Mythology: Night Bane Remastered

by Kristyan

When Luna is invited to a party by the most popular boy in school, she cant refuse. But what happens when she arrives and her condition begins to surface? A letter is given to her from a mysterious clan in the mountains claiming to be the answer to her "Condition" But what will happen when she arrives and they all have Wolf ears and Tails?

6. Chapter 6

Mythology: Night Bane

Chapter 6: Ex Nihilo, Nihil Fit

-787-

Luna turned around with a held breath, her mind racing and her heart pounding, she closed her eyes.

She would come face to face with the adversity that was behind her, eyeing her at this very moment, lest she die by it. When she was sure she had turned one hundred and eighty degrees, she opened her eyes, ready for anything that lay in her eyesight, ready to fight tooth and nail to the very last copper tasting breath

Nothing

She exhaled exasperatedly, and felt a upsurge of relief over herself; she even gave herself a little chuckle, she couldn't believe she was getting herself all worked up over nothing, She leaned left and right, Looking behind the nearby trees, but saw not even the slightest sign of animal life. Although Luna did feel that heat on her neck, she was almost certain that it was something breathing onto her; it had to have been literally right behind her.

But she could have been hallucinating; she tried to reassure herself, trying to keep herself from the conclusion that she could have been followed by some creature, some beast that stalked the woods

In the back of her mind she wanted to get out of here, sticking around here wouldn't do her any good and it wouldn't do any good for Aiyano. She shifted her backpack with a grunt; she kept looking behind herself, but began to walk forward; making sure nothing would come out from behind the trees, as always her nerves clawed at her senses like some cureless disease.

"Well maybe I can get out of here unsca-OOPH" She had run right into something large and…..furry? Luna fell back onto the ground onto her seat, she froze in fear and kept her eyes focused on the ground, she didn't dare look up right away, her eyes wide in dismay. Now she was scared, No, Horrified. There really was something here, and it was right in front of her, waiting to tear into her like some demonic torturer. Her nails dug deep into her sweaty palms, her lungs were starved for life giving air as she held her breath. The beast in front of her growled, the rumbling noise shook through her, she whimpered and looked away, not wanting to meet its eyes, she hoped that those old childhood stories of the monsters disappearing if you didn't acknowledge them were true. She sat with her hands supporting her from behind; bravery flashed in her for just a sliver of time, she ever so slowly looked up. Her mouth fell agape and her eyes wide

A massive wolf sat down in front of her, examining her with cautious but curious deep blue eyes, its dark brown fur blew about in the wind that gusted over the mountain. It seemed harmless at first, almost like it was just observing her. However this beast of a canine was not harmless, its massive paws looked to be large enough to crush her head and its claws longer than her fingers, its massive head as large as her whole torso. She nervously got to her feet, and backed away slowly from the wolf, her hand shaking in front of her as if they would somehow protect her; never the less, she wouldn't dare let it get any closer

*Thunk*

Until her back hit a tree; she gasped with raggedy and uneven breath, she was so terrified she had lost the cognitive function to breath properly. She watched the wolf slowly get closer with eyes that held a torrent of terror behind them.

She felt so tiny compared to it, When it sat down it was a good two heads taller than her, and nearly a meter and a half longer that she was tall, Even though she was a very capable fighter, she felt that she couldn't win this battle if she tried. She idly wondered if even that madman of a hunter could survive such a formidable foe

It began to circle her, she felt her palms drench with sweat; she didn't dare to move a muscle, for fear of misinterpreted body language. The brown colored beast circled her, with each following circle that it preformed it got closer and closer, once it completed the sixth, it slowly came to a stop, then sat down on its haunches in front of her

As the beast regarded her with an absolutely…..cryptic stare….She had seen her full of animals and even some she would consider human, But this wolf….was way beyond such levels.

Luna then realized just what was staring back at her, No wolf was this smart, No wolf knew that she wouldn't hurt him, No wolf could be like this. No beast could show such an array of thought and inquisition. A deep silence fell between the two of them; even the forest seemed to lend them a time for a still moment, even the animals seemingly stopped their calls of the wild. Luna kept her mouth shut, not believing what she was seeing

Luna finally spoke up, in nothing but a whisper "You are just like me….aren't you?" She asked, her voice slowly raising in pitch, the wolf cocked his head, not understand quite what she meant

She huffed and spoke to the massive canine again "Beneath that fur, your human just like me….right?" She hoped that he would be, that perhaps someone had something in common with her, that perhaps someone on this planet earth shared in her sorrow

It narrowed its eyes, not giving a definitive answer. Luna got annoyed and grit her teeth, but she quickly reminded herself that getting angry with a beast of this size would not do her well at all. Realizing that this massive canine could understand her, she continued her questioning

"Well…..the people that live on the mountain, are…..are you one of them?" Her green eyes took in the clear blue irises of his own. The wolf ever so slightly nodded its head. Not removing it gaze from her.

Luna felt excitement lift its way into her spirit, she genuinely smiled and let her teeth show out of pure joy. "So there really is other people like me?" her enquiry was met with another nod of the head. Luna couldn't take it, after years of feeling like some abomination or sick experiment gone wrong, she was finally going to be among people that were like her. The sheer amount of emotion she felt was driving her to giddiness. This sudden display of emotion unsettled the wolf a little bit. Luna, being the observant young woman she was, caught on rather quickly to his fidgeting and realized that it was due to her strange behavior

"Oh sorry…I'm just so…..relieved to hear that I'm finally going to get help with this…..curse…." She spat the word out like poisoned wine, the wolf however snorted in mild anger; it curled its long tail around in front of its paws, the action akin to that of a human clenching their fists. Luna took notice, and interpreted his body language correctly, she lowered herself into a bow, apologizing for her hurtful words in a way that lacked and did not require any language of any kind. The wolf snorted and lifted it head up, giving the impression that it accepted her apology, but it was not concerned if it did not receive one.

