Ryuuketsu- closed

Ryuu listened with rapt attention. His eyes weren't wide open in horror, but rather in interest and the fact he had to process much information. He wasn't initially sure how to react, because he didn't know if he could relate or not. Of course, Otso wouldn't be expecting an answer like that.

Finally, his head tilted in curiosity. So... was he kind of like a bad wolf, but not really anymore? Dark wolf, his mind helpfully supplied from somewhere, but with mixed connotations. From where, he didn't know, nor why his ideas about the word were mixed. Then the larger wolf moved closer, but Ryuu didn't move, not fearing what Otso might do, for he'd already had many chances to kill him. Instead came a cautious, almost gentle nuzzle. The motion was familiar yet not at the same time. Then he continued to speak, first with a vow, then finished with the reminder of the test.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Egan's body language seemed to have lightened up from when Otso first started to speak. It wasn't quite as if the mongoose approved Osto's past, although that was probably implied, since it was more like approval for Ryuu to stay with the wolf.

Looking Otso in the eyes, he responded after a moment's pause, thinking of how to word what he was about to say, "I think I had mixed feelings about the idea of... darker wolves, but I think you're pretty cool, being able to fight and survive and stuff. I think you're kind of like Egan. He's really tough and sometimes mean on the outside, but has a soft spot for his friends." His tassel swayed with excitement about the test... whatever that was going to be.

His features took on a confused look when Otso started to talk, until the other started to run. And quickly. He gaped for a moment until his felt a light nip on his heels and saw the figure of the mongoose running ahead of him at full speed. Ryuu immediately started running, as if his body was acting in response to a familiar action. Since he wasn't fully grown, he couldn't run as fast as he was capable of, but he was able to catch up with Egan, although gradually. The little guy could run pretty surprisingly fast. And Ryuu would later suspect that Egan couldn't maintain his fastest speed too long.

As if expecting Ryuu's position, Egan had took a brief look backwards and jumped, landing neatly on the young wolf's back as if it were the most natural thing in the world and they'd done it before. Ryuu kept running, a bit startled, but pushed it back in favor of trying not to fall behind Otso. Was the wolf in front of him even running at full pace?

If Ryuu was honest, he didn't want to keep running for too much longer, but what if part of the test was seeing if he'd complain or not? Things probably weren't always obvious. Egan was a noticeable weight but not enough to slow him down much. He could start feeling his muscles ache, but could keep running, and so he did.

It seemed like he was gaining on Otso, then noticed his feet movements had slowed, seemingly more lazy than the older wolf had been traveling than before. Did Otso think he was running too slow? Of course he was! He was still under a year old. If he hadn't slowed down, Ryuu would have fallen far behind and unable to catch up. He probably did think of that... he thought. Although able to catch up now, it still took him a bit of time, having started running late and being slower, but he eventually caught up, able to run almost side-by-side with Otso. What now? he wondered, secretly hoping they'd stop running soon. How long did they need to run, anyways?

He'd sped up again, and there was no way Ryuu was going to catch up again. Blinking, he took a glance at his surroundings. Hadn't they passed here? Had they pretty much gone in a circle? Probably more like an oval, he thought. He had been so focused on trying to keep up that he didn't really notice where they'd gone or how long they had been running so far. Because he was so focused on his target, he saw a slight movement ahead of him, which looked almost like a faltered step before Otso caught himself.

After a while, Otso came to a stop, almost right to the spot hey had started. The coppery scent of blood filled his nares again as he got into range, Egan leaping off onto the ground as Ryuu slowed, and finally caught up to Otso again as he asked him for his opinion. "That was tiring," he said, as he sat down, not whining, although he probably might have had they kept running longer. "Do you adults do this all the time?" It was only a youth's seemingly unending energy that allowed him to quickly catch his breath.

