My Promise to You [matsi]

[Knight]

Blond haired and green eyed, she pittered down the street, sneakered feet slapping against the ground, her gaze lowered so that she could navigate the streets in some semblance of peace. The crimson dipped below the horizon, throwing shadows across the streets, making them look even more dangerous than before. You could almost picture the men lurking in the shadows clutching knives and leering at every pretty girl that passed them, and that wouldn't be much of a stretch. It was a city in trouble, a city that was fighting over every last scrap of food that Luyu traveled through.

Her name meant Wild Dove, and to those who knew her, she was Dove. That was how she liked her name to be. Luyu was strange, different and even more so than Dove. Plus, Dove was more fitting in this day and age. What her mother had been thinking, Dove wasn't sure, but now she was burdened with a such a name, though she bore it good-naturedly.

The sidewalked narrowed, then disappeared, leaving Dove to walk along a narrow street, which rapidly became dirt beneath her feet, and then a trail. She wasn't paying much attention to the path that she walked - she'd walked it hundreds of times before, and she continued to do so on the night of the full moon. Not because of any of the rumors about the "Big Foot", but because of the fact that she'd done that with her mother once, and she continued to do this, even as her mother proclaimed her too old to do such foolish things and to believe such tales of the magic of the full moon.

Being grounded certainly didn't stop her, though. Her mother couldn't stop her from leaving the house to go to school (which she rarely did actually go to), and all she had to do was just not go home.

Passing the large building that marked the last of civilization, Dove hardly spared the building a second glance. It wasn't all that busy, so no one would be watching for a girl clothed in all black to slip into the shadows of the forest, or for her sure feet to pick their way across a trail that made sense only to her as the sun steadily lowered.

Fishing around in her pocket for a second, the girl withdrew a flashlight and let it dangle from her right hand for when she would need it, before continuing forward. The clearing was up ahead, the clearing she'd picked Night Lilies (couldn't resist, lol. x3) in on each night of the full moon since she'd been able to walk.

Breaking through the trees, she reached the clearing nearly an hour before the sun would fully set. Surveying the clearing for a moment, Dove settled against the base of a tree and let her eyes drift shut. She faced no threat in these woods.

[Matsi]

Four pairs of eyes watched their patch of flowers. Their patch. Ever since the other patches of the NIght Lilies had been destroyed by those Shamans and elders that had cursed one of them, well, they had protected these ones even more. The taller of the two was cursed by the shamans by request of a frantic mother three years ago. His name was Kobe. Already, he was beginning to shift under the rising full moon. His copper eyes narrowed and white-silver fur with black spots on it began to cloak his body. Two rounded ears began to sprout from his skull and a tail from the end of his spine. His shirt ripped off of his chest, and his jeans ripped in places. Before long, a 6'5'' tall WereCloudedLeopard stood in the bushes. His large fangs were slightly bared as he tried to shake off the pain of his shift. As soon as his shift was over, he turned and ran off into the woods. The other young man, about the same age, only kept his golden eyes on the flower patch. His face was peacefull, and harmless looking. Compared to Kobe in human form, he looked almost angelic. His copper hair was shaggy in his face. He, like Kobe, Was a were. Bitten at the innocent age of ten years, he had suffered the shifts for seven years now. Soon, as the moon light began to bath his angelic form, he too make the transformation. His shaggy hair seemed to begin to engulf his body as his form cracked and took a new shape. Before long, the werewolf form was all that was left. He, unlike Kobe, did not turn and run into the forest. He could now smell what Kobe had smelled though. That female scent that lingered in this area from months past. This being their first month in this area, they were eager to see her, and end her threat on the flower garden.

Kobe's Were form, though large, moved silently through the trees. He had found the girl quickly, and was soon walking parallel with her in the forest. His pelt gave him perfect camoflage. Like a rock dappled with moon light. His brown eyes watched her, and his tail lashed out. She was heading towards his garden. He could not allow that! He bounded forward and into the path. There, he stood on his hind legs, facing her, and waited.