"Well….If you are from the mountain….then can you help me?" Luna pleaded with eyes that would rival that of a young child. She shuddered as the wolf leaned down to her level, Luna froze as did the canine, the wolf took notice of her anxious shifting and gently lowered its muzzle and nudged Luna ever so slightly in a comforting manner, Luna smiled in a genuine way, but such an expression vanished quickly "My friends….they….they are hurt bad….someone hurt them while I was climbing the mountain, I tried to save them but I wasn't strong enough….They drove off….I couldn't follow them…I'm really hurt….But….The people on the top of the mountain, they can help me can't they?" Luna asked, she pleaded with the creature that sat in front of her, her eyes bleary with tears, for if this wolf denied assisting her, then her friends may very well die.

The wolf took a moment to think, or so it appeared he did, the blue orbs that contained dark, black irises left her gaze for perhaps the first time sense they connected. The wolf's attention was focused upon her question, and Luna was starting to question wither or not the wolf had just simply dismissed her, Much to her relief he then looked back to her and nodded ever so slowly.

She lit up with a smile "Oh thank you so much! You have no Idea how much this means to me!"

The wolf growled, but not like a threat, it sound much like a chuckle, it turned around and began to walk away. Luna followed close behind him as they began to scale the mountain, Now, Luna had a chance, a chance to help those she loved.

-787-

Most of the remaining climbing was done with the wolf guiding Luna, No words really were uttered by Luna, and she felt it best that if her companion could not speak, than she would not either. The mountain's Slope was grand, but the wolf had led her to a path which had a much more manageable incline. The leaves flittered down beside from the trees, landing in the wolf's fur every so often, Luna giggled as he growled and shook the litter off himself, and he gazed back to her with a soft expression of amusement, before continuing their trek.

Luna had gone a little while before taking notice to something odd, the wolf's presence had not startled the other fauna that clambered about the mountain, no sika deer had been seen, but that was to be anticipated. As Luna slowly got bored, she began to take a bit more notice to her surroundings, She had to admit, despite being on the trail the mountain didn't look at all inhospitable, quite the contrary, In fact she imagined that a nice little cottage on the gentle slopes would be much like heaven on earth, with no one to bother you, nothing but the opinion-less and playful animals, and the sweet smell of Japanese maple leaves. That thought brought to question, where or how did this clan properly live on the mountain? She was certain that if they were as large a group as dictated, than they would have to have a massive village or something along those lines, perhaps even a large cave, She idly thought of asking the wolf if he could tell her what it was like, but stupidly forgot that he lacked any vocal cords that could produce Japanese. She turned her gaze to the wolf, who she noticed was walking along at a very lazy pace, his ears flicked at every minute sound; his senses were far more acute than what met the eye. When Luna finally decided to look at the sky she lastly observed that should have been obvious at the very beginning at her observations, it was getting dark, very dark in fact; the moon wasn't even shining on this side of the mountain. Leaving the entirety of the mountain in a dark, creepy atmosphere, the moon's flittering light was nowhere near the light required to walk around with confidence, But even with the unsettling, ghostly and cryptic nature of the night. Luna was still determined…albeit terrified out of her wits

The wolf didn't seem to mind, Luna was sure he wasn't disturbed at all; heck he could most likely defend himself from a group of bears. But Luna one the other hand had much to fear, having watched one too many horror films back in Tokyo, she was left comically scared. Her head quickly looked in every direction; any little sound making her jump out of her skin. She kept her hands tucked against her chest and her back arched forward, she ran up beside the wolf, staying a bit closer to the wolf now that her overactive imagination ran rampant. For obvious reasons, the wolf had been the best choice to stay near rather than away from him, As anything that dare attack them (Really….nothing would) would be quickly dispatched by him. He looked back at her, her strange behavior catching his eye, Luna smiled sheepishly at his large blue eyes that seemed to glow in the night, and he huffed and turned to face his front yet again. Luna kept looking behind herself, making sure nothing trailed the two of them; And for the second time she ran headfirst into the side of the wolf. It didn't bother him but she stumbled back, she rubbed her head with a growl "Hey what was that for?" She demanded to know, she looked up at the wolf, wanting an answer for his behavior.

He gestured with his head toward the front of them, his ears flicking with the motion, they were now about 2/3rds up the mountain, so they must have been close to their destination, she looked over to where he had directed, and she took a deep breath to try and suppress her surprise "That is a big cliff…" She said with astonishment, as her eyes drifted skyward to observe how far up it went

In front of duo was a sheer cliff, it ran about the mountain like a ring, and scaled up the mountain for a good 50 meters, the last obstacle in their way, or so it seemed

"Are you serious? Why would you guys make a home past this….thing" She swung her arms around for emphasis. Directing her complaint at the cliff

The wolf snorted and rolled his eyes. he slowly walked up to the cliff, took in a huge lungful of air and hurled himself up the cliff, jumping nearly 4 or 5 meters at a time, Then he would grab hold of little tiny outcrops of rock and jump up again, He did it so quickly and efficiently, Luna rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing the real thing.

