A Princess? ~For Ruta~

Kyo was a youth around the age of 17, with a deep interest in wildlife. But one night as he was hiking in the woods nearby his house he finds something, he would never forgot. A wolf girl, she seemed to be there leader or something. But he was extremely attracted to her, and what was even better was the fact that she seemed mostly human. She was beautiful as the moon shone upon her smooth skin. Kyo stood in intrigue of this strange sight before him.

(Your post, your imagination, add any details you want!)

Jaz looked over the group of five behind her. Hunters of the pack, just the hunters, to be exact. She stayed at the front, but looked behind her now and then. the wolves behind her had gotten used to her strange habits, but she'd explained to them many times it was because she wanted to make sure no one had fallen behind...or worse. Humans. The word disgusted her. It made her sick. Hunters and humans were everywhere these days. It was hard not to get killed while out looking for food. The rare breed of red wolves only allowed her entrance because of her red hair. She was very glad they did at her age of only five. It's been twelve years and at the humble age of seventeen, the wolves were getting worried for her. They would never tell her, for she already knew, she would not be able to continue life the way they did, but she didn't mind.

It was peaceful out here in the this morning. Like nothing could go wrong. Of course, that is counted as too peaceful where the wolves were concerned. Jaz's jade eyes swpt over the area, then paused when she noticed the familiar stream. "We'll rest here for a while, we've been hunting sense dawn." she told the others, taking a seat on a rock and watching the wolves nod their heads and start to drink from the stream. The funny feeling of being watched stirred in her mind, but she pressed it away.

(Wonderful! Thanks, =3)

Kyo was hiking through the woods by himself this time. He knew this part of the woods by heart, he had been exploring the woods since he was about five, being toted around on his fathers back. Kyo loved nature, not only because of its beauty but the sense of peace it gave him. He was hopping over some rocks when he noticed movement through the trees. He slowly began to creep forward hoping whatever it was had it back to him. He peered through the brush and noticed a group of red wolves was drinking from the creek. Even stranger still was the beautiful red headed girl that seemed to be there leader. He was afraid of going any closer to get a better look considering that wolves had magnificent noses and would most likely not enjoy the idea of an intruder, spying on them. He gently backed up a step and climbed the nearby tree. Hoping to get a better view at a higher angle, whereas not setting off the wolves, alerting them to his spying.

Jaz watched the wolves lay down to rest and headed to the stream herself. Removing the deerskin wraps from her feet, she stepped into the water, kneeling to drink from it as a wolf would, copying their life style. the water was cool, and felt good on her sore feet and tired throat as it washed down the dryness she hadn't realized was there until she tasted the refreshing substance. Bringing herself back up to sit by the water, her feet resting in it, she felt a nudge on her shoulder and smiled, lifting a hand to run it over the fellow wolf's head, softly. "I know, I'm hungry too...but we'll find something, don't worry. We have to find something or we could end up starving." She looked to the distance, a strange confidence in her gaze that threw out fear. The wolf laid it's head in her lap as it rested.

Kyo was bewildered. "She's one of them?" Kyo mumbled to himself. He looked down at her again noticing the wolf laying its head gently on her lap. He couldn't believe how well they co-existed, the wolves and her. They were barely audible but from what he could hear, it sounded like they were hungry. Kyo sighed. That could only mean one of few things and none of them were good. Kyo wondered how much of a chance he stood running. Then he decided none. He began wondering how long he had to live.

A whispered word of mouth somewhere in the trees made Jaz jump and get to her feet. Her wolf companions being startled by this, stood also. Jaz quickly placed her shoes back on her feet and motioned them to start running. "Hunter.." she whispered, seething. She couldn't do it. She couldn't risk getting them killed, her charge. this small group was more then family. the wolf from before, who had rested her head on Jaz's lap, growled and lingered behind. Jaz passed lead to another wolf and hurried to the female wolf's side. "Go. That is an order." She told, the wolf glared at her, their gaze's meeting. "I can't risk getting anyone killed, Grall, yes, we are many, but one gun is enough to kill one of us at least before we even get close enough. Go." She told, and the wolf seemed to stubornly submit, following the others. Jaz took off with them, her steps landing softly, easily finding stable ground without her even looking at her feet.

