10 The Capture

'The great god of us rabbits is a cutsleeve[1]?' Wen Tu thought. She couldn't believe that a rabbit, like herself, didn't even realize the preferences of her god. "So," Wen Tu slowly asked. "What do you think of cut sleeves then?"

"Hmm?" Ren Dong opened her eyes and raised a brow at Wen Tu. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you detest them?" Wen Tu nervously shrugged.

"Hmm, well, no," Ren Dong shrugged. "I think as long as they aren't hurting anyone, they are free to do as they wish."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Ren Dong answered as she closed her eyes again. "Why do you ask anyways."

"Uh, well," Wen Tu twitched a bit. "I was wondering how you would react if you found out that another woman had a crush on you."

"A crush on me?"

"Yeah," Wen Tu nodded. "Like romantically or something like that."

"Eh, I don't know," Ren Dong shrugged. "As long as I'm the only one in their heart, I won't care about who they were." Ren Dong opened up her eyes once more and reached up to touch the side of Wen Tu's face. "I'll even be fine if the heavens had turned ou into a woman."

"Really?" Wen Tu stiffed as she felt her heart thump faster. 'Could I finally tell her the truth then?' "Ren Dong, I-"

"Ahh!" A blood-curdling scream suddenly interrupted Wen Tu's confession.

"What was that!?!" Ren Dong sat up quickly, nearly smacking her forehead into Wen Tu's face. Luckily she had instinctively pulled back first to avoid a collision.

"I don't know," Wen Tu said as she narrowed her eyes in the direction of the cry. It's coming from our home! "Stay here; I will go check it out!" Wen Tu quickly got up and was ready to run off to the source of the cry.

"Eh?" Ren Dong grabbed Wen Tu's arm. "Wait for a second; what if it's a trap?"

"What if it's not?"

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Peeved that her man was ready to rush into danger and play the hero, Ren Dong added, "I'll go with you."

"Ren Dong," She was a little hesitant to have Ren Dong follow her, what if something terrible happened. "I'll be gone for only a second."

"No," Ren Dong said firmly. "you can barely walk without spraining an ankle."

"It's fine," Wen Tu shook her head. "Plus, I'm a fast runner. Trust me!"

"Hmm," Ren Dong scrunched her brows as she looked at the bunny's earnest expression. "Fine, but if you get hurt, just call for me."

"Eh," Wen Tu nodded before bolting off towards the direction of the cry while Ren Dong could only watch her from the tree.

Wen Tu bolted past the trees and then suddenly stopped. Something didn't feel right about the situation. Since when did people scream in the middle of the woods where there was nothing to harm them?

"Ah, Wen Tu," a familiar cocky voice chuckled behind her. "It's so nice to see you again," Hu Dan said as he stepped out from behind the trees.

"Hu Dan?" Wen Tu rose a brow. "Why are you here? I heard a scream."

"Oh, perhaps you hearing things," Hu Dan shrugged. "I've been here the whole time, and I didn't hear a peep."

"Oh," Wen Tu slowly nodded. She needed to get out of here. Wen Tu didn't want to stay long with this creep. "In that case, I'll be going," she turned to leave when he called out to her.

"Hold on," he said. "You know, these woods aren't safe as you think, especially if you live isolated from the rest of the group. Rather dangerous if you ask me."

Wen Tu didn't respond to his haughty taunts. 'He's probably waiting for me to answer back. Huh, too bad for him.'

As she kept walking further away, she could tell that Hu Dan got more frustrated with her.

"You don't care about your brother?"

"Ah, so heartless! To think that you wouldn't even ask about your little brother's well being!"

"Hey, answer me."

"Answer me!"

Wen Tu had speed up her walking as Hu Dan kept talking behind her, slowly advancing towards her. She knew that she couldn't outrun him, but if Wen Tu could get back to Ren Dong, then she would be in the clear. She wasn't sure if he would have the guts to face Wifey a second time.

'Come on, come on, just a little bit further!'

Wen Tu mentally kicked herself for thinking it was smart to go deep into the woods to locate the sound. 'Great thinking there.'

"Ah, where do you think you're going!" Reaching out, Hu Dan grabbed onto Wen Tu's hair and pulled her back to him. "Heh, you know its rude not to answer people."

