The forest was a scary place. Both during the day and the night. You could always hear the Wild Wolves in the distance, the snakes hissing and the birds of prey looking for their next hunt. And Kyle used to think that was awesome. He liked to boast that he was the only one of them who dared to go out alone through the woods. At times, he would go as far as teasing Ryou about it.

“What do you mean you were born here and you're still afraid to go out alone?” He would say.

Blinded, Kyle didn't find anything amusing about it anymore. Fueled by anger and frustration — Kenny's probably not even making this medicine right, he thought — he had rubbed the ointment out of his eyes, and now his skin felt like it was burning and he couldn't see anything but blurred shapes. He staggered through the trees.

The pain made him want to cry, and he would if he could.

Kyle had gone too far from the camp, he knew that. He feared not being able to return. But even if he managed to, he wasn't sure they would take him back. He wasn't particularly fond of either Ryou or Mei, but he hadn't wanted to hurt them like he'd done.

He took an uncertain step forward and hit a tree trunk with his foot. This time, he dropped to a sitting position on the forest ground, determined to stay there until they found him — the Master or the monsters, whichever came first.

Kyle liked the Master, of course he did. He was grateful for everything: from the place at his side to the lessons. He just didn't like the other kids. He had been the first to arrive, the first to be rescued by him. Why couldn't things have stayed like that forever?

He heard the sound of something crunching the dry leaves on the ground and he huddled against the tree, too weak to even try to defend himself. He couldn't see anything at all, and the ointment that was left on his hands made his skin sting.

He felt something wet touch his palm, lifting it, and something like a blast of hot air hit his face. He opened his eyes, straining as hard as he could, and saw a light brown figure, standing on all fours in front of him.

He swallowed a scream of terror. But soon realized that it was not a Wild Wolf: it was too small for that.

The little wolf came closer, very cautiously, and yelped. But Kyle had no idea what he wanted. He stood there, shivering silently, as the wolf watched him. At last, looking determined, the animal crouched down, and in one swift, agile movement, smacked him on the stomach with its' muzzle, sending Kyle flying right up. This time, he did let out an exclamation, which was muffled as he landed squarely on top of the beast's back. He clung desperately to the brown fur, wanting more than anything not to fall, and allowed himself to be carried away, while the wolf ran skillfully through the forest, easily avoiding the trees, the broken branches, and poisonous bushes. Not that Kyle witnessed any of that, for he kept his eyes firmly closed.

He was taken aback when the animal suddenly stopped, almost dropping him to the ground, and hesitated for a long moment — what if he had taken him to the rest of the pack? Kyle would rather not have to see the larger wolves' jaws right before he died.

“Open your eyes, Kyle,” a familiar voice instructed.

Kyle complied. He was back in the clearing, under the eyes of the two girls and the Master. The last one reached down to help him off the wolf's back. Kyle landed on the ground, knees shaking.

"I see you've decided you no longer need the ointment," Master Soul remarked, eyeing him inquiringly. “But, I must warn you, your treatment is not finished yet, child. It is necessary to keep at it continuously. Otherwise, the side effect could be even worse"

"Worse?"

Master Soul pondered before revealing:

“The poison would make you blind in seven days. Stopping treatment will do so in four. Kenny, please go make another one for your brother"

Kyle didn't want to look at her. He imagined that she would immediately refuse the order, but he soon had his attention diverted:

"Where's Matt?"

Master Soul also looked confused. He stared at the wolf, who shook its' muzzle negatively.

"I see..." he murmured. He bent down and stroked the animal's fur, which made a satisfied sound "Could please go back and look for your other brother?"

The wolf obeyed, darting back into the tree line and disappearing. Kyle stood there with his mouth open, trying to absorb the information, but the only thing he could come up with was:

“That… that wolf…"

"Your brother, Ryou, is a werewolf," the Master acquiesced “However, he doesn't like his animal form very much, so I agreed that he could use my magic to keep himself in human form even during full moons. I believe your sisters can tell you more about this than I could"

To Kyle's surprise, it was Mei who continued:

“Ryou rescued Kenny and me when he was a cub. We were on the verge of death and he took us to the pack. The wolves took care of us for a while..."

