CHAPTER 6

She had failed to realize just how dangerous travelling through a forest at night could be till she encountered the dangers. Monsters were much more active during the night and many predators also hunted in the dark of night, most of which even she wouldn't notice approaching, largely because she was not familiar with this sort of environment. If not careful, she could easily fall victim to a monster or hunter, or might get caught by other humans.

The scent of monsters was quite strong throughout the forests, easy to notice as the scent of monsters is somewhat agitating for those with a great sense of smell, only when the monsters are very close however. It wasn't agitating enough for Sapphire to make an escape plan, but enough for her to realise just how dangerous the place was, and Sapphire was even starting to believe there might be some following her, afterall no one would pass up on free food. She didn't see anything thus far, but it wasn't reassuring in the slightest. In fact, it was more worrying to not know where the danger was as compared to when you know it's location.

While Sapphire had walked the rest of the way, she decided to start running as fast as she could when she sensed an agitating scent, too agitating and too close. She heard a disappointed snarl from right behind her as she did, only encouraging her to not stop anytime soon. In her panic she failed to notice a slight descent in the path and her leg slipped on it, causing her to roll down. It wasn't stepp by any means, but the slippery snow caused her to roll all the way down to a clearing.

She pushed herself back to her feet and figured she was on what appeared to be a dirt road made through the forest. While avoiding humans was clearly the better idea, she still decided to use the dirt road as it was headed straight west, and the chances of a human realising she was a wolf in the darkness of the night were low. Monsters and other animals also tend to stay away from the dirt roads made by humans most of the time, so it offered safety as compared to the woods as well.

She didn't hear or smell any monsters for the most of the way as she walked down the road. There were lingering scents here and there, but nothing dangerous as they belonged to monsters which were here hours or days ago. The wind also picked up speed and some dark clouds curtained the stars, blocking their light. The moon was the only thing lighting up the road, not yet covered by the dark clouds as it was close to the horizon. It was almost a full moon, but Sapphire knew it will just get smaller for the next ten-to-fifteen days. And while the moon did light up the path, she did not need to rely on the moonlight, being a wolf, she could see just well in the night.

She spotted some foot prints crossing the road, seemingly passing from side of it to the other. They resembled the paws of a bear but she could have been mistaken, her knowledge of the creatures of the tundra was close to non-existent afterall. While the road was made of dirt, it was still frozen completely. Sapphire left no footprints at all, and something heavy would only leave a slight imprint like the ones she found. There was also the wind blowing the dirt and covering the tracks every now and then, meaning they couldn't have been too old.

Regardless, she decided not to linger for too long. If something was here even if a while ago, then it was possible it would come here again, and she did not want to be there when that happened. Just when she started on her way again she heard a growl from behind, stopping immediately in her tracks.

Never have I ever felt so sad to have been right, Sapphire sighed.

The owner of the paw print was a bear just as she guessed, and being downwind its scent was being blown away from Sapphire, while Sapphire's was being blown right to it, which explained why it came back. It was evident that bear was hungry and even though Sapphire wasn't big enough to quell its hunger, something was better than nothing, a sentiment most living things shared.

The bear's fur was completely white and its claws were hooked, most likely for better grip on slippery surfaces, like frozen dirt. The bear was at least twice the size of her father, and twice as menacing. Sapphire could guess from just it's size that nothing she could do would affect it much, larger creatures did have more endurance afterall, and also more strength. It didn't take her much time to figure out she would be out for the count from just one attack of the bear, the bear clearing any doubts she might have by smashing it's arms on the ground.

The bear charged at Sapphire, running at full speed, it's plan to cause her to panic and attempt to run, slip on the frozen surface, and easily fall victim to it. Sapphire did not run however, instead she took a step back and unsheathed her katana, though she also knew anything a katana could do won't be enough. Considering from the bear's charge it was prepared to take damage if needed, knowing very well it could easily survive a few slashes from the katana, but Sapphire won't survive its bite, even if he just rammed into her it was enough to knock her out.

As she was weighing her options, something flew out of a nearby bush, or someone. The someone spun sideways in the air and sliced the bear's head clean off its shoulders in a fluid motion, most likely having been mastered through much practice. The bear's headless body fell to the ground and dragged a bit further ahead, stopping around just a bit away from Sapphire.

