Writers Notes: Nothing, but I always start with notes, and I like to keep formats. :'D
OH WAIT, Speaking of formats, all of my stories, except the newer ones, are screwed up. That makes me pissed, and then very, very sad. D: Now I have to edit all my past fanfics…rawr.
Anyway. Here's chapter 11, after like, 5 months. =/
MyLadyWolf
A loud, feral snarl. Sumire and Nobara, holding hands, stopped and looked around fearfully. The relaxed momentarily when they saw a girl in a white dress, then tensed again when they realized the hostile snarl came from her lips, and that wolves gathered around her. The wolves' own lips emitted more wild, animalistic growls although the girl's sounded convincing enough.
"Uhm…Excuse me…miss?" Nobara squeaked, frightened. "Do you know—"
The girl pounced, and the two friends screamed and dodged. The wild girl turned her head towards them, eyes seeming devoid of all human sense.
"S-S-S-Sumire…" Nobara whimpered, clinging to her arm.
"I d-d-don't know w-w-what we're supposed t-t-to do!" Sumire squeaked back, eyes wide. "Oh! A-Alices! W-we can try…eeek!"
The other girl pounced again, and the two Alices just nearly missed her sharp fingernails.
Another low, feral snow came from her lips, and this time, the wolves also closed in. Two jumped, and panicking, Nobara put up an ice barrier, which knocked them back. The girl in the white dress seemed mildly surprised.
"S-Sumire-nee! Your Alice—try to talk to the animals! Or her!"
As the situation became more tense, the girls managed to pull themselves together. After escaping their parents, there was no way they were going to die here.
The green-eyed girl looked afraid for a moment, but closed her eyes and rubbed her cheeks, trying to a partway transformation. Dog ears popped out from her head, and a slender cat tail appeared, wavering elegantly. The girl growled at her animalistic scent.
"Wait!" Sumire yelled, holding out her hands. "We're not here to fight or hurt you or anything! We just want to know how to get out of this place. And where the next towns are—"
They didn't know if the girl had understood Sumire, but either way she launched another attack. She scratched Nobara's cheek, leaving blood on her fingertips. Clenching her fists, the wolves surrounded the friends and closed in slowly. Sumire and Nobara were back to back, trying desperately to try and find a way to escape.
The girl in the white dress stepped into the ring and held up her hands, nails sharpening to knifelike points. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she walked forward. Without warning, she sped towards them with inhuman speed, raking her nails against Nobara's side. She winced, but managed to freeze her side before the girl could rip her flesh; the ice now bore deep slash marks and Nobara was grateful she could control her Alice well enough to defend herself. Sumire jumped, prepared to catch the girl off guard and pin her down, but the girl dodged and Sumire crashed into Nobara instead. The two rolled on the ground, groaning in pain. At this point, the wolves had caged them in completely, with the girl standing in front of them. Her eyes were murderous, lips pulled back again into a snarl. The wolves followed her.
They were dead. They were going to die. There was no escaping from this.
Frightfully, the two friends stared up at the wolf-girl. When she raised her hand, they squeezed their eyes shut.
But at least they would die free.
"Honestly, we thought we were going to die," Sumire said, looking at the ceiling while Ruka stared at her in shock. Natsume and Hotaru remained indifferent, as usual.
"B-B-but…" the blond-haired boy stammered, trying to match the violent image of Mikan with her current, more calm nature together.
"It was scary," Nobara agreed, touching her side where Mikan had nearly shredded.
"But…if she was about to kill you, how did you become friends?" Ruka asked confusedly, "Did she change her mind last minute?"
Smiling wryly, Sumire said "Something like that" and continued.
But how could they just leave, after all they had endured? Yet they couldn't do anything. Even with all the experiments, they weren't strong enough…this was unfair, even if they would die free, they never had a chance to truly live…why? Why did this have to happen to them?
The wolf-girl stopped, and suddenly, with the rise of emotions at its highest peak, Sumire and Nobara's Alices began to go out of control. The branches of the surrounding trees were becoming layered in ice, and some of the weaker branches snapped and fell from the weight.
Sumire gagged, falling to the side convulsing. Strangled noises escaped her throat; it was as if her vocal cords were no longer working. Her eyes were bulging, swiveling in their sockets, terrified.
The brunette stopped, furrowing her eyebrows a little, unsure of what to do. Her wolves crowded nearer to her, still baring their sharp incisors, but no longer growling.
