Chapter 3
(edited)
Namine ran back to her house, an excited look plastered on her face. Rushing inside, she hurried to her room and slammed the bedroom door, unintentionally waking her sister Kairi up.
"Namine?" Kairi groaned, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "What's-?" The auburn-haired teen looked at her clock and it read 6:30am. "Namine, school doesn't start until 8. What are you doing so early?"
"I think I finally got it," Namine responded, turning on the computer and plugging in her camera.
Kairi looked at the blond worryingly as her sister scrolled through various pictures on the screen. Her sister had been at this for years and Kairi's afraid it'll get out of hand sooner or later. "Namine, I know you've been searching for proof for so long, but how do you know for sure that you'll actually-"
She stopped and did a double take at the screen when Namine zoomed in on one of the pictures. It was of a small clearing in the woods, but what really caught the girls' attention was a dark figure hiding in the bushes, its bright yellow eyes peering toward the camera.
Namine smiled. "Gotcha."
As the students rushed into the school building, a black van had pulled up into the parking lot. "Thanks for the ride mom," Xion said gratefully as she got out of the car.
"No problem, but next time you miss the bus, you can walk to school," Tifa said sternly.
"If I ran, I would've made it before the bus."
"Don't forget to invite Riku over for dinner sometime. We need to talk to him about," Tifa looked around to make sure no one was listening and whispered, "transforming safely."
"Let me talk to him first." Xion remembered how Riku wanted to do things his way and she didn't want him to feel like he's being forced to be like everyone else.
"I'm glad you're willing to help him, but you should still invite him over every once in a while. So which one is he?" Tifa asked as she around the courtyard. Using her keen sense of smell and sight, Tifa was able to spot the silver-haired wolfblood walking towards the building. "That's him right?"
Xion followed her mother's gaze and grinned. "Can't hide anything from a wolfblood."
"I'm serious Xion," Tifa said, not returning her daughter's amusement, "He could expose us and put us in real danger."
"Mom, Riku's not an idiot." Xion said defensively. "Look, I've got to go. If he does decide to come over, just promise me you won't do anything embarrassing."
"Of course! Why on earth would I do that?" Xion rolled her eyes, not wanting to answer that question, and closed the car door before walking away. When she was about halfway across the courtyard, the sound of a car horn made her turn around.
"Remember Wednesday's Roast Night!" Tifa shouted. Xion gave her mother a pointed look before quickly walking toward the building, trying to avoid the weird looks from the other students.
"Xion!" Said girl looked up to see Roxas running up to her down the hall.
"Hey Roxas! What's going on?"
"Namine took this picture of the strange beast in the woods. Check it out!" he exclaimed, giving her a piece of paper.
Xion looked at it and her eyes widened when she saw a photo of a dark shadow with yellow eyes in the woods. Across the top of the page were the words Monster of Twilight Town. Proof at Last!
"Idiot," she mumbled inaudibly.
When Roxas and Xion arrived at their homeroom, everyone, their friends included, was looking at their copy of the posters while they were talking to Namine and asking her questions.
"I can't believe it! This is amazing!"
"That's so scary!"
"When did you get this?" Hayner asked.
"I took it this morning," Namine answered proudly.
"Unbelievable!"
"To think I thought you were crazy."
"It kind of looks like a wolf," Pence deducted, peering closely at the image, "Were you scared?"
"Not really. I've been searching for years," Namine replied. She was feeling proud of herself that she had finally found proof and people were now starting to believe her.
"You call this proof?" Everyone turned their heads to the doorway to see Xigbar with a skeptic look on his face.
"Yeah," Namine replied.
The one-eyed teen smirked. "As if! How do we know these aren't Photo-shopped?"
Everyone looked at Namine, but she wasn't fazed. "Say what you want, but I have the camera with the original photos. You can't fake those," Namine argued with a smug grin.
"Yeah, and I saw the picture myself after she took it this morning," Kairi added.
Xigbar shrugged indifferently. "Well, prove it. Show us."
Everyone followed Namine to her locker, where she claimed to have kept her camera. When the blonde opened it, she looked through her belongings for her camera. When she found it, she turned it on, only to see a message on the screen saying the memory card wasn't inside. Growing frantic, she thoroughly checked her locker to see if it was inside. While Namine searched, Xion caught the scent of pine and sea salt lingering by her locker. There was only one person she knew that had that scent.
"I swear I had it!" Namine cried when she couldn't find the memory card.
"Oh really? Maybe the monster took it," Seifer taunted.
"Well, someone must have taken it," Namine argued.
"Another one of your conspiracies Namine?" one of the students leered.
"You took it didn't you?" Namine said, glaring at Xigbar, "To make me look like an idiot?"
