Kaze had no idea what was going on.
He was confused, bemused, bewildered, confounded, boggled, embrangled, whatever word it was still the same. All day he'd been running around, learning the ropes of just what Syri's job consisted of. So far he'd learned zilch. Yes, zilch. There was no other word for it. Well, there were other words, but that one seemed to fit best.
All he knew was that while her coworkers did admit to a grudging admiration of her aptitude and ability to adapt, she was still slighted by almost everyone because she was blind. He'd had to steer her around little obstacles "accidentally" scattered in the places where she walked too many times to count, and it'd taken quite a few suspicious glares on his part to get some of the more daring troublemakers to keep to themselves. Unluckily for them, the Big Fierce Guard Wolf Death Glare (Kaze was thinking about having a patent put on it) wasn't enough to stop Carlos, an extremely aggressive, ehhh, suitor (that was the nicest term he could think of, though he had a stockpile of others) from trying to hit on Syri, much to Kaze's dismay and her chagrin. She'd brushed him off when he'd made his latest advances, but the wolf knew the human wouldn't be so easily dissuaded.
The blind woman backed his theory with the soft exclamation she gave after hurrying away from Carlos' general area which was: "Geez! He never gives me a break! It's always 'Sleep with me Syri!' or 'Come shack up with me!' or 'Help me break in these new handcuffs!' I wish he'd just leave me alone!"
Kaze blinked, slightly dumbfounded. He hadn't been expecting that last bit.
The rest of the day went rather well, since word had gotten around about Syri's new and quite scary seeing-eye dog by that time. Said "dog" didn't mind this one bit and rather encouraged the rumor by baring his teeth -but not growling since Syri would've heard that and probably smacked him- at Cynthia when she passed. At the sight of his very impressive incisors, she quickened her pace and abandoned her planned verbal assault on the blind woman. Kaze only just managed not to visibly gag on the smell of her perfume (one of those expensive ones that still smell absolutely awful) as it permeated the space she'd power-walked through. His eyes did start watering a bit though.
Kaze was relieved when closing time finally came. Syri was too it seemed, since she sighed happily and patted him on the head, whispering, "We're gonna go home in a minute, okay Kaze? It won't be too much longer." He woofed his agreement, nuzzling her palm and delighting in the brilliant smile that lit up her face.
Just as she was cleaning up to leave Mr. Thompson appeared. Pausing long enough to give Kaze a good scratch behind the ears, the man handed Syri her paycheck. She thanked him with a hug before putting her hand on her guide wolf's head and saying, "Come on boy, we've got to go see Nadia before we go home. Bye Mr. Thompson!" She waved goodbye, quickly exiting the building and entering the sparsely-lit streets.
They'd barely made it out the door when the wolf began to feel something ominous in the air around them. Casting wary glances at the dark recesses of the ruinous city they were traveling through, Kaze felt his hackles start to rise. Traversing the city during the day was dangerous enough, but to go through it at night was another matter entirely. Not wanting to linger any longer than necessary, he tried his best to keep Syri hustling. He did so well in his endeavor to keep her moving that she almost fell over him when he suddenly halted and planted his paws firmly on the cracked cement and began to growl.
Syri managed to catch her balance at the last minute with only a yelp and a muffled, but creative, curse. She set her hand against Kaze's ruff to steady herself but nearly pulled it back again when she felt the growl rumbling through him. Startled and wary, she listened closely to the other sounds around them, her way-cane clenched in one ready fist. She heard the skitter of rats and rustling of trash, though that really didn't mean much. It was the harsh sound of boots hitting concrete that told her that people were nearby and those people were coming closer. Blind though she was, she knew the sound of a regular crowd of people and this wasn't what it sounded like.
She quickly pulled out a mental map and time chart, plotting just how much activity this part of the city should be having at this time of day. They weren't near a market, there weren't any events going on tonight... One by one she checked off the list of what could be going on, and by the time she reached the end she was thoroughly convinced that a crowd of that size had no reason to be in this part of the city, especially not at this time of night.
Now she was getting worried.
Kaze snarled, lips pulled back and teeth bared in warning. His fur bristling he tensed, keeping himself in front of the worried but still sensible Syri. The blind woman had her way-cane clenched in one fist, ready for a blow. The wolf stared at the people before them. His fury at having the blind woman threatened made his white-blue eyes practically glow, and they were locked on the source of the threat against his newly-adopted human.
It was Carlos, and he wasn't alone. Behind him lurked the group of teenagers who'd set the board-trap for the blind woman only a day before. Their eyes were fixed on Syri and the scent of them was enough to make him sick. The hormones that clouded around the group were anything but good, and were all indicative of one thing. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the group had planned, and Kaze was by no means a stupid wolf. Growling, he backed up against Syri, forcing her to move backwards as well. Once she'd edged a safe distance away, he attacked.
Roaring his outrage at having Syri threatened, he tore into the mass of humans, ripping and tearing with abandon. With the ease of a born predator he devastated the group of ill-prepared deviants and gloried in the carnage, reveling in the ancient instincts that told him to protect his pack at any cost. Plus it wasn't often that he got this kind of exercise, the more detached part of his mind noted, so he may as well enjoy it.
For her part Syri was largely confused. She could hear the sounds of scuffling, of grunts and groans and cries of pain. The blind woman knew better than to try and interfere, since all that would happen was that she'd be caught in the crossfire. Mentally going through a checklist of options, she quickly decided that the best course of action for her at the moment was to put as much distance as she could between herself and the fight.
This was easier said than done, however, since she now only had her way-cane to guide her. Trusting her instincts and keeping her way-cane thrust ahead of her, she took off running in the opposite direction. Stumbling more times than she cared to count yet somehow keeping her balance, she kept her ears alert and her wits about her as she fled.
Kaze nearly started cursing when he realized that Syri was running away, and that Carlos had managed to separate himself from the general melee and was giving chase. Quickly smashing together the heads of two hooligans, he leapt out of the fray and took off running, hoping that he'd make it in time to protect the blind woman he cared for so much.