Kyo seeing them run off knew that he should have left but he couldnt help himself. He slid down the tree and hurried to follow them from a distance. He wanted to know where they were and going and more about them. He espcially wanted to learn more about the red-headed girl. He grinned softly as his mind wonder and he stumbled slightly on a rock so he quickly regained his focus. He stealthily followed them hoping that his agility would be good enough for the situation.

Jaz knew he was following. It was obvious by the crackling behind them as they ran. She noticed one of the rear guards halt to turn around and growl and she stopped beside them, sliding to a halt. "Go. Lead the others. I'll stay here and deal with the hunter." She told, lifting a hand to run over the wolf's ears. The look and feel of unease from the wolf only made Jade smile to reasure him and she drew the dagger from her belt. the wolf took off in her command and Jaz hurried to the side, rolling into the bushes there and waiting. she had one shot. After that, the human could kill her. She just had to get him down and she could kill him easily.

Kyo continued moving forward at a steady pace. He knew he would catch up with them soon. He had no clue that she had stopped or that she was looming somewhere near him. He paused as he quickly caught his breath and looked down to see where the tracks continued. He didn't plan on losing them so soon.

Jaz waited silently, not even daring to breath. Her heart beat bothered her, it was said that these 'Hunters' could hear the heart beat of their prey which was how they caught them so perfectly when they shot their blasted weapons. Gripping her blade, she growled deeply. Humans. those stinking, low life, selfish, selfcentered, pigs. Even pigs had more honor then those ...creatures. She fell deathly still when she noticed his footfalls, hurried and stumbling. they paused and her heart sped up. He would find her...but then he continued, and she jumped for it, throwing her weight against his thighs to nock him off his feet.

She waisted no time in topping him and placing the blade at his thoat, a blood thirsty growl leaving her mouth as she stared down at him....But those eyes...She met his gaze and hesitated. there was no sign of hatred, and evil that she had seen in most hunter's eyes. There was no longing for bloodshed there...like he had never killed before. She kept his gaze though searching his, knowing there must be some part in his soul seeking her people's blood. She knew it...

Kyo taking by surprise feel over and was strattled, feeling a blade come to his neck. He gulpped cautiously considering how close in proximity the blade was to cutting him. She growled but when she looked into his eyes, she hesitated. That was all he needed, he looked at her pleadingly and tried to say something but his throat had gone dry and all he could do was make tiny gasping noise trying not to get cut. He couldn't move but he felt in this particular situation it would be better if he didn't.

(playing it safe, or would you have preferred a rougher reaction?)

((Nope, that's good.))

Jaz glared deeply at him, but she didn't see anything in his eyes...which made her jerk from him and step quite a ways back. "You shouldn't be here." She told, snapping, a growl in her throat. "Go away. Don't come back here. The next time we meet, I will have to kill you, understand?" She hoped he did, she would hate to take his life when he had the look of one who had never spilled innocent blood. "Get out of here. GO!" She ran off, quickly, in the different direction then the rest of the pack in case he followed. She knew these woods, they were her home. She could get to the den using any method and she needed to make sure the human was off her trail before doing just about anything. Human. The stinking things that poluted the world and slaughtered her people. She hated them, why did she show mercy on their weak when they kill the weak? The cubs, the females, the old, and the sick. innocent ones who's fangs never tasted human flesh. 'It is because we are better then they are. We do not kill their weak because we are better then them.' She reminded herself, and glanced back now and then.