Around them, the area of the forest was beginning to turn to winter. The temperature dropped fast, cold mist beginning to rise, trees, rocks, and the ground beginning to turn to ice. Nobara seemed to have completely lost it, shivering, mumbling apologies as she hugged herself, sweat rolling off of her forehead. She was back at the laboratory, being beaten for her Alice going out of control…
Sumire was still emitting strangled groans, fingers sinking into the unfrozen dirt. Her nails began to sharpen and curve, very much like a cat's claws. Whiskers forced their way out of her face, large, pointed ears flattening against her skull. Her white-brown tail flicked back and forth, and her body felt like it was breaking…her senses sharpened suddenly, overwhelming her with new sights and scents…when she tried to let out the lump that had been stuck in her throat, a sharp, piercing cross between a dog's howl and a cat's feral cry ripped through the air.
The girl in the white dress took a step back and the wolves blinked, a few shrinking back as well. The area around them was still gathering ice, and the temperature was continuously dropping. And the other one—the green haired girl…she didn't even look human anymore. She was a hybrid between a cat and dog…but it was obvious that she couldn't control her transformation. Cuts had appeared from when her skin ripped open to make room for the new bones to alter her features. She looked like a monster.
It became apparent that she was no longer thinking like one, either. Baring her sharp teeth, Sumire leaped, ten, twenty, thirty feet into the air, coming down with her claws extended. The brunette and the wolves separated; Sumire swiveled and lunged, her opponent narrowly missing the sharp nails. Without giving any time in between, the green-haired hybrid lunged again, scratching the other girl's face and arm. The wolf-girl gritted her teeth, jumping back to avoid contact. Sumire moved fast, but she was attacking randomly; she wasn't thinking right.
The temperature has continued dropping, and the wolves whimpered. Glancing at them, the wolf-girl decided to end this fast. Taking a deep breath, she dodged another one of the green-haired girl's slashes and moved in, punching her in the stomach and knocking her out. As for the ice-controller, who was still mumbling incoherently, she merely pressed on a pressure point in the back of her neck and she went unconscious. The ice began to defrost, although because it was so thick it took a while.
Sighing, the girl in the white dress picked up the green-haired girl first, motioning for one of the wolves to come over. She put the girl on the wolf's back, who blinked a little at the animalistic scent but obeyed anyway. Next went Nobara, and the group went deeper into the forest where it was warmer.
"Of course, I have no memory of this. Mikan explained what happened when we went out of control sometime later, when we were friendlier," Sumire said quietly, looking downward.
There was a somewhat awkward silence, and Hotaru spoke up. "We're not afraid," She said flatly, "It's not as if it was your fault, and plenty of Alices have gone out of control in the school before."
Sumire looked up and smiled, and Nobara smiled as well.
"I suppose we all became friends here," Sumire continued.
The sky was dark when the two awake. Sumire was sore an disoriented, while Nobara felt extremely weak. Both couldn't remember where they for a few minutes, staring at the stars confusedly until a voice cut into their daze.
"You're awake." It was a smooth, feminine voice that neither girl recognized. When the owner of the voice moved closer to them, a jolt ran through their bodies.
It was that wolf girl.
Sumire tried to move backward but her joints refused to move, while Nobara could only stare at her with fear, for she had no energy whatsoever. When the other girl didn't show any sign of hostility, they relaxed just a little. The wolves were around a fire, watching the two girls both warily and curiously.
"What…" Nobara began in a small voice, "What happened?"
"Your Alices, I believe they are called, ran out of control. I assume it is difficult for you to move as of now." The girl spoke calmly, observing them with cool eyes.
Something occurred to the two friends just then.
"You can speak," Sumire said, eyes widening.
An amused smile lit the brunette's face. "Yes I can. I attacked you because you felt abnormal to me. And because I wish to test you. I apologize for my former hostility; the wolves and I are on our best behavior." She tilted her head to one said, smiling.
Scowling a little, Sumire looked away.
Chuckling lightly, the girl spoke again. "I suppose the proper thing to do is to introduce myself after a rude greeting. My name is Mikan Sakura. The wolves are Ichiro, Hatsu, Katana, Kaede, Kaida, Airi, Sorano, Kumiko, Masaki, Shiro, Isamu, Cho, Sumi, Jin, and Tanpopo. We're pleased to make your acquaintance." The wolves had raised their head when their name was called, but Sumire and Nobara couldn't really distinguish them in the dark anyway. They returned the introduction respectively.
"…Sumire Shouda."