"As if!" Xigbar scoffed, "Like you ever needed any help with that." He smirked at Kairi. "Looks your sister got a little desperate didn't she Princess?" Everyone but Namine's friends laughed as they walked away. Axel glared at Xigbar and followed the one-eyed teen to interrogate him.
"Namine, are you sure you didn't leave it at home?" Sora asked.
"I'm sure of it!"
"Namine, we can just go home and see if the card's there," Kairi said.
"Kairi, I'm sure I had it with me before we left for school!"
"Namine, it's alright-"
"No it isn't Roxas! They believed me! No one has ever believed me before!"
"We believe you," Xion stated.
"Yeah," Olette said, "That's all that matters."
"No! I was so close this time and the evidence is still in that card!" Namine argued.
Everyone looked at the distressed blonde with worry and concern. They all knew how much this meant to her, and seeing her in this state just tears them to pieces.
"That was uncalled for!" Axel scowled as he walked after Xigbar.
"Oh really?" Xigbar asked indifferently, "Don't tell me that you actually believe the monster exists too!"
"..."
"Ha! Why you chose to be with those losers is beyond me, Flamingstocks."
Axel stopped in the middle of the hallway as Xigbar kept walking, the red head looking at the mono-eyed teen in contemplation.
During art class, Xion was sitting next to Riku, giving her the chance to interrogate him about the card.
"I know it was you," she whispered.
"Yeah. You can thank me later," he replied nonchalantly.
"Thank you?! You made Namine look like a fool!"
Riku shrugged. "Tough luck."
"Riku, if you hadn't had gone wandering around the woods this morning, none of this would've happened!"
The silvernette raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about? That wasn't me!"
"Then who else would it have been?"
"Whatever happened to innocent till proven guilty?"
"Our wolf pack hasn't been sighted in Twilight Town for years. Then you came around and Namine suddenly has a picture."
"What about your parents?"
"They don't go wolf in public!" Xion was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. "Why don't you just admit that you took the memory card just to cover your own tracks?"
"I only took it to protect us," he said defensively, "But if you'd rather protect your friend's reputation rather than your own kind, go ahead. See if I care!" He reached into his shirt pocket and slammed the memory card on the desk. Xion quickly stashed it in her pocket and naiether wolfblood speak another word to each other.
Later that day after school, Xion spotted Namine walking down the hall in utter humiliation. "Namine, are you okay?"
"Besides being the laughing stock of the whole school, I'm just fine," she sarcastically answered, "And now I've got detention tomorrow!"
"What?! Why?"
"Apparently, photocopying 30 posters is a misuse of school property. Kairi hasn't talked to me much since yesterday. She's probably embarrassed by her own sister. Xion, I need to find that card!"
Just then, a small group of students walked right by them, openly taunting Namine.
"Seriously, that girl has been obsessed since the third grade!"
"I know right?"
"So pathetic!"
"Couldn't have said it better myself." The hecklers laughed and Xion gave them a disapproving look.
"Namine. Don't listen to them-"
"You know what? I think I'm just going to head home..."
"Why don't you come over to my place? Or we can just hang out with Axel and Roxas? We can go to the beach or-"
"I think I'll pass..."
Xion looked at her warily, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Namine?"
Namine gave a ghost of a smile , but it quickly vanished and she walked away. Xion felt her heart grow heavy at the sight of her deeply troubled friend.
Running through the woods using his wolf speed, Riku followed the scent of lavender and vanilla to the clearing where Namine had taken the picture of the wolfblood. Although the silvernette was mad that Xion accused him of taking the memory card out of selfish reasons, he actually felt guilty he made Namine look foolish in front of the whole school. When he asked Kairi where Namine was, the red head told him she went off into the woods somewhere and the silver-haired wolfblood went to track Namine down.
His heightened sense of hearing picked up the sound of crying coming from a fallen tree. Looking behind it, he found Namine sitting down with a sktechbook clutched on her lap as tears cascaded down her .
"You okay?" Namine looked up to see Riku and she averted her gaze.
"Riku, please. I want to be alone," she said, sniffling.
Ignoring her request, he made his way over to her and sat down on the ground next to her. Riku peered down at sketchbook on her lap; it was a sketch of a dark figure up close with its piercing, fearsome eyes staring right at him. "That's pretty good."
Namine wiped away her tears. "Thanks…"
"So why are so interested in this monster of Twilight Town anyways?" he asked, hoping he wasn't treading on dangerous waters on the topic.
Namine looked at him, thinking that he was asking just so he could make fun of her as well. But seeing only concern and sincerity in his eyes, she took a deep breath and explained. "A few years ago, Kairi and I went on a camping trip in the woods with our friends. We were all asleep for the night after a long day of exploring..."
*Flashback*
A faint rustling from outside woke Namine up with a start. She looked around from inside the tent but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The blonde laid back down and tried to get back to sleep, but a snapping branch made her shot right back up. Seconds later, a dark shadow loomed on the side of the tent before it disappeared out of sight.
