Picnic Gone Awry [Training]

[Merc]

21
Also, it would make for a great story. She couldn’t wait to tell her brother about the time she sat in a tree feeding a wolf. Sure, she might spruce up the details a bit, but Mika didn’t need to know that.

Yu tore the remaining half into two chunks and tossed one to the wolf. It jumped to catch it, then lowered its head to chew it up. She thought about keeping the final piece for herself, but she couldn’t resist the big eyes looking up at her. It might have just been her imagination, but she swore she saw its tail wag just a little as it looked up at her.

[Merc]

22
“Alright, alright. You win, here’s your prize.” She dropped the last of it and watched in silence as the beast finished off the remains of her lunch. When it looked to her again, she showed it the empty cloth. “All gone,” she said, but of course it didn’t understand. It stared at her with those intelligent amber eyes that made her feel like it could see through her. Its head bobbed and tilted to one side as it waited for more, but she had nothing else to offer it.

Yu wrinkled her nose in thought as she debated how to convey this to the wolf.

[Merc]

23
She lowered her eyes to the crumb covered cloth in her lap and pondered a moment. Realizing that the wrapping likely smelled of beef, she dropped it to the ground as well.

As the canine smelled it, Yu allowed herself to reach out, to feel what it felt and sense what it wanted. More. More, more, more. She didn’t have more, but she wished she did. This reminded her of all the times she’d head to the ocean and feed the birds innards of their kill. It wasn’t pretty, sure, but there was something pleasing knowing she probably made an animal’s day.

[Merc]

24
The wolf lingered, its nose in the cloth as it sniffed and snuffed loud enough for her to hear. It spent a couple minutes like that, and she allowed herself to read it again. The creature’s need for food waned, as did its interest in her. After inspecting the cloth one final time to make sure it didn’t miss a scrap, it sauntered off through the trees - but not before pausing to look at her.

Yu dared think the creature was thanking her, in its own way. A soft smile played on her lips as she watched it stalk off, but she waited a few more minutes before shouldering her pack and jumping to the ground below.

[Merc]

25
As she bent down to pick up the cloth, the butterfly detached from her clothes and fluttered away from her. Admittedly, she forgot about it while amusing herself with the wolf, but she was a little sad to see it go.

It wasn’t as windy now, so it could go about its day. Its broad pink wings flapped with all its might as it launched toward the treetops. She watched it a moment, just long enough to figure out where it was going. Food. It was looking for flowers. The forest was ripe with them, so it wouldn’t have trouble quenching it’s hunger.

[Merc]

26
Yu was another story. Sure, she had chocolate, but that didn’t keep her full for long. As she pondered making her way to a stream she passed to catch a fish, she picked up the empty wrapper and tucked it into her pocket. She was accustomed to fending for herself back in Yuki no Kuni, hunting for food wasn’t an issue for her, but a tingle at the back of her neck told her she wasn’t alone. It wasn’t an animal watching her this time, of that she was certain, but she stayed calmed as she reached out with her senses to try to determine their motive.

[Merc]

27
Humans were more difficult to read than beasts, which was perhaps one of the reasons why Yu preferred the latter. Their motives, their desires, were more complex and often more sinister. She liked to try to assume the best of everyone until they gave her reason to think otherwise, but the sickly roll of her stomach told her that whoever was watching her had less than innocent intentions. While she couldn’t quite pinpoint what they wanted just yet, she didn’t want to stick around and find out - not when she was alone in the middle of nowhere.

[Merc]

28
This wasn’t the forests of Yuki on Kuni, where she knew the land like the back of her hand and could disappear into one of many caverns or hollowed out trees to wait for the danger to pass. She needed to get out before things escalated.

She started walking slowly as if nothing was wrong, all the while trying to make heads or tails of the ominous tension in the air. The threatening aura could have just been someone wanting her to leave their land, but she didn’t think that was the case, and she certainly wasn’t willing to gamble her life on it.