Sapphire turned to her savior in awe, a girl around the same size as her, just a bit shorter. The girl's hair was reddish-pink, several strands of black and white hair scattered all through the pink hair, stretching all the way down till her knees. A patch of blue hair, much like Sapphire's hung between both her eyes, looking out of place amongst the rest of her bright pink hair. She was wearing a coat reaching down to her ankles with layered sleeves over her arms, each of the three layers presenting a unique pattern. The coat and the first layer featured flame and bird patterns in lighter pink glitters, the second featuring light pink watercolor patterns, and the last featuring a mini floral pattern of all sorts of colors over pink. The clothes inside were the same as Sapphire's, the only difference a pattern of two crossed swords in red outlines in the center of it.

She turned around and looked at Sapphire, while the girl said nothing it was clear to Sapphire she was assessing if Sapphire was hurt or not. The girl possessed differently colored irises, the left being bright pink and the right a bright blue, both her pupils being slightly compressed from the top giving it a heart-shape, which according to Sapphire added to the girl's charm. The girl's right palm was also wrapped in black bandages which stretched till up her sleeve.

Sapphire realized she kept staring for too long without any reaction when the girl's expression changed to worry and confusion. Sheathing her katana Sapphire approached the girl, not wanting to make it seem like she meant any harm, though the girl seemed very calm.

"Hello, thank you very much for helping me, I am Sapphire." Sapphire introduced herself with a bow.

Sapphire completely missed from the distance what she realised when she got close, for which she scolded herself in her mind. Afterall it was very unlike her to miss something in clear view, and a big similar between the two. On top of the girl's head were ears, wolf ears, much like Sapphire's. They were pink in color, the right one having a swirl of black and white on one side of it, matching the girl's hair.

"A wolf." Sapphire gasped, causing the girl to tilt her head in confusion. "Uh, you shouldn't keep your ears exposed like that, there are evil people who might want to hurt you if they see your ears," Sapphire warned.

The girl nodded slowly, a gesture which Sapphire also used very often, the gesture of clearly not understanding any of what was just said. Sapphire tried to explain to the girl several more times, but she seemed to not be able to comprehend it, for whichever reason. Either the girl was unfamiliar with the language, or simply not clever. In the end, Sapphire gave up, and presented an offer, not wanting to leave someone even younger than her to travel alone when she couldn't even understand.

"Want to travel together?" Sapphire offered as she extended her hand for a handshake. "I am heading west to have this weird metal band removed, we can go there together if you don't mind."

The girl thought for a while before shaking her head and pointing south, after pointing in every single direction before pointing to it, seemingly having forgotten which direction she was headed in. It didn't seem like she was certain of the last direction either, which only further added to Sapphire's confusion and curiosity of the girl.

The girl looked similar to a Blood Wolf due to her pink hair, but Sapphire was aware that Blood Wolves did not have any black or white features, and even blue eyes were not something seen in them. And the girl wasn't there in the tundra, where all the other wolves should be. The girl's scent was also slightly different than Blood wolves, or most creatures. It seemed to be a mixture of many to Sapphire, of many wolf species and many other species she has never seen.

The girl waved her hand and headed south, walking merrily without a care in the world, a cheerful person from the looks of it. Sapphire also started west again, knowing there wasn't much point to worry about her. The girl was clearly much stronger than Sapphire, so the passive desire of protecting her which Sapphire felt was not very possible.

As Sapphire started she realised it was already way past midnight and the sun was soon to rise. Once the sun was up she planned to find a good place and rest till midday, then continue the quest. Sapphire luckily didn't encounter anything for the rest of the night, her luck clearly having gotten better for the time being. When the sun rose above the horizon she climbed onto a very tall conical tree and found a comfortable enough spot on the branches. Two branches crossed each other and intertwined to form a small platform, large enough for Sapphire to barely sleep on, only holding on with the hope she won't move in her sleep, or she might wake up on the ground, or in a place far higher than the tree.

She drifted to sleep just as soon as she lied down, having been tried from walking all night. When she woke up again it was slightly past midday, the sun already descending down towards the west. While stretching her body she nearly toppled down the tree, having forgotten what situation she was in, a feeling many creatures could relate to after waking from a good sleep. Descending the tree she returned to the dirt path, her cloak and hat covering most of her body, making her look like a very small traveler.

The path seemed very quiet, nothing of notice happening around it. She didn't see any humans on the path either so far, which was a good thing for her, but she wondered where the path led to. Regardless, she still followed it as it offered some level of protection from monsters and leads her straight west.

The day was boring and long with nothing for Sapphire to do except walking. The branches of these tree were too thin for Sapphire to even play around without breaking her bones from her fall. She was lucky to have found a large tree with thick enough branches to sleep on before, but that one seemed to be the only tree that comfortable for her, making her doubt if she would be able to find a similar tree to rest or not.