"Pst! Kairi," she whispered, nudging her auburn sister sleeping next to her.
Kairi groaned softly. "Namine, what's wrong?"
"There's something right outside the tent! Something really scary!"
"Namine, it was probably just a raccoon. Just go back to sleep." Kairi turned her body to the other side and slept soundly again.
Seeing that her sister couldn't be bothered anymore, she quietly got out of the tent with flashlight in hand and went to investigate.
She wandered into the woods, but not too far from the campsite. An eerie howl echoed through the night and Namine scanned the area with her flashlight as she was shaking in fear. "H-hello?" she called out.
...
"Hayner, Pence, if this is your idea of a joke, it's not funny!"
...
After searching for about a good 20 minutes, she decided to head back. Another howl reached her ears and Namine picked up the pace till she started to run. But her foot then hit a tree root and she fell flat on her stomach, her flashlight flying out of her hand and landing a few feet away from her.
Groaning in pain, she pushed herself up, but when she lifted her head, her blue eyes grew wider than plates at what she saw.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
*Flashback end*
"I couldn't tear my eyes away from this monstrous face and its piercing yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight. I screamed so loudly that it woke up everyone in the camp. By the time they found me in the woods, it was gone."
"So what do you think it was?" Riku asked, a bit intrigued by Namine's story.
"I don't know…when we got back to school, everyone heard about what happened. They made fun of me and I think even Kairi thought I was being crazy, even though she said she didn't. They all thought I was just doing it for attention. I was even sent to a child psychologist because I wouldn't stop talking about it…" she explained, staring down at the picture on her lap.
Riku looked at her sympathetically. "It's not nice to be accused of lying isn't it?"
"No…"
Xion sat in her bed as she went through the photos in Namine's memory card on her laptop. When she came upon the photo from the poster, she was about to delete it when her mother came into the room. "Hey Xion. I just got back from the market. Is Riku coming for dinner tomorrow?"
"I don't know…" Xion replied.
"Xion, what's wrong?" Tifa sat next to her daughter, her expression etched with concern, "You've had your tail between your legs ever since you came home."
"It's just…" Xion sighed deeply, "I'm tired of lying all the time. I can't even tell my friends what I really am…"
"Well, there's one friend you don't have to lie to," Tifa assured her, "Try to work things out with Riku. He can learn a lot from you."
"But he won't listen."
"Just be patient with him. The poor guy's never had a family, let alone a pack. We have to look out for each other." Tifa smiled and Xion returned it with her own. The raven-haired teen knew her mother was right about helping Riku with transforming safely, but after that argument they had two days ago, she still wasn't keen on talking to him yet. Once Tifa had left the room, Xion looked back at the monitor and hit 'delete'.
The next morning, Xion saw Kairi walking down the hall, talking to Olette. "Hey," she said, approaching the two, "How's Namine doing Kairi?"
"Surprisingly, she's been feeling a bit better," Kairi responded, "Why?"
"It's just...she was upset yesterday since she lost the memory card."
"She looked all over the house but she couldn't find it anywhere," the auburn-haired girl said, "after that, she ran off into the woods. When she got back, she wasn't as upset anymore."
"Really?" Xion asked, surprised.
Kairi nodded and Olette said, "And she wants us to go with her this weekend to go try and get another photo of the monster."
"Us?"
"Yeah. You, me, Kairi, and everyone else. She even said she'd invite Riku too."
"Riku?" Xion didn't expect Namine to invite Riku, considering that even though their friends had accepted to get along with the silvernette, there were still a few who were still wary of him.
"She saw him yesterday after school," the auburn girl told her, "Said he was very sweet. Kind of unexpected don't you think?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess…" Xion replied unsurely.
The warning bell rung and Kairi and Olette quickly said bye to Xion before heading off to class.
Xion was still surprised by the fact that Riku had helped cheer Namine up. And the blonde called him sweet, which wouldn't be one of the words Xion would use to describe him. Stubborn, independent, cocky even; but sweet? Maybe there was more to him than she originally thought…
At lunch period, Xion found Riku waiting in the lunch line in the cafeteria.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. You did the right thing taking the card."
"Yeah. Of course," he said, staring at the front of the line.
"So, I was wondering maybe you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Xion reluctantly asked, "My parents want to talk to you about…" She glanced around to make sure no one was listening and lowered her voice. "Wolfing out? You know, safely? I know you want figure things out on your own, but I think it's safer to get it out of the way."
"Out of the way. Sure," Riku responded, distracted.
Xion continued nonchalantly, "And my mom and I are going to braid your hair with ribbons and take a lot of pictures to show all of Twilight Town."
"Cool. Sounds great," he said, obliviously.
Xion scowled. "You're not even listening!"
