“Alright ladies, Kasuka, here’s how things are gonna go! Whoever makes it to the Old Raccoon Man rock first wins. If anyone gets caught by the guards when we’re sneaking out, they’re disqualified!”

Kuri grinned and leaned forward, “Come you babies, don’t tell me you’re scared?”

“W-Who would be scared of that?! Don’t look down on me! We’ll have no problem sneaking past those guards! It’s not like they’re good at their job anyways!”

“In that case…”

“““GO!!!”””

The four girls ran off without warning, leaving Kasuka and Yuya far behind. Before the two of them even started running, their opponents were already halfway out of town.

“Damnit! Let’s go, Yuya!”

Kuro was left staring blankly as Kasuka chased after the girls, and only moved when Haiiro snickered “You’re being left behind, Kuro-chi~.”

Startled, Kuro immediately ran after Kasuka and the rest. By the time she reached the town wall, Kuro found that her competitors were hiding behind barrels and boxes as they spied on the town guards.

One of the town guards was lazily leaning against a wall, bathing in the warmth of the sun. The four girls began smacking the boxes and barrels, making a racket that attracted the guard’s attention. The moment the guard turned his head, Kasuka and Kuri took the opportunity to slip right past him and shoot straight into the forest before he even noticed anything.

“Wait a minute…”, Kuro turned to Haiiro, “What do I do?”

“Just sneak out. It’s not like he’s on high alert or anything. The guy’s even flirting with that girl over there.” Shiro commented.

“But I’ve never snuck out before…And where’s Old Raccoon Man Rock!”

Haiiro laughed, “Kuro-chi~ It’s obviously in the forest.”

“But where?!”

“You’ll know when you find it.”

“Am I just supposed to look around aimlessly till I find it?”

“Pretty much~.”

Kuro sighed, and turned to the forest Kasuka and Kuri ran into. She glanced at the distracted guard, and just as she was about to dash for the underbrush, she heard a yelp.

“Let me go old man!”, One of the girls seemed to have gotten caught by another guard. The rabbitkin girl began flailing her arms around, and making a racket attracting everyone’s eyes.

Her friends took the opportunity and charged into the forest after Kuri. The girl looked over and having seen her friends make it into the forest safely, began yelling, “Yuya help me! Yuya!”

“Yuya?”, the guard began looking around.  

“T-That’s not fair!” Having no other choice, Kuro dashed out and into the forest.

“Those damn brats! Nayer, Christopher, on me!”

Kuro sighed and followed the tracks everyone else left behind. She dashed forward and somehow managed to catch up to Kuri’s friend, a small rabbitkin. The girl turned around, and glared at Kuro.

Kuro yelled, “Watch where you’re going!”

But by the time the rabbitkin girl turned around, she had already tripped on a root, and was sent tumbling forward. Kuro glanced in her direction, verifying she was okay, and continued forward.

“Wait, Kuro! Take a left, I recognize this part of the forest. I don’t know what the others are doing, but trust me.”

“If you say so.”

Kuro turned to the left, and flew past a countless number of trees. She began ducking and weaving through the branches hanging high and low, going around the thick bushes scattered all over the forest, and crashed into a couple trees every now and then. Her ability to control her new body was still far from perfect.

But eventually Kuro could make out a large oddly shaped rock that looked like an old raccoon-kin in the distance. It was more of a boulder than a rock, and more of a statue than anything else.

As Kuro stepped into the clearing that surrounded the strange statue, Kuri and Kusuka suddenly simultaneously jumped out of the bushes on the other side of the clearing. The two looked at Kuro, pale faced and full of fright. They ran past the rock, screaming “Run!”

The bush behind the two of them shook, and a massive black wolf reared it’s head. It glared at the children and howled.  It opened its mouth, revealing a jaw lined with razor sharp teeth, and from the back of its throat spewed flames.

Kasuka and Kuri each grabbed one of Kuro’s arms and hauled her away. As they pulled out of the clearing, Kuro could see the large rock grow reddish-orange before melting under the heat of the flames. Kuro could feel the intense all the way from the other side of the clearing.

The wolf stepped into the clearing, scorching everything near it a pitch black similar to it’s own fur. Its body was massive, lined with a number of white marks, and parts of its was fur coated in a blue-flame. The wolf’s sharp claws glinted eerily under the light of the flames the wolf carried on its body.

