Chapter 21

Enter the Coyote (Again)

Later that day…

Glorious streaks of flaming orange, bright red, and dazzling yellow painted the grassy hillside overlooking Central City, giving the sense that entire landscape was aflame. In the nearby woods, flickies and other birds trilled their evening songs, bees droned lazily over the flowered fields on their way back to their hives for night, and a few stray clouds drifted in the colorful sky, glowing with every hue of the sunset. A gentle breeze blew by, carrying with it the sweet scent of flowers. It was this lovely area, offering a generous view of the city, that a makeshift camp had been built by Bark, Amy, and the other adventurers. It was now to be their second night sleeping outdoors.

Bean and Ciel were crouched over a smoking pile of wood, attempting to build a fire as Amy supervised and laid down blankets and sleeping bags. Cream was making an aromatic dinner, much to the delight of everyone else. They were all famished, none of them really having eaten much since early that morning. There hadn't been time to eat lunch; they had been too busy cooped up in a smoked-filled room trying to establish contact with each other and anyone else who may have survived. In the end, it turned out only them, Kyba, and four of her little cronies. Bark had actually been quite persuasive getting information from them. But then again who wouldn't cooperate with an angry polar bear waving a table leg under your nose?

But know, said polar bear was sitting on one of the blankets, cradling his injured arm. Natalie was sitting next to him, first aid kit laid out in front of her, trying to persuade Bark to let her look at his arm. "I need to see it…" She pleaded, "It needs to be cleaned and bandaged. It won't hurt. I promise…" She sighed and motioned in Bean's direction. "Bean let me bandage the cut on the back of his head. It'll feel better once it's bandaged."

Bark glowered at the black cat, as if blaming her for his injuries. And besides, what reason did he have to trust her? She had tried to kill him, she had angered him purposely, and she had gotten herself into dangerous situations…. All in the space of less than forty-eight hours. But with last sigh of protest, he let her examine his arm.

"These scratches look really deep." She observed. "I'm going to have to stitch them up."

Bark took back his arm. "You will not!" He growled.

Natalie raised an eyebrow at him. "Do want your arm to get infected?" She asked. He muttered something under his breath and stuck out his arm once more. The black cat grabbed a brown bottle and a cotton ball off the blanket. She drizzled some of the bottle's contents onto the cotton ball and placed it one the deep scratches on the polar bear's arm. He roared in pain and clenched his teeth together. It stung like hell.

"Sorry." Natalie apologized. The black cat picked up a skinny needle threaded with some kind of string. "This will probably hurt." She warned before sticking the needle into Bark's flesh. The polar bear grunted and clenched his teeth harder together. Damn, what she doing, stitching him up or trying to kill him? It would remain one of the world's great unsolved mysteries.

Natalie cut the thread with a quick nip from her sharp white teeth and began to swath Bark's arm in a bandage. "You're welcome." She said dryly.

"…Thanks." Bark mumbled somewhat reluctantly.

A good ten feet from the polar bear and the black cat, Bean and Ciel were still crouched over the heap of wood. It had been smoking a few moments ago, but it had apparently decided to die on them.

"I thought you were some kind of pyro?" Ciel whined as he frantically rubbed two sticks together, hoping for a spark. …Or at least smoke.

"It's wet wood…" Bean remarked as he too grabbed two sticks from the pile. When in Rome… He might as well try it. Besides, it always seemed to work on television. And since when did television lie?

Not to far from where Amy, Bark, Bean, Cream, Ciel, and Natalie were camping for the night, Eliakashio, or as most called her, Eliah, was crouched on a large boulder overlooking a small lake. The purple coyote was staring blankly into the water. The beauty of the fiery sunset was lost on Eliah. She was completely and intently focused on the water before her, just staring and waiting. Waiting for the dark. She was rather fond of the dark. It offered a type of stealth that she was unable to achieve at no other time. In the cloak of darkness, she would not be seen. She could slip through trees and crawl across fields. She may have been a little on the stocky side, but Eliakashio Sinclaire was a coyote. And coyotes were hunters.

In fact, Eliah's own father had been a hunter. A bounty hunter. His name was Somalent Sinclaire. He had been a harsh father, but he hadn't raised a fool. Eliah silently thanked her lucky stars that she took after her father more than her mother. Sure, she had gotten her mother's purple fur and piercing ice-blue eyes instead of her father's indigo pelt and deep green eyes as her brother, Tavares, had. But Tavares was like his mother. He hadn't been cut out for bounty hunting. As her father liked to call him, Tavares was a sissy. He had always wanted to help their mother, Carmelita, with the cooking and sewing instead of helping their father with manual labor. Tavares was the "apple of his mother's eye" as their grandmother, Dalmae, liked to put it. Mother and Dalmae had loved Tavares. Somalent thought he needed to be tougher and manlier. Once, when Eliah was nine and Tavares was eight, Somalent had taken them out to learn how to shoot a gun. Tavares had cried the whole time. Eliah chuckled at the memory of her father's embarrassment.