"Sorry," he apologized, "Hey, do you know what's on the menu?"
"Uh, I think today's Veggie Wednesday." Riku groaned, and that's when Xion realized what was wrong with him.
"Meat."
"Where?" he cried, his eyes widened with excitement.
Xion smirked. "You've got cravings."
"My foster parents are vegitarians, Xion. It's hard enough trying to sneak a bite of meat every once in a while..."
"Well, Wednesday's Roast Night at my place. You know where you get a whole roasted pig," Xion said with an alluring tone, "With all the trimmings."
"A whole pig?" Xion tried to keep from laughing when she saw the hungry look in his turquoise eyes.
"Is that a yes?"
Riku nodded. "Sure. I'll be there." When he had finally made it to the front of the line, he looked down at the food in disgust. "That's it! I can't look at another vegetable!" He set his tray back and left the line, Xion watching him in slight amusement.
"Xion!"
"Hey!"
Said girl turned around to see Sora running up to her, worry etched on his face, with Hayner right on his heels."Guys, what's wrong?"
Still gasping for air, he asked, "Have you seen Namine or Kairi?"
"I saw Kairi this morning and Namine in Art, but not since then. Why?"
"Look at this." Hayner pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. Xion looked at the contents and her eyes widened.
"Oh no…"
Namine was walking towards the courtyard when she noticed a few posters mounted on the walls. Taking one down, she was shocked to see what was on it. The poster was similar to the ones Namine had put up, but instead of the dark figure, it had an image of a donkey with Namine's head.
"It was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen in my life!" Namine then saw Seifer, Xigbar, and a few other students just outside the building, laughing at one of the posters in their possession.
Namine's distraught expression shifted to an enraged glare. "You!"
"Oh no there it is!" Seifer cried out in feign fright.
"Monster!"
The others howled with laughter. Deeply enraged, Namine stomped over to them to give Seifer a piece of her mind.
Namine lunged at him, but Seifer only laughed as he held her off. "It's attacking me!" he cried out in fake horror, "It's trying to kill me!"
Pence, Olette, Roxas, Axel, and her sister Kairi noticed the hullabaloo and went to go break up the fight just as Xion, Sora, and Hayner came out
"Namine stop it!" Kairi cried as she pried her sister off of Seifer. Olette and Xion helped to hold the blonde back as she kept trying to come at him while the boys stood protectively near the girls.
Axel glared daggers at the smirking assailant. "What's your problem?!"
"Why can't you just leave her alone?" Roxas retorted.
Seifer smirked. "Like we need some poster to prove she's a loser."
"What is going on here?!" Everyone turned their heads to see Mr. Wise coming up to them.
"It was her!" Xigbar exclaimed, pointing at Namine, "she and her little friends tried to assault us!"
"What'd you say?!" Hayner growled.
Before anyone had a chance to explain, the teacher noticed the paper in Namine's hand. "More posters?" he asked incredulously.
"She's crazy! She needs help, ya know!"
"I don't need help!" Namine yelled, "The monster's real and I'll prove it!"
Mr. Wise looked sternly at Namine. "Well, you can do that after detention."
"What?!" Namine exclaimed incredulously.
"All of you!" Mr. Wise said, looking at everyone in the group.
"But sir, if you can just let us explain-!" Sora pleaded, but the teacher would take no excuses.
"Detention! All of you!"
"Namine, you okay?" Xion whispered, making sure that the teacher wasn't looking. Everyone was sitting quietly in detention, all of them anticipating its end.
"We have to go tonight," Namine muttered.
"Tonight? I thought we were doing it this weekend."
"The monster could be gone by then. We can't waste another day!"
"I can't make it tonight."
"Why?"
"I've got this dinner thing with my parents."
"Then get out of it!"
"I can't! They've been nagging me about it for weeks!"
"Fine." Namine then turned her attention to the others sitting nearby. "What about you guys?"
"Sure!"
"I'm game."
"Me too."
"Count me in!"
"Roxas? Axel?"
Roxas glanced at Namine nervously. "Well, actually, Axel and I were planning to watch a game tonight and-"
"Sure thing Namine," the flaming red-head said, cutting Roxas off, "Wouldn't miss it!"
Namine nodded gratefully and then looked at her sister. "Kairi? Are you going?"
Kairi hesitated slightly before replying. "I guess I could come along. After all, I've got to make sure you don't get into any trouble."
Namine smiled. "We'll meet at the clock tower at five."
Namine looked at her watch. 5 o'clock exactly. Kairi, Namine, and Olette were already at the clock tower. Now they just have to wait for the other three.
"Hey!" Axel, Roxas, Hayner and Pence, with his camera hanging around his neck, came toward the three girls. Once she made sure everyone was present, Namine asked if everyone got everything.
"Yep!" They all replied.