"You know it's rude to grab onto people's hair," she gritted out as Hu Dan's claws scraped against her scalp.

Hu Dan laughed as he pulled her closer to him until her back pressed into Hu Dan's chest. "Pretty suggestive the way we're posed, ain't it?"

"Let go of me," Wen Tu tried to twist her way out of his disgusting grip. However, Hu Dan's grip on her hair was that of steel.

"Hmm," Hu Dan hummed as he tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. "Even if you dress like a man, you still are the most beautiful," he mused as muzzled his face into her throat and licked it.

Wen Tu couldn't help but shiver in disgust at his action. "I said, let go!" She viciously stomped on Hu Dan's foot.

Hu Dan howled in pain and shock. Using this rare opportunity, Wen Tu bolted as fast as she could to get away from him.

She could see the fading light in the distance. She was almost there! Almost to her Wifey!

However, just before she reached the end of the road, she felt a heavy blow on the back of her neck.

Her small form quickly fell flat into the forest floor.

She felt herself losing consciousness as her neck and head throbbed in pain.

"W-wifey," she whispered out as her hands weakly tried to reach out towards the light.

Then everything when to black.

---

'He's been gone for too long,' Ren Dong thought as an unsettling feeling came over her gut. Her eyes never left the location were Wen Tu had run off to

The sun was setting, and the last wisps of light were already disappearing.

"Somethings wrong," she said as she narrowed her eyes. Ren Dong couldn't explain the feeling, but she felt as if she had lost something essential.

Quickly getting up, she was about to head off in the direction where Wen Tu had disappeared to when a panicked voice called out to her.

"Miss Ren Dong! I came as soon as I heard it!"

"A-Kuai!" Ren Dong spotted the young boy running towards with a lantern. Jogging halfway over to the young boy, she asked, "Where is Wen Tu? Is he with you?"

"Hah," A-Kuai heaved. "No, I haven't seen Big Bro since this afternoon. I came over to tell you that somethings wrong!"

"I think so too," Ren Dong nodded. "Wen Tu just went off into the woods to help someone as hasn't returned since. I think something may have happened to him."

"Eh," A-Kuai agreed. "Just now, a young man from the village, the one who was looking through your window came to warn me!"

"The man from the window?" Ren Dong questioned. "What did Dan Lue want?"

"He told me to watch out for a red-haired man," A-Kuai said. "I think that he has to do with something about Wen Tu's disappearance."

"Red-haired man?" Ren Dong muttered as she attempted to jog her memory. "Wait! Is it that bastard fox!" As if an intense fury came over her, Ren Dong ran past A-Kuai to the direction where Wen Tu had disappeared.

"Miss Ren Dong!" A-Kuai had called after her as he attempted to follow her form into the darkened woods.

Spinning around in a panic, Ren Dong tried to look for any trace of her bunny.

"Miss Ren Dong, please wait," A-Kuai heaved as he set the lantern down.

Ren Dong didn't listen to his words as she continued to look round frantically. "Where is he!"

Then out of the corner of her, a sliver of white shine on the forest floor. Hastily making her way over to the white strand, she realized, 'he was right here.' She gently reached out to pick up the few strands of white hair off the forest floor.

'He was right here!'

"Based on the looks of it, we can't do much tonight, we're losing light," A-Kuai observed as he walked over to her kneeling form.

"He was right here," she muttered. "He was right here; he could still be nearby!"

"No," A-Kuai shook his head. "It's too dark for us to be wandering around the forest for Big Bro. If anything, it could hinder us from finding him."

"But, he couldn't have gone far-"

"Miss Ren Dong," A-Kuai sharply interrupted. "I know you care about my brother, but you can't do anything for him if you are muddle-headed and angry. What if, during your search, you get hurt, huh? How would I be able to face my brother then? How are you going to do anything for him if you are hurt yourself?"

Ren Dong didn't have an answer for the young boy. 'He's right, but I hate how helpless I am.' With the support of A-Kuai, she got up and guided her back home.

'Wait for me, Wen Tu. I'll save you.'

[1] cut sleeve - slang for a gay male. According to legend, there once was an emperor who was gay. And when he had to leave to attend morning court, he had realized that his liver had fallen asleep on his imperial robes. Instead of waking up his lover, he took a knife and cut off his sleeve to free himself.