She picked up any berries she encountered on her way, knowing they do little provide the body with energy and she would need to eat a lot to survive, also the reason why she ate them along the way as she trotted down the path. Luckily for her berries were abundant around here, the red ones being the most common and fairly sweet, quite to her liking.

Before she realized it the sun was already at the horizon, slowly drifting further down as the woods slowly grew darker. She did consider the option of sleeping through the dangerous night and travelling during the day, but she remembered that nights are going to get longer and the days will get shorter since winter is approaching. She also wanted to stay awake if she was to encounter a monster, that way she could prepare herself to fight or run away, rather than being asleep and having no idea what may be coming after her.

This night, all her senses were on high alert, having gotten somewhat used to the tundra already she was more adept at judging distance as well. She didn't wish to encounter any other monsters on her quest, knowing she would most likely not stand any chance against anything in a fight. She lucky that the other girl happened to be right around there last night, but she won't be so lucky next time, and so, precaution was a necessity.

She heard a bird circle above her head, making loud sounds as she went on. It was annoying and Sapphire wondered if she would be able to hit it with a rock and even stopped for a short while to check, but it was flying very high above so she figured she would likely not reach it, and the rock might alert something much worse than the bird. The bird kept circling in the sky for a long while, annoying Sapphire and making her move ahead faster, but she just couldn't get rid of the noise.

Just as she had gotten used to the infuriating loud bird and started to ignore it, the bird seized the opportunity and dived down and grabbed Sapphire by her right sleeve, not having made any sound as it did. It flapped its wings wildly and knocked her hat off with them, attempting to lift her into the air. The bird somehow seemed to know it would be able to lift Sapphire if he just tried hard enough, which due to her light weight was very true.

Sapphire batted her arm at the bird, hitting it many times but it just didn't let go. She did not wish to kill the bird though it was annoying, knowing it must also be just trying to survive, but she did not want to die either so she needed to do something. As she struggled with the bird something hit her head from behind, much harder than the last time a similar situation occured, causing her to instantly pass out on the cold ground.

Sapphire woke up after a long time, though she did not know how long. Her head was still hurting and her vision was blurry, a ringing sound still echoing in her ears. She remained lying on the ground, not trying to even move as it only made everything worse. By attempting to move her arms after a little while she realized her arms and legs were both tied. There seemed to be a cloth wrapped around her mouth too, restricting her from calling out or speaking.

With much effort she sat upright and looked around, it was still the same forest, but a different location in the forest, the dirt path she had been travelling on visible right in front of her. It also seemed like a great deal of time had passed till she woke up, the light of the rising sun already visible over the horizon. A wagon waited on the dirt road, two brown horses tied to the front of it. Behind the wagon was a an out of place metal door, which gave fairly ominous vibes to her.

I hope that is not here for me, Sapphire mumbled in her mind.

"All preparations done, let's get out of here as soon as we can." A guy with golden hair informed coming out of the wagon.

Following his gaze Sapphire spotted four other people not too far from the wagon, all five of them wearing white fur coats and pants, seemingly made from bear fur. Everyone in the group possessed golden hair like the first person, though they didn't seem to be related by blood due to a much difference scent.

"Good, this one has really been trouble," A big guy who carried an axe sighed, "I heard six people have died trying to capture her."

"All the better, it would only raise her price higher," The first guy chuckled, "most collectors prefer more dangerous goods for some reason."

"Let me get our money bag." The man carrying the axe laughed as he walked towards Sapphire.

The sound of snow crunching nearby Sapphire brought her attention to a person right in front of her. A young guy crouched just a step away from her, a gentle smile on his face. He wore a plain black coat with black clothes on the inside, similar to Sapphire's. His hair was black and his eyes deep blue, a hat similar to Sapphire's but black in color, placed on his head.

"Do you need any help?" He asked her in a gentle voice.

Sapphire didn't know who that was but she was indeed in dire need of help. Before she could answer with a nod the shout of the man carrying the axe caused both of them to turn their attention towards him.

"Oi, who are you and what are you doing?" The man carrying the axe interrogated.

"Me? Just a friendly passerby," the man smiled harmlessly, "I was just checking if she was alright or not."

"And why were you doing that?" The man with the axe questioned.

"I was just wondering about her price, must be very high, she is very adorable after all," the guy in black inquired, affectionately directing a glance at Sapphire.

Sapphire was very confused as to who the guy was, but judging from the conversion she did not believe he was there to help her.

"Thirty gold coins, but it will be raised soon," The guy answered lifting his axe onto his shoulder, "and you are not invited to the party."

"You all are invited though, to the afterlife," The guy in black bowed.

