Snowflake was rearing up, trying to protect Sapphire. She looked like she passed out in the snow, she must've gotten that way from falling off Snowflake.I saw a bear trying to paw at Snowflake. It was one of the biggest I had ever seen, thick brown fur matting its lumbering frame as it stood on its back legs, clearly telling Snowflake that it intended to do some serious damage. The bear roared again, falling back to all fours and charging at them.

Without thinking about myself, I hurled myself in front of them, colliding with the bear and knocking him out of his path. The bear grunted in astonishment; I took up my place in front of Snowflake and Sapphire. The bear roared into my face and I snarled right back at it. I wasn't going to wait for the bear make the first move. I lunged at the bear, sinking my teeth into the thick flesh on the back of its neck. I dug my claws in and held on, but the bear ripped me off so easily, growling with rage and fear. I landed in the snow, small drops of blood already seeping through shallow cuts on my shoulder from its claws; the bear's blood ran off my fangs.

'Let me take care of that bear, Sagittarius! I can easily kill him!' No! I can't! If the bear hadn't been certain he wanted to attack before, he knew now. His black eyes glinting angrily as his jaw popped in fury. It swiped his massive paw at my head. I ducked under it, slamming myself into its stomach and forcing it backwards, away from Sapphire and Snowflake. The bear's teeth chomped down on my shoulder, knocking me to my knees and roared at me again. If I hadn't been certain I was outmatched, I knew now. I may have been faster, but the bear was far stronger and larger; I knew I was in trouble. 'Sagittarius, let me help you! If you don't, everyone, including you, will die!'

I snapped at the bear's legs, hoping to trip it up or scare it away, but instead it bowled me over, bellowing loudly. I tumbled through the snow, losing my cape in the process; leapt back to my feet, a little dizzy, but intact. I felt him, taking control of me. I was now the Werewolf! Perhaps I wasn't stronger, but the Werewolf was not about to lose to an ordinary animal. I leaped at the bear, claws raking his fur-covered side, teeth bared viciously. The bear's powerful paws swiped at me, claws tearing open my arm in four long gashes. I howled in pain and sank my teeth into its knee; doggedly holding on and feeling tendons rip from the force of my grasp. I was battered with his paws, the claws and teeth ripping at my skin until I released. With one swing of the bear's powerful arm, he sent me flying. I crashed into the trunk of a tree. breath driven completely out of me; I lay there gasping in pain as the bear advanced at me. I didn't hear the Werewolf again, I guess his plan was to have me dead. There was nothing that I could do as the bear swiped at me again. I felt the full force of the blunt paws catching me in the chest. I coughed at the explosive pain that followed; black dots swarmed my vision. That's when I heard it.

"Werewolf, in front of you!" I heard Sapphire scream. I don't know what happened, but hearing Sapphire's voice gave me some kind of strength that I never knew I had.

'Sagittarius, what are you doing? Accept your fate and die!' I stood up and rammed the bear into a tree. I staggered to my feet, holding my bleeding right arm, but stretching to my full height and roaring into the bear's face, but then my ears picked up as I heard the telltale sign of a gun being cocked. I ducked low and swiped at the bear's face, almost breaking the tree. I looked back at Sapphire; she was back on her feet next to Snowflake, but I also saw a man standing nearby. I saw the rifle in his hands. The young man was white, hands shaking as he fumbled to load his rifle.

"Don't do it, Rizal!" I heard Sapphire yell out. The bear huffed into my face; I tried to ignore a sudden rush of dizziness. The bear dropped back to all fours, seeming to understand that we had more pressing matters to deal with than each other. He started shuffling backwards, he knew I had won. A shot rang out; a stunning sharp pain went through my upper arm! I gasped and stared at the fine red line, which appeared just as suddenly and appeared to be splitting open in front of my eyes. "No, Rizal!" Sapphire screamed again. I did the only thing I could do, with my body aching and my arm on fire like it was. I lurched forward; before he could move, had snatched the gun out of his hands and into my massive paws. Rizal turned as white as the snow and hail under his mop of hair; started shaking as badly as Sapphire had been. My head felt strange, whirling; I thought Rizal was starting to blur a bit at the edges. My arms, particularly the one that dripped warm blood in rivulets onto the snow, were like lead, but I knew I had the strength for this.

'Destroy the gun and kill him, Sagittarius! Show Sapphire what will happen to her if she decides to run off again!' The blood ran faster as I flexed, feeling the metal bending under my enormous hands, until finally, with a snap, the barrel of the gun lay shattered on the ground. Now Rizal was looking at me with a primeval terror. Even through my daze, it was fairly clear what they thought of me. Like everyone else, they only saw the fangs, the claws and the hideous werewolf. Nothing could express how it truly bothered me to think that I would be judged like that. Couldn't they see that I was more than some ugly animal? 'Kill him, Sagittarius! Kill him and drag Sapphire back to the castle, she's still your prisoner!' I felt the ground whirling underneath me; my chest ached like fire, but I would show him. Show him I was more. With an effort, I met his eyes in turn.

"You'll never set foot on my land again!" Sagittarius? What are you doing?' "Leave now," I growled, "unless you dare to challenge the Werewolf!" Rizal got onto his feet and rad deep into the forest. I sighed, sinking to my knees as whatever reserve of strength that had kept me stand dissolved. I somehow found myself almost face-down in the snow and hail, too exhausted to do anything. 'So...you're going to die out here in the snow? You're such a lousy human...and you don't deserve this body! So go ahead and die...you'll never be free now, especially after what Sapphire saw!' My vision blurred and went black, but before I faded out entirely, I thought I heard a rustle of fabric; the sound of hooves crunching carefully through the snow.