-White Bunny POV-

The guard slammed the door shut, and Ant slumped forward, energy disappearing. Blood ran dark under the cold light of the moon- staining Ant's gray shirt, dripping from the guard's knuckles. The guard stalked outside, and one of the other guards let out a low whistle.

"Damn. Never thought I'd see someone you couldn't break. Losing your touch, Quintan?" The other guard asked, holding out a white cloth and a black case out to Quintan.

"I'm not fucking done yet," Quintan hissed, snatching both objects away from the guard. He wiped Ant's blood away, then he knelt down to the ground, opening the black case. Inside, a dozen silver tools gleamed, each crueler than the last.

The bunny knew firsthand how far creatures were willing to go to achieve their goals. Combined with the decades they had to build their civilizations... it wasn't surprising that humans would turn to such methods. Still, the scent of rotten blood tasted wrong on her tongue.

"Unnecessary much?" The other guard asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You don't know their kind," Quintan said darkly, selecting a small, thin knife. Bile rose in her throat as she imagined the guard carving the knife into Ant's skin. She knew, intimately, the resistance of the blade as it cut through flesh, and the thought of Ant beneath the knife-

"There is no such thing as unnecessary cruelty, only efficiency," Quintan said, closing the case with an audible click.

It would be kinder to just kill Ant. Logically, it made sense, but the idea made her... unhappy.

"Well, the Baron won't be here for another three hours, Mr. Efficiency. So take your time breaking the kid, or whatever it is people like you like to do," the other guard said dismissively, turning back to his card game.

"Oh, don't act like we're so different, John," Quintan said, sneering. "A job is a job."

"Play with us, then. You've got the time." John shrugged. From their posture, it was clear that as long as the doors stayed shut, the other three guards wouldn't care about what happened, either.

"Your job is to keep watch," Quintan spat.

"That's for the dogs. My job is to bankrupt these bastards so they have to stay employed," John said, smirking. That earned him three bitter glares, but no disagreement- it was true, then. Their swords lay within reach, but none of the guards were actively looking for threats.

The dogs weren't keeping particularly good watch, either. Their noses were turned towards the wind, but the three of them were lying down, lazily chewing on the bone one of the guards had tossed them. While their muscles rippled with untapped power, the dogs were only used for tracking, not hunting. The half-starved feral dogs in the alleys were better at using their teeth.

There was a chance, here- a slim one. She had one knife and many problems. The moment she killed one dog, the other two would start barking. Five guards blocked the only exit, and Ant wasn't in any condition to run.

Cut Ant loose. Kill the dogs. Use [Time of Death], and- improvise something. Lead the guards away, somehow. Fuck, this was such a terrible plan. Her strength had always laid in stealth and surprise, and considering her plan revolved around attracting their attention, there would be very little of either.

She'd make it work. Provided that the timing was perfect, provided that none of the guards had some absurd skill like Ant's- it was possible. Probable, even. Compared to the choice of killing Ant herself-

The bunny slipped through the crack in the roof, making her way down to Ant. The boy was looking up, having foreseen her arrival with that creepy skill of his. The bunny landed soundlessly beside Ant.

"What are you doing?" Ant hissed as she cut his ropes loose. "If they find you-"

She poked him with the tip of the knife. Gently, of course. But if he kept saying useless things, she wouldn't be so gentle the next time.

"You have a plan," Ant realized, like that wasn't fucking obvious. Nothing encouraged critical thinking quite like a knife, she supposed. The bunny finished on the rest of his ropes, and Ant rubbed his wrists. "Well? What do I do?"

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Wait, she wrote in the dirt. When the guard from before comes back in, slip out the door.

"What about the other guards? The dogs?"

I'll take care of them, the bunny promised, and she hoped that she was telling the truth. Once you get out, don't stop running. I'll be fine.

Ant's lips quirked up into a smile.

"Better than dying in an alley, right?" Ant repeated, standing up. It would've been more believable if a bruise in the shape of a fist wasn't pressed to his skin, if he didn't have to lean against the post just to stay upright. He ruffled her fur. "I'll see you later, then."