The purple coyote flopped back onto the rock and thought back to all the Christmases where their father would get Tavares a hunting knife or a pellet gun in an attempt to make him tougher, and their mother would get Eliah dolls. They would always switch presents when their parents weren't looking. So it was no surprise to everyone when Tavares announced that he had a boyfriend when he was fifteen. Somalent had ranted on for weeks about how unnatural it was. That same year, Eliah packed her bags and bailed on her family. She was sixteen, and she had been offered a job as an assassin. She had taken it. For four years, she reigned as one of the best assassins in Station Square, Westopolis, and Central City (before it starting going to the dogs, that is.) Then, she had been approached by a mysterious stranger who offered her a job where "her expertise would come in handy", as he had said. So now, here she was. Sitting on a rock in the fading light. At least she had seen a little more glamour and glitz as an assassin. Rich folks paid through the nose for her services. Now, she was getting paid next to nothing. What had possessed her to take this job in the first place?

Bored, she tapped her shovel against her boot. Nowadays, it seemed like the shovel was her best friend. She had gotten it at an old job she had had at a hotel when she was about fourteen. She had gotten into a disagreement about money with a fellow employee, tempers had flared, and Eliah had reached for a shovel… Next thing she knew she was using the same shovel to dig her six feet under. The shovel had stayed nearby ever since, even when she was fired from the hotel and temporarily committed to a home for the criminally insane after attacking and killing three people. She was sentenced to be committed for life, seeing as she was "dangerous and psychotic", but her mother and her money pulled a few strings and had her out in six months. She had the shovel with her through the whole ordeal.

And now it would be with her when she destroyed that polar bear and duck, just like she had been ordered to. Eliah shifted her gaze from the lake's glassy surface to the dark sky. It was time. It was dark enough for her to pass as a simple shadow in the trees. No one would notice a dark shape lurking among other dark shapes. Maybe if she was really lucky, they'd already be asleep. In fact, the coyote mused as she circled around the left side of the small lake, they probably would be. After all, they had had such a long day… Eliah couldn't resist a sinister chuckle. She tightened her hold on her shovel's polished wooden handle. Just a few more minutes and it would all be over…

Eliah exited out of the trees and stared at the grassy expanse of field in front of her. In the far distance, she could see the faintly glowing lights of Central City's night life. But much closer, she could see her goal- a small pinprick of yellow-orange light in the not so distant distance. From this far away, she couldn't make out any figures around the light, but she knew that someone had to be there. No one in their right mind would leave a fire unattended in the middle of a grassy plain. The purple coyote grinned wickedly, displaying her curved, yellowing teeth. She flattened her bulky frame against the ground, the dirt and grass brushing against the hem of her black cloak.

Careful not to make a sound, Eliah stalked through the tall grass. She knew that her tail would be slightly visible above the grass line, but only the very tip. And while a tuft of purple fur would looks a little out of place amidst tall golden grass, no one would probably notice. And if they did, they would most likely dismiss it as a shadow from a cloud or something. The purple coyote cautiously stuck her head above the grass to grasp her surroundings. She was much closer to the glowing yellowish light now. Close enough to see that it was a fire. A small one, and poorly built, but a fire none the less. She was also close enough to see the faint outline of a figure sitting up, but slouched over. Eliah cursed silently to herself. This shadow was too slender to be Bark and too tall to be Bean. And even worse, from the looks of it, whoever it was, was awake and keeping watch.

Muttering curses under her breath, Eliah edged around the glowing fire. It would be easier to sneak up behind the person and surprise them. Attacking from behind… A personal favorite technique of hers. No one would ever see it coming. How ingenious of her. She allowed herself to flash another grin as she eased herself into the exact position for an attack. She slowly started slinking closer…

And closer…

And closer…

She was so close she could see the rising and falling of the figure's sides. She could also see that the figure that was a black female cat. Eliah felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. She knew this cat. Her name was Natalie Barlow, and they had run into each other on more than one occasion, but always while on Eliah had been on the job. The first time, she had been ordered by a rather shady figure to dispose of her for a hefty sum of money. They had a confrontation inside an abandoned house in the suburbs of Westopolis, which had ended with Eliah getting hit in the face with metal rod and breaking her jaw. The second time they had an altercation was in Station Square, inside a safe that Natalie had locked them both into. It had been an unusual circumstance, but this time Eliah had come out on top, slashing Natalie's face with her knife and knocking her out. And now, they meet again.

Eliah bunched her legs together and lunged at the back of Natalie's head, teeth bared and mouth twisted into a hideous grin. The black cat screeched in surprise as a heap of purple fur crashed into her back. Natalie grabbed at Eliah's fur and threw her forward. She hit the ground with a thud and groaned. The coyote rolled over onto her back just as Natalie came charging towards her. Surprisingly, no one had woken up. The black cat grabbed the coyote's shoulders and pinned her down to the ground as she tried to sit up. "What the hell are you doing here, you psychotic freak?" Natalie whispered harshly.

Eliah grinned deviously and licked her sharp yellowed fangs. "My job." The purple coyote rasped, trying to reach for her shovel. The gardening tool was lying a few feet from the coyote's left hand. Natalie knocked it away and grabbed the coyote by the throat.

"Leave." The black cat demanded, digging her claws into Eliah's neck. The coyote gurgled and tried to pry Natalie's hands away from her neck. The cat tightened her grip. Eliah's vision began to swirl and blur. She tried to reached up and feebly claw at Natalie's face, but she couldn't move her arms. Eliah felt body going limp, and she slowly felt herself slipping away. She gurgled loudly, and everything suddenly began to get much brighter before it crashed into utter darkness.