All six of the boys were athletes, powerfully built bodies that were designed to run as easily as they could swim. Yet it was apparent as soon as they had bolted from the house that their animal traits were much broader than simply ears, tails, and heightened senses. Makoto and Rin's muscles rolled and flexed with perfect precision beneath their clothes, designed perfectly for the land and running. Because of this the wolves instantly took off much faster than their companions, dashing into the woods where their figures were soon choked from sight by the dense foliage of the forest floor.

The two cats Haru and Rei were lagging behind their canine companions, but were still keeping a fairly decent pace as they twisted their bodies with ease around the foliage. They were using both the strength and agility of a cat to keep themselves on their toes at all times. It was the rabbits that struggled the most, powerful legs good for sprints and quick getaways but altogether hindering the two shorter boys as they struggled to find a good rhythm through the undergrowth. Nagisa instead found himself with the craving to jump and bounce along the ground, but he knew if he tried that he would only end up ensnaring his legs in a bush.

Magenta eyes quickly looked sideways towards the silver-haired boy, and found he was lagging behind even more than Nagisa was. Looking over his shoulder, Nagisa found they had already made good distance from the house - he assumed at least, he was completely lost as to where they were at that point - but if he and Ai didn't keep up they would soon lose the others. It was especially bad since there was a chance the hunter was tracking them.

The blond let out a sudden squeal as he felt himself being hoisted into the air, arms and legs flailing as he sought to free himself from his captor.

"Relax- mmph! Nagisa!" ragged breath cried out his name next to his ear, and instantly Nagisa recognized the voice.

"Mako-chan!" he breathed out in relief, ceasing his flailing to take note of the fact Makoto was now carrying him with ease and still making fast progress through the undergrowth. He no longer carried the game with him, so the blond assumed he must have given it to one of the other boys.

Looking sideways, he saw that Rin had done much the same thing as Makoto with Ai, hoisting the short boy into his arms before taking off after the others. Even in their situation, Nagisa couldn't help but smirk as he saw the deep red that Ai's ears were turning.

No one knew how long they had been running for, but eventually exhaustion took the better of them and forced all six of them to slow their pace until they came to a standstill. They all stood around, heaving and fighting to bring air into their lungs. Let down onto the ground, Nagisa stretched his body out as he observed his friends around him. Makoto and Rin were panting heavily with their tongues unconsciously hanging out of their open mouths, while Haru and Rei were stretching their bodies in ways he never knew a human body could twist before.

The sun had been high in the air when they had first started the game, but now it was far back into the horizon enough to cause large shadows to dance their way along the undergrowth and forest floor. The darkness caused by the trees brought a chill to the boys as dusk began fast approaching, and that was when they finally realized that they had run away from the only shelter they knew of. Haru-chan must be worst off, Nagisa thought as he looked at the half-naked boy who was still wearing only his swim trunks and a flimsy apron.

"I think... we're safe... for... now..." Rin gasped, rubbing his arm across his mouth to wipe away a bit of drool that had begun to leak. Once it was gone he straightened his back to look over his shoulder towards the direction they had come. As they stood there unsure of what to do, Nagisa suddenly noticed that one of their cats was currently missing.

"Where's Haru-chan?" he asked suddenly, and everyone froze. Eyes wide, they all twisted around to find him, but he was nowhere in sight. He had just been there a minute ago, where could he have gone to?

"This way!" Makoto suddenly yelled, waving his friends over in the direction he was headed. Trust a dog to find a cat... Nagisa couldn't help but snicker slightly at his inner comment before he took off at a jog behind the olive-haired wolf. It didn't take them long to find the cat wandering through the woods by himself.

Makoto ran up to his childhood friend, roughly grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him backwards so he could look into his blue eyes. "Haru! What are you doing?" he snarled, clearly displeased with him having gone off by himself.

"Mackerel..." was Haru's only word before he shook off the hand on his shoulder and continued walking forwards, leaving a stunned Makoto behind.

They looked at one another for a second before they all began to wordlessly follow the raven-haired teen. Soon they found themselves coming upon a small, but still fair-sized log cabin located in the middle of the woods. Nagisa worried at first that it was the hunter's cabin, however it did not smell like man nor did it seem to have been used recently. Though he was often the one to jump into things without thinking, even he thought they should be careful - something Haru obviously didn't feel as he walked up to the door, pulled it open, and stepped inside.

