After the long wait, here it is! Chapter Fifteen! OK, I know you have some questions, so I decided to put together an interview! Read and enjoy!
Reader- So, what is the deal with the rune on the werewolves' hands?
Grieverwings- SHUT UP AND READ.
Chapter 15: Scars
Ultimecia drummed her fingers upon the armchair as Seifer paced back and forth in his wolf form. It had been several hours since she had sent the wolves to the town, but there had been no word of success or failure. It was unusual, as the skies had been red all morning, and to top that, the house normally crowded with 'wolves was silent.
"What's taking so long?" Seifer finally snarled, staring at the door in anger. "It shouldn't take this long to eliminate two people who are asleep, for-"
"Hush," she hissed. "They are the only ones who stand in our way; however long it takes to destroy them, we'll take it." A deep rumbling growl echoed from his throat as he reluctantly placed his head on his forepaws. As the minutes passed by in silence, and the minutes turned into hours, a lone rider took his horse at a trot past the old Victorian house that had been abandoned in the West so long ago. No one knew how it had gotten there, but it was said to be haunted. As he pulled his horse closer by the reins, a single bullet came from inside the house and pierced his horse's skull. The horse crumpled to the ground, and the man leapt off his horse, cursing the devil and all the demons that lived within the old house.
Inside, Ultimecia lay down the gun and returned to her book, a grotesque collection of half-transformed werewolves. "My Lady…" a sniveling voice came from behind the door.
"Open it," Ultimecia sighed. With a single flick of his hand-like paw, the door swung open to reveal a half-starved grey wolf. The wolf sidled in and bowed low, acknowledging her importance.
"Highness, the wolves that you sent this morning have returned."
"Finally!" Seifer snarled, but Ultimecia raised a hand to silence him.
"Send them in." Instead of the three wolves she had sent, strong and proud specimen, only two had returned, beaten, bloodied and sad, with their tails between their legs. "What happened?" she angrily asked the female wolf.
"Lady, we arrived as planned, but Kadaj spied Ashimoka speaking to the girl. In his anger, he attacked, which drew the attention of the 'Enemy". He managed to bite the male, but was killed soon after."
"So you ran, Quintana?" Seifer asked quietly. He moved a single paw forwards.
"Uh…" the wolf began, taking a step backwards with every step he advanced. Finally, her back was against the wall, with Seifer's jowls only inches from hers.
"You have failed," Ultimecia said unfeelingly. "Suffer the consequences. Seifer," she began, but before she could finish, a single snap of Seifer's jaws sat the wolf's soul to rest. "Fool!" she cried as the other wolf ran out like the devil was at its feet.
"What?" he said quickly, turning his face towards her. Phasing in and out of her wolf form quickly, she leapt forward as a wolf and retreated lightly as a human. Running down her middle finger was a stream of blood, as she had cut deep enough in Seifer's face to make a scar, stretching from above his left eyebrow to his right cheek.
"You wait for my order to kill." Seifer, once more in his human form, stared up at her through the blood on his face. "You are excused." Growling, he swept out of the room, hoping to tidy himself up and take out his anger on a small animal stupid enough to roam the afternoon alone. As he scrambled out of the old Victorian house, Ultimecia picked up the gun, and the cowboy's yells were silenced. She settled into her armchair and stared out the window idly as Seifer's howls echoed through the house and around the open prairies.
-POVC-
The world slowly came into focus as Squall pulled open his eyes. Trying to sit up, he noticed that he had switched from outside the inn at dawn, to in his room in the middle of the night. Looking to his right, he saw his arm was more heavily bandaged than it had been before. Trying to move it, a throbbing pain seared through his arm, but as he moved to grab it a smaller hand caught his own.
"Shh…" a female's voice whispered while gently forcing him to lie back again. Squall looked to his left and was surprised yet pleased to see Rinoa in front of him. He feebly squeezed her hand before letting his eyes droop shut again.
"If you keep soothing him, he won't stay awake, you know." Rinoa turned gently to look towards Irvine. He sat in a rough wooden chair that gave him splinters in his sitting-area, but he couldn't move as Selphie was asleep on his lap.
"I know, but I just can't help it," she answered, stroking his bandaged forehead. Irvine looked back and forth at the sleeping Squall and the love-struck Rinoa. He could tell they liked each other… heck, maybe even more. If he just said something… he stopped himself. It was for them to decide, not him, not Selphie, Zell, or Quistis. It was their lives. But… it didn't mean that he couldn't help.
"He probably would have been awake sooner if we hadn't moved him into that stable to rest for a second." Rinoa winced as she remembered the horse kicking him in the head.
"It probably didn't help that you were laughing either, Mr. Perfect," she pointedly stated.
"What can I say? It was funny," he snickered. Sighing, Rinoa gently let Squall's hand drop onto his chest and looked at the bandages circling his arm.
"He should wake up in the morning," Ashimoka said, standing at his doorway. Rinoa beckoned to her and stood before looking back at his peaceful sleeping form.
"Will he be… well, a…"
"No. It doesn't affect an open wound." Ashimoka grinned weakly and rubbed the three scars across her nose. "Spraining his arm saved his life, really." Rinoa heard the loud, rumbling noise that was Irvine's snoring as she sighed again and dropped back into her chair.
"You get some sleep," Rinoa whispered to Ashimoka. The girl quietly obliged, walking down to Rinoa's room and laying on the small cot near the door. Slowly, Rinoa kissed just below Squall's bandage, on his temple, and leaned back in her chair, blowing out the candle. Long after she had fallen asleep, Squall's lips twitched into a smile as he gently opened his eyes. Rinoa was curled up on the chair, her hand dangling down towards the floor. Letting his eyes shut again, he snaked his left hand into hers and drifted back to sleep as a lone, silver wolf with a scar across its face howled to the welcoming moon.
MUAHAHA! -coughs- Uh, sorry. Anyways, Chapter 15 is up! YEAH! Here are the reviews, and I just had to put in how he got his scar, didn't I? Appropriate title, eh? -laughs evilly again- Ok, reviews, then more suspense till the next chapter! Oh, and Kadaj was my tribute to the long-awaited Advent Children! -jumps about till collapses-
Ej- Did that answer it? I couldn't make him a werewolf, he's too cool! Well, not that wolves aren't cool, I mean… oh, forget it. And I shall keep that in mind.
Lady-Rinoa- -bows- Thank you very much!
Hope Always- Thank you very much, I hope this chapter is as good as you make the rest sound.
And… that's it? ACK, my reviewers have left! Please review, I know how much people visit these (yes, I check the hits, I am a nerd) so please review! I can't stand not being told how special this is! Lol, just kidding, but I like reviews, so please! Oh, and in case you were wondering… Seifer: Cuz that interview wasn't that helpful- -beats him down- My werewolves can phase without having to… ahem… drop their clothes. If I said that anywhere, I was wrong. I admit it. And this is what the rune looks like, cuz I was bored and came up with the idea. Enjoy, and please keep reviewing!
-Grieverwings
P.S. Couldn't wait anymore, Wolf, so sorry:D
