Chapter 23

Rufus had left.

He had nothing else to stay behind for.

He had to get away and go far from all the known supernatural territories and stay by himself. He didn't want anything to do with either of them.

He was done.

He had his duffel bag with him that contained the few stuff that he wanted to take along with him. It was night time, the perfect time to leave. He knew that they'd hear him walk out but they wouldn't know that he was leaving for good. By the time they'd know he had left, he would have gotten far.

Tears streamed down his face as he walked down the gravel path that led to the main tamarced road. He was leaving behind his family... his clan... his pack... the love of his life... but what was he?. He was now a useless human being with no special skills that would benefit the pack like Lucky. His Phoenix wasn't active but he was a druid, his martial arts were great compared to his and any other member of the pack. Lucky was indeed lucky... just the way his name implied. He, he was the unlucky one.

Rufus' heart ached..

He was heartbroken..

Saddened and disappointed in everything concerning life. The one person he loved the most didn't feel the same way about him... and now, the one thing that kept him sane and helped him cope up with the indirect rejection from Lucky was no more, his Phoenix was gone!. He wasn't sure how but he knew that he had no Phoenix.

He had seen Carl through the ceiling-to-floor windows but he couldn't hear what he was saying, he couldn't hear what his parents were saying either. He couldn't hear things from a far and that is what had alerted him. Rufus had wanted to ask his parents what was going on, why he couldn't hear things like he used too, why he couldn't smell them... hell, he couldn't smell the gumbo soup from his room that his mother had made that evening like he was used to... He tried to morphe into his were-phoenix form, he tried to at least retract one claw... just one claw but he couldn't... he couldn't glow his eyes.. something that had been so basic to him was now so strange to him.

He had now come up with two answers.. one, he either had no phoenix though he wasn't sure how.. second, his Phoenix was inactive similar to that of Lucky. He felt empty within him, like something was missing... he waited for his mother or his father to tell him anything concerning this but none of them spoke about it lest bring it up. So, Rufus assumed that they either didn't know he couldn't summon his phoenix or they knew it but didn't want to tell him. It was his fault anyway, he had been held captive by hunters... perhaps the iron had weakened his Phoenix?. He tried to find for alternatives but leaving was the best one. He was just human and he didn't want to be a burden to them.

*

The orange streak of light shone on the farthest horizontal side of the sky which reflected on his face. He was exhausted, sleepy and hungry. All he wanted was to eat and rest but he still had to go far. There we're no diners or hotels around... just casts of huge forest land surroundings that he was still in.

The ground shook from beneath him. He ignored it perhaps it was just his imagination? But it wasn't, the ground shook more causing him to stop and look around, searching for the cause of the shaking grounds, he saw nothing. He took a step and another then came the loud audible thud followed by the shaking grounds. He stopped. This wasn't normal.

There was something approaching and he didn't know what it was. He couldn't smell it like the way he could smell approaching danger before and this broke his heart all the more, reminding him how useless he was now.

Rufus decided to run in the forest far from the path that he was taking to the main road. He could hide beneath the trees from whatever he was coming even though he knew he couldn't blend out his scent from the approaching danger.

The thuds quickened as he ran further into the forest causing him to stumble and fall several times. He couldn't run as fast as he used to and he was getting tired quickly, sweat streaming down his face and his breathing becoming laboured.

He decided to hide behind a tree, he couldn't run anymore, his legs couldn't carry him any further and his lungs felt as if they were burning and out of air. Was this how it felt to be human?. Why weren't they given any backup training for being human in case you stopped being supernatural like what happened to him?. For once, or was it for the billionth time?, he hated himself and his life.

The thuds stopped, the creature croaked. An actual croak similar to that of a frog. Rufus' heart skipped. Could it be possible that it was a frog after him?.

Hesitantly, he peered from where he was hiding to look at the cause of the croak. He gasped, almost passing out with what he saw. It was a frog alright, all green and slimy with it's mucus, it was large like a giant frog... the size of two or three buses in one. He should have been used to supernatural stuff but not this one. This one was too much to take in.

Nonetheless, that didn't bother him much. What bothered him most was the fact that he didn't know how to defend himself now. He had no weapons, his martial arts skills weren't perfect since he relied mostly on his Phoenix which wasn't present at the moment. The frog hopped again causing the same thud and shaking grounds. Rufus held on the tree tightly so as to not fall. He whimpered as the large... giant frog hopped closer to where he was, crushing the trees that we're on his way on the process. Rufus' heart sped up, beating so fast and hard that it almost ached. The frog was coming towards him.... he had to do something... he had to protect himself before something bad happened.

The frog stopped and croaked again. It suddenly rolled it's eyes backwards then stuck out it's long tongue that spat out sticky saliva like mucus in the process as it targeted the tree where Rufus was hiding behind it. Rufus leapt backwards falling on his back but he shakily crawled away to avoid the frog. It had known he was around and now, it would eat him.

The frog hopped again, hopping closer to the tree where Rufus had been. It stuck out it's tongue and hit again the tree. The tree shook, threatening to fall but it didn't. As the frog was retracting back it's tongue in it's mouth, a large brown moth suddenly appeared on it's tip of the tongue. It had been targeting the moth all along. The moth had camouflaged itself perfectly well with the trees that Rufus hadn't seen it before.

The frog's eyes rolled backwards as it swallowed the moth whole before hopping away.

It hadn't noticed Rufus though it had scared the life out of him.

His breathing eased as he took in deep, shallow breathes. His heart calmed down as well as he stood up from the forest floor and brushed off the dirt from his clothes and bag.

That had been close... so close but hadn't he survived?. He had and that was a good sign that he would live through it all. He didn't need to be a Phoenix to survive all he needed was to live.

He looked around as he took in more deep breathes. He needed to eat and the trees around him were not fruit bearing trees, if the water frog was here, that meant a large water body was around and wherever a large water body was close, that meant a SeaWing was close as well. He needed help from one of them.

Someone in whom he trusted most and could rely on. Someone who could help him out in secret and not tell others especially his clan members. Someone who could help him out in getting away with everything.

He looked around again trying to figure out on how to follow the frog without being noticed by it. It had left behind it's large trail marks so it would be easy enough for him to follow the frog.

He started walking towards the direction that the frog had taken. Hoping that all would turn out fine on his end. He needed to make out of all of these alive no matter what. There was no space for failures. His human had to survive and outlive what his Phoenix couldn't.