He looked over the edge toward her and gave another laughing growl, as if he was laughing in her face for assuming that it was difficult for the wolves that lived on the mountain.

She stuttered, her green eyes wide with astonishment "Bu-You…..how you expect me to climb this?" She yelled with discourage and annoyance

He laid down on the cliff edge, waiting. Taunting her almost. Luna was not one to be taunted, let alone challenged; it had been a cold day in Hell when she would give up. If this was the only obstacle in the way of getting her to safety and her friends back to the city, then not even an apocalypse would stop her.

However as her eyes took in the full breadth of this cliff, and how little it outcropped, her fiery confidence dimmed.

She huffed to the wolf; she knew that even though he was a good 50 meters above her, he could still hear her "I could have ridden on your back or something ya know…" She said quietly as she approached the cliff wall. But, despite the appearance of inevitability, she still remain vigilant, for her friends needed her, she cracked her knuckles and jumped up, the first grip being weak and shoddy, She slipped and howled with pain, Luna sucked her lower lip as she inspected her palm, a bleeding gash met her eyes, she cursed to herself and rubbed at it vigorously, A little cut wasn't going to get her down. Once again she jumped, and this time she gripped the side of the cliff like she was trying to crush it, she held fast and with a laugh of confidence continued to scale upward, Luna jumped up once more and managed to grasp a nearby outcrop, she squinted at the top of the cliff, the wolf cocked its head at her, curious why she had stopped. Luna sighed and continued to climb, ever so slowly, the outcrops getting more and more precarious as she got up higher, almost in some sickening pattern

"Don't look down….Don't look down…..don't do it Luna….don't look down" She told herself as her heart rate rose, She did want to see how high up she was, but she was sure it was high enough to kill her if she fell. Luna poured all her strength into climbing, desperately trying to end this terrible experience, So far she had reached certain spots where the outcrops were too far apart and she had to jump to the next closet one, She almost missed the last one…

The wolf waited patiently at the top, where it had taken him less than two minutes to climb the wall, it was taking Luna nearly thirty, but she was glad he wasn't complaining.

Luna looked up, and was nearly there, just a few more meters to go, the top was almost in sight, she would be able to help Aiyano now, she would be able to help out takashi and finally be among these people whom were one in the same with Luna. She purposely repeated this in her head, Attempting to gather hold of all the confidence she had and pour it into this haphazard clamber of the Cliffside, After exhaustion, anxiety and stress rapt it way through the young woman's emotions for a solid 43 minutes, she found herself near the top, The wolf stepped back as she neared the edge of the cliff, she laughed breathlessly, but happily. She had made it. She had bested this ancient piece of geology

Luna grabbed the edge and tried to hoist herself up; her arms were starting to shake from non-stop walking, climbing and exertion. Such strenuous activities were not fit for someone in her current condition. Luna knew that much, but still she managed to throw in a laugh at the wolf, who was chuckling at her every time she yelped after a holding gave way.

"Ha-ha, who is laughing now?" she said almost out of breath, her hand reached out for the very edge of the cliff…

Crack

A cruel mistress called life is laughing, and she is laughing at you Luna

The edge of cliff broke off, Luna panicked as she scrambled for any sort of hold, but nothing she attempted to grab had any sort of grip. She fell a short but absolutely terrifying sixty centimeters before she managed to grasp another hold on the cliff, a small eroded piece of igneous rock was her life line, her heart was racing, Luna lifted her other arm and clung to her wrist, But this rocky outcrop too began to crack and break, Luna's eyes widened, she knew there was no way out of this, She screamed to the heavens, to anyone "HELP ME!" her voice cracked, Her lungs felt like they were on fire, and they refused to let anymore air enter, The wolf sprinted right over to the edge, He reached a paw down for her to grab as best as he could, His whimpers managed to snap Luna out of her death stare. She groaned and tried her best to hoist herself up to his outstretched paw but it was just too far. Luna tried her hardest to reach, her muscle felt like mush and her mind was moving too fast to be coherent but she knew she had to try, She reached and stretched her arms as far as she could, her arms not used to such terribly painful strains, It felt hopeless as each second passed by . The wolf must have known it too because he pulled his paw back up and ran away from the cliff's edge. That would have made her blind with rage if she wasn't holding onto a breaking holdfast. She watched with her bleary green eyes as her lifeline ran away, and a few seconds after that her holdfast slipped from the rock, shattering her hope for survival

She watched as she fell away from the world, a massive 23 meter drop awaited her. 'So much for helping Aiyano…..I'm so sorry….I should have been better…..' She thought with her last few moments of consciousness; for nothing but death awaited her at the bottom of this rocky grave

Luna was ripped from her self-destructive thoughts as a hand firmly grasped her wrist, stopping her in midair, her mind couldn't process it, could she survive?

She looked up with tears stinging her eyes; wondering what had saved her from such demise that most torturers would see as a fitting end. Past the moon that shined in her eyes, she cast her gaze upward, she could see a shadow, one of a young man, whose face she couldn't see. He was straining to pull her back up, whoever he was, he had saved her life.

