A/N: This chapter is going to have a song because this one song just matches pretty well I think. Woo.

Song: Re-Education (Through Labor) by Rise Against.

Chapter 14

Forest of Flames

Rufus's P.O.V

My paws incessantly battered the earth as I ran. I dodged and weaved oncoming branches, fallen trees, and undergrowth. My heart was pounding harshly against my ribcage. It felt as if it would burst from the cavern at any second. The beating was the rhythm as which I ran with. My pulse was racing, and my mind was a blur. All I could think of was to get away, to make sure he didn't get me. Its funny what adrenaline could do to you.

It seemed that today was somehow colder then all the others. Granted the sun was just rising, but still. It felt as if it was going to snow at any moment, and with those ominous looking clouds above, I wouldn't doubt it. Every breath I took in was replaced by a mist of steam that went up in wisps into the cold air.

Every moment I swiveled my head back and forth. I was becoming increasingly paranoid, and I was as tense as could be. I was positively wide awake even due to my early awakening earlier in what could be called morning but anyone sane would consider night. My fatigue had vanished the moment I started running. But even with all this over cautious behavior, I still didn't see it coming.

To my left on the path just ahead of where I was, the underbrush burst. I skidded to a halt, my heart feeling as if its pumping rate just doubled. From the explosion of leaves stood a demon mask wearing Houndoom, a maniacal grin stretched across his face. He let out a cackle at my horrified expression. Adrenaline still pumping, I high-tailed it back down the path I had come from. This was so terrifying, I didn't even have the time to freeze up or hesitate.

I heard the rough voice echo throughout the forest that seemed to be devoid of life. "You can run and even hide, but I will catch you!"

I yelped in surprise when once again the hell hound burst from the bushes just before me. Damn was he fast. I would have never expected Kief to be that fast.

I let out a shout of surprise as I lunged behind a tree, narrowly dodging a flamethrower that lit up the area in fiery orange light. Surprisingly, nothing caught ablaze. But then again, upon missing me, the fire was cut short. Not wasting anytime, I scrambled up and dashed off in another direction. I heard my pursuer let out another laugh of enjoyment. Too much enjoyment for my tastes.

I tried to keep low to the ground as I dashed about. Breathing was strained as I desperately tried to prevent myself from panting. I didn't want to alert him to where I was. I wasn't sure how many more of those heart-attack inducing sneak assaults I could take.

The day dragged on. By this point I was sure the Houndoom wanted to maim me. He had tried countless attempts throughout the hectic day.

The sky was darkening as the sun lowered behind the cloud cover. Taking cover within a cluster of bushes, I took a chance and lifted my snout to the air. It smelled heavily of rain. Just as I made that revelation, a single drop splashed on my eye. I winced and shut it tight, blinking a few times before fully opening it once more. Great, just great. I would need to gain cover from the rain somehow. Though I could look on the bright side; it gave me a great advantage against my fire type assailant.

Peering about, I crawled away from the bushes. Raising my head, I checked for anything prowling about. Not seeing anything, I stood up a bit higher, just as the rainfall became a bit harsher. Walking at a slow pace and taking cautious steps, I made my way through the ever empty forest.

By now the rain was pouring, the sky weeping its sorrow onto the land. The once deathly silence became a deafening batter of water against leaf. My fur was quickly soaked and matted, and gave off an unwanted shiny sheen. Trying to look for sufficient cover quickly, I sped up.

And somehow I heard the snap of a twig. I twirled around in alert. But I saw no one through the onslaught of raindrops. But out of the corner of my eye I swore I detected movement. I spun in that direction, eyes glancing around at a frenetic rate. Still seeing nothing but drenched greenery and rain, I began to back up slowly. Which in retrospect wasn't the greatest of ideas.

I instantly froze when I backed up into a solid mass. Covered in matted fur. Turning around slowly, I faced the devious fanged smirk of Commander Kief.

"Boo."

I jumped at the sinister tone in the unexpected whisper. He let out a low chuckle as I took a step back, and fled. I sprinted off, rain beating against my face and obscuring my vision. I made a sharp turn, but the overly wet and slippery ground resulted in my crashing to the forest floor with a splash. I groaned, and struggled to get back up. My paws slipped from under me again, and I fell back down. Hearing a deep rumble of a laugh echo out, my blood pumped to get me moving. I stumbled up and took off again.