It looked at the the three of them and leapt forward at an incredible speed, snapping its jaw at their heads and just barely missing.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Kuro’s face paled and she couldn’t help screaming, “SMELLY! THIS THING’S BREATH WILL KILL ME!”

““That’s what you’re worried about?!”” Kuri and Kasuka retorted.

Shiro commented, “Smells like Propane, try stuffing a torch into his mouth maybe he’ll blow up.”

“Really!?”

“I doubt it.”

Haiiro laughed, “Let’s try it~”

The wolf, seemingly having understood her, froze for a moment. They took the opportunity to increase the distance, but soon heard the sounds of screaming, mixed with the sound of excited howling up ahead. It was becoming clear that the wolf had called its pack.

The two dragging her immediately changed directions, but by mistake they decided to go in opposite directions while still dragging Kuro. Being pulled in two different directions, she let out a small yelp of pain, startling the two into letting her go.

Now Kuro was faced with the savage wolf alone. Kasuka and Kuri shrieked in horror, quickly turning around, intent on grabbing Kuro and escaping. But the two hesitated, thinking the other would reach out and grab her, resulting in neither of them helping her.

The wolf leapt at Kuro once more, and before she could do anything she felt everything go black. Then, an annoyed voice was heard.

“Come on Kuro-chi, can’t you do better than this?”

Kuro’s senses faded away as Haiiro abruptly took control, but the wolf already in front of their eyes. Haiiro grinned playfully, and help his fist out in front of the wolf’s face. The wolf grew furious, and with a loud crunch, the bones in Haiiro’s arms were easily snapped in two by the wolf’s massive fangs.

Yet no screams followed. Kuro and Shiro watched their bloody arm soak their beautiful sundress. They felt the immense pain, that Haiiro should have been feeling, yet still there was no trace of pain or anguish on his face.  

Instead a frightening scene that would forever be engraved in their minds for the following years to come played out. Haiiro stared at his arm, and finally scream. But it was by no means a scream of pain, nor was it one filled with despair or anguish.

No no, this was a scream filled with ecstasy.  Haiiro shuddered, and moan as if he were climaxing. And as his fist opened, having lost any strength to keep his fist closed. A small orange sphere flew out. It was dim, and only about the size of a marble and shone only as bright as a weak flame.

But as Haiiro let it go, it began to grow brighter and brighter until, “Boom~”

Orange sphere blew up, inside the wolf’s mouth forcing the wolf too let go. Haiiro clenched his other fist, and ruthlessly landing it square into the wolf’s face. His tiny hand held an unimaginably explosive power, and the wolf was sent flying away.

“Aaahh, down already… Maybe the others will be a bit more fun~.” Haiiro muttered.

Kasuka stared at his brother’s bloody arm, “Y-Yuya! Your arm!”

Kuri stared at his arm and gaped, pale faced. She ran up to him, quickly casting a spell causing the wound to heal rapidly.

Haiiro smiled,“Don’t worry, brother~. It’ll just be slightly hard to use for a bit~.”

Kuri and Kasuka were speechless, but Haiiro ignored them and started walking towards the screaming and howling they tried to flee from. The pain in their arm didn’t seem to impede their body’s movement at all.

“Wait, where are you going?!” Kuri yelled.

“Isn’t it obvious, Kuriri?”

Haiiro turned to her with a grin “I’m going to play with the puppies~”

Haiiro ripped a piece of their bloodied dress, and affixed their arm in place, and walked towards the source of the screaming.

Kasuka clenched his fist, “Yuya! Don’t try to be a Hero!”

He ran after him, when Kuri grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Kasuka turned around and noticed Kuri was on shaking and on the brink of tears, “Kasuka, please… don’t leave me”

He paused, and held Kuri’s small hand in his, “I’ll protect the both of you!”

Kasuka turned around, and pulled her forward and they began running after Haiiro.

…

Shiro asked, “Are you really going to take them on?”

“Naturally~”

“You’ll die”

“You never know~”

“We need to save the others,” Kuro interrupted, “There were screams…”

Shiro sighed, “They’re dead, and so will we if we don’t get out of there.”

“We can’t just leave them!”

“Well of course we can, let me take the wheel I’ll promise you we’ll get out of this without a single scratch. Well other than the ones we have right now.”

End of Chapter

Choices

Kuro

Shiro

Haiiro