"I've got you! Hang on!" He shouted to her, she felt hope and joy fill her heart, He let out a strained groan as he tried desperately to pull himself and Luna back up the cliff, But he was too far over the edge; his grip was slowly being lost, Luna could see it and felt all that hope flow right back out, into the cruel embrace of death. She admired him, whoever he was, for making the futile attempt of saving her. He cried as his hold on the cliff was lost, they both began to plummet, Luna gave up in the moment, ready to accept her end, but the young man was not, He grabbed Luna firmly and pulled her into his embrace, her back to his chest and his back to the earth. he held onto her tightly, Luna felt her heart pause, not entirely sure how he was able to do something so quickly, To say the least in her last few thoughts she felt safe in his arms. But no human could ever survive this fall

A sickening thud of flesh impacting the ground was all that she heard last before darkness enveloped her

-787-

Aiyano awoke with a start, her eyes wide and heart racing. She brought a hand to her chest, she felt her heart beating faster than she could count and her stomach felt like she had ingested raw sewage

'I hate nightmares….' She thought miserably as she tried to get herself calmed down. Her nerves bit at her like an annoying bug. She looked up, It was in that moment when she noticed she wasn't in her bed at home, her eyes scanned all around, trying to find anything familiar or comforting, the night sky didn't let her see much in the way of exact location but she was in a forest….all alone…..Time to panic. Before she could scream out in worry and terror, A snore from her right told her she wasn't as alone as she thought, she glanced to her right, sure enough takashi was laying on the grass near his car, he looked rather uncomfortable but somehow he was still able to sleep, This is when Aiyano took notice to how comfortably she slept, she glance down to the sleeping bag that had made kept her warm throughout the night.

'Did….takashi do this for me?' She thought to herself, surprisingly her arms didn't hurt nearly as much as they did when she fell asleep in the car. That realization left her mouth agape. Aiyano looked at the bandages on her arms and legs; the realization was much like a smack to the face, none else could have done this for her, and she was positive that she didn't do it herself. Takashi had bandaged her, taken her out of the car and set her down in the sleeping bag. There was no other explanation; Takashi had taken care of her. At first she felt a bit violated, Not that Takashi would have done anything lecherous, But some of the places her bandages were in…were a little too close for her comfort…though her wounds were all dressed and no blood stained her skin like it did before she fell asleep. Aiyano really didn't know what to think, she felt either disgusted or extremely thankful, but she was alright and Takashi deserved some thanks. Aiyano lay back down, her eyes slowly becoming heavy again

'Oh man…I haven't felt this tired in years…' her body began to relax and all thoughts slowed to near nothing. But sleep wasn't something she could indulge in right this moment, a noise; no more than one might find a mouse to emit came from near Takashi, She cracked open her eye, Irritation boiled in the back of her mind. But when her eyes focused she jumped out of her sleeping back with a sharp gasp

Someone was crouched near takashi, not making any noise what so ever, Aiyano observed him reach down and check takashi's pulse, The figure stood up and Aiyano gasped, She was used to Takashi being one of the tallest guys on campus but this guy made him seem short, he stood near 180 cm, and was a thin, but built figure, she couldn't make out much details about him because of the shadow of the tree, the moon's minor light did nothing to help the situation. Then she felt a lump in her throat, he started to turn toward her, and she was in no way able to fake being asleep, she was in a rock and a hard place

She came into his view and he immediately knew she was awake, But he didn't do anything drastic or overly dramatic. He just stood for a moment, trying to figure out what to do from this point on. Aiyano had taken over from their

'W-who are you?" Aiyano managed to squeak out into the still night, no noise came to her, not even the idle sound of the forest and its inhabitants.

He didn't respond right away, Aiyano felt even more threatened as each second passed. Then he walked toward her, she panted and held her breath, He was going to hurt her or kill her, she was almost sure of it, He was with that hunter guy, Right? There was no other explanation. He stopped right in front of her and observed her for a moment, she had to crane her neck to look up at him, and then the silence was broken

"Help, do you need it?" He asked in a young, youthful voice. Though he wasn't playing around; heck for once she wasn't playing around.

She shook her head "N-no…what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice cracking as she scooted her sleeping bag a bit away from him. He didn't answer; she was getting tired of having information withheld from her. His voice rang out in but a whisper once again; "I am to check on you, the hunter attacked you right?" He asked, finally breaking the hostility that Aiyano felt toward him

She really didn't know how to respond "Y-yea…we did, I'm okay but I'm not sure if he is" she gestured to Takashi with a bob of her head

The young man literally sniffed the air; the first thing that it reminded Aiyano of was a dog that was hunting for a squirrel, the second thing was how utterly speechless she was toward the absolutely odd prospect of him sniffing like a dog

He spoke to her, breaking her thoughts "I don't smell an infection, but that doesn't mean he won't get one, Fix that wound and you should be fine, But be warned if he does get one, he won't live through the next day, it's much too severe." He turned to leave, His footsteps near silent on the grass, his speech was quick and short, and Aiyano felt as though he was in a hurry

Aiyano reached out with her arm, her eyes pleading "Wait! I don't know how to bandage or even dress a wound! You have to help me!" In all honesty she didn't, it's not every day that one has to perform a major field dressing of a wound, especially one as serious as a cranial injury

An audible sigh came from him as he turned his head to gaze at her in the corner of his eye, not convinced enough that he should stay. Aiyano lowered her arm, her head followed suit

"Listen I don't know who you are, But I need help, My friend might die all because I don't know how to dress his wounds, So I'm asking you…Please….Help me" Aiyano absolutely hated being a damsel in distress, though she never really had any situations that could label her as such. Now she was all alone in the wood with Takashi who might not wake up from his deep sleep and some stranger that she had never seen before nor heard of, if she ever was in Distress this would be the time.