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"... And then?"

Kenny returned, gathering a handful of ointment in one hand, and mechanically smearing it down the right side of Kyle's face.

“And then they were all killed," she concluded. “Slaughtered in front of us. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Kyle swallowed hard, closing his eyes, and letting the icy feeling of ointment wash over him. After that, he was silent. When she finished, he sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. He heard someone approach again, but he couldn't tell who it was.

Mei could, he supposed. She had not only her sense of hearing but also scent and sight beyond the limits he understood.

“Go to sleep, child,” the Master's voice rang out.

And Kyle tried. But he couldn't.

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Later, when Kenny came over to change the medicine, he allowed himself to look at the girl for a while, and he saw the burn scars she had on her fingertips. He wondered if they too were souvenirs from...

Ryou brought Matt back, but the boy had seen something in the forest and didn't want to talk to anyone except the Master. Mei remarked that he sounded scared, but Matt ignored her. Someone — he didn't know who — brought him dinner, and he ate with no appetite.

They slept.

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The days passed like this. He could feel the burning in his eyes getting better with each passing day, but he wished he could see something. Neither Kenny nor Matt would speak to him, and although he had tried a few times, Mei and Ryou also seemed a lot less thrilled with the idea of a conversation with Kyle.

It was only five days before the deadline that Master Soul had given him, and Kenny now changed the ointment much less frequently, under the instructions of the Master himself. That morning, the Master had suggested a hike to a nearby creek to catch some fish and had allowed Kyle to accompany them. He heard someone — Matt, he guessed — limping to follow as well. Ironically, he had spent the last few days almost completely in the company of Matt, as the Master wouldn't allow them to join the others in training.

And yet they hadn't exchanged a word.

Master Soul stood guarding the fireplace and sent them out to get more food in the creek. Kenny was talking to Ryou, but Kyle didn't hear Mei's voice, which was odd since he knew the little girl was with them as well. At one point, Matt suggested they take a break:

"Does your ankle hurt?" Kenny asked.

Matt tried to deny it but ended up acknowledging it. They stopped to each take a sip of water from the canteen Ryou was carrying.

"And what about you?"

It took Kyle a moment to realize that she was talking to him.

"What about me?"

"Are your eyes hurting? Master Soul told me that at the end of the treatment, it is common for the pain to get slightly worse. He said it's a sign of improvement. I brought some analgesic plants if you need them"

Kyle mumbled "No thanks." He wanted to be able to get angry with the girl, but he recognized that without her he would have long since gotten blind. They continued on their way.

Someone suddenly stopped. Kenny put a hand on his shoulder to stop him too.

"What is it, Ryou?" She asked.

“I smell something strange,” he revealed. "And you, Mei?"

"Me too"

Kyle was surprised at how stern her voice sounded. He convinced himself it was just because he hadn't heard her voice in days.

He sniffed the air, trying to feel anything, but nothing seemed different. Someone dug deeper into the ground, stepping on a few dry leaves. He tensed up.

“Matt?" Mei called "Why are you...--"

"Run!"

Kyle tried. But he crashed head-on into a tree, falling to the ground and hitting his head on an overturned trunk. Then he heard the sound of wings. But it was different from the wings of birds - even those of vultures, much bigger and noisier. These sounded ridiculously huge as if they were pushing out a hurricane-sized gust of air every time they moved. He heard cracking noises, like small bones being broken, and grunts that sounded eerily like raucous laughter and...

... purely malefic.

He heard Matt cursing, but he sounded distant. Someone grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him along, but Kyle couldn't tell who it was. He heard someone roar, and something like a growl. He heard Kenny yelling something he couldn't make out and felt his head spinning from the blow...

The giggles and grunts and snaps and now something that felt eerily like a whip hitting the air over and over came closer. And then someone pushed him aside, sending him crashing into a bush, and someone else jumped out, but all he heard were three things:

The sound of the whip hitting something, then coiling around its prize, the leather creaking.

Kenny screamed, in a voice that sounded like breaking glass, and Matt exclaimed at the top of his lungs:

"MEI!"

But all he could do was stand and listen, thrown away wherever he was. He couldn't see.

He couldn't react.