• "Lycan!"

    The tiny mouse screamed his name as she stumbled through the underbrush, bag slamming hard into her legs with every step she took, knowing full well how dangerous it was, but that wasn't important. All that mattered was finding the blue-haired man. Finding him and healing whatever injuries he'd sustained. Why was he so stupid? Going out on his own like that? In this forest, that was suicide!

    But there was a nagging feeling in her gut that she tried to ignore. One that suggested he'd been lured in by one of those... things. Heaven forbid that actually be the case! He'd be good as dead right now and that was the very reason she tried to fight it off. But now she was putting herself at risk.

    If she came face-to-face, surely she'd be tricked, too. Surely she'd be lured into its beastly little trap and---! But Lycan was the one she needed to worry about. If he were alive, then he needed help, no doubts to be added to this. Because this was no place to be. A place one should never go.

    "Lycan," she shrieked again, her voice cracking slightly as she choked back tears. She lost her footing and skid down a small hill there, instinctively trying to dig her fingers into the dirt and grass and whatever she possibly could, being stopped only by a few rocks and roots just before what seemed like the very edge of a cliff. After the initial shock of the fall, she regained her senses and stared up at where she'd just been and she'd sworn then that she could hear something. Something close, but quiet. Almost too quiet to hear even with her heightened abilities.

    Breathing. More like panting, really. And footsteps that just grew louder and louder until suddenly it was right on her and she turned around just in time to throw her tonfa up to block a large branch from swinging directly down on her head, but the strength behind the swing sent a shockwave through her body and forced her to her knees, her saving grace being only that she'd had enough time to force some guard magic into her stance just before impact. And she could smell the foul stench of blood before she saw it and her eyes only widened as she stared up at the tall man.

    "Lycan," she managed after her voice caught in her throat, knowing full well that he'd never have swung at her had he had the sense and had he actually known it was her.

    And he only stared at her briefly before collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud. Her tonfa slipped from her hands as she dove for the man, frantically looking him over. He was covered in scrapes, scratches, gashes, but the worst was his stomach, the very place that was filling the air so heavily with the scent of blood. A large portion of his shirt was soaked in it and she immediately cut it off, to see the extent of the damage. There was no way she could heal all of this by herself.

    If she tried, she'd likely end up just as dead as he would be in a matter of minutes if she didn't do anything. She placed her hands over the wound only to hesitate briefly when he winced at her touch. But she knew there was no time to hesitate. If she backed off, if she didn't heal all that she could right now, he'd die.

    "s**t!" She hissed as she began to cast her strongest healing spell, she could hardly focus knowing that she was the last line of hope he even had right now. "You stupid son of a b***h!"

    No, she wasn't angry with him, really. With herself for not having enough magic to heal him thoroughly, sure, but not with him. Never him. How could she be? The only thing he'd done wrong was wander off somewhere dangerous as this, and it was clear by now it wasn't even of his own free will.

    It couldn't be. Because these wounds were inflicted by a creature that specialized in illusions to draw prey in, using magic to twist memories and fears and thoughts all into reality. And it would take the most precious things and use them against you until it could get close enough to send a poison through your body that immobilized you. And then it would just tear you apart while you were still conscious, while you could still feel everything and it would be a long and agonizing death, but he was lucky. To have even gotten away from it, but the branch he'd held told a tale of it's own.

    He'd swung at her thinking she was one of those raptors. More specifically, the one that had attacked him. But she could see it's blood there and she knew he'd injured it as well, or else he'd never have gotten away. But that meant it was out there. And it could smell them and it would come.

    "S-Souri..." Lycan mumbled weakly, suddenly attempting to sit up, but she quickly forced him down onto his back again.

    "Don't speak, okay." She whispered as she leaned in close to his ear. "Not yet, alright? Just give me a few moments."

    And they were silent again as she slowly exhausted herself trying to get his wounds to a level where bandages would be an acceptable method of treatment. She could feel her head start to spin the longer she tried to heal him and had to stop. He was still bleeding, yes, but not nearly as bad as before and all she could do now was wrap his wounds. And she did so very carefully, having him arch his back so she could slip her arms under with the bandages.

    "I wish I could do more!"

