Jizouko swung her blades at the dust motes swirling in the late afternoon sun maybe two weeks after her encounter with the snake. She wasn't sure exactly how long it had been; the days were beginning to run together for her. Especially since for the majority of however many days had passed she had been almost immobile because of her back.
Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she stopped moving mid-swing. Her eyes slowly trailed to the edge of the clearing. A deer was nibbling on the tender green shoots of grass growing in the shade of the trees. Her stomach began to ache at the sight. She had never really been one to eat meat back in Konoha, but the rumbling in her stomach was enough to make her consider something other than vegetables for once.
She slowly began to move towards the deer, careful not to make any sudden movements or any sound. The animal's ears flicked as it continued to eat and it would occasionally look up, causing Jizouko to freeze. Once she was maybe a meter away from her pray the animal bolted into the woods. She took off after it without a second thought, jumping over fallen logs and swinging at the low branches that reached out and scratched at her.
Her breath was beginning to come in ragged puffs as her lungs strained to provide oxygen for her starved muscles. She shook her head violently to clear her tangled hair from her vision and the moment she took her eyes off of her path the ground slid beneath her feet and she tumbled down into a patch of mud. She groaned to herself as she propped herself up and looked down at her now filthy clothes. She raked her fingers through her hair as she pushed back her bangs in frustration and hissed when her digits caught a particularly tough knot. For a moment she considered cutting her hair, but something stopped her and instead she took the wrappings from around the handle of one of her kunai and used it to hold her now shoulder-length hair out of her face. She sat panting for a long moment before finally getting to her feet with a heavy sigh. Was it too late to go back to Konoha? She had probably already been branded a deserter; maybe they would forgive her if she said she was sorry…
She looked around and saw that she was in a small ravine lined with steep, muddy sides and a small stream trickling through the bottom, soaking her sandals. She sloshed her way to one side and started to climb up with the aid of a few tree roots. A soft growl reached her ears when she finally began to haul herself over the edge, but she continued anyways, thinking it was just her stomach. The growling grew louder and she looked up and froze.
A large black wolf glared down at her with amber eyes, razor-sharp fangs bared. From this distance she could see the slight yellowing of the beast's teeth and feel its hot breath on her face.
"Nice doggy," she said weakly as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
The wolf stalked towards her and she could pick out the clumps of mud sticking to its dark fur. She considered dropping back down into the ravine, but then she would be trapped… but she couldn't climb up because the wolf was there… It lowered into a crouch, ready to pounce and she made her decision. She released her grip on the edge and stumbled backwards when her feet hit the muddy bottom of the ravine. She took off in a frantic run, crashing through the underbrush and splashing through the trickle of water. She heard splashing behind her – or was that just her imagination?
The snarling at her heels told her that no, it wasn't her imagination.
Her foot slipped on a smooth rock and she landed on a bed of old leaves and pine needles, skidding a bit more down the ravine. The air was forced from her lungs and she lay there gasping, her tired muscles refusing to move a centimeter more without a moment's rest. She heard the scraping of the wolf's claws on the loose stones drawing closer behind her; it sounded like death approaching. Violent, painful death.
Was she okay with this? To die lying down? No, she wasn't.
She forced her screaming muscles to move as she managed to get into a crouch and fumbled for a weapon. She found that her kunai pouch had fallen off at some point during her flight and she had dropped her swords too, leaving her with only shuriken. Her shaking hand inched towards her shuriken holster to find that missing as well.
She could see the wolf rounding a bend in the ravine now, white foam contrasting against its onyx fur. In panic she reached out for a stick embedded into a muddy wall and found it stuck fast. She whipped her head to the side and saw the beast was less than five meters from her. She braced herself for the sting of the animal's claws and fangs ripping at her tanned skin. So this was to be her end?
Apparently Jurōjin had other plans for her.
Another animal's snarling overpowered the black wolf's and a shadow passed over her crouched form. She cracked open one eye to see a hulking white beast standing with its back to her. The new animal slashed at the first – which was much smaller by comparison – and knocked it to one side of the ravine. The black wolf yelped in pain and quickly rolled onto its back, barring its belly and throat in a sign of submission.
The white beast gave one last growl before turning around to face Jizouko and she felt her blood run cold. It was an enormous wolf staring down its pointed muzzle at her with its deep, black eyes. Faced with her impending doom combined with exhaustion her body and mind couldn't take it anymore and the world went black.
Man, I really have to stop passing out! Jizouko groaned mentally as she sat up, ignoring her protesting muscles.
She peered around with bleary eyes and saw she was now outside of the dragon's cave. She stiffened when she saw the white wolf sitting just outside of the mouth of the cave a few meters away staring head-on at the black dragon. It looked as if they were communicating wordlessly, and for a moment she wondered what they were talking about. The dragon shifted his yellow eyes to rest on her and the wolf followed suit, turning its head over its shoulder.
"Uh… hi?" she tried, feeling uncomfortable under the two beasts' gazes.
"You're lucky Makoto-kun likes you," the dragon growled.
The wolf, Makoto, rose and padded over to her, wagging his tail. He seemed much smaller now, had she thought him bigger in the heat of her terror?
"Thank you," she grinned sheepishly as she reached out a hand to stroke his fur; it was still as soft as she remembered.
Makoto allowed her to pet him as he stared at her with his unnerving black eyes.
