CHAPTER 6

Sapphire and Winter headed northwards at full speed, but how far they came from the tundra only served to make their return even longer. They stopped at several places along way, forests, ruins, deadlands, towns and cities, and past several hills and mountains. It turned out be a journey of two months in all. It seemed the two were a great distance away from the tundra, luckily Fi's teleportation helped lessen the distance back then, otherwise it would have been easily a three or four month journey.

This journey happened to be a great experience for the two. While they did fight a great number of strong enemies and grew stronger, the two enjoyed it more than anything. It was Winter's first time out of the all white tundra, a fairly barren and lifeless region. This was her first time seeing so many different colors, having been amazed by every bright thing. Rainbows, deserts, the colorful fauna and flaura of rainforests and forests, the rocky uneven landscapes of the mountains, she enjoyed every last bit of her it.

Sapphire had seen all sorts of things in the rainforest, and she saw many more since her journey started, but she didn't quite get the chance to focus on having fun, there were several other things on her mind at those times. Now that she travelled carefree back home, she noticed and cherished all the beautiful things, along with her friend. But her attention also went to the other things, having taken Kurai's words to heart.

She noticed the many good things and many bad things. The rainforests were beautiful with a great number of bright flora and fauna, but these usually concealed deadly threats. The deserts were barren and unlivable, yet some life thrived in them, having evolved to do their best to survive. The human cities still remained the most fascinating to her.

They weren't natural habitats, but were created by people to suit themselves, and yet, she saw a great number of different people. From how they looked to how they lived, most of the humans seemed to have very few characteristics in common. Many were happy, many sad, many were rich, many poor, many were working hard, and many sat and left everything to fate.

She always used to think she was a weird Midnight Wolf because everyone else was very similar to each other, while she turned out be different in nearly every way. But if that was applied to humans, then she realised there were only a handful who were similar. And while she had always thought of all of them to be evil, many happily helped Sapphire and Winter, knowing nothing about their intentions or goals, and even wished them success in their endeavours.

Sapphire did view many things differently now, but she pushed them aside for the moment as she finally reached close to home. They arrived at the first human town Sapphire visited with Kurai, after sixty four days of travelling.

Winter was happy to be back in a cold environment and wished to hurry back all the way, but Sapphire wished to check on the bar owner Kurai met in the town. She walked to the inn which Kurai took her to, shocked to find nothing but a pile of debris where the inn used to be. She stood there for a while staring at the pile in shock and confusion, not understanding what happened.

"Excuse me, are you two looking for something?" A person asked coming up behind the two, a fat middle-aged man. He possessed a small moustache and brownish hair with similarly colored eyes. He wore a fancy suit, sitting in a carriage drawn by two horses. The carriage driver, glanced between Sapphire and Winter.

"Do you happen to know what happened to the inn here?" Sapphire questioned. Winter sensed Sapphire's rage hidden her sweet tone, a way she never talked in except when angry.

"Oh, you wouldn't have wished to go to that inn anyways, the owner of that inn housed assassins, he deserved the death he received." The man explained with a grin.

"Might you elaborate on what happened to him?" Sapphire requested.

"Once we found out what he was doing the entire town gathered and destroyed his inn, however, he survived along with his receptionist, which was just for the better. Later we burned them alive for them to repent for their sins, God may have mercy on them now." He sighed, a smirk of joy visible on his face.

"I am grateful to you for explaining everything to me," Sapphire snarled.

The man looked at her in confusion at her sudden hostile voice. Winter could tell the rage skill activated and took a hesitant step away, not wanting to be caught in one of Sapphire's attacks.

"Winter?" Sapphire called to her, turning her head towards Winter slightly. "What do you think now?"

"I have no problems." Winter replied with a thumbs-up, stepping further away.

The carriage driver jumped off the carriage and attempted to run, knowing things were about to go south. The moment his foot touched the ground it was grabbed by a shadowy hand from the ground, a wave of shadowy matter slicing and absorbing him right after.

Removing her hat Sapphire glared at the man in the carriage. "I believe Kurai was wrong to have spared you back then." Sapphire spat jumping on the carriage and grabbing the man by his collar. She swung him off the carriage and then jumped down herself before using her Shadow Manipulation to slice off the binds of the horses. "Bolt." She ordered them with a glare.

The two horses immediately took off having not considered her much of a danger to them, till she glared at them. Sapphire stood by the man for a while, not doing anything. Then as if on signal she walked to him, kicking him back down as he was getting up and unsheathed her katana, raising it in the air, the tip pointing to the ground. The man begged for his life, sputtering whatever he could think of.

"Shadow Magic: Turbulent Shadows." Sapphire chanted stabbing her katana into the ground, through the man's chest.

Seven of her Shadow Warriors, appearing from the ground all around the town also did the same at the same time, unleashing a flood of shadows that washed away all the people and objects caught in it. Surprisingly it left Sapphire and many animals like cats, dogs, birds and rabbits unharmed in the nearby area, even trees, destroying only humans and things built by them.