Olette then grabbed her knapsack and slung it over her shoulder. "Alright, let's head out!"
At the Strife household, Tifa and Cloud were preparing dinner when Xion came into the kitchen and saw the delicious food on the table. Not able to resist how tasty it smelled, Xion stole a slice of ham to eat.
"Xion, make sure you leave some for Riku," Tifa said sternly.
Xion rolled her eyes as she took another bite. "Mom, I'm sure he'll live."
"Now, your mother has gone through a lot of trouble making this," Cloud said seriously, but then his tone changed amusingly, "After all, the 'steaks' are high."
Both parents laughed. "Oh stop it you silly 'sausage'!" Tifa teased.
"Mom, Dad, please stop that," Xion whined, "I don't want you to make Riku-"
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Speak of the devil…
"I'll bet that's him." Cloud then went to go answer the door.
"Evening, Mr. Strife."
"Please Riku. Call me Cloud," the blond man said as he shook Riku's hand, "Come on in."
As dinner went on, Cloud and Tifa were pretty surprised by how quickly Riku ate his meals, already on his third plateful of meat. Xion wouldn't have guessed his cravings were that big. Then again he did say his foster parents were vegans.
When Riku noticed everyone at the table watching him, he apologized for his behavior, but Cloud and Tifa told him they didn't mind.
Riku smiled kindly. "It's nice, having a family you can be yourself around."
"Well, you're more than welcome to stop by any time Riku," Tifa assured him, "And if you have any questions about anything, just ask."
"On the full moon, do you transform here? In the house?"
"No, we have a secure room in the cellar," the raven-haired mother replied.
"Cellar?" Riku inquired.
As soon as dinner was over, everyone went down to show Riku the cellar below the house. There was a regular sized couch near the barred doors with a lamp next to it, and on the far end of the room were piles of leaves and shrubs, which were makeshift beds for then they take wolf form.
"You like it?" Cloud asked as the silvernette looked around. "Has everything a wolf wants."
"And it's safe for us and, well, everyone else," Tifa added.
"It's nice, but…don't you ever just want to get out and run free?" Riku questioned, "Isn't that what being a wolfblood's about?"
"Being a wolfblood is not just about giving in to our primal instincts," Tifa explained, "It's about being a responsible part of a wider community."
"Yeah, we have a rich heritage and culture," Cloud continued.
"Yes, but while most of us think it's best to tame our instincts-,"
Xion blinked at what her mother had said. "Most of us?"
"I-I just meant that-" Tifa denied, but Xion cut her off.
"No, you said most of us. You always told me we all kept ourselves locked away!"
Cloud looked at his wife worryingly. "Maybe we should tell her."
"No, she's not old enough," Tifa argued.
"Old enough for what?" Xion glanced between her parents in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Riku was thought deeply until he was able to put two and two together. "There are other wolfbloods who don't lock themselves away, aren't there?"
"RAWR!"
"BLARGH!"
Hayner and Sora jumped out of nowhere in front of everyone, their flashlights shining under their faces as they were pulling the silliest faces.
Everyone but Namine and Kairi laughed. "Quit messing around guys," Kairi said, her hands on her hip and shaking her head disapprovingly.
"You'll scare away the monster with all that noise," Namine hissed.
"Well sorry!" Hayner said annoyingly.
Axel chuckled, "Lighten up girls. No harm in having a little fun."
"Hey Olette, what snacks did you bring?" Roxas asked, his stomach grumbling from hunger.
Olette searched inside her knapsack. "Here. I've got some granola bars," she said, pulling out said snacks and handing them to him.
Everyone was unaware that there was something hiding deep in the woods, quietly watching them in the dead of night.
"Is this true?" Xion asked.
"We didn't want to tell you till after you transformed," TIfa explained.
"We didn't want to scare you," Cloud added.
"Scare me? Why would it scare me?" the ravenette questioned incredulously.
Tifa told her hesitantly, "Well, there are other wolfbloods who don't share the same values as us."
"Wild wolfbloods," Cloud explained further, "They're very rare and most of us agree it's better to be a useful part of society instead of…"
Xion looked at her father expectantly. "Instead of what?"
"Hating humans, and civilized wolfbloods like us. They're very dangerous."
Xion exchanged a glance with Riku. "It wasn't really you in that photo wasn't it?"
"I told you it wasn't me," he said.
Xion's indigo eyes widened. "Oh no…our friends are out there!" Before her parents can ask what was wrong, she ran out of the cellar.
"How much longer do we have to stay out here?" Hayner asked impatiently.
Olette sighed. "Just a bit longer. We promised we'd help Namine look."
The sound of a branch breaking made everyone freeze.
"What was that?" Kairi asked as they all looked around warily.
"Y-you know, maybe we should just go," Pence suggested nervously.