He glanced towards the body, seeing the Otso was looking at it, then back at the ground. The reminder of his lacking memories. He wasn't sure how long it'd been there, but at least probably since the previous night or sooner. Pawing at the ground with one foot, he responded to Otso's implications, misunderstanding a little, "I'm not hungry..." Ryuu wasn't quite sure what Otso was asking. An adult didn't ask permission, so he was probably asking if Ryuu was fine with treating the dead wolf like prey or something. He wasn't too keen on the idea, scared of his locked memories and the uncertainty of who the deceased was or how they died. What the other did, though, didn't matter to him. And he really wasn't hungry, whether it was the sight of the carcass starting to rot, or something else. He didn't know.

He looked up at Otso, almost in disbelief. Wasn't he supposed to be the one who knew how to survive? How would he, a pup, know? Ryuu glanced at Egan instinctively. They mongoose ha been by his side ever since he first woke up.

Egan had started to nudge Ryuu's leg when the wolf looked at him, and started to dart off in a direction he didn't remember, presumably the direction Ryuu had come from before the amnesia. The wolf looked up at Otso and shrugged wolfishly before following the mongoose. He didn't know how well compared to a wolf the small creature could smell, but maybe he remembered passing by something. It wasn't like the creature didn't understand him, so there was no reason for Egan to lead them astray. He did briefly pause to look back at the larger wolf and said, "I think he remembers a place." Before turning back to follow. It wasn't difficult keeping up with the mongoose. Guardian or not, Ryuu would trust Egan without deferring to Otso.

He noticed Otso following them, but Ryuu pushed it aside, in favor of continuing to follow the mongoose to water. Had he really come from this direction? Why would any wolf venture out into these sands? It seemed stupid. He didn't doubt the small creature, but would there really be water here? It was just dry, although maybe the sun was confusing him.

After some minutes, Ryuu was ready to wonder if Egan really did understand him until he saw something glimmer. Auds perked up in interest, he looked towards his small companion, who suddenly wasn't there anymore. Blinking in confusion, he was about to stop to look around until he felt something impatiently swipe his ear with no real force. He moved forward, faster than he'd been moments earlier, nose catching the signs of some moisture in the air. Soon enough, he stepped on the boundary where sand met a tiny pool of water. He felt pressure as the mongoose lept off his back to take a drink. Lowering his mouth, he greedily drank for a few seconds before backing away, laying down nearby, exhausted.

Was Otso really dark wolf? He didn't really seem like one. Maybe when he first met him. "Isn't that your job as my guardian to decide?" Ryuuketsu questioned. He looked around, to take in his surroundings. In the distance, he could see a looming mountain range, almost sinister looking. It caught his interest, but it was pretty far, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to be with a pack.

"What do wolves do out here, anyways? Doesn't look like there's much to do..." It looked... boring. There was a severe lack of foliage. Why he was looking for plants, he didn't know. Egan looked somewhat out of place out in the open, but probably less so than himself. The mongoose didn't seem to mind the scenery too much. Perhaps the old Ryuu didn't either, but he wouldn't know.

He blinked, head tilted to the side. "What's a... sandcastle?" he questioned. "Izzit a two-leg word or something?" He knew what sand was, but the other word was foreign to him. He felt the atmosphere seeming to change, and wondered if he did anything wrong. Quickly, he said, "Fighting..." as if testing the words. He knew the meaning of the word, but in his memory, he'd never uttered the word. "Where would we find someone?"

Egan started to hiss, turning in the direction they had come. Ryuu turned his attention to him, wondering what was wrong. The mongoose's eyes weren't red, so it wasn't a snake. His auds twitched until he caught the sight of movement from where they had come from. It was only when they got a bit closer that he was able to catch the scent of wolves. It was like Fenrir himself had answered the question... He glanced up at Otso. Would he wait, or charge in?

So there were wolves in those mountains? They looked so... uninviting. Is that why those wolves would live there? There, and that they were positioned high to look down? Otso seemed to ignore the incoming wolves, and suggested taking a nap. He watched the older wolf fall into slumber, looked in the direction the wolves were coming from, then to Egan, who didn't look like he was going to sleep any time soon, before Ryuu settled down and tried to sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he assumed he had napped for a short time, but why had he woken up? The sun in the sky hadn't moved, so he'd been roused by something. Why? He looked around, seeing the mongoose was awake and drinking water, but looking tense, as if waiting...