[Knight]

Luyu had begun to doze at the base of the tree, her green eyes slipping shut when the wraith-like form hurried forward to plant itself firmly in her path. Immediately, Luyu's eyes snapped open, focusing on a creature that stood between her and her night lilies. It was not human, she recognized instantly, green eyes flashing as she leapt to her feet, hands reaching for a weapon that was not there. "Shit." It was an absent swear, but a swear all the same that escaped the girl as she stared at the nearly seven feet tall form.

"What do you want?" She snapped, trying not to panic. "And why exactly are you here, standing between me and my flowers?" Shoot. This wasn't good. Was this the Bigfoot that had many had sworn that they'd seen in these woods? What was it doing there?

Or was it a him. Crap, Luyu didn't know. She swept her gaze across its form, noting the animalistic qualities to his body. Ears. Fur. A were, then? One who was humanoid, cursed and not quite human. Her mother had taught her about them when she was young.

Of course, it could also be a true monster. One that was not simply cursed, but one who was truly a monster. That would be just the thing that would be lurking around the one remaining field of the night lilies in these local lands, trying to stand between her and the ingredients needed for a hedgewitch's potions.

[Matsi]

Kobe snarled absently as he looked at the girl move. As she reached for a weapon that wasnt there, he flinched. Weapons were all too familiar in his life. Though she seemed to want to be on the offencive, she seemed to dainty to really be a threat. It was hard for Kobe to believe that she was the 'beast' that was stealing the only thing that kept him from staying in this cursed form. His nose flaired out as his chest rumbled more. She spoke. His ears pricked forward to listen to her just as Nikan's foot falls sounded behind him.

Nikan slunk in the trees now, just behind Kobe, on all fours. His golden eyes were focused in on the girl. Unlike Kobe, he was not soft of heart in his Were form. He was all instinct. He wanted her blood. He wanted to bite her, and rip her heart out. She had no need for that any way. His ears were focused in on the girl as she spoke. It made him snarl sharply. Kobe shot him a warning glance that sent him back a few steps. He was smaller than Kobe, and Kobe was alpha.

Kobe knew he had control of Nikan, atleast for now. So he turned his attention back to the girl.
''Do you realize,'' His voice was harsh and had the hint of a growl in it as he spoke and huffed.
''That this is the LAST patch of these moon flowers?'' He asked in a sharp tone as he crossed his arms and let his claws sink into his muscular, furred arms. His ears were pinned now as he staired at her with dagger like eyes. He tried to keep one ear on Nikan as the werewolf circled around them.
''Those flowers are the only Link to Humanity for creatures like myself,'' Kobe growled again.
''Come on, Kobe,'' NIkan padded closer to the girl, his nose twitching as he took in her scent with hunger. Shoe strings of drool dripped from his large wolfentine maw as he licked his lips. His golden eyes were focused on her, as if she were a deer, his prey.
''Quit being the nice guy, and lets just eat the intruder. I have been craving a heart,'' He lifted himself up onto her hind legs. He wasn't as tall as Kobe, but he was over six foot easily. He reached out with one clawed hand and ran the tip of his index claw under her jaw line. He snickered and growled more as drool leaked from under his lips.
Kobe let out a snarl and hiss.
''Nikan. That will not happen. Back off,'' He snapped as he dropped himself to all fours and stepped closer to the girl. Nikan recoiled and stepped back from the girl. He soon fell back onto all fours and slunk back into the shadows. He stayed just on the fringe, half crouched, ready to pounce on his prey the moment Kobe turned his back.

[Knight]

((yeah so I didn't really feel like rewriting it. we'll just pretend my previous posts were better. >>))

And now we're grown up orphans,
And never knew their names,
We don't belong to no one,
That's a shame.

Luyu's eyes narrowed slightly when Kobe snarled at her. "I am fully aware of that. That's why I'm here." She said smoothly, knowing full well that this creature, whatever he was, was a threat. The voice was masculine, but very animalistic, so Luyu was rethinking her actions swiftly. Obviously, she wouldn't have been able to fight him (she noticed with a rapidly beating heart that another creature had appeared from the shadows as well) and hissed nervously, glancing about cautiously, trying to decide if she could make a run for it. On the one hand, sticking around seemed like a bad idea, but on the other, Luyu did need to snag a night lily to make up for sneaking off again. At least that might make her mother happy. Not that much did these days.

