Don't got much to say on this portion of text either. Anyways, here's chapter 3! *still a flashback*
"Alright then... Ready for round two?"
Mei Ling stared levelly at the crazed wolf that was twirling his blades mockingly at her. Was the usually quick-witted and sharp-tongued thief nervous? Why yes... Did she show it? Meh. It was an easily debatable topic. Nevertheless, Wolf Boss did not want make the same mistakes as his previous two attempts. He was going to wait for the opportune moment; the wolf wanted the agile fox to strike first, and then make her pay for it dearly in the most painful ways he could think of. Truth be told, it was the best strategy he had ever come up with in years.
The wolf was hired by Shen in the first place for his brawn, not his brains anyway. What he lacked for in general knowledge, he made up for in his overwhelming number of successful contracts that he took as a mercenary. Whether or not it be legal, or illegal. Trained to exploit tactical and physical weaknesses since he was a pup, Wolf Boss was a professional at inflicting pain towards others. It didn't matter if the contract was purely business related, or a personal affair. If he was tasked to kill, he did just that. The same went for all of his other objectives. The point is, he always finishes what he started.
Wolf Boss has never failed a single contract and had no plans of losing that streak to a brat-of-a-fox. He would carry out this mission like all others. With extreme precision and a heart of made of ice. He didn't care that his assassination target was a young, female vulpine. Speaking of which, the two opponents were slowly circling one another, each one trying to evaluate the other in search of something they could use to their advantage. Mei Ling's posture was stiff with concentration and focus, while the wolf was lazily mirroring her walking cycle, all the while squeezing in a couple of harsh taunts and several exaggerated yawns.
Mei Ling grew tired of pacing and stopped mid-walk. She turned to fully face her attacker, with the said figure doing the same, f only to please her before prematurely ending her life. Both fighters stood there, with nothing but the weak gust of air blowing the leaves from the fallen tree away to make any form of sound. The bleeding rays of the sunlight seemed to have stopped all together, and the entire city of Gongmen was silent. It was as if the entire region had all collectively held their breaths, waiting for whatever would happen next between the two.
The fox firmly rolled her paws into fists again and visibly set her jaw. She was going to fight seriously, or die trying. The wolf merely snickered at the vulpine's antics.
"How adorable," stated Wolf Boss, "yet pointless. I'll admit, you are one heck of a fighter. Perhaps we would have ended up on the same side had you not been such a thorn in the side to my most recent contractor, Prince Shen. Maybe, I might even go as far as to feel remorse after killing you whenever I go to sleep at night. Maybe. Don't get too optimistic about that though."
The vulpine, rolling her eyes sarcastically at the wolf's remarks, proceeded to do an upwards roundhouse kick to the bigger wolf's jaw in the hopes that he would close his muzzle for once.
It never made its intended destination.
Wolf Boss ducked under the arc during the duration of the kick and attempted to slash one of his daggers along her exposed shin area. Mei Ling, having noticed his plan of retaliation, quickly brought her other leg around and barely deflected the incapacitating cheap shot. When she landed on the ground (with slight unsteadiness from the amount of energy she forced herself to use in the recent strike), the fox back flipped away from her opponent.
"Dang, he's good," thought Mei Ling, "and here I thought anyone that wasn't adept at Kung Fu stood no chance against an experienced veteran. Everything about this battle will be interesting. Minus the rapidly rising rate of the potentiality of a slow and painful death of course."
Wolf Boss was barely trying at this point. He knew he had her. It was only a matter of time until the vulpine would make an untimely maneuver and accidentally wind up with either Scorching Tooth or Blistering Claw being jabbed straight through her intestines and come out the other end. It was a typical tactic, but one that was highly efficient, if it was played the right way. Wolf Boss, being no stranger to strategy, recognized this opportunity and embraced it wholly.
Tire your enemy out, and then make them regret it. A lot. It was as simple as that. It was also working quite well, as the battle-hardened wolf noticed the younger fox's subtle, but visible pants for breath. The time to reverse the playing field was getting closer. Wolf Boss smiled sadistically at this realization.
Oh how much he was going to enjoy this.
Mei Ling was not doing so well. She was already tired, but for some reason, it felt... out of place. She could run for miles to get away from a pursuing guard, but now, she was exhausted after a brief exchange of well-timed attacks, with none hitting its mark. That is, all except one. The weary fox glanced at the dagger that was being held in the wolf's non-dominate hand. He didn't realize it, but the blade had a line of blood that slowly trickled down along its length and accumulated into a crimson drop at the very tip before falling into the grass below.
Perhaps her deflect did not go as well as she planned it to be. After all, it was in the heat of the moment, and Mei Ling had to think quickly before possibly getting a main artery torn from her leg area. Her execution of the move had been reckless and unplanned, and she paid the price afterwards unwillingly. The fox glanced down at her own leg to confirm her suspicions. Her heel that had been used to shield her other unprotected limb had a thin, but deep trail of blood and damaged tissue. Still, it could have been worse. Though not by much.