He shifted to his left and right foot. She could tell he didn't like it, not in the slightest, but he turned around and began to walk back toward them, Aiyano sighed in relief

"Thank you so much, you don't know much this means to me dude" She said, slightly more comfortable with him being around

He knelt down near that medical kit that was propped up against the front left tire; He opened it and began to rifle through its contents, totally ignoring aiyano's previous thanks

She wasn't going to pretend, that was downright rude, but complaining to someone that was helping her was not wise. She stood up out of her sleeping bag, her head pounding from the pain of her wounds, though they weren't anywhere near as bad when she had fallen asleep in the car. She turned her line of sight back to the young man who was already beginning to apply some disinfectant to Takashi's wound on the side of his head

Aiyano's felt her pupils contract as she notice just how gristly that awful wound looked, She had gotten a glance or two during the ride but that was it, Now that she got a good look she had no idea how takashi even managed to stay awake let alone drive them all the way here.

The gash extended from the outward corner of his left eye to above his ear and across his skull, the wound was deep but luckily it didn't shatter any bone. If it did….well…. that would have been devastating, it was scary to think just how bad It could have been for the both of them in that fight back near that mountain

"Luna…." She thought; the memories of the fight swam back to her faster than she had liked, had she made it out alive? Her heart ached for her sister; she chuckled at that, the fact that they were so close that calling each other sisters seemed too impersonal. Aiyano groaned at sat up, her legs ached and her back was inflamed, but none the less she walked over to the car and leaned against it, Right behind Takashi and the young man, He visibly squirmed at her close proximity, but relaxed after a few minutes. He never looked back toward her, but kept checking the corner of his eye

Aiyano giggled a bit at his strange behavior, it was almost as if he feared that she might be able to do something to harm him. She was able to get a better look at him now that he was in the light of the moon. The first thing she noticed made her shake her head to be sure she wasn't dreaming, His hair was pure grey with a few streaks of white intermixed, It was long, shaggy and unkempt, his shoulders were rather broad and his hands were slightly disproportionate to his thin and lanky frame.

"Seriously though dude, Thank you so much, is there any way I can repay you?" She said with an uneasy smirk, although he couldn't see it, she shifted her feet when they started to hurt from standing

He finished wrapping bandages around Takashi's head and was sure to make it good and snug so it wouldn't unravel. Aiyano was impressed by his delicate and careful application. She snapped out of it when he stood up and turned toward her

Now she was intimidated, aside from being a good thirty freakin' centimeters taller than her, his eyes made her flinch in wonder, They were the clearest blue she had ever seen, putting her own to shame. He kept his eyes half-lidded, not too trusting of her yet

"You can repay me by never speaking of your wounds, myself, and anything that concerns the mountain, Got it?" He said with a stern and baritone voice, betraying her first impression of him being young. She nodded with a cheeky smile and a nod of her head

"Can do, but could I ask you a few things before you go?" she asked in but a whisper, her curiosity getting the best of her

He stopped and thought for a moment, not moving in the slightest way, his eyes shifted back and forth, carefully regarding her request. Eventually he exhaled slowly "Make it quick"

Aiyano grinned, her first assumption was where he was from, and She had a pretty good idea but didn't want to start spitting out random rabble "You….you are from that clan aren't you….in the mountains…." She asked timidly, hoping that it wouldn't make him mad

She could instantly tell that he was going to be reserved about it, his stare left her, in doing so he totally ignored her question and instead, asked his own "You are worried about your friend aren't you?"

Now Aiyano was freaked out, how did he know that she was going to ask that? "Uh…y-yea, is she okay?"

He gave a simple nod "you have nothing to fear"

Aiyano felt a world of relief fall over her, She collapsed to her knees, the very definition of liberation was with her, she was a prisoner of worry and anxiety no more, she was now in the company of peace and respite "Oh thank goodness…" Her lungs let loss a torrent of exhalation, her mind calm and her heart slowly beating

"Is that all? I really must be going…" He said turning away, his hands clenched in anxiety, her let the girl have her moment of peace, but he was in no such state.

Aiyano raised herself from her position on the ground "Wait, your name….what is your name?" Aiyano couldn't say why, but she felt obligated to know his name. After all he had helped her greatly, such an obligation is justified.

He walked passed her toward the road, trying to get across the point that he wasn't interested in talk "I'm afraid I can't say, Good night, and stay away from the mountain; you will live longer that way"

Aiyano felt too distant from this guy, and some strange innate feeling told her that this wasn't the last time they would meet, it would be best for the both of them if they knew each other's names

"Please, Can you just clue me in? I would like to be able to thank you properly" She hoped he would submit to that, after all it wasn't a demanding request, more like a proposition

He sighed once more, his eyes screwing shut in the process

His pure blue eyes opened and he stared right at hers, his face scrunched up in mild annoyance "My name is Snowstorm, And you're welcome" He turned and stomped away now, not caring about the sound of his footsteps, Aiyano stood in wonder as she tossed the thought of his name back and forth in her head, It was odd and peculiar….but at the same time it was so…. Cool! Aiyano liked things that were cool, she looked to the moon for a moment and then to Takashi, when she glanced up, he was no longer there, she gasped at his utter speed and silence, two impressive but deadly qualities. Aiyano earnestly was worried, she was worried that Takashi might still be at risk, her concerns for Luna were put to rest, but as for Snowstorm….She was worried that it would be there last time seeing each other….

At least for now….

