"Sirus!" called Wendy from behind. He turned around, spinning his staff casually. It had been stained green by the various plants and fungi that he'd cut down to give them a clear path. As he turned around, he spat out the wood that had somehow accumulated in the crook of his mouth.
It had been almost 13 hours since they had set out to return to Jungendstadt. He was sore and cranky from working all day, a sheet of sweat hot across his back. He set his staff into the ground and nodded to her, his first encouter with her since he'd run off to work their path.
"Sirus, I.... um, well... bloody hell, I wish I knew how to say this..." she stammered, rubbing her arms nervously. He looked down at her, his gaze harsh from under a tired brow. "And you aren't really making this any easier," she said, faintly chuckling, trying to elicit a reaction.
"I love you," Sirus said, quickly. Wendy's head bolted up, her eyes wide and her mouth quickly shooting into a smile. "That's what you're trying to get out, aren't you? You want to say, I love you."
Wendy blinked, crestfallen. She shook her head, avoiding his gaze and fighting a slight stinging forming in her eyes. "Uh, not-- it's...." she sighed.
"That would be good to hear," he said, cutting her off. She looked back up, her brow furrowed in confusion. "That would be good," he repeated as he put a hand on her shoulder gentley, "because that would mean I could say it back."
Wendy stood silent for a moment, her eyes wide again. Then, as if moved by one thought, they embraced in a deep, passionate kiss, arms wrapped around each other. Wendy smiled inwardly through the kiss, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head screaming at her "air! you need air!!!"
"Wendy," Sirus said as he broke the kiss, looking deeply into his eyes. She returned his warm gaze, breathing in precious air quietly. "I would be honored if you would be mine, as I would be yours. Forever made one by each other. Will you be mine?"
Wendy smiled, stumbling over his words in her head, trying to decipher their meaning. *Oh my God,* she thought, *he's proposing to me, Neverland style...!* Her smile widened, her heart thumping in her chest. She felt goosebumps all over, the warm feeling she'd had doubling and doubling again, filling her with a wonderous inner glow.
"Sirus, I d-- " replied Wendy. She was cut off by a ear-splitting screech that cut through the air, sparking bad memories in all four of them. Michael started hyperventilating, being held upright by Tinkerbell's grip on his shoulder. "Oh come on, no fucking more..." Wendy groaned, more in disappointment than fear.
As the sun began to set, more shreiks echoed out into the settling dusk. Nosferatu were out and hunting. But that wasn't what had screeched. Sirus pulled away from Wendy, moving infront of her quickly, pulling his staff from the ground and spinning it into a battle position.
"What is it?" asked Wendy quietly, backing up to take Michael's arm.
"We're near Jungendstadt. Tinkerbell, lead them to a safe-point, I'll try and maneuver the Nosferatu into it's path," he said, his voice solid with determination and a hint of fear.
"What?? What is it?" asked Wendy again, this time directing her question at Tinkerbell. She urged her towards a part in the trees.
'it's a sphinx...! that means we've got te get anything tha' can bleed to safe ground now' replied Tinkerbell quickly, a clear pang of fear in her voice.
"Son of a bitch," Wendy groaned, her own fear standing out in her voice, "why do I get the feeling the kind'a sphinx you're talking about isn't cool or egyptian?" The sound of wood splitting rang through the air as another screech ripped through Wendy's head. She let out a small groan and covered her ears, ducking behind a couple of large trees. Tinkerbell glanced back towards Sirus' position and quickly dipped down beside Wendy. "Oh shiiit, it's that bad!?"
'worse!' Tinkerbell stuttered, 'these things were hunted down te near extinction by th' local tribes for th' sheer carnage they caused!' Wendy gave Tinkerbell a worried, confused look. 'Christ! ye wan' a clue 'bout these things!? put it this way: a sphinx is a bloody hurricane with teeth!' Tinkerbell cringed as the sound of wood snapping and nosferatu shreiking filled the air. She landed on Michael's shoulder, urging him down their hill to safety.
"The excitement never stops around here, does it?" groaned Wendy as another screech, closer now, sent vibrations through the ground. Wendy heard another crack and saw a tree branch sail overhead. She let out a small squeal and peeked over the large root that topped the hill they were on.
Sirus stood in the clearing, throwing bone shafts and swinging his staff in a blood soaked dance of destruction. Nosferatu circled above the area, letting out the occasional shreik, dipping down to try and pick off Sirus or the unseen menace of the sphinx. Sirus himself was surrounded by the bloodied corpses of several nosferatu and previously hidden babboons. Some still writhed and clutched at the foreign objects protruding from their bodies. Sirus cursed in Navajo and grabbed one of the babboons, which let out a howl and swung at him. He swerved his head, dodging the blow as he spun around and tossed the babboon into the woods. Wendy saw a tree snap in half and fall in Sirus's direction as whatever giant beast lay beyond her sight went after the babboon. The screeches turned to roars of hunger, as trees and vines were torn from the beast's path. Finally, Wendy saw it.
