Tarb:

He succeeded. He could barely believe it himself.

He pulled himself back up after that cold wench's cowardly spell. Unfortunately, by the time he did it, her sister was definitely a living statue. He wouldn't even ponder about the Knight's fate...

...

What a beautiful afternoon, huh? The dainty, gracious snow could dance freely toward the inevitability of gravity, where the flake meets the ground for a once-in-a-lifetime date. The rogue sunrays broke through the cloudy barrier, an unbalanced clash between light and dark, creating this morose grey filter over this once-vibrant city. Something about this combination of factors evoked a sense of familiarity deep inside his soul.

If only the author of such incidental art weren't such a vicious lunatic...

The Yūrei's outline stood a mile away, frantically shifting in circles. Judging by the murderous gaze she bore onto his sister, he could piece together who the poor victim was.

Curses. Tarb heard that gaunt freak's scream a while ago. Who didn't? The sheer bloodcurdling potency of that sound would forever haunt his nightmares.

Regardless, that screech was the guarantee that Yuki-onna had utterly lost whatever piece of reason remained in her mind. What if they pushed her too far? What if her stance on killing fellow Monoke was no longer defined? A horrifying thought, considering his underage nephew was sneaking around these parts.

Yep, he heard from the Oni while his dear sister was knocked out cold. Word from the pup herself and her girlfriend was that the elders allowed the latter to serve as a sacrificial lamb, only she didn't have the intent to make it easy for the sorceress. Lien came along by stubborn insistence and their packmate bond. What a time to pull off a loophole.

Unfortunately, Stella's life might have already been claimed by the enemy. Yuki-onna's closest goon was with them the last time the girls were under anyone's radar. The veteran could only pray Hari-onagu wouldn't hold grudges for Lien's bloodline. The murder of a Monoke child would be a whole other dimension they'd have to answer for.

While these thoughts and worries clouded his mind, his old legs pushed him forward for another serving of pointless brotherly pain. If only he had the Saniya to conjure a saliva trail for him to slide over...

Hm? The sorceress appeared to have stopped...

Oh no... Could that mean...?

Tarb's heart sank with implications, then raced with the intensity of youth as his legs propelled him with newfound vigor. No matter their differences, the Yūrei had no right to make a pup motherless! Lien may have been too young to mourn her own father, but she would NOT feel that kind of grief today!

"DON'T YOU DARE! YUKI-ONNA!!!" the veteran cried, every piece of him begging for her sister's life. This couldn't be how their story ended! He was nowhere near rebuilding her trust in him!

Tarb's eyes, blinded by a desperate haze and adrenaline, only glimpsed Tash's limp body and the still-standing Yuki-onna. His reasoning was practically dulled, instinct taking over his movements and decisions.

"YOU DIDN'T!" He tackled the catatonic Yūrei to the ground, his paws wrapping tight around her wrists while his weight pinned her down. "DID YOU KILL HER, YOU FREAK?! ANSWER ME!!!"

When his shouting liberated a piece of his pent-up emotions, his eyes cleared just a smidge, locking directly at hers. However, he was blindsided by the absolute horror contained in those large, bulging depths. Digging deeper into the realization, his palms could feel a subtle shaking against them. Yuki-onna's terror was practically palpable.

No... She has truly slain his sister, hasn't she? It might've shocked even herself...

No, no, no, no, NO! How would he comfort his niece after losing her girlfriend and then her mother!? He'd have to RAISE her?! No, no! Nema would gladly take this role. But-

Yuki-onna's eyes snapped from her own haze as if a corpse had suddenly been filled with new life.

"Get. Off. Me." the sorceress telepathically uttered with a chillingly neutral complexion. Tarb's body started shaking with the sudden drop in temperature as her turquoise Saniya coated her body, rippling violently until it repelled the veteran closer to his fallen sibling.

The Yūrei jolted back to her feet, her legs buckling like a newborn's. Her entire body was dimmed in shadow as her visible breath was constantly expelled, dissolving through the air.