The fox studied the offending dagger. "Scorching Tooth" was it called? Yes. That was it. Her eyes narrowed when she saw something else mixed in with her blood that was still trailing down its sides. The blood had a lighter hue than the one that was on her heel. The mysterious substance would have probably gone unnoticed had it not been distilled into her blood. Wait...
That was it! Her unknown fatigue, the wolf's smug grins as if he had already won, the stuff that was on the dagger. It all fell together in a synchronous manner to Mei Ling. She had figured out the wolf's ulterior motive. He was using some type of poison to try and make her fall unconscious. She would've congratulated the wolf for his stroke of geniousness had she not been on the receiving end of the blade. Scorching Tooth was laced with an outer coating that was intended to incapacitate people. The fox refused to let this happen to her. The second her eyes closed from the sleep agent, she would be dead.
It was another stand-off. Wolf Boss was waiting for Mei Ling to attack and further weaken herself. The mentioned fox glared at the wolf bandit, before letting out a faint chuckle and a quieter-than-usual remark. Good. The poison was beginning to take its hold on her body.
"I've got to say, lacing that dagger with whatever that was is a pretty clever idea. I might even do that myself if I ever happen to find that substance again..."
The bandit's eyes widened slightly. She had figured it out. He was impressed, but of course, the wolf refused to show it. Coating a weapon with a poison was a somewhat newly discovered technique, and the wolf was one of the rare few that had actually been doing it before it was officially publicized and entered into the majority of common knowledge. No matter. Everything would be revealed to everyone some way or another. And this was no exception. However, he would still try to preserve the discretion of his trump card as long as he could if it were possible.
"Enjoy it lady, because you won't live long enough to be able to utter a word about this to anyone else soon enough."
"Back with the formalities again? It's Mei Ling to you, you persistent would-be-gentleman."
Wolf Boss snarled at her passive-aggressiveness. It was definitely frustrating, to say the least. Most targets the bandit/mercenary was hired to murder were usually begging for their lives or dead at this point. Yet there was a teenage 'anarchist' of a fox that was still feisty enough to retort back snide remarks. Tired of idle chit-chat, the wolf lunged at her once again.
Mei Ling was hurting badly. Her bad heel desperately needed to be bandaged up before it lost too much blood, but she would have to deal with that later. Right now though, the vulpine had to concentrate on the twin daggers that were currently heading for her throat. Mei Ling ducked underneath the larger wolf easily and prepared herself for a swift retaliation. The wolf did not disappoint.
The dagger were flashing at a blinding speed towards anything that was considered her limb. The fox dutifully evaded all of them as well. It was an honorable method to persevere, but it would all come to an end soon. Mei Ling's eyes were blurring, and whether or not it was from the lack of blood or the poison didn't matter anymore. All she knew was that the battle had to be concluded. And fast.
The weakening fox was rapidly losing more and more of her stamina. How she managed to continue drawing out the battle and dodging the fatal strikes, none could guess. Perhaps her stubborn personality had its uses after all. Still, it was a one-sided match. Wolf Boss knew this as well, and was toying with her at this point.He arrogantly launched himself forwards only to jerk back swiftly, making the fox dodge an invisible blade that was supposed to be heading for a main artery. Mei Ling was heaving for air, and this time couldn't maintain her indifferent composure.
Wolf Boss sneered victoriously. The end was coming faster than he had hoped. Little did he know, however, was that the vulpine had a similar mindset.
As the wolf mercenary proceeded to run at her for the final time, Mei Ling got into a wobbly defence stance, trying to accommodate for her injury. It was all or nothing at this point. And the fox hoped that she would either come out on top or at least perish while putting up a decent fight.
There it was. The "tide" of change, or was it something else? Wolf Boss twirled both his daggers as they gleamed dangerously against the quickly receding rays of the dying sunlight. No sound could be heard except for the whooshing of two blades and the heavy breaths of a certain vulpine. A leaf from the fallen tree had been swept up by the serene wind and landed gracefully in between the two fighters, before one suddenly rushed forward.
Wolf Boss attempted a different strategy. This time, he threw one of his daggers like a throwing knife in between the fox's pupils.
Mei Ling deftly brought one paw and expertly deflected the fatal blade away from her, but that was what the bandit had wanted. That second of altered attentiveness was what was going to be the thief's downfall.
The mercenary, in the vulpine's moment of weakness, sprinted forwards even faster than what he had started off with. While the fox had been distracted by the normally-killing shot, Wolf Boss was within stabbing distance. He did not hesitate and struck with the mercilessness and precision that only a cold-blooded murderer would possess.
Mei Ling had averted her eyes away from the wolf only for a second to defend against the flying dagger, and then gasped as un unknown feeling passed through her body. Wolf Boss expertly rolled away from her, and once he was a suitable distance away, he had a ghost of a satisfied smile on his lips.
The fox's arms and legs all went limp. Tears had formed out of the corners of her eyes out of a sudden pain, and she noticed that he didn't have a single weapon in his paws. In fact, he had both of his arms crossed and was in a casual pose, as if the fight had been concluded. But it wasn't.
As least, she didn't think so. Mei Ling was too stubborn to give up, and she wasn't about to go down by some wannabe "assassin" hired by an equally entitled peacock. She would fight until the very moment she would die... But it didn't make any sense. Did the wolf sheathe his remaining dagger? Or had he finally had enough of her antics?