"Nobara Ibaragi…"
Mikan smiled, but the mirth faded from her face rather quickly. The friends squirmed slightly; even though the brunette was being pleasant it didn't mean that she was their ally…yet?
"So. Sumire Shouda, Nobara Ibaragi. You are abnormalities, and so I will ask what you are doing in my forest."
The emerald-eyed girl bit back a retort, and glanced at Nobara, who offered a small smile. There wasn't much they could do now. They couldn't hide anymore.
"We…we're—"
"Stop," The brunette said lightly, and the words halted out of surprise."That was enough. You have a reason, but I will not force it out of you. You are tired, and most likely hungry and thirsty. Rest. We will not harm you."
Blinking, the two watched as Mikan walked away, leaving the wolves with them.
"This is…strange," Sumire whispered. The canines' ears flicked, but even if they understood human speech, Mikan had given her word that neither she nor her friends would harm them…and strangely, Sumire and Nobara believed her.
"But we can't do anything, so we'll have to…stay with her?" Nobara said, the question occurring to her now. "…What are we going to do, now that we've escaped…?"
"…Anything we can to stay alive…we can't do anything but accept…her hospitality now…"
At this point, Mikan returned with two interestingly shaped shells, filled with water. The other two girls accepted them gratefully, sipping the cool water slowly as to not make themselves sick. They were handed two strips of dried meat each, to make sure that their stomachs could handle food okay.
Smiling, Mikan left again, returning with about four fish skewered on sticks. She put them near the fire to cook, and turned back to the girls. "Are you feeling any better?" She asked, and she received nods in reply.
"…Why did you help us?" Nobara asked somewhat boldly, and the brunette smiled.
"You are abnormalities, as I am. And, because you only retaliated when you were attacked. You are not hostile, but kind and incomplete."
The girls looked at each other, still thinking that she hadn't really answered the question, but they accepted it nonetheless.
"So after this, we spent a lot of time with her, seeing as we had nowhere else to go. She trained us to control our Alices better. And, like you saw on the first day, it became a greeting if we attacking each other without warning. It's quite fun, really. But since Mikan's so much stronger and has more experience, it was always me attacking first since I wasn't trained enough." Sumire smiled. "Nobara's not really much of a physical fighter, but she knows how to manipulate her Alice really well."
"It's flawed though," Nobara piped up, "My Alice is powerful, but it's tiring to maintain for too long. It's still possible for either of our Alices to go out of control if we push it past the limits."
"And?" Ruka asked, "When you guys met up again, you had been separated, right?"
The two girls looked at each other.
"We…were brought here first," the emerald-eyed girl told them. "To the Academy. After we had lived with Mikan for a while, she told us to come here. This place might be a hell for some people, but we can get permission to leave campus. And anyway, for people like us who have fucked up parents, this place is somewhat of a sanctuary."
Velvet Rose was startled at Sumire's swear. She had talked about her…'parents', but she had never really expressed her hatred for them. She had feared them. She had lived through a horrible time with them. So it was no surprise that she should hate them.
But if something had happened to them, if they had come crawling to her pleading for her help, saying they had made a mistake, telling her they loved her, she would not fall for their petty lies and deceit.
Because they had turned her into a monstrosity, and she would never forgive that. Her eyes showed that, and the tone in her words did as well.
"So we showed up at the gates. We got in. We travelled the world a little, because we needed to know more about the world, and we learned plenty about our Alices already. So we honed some skills. Took a few jobs to earn some money. Learned to live."
"And Sakura? Why did she only transfer recently?"
"Mikan likes the forest. She's lived without much civilization for years. It's all that she's known, since she doesn't really know who she is." Nobara said. "She…she stayed here for a very short period of time. She wasn't sure she liked it here. It was around this time she met Kurayami, and Kurayami freaked out so much that her Alice went out of control."
Hotaru's eyes flicked for a second. Everyone seemed capable of seeing the spirit. It was not some other power, or an Alice, that was letting them see the girl. But no one knew much about Kurayami. Did she 'freak out' because she thought no one could see her, or…?
"So Mikan went back to the forest for a while. We were allowed to visit her, to try to convince her to come. But Mikan does what she wants." Sumire laughed, shifting positions. She took a seat atop a desk, swinging her legs a little. "But I think after she discovered that she could steal other people's Alices, she agreed. Because when she visited the academy, she sort of…'absorbed' many of them without her knowledge. Not enough to use them, but enough to know what she could do."