Luyu sighed, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I would only like one. Could you spare a single flower? If you couldn't, I'd understand..." Okay, it was probably a good idea to not make demands at the moment. With two potential weres stalking her, Luyu was not in a good position. Perhaps her mother had had the right idea in grounding her so that she wouldn't get into more trouble. Clearly, Luyu hadn't listened to the woman. And now she was in trouble.

She had mostly tuned the other one out, but when he spoke of eating her, Luyu let out a startled yelp. "C'mon, isn't that just a little bit unnecessary?" She liked being alive! And being non-eaten. She didn't really want to be eaten. Life wasn't amazing, but it could be a hell of a lot worse and Luyu wasn't ready to give up on it yet. She stiffened when the creature's hand touched her jawline, flinching slightly but forcing herself not to recoil. Instead, Luyu stood, her eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed into the creature's golden eyes. Was his name Nikan? That was what this Kobe had called him. Or was that a title? Okay, Luyu was really confused.

Kalia Mielikki was another drifter in the world. The girl was petite, with black hair and sharp blue eyes. She wasn't the most distinctive of girls, but she did stand out just a little bit, wandering down the path in the moonlight. Like Luyu, she had a goal in mind. Hers wasn't night lilies, however. She didn't know that they existed, to tell the truth. Kalia didn't have much experience with the supernatural. Instead, Kalia just wanted to see the stars. The moon was waxing, growing prettier and brighter by the night, and Kalia just wanted to see them. None of her friends really understood that burning desire, so Kalia just went by herself, ignoring the rumors that had spread far and wide of the creatures that haunted these woods.

She was wandering aimlessly, and stumbled across the trio entirely by chance. At first, Kalia didn't notice how different the two boys were. Instead, what she really noticed was how predatorily they were eyeing the girl, who looked rather uncomfortable. Fearing that she had stumbled across a robbery or something, Kalia kept quiet and edged a little closer. Her ears had to strain to make out the words, but when she heard them, Kalia's eyes went wide. "Let's just eat the intruder. I have been craving a heart." Well. That was . . . interesting. And kind of scary, honestly. What exactly had she just wandered into the middle of?

It didn't seem like a robbery anymore. Maybe the rumors were true? But as much as it seemed like a bad idea to get any closer, Kalia was a curious girl. So she wandered forward, eyes bright with curiosity as she eyed the two . . . things. "What are you?" Kalia asked loudly. Okay, so she'd never exactly been the most tactful of people. But she was kind of worried about what was going on and this was her attempt to figure something out. Hey, maybe this stargazing expedition wouldn't be wasted after all. Maybe this was a movie! Yeah, that made more sense. More sense than the alternative, anyways.

But you could hide beside me,
Maybe for a while,
And I won't tell no one your name,
And I won't tell 'em your name.

[/blockquote][/center]

[Matsi]

(Sorry, crappy...short...tired...dead....HAHA)

Kobe snarled and watched Nikan again for a moment, before shifting his eyes to the girl that he stood in front of. He couldn't believe that she still had the NERVE to ask for just ONE flower. His nose flared as he took in her scent as he thought about what to do next. Then his brown eyes narrowed and he snarled more. That scent. He knew that scent. Yet, before he could respond, a new voice sounded.

Nikan was closest to the new-comer. He had heard her coming, but thought that the light walking sound had just been that of another animal, not a human. So, when her voice sounded, he snarled, swung his head around violently and leapt at her. His large frame pushed her to the ground and his large paw like hands pressed her shoulders to the ground as he snarled with his nose just in front of her face. He licked his lips as he inhaled deeply, taking in her delicious scent.
"Poor creature. Don't even know what's abpout to kill you." He snarled with another lick of his lips.
"Let me enlighten you. I am a Were. A werewolf to be exact. The finest of the Wolves. Now, that you have been enlightened ---"
"Nikan!" The werewolf snapped his jaws shut and looked back at his companion, or AKA alpha.
He snarled, and kept his teeth together, but he didn't lift his paws from the new-comer's shoulders. She wasn't going ANYWHERE.