"Haru!" Rin snarled from behind the blond, causing him to jump at the forceful tone coming from the taller boy. Quickly they followed Haru inside, shutting and locking the door behind them so even if it was the hunter's cabin he wouldn't be able to get inside. A quick but thorough search of the cabin left them certain it hadn't been used in a while.

The main portion of the cabin was a large front room, with an icebox, some shelves, and a wood stove in the far corner, a bear-skin rug covering the middle of the room, and two sofas crowded in the near corner. Opposite the sofas on a side wall were two doors, one leading to a smaller room that housed a twin-sized bed - mattress only, no pillow or blanket - and dresser, while the other door lead to a bathroom that contained only a toilet.

The scent of burning wood reached Nagisa's nostrils and he looked up to see Makoto had found wood stashed alongside the wood-burning stove and had already begun a fire. Haru on the other hand had found what he had been looking for inside of the ice box: mackerel, and lots of it. Of course, it made sense for a cat to be able to find fish no matter where it was hidden.

While Haru began cooking the fish with Makoto's help, the rest of them sat themselves upon the sofas. Rei, who had taken the game from Makoto earlier, laid it to rest on the ground in front of them, while Ai dropped the dice beside the game board.

Rei cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up before prompting the others into discussion, "Looks like we can't take this game for granted. We'll need to be prepared for anything in the future."

"I thought you said this was just a hallucination? Wouldn't it just be better to let the hunter kill us so we can wake up?" Rin huffed, slightly embarrassed for his earlier behaviour. He was a proud male, and having run like a cowardly animal did not suit him in the slightest.

"I said it might be. We don't know if it is for sure," Rei snapped back at Rin, his tone causing the large wolf to snarl and lay his ears back against his head.

"Food!" Makoto butted into the conversation by bringing over the mackerel Haru had just cooked on plates he had found on one of the shelves. The warmth of the stove had also filled the room by then, allowing all of them to soak it in as the sun went down and eventually brought on night. Soon after eating Ai had wandered into the room with the bed and found several different pairs of clothes in the dresser there. It allowed all of them to change into baggy shirts and sweatpants, which were less constricting than their t-shirts and jeans had been. Haru, of course, still wore his swimsuit under the pants. Makoto also brought forth a lantern he had found near the stove, giving them light.

Warm, fed, and newly clothed, the group of six friends sat on the rug in a circle once again with the game between them.

"My turn again!" Nagisa squealed, and Rin rolled his eyes at how quick the blond boy was to bounce back to his normal personality after being fed. He grabbed the dice and rolled them along the ground before reaching forwards to touch the rabbit's back. Nothing. Confusion flooded his pink eyes before the silent Ai suddenly spoke up.

"Maybe we have to take turns?" he questioned, before taking the dice and rerolling them. A one and a four again. This time, without even having to touch the rabbit, it began to hop along the game board before coming to a stop. This was followed swiftly by the pop of the card. Taking it in hand, Ai read it aloud, "You get caught in a trap. Lose one turn."

Ai flinched and turned around to look behind him, but nothing happened. I guess only certain cards make something happen? Nagisa pondered, glad that not every card dealt them a poisonous hand... So to speak.

"Rin-chan! Your turn!" Nagisa chirped excitedly, passing the dice to the agitated wolf. Red eyes glared at him, but the sullen teen took the dice regardless and rolled them along the ground. Double fours. That meant that the wolves were already almost halfway to the end. A card popped, and reluctantly Rin reached forwards and grabbed it.

"From starvation, you devour a rabbit."

... What? They all froze and looked at one another. That card didn't mean that literally... Did it? Nagisa laughed awkwardly, partly because he believed it to just be another fool card, and partly because if it wasn't a fool card it meant he could be on the menu. Their heads jolted upwards at a sudden growl coming from Rin's direction, and taking one look at him they could tell he had already lost all human reasoning.

His lips were drawn to bare his sharpened teeth, ears tight against his head and tail raised aggressively in a dominant manner. Drool seeped out of his mouth and down his chin, eyes crazed and blazing with hunger and lust. Before anyone could react the redhead had already turned upon the rabbit closest to him: Ai.

The silver boy let out a strangled cry as he was shoved into the ground, the weight of his senpai above him pushing against his smaller body. The muscular limbs of the Samezuka captain held the frightened rabbit in place while growls still ravaged the wolf's throat. Makoto, the other strongest of the group, threw himself at Rin to stop him. He was met with a brutal punch to his gut, sending him flying backwards against the ground.

Ai-chan's going to get eaten! Nagisa let out a cry as he covered his eyes with his small hands, the fear of his inner rabbit freezing him in place.

"Someone stop Rin!"