Suddenly, Egan started hissing as four wolves leapt over a small dune of sand, eyes gleaming at the sight before them. Ryuu backed to put more distance between himself and them, his path taking him closer to Otso, the mongoose baking up with Ryuu, but staying in front of him.

The lead wolf nodded his head, and two of the wolves behind him leaped the remaining distance between them and Ryuu, no words or noises made, teeth and claws ready to tear in for the kill. Ryuu's pupils dilated as he instinctively ran forward towards the leader, unable to move backwards or to the side in time, Egan having already started to a split second before. Ryuu turned as soon as he was clear of the leaping bodies, not wanting to become the first or second wolf's snack, who had yet to act, feeling Egan positioning himself on his back. For now, he wouldn't complain about it unless the mongoose was in immediate danger.

The two landed silently, having shifted their weight as they did so, and quickly jumped a short distance away, getting out of range of the slumbering wolf. They didn't bother to continue pursuing the whelp, instead turned their attention to Otso, but didn't act. Instead, they seemed to act as barricades, positioning themselves right between Ryuu and Otso so neither had access to the other without getting by them. The remaining wolf behind the leader circled around them to his two companions, positioning himself between them. The leader stepped forward, a slight limp in his leg, seeing that Otso wouldn't get through the trio any time soon, and slowly approached, all the appearances of taking extreme cautions with Ryuu. Three of the four were assassins and the remaining a normal warrior, as the assassins were out of their element in the sand with no where to hide.

The assassin lunged forward, the mongoose unmoving from his spot, looking all the world as if he'd frozen in place. He was excited, guessing that his claws would soon tear into the creature. Just as he was about to collide, he suddenly found his paws in the sand, legs buckling in the unexpectedness of not finding a body under his paws. Rage gleamed in his features as he turned, to angered to consider the tiny foot steps he heard behind him...

He couldn't do anything, and realized even Otso noticed the situation. The assassin was fast and had a head start. Ryuu still had to try, so he ran forward, throat paralyzed and unable to make a sound in his fear. Suddenly, Egan wasn't there anymore and had managed to scramble to the side, apparently never been frozen in the first place. An unusual ploy, but it worked. Ryuu still had momentum from his running, though, and kept running. He didn't know what he'd do, but he might as well attack and hope he didn't die.

He saw the leader turn around, a mad gleam in his eyes. By now, he couldn't stop running, even if he wanted to. Suddenly, Egan appeared from under the leader's standing body, who was clearly unaware. He leapt upwards at the exposed throat as Ryuu made a decision to leap up, also aiming at the throat.

The enraged wolf didn't have a chance to react as two sets of teeth bit down. Although they individually didn't have a good bite, together they opened more puncture wounds, blood draining just as much as a normal wolf biting down.

The assassin who hadn't moved this whole time still stood still, a look of disgust on his features. No rightful assassin would let his emotions get the best of him. The moment they became who they were, they'd given up feeling useless things like pride. Wrath was good, but not when spurred by pride. He turned and gave a commanding bark as the whelp started to run in for the kill, orders aimed to the one fighting the whelp's guardian, turning into a growl when he was disobeyed. It appeared as if someone forgot who was the real leader of the group. The job was important, but it was important to defer to the most experienced of the group, even over the assigned leader in situations like this. They couldn't kill a target if they were dead. They had to survive to get reinforcements. His eyes narrowed. Then again, the only other surviving wolf was a warrior, not an assassin. Fighting to the death was in his blood. They should have let him die those minutes ago.

With a glare at the dead body on the ground, he turned and quickly darted through the sands, soft and rapidly fading lyrics promising a return...

The warrior just managed to avoid a nasty knock on the head, but in the process, ended up landing heavily on his shoulder. Ignoring the pain as he got up, he noticed the other worried about and calling to the whelp, and decided to try another attack as he surged forward, jaws opened and ready to clamp down anywhere he could reach, wondering if the other wolf would notice in time and get out of the way. From the corner of his mind, he heard a command to leave, but who was that wolf to order him around with his command dead? No. He'd finish this wolf off and the whelp and eat the mongoose. He knew he'd win if this wolf didn't focus on the fight.