[Merc]

29
Yu sucked in a quiet, even breath as the wind ruffled her hair. She chanced a glance to her side, but there was no one there. If she wasn’t so in tune with her gut instincts, she’d think she was imagining it - that being in the forest for too long spooked her. But, she knew the difference. The forest was where she was most comfortable. This one just happened to have something vile lurking in it.

A glance at the gloomy skyline told her night was coming. Relief washed over her, but she didn’t let her guard down. She couldn’t afford to.

[Merc]

30
The thought of being alone with a creep in the night should have scared her, perhaps, but it was also her best shot at getting out of there without a confrontation. Once it was dark enough, she could just hide in the shadows, or slip away while they were searching for her.

Whoever watched her was growing increasingly excited, which made them sloppy. She heard their footsteps behind her and wondered if it was on purpose.

Do they want me to run? She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing they frightened her, but her heart raced and every ounce of her being screamed for her to run.

[Merc]

31
Yu didn’t for the same reason she would never run from any other predator - running kicked their hunting instincts into overdrive and they would undoubtedly give chase. The last thing she wanted was to run around unfamiliar woods with who knows what or whom chasing her. It was best to keep calm, to act as if she didn’t notice, to allow her pursuer to believe that she was helplessly oblivious to them. The more they underestimated her, the better her chances of escape. She just needed to wait for an opening, for a moment when she could disappear into a shadow and turn this game of cat and mouse around.

[Merc]

32
Her pores seemed to clog from the tension building around her. The sickly tingle in her spine identified the intentions of her watcher, or watchers.

Bloodlust. They wanted to hurt her. Not to hunt for food or to scare her away from their territory, they wanted to hurt her for the sake of it. For the pleasure of it.

Yu grit her teeth as she rounded the base of a large tree to momentarily escape their gaze and the awful feeling that came with it. She glanced to the darkening sky and knew it was nearly time to make her move.

[Merc]

33
The sound of footsteps picked up behind her, and she realized that whatever was on her trail no longer had the patience to follow her - it was on the hunt now, and she was a rabbit in their sights. She couldn’t afford to let them fill the space between them, so she took off running at top speed, dodging around trees and leaping over roots - all the while the sense of bloodlust increased the closer the footsteps grew.

Blood. Blood. Blood, blood, blood. Pain. Suffering. Agony. A torrent of dark urges swept over her as the person who desired them closed in on her. She ignored the cold bead of sweat rolling down her neck and ran faster.

[Merc]

34
A cloud passed before the setting sun, casting a shadow over the trees and providing Yu with the opportunity she was waiting for.

In a split second, she rounded a tree and activated her Shadowskin ability to blend in with the darkness. She darted around the base of several trees, hiding herself behind each before finally leaping onto a sturdy branch that didn’t so much as groan under her weight.

All while she moved, she felt that sickly, malicious aura that willed her to mess up - to become the victim of whoever pursued her.

Yu considered herself many things, but never a victim.

[Merc]

35

She held her breath when that suffocating tension got so close to her that every muscle in her body clenched at once. Her pale blue eyes watched in silent dread as someone - something - not entirely human passed beneath her perch in the tree. Though it walked on two legs, she got the distinct feeling that it’s humanity was long since lost.

A cold beat of sweat ran down her forehead and to the tip of her nose, threatening to fall.

It craned its head left and right to search for her, and she sensed its desperation, as if harming her was a compulsion, as if it needed to carry this out to survive, same as the wolf needed to eat.

[Merc]

36

It seemed to take forever for it to move on, and Yu didn’t budge an inch while she waited, her empathy on high alert, seeking out that malicious motives to assure herself the monster was heading away from her. The drop of sweat pooled on the tip of her nose rolled down her lips, but she didn't brush it away.

It dried by the time she dared to hug herself. She knew the monster was well out of hearing distance, but she didn’t budge - not until long after it was gone.

Then, in the dark of night with only the moonlight to guide her, she made a mad dash to the village she came from.

Yu was never so happy to see the crowds, to sense their excitement.

She was safe at last.

[Skulking Shinzu]

[36] +180 TP.
       +125 SP.