All SM characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, but the OC's and the story belongs to me. Do not steal!
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13
1940
A tall blonde man ran into the house, not bothering with closing the door behind him as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, making his way up the stairs. The fire had already reached one of the bedrooms, soon spreading through the hallway, and as pure worry and raw fear crossed his handsome face, he opened the door, frantically looking around the bedroom.
It was a girl's room. White, delicate furniture and stuffed animals all around; light green curtains perfectly matching the comforter over the bed. And under the bed, with her small hands tightly hugging her favorite teddy bear close, wide green eyes filled with fear, cheeks reddened with running tears, a little blonde girl hid in there.
Screams, yells, roars reached them from the outside; cries of war, death and hatred, and she shut her eyes closed, whimpering and crying harder.
And the sight of her was enough for the tall man to all but jump into the room, kneeling on the floor and taking her into his arms, protectively. Small, little arms wrapping themselves around his neck, somehow managing not to let go of her teddy, seeking comfort, assurance, refugee, and he held on to the precious bundle in his arms, making his way down the stairs as the fire soon reached the girl's room.
The smoke filling the house fast making it hard for him to see; his eyes bloodshot and hurting. But he paid no attention, caring for nothing but getting the girl out of there and to somewhere safe.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed, her young voice filled with terror, as she pointed at the two strange, yellow eyed men that were standing outside on the porch, right in front of the opened door.
One of the men looked straight at her. A wicked, twisted smile dancing in his mouth; saliva dripping down as he bit thin air, showing off his large, sharp fangs. And she buried her face against her father's neck, sobbing harder, terrified.
"It's ok, Princess," he said to her, in a soothing, loving voice. "I'm here. I won't let them hurt you."
Carefully placing her down on the floor, he cupped her redden, wet cheeks, making her look up at him, paying no attention to the men outside. His thumbs tenderly caressing her cheeks, wiping her tears away.
"Baby, listen to me," he said, urgently. "When I say 'go', I want you to run out of here and right into the woods. Do you understand?"
She sobbed at his words. Her little hands tightening around her teddy bear. "I'm scared," she whimpered.
He kissed her forehead, holding her close to him and closing his eyes for a moment, memorizing the way her small little body felt against him. Breathing her in, loving and treasuring the way she hugged him back, with her little hands tangling on his blonde hair.
"I know, Princess, I know," he softly said. Breaking the embrace, he looked into her puffed green eyes, making sure she understood. "I need you to run as fast as you can, alright? Straight to the woods, no looking back."
She nodded her head, sniffling. Her short blonde hair barely brushing her shoulders at her movement.
He hugged her again, kissing the top of her head. "I love you, kitten," he whispered tenderly into her ear.
And she sobbed and whimpered again, finally letting go of her teddy, falling forgotten to the floor, as she desperately wrapped her arms around her father's neck, hugging him tight.
"I love you too, daddy," she whispered back, in a low, trembling voice.
He let go of her then, and grabbing a poker from the fireplace, he finally stepped outside, immediately engaging into a fight with the men standing there. Easily dodging when one of them jumped up to him, kicking him off the porch, he successfully plunged the poker deep into the other man's open mouth and down to his throat when he tried to advance. Not taking the time to admire his work as the man chocked to death, sprawled over the wooden floor, he turned around, looking at his daughter, still standing at the doorway on the inside of the house.
"Now! Go!" he ordered, urgently, before turning back around just in time, as the second man he had pushed off jumped to him again, taking him down to the floor.
The girl did was she was told, crying hard, yet running as fast as she could. But when she was about thirty feet away from the house, midway to the woods to the side, the sound of the ongoing struggle and her father's scream made her turn around; green eyes going wide opened in fear.
Seemingly out of nowhere, two more men had showed up and were now forcing her father down to the floor, twisting his arms behind him in a rather painful way. One of them bended down, biting his arm, as another kicked him hard on the ribs, earning a chocked grunt from the tackled blonde man.
"Daddy!"
He looked up at her at her scream. Light blue eyes wide and opened in fear, desperation, pain. "Run!" he was somehow able to yell before the third man grabbed him by the head, twisting his neck around.
The light suddenly turning off from those eyes she loved so much, and the distinct sound of bones breaking reaching her ears, she saw with terrified eyes her father's lifeless form falling limp. His head hitting the wooden floor with a thud and then just staying there.
She froze on her spot, suddenly not knowing what to do. Green eyes filled with tears, her breathing hard and erratic, she noticed one of the men smiling widely and wickedly to her as he straightened up, combing his red hair with one hand confidently, smugly. And simply terrifying.
Forcing her own sobs down her throat, she turned around, running away and into the woods. Her bare feet soundlessly meeting the soft grass beneath her, she ran, faster than ever before in her young life. Her heart pumping in her ears, her vision blurred because of the tears cascading down her eyes, she ran deep into the woods, not really knowing where she was going, only knowing she needed to get as far away from the village as she could.
Her nightgown got caught in a low branch and she tripped down, stumbling with the roots as she tried to move forward. Her hands and knees hitting the floor hard, hurting her. She cried again, whimpering and sobbing, desperately jerking from the white material, trying to free her nightie and herself, when a pair of hands suddenly came upon her shoulders and she screamed out, completely terrified.