Kyo still frightened from his close encounter with death. Was fuel by a rush of adrenaline. Therefore, He was stupid. Instead of going home like recommended, he instead took off after her. He slowly began to recover his speed as he finally started looking instead of thinking. He followed the clear footprints left by the strange yet beautiful wolf girl. He wondered how she learned how to speak his language. He wondered if he could comunicate with the wolves. He had so many questions but for now he just followed the tracks. He thought he saw a flash of red and sped up alittle.

She could hear his breathing, his clumsy footsteps. He was following. 'I don't want to kill you.' She thought, taking a turn, and heading around, back the way they had come from. She ignored him a while. She had to go back to the pack now...whether he followed or not. this wasn't good. She hurried down the path and took a couple sharp turns and strange bramble-covered paths she was used to. Not looking back, Jade jumped from what seemed to be a clift, only to run down the side of a rock-sided hill. She landed in a roll and looked around the den. Home sweet home.

Kyo hearing that something was coming towards him stopped but it was in vain as the it continued moving past him. He hurried after her hoping to catch up but she took some sharp turns and then the few paths he found stop cause the were covered with bramble. He had lost her. He continued blindly walking forward. He looked back and saw he had no clue where he was at. From there he came upon the edge of a cliff. He noticied that without anywhere to go but down, he might as well camp here. He lay down and shudder as the cold night air chilled his body. He was sad that he ever went walking in the first place.

Jade had entered the den's area and continued to run until she caught up with the hunting pack. "We caught a deer while you were out. Did you finish the human?" The lead asked, and Jade fell silent. One of the others cringed and growled. "I smell no blood on you. You let it live?" Another asked. Jade continued to walk, and only knelt when she came upon the Alpha male, Tarish'thul, who silenced the others. "Speak, Blaidd Drwg, tell us why the human's blood scent is not found on your body." He demanded. Blaidd Drwg, Bad Wolf. It was her title. " Hear me now, oh great Tarish'thul. The human was young, stupid, he had no scent of murder, he had no look to kill. He was weak." She told, proceeding to tell how she had pinned the human thing and escaped him by mere trickery.

Tarish'thul growled deeply. "He has been too close, too close and has seen too much. We will retrieve him, and kill him if we must to keep this secret of ours. Blaidd Drwg, you have to remember that they are nothing to you." He snapped, making Jade's head hang. "Yes my alpha. But as I learned the ways of wolf-kind. Give him that chance. He may never return to his homeland, but I will train him myself if he agrees to learn." She begged, hating the thought of murdering a human as humans murder her people. Tarish'thul thought deeply over it. "How old be thou, Blaidd Drwg?" He asked. "Eighteen, my alpha. Why doth it matter?" She wondered. "It matters. It is past years you should find a mate. I see now, why you have decided to be lineant to this human boy. We will give him the chance, and if he cannot revoke his human ties...then you must kill him, If he proves to be one of us, then you must take him for your mate. Is that good enough?" He asked. Jade shivered. A mate? she hated the idea. with a human, no less. But she nodded, slowly. "Very well." She agreed. And so the search begain.

Kyo rolled over shivering. He felt the first rays of sunshine coming up and knew he needed to eat. He felt a pain in his stomach as it growled and he realized that he hadnt eaten since yesterday at lunch time. He had hoped to have gone back home but it but a vague dream to him now considering that he had wandered so far that the trees had changed type. He rose and brushed of the dirt and began to search for some signs of water. If he ran into a river it would be a perfect stroke of luck. He knew though that he could be in the forest for days without food. He shuddered frightened by the idea of dying alone and being the meal for the woodland predators. He continued stumbling forward wondering how he had even survived the night before without making a fire even though he didnt have the means to do so. He braced himself against a tree. He was so weak that he could feel his head swimming. Considering this was his first time missing a good meal, the impact was greatly increased. Even though he had two more days to live before he would have to find water.

Jade ran into the forest with the hunter pack from last night. they seperated to look for the human, and Jade trusted them to be gentle if they found him, and above all, to let her know if they caught his scent at all. She sighed, following the same path as she had taken, back tracking to figure out where she'd lost him at. 'What the hell was he thinking in following me, stupid human. He should have left when I told him to.' She growled and took a jump into the low hanging branches of a tree, making her way up to look around, then shook her head and leapt down, rolling to get to her feet and run again.