My fur was now riddled with mud and grime, and I shook my self frequently. Mud flew in all directions as I ran, some of it wiped out by the constantly strengthening downpour.

Hearing crashes and large splashes close behind, I burst into a mad dash. At this point I could barely see, my vision a complete blur from the water. And with a sickening crack and a wave of pain and nausea, I practically slid into an oncoming tree. I let out a low moan of pain, and held a dirt riddled paw to my forehead. I now had a splitting headache. The harsh rain exploding against my cranium as I lay on the forest floor did not help.

I squinted through the rain to only see a massive blur. Taking in a deep breath, my vision began to clear. And my heart stopped as that same grin and menacing eyes appeared. I was prepared to let out a gasp in shock and fear before a paw collided with the side of my head. The blow sent me reeling across the leave strewn ground. My headache intensified to near impossible to take. The nausea increased along with it. I rolled onto my stomach. This only seemed to make it worse.

I tried to get up, heaving violently. And with one final lurch from my stomach, I deposited my breakfast all over the leaves and dirt before me. The bile burned my throat, only adding on to the pain. I managed to hear Kief scoff through my suffering.

"Pathetic Runt. You can't lay around moaning in pain. You have to take action. An enemy will not hesitate to kill you. And neither will I," he spoke out coldly. And as a blur, he rushed up to my side, whacking me with his paw again, and clawing at me in the process.

I was sent flying into another tree, gasping in pain. Where he had assaulted me, my flank, was stinging. I glanced at it to see watery red stream along and drip from my fur. The cuts weren't horrible, but they certainly hurt like hell. Looking back up to see Kief approach me, I retaliated by swinging out a paw. It connected with the Houndoom's lower jaw, and momentarily stunned him. Taking the opportunity, I ran in-between his legs, crashing back through the bushes.

The branches and plants grazing my injured side increased the pain, but I tried my best to ignore it. Luckily, adrenaline was starting to set in, which with it came endorphins.

No longer caring for hiding my location, I panted out in laborious breaths. I heard a frustrated, but at the same time amused growl sound through the rain. I knew he was following close behind, so I couldn't stop yet.

It was almost completely dark by this point and I barely recognized I was in a glade when I barreled into it. Now at the farther end of it, I turned back around just in time to see Kief burst from the forest's depths. He grinded to a halt, cracking his neck, and taking a look around. Looking back at me, an evil, toothy smirk cracked upon his maw.

"Prepared to stand up, huh? Not the wisest decision in your state. But I'm all up for it either way."

The ominous statement was followed by a low and soft cackle. The grin spread wider, and he took an imposing step forward.

"Come on Runt, lets see what you got,"

Breathing one last time, I advanced forward toward my opponent in a quick attack. He seemed prepared for this as he raised a paw up. But I dashed to his left, coming back around to his side. I opened my jaws wide and attempted to bite his flank. I managed to fairly damage him, and I continued forward, passing beneath him. But when I appeared on the other side of him, his teeth seemed to as well. With a wet crunch, his fangs latched onto my scruff. I yelped in pain as I was tugged sideways, and flung into the air. I landed a good distance away from him on the far side of the glade.

Faltering to my paws, I faced my offender once again, panting heavily. I looked to his damaged side to only see a small amount of blood dripping down, mixing with the rain into a runny red. My commander did not seem affected by the wound in the least bit. I quickly became discouraged and took a small, unnoticeable step back. I couldn't take him on. Not right now at least.

He seemed to sense my reluctance as he snarled. "Your enemy is not going to take a break on you! If you are unfit to fight, then it is your own fault and lack of willpower. Your opponent will feel no compassion towards you." he stopped to let this sink in as he stared me down. He then resumed his speech with the coldest tone of voice I had ever heard him use, colder than this bitter rain.

"And neither will I."

Feeling disgusted with myself, I turned and dashed into the underbrush once again. What he said…it was true…and I was loathing myself over it, but I knew I was just no match. It may have been considered cowardice- hell, who was I fooling, it was considered cowardice.