The guy carrying the axe gave a quizzical stare, not understanding what he meant. Before the axe guy could realise anything, the guy in black unsheathed a sword hidden under his coat and slashed the chest of the axe guy in one quick diagonal slash. As the axe guy reeled back from the blow he was stabbed through the chest without any waste of time, instantly killing him.

The four other men shouted as they realised what was happening. One of them shot a bolt even, but it was easily deflected by the sword. Clicking his tongue the crossbow guy reloaded his crossbow.

"Star sword style, second form: comet swirl," The guy in black mumbled as he dashed straight ahead.

Moving forward in a flash he slashed all four of them in the blink of an eye, flicking the blood off his katana and unsheathing it afterwards. The katana's pure black blade was barely even stained by any blood just now, or the blood stains from just now simply merged with others in the darkness of the blade. His speed was incredible along with his strength, and the fact that his sword left a trail of blue flames as it sliced through the enemies only made it all the more amazing to Sapphire.

"Weaklings," The guy in black spat, "anyways," he said walking over to Sapphire, "I am pretty sure you are thinking of me as 'the guy in black', or something along those lines, so let me introduce myself, I am Kurai."

Sapphire looked at him silently, mostly because of the gag and her bindings making her unable to respond. He sliced off the ropes in three quick slices before sheathing his katana again in a fluid series of movements, not the slightest bit of wasted motion. Sapphire continued to stare at him, speechless at his skills.

"That is a very admiring look, and I appreciate it, but not the reason for which I freed you." Kurai smiled with a shrug.

That snapped Sapphire back to her predicament. She was just freed by him, but from what he said before and what he just said she doubted that she was going to be quite 'free'.

"So, here's my offer," he said crouching down beside her, "I have been looking for a friend of mine, who wouldn't even recognize me, for reasons I would rather not explain, but I know her very well. I have searched for the past 2 years and still not found her." Kurai explained. "And while just walking by right now, I noticed you, who looks very similar to my friend, but are clearly not her. She is more... pink and colorful, mostly pink, and a bit shorter than you."

Sapphire's eyes widened for a short moment as she realized who he was talking about, but she quickly returned back to normal, not wanting for him to notice as she was still not aware if she should trust him.

"Her name is Kessho, just so you know what to call her if you meet her again." Kurai Informed while patting Sapphire on the head.

She blinked twice to confirm she wasn't dreaming, and it did not seem to her that she was.

"Don't worry about how I know, just know that I do." Kurai answered, clearly not explaining more than he needs to. "Anyways, my friend seems to be doing her own thing for now, and also enjoying it, and I plan to let her enjoy her life as she wants for a while, so when I noticed you I thought, maybe I can make do with a replacement for now." Kurai smiled at Sapphire, expecting her to be able to put the pieces together.

"So, you want me to be just how she would be," Sapphire inquired, not liking the idea of impersonation someone.

"Uh, no, absolutely not," he replied, "I just want someone with me so I don't have to travel alone, I have been feeling pretty lonely lately with no one to talk to. I have been going solo for the last eighty-two years, fifty-three years of my previous life and twenty-nine years of this one." Kurai explained with a depressed laugh.

His way of talking is... different, and weird, than most people, Sapphire thought.

"Anyways, my last life was pretty boring, and so I want to enjoy this one to the fullest, maybe I can help you out too if you need any help." Kurai explained and presented the offer. "Oh, I can make you my student if you like, I haven't taught anyone in the past hundred years I think. I can teach you all I know about fighting, and some mind tricks to mess with your enemies. We even look very similar, and you do have great potential, a perfect apprentice, what do you think?"

"You will teach me?" Sapphire echoed in confusion.

"Yes, certainly. You seem to be worth my time, and while you are not as cute as my friend, you are still the second cutest person I have ever met so I wouldn't possibly deny a request. The fact both of you are wolves only adds to the similarities," Kurai laughed. "Also, no need to wear the hat, those ears are cute."

"But then the humans will-" Sapphire pointed out.

"I will kill anyone who lays a finger on you while you are under my care," Kurai interjected in a very serious tone. "Regardless," he said returning to his normal tone, "nothing to worry about as long as you by my side. Just stay close to me and don't go far, that is all you have to do," He explained. "Can't believe there are people who will hurt beings this cute," He sighed, half to himself. "Anyways, are you hungry? I know that I am hungry right now," He inquired.

"A little," Sapphire answered as she lowered her head.

"Good then, let's go to the nearby village, I know an inn that serves great food. We will eat there and stay there for today. I will train you about some of the basic things as well," Kurai informed smiling gently to Sapphire.