And Darkness Consumes
Chapter Nine: The Pride of a Clan
Erich was aware of his surroundings, but not how he got there. The forest he was in was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Great trees reached up for the sky, their thick branches spread out to form a canopy through which the moonlight would trickle through. Dead leaves gave the floor a soft, pulpy feel as Erich paced around, desperately trying to recall how he came to this place.
A low, ominous wolf howl reverberated through the woods, and the hairs on the back of Erich's neck stood on end. The howl stopped, and then came again, this time MUCH closer. Looking down at himself, Erich cursed, seeing as he was unarmed. The only option left to him was to run, flee the wolf hunting him before it killed him.
So run he did. He ducked under low hanging branches, hurdled over tree roots sticking up out of the ground, and almost lost his footing several times. He run until his chest hurt, until his legs threatened to cave under his weight, and still he ran. The baying of the wolf was ever present, always near him. He couldn't run fast enough! It was gaining on him! He had to run faster!
Before he knew what was what, the ground seemed to swallow him up to his waist, forcing him to a complete stop. He was trapped!
Despite his best efforts to free himself, Erich could do naught to better his situation. And then he froze, a cold shiver of fear running up and down his spine. He could feel it's hot breath on the back of his neck, he could feel that it enjoyed the scent of terror emanating from him. Craning his neck as far as it would allow him, he came eye to eye with a large Timber Wolf, it's fur a smoky gray, eyes glowing blood red like twin globes of flames. The Wolf's mouth moved, and it spoke with Yun's voice.
"Bring pride to my Clan..." It said, then slowly, before his eyes, the Wolf metamorphosed into Yun's human body, before changing again into another man's body, someone Erich had never seen before.
"Bring pride to my Clan..." The man repeated before changing yet again into someone else. Without realizing how, he knew who these figures were: They were all the former leaders of the Blood Wolf Clan, all the way back to the founder many generations ago, each delivering the same message to him, "Bring pride to my Clan..."
As the very first leader of the Blood Wolves spoke, Erich became aware that he was viewing himself from outside his body. Except, his body wasn't human, it was a Timber Wolf, a mirror image of Yun's Full Wolf form. The Wolf, Erich, spoke, saying "I will bring pride to our Clan..."
Gasping, Erich's eyes shot open, his chest heaving as he panted, drawing in short, ragged gasps of air. He was in the Kyoko's tent, at the Rogue Encampment. He was on his back, and there was something heavy on his chest.
"Huh...? What's the matter?" Kyoko groggily asked, her naked flesh warm against his, her head laying on his chest, staring at him with half awake eyes.
"Had a bad dream... It's nothing." He told her. He tried to recall the dream, but found that he couldn't remember any detail about it.
"Ohhh..." She said, nuzzling her check against his chest before closing her eyes. "Well, it's still dark out. Go back to sleep." Kyoko was out like a candle, one arm wrapped around Erich, her legs intertwined with his.
"Mmhmm..." He didn't think he could go back to sleep, not just yet, but much to his surprise, he was quickly asleep again.