A.N. Yo, reviewers! I love y'all! The story is progressing, and now you can find out who it was that attacked them! Yippee! I hope that this chapter satisfies all of your needs for violence and high-speed chase scenes with trees. Oh, and someone else is getting hurt, someone you probably weren't expecting…Mwahahaha, I love hurting characters sooo much…actually, scratch that, two people are getting hurt. I feel like being generous. Rubs hands in glee and anticipation Hwahahaha…chapter six, here we go!
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"Cloud!" Leon called out, starting to become a little worried. It had been stupid for the blonde to go off by himself, and now Leon had no idea where anything was. 'Damn trees all look alike,' he thought to himself, irritated. A cut in a tree to his right caught his attention, making him stop, and he took a closer look.
It wasn't a sword slash. The cut he saw had four twins, identical grooves, all parallel. Something had whacked at this tree…something that definitely had claws. And, as Leon looked closer, it was fresh. Sap oozed out of the slices, the ripped-up bark around it still green.
Leon heard a snap behind him and turned, but it was too late.
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Riku and Roxas looked up as the yell echoed around the forest. They looked at each other, and immediately took off, sprinting towards the sound.
They rushed up just as Cloud arrived, and both saw Leon, leaning against a tree as blood poured from his side. He held the Gunblade loosely in his grip, and as they watched, it fell, slipping from his grasp as he slumped over.
"Leon!" Cloud yelled, running to the brunette's side. He turned Leon over onto his back, surveying the damage quickly. It didn't look like a bite mark, but it was deep. Five slashes, all in a row, lined the brunette's skin, leaking blood, turning the soil underneath him to dark mud. Riku and Roxas hung back, unsure of what they should or could do, watching as the blonde fashioned a makeshift bandage from his supplies.
Standing up, he turned on the wolves angrily. "Who did this?"
They looked at him, confused, both thinking the same thing: How would they know, and how was he expecting them to answer?
Realizing that his questioning was pointless, he pointed an accusatory finger at the silver wolf, glaring. "It had better not have been you, or—"
Roxas growled, and Cloud trailed off, knowing that all of this was getting nowhere. He looked down at the unconscious Leon, indecision on his face. Finally, he said, "He'll probably be safe here. We should keep looking."
Riku snorted, turning around. 'No one's safe,' he thought scornfully. 'Leon was a good fighter, but even he was taken by surprise. What I want to know is where you were, Cloud…'
Roxas stared between the blonde and the silverhair, confusion flashing across his lupine face before he walked after Riku, glancing uncertainly over his shoulder once more. Cloud, however, noticed something. Five parallel cuts, etched into Roxas' blonde fur, standing out angry and red…
'The only one he's been around is Riku…' he thought, looking back at Leon. There could have been time enough, between the time Leon was attacked to run off and double back in the forest without him noticing…
"Shit…" he growled, leaping into the trees and quickly following the wolves through the darkness, taking one last look at the brunette.
'Sorry, Leon,' he thought, 'but I have to find out if it really was him. And if it was…he'll die.'
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Roxas' mind was racing along with him as he ran through the forest, keeping stride with Riku. The silver wolf now seemed even more on edge than before, and Roxas thought he knew exactly why. The attack on Leon was almost identical to the one on Roxas' side, and both knew that Cloud had noticed.
But now, they both also noticed the dark shape above them, following their every move. Riku caught Roxas' eye, and the blonde wolf nodded, smiling inwardly. He loved doing this.
It was something that they had planned out that day. If they were being followed while they were together, they would separate and relocate somewhere else once they were sure that they had lost whoever it was.
A tree, larger than most even in this forest, approached, and they split around it, heading in opposite directions as they streaked around it and veered off.
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Cloud swore as the two separated, instantaneously deciding to follow Riku. Turning to the left, he leaped after him, his eyes never leaving the silver wolf. However, it was evident that Riku had held back some speed when he was with Roxas, and as much as Cloud didn't want to admit it, he was getting farther and farther away.
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Riku grinned, knowing that his pursuer was falling behind rapidly, adding another burst of speed for good measure.
He figured that whoever it was, whether Cloud or the other silver wolf, would follow him. He just wanted to lose this person and get back to Roxas so they could continue searching fruitlessly.
It seemed as though that wasn't an option, though, as he saw a lupine figure, shining silver in the light of the full moon, step in front of him. He tried to stop, but couldn't in time, swerving to the side. He winced as the other wolf slashed at him. He ducked, feeling fangs graze him. He fought his body to a halt, turning quickly…but the other wolf was gone. The only evidence he left was the small cut above Riku's right eye that slowly trickled blood. He shook his head, turning to start his race through the forest, but froze as a voice called out behind him, "Where do you think you're going, werewolf?"
Riku turned, coming face to face with the heavy blade, held in Cloud's grip. The blonde was glaring at him dangerously. "Why did you run?" Cloud challenged, taking a swipe at the silver wolf, who ducked away from it quickly. "You wouldn't run if you didn't have something to hide!" he yelled, charging at Riku with the sword leveled at the wolf's head.
Riku ducked to the side, feeling it pierce him coldly, thinking, 'How the hell does this guy's logic work?'
He tried to run, but was stopped as he felt something grab his tail, pulling him back and slamming him heavily into a tree. He yelped, struggling to his feet, as the enraged Cloud snapped at him, "Come on, wolfy, admit it, you're the one who killed Aerith and hurt Leon!"
'I can't admit anything, shitrag!' Riku thought angrily. 'One, I didn't do anything! Two, I can't talk! And three, you'd think I was lying anyway!' Still, he whined in protest. The message, of course, didn't get across. Cloud swung, and Riku ducked quickly. The sword buried itself into the tree he had been flung against, going nearly halfway through.
Before Cloud could pull it out, Riku made another attempt at an escape, ducking around the sword and trying to get around the tree.
A gloved hand closed on the scruff of his neck, digging into his skin painfully as Cloud dragged him back again. He squirmed, trying to break the grip, but it was impossible, and Cloud pulled back and slammed the silver wolf's head into the tree hard. Riku felt the blow just before everything went black, and he slumped in the blonde's grip. Cloud dropped him scornfully, brushing his hands on his pants in disgust. He pulled out the sword, from the tree, now cracked from the force of the beating it had taken from both weapon and wolf, leveling it at the unconscious Riku.
He drew back, preparing for the strike, but stopped as a howl echoed around the woods. He stared in the direction it had come from. That was the signal that the werewolves had said they would use if they found it…the silver wolf…
Cloud glanced at Riku, breathing hard, before running towards the sound. He put all his speed into it, the feeling growing in his stomach.
'I made a mistake…' he said to himself. 'Maybe…'
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A.N. Yaay for this chapter! Another one out of the way, whoohoo! So yes, it was Sephiroth who had followed them. But is that all there is to it?...OF COURSE NOT! YAAY! I'VE GOT A SEEEEECRET THAT'S COMING OUT NEXT CHAPTER! a-hem. So, this one is considerably more violent than the last, for which I hope you'll thank me. (Not really, I don't need thanks. Reviews are good, though. I likes reviews. XP) But thanks to all of you who, once again, have tolerated me this long. I hope the story's getting better for you, now.
Je t'aime, mein reviewers! Nein, t'aime muztanti, ritzun! Dhettek mirswa reledsi an dir nim patchi ma'n stinrozti!
I'll dedicate the stinkin' story to you if you can tell me what that says and what language it is!
I lubs you all! Chris