I'm sure that you have seen the new picture for the story. I thank my friend, Fanatic97, and his friend, EarlNightmare, for making the picture for me!
Sapphire and I were both startled at the sudden shout. She spun around, digging her needle tips on her hands deep into my arm. I had to ignore the pain from her hands as Snowflake reared up from the loud yell.
"Monster!" A male voice shouted out, "Release her at once!" This was accompanied by the sharp click of a musket being cocked. With a low growl...and in complete control of my self, I moved in front of Sapphire, facing the man at my gate. He was disheveled; breathing quickly but lightly. The musket held confidently in his hands as if he knew exactly what to do with it. His brown hair was slick with sweat and snow, white flakes melting to droplets in his thin hair, but the look he gave me was focused, intense, the barrel of the gun pointed directly at my chest. "Now, Werewolf, step away from the lady," He said, "I'm sure you don't understand me, brute, but I bet you understand this!"
With a bang, the musket went off; there was an explosion of snow to my right, spraying shards of ice up towards our faces. Without a second thought, I threw myself on Sapphire, knocking her to the ground and covering her with my body. I heard Snowflake run away, probably to avoid the snow and the shot. I finally had Sapphire back; I wasn't about to lose her again.
'I won't let him get away with this!' Shut up! I looked down at Sapphire, highly aware that I was crushing her into the snow. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, a part of her red hair hiding among her hood and the snow; she let out a small whimper.
"Sapphire, are you all right?" I asked.
"Yes." She answered with a groan. "That's Dismal, Rizal's older brother...and the same man who tried to attack me. Dismal doesn't know about my family. He must've followed me...he wants to kill you."
"He won't." I growled, "You don't think I'll let him?"
"Get your hands off my woman!" Dismal shouted; there was another bang and a sharp stab in my shoulder. I howled with pain.
"Sagittarius!" Sapphire shrieked, but I pushed her back down. I didn't want her to be injured by him.
"You don't like that, do you Werewolf?" He shouted. Panting, I raised myself up off the snow, scarlet red drops splattering the ground as I did. I faced him, refusing to flinch, refusing to let the Werewolf get in the way of this, ensuring that my eyes bore right into his.
"No."I answered softly. "No, I don't. I really don't." 'What?' Dismal stumbled backward a step in shock, though the barrel of the musket didn't waver.
"What is this, a joke?" He asked. "You really think I can be fooled?"
"If you're as if I think you're a fool, the answer is yes." I said, "I'm Sagittarius, and you, stupid fool, are trespassing on my grounds." Wheezing, I got to my feet and chancing a glace at my shoulder. There was a perfectly round hold, blood streaming out of it to mat the fur on my arm and it was throbbing viciously. Dismal held the musket in front of him, breathing quickly and eyeing me warily. 'Let me take care of him, Sagittarius. He's going to kill us if you don't!'
"This is insane," Dismal said as he raised his gun again. "I don't know what you are, but if you think for a second that I will stand by and let you harm my lady!"
"Dismal, for once, shut your mouth!" Sapphire spoke those words as she was struggling to push herself up out of the snow. Her hood was over her face, hiding her black markings, but her hair was out from under it. Dismal and I both stared at her in surprise. As far as I knew, she had never willingly admitted to another person that she was my friend. Granted it had been a very weak attempt at dissuasion, but supposedly, it was the thought that was important. "It's not what you think!" She added as she stood up, "He's not a monster...he's my friend. Please, just...leave him alone!" Dismal actually laughed. A quiet chuckle, but it was enough for me to understand that nothing would stop him from defending his...'lady' that was hiding a secret that would make him turn away from her.
"A talking werewolf?" He asked, "You expect me to believe he's your friend?" He then laughed even more loudly. "Whatever magic that has caused this has now affected your mind, sweetheart." Sapphire made her own growl when she heard him call her that. "I saw you fight him earlier. He's ensnared you and I plan to make sure that you're free from him!" His dark eyes bored into mine...and I felt a strange sensation: fear. This man frightened me...because I could see the hatred in his face...and I realized that I would look the same way at anyone who I thought had hurt Sapphire.
