The Last Lycan
Set in an old, enchanted world, a young mage stumbles upon a reclusive Lycan, who has lost her powers of transformation. The Lycan distrusts humans because of its past and thus, the mage finds herself thrown into the topmost tower as a prisoner for trespassing.
Chapter 3
Italics – Thoughts
The young mage had just fully crossed into the barrier and was examining the imposing walls that surrounded the large and majestic castle. The castle was in excellent condition; not a single brick out of place; and its' strong, sound walls bolstered the concavities of the mountain, elevating the rest of the structure above the tall pines below. It seemed that the architects who designed it had made it so that the castle flowed with the mountain, instead of cutting right into it. Shizuru ran a hand against the smooth brick walls, marveling at the astounding architecture before her. Her gaze slowly shifts upwards and she catches sight of the roof of the castle that was covered with dark, almost black grey shingles; a stark contrast with the sandy walls of the building's structure. It was just inconceivable that she had just walked right into this exquisite structure.
A sudden scream breaks her out of her reverie and she turns around to search for the owner of the voice, only to find a massive furried beast charging at her at top speed. Shizuru gasps, instinctively raising her hands and uttering the first spell that came to mind. The magic swirled through her slim fingers, sending a shockwave towards the huge wolf-like creature. Much to her surprise, the beast had dodged it by leaping almost three feet up in the air. It landed back neatly on the ground with a vicious snarl, baring its' knifelike incisors at her. Her ruby-eyes widen and she draws in a short breath as the beast closes the distance between them easily, emitting a deep, deafening roar that shook her to the core, but she had planted her feet firmly, standing her ground.
Shizuru hears a faint clack of teeth as the roar stops, replaced with a throaty growl and she courageously cast a glance upward, studying the large wolf that was now standing on its' hind legs, towering over her. Looking beyond the blunt muzzle, she meets the most magnificent emeralds she had ever seen, studying her intensely. She quickly realizes that the wolf was not about to harm her – if it had, she would probably be ripped apart by now – and with those focused eyes, she figured she might have just met a lycanthrope from the legends. Steeling herself, she greets the lycan with a short curtsey, "I stumbled upon this castle and I apologize for intruding and attacking you."
The wolf took a step back, the growl stopping and its handsome features scrunches. It sniffs a little at her but does not reply, merely tilting its head to the side, as though processing what she had just said.
"Natsuki!" Shizuru breaks the eye contact with the large animal, noticing four redheads gathering beside it, one throwing her arm on the wolf's side to use its powerfully built body to rest on. The rest were all bent over, hands on their knees and panting heavily. Shizuru took in the scene silently. It appeared that these people were close to the lycanthrope?
The girl who had her arm resting on the lycanthrope propped herself up, punching the huge arm that was now dangling at the side, "OI! Do you know how exhausted I am now?! We don't have four legs, mind you!" The midnight blue wolf bends down to the redhead's eye level, glaring at her, before snorting in her face loudly, earning a disgruntled cry, "EEEWWW! Dog snot!" Nao started to wipe her face frantically with the sleeves of her shirt.
Had Shizuru not been in her current situation, she would have raised a hand to her lips to stifle a giggle at their antics, but she was saved from it when the older redheads stepped up to her. Circling her, one of them stretches a hand, "Hi! I'm Julia! This is my partner, Amber! I see you're pretty talented.."
Shizuru takes the hand lightly and smiles, sensing that the women in front of her were mages as well. "Pleased to meet you, Julia, Amber. I'm Shizuru Viola. Again, I apologize for all the disruption I've caused you. It was rude of me to do so and I shall take my leave at once."
Warm eyes study Shizuru and Amber nods to herself, "Ms Viola. Dusk is about to fall and this is no place to spend the night, especially in the thick of the forest.."
A low growl interrupted them and Shizuru finds the lycan's glare now directed at her, "She does not belong here, Aunt Amber! I will not allow it!"
Julia crosses her arms, "That's not right, Natsuki. I'm sure we taught you better than this. Besides, Shizuru's different! I'm sure you can sense it too, considering you stopped short of shredding her into bits when you had the chance."
"Come on, Natsuki. It's just one night," the last redhead interjects, "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mai and this is my sister, Nao," she rubs her short hair sheepishly before waving her hand at the bored-looking redhead who was peering at her nails.