-787-

Did you ever wake up with a headache that felt like there was a knot in your head? And the more you move the more it felt like someone tightened that knot? That; multiplied by 10 is what Takashi felt like right now; He didn't dare to open his eyes, even if the early morning sun invaded his senses. He groaned and turned onto his left side, blocking out most of the rays of the sun. Clouds provided him a decent amount of shade, and a few more minutes of sleep, in his current condition, Takashi was more than grateful to have those extra minutes, however a few minutes of sleep when you have only slept for a few hours' makes you feel even worse. It gives you a longing for more rest, rest that cannot be given. He gave up trying to avoid the sun any longer, it was such a futile attempt to try and shade out the very thing that contributed to most of the life on the planet. Takashi opened his eyes to the world, the bed of grass beneath him making a resounding crunch noise as he shifted his weight to get comfortable as he sat up

He took in the surrounding environment, the first thing that he noticed made him jump with horror, he clutched his face with a shaking hand. he couldn't see out of his left eye, the realization hit him like a brick, and terror flooded through him much like a tsunami, He clawed at his eyes, trying to see if it was just some sort of sick joke and that Aiyano would be turning the corner now, snickering with a mischievous smile on her face. To his utter defeat, she didn't.

"Aw no! That's not good!" He shouted and attempted to get to his feet, He instantly regretted it

A wave of pain from his headache twisted through his skull much like a serpent twists through the grass, invading his entire sinus area with a fierce, aching pain.

"Owww…..shouldn't have done that either…..ow…." His body was inflamed and his head wouldn't dare let him move any more, He lay down on his stomach in a terribly uncomforting position, He reached up to his head, hoping to dull the pain by depression upon the area, forgetting that he had a wound in that area, but when he put his hand upon it, he then noticed as he reached up to his head he didn't feel caked over flesh anymore or sticky blood that dripped out of the ghastly wound, Instead, with much relief on takashi's part, he felt the coarseness of a gauze band, He felt instantly better, As his worries of infection could now be abolished. However he took a deep breath and tried to not to freak out over how he was blind in his left eye

'Aiyano…did she bandage me?' he idly thought as his gaze drifted to her sleeping bag. The lack of depth perception made it seem much further away than it actually was. He wasn't sure if she was there or not, he couldn't make out her silhouette

"Aiyano?!" He called out to her, hoping that she would respond in her annoyed and fiery voice

The whistling of wind through the branches of the trees and their mint like scent were all that he received. His heart started to beat a bit faster now, If Aiyano wasn't with him, and then where was she? Was she in trouble? If she was how could he tell? Would he be able to help her? Question after question was presented to him by himself, filling him more and more with worry until he had enough, he stood to his feet wobbly, his head pounding in protest. Clumsily he made his way to his car which was but a few meters away if even that. He reached out to the hood of it to find support only for his hand to hit nothing with a cry of despair he fell to the ground

"Gah!" he winced in pain, he never realized just how much he missed depth perception until that moment. He sat up in a crouched position, his head was still giving him a fit so he didn't dare to stand up too quickly. A few deep breaths later and a pained grunt and he was back to his feet, this time he calculated correctly and managed to sit up against his car for support. Now he could think properly

"Now….I would assume that Aiyano was taken…but that doesn't tell me why I would have been left….She could have been hurt by an animal but I….I didn't see any blood…"He felt sick to his stomach after thinking of something that dreadful

"Takashi!" He heard a voice from behind himself, he turned around and awkwardly looked around to find the source of the voice, and Aiyano waved her hand from the tree line to the left of his green car. He breathed one of the longest sighs of relief he had ever heard

"Or…She could have just gone for a walk in the woods….I guess it true what they say….freaking yourself out does more harm than good" He slowly faltered over to the left side of the car, Getting closer to Aiyano. He felt a twinge of sympathy for her, The many wounds she had procured from the battle still littered her skin, He felt a bit better when he saw that the bandages he had wrapped around her were still white, Meaning that the wounds weren't bleeding anymore or not as bad.

He smiled meekly and winced in pain "So, I guess I should be thanking you for these bandages huh?" he nearly whispered, after all he would be in terrible shape if they managed to get infected.

Aiyano gave him an odd half smile, He frowned in return. Something was off about the way she reacted about it "Well….I doesn't know how to explain it…. But…. someone came by last night, I got woken up by him…" She was interrupted quickly by Takashi

"What? Someone found us! Why didn't you wake me? Oh man they didn't do anything did they?" He said in a flurry of worry and questioning as he looked her up and down for fresh wounds. She took a deep breath and subsided her annoyance with his worrying. "No Takashi don't worry, he was friendly.."

He sighed in relief "Well if he was, then what happened? He bandaged me then?" He said as leaned back onto the hood of his car, he tried to relax as best he could

"Yes he did, He was….odd Takashi…I think he was….one of the people Luna went to see…" She said looking away toward the forest, deep in thought

Takashi was instantly interested, His attention fell exclusively on Aiyano "Really? How do you know?" Aiyano chuckled lightly; a bit half unsure of herself, Takashi frowned. Something was off about her

"Well you know how Luna has red hair?" She asked him, but didn't look him in the eye

"Yea what about it?" He wasn't sure where she was going with this and quite frankly he thought she was going completely off topic

"She has, Like, The reddest hair I've ever seen, it's got that odd color of being really, really rich in color but not bright, You know?...Well he had something like that, His hair was….Grey and white, But that same inexplicable richness in color. I can't explain it to be honest but that and him being close to the mountain and the fact that he didn't try to kill us makes me think….he may be a wolf creature too…." She was so deep in thought she didn't even raise her head to observe his reaction

"Well…..I guess I should've thanked him…" Takashi said idly, but he was more focused on what was wrong with Aiyano, He walked over and placed a hand on Aiyano's shoulder "Aiyano….what else is bothering you…."