I was trapped. I couldn't fight Dismal when I knew that he was only trying to protect the woman we both...'cared ' about. Regardless of whether she reciprocated the affection, we both wanted the same thing. Yet I knew that if I didn't fight, he would kill me without a second thought. Unfortunately, he didn't appear to be a reasonable sort of person. The arrogance in his demeanor said he wouldn't listen to anyone he saw as beneath him. I felt a sudden surge of jealously toward him, but I had something he did not. I glanced at Sapphire; saw the anger in her eyes as she stared at Dismal. She hadn't looked at me that way in weeks. If he took her, she would never be happy with him. I knew I had no choice, but to fight back.
The musket came up; I dove aside, ignoring the shower of ice and snow that blasted upward behind me. On all fours, I bounded toward him, zigzagging like the hunter that the Werewolf would do, flying over the snow until I stopped right in front of him. He tried to protect himself, the musket leaping up in front of his chest. He moved to get out of the way, but I was faster, on his chest, knocking him to the ground. He struggled under my weight, trying to get the rifle up to shoot me, but I snarled into his face and he stilled, glaring up at me with that unique mixture of terror and loathing. A crimson stripe was running down the side of this face. One of my claws must have scratched him.
"You have no right to be here!" I knew the Werewolf was going to come out any second. Even though he may have spoke, there was no way that I was going to let him take a life in my paws.
"Me?" Dismal asked, "I'm not the one jeopardizing lives, demon!"
"Shut up!" Both me and the Werewolf said. I knew that the Werewolf would kill him, but I wasn't going to let him. I knew that I could finish this if I could just get a hold of his gun. He couldn't possibly overpower me without it; all I would have to do is snap the musket in half, like I had with his brother's, Rizal's, gun. 'Don't be a darn fool, Sagittarius! He's going to kill us if you don't let me take care of this for us.' I won't let you take someone's life in my hands! I reached for it...and made my fatal mistake. I had released his shoulder...and he tightened his grip on the musket. The next thing I knew, he had twisted and slammed the butt of the gun into my jaw. I stumbled back in shock, stars exploding in front of my eyes.
Dismal lurched to his feet and his solid boot collided with my stomach. There wasn't enough force to behind it to knock me out, but I lost my footing in the snow and went down. I heard the ripping of the shirt I was wearing. Ever since the shot, the shirt had been slowly ripping apart. In the blink of an eye, the tides had turned. The Werewolf forced me up, coughing. Dismal was advancing on me, the gun held in his hand like a club. The Werewolf made me draw up to my full height, towering more than a head over him and he drew the musket back with all his strength. Time slowed then in that moment. As Dismal abandoned any thought of taking the time to reload and shoot me, opting instead for brute force, a sudden motion caught my eye.
Sapphire was sprinting toward us, throwing herself in front of me right as Dismal swung the gun. His eyes widened, but he couldn't stop it in time.
'Ha! Once that gun hits Sapphire's head, she won't survive that hit...and you can kill him out of revenge.'
I'll never do that! I did it without thinking. I shoved her out of the way. She sprawled to the ground as the butt of the gun collided with my chest. There was a terrible crack and my knees gave out.
At first, I felt only numbness, but that very quickly gave way to an intense, throbbing pain in my ribs and a much more alarming stabbing sensation in my side. I cried out with a howl of pain that left me breathless and I gagged and choked, tasting blood. Trying to sit up, I gasped, almost blacking out from the force of the pain. All the strength left my body as I focused on my ragged breathing. I almost laughed as I realized what must have happened. Dismal's swing had snapped my previously injured ribs. Judging from the intense pain and my inability to catch my breath, one must have pierced a lung. The irony of the situation was ridiculous, but as I coughed again, I realized, almost calmly, that this was an injury I was most likely not going to recover from.