When they heard rustling, nearly everyone jumped. "You guys heard that too right?" Sora asked, getting a bit frightened.
"Yeah," Axel responded while everyone else nodded vigorously.
Noticing the fog around them getting thicker, Roxas said, "Namine, let's go. We won't be able to see anything much less get a good photo."
"Look at that!" Everyone looked to where Kairi was pointing and saw bright yellow eyes cutting through the thick fog from a distance.
Xion came back down the cellar and showed her parents Namine's poster of the wild wolfblood. "Namine took this yesterday. I thought it was Riku cuz I didn't know about wild wolfbloods!"
"Where did they go?" Cloud asked.
"They went here," Riku told them, pointing at the picture, "I can't explain where it is exactly, but I can find it!"
"No. You two stay here," Tifa ordered as she and Cloud headed out, "If there's a wild wolfblood out there we'll sniff it out!"
Xion and Riku ran out of the cellar after the two adults, but they were too late as they watched the van drive off into the woods.
"This is crazy! They don't even know where they are!" Riku retorted.
"Mom and Dad know what they're doing," Xion said, but that didn't reassure the silvernette as much as it would herself.
"If that wolf's out there, he'll hunt down our friends and who knows if your parents will find them before he does!"
Xion knew he was right. What if they don't reach their friends before the wild wolfblood? "Alright. Let's go find them. But no wolfing out. Pence most likely has his camera with him." With that, the two teens ran off into the woods, following their friends' scents.
Fumbling with his camera, Pence held it up and started snapping a few shots. With every flash, the beasts' eyes shined even more until it had vanished into the fog. "Ugh! It's gone!" Pence groaned.
"Guys, let's just go!" Olette urged when they heard rustling again, only closer than before.
Nobody moved, not even the slightest. "You hear that?" Roxas murmured.
"Sounds really close," Namine whispered.
Axel nodded. "Yeah. Six o'clock."
"It's close to seven actually," Sora said as he glanced at his watch.
"No, he means right behind us," Kairi whimpered. They all slowly turned around and-
"RRRAAAHHHH!"
Everyone yelped and screamed, but then calmed down and glared when they saw who it was.
"Ha! You should have seen the look on your faces!" Xigbar exclaimed as he, Seifer, and two other boys laughed. One had short black hair and dark skin while the other had pale skin and sported a dirty blonde mullet.
"You jerks!" Kairi hissed.
"Yeah! Not funny!" Sora shouted, glaring at the four laughing their eyes out.
"So, you found your 'monster' yet?" Seifer smirked mockingly once he and his comrades had calmed down from their laughing fit.
"No! Thanks to you, you probably scared it off!" Namine shouted angrily.
"That's ridiculous, ya know?" Rai reprimanded.
"Yeah! What kind of monsters would be scared of us?" Demyx boasted. But all anger and amusement vanished when a howl echoed into the night.
"W-what was that?" Pence asked shakily. Everyone started to move closer to one another until they were back to back in a large circle.
"It's probably just a dog," Hayner said unsurely.
"It's not a dog. It's the monster," Namine claimed, scared yet determined.
"Well, I'm not hanging around to find out," Demyx whimpered as he was about to make a run for it, but Axel pulled him back.
"Hold it! If you run, it'll just chase you!" A few collective gasp escaped when everyone heard rapid footsteps coming their way.
"It's getting close!" Hayner said, his voice shaking as the footsteps got louder and closer.
Closer.
Closer.
"AAAHHHH!"
Everyone screamed as Xion and Riku abruptly halted in front of their friends, relieved that they made it.
"Are you guys okay?" Xion asked once everyone had calmed down.
"We would be if you hadn't nearly given us heart attacks!" Pence reprimanded.
Xion then narrowed her eyes disbelievingly when she noticed Seifer, Xigbar, Demyx, and Rai with them. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Namine asked back, "I thought you were having dinner with your parents."
Sora glanced at both Riku and Xion. "You're having dinner with Riku?"
"Like on a date?" Seifer asked amusingly, earning a couple of "oohs" from the other three boys.
If it weren't for the dark veil of night, Xion's blush would've been noticeable, whether it was from embarrassment or anger. "Oh shut up! He's my cousin!"
"Uh, guys…"
"Don't bother denying it poppet! It seems pretty obvious!"
"Guys…"
"Don't you ever just shut up Xigbar?"
"Why don't you make me Flamingstocks?"
"Guys!"
"What?!" Everyone asked, looking at Sora in slight irritation. He pointed at a dark shape with glowing yellow eyes moving in the fog.
"It's the monster!" Demyx cried out as everyone stared in shock as the figure disappeared. Little did anyone notice Riku had silently slipped away.
Roxas then heard growling from behind and turned around slowly. "No, that's the monster!" he shouted, making the others look in the same direction. The same dark figure, shrouded by the fog, growled fiercely as it bore its yellow eyes at the teenagers.