Kobe's eyes watched Nikan and the newcomer for a moment, but his attention was back on the first girl with THAT scent.
"She sent you, didn't see? She wants YOU to do her dirty work, doesn't she? That coward. That weak coward!" He spit and snarled as his eyes narrowed and the fur on the back of hic neck rose and prickled. That bastardly woman!

[Knight]

When the world is insane,
You get used to the pain,
And you don't even know what you feel,
And I am like you, all alone and confused.

Kalia's first reaction when the creature launched itself at her was to scream. All things considered, it was not a particularly helpful reaction, seeing as there was no one for miles except for these three creatures, but Kalia was done being rational. Concern had vanished from her mind and she was about to make a run for it when the creature slammed into her. Kalia hit the ground beneath his larger bulk with a yelp, her shoulder slamming into the earth beneath his hands. She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she stared up at the creature that had shoved her to the earth, watching with nervous eyes as he licked his chops and he growled viciously.

Kalia was scared. To be exact, she was terrified. She was scared that she was going to die all because she wanted to be a good Samaritan and save a stranger from being robbed. You sure picked a good time to develop a moral conscience. Kalia thought to herself irritably. It wasn't that she was immoral, per say. It was more that she just really didn't care that much about others. Kalia looked out for herself and her family first. This was what she got for going against the grain, it seemed.

Remaining deathly silent as the creature spoke, Kalia's features twisted into a frown. "There's no such thing as werewolves." She said with conviction in her voice. There was a good deal less conviction than there would have been even five minutes ago, before she'd decided to go on this stupid walk, but Kalia wasn't sure that they weren't just actors or something. She was fluctuating wildly about what he was, but whatever he was, he was certainly rather scary. Kalia was really regretting this whole coming to the rescue of this stranger thing.

It was only when the other creature snapped at the one pinning her down that Kalia relaxed. Nikan, huh? "Uh, my name's Kalia? And are you still going to try and eat me?' Kalia asked nervously, her voice high and squeaky. It was hard to seem like you weren't freaking out when you were pinned to the ground beneath a massive person . . . thing that claimed to be a werewolf. But to give Kalia credit, she really was trying. Right then, she was focused on getting away, and then she was never, ever going to come back.

Luyu stared nervously at the other girl, her gaze flicking from the werecreatures to the girl and back again. She didn't know what to do. One of the werecreatures (a wolf, she guessed) had the stranger pinned down but the other was still able to move freely. Basically, Luyu was pretty much screwed. This had really been a bad idea hadn't it? It was going to be a pain to try and explain this one to her mother, because Luyu certainly wasn't going to mention the werecreatures. Yeah, that would really go over well. Luyu could just imagine it. Her mother would ground her so badly that Luyu never even got to see the daylight again, and this time, her mother would certainly ensure that Luyu didn't go sneaking off places.

But it was the creature (Kobe)'s snarled words that brought Luyu back to the present. She looked quite confused as she frowned, puzzling over the meaning of his words. "I . . . who?" She looked blankly at Kobe, rather confused at the moment. At least she wasn't in imminent danger of being eaten. This was a vast improvement over a few moments ago.

Unfortunately, the stranger who had made the mistake of wandering into the wrong neck of the woods seemed to be well and truly stuck. Luyu wasn't sure that she just wanted to waltzing off and leave the random chick there, especially since she seemed to have had no previous contact with the supernatural. Luyu, at least, had a little bit of background in it. She wasn't as versed as her mother, but then, Luyu didn't plan on devoting her life to the supernatural either.

Speaking of her mother, Luyu's thoughts finally came full circle. She really didn't like to not know things, so Luyu glanced curiously at Kobe once more, wondering what exactly was going on. This was rather confusing, to say the least. She felt kind of bad for the girl that had accidentally run into them, but hey, maybe Nikan or whatever the one pinning her down was called would let her up and then they could make a run for it together.