'How can you laugh at a time like this? We're going to die!' At least, I can die...knowing a few things. 'Like what?' Sapphire is alive...and you won't be able to harm anybody. I heard footsteps, heavy ones, through the snow and the sound of the musket being cocked
"You're still alive?" Dismal said as I saw him approach me. He then pointed the gun at my chest. "Well, it won't be long now." I closed my eyes. There was nothing I could do anymore to prevent it, but then, I heard a noise: the sound of something hitting something else...hard. I opened my eyes for only a moment. I saw Sapphire holding a heavy tree branch and Dismal was lying there in the snow. I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, but I heard something being dragged away. I knew I wasn't going to come out of this. I felt something on my face...Sapphire's needle hands!
"Sagittarius, can you hear me?" She asked frantically, "Tell me you're okay!"
"I...can hear you." I groaned.
"Oh, thank the lord!" She said as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Sagittarius, I'm so sorry, this was all my fault! I should've realized that Dismal followed me. I should've stopped him. It shouldn't have gotten this far. If I could've just..." I shook my head and she stopped talking. With all the strength I had, I opened my eyes and saw her lovely face. Her face was very white against the gray sky, even her black marking seemed to be glowing against the falling snow. Sapphire put her needle hands under my shoulders and tried to help me sit up, but I screamed and she stopped, with a hand over her mouth. "It's my hands, isn't it?" She asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to hurt you." It was getting harder for me to breathe. I didn't have much time; I shook my head again.
"I..I don't think...I'm walking away from this, Sapphire." I managed to say, but to my surprise, tears started to form in her blue eyes.
"This is my fault." She cried, "I-I-I was trying to protect you, but..." Her voice broke and she looked away. Painfully, I reached up and touched her face.
"Hey now," I said, "if it did this much to me...j-just imagine what it would've done to you...I couldn't have let that happen..." I cringed as a wave of pain shot through my side. 'You're such a wuss! We're dying and you're more worried about her?' Shut up and let me have a piece of mind. Both of us are dying, the lease you can do is let me do my dying proclamation! I didn't hear the Werewolf again after that. A tear slipped down her face as she stroked the fur on my forehead.
"You'll be okay," Sapphire cried, "I told you I wouldn't let you die as a werewolf. You'll get better and...and then the curse will be broken."
"It's over," I said, "one white petal left." I closed my eyes on her, "But I thank you...for helping me..."
"No," Sapphire screamed, "Sagittarius!" It was strange to me. I had fought so hard for so long...and so close to the end, I had failed. Yet...I wasn't upset. I wasn't afraid. I had done all I could; it was out of my hands now. Though I could feel the strength leaving me...and my sight was growing dimmer every time I opened my eyes, I was at peace. I knew my fate...and I knew that at least I was dying with a better heart than I ever had, but...before I go, there was still one thing I had to do and I had to make sure that Sapphire knew. I open my eyes one last time.
"Sapphire..." I said hoarsely, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I came to the conclusion that my lungs were filling up. So...with the last bit of energy, I grabbed one of Sapphire's hands and placed it on my heart; then I rest my hand on her heart. I really hoped she got the message. My sight was totally black, but I could hear her gasping breaths as she tried to control her sobbing. In my mind's eye, I saw a vision: the final white petal, hanging on with all the strength that it had. This curse, my nightmare, was over. I felt my eyes closing.
"No, Sagittarius," Sapphire urgently pleaded, "no, stay with me! Stay with me, Sagittarius, please!" I was already gone; I could no longer feel her next to me. I felt...peace. I willingly went into the blackness, which to my surprise, wasn't dark. Then...from a distance, I heard Sapphire's voice once more. "I love you too." I felt more at peace now that she got the message. I knew she would...now I can rest in peace.