A fast hand came to cover her mouth, keeping her down, soon followed by a hushed whisper. "It's me, baby."
Recognizing her mother's voice, she let go of her nightie, throwing herself into her mother's arms instead the moment the woman turned around to look at her. She nuzzled her face against the familiar, comforting chest, letting her tears cascade freely down her cheeks again. And her mother held her, tenderly and soothingly caressing her soft blonde hair, as her own green eyes pierced through the thick night, worriedly.
With a gentle hand on her chin, she made the little girl look up at her. "Where's your father?"
More desperate, broken tears and a shook from the head was the only answer she got, as the little girl threw herself to her chest again.
The woman gasped, trying to blink away her own tears, as she took her daughter into her arms, freeing her nightie and lifting her up, carrying her with her in their way deep into the woods. The distant screams and smoke still reached them, filling the night; the girl's soft whimpering, the only barely audible sound coming from the two of them.
With her head nuzzled against her mother's chest, the girl closed her eyes, feeling safe again for the first time since the screams first woke her up. But when her mother suddenly stopped dead on her tracks, and with her own face so close to her chest she felt her heart skipping a beat, she looked up, worriedly and confused, frowning up to her mother when she was put down on the floor again.
"Mommy?" the girl asked.
"Sh," the light brown haired woman instructed, putting a finger to the girl's lips as she signaled with her head at some point straight ahead of them. *Humans.*
The girl's green eyes went wide opened then, as she followed her mother's line of vision. And there, in the distant, three men dressed in thick coats and carrying what looked like long, metal sticks of some sort and heavy backpacks, where slowly but surely making their way into the woods; it was only a matter of time before their paths would cross.
*Stay here,* her mother instructed, helping her hide under a thick bush, and then turning into a large, beautiful black panther, slowly and stealthy making her way towards the humans.
She did as she was told, staying under the bush and hugging her legs close to her, trying hard not to make any noises. Her green eyes glued to the spot she had seen her mother disappeared behind the tall trees, obediently waiting for her to return or to instruct her to follow after her. She was so concentrated in the sounds all around her, that when the sound of gunshots suddenly pierced through the night, she jumped up in her spot, gasping in surprise and fear.
*Hunters! Baby, run!* her mother's desperate voice reached her, as another gun was fired.
*Mommy!* she called out.
When nothing but silence answered her, she called out again, now terribly scared, as she got off her hiding spot, following the direction her mother had taken. She stopped when she heard voices, and getting in all fours, she crawled her way under a bush, trying to get closer to the humans without being spotted.
"What is this?" one of them asked, kicking the large black feline that was now laying in front of them.
*Mommy?* she called out.
Again, no answer.
*Mommy, wake up,* she begged, desperately trying to keep her tears at bay to avoid getting caught by the humans.
"It's a cat," another one of them answered the first one's question, squatting down and inspecting the feline. "I think it's a panther."
"Not possible," the third one said, shaking his head as he rested his riffle across his shoulder. "There's no panthers around here."
"Maybe it escaped from a circus or something," the one squatted down said, before shaking his head and standing up again, kicking the large black feline's form.
Green eyes went wide opened at that, and without even thinking, she jumped up, enraged.
She saw the humans jump in surprise as she landed right in front of her mother, trying to protect her from them. And she roared and hissed, fur raised and laying low in all fours, trying her best to sound and look threatening, but only managing to sound like the little cat she truly was.
One of the men laughed. "Hey there, kitty," he said, bending forward and reaching his hand out.
And as she saw the man's hand reaching out to her, large, threatening, terrifying, she backed away, scared out of her mind. The man tried to grab her again, and she panicked. Not knowing what to do, and knowing herself helpless against the men, she jumped away and climbed up a tall tree, all the way up until she reached the far up branches, panting hard.
"Come on, kitty," the man called out to her. "We just wanna play!" he exclaimed as he started laughing.
"Let it go, it's just the cub," another said. "We've got the mother. Let's go and try to get the truck here and take it to town."
"What about the fire?" the third one asked.
"Do you really care about some trees getting on fire, or do you want to be a rich man?" the second one asked. "Do you know how rare this thing is?" he then said, kicking the large dead feline yet again. "We can sell the fur at the market and make a fortune."
She whimpered, clenching her claws to the branch she was on, both terrified and angry. Only after the humans were gone, she climbed down the tree, jumping off to the grass and approaching her mother's form.
She nuzzled her nose against her mother's, trying to wake her up. And it was only then that she noticed a red, bleeding hole, right in between the lifeless green eyes. Opened, and staring into nothing.
*Mommy?* she called out again, nuzzling their noses together once more. *Mommy, please wake up…* she begged, as her tears came back to her eyes. *Please… don't leave me…* she begged again, patting her mother's head gently, only to get no response back from the once loving panther.
And as the tears kept on running down her soft, young fur, she laid herself down on the soft grass, right in between her mother's front limbs, cuddling against her still warm body. The sounds of the fight still going on back at the small village, muffled by the distance, still reached her, and she hid her face under her mother's neck, crying softly.
Heartbroken, and completely alone.