Yeah, it was a nice thought. It was possible, but it really wasn't likely. So Luyu busied herself with trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

Time won't ever steal my soul,
And we're not broken, so please come home,
And if the world has worn you down,
I'll be waiting, so please come home.

[/blockquote][/center]

[Matsi]

Nikan's copper gaze was sharp as he glared down at the girl under his massive paws. The fur on the back of his neck was on end with his frustation. The one time of the month that he could easily destroy and eat something fresh, and Kobe wasn't going to let him. Strings of drool slipped from his fangs as he just hovered over Kalia. Though he was silently invisioning ripping her to shreds, his ears took in her words. No answered were given to her, though. No, he wasn't going to enlighten her any more than he already had.

When Kobe started snarling, Nikan's head lifted slightly and he looked at the leopard-man. His nose twitched, and he blinked a few times. Then a new growl escaped him as he lifted on paw from Kalia's shoulders, grabbed her by the ankle, and dragged her with him as he awkwardly wandered behind Luyu.
"She smells like her," He snarled as he stood up on his hind legs and bared his fangs again once more. His eyes darted to the girl that he held by the ankle, and watched her for a moment. He had to make sure his meal wasn't going to get away after all.

Kobe nodded slightly to Nikan as he spoke.
"The night witch. Witch Merrell," Kobe growled, though he was far less persistant and loud than Nikan.
"You work for her, don't you?" Kobe asked again, growling as he spoke. His eyes were sharp and glaring as he looked at her, daring her to say the wrong answer, or lie. He would see through her lie, even if it meant the end of him and Nikan, he wanted to know the truth. If this one worked for her, which he was almost positive of, then that Witch would be back in town. It could finally be his chance.

[Knight]

There was something to be said for sitting underneath a werewolf that was drooling in your face. First of all, it was a slightly disturbing experience for someone who had never believed in werewolves or anything supernatural before this moment. And second of all, Kalia's life was threatening to flash before her eyes. He looked dead set on eating her, and him not answering her question made her even more nervous. She hadn't thought it was possible until he just sat over her, looking ready to eat her.

Kalia yelped loudly when he grabbed her by the ankle, her momentary thoughts of making a run for it vanishing the second hat his powerful paw closed around her leg and he dragged her along. She flailed slightly, twisting in his grip in a half-hearted attempt to get away. Even Kalia, who knew little about the supernatural, figured that it would be a bad idea to try and run from these creatures. They would kill her without second thought, and the one that currently had a hold on her would probably dine on her. And that thought made Kalia shudder and stop moving.

Hey, maybe he'd forget about her. It wasn't very likely, but it was worth a shot, as Kalia was starting to get a little bit desperate. And slightly more traumatized than before.

Luyu was confused, to say the least. When Nikan appeared behind her, she jumped slightly at his words, glancing over her shoulder. For the first time, she noticed that the werewolf had wandered closer to her, dragging the strange girl with him. Luyu edged forward nervously, not wanting to be that close to the werewolf and his cryptic words. He was the most fixated on dining on human flesh, as far as she could tell, and that was a more immediate concern for Luyu than these werecreatures being convinced that she worked for someone she had never heard of.

Wait a minute. Witch Merrell? As in her mother? Well, Luyu had never heard of her mother being called the Night Witch, but on that note, her last name wasn't exactly common. And Luyu and her mother had been the only Merrells to live in this city for generations. Luyu frowned, mulling this over as she glanced up at the wereleopard's next words.

"I don't work for my mother." Luyu snapped in response, irritation flaring in her eyes. Everywhere she went, it always came back to her mother. Her mother the witch. Of course. At least Oisin had been able to get away from her. And Luyu was still stuck here, and now her mother's choice of profession was about to get her killed. "That's called child labor and it happens to be illegal." Well, it probably didn't count as child labor anymore, as Luyu wasn't exactly a child, but still. She wasn't particularly pleased by this development, and despite the danger that her life was in, Luyu was being a little bit snippy.

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