She couldn't imagine mating with one of those creatures anyway. She'd always thought to die alone, to hunt with the others, to live as a wolf, and then die alone. It was the way she'd known her life to go sense none of the male wolves had taken fancy to her disgusting human-like bare skin and gross form. She shook the thoughts away and was beggining to think that she'd lost the human, probably forever when her nose twinged. she jerked her head around, then lifted it and howled into the sky, she had his scent. The stink of human ways. She hurried forward and followed it, sliding to a stop when she nearly passed him. Crossing her arms, she stood over him. He looked pale and weak.

Kyo looked up at the flash of red and couldnt interpret what the figure was that stood before him until his vision cleared alittle more. It was the wolf girl from the previous night. "Oh hay." Kyo said before just sliding down the tree trunk and sitting there in a little pile. He think it was because he began to move so quickly after getting up. But most likely it was due to the fact that he had been biting the night before and that only a special kind of berry indigenous to that forest could save him. Even though he could recover naturally as well. Kyo wondered what this beautiful wolf princess might do to him now that he was defenseless.

Jade growled a little. she couldn't imagine why she'd stuck her neck out for him now. Looking at the weak, stinking, irritating human before her, she couldn't see what she'd tried to defend, why she'd tried to defend him. Taking a sniff, her eyes narrowed, and she sighed. "Figures." She muttered, lowering and putting a hand to his forehead. "Fever. The stink of poison is stronger than your own stench." She lowered her head, then looked back up at him. "Look. You're not getting out of here alive without help. But if you accept the help I want to give, you're not getting out of here at all. You have a choice. Die here, or never go home." She told, putting it to him bluntly.

Kyo thought, and he thought hard. For the few seconds it was worth. He could either die and never see home, or explore vast unknowns and never go home. The latter sounds much more agreeable. "I'll take the help" Kyo said quietly. It was hard for him to think that he would never see home again. That all of that was a past life now. "Whats the fever?" He managed to croak out trying to focus on something less depressing. He wondered what might happen to him now. And why she chose to come back and save him.

Jade sighed and hung her head a moment when he agreed to take the help. She reached looked around a moment, sensing her pack gathering around them. "The Fever is part of the poison. You've been bitten, don't panic, you're not going to die if I handle this with care...and I will be handling this with a LOT of care." She thought for a moment, then bit her lip. "Can you stand, or do I need to carry you?" she wondered out loud, hearing growled chuckles from around them. Her face was tempted to blush as red as her hair, but didn't. she'd smell like human after this. What a stink.

"I think I can walk?" Kyo managed to mumbled before stumbling. He truly was trying but it seemed that this fever was making him lethargic. He cringed and tried once more to make an attempt to stand on his own but manage to fall onto Jade. "Can I at least ask your name?" Kyo said wondering why she could speak english so well. He wondered also about how she ended up getting stuck with the wolves. He wondered alot but for now that seems all he could do.

Jade was watching him with an eyebrow raised, her arms crossing, and she watched him start to fall, being what he ended up landing on, to her annoyance. She sighed and held him a moment before simply picking him up with one arm beneath his knees and the other behind his shoulders, and carrying him. She thought of his question and figured that if he were going to have to be her mate anyway, she might as well trust him that much. "Jade. You can call me Jade." Her legs carried her steadily back towards the den. She wrinkled her nose at his scent. 'Uhg, I'll smell like human when I finally get him home.'

"And what exactly does a human smell like?" Kyo mumbled. He still wanted to be friendly even though his head swimming abit due to the motion of traveling through the woods. He grinned. "Your like the friend, I never had." Kyo wondered whether he could ever get along with this Jade character. She was beautiful but she acted as though she was completely of a higher breed than him. Even though he was the human. Such a strange being Kyo thought to himself.