Was she... hyperventilating?

While the veteran fought against his own mass and his heavy armor to stand up again, Yuki-onna removed herself from the ground in a violent manner, creating a shockwave as she propelled herself into the air, disappearing from his blurry sight faster than he could finish a "Halt!"

...

And here he was. His only company was the gentle breeze, a bunch of ice statues, and his possibly dead sis-

His sister!

Tarb rapidly came to tend the flaccid body of his captain, her grizzled fur messy and battered, a red stain besmirching her snout, lips, and eyelids. With shaky arms, he tried to gently put her in his arms with questionable efficiency. Regardless, he accomplished it, his eyes desperately searching for any signal of life.

As he gazed intently at her mouth, he swore it became foggy with her weak breath. Still, the thought of it being but a trick of the eye, fueled by blind hope and bias, bombarded his mind, prompting him to put his ear over her chest.

...

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

......

It was still beating. Tash's heart. Those thumps, though weaker than he hoped, were unmistakable.

Oh, Tizohi almighty! She still lived! The stubborn bitch was too much for the shadows to claim! The veteran loudly laughed, relief slackening his jaw and regard for the adequacy of such an action.

"D-Don't scare me like that ever again!" He dug his unconscious sister deeper into his hold, treating her more like a plushie for a young pup after a nightmare. "What I'm gonna do with you...?" His cheeks grew warm with tears as a smile was forever etched on his lips.

"S-She's alive...?"

Tarb's joy was quickly broken by the unidentified voice. The stubby canine promptly turned his head, witnessing none other than The Silver Knight. Or, at least, what was left of him. The poor bastard was hanging by a thread - his cape was lost, a deep dent marred the side of his helmet, and an ugly crack consumed most of his visor. Not to mention how he stood, his quivering legs as sturdy as sticks.

"Yup." The veteran nodded, his expression softening with pity. "You can give it a rest now, bud."

It was as if the hero patiently waited for him to say that all along. The moment his words came out, the older Human came crashing down like timber, creating a shallow hole with his shape. "Thanks..."

...Was he even conscious anymore?

Frankly, Tarb shouldn't bother him, regardless. They earned the respite.

.........

The veteran prayed once more. Tizohi must be fucking tired of him by now. Heh.

Still, his niece's life hung in the balance. Even without proof, he could sense it.

Although Yuki-onna hasn't gone all the way through with Tash, her sanity was clearly put into question more than ever before. If that other Human was still kicking, Lien would stop at nothing to protect her. That pup inherited her mother's stubbornness, for better or worse...

"Just hang in there, kiddo. Your mom will murder everyone if a strand of fur on you is misplaced."

Lien:

Darkness never bothered her. For obvious reasons.

Nevertheless, whatever surrounded them was odd, to put it mildly. The cold assaulted the pup's fur, stronger than Yuki-onna's winter, even. Discomforting electricity jumped between the tips of her natural coat. A muddled energy signature jumped in and out of her radar, as brief as the echo of their unknown benefactor's steps.

Despite it all, there was one force pressing around her, anchoring her from the uncertainty of it all. It was nothing more than the powerful, constricting hug from...

...

...Kreef.

The Amikiri panicked ever since Mx. Shade (the nickname was a Lien original. They never seemed to mind) surrounded them in their spooky shadow dome, moving alongside them. Stella, however, was content with only holding her paw tight. How brave!

"𝓟𝓾𝓹. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓽," Mx. Shade warned.

"Oops!" Lien's feet immediately slowed their pace. It was so easy to lose herself in her own thoughts while she strolled. For some reason, her body always reacted by going faster when that happened. "Sorry!"

They only hummed in response. Strangely, their Saniya signature was much more defined- Oh, wait. It was gone again. Bummer.

She supposed that was the intention behind this... Whatever the heck this was. How does it work? How can shadows block their presence from everyone else?

"Mx. Shade?"

"𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓴."

Oh! The way they spoke wouldn't stop sending tingles all over her skin! It reminded her of times when her mother let her play with her electrified paw. Just a tiny dose, of course.