"Stealing Alice…" Natsume murmured, speaking for the first time.
"She never did say what her original Alice was," Hotaru realized.
"Oh, the stealing Alice isn't her Original. It's her second."
Velvet Rose looked surprised, because most only had one Alice, and very, very rarely two.
"The nullification Alice is her first." Sumire told them.
"How many Alices does she have?" Hotaru asked, although it didn't sound like a question because of her monotonous tone.
"I'm not sure," Sumire confessed. "I've really only seen her use fire and ice. She doesn't want to overburden herself with all these Alices, so she probably only takes ones she needs. She sort of has a natural affinity with animals, so she doesn't need Nogi's Animal Pheromones. And she just doesn't work with machines, so Imai-san's Invention Alice would be useless to her."
She smiled at Ruka's surprised face at her knowledge of their Alices. "You're Velvet Rose," Nobara giggled as she reminded them quietly.
Of course. They were popular, and thus everyone knew the basics about them. They were forgetting themselves, forgetting their status when with these strange people…
Were they all friends now? So simply?
"Should you have told us about her Alices?" Hotaru questioned again, almost uncomfortable with the fact that they were letting their guards down.
"Mikan doesn't care if people know. If you asked directly, she'd tell you. But she'd complicated like that, so she just doesn't say anything. It's not a secret. She's not ashamed of her Alices." The green-eyed girl grinned. "Just like how she doesn't care about Luna Koizumi."
The three group members snorted, and Sumire and Nobara laughed.
"Anyway. It's getting late. We're gonna go visit Mikan and see if we can figure out where the wolves might have gone before we return to the dorms." Sumire said, jumping off the desk. Nobara also got up and followed her friend to the doorway. It was silent as they made their way to the exit, but the two turned to give one last warning.
"But remember," the green-eyed girl said seriously, partly out the door. She pointed at them somewhat dramatically. "Watch out. I don't know what's going on with Mikan, but Nobara and I have long decided we will always stand by her. You three like interesting things and you've taken an interest in us abnormalities. Your skills could help us a lot should you decide to immerse yourself in our situation, and Hyuuga can stop Mikan in beast mode. But know this." Sumire's eyes narrowed dangerously, producing a glare rivaling Hotaru's death glares. "If you want in, you're in. But then you'll stay in. If you pull out just because it's not interesting anymore, don't think that we can't do anything to make your lives a living hell."
Even Nobara's eyes were icy cold, her kind, soft expressions nowhere to be seen in the hard lines of her face.
"Mikan's important to us," she said softly, "And we like you. But we don't trust easily. We told you our past because we want you to know who you're dealing with if you're considering taking part of this. It might be hard for us to talk about, but we don't have any issues with people knowing about it. You haven't broken down our walls yet. And we want to know whether we can allow those walls to be let down or not."
Velvet Rose stared at the two blankly.
"Truth to be told, we have no reason to help you," Hotaru said, starting at both of them in her usual stare. Ruka threw a sharp look at her, and even Natsume glanced at her, both of which she ignored as she continued to speak. "But we're not cowards, and we aren't backstabbers. We have not been completely consumed by your situations, and therefore we will stay on the edge for now." She smiled faintly, just the ghost of a more emotional expression haunting her lips. "We have no relation to you whatsoever. In fact, it is only because of our own curiosity that we so ignorantly involved ourselves."
There was a short pause as Hotaru crossed her legs and folded her arms.
"We will let fate run its course. Should it decide to pull us into yours, we will assist you. But for now, while we know nothing, we will stand by and watch you abnormalities. Because our ignorance and simple curiosity will not last in a serious situation such as yours."
Sumire and Nobara both smiled.
"We like you, Hotaru Imai," Sumire said. "And your intelligence. We gladly accept your decision. Very well. Let fate run its course."
And the two left, the sound of their shoes fading into the distance.
The classroom remained silent for a few moments after they left.
"…Shouldn't be have just helped them?" Ruka asked quietly.
"And haven't we already been involved in their situation?" said Natsume. Haven't I?
Hotaru sighed. "I said so already. Ignorance and simply curiosity will not suffice in a situation such as theirs. Would you prefer we get them killed because they had to save us, simply because we decided to involve ourselves in a situation we don't understand? Or if we decided to back out because of fear, or human nature, because we could not handle what we got ourselves into?"
She turned to face her two members.
"We simply have no reason to commit ourselves to them. Yet. And we should not simply barge upon their lives merely because we find it interesting."