She shrugged his hand off with a grumble and a sneer "It's none of your business Takashi, Its just…Something I have to think about"

Takashi chuckled throwing Aiyano off guard, then he began to genuinely laugh.

"What? What are you laughing at takashi?" She gave him a shove, He didn't respond immediately, but he slowly died down with his laughter. He composed himself as he wiped the small, few tears from his eyes

"Did you already forget?" He said with a highly amused expression

Now Aiyano was really confused "What are you even talking about?" She furrowed her brow in frustration, He better start making sense.

He cleared his throat "Back at Luna's Apartment, I made a promise that I would help my friend through this. You did too. We both promised to help each other no matter what.

Aiyano choked on a sob "You and your memory Takashi…." She chuckled, knowing exactly where he was going with this, Knowing Takashi he would bicker on until she told him, and quite frankly, she really didn't feel like fighting back this time

"Fine, Last night I saw this guy, he was checking your pulse and I freaked out, apparently he was making sure we were okay…Don't ask me why…But anyways he told me that you need a bandage really bad, if your wound got infected…you…you would die, No doubt about it." She gazed off, and wouldn't dare to meet his own gaze, Takashi wasn't an idiot, in fact he nearly guessed what was wrong, but he was no mind reader and did not wish to make any overzealous assumptions

Takashi sighed, and rather than assume, he inquired "Listen Aiyano, it means a lot but why hide that from me? Why be upset over it?"

She grit her teeth, her eyes beginning to fog up with tears "Cause that isn't what I'm upset about now, I'm upset that I….I couldn't help you alone….If I couldn't simply dress that wound to keep you from dying, then what good am I to Luna? What help will I give that she doesn't already have?"

Takashi felt it sink in, Aiyano doubted herself, she felt useless and weak. Knowing Aiyano, that must be one of the worst feelings she could have "Listen to me Aiyano, Just because you can't dress one wound doesn't mean anything, Luna needs our help, we have to hold down the fort for her, keep her parents occupied and keep our classmates from ruining her reputation, so when she comes back, Everything will be okay."

She looked away from him, taking in a long breath of air "Will it be okay takashi? Will it really go back to normal? Can you say that for certain?"

Takashi knew she was looking for reassurance, and he wished he could say for certain, But he couldn't. Not yet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "No. I cant. But guess what Aiyano, in the crazy world there is a brilliant little thing called faith. It's an odd thing, to invest hope in something you can't truly know for certain or for a fact. But the cold hard truth is that you cannot know everything, so tell me then, what do we have when you can't or don't know for certain?"

Aiyano didn't know what to say, she was still trying to find out how such wise words could have come from someone like Takashi. She did find out one thing though, she found out that she felt a lot better.

"Thanks….Takashi…..really" Aiyano managed to stutter out

He chuckled "Your welcome, like you said, what are friends for?"

She smiled back "I'm pretty sure I said what are sisters for"

Takashi rolled his eyes "Oh my bad, like it wasn't close enough"

Aiyano giggled "Nope, it wasn't"

He shook his head lightly, He then thought of something "Aiyano….do you think that Luna is okay? I mean that hunter was pretty brutal….I hope he didn't catch her…"

Aiyano smiled broadly "I don't hope Takashi, I know, The Guy last night told me she was fine, well…he said I have nothing to fear about it….but I think that is the same thing…"

Takashi narrowed his eyes "And you believed him? Like I said, people are cruel and can lie just as easy as they can walk and talk"

Aiyano rolled her eyes "Takashi, Would this guy lie if he went out of his way to keep us safe? If he is from this clan then they want her to be safe, didn't you just give me a speech about faith?"

He bit back quickly "Your right I did, but my faith in humanity was long gone." Aiyano smiled

"I guess it's a good thing that guy wasn't human then wasn't it?"

Just hearing that phrase sent shivers down Takashi's spine, not because of its validity, but because that among them was something….inhuman

"Fine, I think by now I can trust this clan considering they have already helped us out" He said with minor reflection on the subject, for he really didn't have an alternative. Aiyano patted him on the back "Atta boy"

He rolled his eyes "Come on now, we have a lot to clean up back in Tokyo, you have any idea what we should try first?"

She thought for a moment "Well, its Sunday….so we should try and get a letter out to Luna's Father and mother, then on Monday we should try and get rid of all the rumors that will be starting at school, If not then she won't have a school to go back too"

Takashi face palmed "Oh no, Look at us! We are all scared up and we are supposed to go to school tomorrow! Not to mention your parents!"

Aiyano rolled her eyes "You did a pretty good job, I think I may heal up this week, but until then I can try and cover them with some long sleeve shirts, some makeup should deal with the minor cuts on my cheeks"

"What about your Dad? Will he be happy to see a giant gash in his son's head?" Aiyano asked him, Takashi shook his head

"He is out on the rig, won't be back for a few months" he said with a dejected groan

"Really? Didn't he just get back to visit?" Aiyano asked, feeling a twinge of sympathy for Takashi

He nodded and changed the subject for obvious reasons, All that Aiyano knew was that Takashi loved his father, and that he was never around to receive that love "Listen, don't worry about me, what I'm concerned about is how we plan to explain to the teachers and the principal that Luna is missing"

Aiyano didn't really have an answer for that, it was going to be difficult; that much she knew "I'm thinking we could possibly get Luna's Father's Signature and forge it to a note saying that Luna will be home for a little while…." The first plan that came to mind was shared with Takashi