Sapphire stood still for a while before signalling Winter to follow her. She walked straight towards the tundra, not wishing to stay where the town used to be even a minute longer. Winter seemed completely fine with that and simply followed Sapphire, trying her best to cheer her up.

They walked through the icy tundra and rested for half a night near a frozen lake. Sapphire wondered if the wolves relocated further in. She simply assumed she wasn't far enough yet and continued going ahead, knowing even if they did relocate the chances of them missing the entire pack were low.

Around midday a blizzard started, not strong enough to keep Sapphire and Winter from moving ahead, but strong enough to be a slight inconvenience.

Not long after the blizzard started Winter sensed something up ahead through the blizzard. Winter reached her hand out to warn Sapphire, but she disappeared using her Shadow Movement. Appearing out of the ground she stood between the two sides of the conflict, a single Blood Wolf, and three humans.

The humans were evidently hunters, trying to capture the Blood Wolf. One of them held a rope while the other held some sort of collar like apparatus, but with a section projecting out most likely to keep the jaws closed. The last one carrying a crossbow to fend off attackers. The Blood Wolf was clearly injured, one of her legs pierced by a bolt.

The man with the crossbow shot a bolt at Sapphire, startled by her sudden appearance. She did not dodge it, instead she allowed it to pierce through her head and simply stared back at the trio of humans.

"I will give you one chance to escape, bolt right now and I will spare you, or I will kill you." Sapphire warned as she removed the bolt from her forehead.

The three humans looked at each other, one of them showing hesitation while the other two laughed at her. Sapphire held her right hand in front of her, the palm open towards the three people.

"Shadow Manipulation: String blades." She mumbled as she closed her palm and pulled it closer. Four black strings of shadows wound around the two laughing people, slashing them to pieces as she pulled her hand closer. The last one now dropped the collar he held and attempted to flee. "Too late." Sapphire sighed coming up in his path and punching him through the chest. She absorbed his body along with the two others using her Shadow Manipulation, before turning to the Blood Wolf, who showed close to no sign of fear. "You are not afraid?" Sapphire questioned.

Even though Sapphire and Winter weren't wearing a hat now and it was easy to tell they were wolves, she still found it hard to believe that her absorption skill failed to scare anyone. It also seemed to be Winter's first time seeing a Blood Wolf with pink fur, largely because their fur is usually red, and pink is a very rare color only few females possess, not as rare as blue eyes in Midnight Wolves though.

"Not in the slightest, I was sent out here to lead you back to our territory, your alpha already warned me to expect the most horrifying things possible, this was far less than what I expected. We needed to relocate due to human scouts and small groups of troops," The Blood Wolf informed.

"Things seem to have gotten worse," Sapphire observed.

"It will be best for you to hear of it from the alphas and the elder." The Blood Wolf suggested walking ahead and gesturing them to follow.

Winter shrugged and followed the Blood Wolf along with Sapphire. They reached the territory around dusk, the sun had already set and the moon shone brightly. There were a large number of wolves staring at Sapphire and Winter, the only ones in their humanoid humans in the entire territory. While they could transform to their normal form, they found their humanoid form to be far better for nearly every thing except long distance travels.

"The alphas and the elder are waiting." A Winter Wolf informed, slightly bowing to Sapphire.

Sapphire nodded and followed the Winter Wolf, Winter following right beside Sapphire. They were lead to a slight crater in the earth, the origin of which Sapphire couldn't tell. The four alphas sat along with the elder in the crater, gathered around a rock in the very center of the crater, very possibly the cause of its creation. There were three other wolves too, whom Sapphire did not know, two Winter Wolves and a Blood Wolf.

"Sapphire!" Her father exclaimed on spotting her.

He rushed right to her and accidentally knocked her down to the ground, showing proper affection through nuzzles as is common for wolves. Winter nervously smiled at the three Winter Wolves there, none bothering to show any affection. Sapphire sat calmly, her head resting on her Father's fur as he sat behind her.

"So, how did your journey go?" The elder inquired.

"Great, I believe," Sapphire shrugged.

"Certainly a lot of fun, granted she made me worry a lot, but I took care of her." Winter explained with authority, turning to Midnight. Sapphire simply nodded with a smile, not bothering with Winter's claims.

"Good to hear you made friends," Midnight sighed.

"Oh, not just best friends," Winter smiled.

"Partners in crime." Sapphire finished for her and the two grinned at each other.

Midnight and the elder smiled at the growing friendship of the duo

"Well, good to hear you are getting along, but we have more important things to discuss," One of the two Winter Wolves reminded.

"Right, who needs to be killed?" Winter inquired, cracking her fists.

"We are expecting some visitors by next week," The elder informed.

"Over five hundred thousand visitors to be precise," The Winter Wolf from before added.

"Tundra, you have no clue how low that is," Winter sighed with a wave of her hand.

"Low?" Tundra exclaimed. "You think that's low? There's not even a thousand of us wolves and you wish to go up against an army of five hundred thousand? No wonder you are not fit to be the al-" Tundra was cut off by a shadowy spear appearing from the ground, stopping just short of her neck.