The bunny leaped from window to window, silently making her way towards the dogs. The moon was concerningly bright, but thankfully, the guards were too focused on their game to see the strange shadow in the sky. The bunny watched the guards, memorizing their quirks and mannerisms, searching for any edge she could get.

Quintan was clearly the best player, yet the one who won nearly every hand was John. The logical answer was that he was cheating, but no matter how closely the bunny watched John, she couldn't tell what trick he was using. Quintan couldn't either, if the thin press of his lips was anything to go by. The other guards started snapping at each other, growing frustrated between rounds.

Good. The more imbalanced the guards were, the higher her chances were. The bunny waited, knowing her timing had to be perfect. The other guards could be led away, but Quintan- manipulators were hard to manipulate. The moment Quintan realized something was wrong, he would head towards Ant.

"Another round, Quintan?" John asked, smiling widely. Quintan's expression darkened.

"I have a job to do, unlike you," Quintan hissed. He stalked into the slaughterhouse, slamming the door closed and locking out the sound of the laughter.

Now. The bunny sprinted through the air, killing the first dog with a slash of her knife. From there, it was a frenzy of motion. The dogs started barking, and the guards cursed, running over. In the confusion, she managed to use the second dog to activate [Time of Death].

"Fuck! What sort of skill is this? There's nobody here."

The bunny sprinted away from the third dog, using [Time of Death] to make up for the difference in their speeds. She wove between his legs, staying ahead by anticipating his movements.

"Just follow the dog!"

The four guards chased after her, leaving the entrance unguarded for Ant to make his escape. Good. Her heartbeat raced in her ears, thudding faster with every second that passed. [Time of Death] was running out. In the last three seconds, she twisted around, killing the third dog.

[Time of Death] ended abruptly, leaving her reeling. She managed to stumble away from them, dragging herself deeper into the grass.

"The fuck do we do now, huh?"

The guards were shouting at each other, voices banging through her spinning head. Without the adrenaline in her veins, darkness swirled at the edges of her vision. Her breaths came in gasps, her heart pounding too quickly. She had pushed herself too far.

Damn it. If I had put points in speed instead of that useless [Devourer], then I wouldn't be so- she forced the thought away. Quintan stalked out of the slaughterhouse, rage painting his features. The three guards paled, backing away and-

No. There had been four guards chasing her, so what had-

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-Ant POV-

The moment he had opened the door, Ant had known he wasn't going to make it. He could see the path he was going to take, and it ended in forty short steps.

Ant ran anyway, feet falling perfectly to match the invisible footprints in the dirt. When he was younger, he'd always try to avoid stepping in his footprints, to deny the future marked out him. It was pointless- the moment he made a decision, the footprints would change to reflect his new path. His path could only change if someone else's path intersected with it.

The guards chased after the bunny, and he didn't dare look down her path, didn't dare to see if she would escape. Ant prayed for another miracle. His path had ended before- permanently, Ant had thought, shivering as frost crept up his body- but then Leon had saved him, carrying him out of the snow.

Leon would find him. Ant knew it, just as he knew the sun would rise in the morning. He could even see the traces of Leon's footprints with his skill- footprints so faint that Ant could be certain he wasn't going to see Leon again.

Kill them for me, Ant thought, chest becoming inexplicably tight. The end of his path drew closer. Three steps. Two. One.

"Stop right there, or your little bunny gets it."

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-Black Wolf POV-

The wolf gasped awake. He dragged a hand through his hair, his palms clammy with cold sweat. Just a dream. The scent of smoke still lingered in his mind, and he could still feel its burn when he inhaled the cold air at night.

He knew he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon- he never could, not after that dream. The wolf swung his legs over the side of the bed, pushing himself to his feet. He felt his way around the room in the darkness, the floorboards cold under his feet. His eyes should've been adjusted, but- at the edges of his vision, he could still see the bright, dancing flames.

The bunny had been there this time. She had looked at him, red eyes dull and fading, and he did what he had always done. He left her to the flames, her white fur turning ashen gray and-

A dream, the wolf reminded himself, approaching the window. Still, the pounding in his chest wouldn't stop. It won't happen. I won't allow myself to be separated again. She was here; she was safe. He reached for the towel, and-

The towel was cold.