special powers!"

"Oh really?" The monster quirked an eyebrow. He seemed intrigued.

"Y-Yeah," Maka started to feel a little intimidated by his unconvinced expression, but went on with her response, milking it for all it was worth. "I have the powers of an angel, yeah, and I can make lots of good things happen, but I'm no pushover. If you get me angry enough I can split the earth in two, and you don't want to get me angry, monster! It could mean big trouble for you!" She tried to strike the fear of God into the creature clasping her, eyes fierce and mouth set in a firm, thin line. Positive she was as good as dead, Maka morbidly wondered if they would prepare her like a roasted boar, apple shoved between her teeth and all.

The creature surprised her.

"Well… you do look rather appetizing. But it's starting to sound like you're not worth the hassle, Angel. " He unceremoniously yanked her back up to his level and pulled her into his enormous, fluffy belly, balancing them both easily on his branch, chuckling lowly at her poor attempts to free herself from his embrace.

What happened to all the strength I had before?

She wondered if he'd felt any of her well placed punches at all, but the amusement on his curious looking face made it clear he was unaffected. She scowled.

His lips pulled back into a vaguely menacing grin, strangely white shards glinting in the moonlight that filtered through the canopy of trees. Her efforts were losing momentum- she was actually wearing herself out assaulting him.

"Amuse me, wild one. Tell me more about your 'special powers,'" he demanded, laughing heavily as she tried once more to wriggle free, his belly shaking so much it rattled her bones and made her teeth clack. "Alright alright, if I let go, do you promise not to fall out of the tree or try to run away like a damn idiot?" Before she could answer, a sweet voice interjected,

"Heya Soul, I'm hungry! That's my dinner up there! I called it first, now GIMME!"

Damn it all, Maka just couldn't win.

"Pffft, not a chance, Pat! She's mine!"

She was tempted to think that belonging to this monster actually might be an improvement. Oh, what a mess her life had become...

"Soul, for the love of all that is good, STOP ADOPTING PETS." Maka was slightly startled at how they addressed each other with names, but looking back she can see how foolish it was to assume they had no names at all. Calling each other "creature," as she called them in her own mind, was no doubt rude.

"Yeah, she's not supposed to know about us, so we gotta eat heeeeerrrr!"

Though eating people isn't very polite either…

"Well pet, looks like everyone's pretty hungry down there. Better start amusing me fast, or I just might decide to eat you myself. You look pretty delicious from this angle." If he weren't a gigantic, scary demon creature, and she hadn't been terrified, she might've colored at his words.

But he was, and she was, and angels blush for no one, especially not demons.

She summoned all her courage and told him firmly, "But you can't. I have so much power that I would just explode in your stomach, and chunks of you would be everywhere. Your friends wouldn't even be able to recognize you, I'd make such a mess of you!" She punctuated her threat with a forceful poke to his chest, just above where she assumed his heart was- that is, if he possessed one to begin with.

Her attempt at fierceness was to no avail. The smug, furry bastard simply cocked an eyebrow and grinned a garish grin once more.

"Really now? But then, so would chunks of you as well. And heaven knows my friends wouldn't bother to clean either of us up, wild one. I don't really mind, but it seems like you might be bothered by the prospect."

"I'm not afraid to die! Back home, everyone knows this," she taps him with a finger again. In reality, no one but her friend Tsugumi had seen her attempt to be fearless, like the time she tried to kill a pregnant black widow terrorizing her home. She may have won the war, but lived for a month with nightmares of eight-legged armies attacking her in her sleep.

"They fear me, and with damn good reason. I may be small, but I pack a punch!"

"Tell me about it..." He rolled those terrible eyes.

"If you give me any kingdom, I could rule it with an iron fist. No questions asked!"

"That so?" he grinded those terrible teeth. "So let me get this straight, uhhh...?"

"Maka."

"Yeah. So Maka, if I heard you correctly," he picked his left ear with a claw, "you're an angel, you can kick some ass, AND you're a queen?" He seemed skeptical, which only made her wish all the more to convince him.

"Damn straight I am. So it'd be in your best interest to check me off the menu." And this statement was emphasized with a solid punch to Soul's (as apparently they referred to him) jaw.

"Ow! What is your damage, little runt?" Soul winced, letting go of her to soothe the pain in his jaw.

"AHA!" Maka exclaimed, free of the monster's grip, but in her excitement she slipped off of his stomach and screamed. Yet again, she was surprised by a strong grip on her arm before she went all the way overboard.

"Tsk. Feisty aren't we?" He wore a serious frown on his face, and to Maka it meant trouble. Maybe she'd finally pissed him off and he was really gonna eat her. She looked away from him, clamping her eyes shut, envisioning the gnashing of teeth tearing into her flesh. To her surprise, she felt a hot whisper against her ear.

"I've got a proposition for you, Maka."

Hugging her tightly to his chest, he leaped off the high branch and landed on the forest floor with a loud, vibrating thud that startled the bushes and shrubs. Maka gripped tightly onto his fur by the fistfuls.

"I thought you were going to eat me," she stammered lowly, still suffering from the aftermath of the dramatic drop.

"Light meat gives me indigestion," he replied snarkily, accompanied by a lopsided grin. "I'll pass."

Huge thank you to Proma and Fab for beta-ing this monster 3 More to come!~