Hotaru's deep purple eyes were cold, and the two males listened to her seriously. It was rare Hotaru ever spoke this much. And this was, of sorts, a lecture, knowledge that she wanted them to understand and engrave into their brains, because she was taking the time to explain it to them.
She looked out the window, watching the wind rustle the treetops of the Northern Forest.
"…We aren't dealing with just humans," She said. "This goes beyond civility and human order. We are crossing the line into the wild." A pause. "Into the wolven territory."
She turned back to them and stood.
"Prepare yourselves," she told them without looking at them, crossing the room to the door. "Fate isn't kind. If we get involved, we won't slowly be easing ourselves into hot water."
She left, and Natsume and Ruka looked at each other, sighing deeply, running their hands through their hair, sinking lower into their seats.
"Females," they both agreed simultaneously, and got up to return to their dorms.
The wolves padded their way across the ground slowly, tongues hanging out of their mouths as Katana turned to the pack and tilted his head slightly towards a river. Many of the younger ones, with a spurt of energy, dashed towards the water and lapped it up thirstily. The elder ones walked over to it slowly, quenching their thirst as well.
Sometime later, they scented a herd of deer and brought some down, snapping at the meat to satisfy their hunger. Licking the blood from their lips, they lay down for a short break, ears flicking lazily.
"…Master will surely be upset," Masaki said, yawning. She looked around, and some of them seemed nervous. The older wolves flicked their ears slightly uneasily, but were otherwise calm.
"But we will explain this to her when we return," Kaede sighed. "Things will get messy, now that they have made their move…"
"And Master already knows that we know something about her past," Shiro said.
"So it's better that we tell her anyway." Kumiko agreed.
"…I don't like keeping secrets from Master…" Cho growled quietly, and Airi let out a whine to show that she didn't like it either.
Kaida raised her head to scent the air. "We should arrive soon…and then we'll confront Master…"
There was a thick silence, and the wolves glanced around at each other uneasily.
"We've already decided on this," Isamu growled, "We will not back out now."
"No one said we were going to," Sorano sniffed, "We have our pride, you know."
"But no one said it was going to be easy, either," Tanpopo added softly.
Another silence amongst them ensued while the birds chirped from above. Scavengers dropped from the sky to devour what was left of the wolves' meal.
They had only rested for a short about of time, but now the canines were too uneasy to just sit there leisurely.
"Let's go," Katana growled, and the pack of fifteen wolves rose, shook the dirt off of their fur, and leapt across the forest, closer and closer to their precious master.
"Silly children…Such naïve little puppies."
"There's no point in waiting like this. Can't we just like, move now?"
"Don't be so impatient…remember, we're starting war…"
"Yeah, and we've been prepared since like, we were in our mothers' wombs."
"Silence. You will get your share of blood soon, Jiro. Yukio's left again."
"Feh. Figures. Always him. Just like his name, 'gets what he wants'."
"They played us well last time. They're smarter than they look, I suppose. But this confusion needs to end. The Queen and King's pathetic rule ended years ago….but we'll use to Princess to create a new rule…"
"I can't believe it took us this long to find her. She couldn't have hidden that well."
"Since we only found them recently she most certainly did hide herself well. Or, was hidden by others. But it doesn't matter now."
"Can't Yukio hurry the hell up? He likes to play around too much."
"You've starting to pick up on human habits, Jiro. Be careful."
"Hah. You think I would forget myself? You're too wary, Kistuka. Stuuuupid. You think I could forget my nature?"
"There's no telling what you'll do, Jiro."
"Hmph. Fine then. Have it your way. As long as I get to kill my brother, I'll be satisfied."
"…the love for your family is heartwarming."
"Was that sarcasm I just heard? Don't forget yourself, Kitsuka. You're picking up on some human habits."
"You think I would forget my nature?"
"Damn you."
"No answer?"
"You're too prideful of your nature to ever forget it."
"Good job. Now then. Be patient. Listen to the song of war."
"Funny. It sounds a lot like screaming."
"Yes, Jiro. That is what we call music."
The sound of war drums
Beat upon my soul as
The excitement vibrates in my blood;
The adrenaline reels with a sadistic smile
As lives are lost by my hands
In this confusion we have so created…
Howl to the moon. The show of war is about to begin.
~./End Chapter Eleven/.~
…And that's all?
Writer's End Notes: I mixed all the dry ingredients together to make muffins when I realized I didn't have an egg. =/ I'm sad now.