And that's when she looked downwards.
There it was. A bloody blade that was almost too drenched in fox blood to be recognized as Blistering Claw, but it was still visible nevertheless. The dagger, in all of its supposed glory. And it was resting snugly in the fox's intestines, all the way up to the engraved hilt. Mei Ling was horrified by the sight, and feebly tried to pry it out of her body, to no avail. She was simply too weak to do any more. The combination of the poison, the blood loss, and the entirety of the fight had all taken its toll on her.
As she couldn't do anymore she stood there, trying to pour as much hatred as she could into the wolf that had not moved since her revelation. Mei Ling coughed as blood exited from her mouth, and left a thin trail on her chin. The fox felt nauseous and suddenly went down on all fours, her arms just barely keeping her from face-planting into the blood-splattered mess around her.
The fox then rolled on her side, as her arms became too tired to support herself any more. She coughed once more, with more blood coming out than the last time. She fought to stay conscious, but the sweet embrace of sleep was so alluring. So tempting... It was almost too easy to give up and just lay there on the ground...
Wolf Boss uncrossed his arms and strolled to the injured fox in front of him. She was about to close her eyes, so he kicked her roughly near the spot where his dagger was. The vulpine groaned in pain as the jagged blade tore into more of her delicate skin. Speaking of which, the wolf had to retrieve his daggers. He first went over to the one the fox had easily deflected to find it embedded firmly into the ground, a couple feet from where she was. He pulled it out with some difficulty, and went to the unmoving fox.
Mei Ling couldn't even close her eyes, as the new pain in her stomach was sending electric jolts throughout her nerves, forcing her to stay awake and endure the relentless torture. She heard the mercenary grunt as he pulled one of his daggers out of the ground, and his footsteps gradually grew louder as he returned to her field of vision.
Wolf Boss now had a grim look on his face. He enjoyed killing, but to do so to someone so young felt wrong. The slow feelings of regret started to take hold of his consciousness, but he shoved it to the side. This was actually the first time he had ever had to physically harm someone that wasn't an adult. Still, a job was a job, and he held his end of the deal. Prince Shen would be pleased. Now, to retrieve the other dagger and get the heck out of the area before the guards come. No doubt the recent commotion would send them running towards the both of them. Or one of them, at least.
The wolf bandit leaned down on one knee, and looked at the fox's pained expression. He was inwardly impressed by how she refused to scream or even cry. She was definitely a fighter. He opened his muzzle that was scarred from years of working "in the field" to speak.
"You're good... Mei Ling, was it? *sigh* For what it's worth, I'm sorry... But you did bring this upon yourself. I was only here today because of the consequences of your actions. Perhaps if the situation were different, I might even have welcomed you into my pack, but I can't guarantee that though. Anyways, I'll just grab my things and get going. I know you won't rat me out, as I'm pretty sure you don't like the guards as much as I do. Not that you'll live long enough to even form comprehensible words..."
At that, Wolf Boss reached out with one paw and grabbed the hilt of the dagger. Mei Ling clenched her jaw tightly, promising herself that she wouldn't scream. The fox even bit the inside of her cheek in order to keep herself quiet. She would not seem weak in front of the enemy. The wolf had a dead, concentrated look in his eye as he swiftly yanked the intruder out of her gut. The fox bit her inner cheek so hard that it too bled, joining the multitude of exiting blood, but luckily all that came out of her lips was a single strangled gasp of agony.
The wolf sheathed both of his daggers and put them back in their respective positions. He then went to his war maul that was idly resting on the ground several feet from the conflict and slung it over his shoulder.
The fox had said nothing during this, and only continued to stared at him. The wolf admired her firm resolution. Perhaps he would have actually embraced her as his family after all... This entire calamity was an overall shame really...
Sunset had been long since gone now, and the wolf walked away towards the distant moon. He'd have to report back to Prince Shen to inform him of his success in his mission. As he walked away, he only heard slight pained whimpers emitting from the female fox. His ears flattened to try to drown out the sound, but it was pointless. The feelings of guilt were too great to be suppressed at this point. His sadistic side claimed that the fox had deserved it, but he still didn't feel any comfort in that meritless reassurance.
As he kept walking and disappearing into the night, his feelings of remorse had only increased. But he soon found out that something else would make him feel even worse than he had already did, if that was even possible. In fact, nothing could have surpassed the coming moment that was to be permanently etched into his mind, like a scar that will never fade away.
It wasn't the pitiful whines that started to slowly deteriorate into desperate pants for air, nor even the horrendous amounts of blood surrounding the young fox as she struggled to stay conscious. What had affected him so deeply, was instead something so simple and short, but it held a world full of meanings and accusations. The wolf could only walk away helplessly with a heavy heart and maintain his professional composure while this happened:
When the signs of struggle coming from the feisty vulpine had stopped altogether, leaving nothing but a dead silence in the cool, emotionless night.
Author's Note: Well? What happens next? Hehe, I'll tell you all in the next chapter. For now though, sit tight and stay classy :)