How I hated myself at this point. I had promised myself I would get stronger, and all I was doing was running away. I had broken a vow to myself, displaying that I wasn't even dependable for my own well being. Kief was right; I was pathetic.

I had found a suitable spot to rest. Though the rain was bothersome and prevented any sleep. Not that it mattered. I couldn't fall asleep even if I wanted to. The threat of Kief still lingered, and now that it was pitch dark, the danger increased.

It was probably well past midnight before the rain finally stopped. It dwindled away slowly, but surely. Soon the silence came back, only being disturbed with the countless drops of water falling from sagging vegetation.

Tossing and turning, I waited the night out. Over that time, the clouds had dispersed a little for once. And then dawn came, the sun partially blocked out by remaining clouds. However, I waited a significant amount of time before actually trekking about once more. I knew I couldn't stay in one place for long with Kief on the prowl, but I still wanted to wait part of the day out.

The sun was once again shrouded by clouds when I set off again. I was cautious when slipping through the undergrowth, for only slight disruption in the plants peacefulness would cause water to cascade down in a noisy splash.

Looking past the dripping canopy, I squinted my eyes as I scanned the sky. I couldn't tell the suns' whereabouts, but a gut feeling told me it was around midday. Which meant that more then likely Kief was hunting for me around this time. I looked around me, not entirely sure where I was myself. I was mostly wandering around, trying to get what I thought was as far away as possible as stealthily as possible.

Letting out a deep exhale of air, my vision was fairly obscured by the visible mist. Walking past it as it began to waver and dissipate, I looked to my sides in precaution. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary yet, I continued my pace, and looked ahead. But treaded only for a short distance before stopping. Blocking the path before me was none other then the wily commander. Of course. How did I not see that coming?

He had a deceivingly friendly smile on his face. The wretched upturn of lips grew wider until sharp fangs were showing. Instead of doing the impetuous choice of running away, I stood my ground, and merely frowned at him with narrowed orange eyes. He raised a brow for a fleeting second, but sustained his expression. I guess he was expecting me to run. If so, he was in for a surprise.

Taking a small step forward, I paused. I saw Kief tense in anticipation for my next move. In a blink of an eye, I charged forth in a quick attack. But instead of charging straight on, I did a zigzag pattern, running in and out of the bushes on either side of the trail. Continuing on in this pattern, I dashed deeper within the forest with each lap through, thus making exiting time unpredictable. At the pace I was going at, I still managed to catch a glimpse of the Houndoom's head jerk back and forth, following my movements.

With one last dash back into the bushes, I ran deep within the forest, farther then any of the other times. Swerving back around, I estimated where Kief would be standing. Bursting with energy, I picked up the pace, and zipped through the area. I only bothered to dodge tree and fallen trunks, because with the rate I was going at I would obliterate bushes and small plants in my path. Though that's not to say it didn't slightly hurt. By the time I was about to reach the path, or more like Kief, again, I was sure the healed cuts on my side had been reopened, with a few new ones to accompany it.

With one last burst of speed, I exploded from the coverage. Just as predicted, I slammed forcefully into Kief's side. The commander let out a loud grunt of surprise and perhaps pain. I let out a faint grunt of my own, feeling recoil from the hit. That attack had to have been more then just a quick attack. I smirked in my head at the feeling that I had most likely used take down.

Even with his usually rooted and sturdy stance, the fierce was too powerful. The mighty Houndoom was knocked the forest floor. I however, kept moving. I flew over his fallen being, and landed with a sloppy roll. Shaking my head to rejuvenate my awareness, I jumped to my feet. With a small laugh of victory, I ran back through the forest, now making my choice to speed off and away. I smirked triumphantly. That wasn't all he would be experiencing today. Time for me to actually fight back. I'll show that Houndoom I'm not just a pathetic runt.

Night had once again crept up on me. Over the bitter cold day I had ran and even fought back at points relentlessly. Though that's not to say Kief gave me some pretty heart pounding or even heart stopping attacks. Trust me, he did plenty of that. Though after swearing to myself over and over again during the cold depths of the night that I would not fail or be a coward, I was given a confidence boost. Thus making the day not seem as wild and erratic as the day before. At least, not in the helplessness sense. Though it was still terrifying. Because I had learned yet another thing today.

