The fire raged across the village, painting the night in blood-red light. Smoke clawed at the sky as embers drifted like dying stars. The stench of burning fur and flesh filled the air. Corpses of the Great Wolf and Spirit Fox clan lay scattered. Men, women, the old, the young… some torn apart, some slashed clean through, others half-consumed by flame.
The proud home of the foxes was gone. Nothing but ruin remained.
Only two souls still drew breath.
Yukime stood frozen, her pale hair catching the glow of the flames, eyes wide with disbelief. Beside her, Gettan knelt in the dirt, his fur stained crimson, his fists pressed into the ground.
All around them, rival therianthrope clans roamed like scavengers. Some dragged away the living as trophies, others desecrated the dead, looting even the lifeless bodies. Yukime saw it all. So did Gettan. But they could do nothing.
"DAMN IT… DAMN IT!"
Gettan's bloody fists pounded the earth again and again, each strike splattering more of his own blood. "If I'd been STRONGER, I could've stopped this. I could've saved them all."
Yukime reached for him, her voice trembling. "It's not your fault, Gettan. They came in numbers we couldn't—"
"NO!" His voice cracked like a whip, eyes burning with rage. "I didn't do enough. I could've… I should've…"
His face twisted, shadows cutting sharp lines across his features from the firelight. Yukime's unease deepened.
"Gettan?" she whispered, feeling a cold knot twist in her stomach.
"We didn't have the strength to chase our dreams." His voice dropped to a low, bitter murmur. "So we should've just ACCEPTED our place. Bowed our heads. LIVED under those strong enough to DESTROY us with a flick of their fingers and made ourselves useful."
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small glass bottle. Inside, red pills shimmered under the firelight. He stared at Yukime, his gaze both fevered and calm.
"I told HER to follow me. To seek their PROTECTION. She refused, said it was too dangerous."
Yukime's brow furrowed. She?
Gettan's tone grew colder. "But now, there's nothing left to be afraid of. She was WRONG. I was RIGHT. That's why I KILLED her"
The words hit like a blade through Yukime's chest.
"In the chaos, I cut her down," he continued, almost PROUD. "It was her WEAKNESS that doomed us. I avenged both clans."
He lifted his head, eyes gleaming unnaturally in the flickering light. "You'll follow me now, won't you? You won't refuse like your mother."
Yukime's breath caught.
Her mother's body, she had seen it lying among the fallen. But she'd thought…
Her blood froze solid.
It wasn't the invaders who had slain her.
It was the man she was meant to marry.
"Why…?" Her voice cracked as the word tore out of her, heavy with pain. Memories flooded her mind, her mother feeding her, bathing her, brushing her hair, holding her until she fell asleep.
And clashing against them, fresh, jagged memories of the man she was supposed to share her life with. The same man who had killed her.
"Of course I did," Gettan growled, his tone sharp as broken glass. "She brought this DOOM upon us." His gaze hardened, suddenly colder than the steel in his hand. "You're not thinking of betraying me too, are you?"
"No…" Yukime muttered, ignoring his words as she clutched her head, the loss POUNDING through her like a war drum. Tears broke free, spilling without restraint, streaming down her face in a torrent she couldn't control.
Gettan didn't care. His voice lowered to a calculating murmur.
"We should leave. I can contact the Cult. If I make myself useful, they'll protect us. We'll live."
He stooped, picking up a sword from the blood-soaked dirt. Turning to her, he spoke with casual finality.
"Let's go."
But Yukime's pain SNAPPED.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed, voice breaking into a feral snarl. "You KILLED my mother… I'LL KILL YOU!"
Her claws flashed as she lunged, but Gettan, faster and stronger, slipped aside with ease. His eyes narrowed, his expression icing over completely.
"So, you'll follow her path. Like mother, like daughter."
Steel flashed.
Pain ripped through Yukime's back as his blade carved deep, a spray of crimson painting the dirt.
The fire roared louder, drowning the sound of her cry.
Gritting her teeth, Yukime forced her trembling arms to move, dragging herself forward, clawing at the ground. She refused to stop. She refused to let the pain win. She still had to kill him.
But Gettan wasn't merciful.
His shadow fell over her, and before she could rise, his boot came down hard, crushing her back into the dirt.
"Aaahhh!" Yukime's scream tore through the burning night, raw and jagged, as white-hot agony surged up her spine.
Gettan stood over her, eyes cold, voice dripping with disdain.
"You see? If you were STRONGER, you wouldn't have to feel this pain. But you're NOT. So tell me," he leaned closer, his shadow swallowing her whole, "are you going to follow me now?"
Her vision blurred with tears, but the fire in her gaze didn't waver.
"N… never… Argh… I… will… KILL YOU…" She spat the words like venom, even as her body trembled under the weight of pain.
For the briefest moment, his expression shifted. A flicker, regret maybe even pity, ghosted across his face. She had been his fiancée, after all. They had shared moments, laughter, dreams. Feelings had taken root, whether he'd wanted them to or not.
But then her defiance cut through whatever softness was left in him. The flicker vanished, replaced by something dark and final.
"Good," he murmured, his voice cold and sharp as steel in the dark.
"That means I should kill you too."
He raised his blade high, point angled down toward her. With a swift, decisive motion, he drove it downward, only to halt halfway. His instincts flared.
In one fluid motion, he pivoted, bringing his sword around.
CLANG!
Steel met steel, sparks scattering in the firelight. A dark figure in a flowing black cloak stood before him, a pitch-black sword locking his strike in place.
Gettan narrowed his eyes. Whoever this was, they didn't look like the invaders.
"Who are you?" he barked.
The figure's voice was calm, almost casual.
"I am… Shadow."
**********
suggestions for Yukime