"Aw some on pup," Nao drawls, "I'm sure you could use a little company. She might help you loosen up, after all."
A feral roar leaves the lycan's throat after those words were muttered and she snarls, "SHUT UP! If you want her to stay so much, then fine!" She turns back around and picks Shizuru up easily, hoisting the girl up on her broad shoulders, one arm securely wrapping around her and bounds off toward the castle.
"Natsuki! Stop!" Amber cries futilely, her calls falling on deaf ears. She locks eyes with Julia and runs her hand through her wavy locks in exasperation. "Looks like she's headed for the western tower."
"She needs some time to calm down. You know how her temper is," Amber's life partner replies with a rare brooding look on her face before her eyes shift to Nao and she presses the bridge of her nose in exasperation, "Don't aggravate your cousin, Nao, please."
Far ahead, Shizuru had tightened her grip on the lycan's smooth fur in fright as the wolf starts to scale the tall tower. She shivers as a draft of cold wind whips at her hair and she shuts her eyes as they get higher and higher up, the only source of warmth was from the large animal that was now about to take her prisoner. Somehow, she didn't wish to use any spells on the beast. She knew what she saw in those eyes and it was her fault for trespassing in the first place so she decided to accept whatever punishment the master of the house deemed fit. She feels the body below hers shift as Natsuki clambers though the window at the top of the tower and flings open the cell door. Shizuru braces herself as she feels herself being lifted off the broad shoulders, expecting to be thrown clear across the room, but instead finds herself being placed on the ground rather gently. She looks up, surprised, only to find herself gazing into the intense green eyes that were studying her. The lycan huffs, breaking away after a second. The cell door shuts with a clang and she hears the locks bolting in place. Before she knew it, she was all alone in the tall, frigid tower.
Shizuru blinks, adjusting her eyes to the dim room that was barely illuminated by the last speck of sun from a tiny, unreachable window. The room was barren and held no semblance of warmth in those stone walls. She hugged herself, rubbing her arms in a bid to warm herself. Finding a corner, she smoothens her dress out and takes a seat, reaching into the small pocket and pulled out a few small berries that she had foraged earlier. A familiar caw resounds from the window and she lifts her crimson eyes, spotting her family's hawk perched on the sill.
"Ara, I seem to have gotten myself into quite a fix, haven't I?" she murmurs at the bird, which had landed softly on her shoulders. "But I'd daresay I rather this than facing Tomoe Marguerite for another day. At least the lycanthrope has something else other than lust in her eyes."
She hears footsteps outside the door and her hawk had hopped away from the disturbance and disappeared into the twilight sky. The cell doors swing open, four heads popping out. Shizuru squints from the light coming into the room, raising a hand to shield her eyes.
"Hey, Shizuru. It's Julia. I'm sorry that we got you thrown in here.."
"Ara, it's alright, Julia. Afterall, I was the one who trespassed. I suppose the barrier was up for a reason," she admits truthfully, standing up.
"Natsuki's just.. kind of angry right now. She really isn't evil, Shizuru," Mai tries hard to explain for her childhood friend, "I hope she didn't scare you, she doesn't really know how scary she can be sometimes."
"Thank you, Mai. I understand what you mean and I don't believe her to be evil at all," Shizuru replies with a smile.
"Wow," Nao sidles up to her sister, "That's really weird. I mean.. who the hell isn't afraid of a furious bellowing beast? Every one we've met goes ballistic at the sight of her. Do you meet lycans every day or something? Or is there something I don't know about?" Nao's lime green eyes study Shizuru suspiciously.
It was Amber's turn to speak as she walked up behind Nao, covering her daughter's mouth with one hand and the other extending a small bag. "Nao here just has a way of aggravating her cousin. But by the way, take this. It's the least we could do for you. Though I'm not sure of why you'd continue to stay, considering you would be able to leave with ease since you're a mage."
Shizuru bows her head with a short laugh, "I was the one trespassing and I would prefer to take the full consequence for my actions."
Amber regards the peculiar girl, a small smile creeping on her lips. "Well, that should keep you filled for the night," she glances at her family, who take her cue to leave. Before she shuts the door, Amber turns back around and whispers gently, "Also, thank you." With that, she spins on her heel and leaves, without waiting for a response.