Takashi looked skeptical "You think they will buy that? I mean if they do I guess we could say in the note how we would be responsible for taking her school work to her, or have it mailed to her apartment" Aiyano looked to him for a bit, then cupped her chin in deep thought

She shifted a bit, as she too was a bit uncertain "Well all we can do is try, it shouldn't be too hard to print out a letter, you know like Attorneys do, then just have their bosses sign at the bottom, they wouldn't be surprise to have a note like that come from someone as important as Mr. Tierra, after all he has dozens of offices"

Takashi smirked, genuinely impressed by her thought process and idea "True, it wouldn't be hard at all to find a pre-existing format for a letter on the internet, and knowing the school they aren't really that thorough….we could have a big chance at pulling this off...if we do it right, we won't have any room for mistakes…." Takashi Lamented as he thought a bit more into how exactly they would carry out such a scheme, it was risky…and had a lot of reasons to fail, but what choice did that have in the matter? Luna's would return to a normal life that would be in ruins and tears. He was intent on making that a false premise.

"We can talk more about it in the car, it's getting to be mid-day, and we should really start heading back" Aiyano said staring at the sky and the position of the sun, taking in knowledge from a previous space science class

"Yea I agree, Boy…Luna better be happy we are doing this…" Takashi said with a disbelieving groan, he cracked his back into place and shook himself of the odd feeling

Aiyano opened the passenger side door "I'm sure she is Takashi, Knowing her she would be elated" He smiled back to her, His mouth a think curved line, That was enough to let Aiyano know he was very happy. She sat down and waited for Takashi to gather everything

Takashi went around gathering the sleeping bag and the few blankets that were scattered around the area where they slept; He ambled over to the trunk of his car and dumped his hand's contents into it. Dusting off his hands he walked to the driver's side and got into the car with a grunt, seizing the key from his pocket, he started the car up and manipulated the gear shift

"It's an adventure right?" He said with a grin

Aiyano grinned back "It better be"

-787-

Luna was sure she was dead, she had heard of children and teens passing away from similar or even less heights, but the drop she fell from? She was sure she had been mutilated by it; she moved her hands into a more comfortable position….wait….hands? Was she not supposed to be dead, in a place like limbo or someplace that the dead go? But…she was conscious…alive…how can that be? She took in a bit more information that her mind could pass to her in its sluggish and weary state, which was not much by the standards of senses, However despite that fact, she was able to decode the messages they were sending her very clearly. The air around her was clean, fresh but dry, in this case dry air was not a bad thing, It carried a wafting scent of maple wood and the sharp, clean smell of a wonderful internal air conditioning unit, Said Air conditioning was making the temperature around her freezing but she was relieved to feel the familiar touch of fabric and wool, and the comfort of a pillow behind her head, In short, she was in a bed or something like one. However being in a bed after falling from a cliff to your certain doom would provoke anyone's curiosity. Luna slowly opened one eye to observe her surroundings, her view was a bit hazy and she felt very groggy, she still felt a bit sore but it wasn't anything like after she fought with the man at the base of the mountain. Above her was a ceiling that extended a good three and a half meters from the floor, it was constructed of a thick, red and dark brown wood. She carefully sat up and opened her other eye, to take in her surroundings. Around her was a room, It had thick dark wooden floors with a glossy sheen of temperament, the walls were of rounded planks that sat atop each other horizontally, granite covered the corners of the walls. Beautiful furniture like a dresser, Armoire, desk and even a chess table, all constructed of exotic and wondrous colors of wood, she took notice of the bed she slept in, it was large and covered in blue sheets and was too constructed of the same wood, Now that Luna observed it a bit closer it looked much like the Japanese maple trees around the forests however she didn't know where the dark colored wood came from, she was stumped in that department of guessing, back at her father's villa they even had a few Japanese maples in their private forest, but she had never seen a color like the other wooden planks. Paintings covered the wall sparsely, they were wondrous illustrations of flora; Luna really felt a theme of "Forestry" in this room, as nothing else exhibited anything that conflicted with said theme

Her careful examination of her environment came to a halt when she detected a slight noise of a door opening to her right. She held her breath, not sure of what exactly would be there waiting for her gaze to land upon it, he heart beat against her chest and apprehension made her curl her toes

"Awake I see?" a feminine voice called out to her, Luna was genuinely surprised to hear the voice of another female, and she felt a small twinge of relief that it was another girl

Luna decided to put to rest her concern and observe the owner of the voice, when she turned her head to the door she lost all her thought process, too enraptured by the sight before her

A young woman stood in the doorway, Long streams of pink-red hair flowed down to beyond her shoulders in a cascade similar to that of a waterfall, she was a bit taller than Luna if she could judge height correctly from where she sat, Green eyes of emerald looked back at Luna with a kind and calming contemplation, a wonderful intellect not too far behind. Her face was clear of any blemishes and strikingly beautiful, she stood up straight with proud confidence, her bodily shape that of a well-developed and fit young woman, Her arms and feet were dainty and well-proportioned to her body, She had her arms folded into each other in front of herself, and a kind, warm smirk upon her face as she regarded Luna with interest, she wore a long kimono that was stitched with wonderfully accurate and detailed cherry blossoms, and but perhaps what Luna noticed next about her is what made her truly make sure she wasn't sleeping anymore.

Atop the young woman's head were two ears of a wolf, both a rich red in color, the girl smiled with a gentle expression, taking notice of her utter astonishment

"Hello Luna, nice to finally meet you"