"Everyone get back!" Axel ordered. Everyone but Xion complied and the ravenette only took a cautious step towards the wild wolfblood in the shadows. "Xion! Xion, get back here!"
The ravenous wolf stalked closer to them when all of a sudden, another dark shape tackled it to the ground.
Xion turned to her friends and yelled, "RUN!" Everyone ran off in the opposite direction of the wolf as fast as they could. Coming up to a large grove of roots and branches, everyone jumped and climbed over them when-
"Ah! OW!"
Everyone stopped and looked back. "Roxas!" Namine cried worryingly when she saw the spiky blonde sprawled on the ground and ran to his side. "What's wrong?"
"My foot! It's stuck!" he exclaimed as he tried to pry his foot out from the tangled roots.
As Hayner, Olette, Sora, Pence, Kairi, Xion, and Axel rushed to help him, another howl was heard and Seifer, Xigbar, Rai, and Demyx were about to flee. "Wait! Aren't you gonna help us get Roxas out?" Xion asked incredulously.
"Whatever! It's every man for himself!" Seifer responded.
"Let's go, ya know!" Rai exclaimed as he, Demyx, and Xigbar ran right behind Seifer.
Hayner scoffed. "Cowards…"
As the seven of them worked on getting Roxas unstuck, they grew more frantic when they heard growling and snarling.
"Pence give me your camera!" Xion ordered, holding her hand out.
"What? Why?" Pence asked, confused.
"The flash blinds the monster!" she explained. Reluctantly, Pence removed his camera from around his neck and gave it to Xion. "You guys help Roxas get free! I'll drive the monster away!" she said just before running back the way they came.
"Xion, wait! Stop!" Axel shouted, but Xion was out of earshot as she disappeared into the fog. "Once you get him out, stay here till it's safe! I'll go help Xion!" Before anyone could protest, Axel had gone off after her.
Once Xion had reached the clearing where she saw the wild wolfblood, he was fighting against a familiar silver wolf. She watched as the two wolves growled as they circled each other, waiting for the other to make a move. The wild wolf made the first move and lunged, but Riku was able to evade its jaws and retaliated by striking back. But the wild wolfblood tacked him, knocking the silvernette back and causing him to hit a large boulder before he collapsed on the ground.
"Riku!" The other wolf hovered over the fazed silver one, but it turned its attention to Xion when she screamed, "Leave him alone!"
At first, the wild wolfblood looked at the glaring ravenette as just a mere human bystander, but it growled fiercely when it saw her indigo eyes change to a bright yellow. Once Xion got the wolfblood's full attention, she used Pence's camera flash to blind it and scare it away. Her eyes returning to normal, Xion saw Riku sprawled on the ground in his human form and ran to his aide.
Roxas rubbed his ankle as he sat on the ground, glad that he was free but a bit upset that he might've sprained it.
"Are you going to be okay?" Namine asked worryingly.
"It still kinda hurts, but I'll be fine," he assured her.
"Hey, listen," Olette said under her breathe. Everyone remained quiet as they listened. Hearing nothing, Hayner and Sora peered out into the open, scoping the area.
"I think it's gone," Sora whispered and Hayner nodded in agreement.
While Riku rested by the tree, Xion checked to make sure he wasn't too injured from the fight. "You okay Riku?"
"A bit banged up, but I'll be okay," Riku replied, groaning softly from the pain.
Xion then sat down next to him and looked through Pence's camera, deleting any image where the wolfblood was clearly visible. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
Riku shrugged. "I don't blame you. We didn't know about wild wolfbloods."
"How about this one?" she asked, showing him one of the photos.
"You can't really tell it's a wolf," he replied.
"Well, we have to leave something for Namine."
"Yeah. Oh, this one shows my best side." Xion rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Where'd the others go?"
"Roxas got his leg stuck, so the others were helping him. As for Seifer, Xigbar, Rai, and Demyx, it was 'every man for himself'."
Riku chuckled softly. "Cowards."
"No kidding." Xion then got an idea. "I'll be right back!"
"So I guess I'll go find the others on my own huh?" Riku yelled sarcastically as Xion ran off to who knows where. Riku smirked. "Alright."
Xion ran through the trees as she followed a certain scent when a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Well hello there, Xion."
Said girl turned her head and saw Axel leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. "A-Axel. What are you doing here?"
"After you ran off, I had to make sure that monster didn't try to kill you," he explained, "But seeing that you're still alive, I guess everything's under control now."
Xion was stunned with shock. Did Axel saw what happened?
"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Axel said, arching his eyebrow.
Xion shook her head. "I-it's nothing."
Axel was suspicious at first, but then decided to brush it off. "Where's Riku?"
Xion let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, relieved that Axel didn't see. "He went back to the others."