Shizuru's gaze lingers at the now shut door and her features soften, before it finally breaks into a smile. It seemed that the redheads knew more than they let on. What an interesting and intriguing family. She returns to her corner with the small bag in hand and opens it, inhaling the heavenly aroma of roasted chicken. She reaches into the bag and pulls out the carefully wrapped carved meat, savoring its wonderful taste. She leaned back against the walls when she was done, feeling exhaustion creep over her.
XXX
The large wolf retreated back into her room after scaling down the tower, collapsing heavily on her chair, drumming her claws against the lightwood desk. She had felt rather restless from the run back to her lodgings, feeling slightly uncomfortable for throwing the young woman into the cell. For after all, she had apologized so sincerely and did not bat an eye about her hulking, transformed lycan form. Yet, in the back of her mind that had been hammered into her a million times after her parent's downfall, was the fact that she should never trust anyone.
She could see it in their eyes, those who had trespassed and found themselves face to face with the lycanthrope, that the minute they returned to town, they would have spread the word and come searching for them. No, she had to protect what remained on her family and she refused to let her clan's remains get desecrated. To protect what was close to her, she would have killed them all, but luckily, Amber and Julia had intervened, hitting the intruders with a spell that made them forget all that they had seen before sending them on their merry way back.
Natsuki sighs, closing her eyes and leans back into the plush chair, recalling everything that had happened. Those exquisite carmine eyes, the fearless stance and the brave apology. She had never met anyone like that before. She growls in anger, at her own confusion and hammers the desk, "Damnit! What's happening to me?!" Throwing the chair back, she flings off her cape and flops down on her double bed with the beautiful brunette in mind, before falling into an uneasy slumber.
A few hours before daybreak, Natsuki stirs from her slumber, feeling exhausted as she barely had three hours of sleep, and the tumultuous dreams did not help. She sits up and stretches her powerful limbs in an attempt to feel better, but the nagging feeling does not go away. What the hell did I forget? Getting off the bed and pacing around the room, her grey brows furrow as she tries to recollect everything that had happened the day before but nothing strikes her. She turns to the wardrobe, shrugging off her slept-in clothes for a fresh set – a comfortable cotton pair of shirt and pants. Her stomach suddenly rumbles loudly and she decides to heed its' call, padding softly down to the kitchen to grab a bite. Chomping into the delicious muffins baked by Mai, her green eyes abruptly lights up with realization. In her rage, she had forgotten to leave food behind for the prisoner! Without a second thought, she quickly gathers a handful of treats and bundles them up quickly, throwing it across her shoulders and speeds off.
A quick climb later, she peers into the cell through the little peephole and finds the young lady balled up and asleep on the cold floor. Unbolting the door, she heads inside, curious as to why she hadn't awakened.
"Oi," she mutters, lightly nudging the young maiden's shoulder, but retracts almost immediately when she realizes that the mage was icy cold. "Hey!" she cradles Shizuru's head gently, tapping her cheek with her paw but there was no response. "Shit!" she curses while lifting the girl up, wrapping her furry arms around Shizuru and tries her best to share her body's warmth but to little avail. Picking the unconscious girl up, she secures her firmly against her chest and clambers out the window, scaling her way down. She runs back as fast as she could on twos, worried, as she could still feel a tinge of iciness against her.
Throwing the quilts open, she gingerly lowers Shizuru on her bed before tucking her in the thick sheets. She gets to work on the fireplace, feeding it with logs and the room is soon heated by the crackling fire. Striding down to the pantry, she retrieves a kettle, a bronze bottle and a pawful of berries and fruits that had been set aside by Amber. She presses her paw against Shizuru's cheek when she returns to the room, nodding to herself as she notes that Shizuru wasn't so frigid anymore and the color had returned to her lips somewhat. Kettle on the fire, she warms the water, pouring it into the bottle before lifting the blanket and tucking the warm water bottle in Shizuru's arms. She drags her armchair over to the bed and waits, hoping that the brunette would wake up soon. Before she realizes it, exhaustion claims her and she dozes off beside the sleeping brunette.
XXX