It was huge, as big as a rhino, if not bigger, with a striking mane of dirty blondish hair, slick with blood. Behind it was a bulky, furred body thick with muscles, with long, hairy legs tapering down to leathery, crimson-stained paws, it's forearms bearing tufts of blondish hair, much like the mane. The mane itself framed a gorilla-like face, contorted with ferocity, deep red eyes gazing outwards at its prey: Sirus, and the animals around him. It let out another bellowing roar, and shouldered a tree over and out of it's way. Sirus swung his staff, catching another nosferatu as it dove for him. The spikes on the end of his staff dug into the air-borne animal's hindquarters, and it veered off into the path of the sphinx. The great beast leapt up, balancing back on it's hind legs, and wrapped it's thick, leathery claws around the nosferatu, dragging it down to the ground. The blood sucker beat at it with it's wings, snapping it's teeth at the sphinx's mane. The sphinx let out a hungry growl and lowered it's big head, crushing the nosferatu's midsection in it's wide jaws.
"Jesus Christ...! It's a monster," whispered Wendy as she instinctivly ducked down, cringing at the sight of the gored nosferatu. Sirus stuck his staff in the ground and ducked down low, avoiding the nosferatu's occasional dive towards him. They were more focussed on the sphinx now, trying to bring it down en masse. The swarmed around it, slashing at it with their talons and fangs, beating at it with their wings and kicks. It simply swung it's head towards a few of them, slamming into the smaller beasts. They were sent flying into trees, knocked out of flight. The sphinx stomped over to them and proceeded to dig into one of them with it's jaws, it's back turned on the swarm. As the blood suckers closed in on it from behind, the sphinx reared up and kicked an entire third of the swarm, sending the beasts sprawling on the forest floor, bent in awkward positions.
Sirus grabbed one of the babboons and tossed it slightly to the left of the sphinx, creating a false path of the dead and dying for it to follow. As he grabbed another one of the monkeys, it sprang up, adrenaline feuling it's sudden newfound strength. Sirus groaned as the babboon smashed him in the face with it's paws, screeching and jumping out of his grasp. Sirus burried his face in his hands, blood trickling through his fingers. The babboon started biting and landing blows on his legs, sending him to his knees. The hairy fiend brought it's arms above it's head, ready to deal a mortal blow to Sirus's neck. Before it knew what had happened, the babboon found itself upside down on it's back against a tree. Wendy stood beside Sirus, a tree branch clutched in her hands.
"Get yer stinking paws off him, you damn dirty ape!" she snapped, laughing inside. Her momentary bravado was quickly dashed as a nosferatu dove down and ripped the babboon open, carrying it's upper half away with it. She suddenly became very aware of her dangerous surroundings. Sirus was getting to his feet, a hand still on his face.
"Ugh..... thanks," he grunted, shaking his head. His nose bled freely, a few scratches around his nose trickling red. "Quick, help me move these. We've got to make a false path for it to follow, or we're dead."
"Got it," Wendy replied, patting him on the shoulder. She moved forward towards one of the downed nosferatu, then paused in mid stride. She turned back to Sirus, and gave him a quick, but passionate, kiss. Sirus looked at her, half smiling and half confused. "One for while we work," she smirked. "Tinkerbell!" she called out, "keep Michael safe!"
She turned back to the wounded beasts, pushing them into the bushes and finishing off the suffering ones. Something inside her knew that she was leading innocent animals to slaughter, but she also knew that she would rather be left un-mauled to death. She hated to see the animals in undue pain, though, so she spared a few seconds for each to put them out of their misery, babboon or nosferatu regardless. "Bloody hell, this is messy," she groaned as she pulled one of Sirus' bone-shafts out of a nosferatu's chest, after letting it pass on quickly. A small spurt of blood had caught her right under the eye, sending her jerking back. "Sirus, how's it going over there? That thing is tearing through the nosferatu pretty quickly!!" She couldn't hear his reply over the cacophony of shreiks and bellowing roars and gurgling deaths. "Sirus!? How far along are ya!?"
'lass, we go' a problem!!!' shouted Tinkerbell over the noise. Wendy turned around and let out an anguished cry at the sight she saw. Sirus lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood, arms wrapped around his stomach. Spurts of crimson slipped over his fore-arms, spreading the pool around him. He was coughing lightly and hyperventilating. A dead nosferatu lay near by, red smeared across it's hindquarters, Sirus's belt buckle hanging off one of it's talons.
Sirus was bleeding to death in the middle of a monster's masacre.
->>>-