"Let's not throw words around carelessly, if thousand wolves won't help much reducing one won't matter much either." Sapphire sighed with a wave of her hand.

Everyone started at her in shock, even the elder, only Midnight seemingly not shocked but proud of her. "You have certainly grown," The elder observed. "No need to kill Tundra she is simply a bit stressed at the moment. But not to worry now that you are here."

"After we win the war here we will march out to exterminate all humans," Icicle informed.

"Wait, exterminate all humans?" Sapphire and Winter questioned in unison.

"Yes, they have done far too much to us, now it's their turn to suffer," Icicle growled.

"Not all of them, there are many who didn't do anything to harm us. There are many just trying to peacefully live their lives, not even knowing about any of this," Sapphire argued.

"They are all the same, don't attempt to justify human action, young wolf, you have not seen enough of the world," Icicle grunted.

"You have not seen enough, you are simply seeing what benefits you, you probably can't even name five colors other than white," Sapphire snarled. "If extermination is what you plan to do, then I will not fight in this war, do what you want."

"You will betray your own for humans?" Icicle exclaimed. Everyone else looked at Sapphire with a mixed expression, half pleading for aid, half in disgust for her attempt to justify the humans.

"I have made my choice, if anyone wishes for me to fight, then make me," Sapphire declared. Midnight did not say anything, neither did the other alphas, nor the elder.

"I will make you then," Icicle snarled taking a step forward.

Several ice spears aligned themselves to impale him at command, stopping him in his path. "If you wish to harm her then you must get through me first, not like that will ever happen though," Winter announced.

Midnight howled loudly, paralyzing both Winter and Sapphire, but also Icicle and the other non alphas. "If my daughter doesn't wish to participate then she will not, you have my aid so leave her out of this." Midnight declared before carrying Sapphire away by grabbing her scarf with his jaws.

He took her out of view to a different place from where they were, leaving Winter behind. Winter got up as Sapphire and Midnight disappeared out of view and instantly ran in their direction, glaring a last time at everyone that still remained in the crater. The elder sighed but shook her head to not push the matter any further.

Midnight brought Sapphire a decent distance from they were and tossed her on something soft. Sapphire allowed herself to rest on the soft feeling, not even minding the licking.

"You certainly seem very changed," Sapphire's mother laughed.

"Not enough to forget you both," Sapphire smiled, turning and hugging her

"Or me, right?" Winter exclaimed, coming up beside Midnight.

"Yes yes, definitely not forgetting my most trustworthy subordinate." Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"I will head back, you three remain here for safety," Midnight sighed.

"Is it really needed?" Sapphire's mother asked.

"I do not know the answer to that, the elder neither supports it nor opposes it, I am also staying neutral to this decision," Midnight informed. "But," he added, "I will still participate in the war that will happen here, to show them the power of a true alpha Midnight Wolf even the dragons feared."

"I have also slain eight dragons by now." Sapphire announced, her ears twitching in anticipation for some praise.

"That's great, you will surpass my two hundred and thirty three in no time at this rate." Midnight laughed as he headed back.

"Two hundred and thirty three?" Sapphire and Winter exclaimed together.

"Around eighty of them were ancient dragons, in case you want to break that record as well, I know you can." Midnight called back before disappearing out of sight.

"But I thought there were no dragons in the rainforest, and he never left the rainforest, then how?" Sapphire wondered.

"He has left the rainforest, just why he was able to lead us to Winter Wolf territory this easily," Sapphire's mother explained.

"When?" Sapphire exclaimed. "I never saw him leave, not once."

"He left when he was very young, and you weren't even born, slightly younger than you are currently, he spent ten years wandering and training, charting out the entire continent and slaying a great number if powerful beasts," Sapphire's mother explained. "He never would have left if he wasn't exiled by the previous alpha though."

"Grandfather exiled him?" Sapphire inquired.

"Not quite, your grandfather was no alpha, he was a simple hunter. Your father was exiled for the simple reason of accompanying the alpha's daughter while she felt alone. The ten years after that were tough but I knew he would return," Sapphire's mother sighed.

"So my grandfather was the alpha, just your father and not his," Sapphire gasped.

"So the if the alpha has a daughter, her mate becomes the next alpha. Didn't know Midnight Wolves followed such a complex hierarchy," Winter observed.

"Me neither," Sapphire agreed.

"We have no such order," Sapphire's mother chuckled. "He simply forced my father to leave his place when he returned, the strongest is the alpha in Midnight Wolves, it doesn't matter if they are a male or female. He later apologized to me thinking it was a bit cruel, the way he took me back by defeating my father, but I was simply awestruck by how much he changed to even bother," Sapphire's mother laughed. "Come to think of it," she sighed, "you have changed in a very similar way."

"I think that's for the better," Sapphire smirked. "Beware the unfortunate two hundred and twenty five dragons that will become a sacrifice for me to break my father's record, I hope you all will make it to the afterlife safely."

Sapphire's mother and Winter both laughed, Sapphire hugging her mother tightly right after. Winter looked at Sapphire quietly, just enjoying the childish and playful side of her otherwise serious and deadly friend.