"How do your spooky powers work?"

"𝓜𝔂... 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼, 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷?"

The pup nodded, struck by a thirst for knowledge no lesson from Hōkō has come close to bringing out.

"𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓪 𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝔂 𝓭𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓹𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻. 𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓫𝓲𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓷 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓱𝓸𝓹𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓮𝓴."

...

"So, you're not telling."

"𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓼𝓮𝓵𝔂."

Lien groaned in utter defeat, her head downcast. "Lame."

Stella's scoff, the first sound coming from her mouth in AGES, fills the room after a few seconds of deafening silence. "Tell me about it."

The young Wolf's step regained their pep. "I haven't heard your voice in a while! Everything okay?"

The Human's hand squeezed tighter. "Let's talk about it later. Alone."

Fair enough. As long as Stella was fine and not angry at her, she was A-Okay!

"A-Anyone got stories?!" Kreef let his presence be known by more than just his suffocating embrace. "If we had put our claws on those sikpha, we could've made one hell of a campsite."

Lien's ears perked up. "We should do it sometime! I mean, it's not like I can see the light, but I won't waste the chance to hang out!"

Stella chuckled. "You sure you won't get tired of hearing our voices by the end of this?"

"No way!" The young huntress started to hop, her limbs fueled by anticipation. "And! We can invite Mx. Shade, so we can do it whenever we want! I bet they have, like, every type of story imaginable to tell!"

Silence reigned for a painfully long time. Did her idea suck so bad?

"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓿𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓯𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘, 𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓮𝓭, 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓭𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮. 𝓤𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓾𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓵𝔂, 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓯𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓼 𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭𝓾𝓵𝓮."

"Yeah? What's the first one on the list? Being a stick in the mud?" Stella snarkily questioned. Always good to hear her usual energy returning. She wasn't appearing too good since Mx. Shade entered the fray...

The entity hummed, a distinctive tone of annoyance creeping in. Yes, the status quo was all being pieced together...

"𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓼 𝓪𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭, 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼."

Freaking finally! Lien's spine was almost torn apart after carrying the conversation on her back.

"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓨ū𝓻𝓮𝓲'𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓰𝓷𝓾𝓶 𝓸𝓹𝓾𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓯𝓪𝓻. 𝓞𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓹 𝓼𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓮𝔁𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱."

"Cool!" Lien beamed, her tail constantly flickering in the air. "How about-"

An electrifying surge coursed through her fur as the entity's Saniya reappeared at her side, more exposed than ever before. It felt utterly different from any Monoke or Human she encountered - like the entity's very essence was condensed into a singularity, then violently expelled as a mighty burst in infinitesimally short intervals like a hummingbird's wing flaps, bombarding the pup's senses with conflicting signals.

For a brief second, the Wolf sensed the air in her lungs being drained, consumed by the chaotic signature.

...

It was gone. That mesmerizing, tingly static gradually followed suit. As a bonus, Lien could breathe again.

"Hey!" Stella's voice boomed through the dark. "Who or what are you?!

...

"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓮𝓷𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓬𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓭𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵."

And with that, they were finally gone...? Still, Lien couldn't perceive the Saniya within their vicinity, except- OH, BY TIZOHI'S ANTLERS, WHAT WAS THAT?!

A sea of energy rippled constantly beneath their feet, flowing directly towards a single point that, judging by the glaring difference in potency, must be the nexus between many more. How could Yuki-onna conceal such power? It should've been sensed all the way from the city!

A familiar warmth pressed against her shoulder. "Let me guess. You already know the direction."

Lien could barely nod, dazed by sheer awe. The Icy Sorceress never failed at making the young huntress feel like less than an ant in comparison. Nay, ants are definitely too dandy for the comparison. Worms, perhaps?

"That buzzkill was right, after all." Stella exhaled. "Let's get going, guys. It's now or never."

The Amikiri nervously cackled, his coil pressing tighter. "P-Please! After all that, Yuki-onna is a noth-"

"Get the fuck off my girlfriend, water parrot."

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