Kief wasn't trying to maim me. He was trying to kill me.

I supposed he wasn't kidding when he said that yesterday. All in one day he had almost decapitated me several times, and another several try and gut me. One time he was close to doing just that. I had a large, still open wound along my abdomen to prove that. And this one was actually not too shallow. If I didn't care for it soon it could actually get pretty nasty and even fester and become life threatening. I certainly didn't want that.

But as of now, I couldn't worry about it. Nor would I. Hearing the resounding noise of crashes and splintering wood, I sped up. I was trying to loose him, but he just wouldn't relent. I needed to get to a safer place and even peace to tend to this wound. It was hurting. A lot. As I said, I wasn't going to worry about it at this point. But I needed a safe place to rest so I could.

Looking back to try and sight Kief, I ran into a glade. This forest seemed to be filled with them. This one was actually fairly large, and I had to travel a bit of a distance to get back into a part of the forest away from Kief. Looking back once more, I dashed for it. Almost upon it, I suddenly skidded to a halt with a yelp. The whole entire greenery right before me burst into flames. Spinning around, Kief was standing on the far side of the glade panting furiously. He had a deep frown on his face, which seemed oddly satisfying considering all of the evil smirking that were placed there in the past few hours.

Turning to the side, I attempted to flee over in that direction. But as before, it burst into flames as a large flamethrower blazed and blasted past me. I tried one last attempt to run away on the last open spot. But futilely, it also burst into an inferno. Looking at the blazing ring of fire around me, I looked to Kief incredulously.

"What the hell are you doing? You're going to burn the whole forest down!" I shouted out in shock. That all too familiar grin spread across his maw.

"Let it burn!"

I gaped at him. He had gone insane. There must have been some sort of creatures living here right? What about them? It may have seemed devoid of life, but I always dismissed it because of our ruckus.

I shouted back out in retaliation. "Have you gone mad? There must be creatures inhabiting this place! You'll kill them!"

He just let out a chuckle and shook his head. "No runt. The only one who might get killed here is you! Because it looks like you're trapped Runt!"

He threw his head back in an insidious laugh. Looking back down to me, his expression darkened. In a flurry, he sprinted forward in a mad dash. Eyes widening, I attempted to lunge to the side. But he lashed out a claw riddled paw. I was smacked back and tumbling, close to the surrounding ring of fire. I winced as long and sharp blades of grass rubbed and slide against the gash across my abdomen. Huffing through the smoke starting to leak into the are, I stood up. I was thrown a fair distance away from my adversary. He was already up and moving. He opened his jaws to reveal an orb of what seemed to be pure dark energy. I didn't react fast enough as the orb was formed and shot at my side. It exploded in a smog of darkness and black flames. Tumbling back, I felt the painful stinging the attack had caused.

Lifting my head that had been held down in pain, I looked back to my enemy with one eye clamped shut in pain from smoke and debris. Ash was now floating up into the sky and falling back down to the earth. I let out a small cough from the pervading smoke.

Commander Kief shook in slight mirth at me. "What are you gonna do now Runt?"

I stared at him in a bit of a hopeless state. I looked around me at the falling ash and spreading smoke and fire. There looked to be some openings in the spreading fire. I considered running.

I let out a grunt and shook my head of the thought, mentally kicking myself. I was no longer going to do that. Baring my fangs, I stood up with heavy paws, and got into a stance. I brought my determined gaze to my commander. I was going to stand and fight. I wasn't going to run. Not this time.

As this thought struck my head, I felt a strange tingling feeling spread throughout my body. Still keeping my determined gaze throughout it, holding back my bewilderment, I looked to Kief's shocked face, before it was overcame by a blinding light. The feeling I was getting was throughout my whole being, burning hot and intense. But not painful. It soon faded, to bring back the picture of flames licking at the air, and sending ominous shadows and light dancing and flickering across us both. Looking at what I could of my body, I noticed I was taller, longer, and leanly muscular. I had much different tail now, and my paws were giant compared to my old ones. I smirked confidently at my Mightyena appearance.

Bringing the determined and confident expression on my face back to Kief's fairly bewildered one, I grunted out, "I'm going to stand and fight."