    And she was mad, so very mad with herself. For being so weak. She was always so weak, but not Quincy. Quincy was strong. Quincy was brave.

    Quincy was everything that she was not and if only he were the one here with Lycan right now. He'd be able to help him back into the village. And he'd be able to heal far more than she could. And he'd be able to defend them both if need-be, but he wasn't here and the blue-haired man would just have to settle for small, fragile Souri. The little mouse that wasn't nearly as useful and brave and strong as she so easily was able to convince others she was.

    And he so badly wanted to try and calm her down, to keep her from worrying like she was, but he wasn't even sure if he was all right. And she knew he was still in pain. And she knew he was very weak right now. But there was nothing more she could do. Shaking her head, she shifted around and placed his head on her lap, bending over slightly, as if she were trying to shield him from some unseen enemy.

    "You'll be alright," she said, but she was only trying to convince herself of this as she tried hard to fight back her tears again. "Just listen to my voice, Lycan! And I'll sing. I'll sing for you."

    At that moment, he tried to lift his hand to her face, to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she wouldn't allow it and he had to settle for holding her hand tightly to his chest. Of course, actually being allowed to hear her sing was a miracle in itself as she never really seemed to take much interest in doing so in front of an audience. But there were times when he'd heard her humming to herself in the kitchen in the middle of the night when he knew she'd gotten up to make a cup of tea, but that was all. And she sang then. And her voice was so clear, but so filled with sadness, much like the humming always seemed to be.

    And he'd have loved to know what she was singing, but he couldn't understand a word of it. It wasn't in his native language, but her own instead. It was a song the young mouse had been taught at a very young age by her mother. And she knew what it meant, every word. And maybe she should have thought of something more cheerful, but that never worked.

    Only this song ever calmed her nerves, and she never knew why, but it did. She was scared then, so scared that something would come along and attack them, and her singing, no matter how quiet she made her voice, was still loud enough for any of the monsters to hear and find them. And surely this was stupid, but she had little faith now that she and Lycan would be able to leave the forest. Not alive, anyway. Because he was weak and she was far too small to protect them both.

    And she felt tired now. Or maybe she'd felt that way for a while now having used so much of her magic all at once. And maybe she should have kept singing to try and keep herself awake, but she'd heard something some ways away from there and she knew it had heard her. If it were a threat, and it likely was, then there was nothing she could do but try to remain as quiet as possible. But it would smell the blood and it would come.

    And all she could do was lean down further and whisper an apology into Lycan's ear. Because this was her fault. Because she'd had him come to her home village. Because she'd been too careless and hadn't properly watched him. He was an adult, too, but surely he'd never been told all those fairy tales about the forest as she had been from a very young age.

    They both heard the unmistakable sound of twigs snapping beneath hasty feet. Souri leaned down then, pressing her forehead to Lycan's. He could feel her shaking and he could feel her teardrops, no matter how hard she tried not to cry. And he lifted his hand and awkwardly stroked her hair for a moment.

    "It's... it's okay." He whispered, though he wasn't so sure of himself.

    But the last thing he wanted her to do was cry. It made his heartache and it made him feel useless. But he really was useless right now. If he even tried to stand, he might just collapse again and what good would that do? Wasn't he supposed to be the one protecting her?

    "Sorry," she replied, equally as quiet as he was, grabbing his hand tightly in both of hers. "Sorry. I really am. I'm so sorry. Lycan, please forgive me."

    And, before either could say or do anything else, something emerged from the bushes. But it wasn't a raptor or anything else that was even close to a threat to either of them. Unless you counted being scolded as a threat. And Souri just stared at her elder brother's boots as her little Manx, Felix, came prancing up to her. Quincy quickly shooed Souri from Lycan, helping the him to his feet, allowing the younger man to use him as support so he could walk.

    "Souri, can you walk?" He finally said, looking over her very quickly to make sure she wasn't injured as well. "Use Felix if you need to, but do it quickly. And thank him for finding you before a raptor did. I saw some tracks near here."

    And, with a quick thank you to her little tuxedo cat, Souri gathered her things and slowly stood up, taking care to make sure she was steady enough to walk before following after Quincy. He could protect them both, couldn't he? Quincy could do it all and with little effort. And here he was saving them. But that's what he was good at, really.