"Anyway, I get the feeling that you're looking for a certain foursome right?" He laughed when he saw Xion's surprise face. "Funny, I was thinking of the same thing when they flaked out on us. Now what do you say we work together on getting a little payback?"
Xion smirked in response.
"Alright then, let's go find them!" Xion then took off, not noticing the suspicious look on Axel's face as the red head glanced from Xion and towards where she was running from before going after her.
"What do you think it was?" Hayner asked as he and Riku helped Roxas walk on his hurt ankle.
"It had to be a beast," Sora guessed.
"Sure sounded like one," Pence agreed.
"Or it could've been foxes," Riku argued, "I mean, have you ever seen foxes fight?"
Just then, Xion and Axel had caught up to them, though they unintentionally making everyone jump.
"Where have you been?" Olette asked, still recovering from the scare.
"Looking for you," Axel answered. After returning the camera to Pence, Xion and Axel walked along with their friends as they trekked through the woods.
"Anyway, what I saw was way bigger than a fox. There's definitely something out there," Namine stated.
"What's that?" Riku asked as they saw a light coming their way. It was then revealed to be a black van and when the car stopped in front of the teens, Tifa and Cloud stepped out.
"Is everyone alright?" Tifa asked, and then noticed Riku and Xion with them, "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Kairi asked suspiciously.
Tifa stuttered, "W-we were-"
"Going out for a drive," Cloud finished.
"Cloud likes star-gazing," Tifa said at the same time Cloud said "Tifa likes bird watching", earning a few skeptic looks from the group of teenagers.
"Right," Axel said suspiciously, but then addressed the matter at hand. "Anyway, Roxas sprained his ankle."
Tifa gasped. "Let's get you back to the house. The rest of you, we'll take you home as soon as we get Roxas patched up." Everyone then piled into the van without hesitation.
"You okay?" Xion asked Roxas.
"Just a bit freaked out I guess," he answered, everyone else then admitting they were too as the van drove off.
"No...no...no...no...no..."
Namine searched through the photos from Pence's camera through Xion's laptop, only finding many that didn't have a clear image of the monster. Riku, Xion, Axel, Kairi, and Sora were in Xion's room with Namine while Roxas, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were in the living room so Tifa could patch up Roxas' ankle.
"Wait! What's that?" Sora exclaimed, causing everyone in the room to look at the monitor. But upon closer inspection, their anticipation deflated. "Oh. Just a badger, never mind…"
"Namine, I don't think any of them are good enough," Kairi solemnly said.
Namine shook her head. "I know it's out there Kairi. I'll find it. Someday…"
"What about this one?" Axel asked as he pointed at one of the photos showing the monster's eyes. "it's not clear but you can still see something though."
"It might be good enough for another poster at least," Xion added.
"No guys. I think I'm done with posters," Namine sighed.
"Are you sure you're done with posters?" Xion said slyly, clicking on a certain picture. They all had amused expressions plastered on their faces.
The next morning, Seifer, Xigbar, Rai, and Demyx were walking up to the school building when they saw their 10 least favorite people standing casually near the entrance.
"What are you looking at, chickenwusses?" Seifer scoffed as he and the guys brushed passed them, ignoring the smirks on the teens' faces.
Going through the hallways, the four guys couldn't help noticing that a few of the students were looking at them strangely and laughing at them. They were confused by this until they noticed the posters of them on the walls.
"'Crybabies of Twilight Town'?" Xigbar read out loud, all four of them in utter shocked.
"I didn't cry!" Demyx denied.
"I wasn't crying, ya know!" Rai said.
Seifer only grumbled as he ripped off one of the posters and crumpled it before throwing it to the ground.
As Xion and her friends watched the humiliated four walk away, they were feeling pretty satisfied that they got a little payback.
"Alright!" Sora cheered as he pumped his fist in the air.
"Sure showed him!" Hayner said as he fist bumped Roxas and high-fived Pence and Riku.
The girls did a group high five and Axel smiled as he watched the others celebrate. But when his eyes fell on Xion and Riku, his eyes showed a slight hint of suspicion.
Phew! Over 7,500 words and 22 pages. By far, the longest chapter I have ever put up! :P
Hope you guys like it! :)
By the way, thank you so much for those who reviewed the last two chapters and those who favored and followed this fanfic.
Followers: Jennifer861, Skylar Windsong, and attack on kronos
Favorers: Jenifer861 and Skylar Windsong
Reviewers: Muffinmilk317, Skylar Windsong, and dreamdropwriterboy
Thank you so much! :D
I don't know if I'll keep working on this fanfic even after Halloween, but we'll see.
Please review! Tell me what you liked, what you think needs to be worked on, etc. Constructive criticism is most appreciated!
See you in the next chapter!
Arrrrrroooooooooo!