Meanwhile, in the Vampiress’ Throne Room

        “You’re telling me the Child told you they were told by a ‘voice in their head’ to put you on the ground, with their sword at your throat?” she yelled in disbelieving anger.

        “Yes, ma’am, that’s what it told me,” he replied, having received his 80^th slap across the face without a twitch.

        “Tch; impossible. I want you to recreate the fight with me watching; where is the brat anyway?” she asked, her anger uncontainable.

        “More espionage training with Dark. It wanted to, so I told it to do whatever whilst I reported to you.”

        “You. Fucking. Fool! You gave her free roam! She’s with Dark! Fucking! Idiot! Guards! Take him away and lock him in the dungeon! Search every inch of this castle for Dark and the Child!! They MUST be found!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, dozens of guards rushing in and spreading out from all sides as several dragged 4289 to the dungeon.

        From Their Vantage Point

        “Let’s go, watashi no chīsana asashin, my cover’s been blown and you’re now as wanted as I am,” he said softly, “I’m sorry you had to see it like this, but I know a place we can go, where you can grow to your full potential. There’s a catch; you’ll have to live a double life, one life here, one life there. You’d be working for both, but primarily stealing from one and feeding it to the other; which you do that is up to you. Come, watashi no kodomo, let us leave this hurtful place,” he said softly as he turned, pulling Ember with him.

        She simply nodded and followed blindly as he led her down unfamiliar paths, secret passageways hidden in the castle’s depths. They reached an exit where the sun shone through faintly, though he motioned me to stay quiet and I nodded in response.

        He made his way to the exit and moved the door, looking around carefully. He motioned to bolt across the lawn and over the fence, into the woodlands beyond. Though, there was one problem; well, several, actually. The fence was ten feet tall, tipped with barbed wire, and electric.

        She glanced from him to the fence and back, raising her eyebrow questioningly.

        “Just do as I do, ko, and we’ll be out of here in no time,” he whispered as he crept out of the passageway and into the daylight that was quickly becoming night, bolting across the lawn.

        With inhuman strength, he jumped the fence and landed softly on the other side, awestruck at the feat and unsure if she could do it.

        ‘Watch the right,’ a voice in her head whispered.

        She did and noticed one of the walls was placed oddly, standing almost as tall as the fence, and capable of being used to get over it.

        ‘Run up the wall at an angle and kick off, you should be able to get across.’ The voice said.

        She frowned and began to question the voice, but crept out quietly as Dark had before her, sticking to the wall. When she was about twenty feet away from the proposed wall, she ran as fast as she could, building up her speed relatively quickly. She hit it at an angle and ran up, pushing off and jumping over when she was less than a foot away from the fence; mostly clearing it, with the exception of the piece of shirt that got torn off by the barbed wire.

        The two met up quickly, and Dark put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Good job, watashi no chīsana asashin; you’ll have to tell me how you did that sometime after we’re safe. For now, we must run.” He said as he turned, bolting into the woods.

        She barely had time to react before he took off; though she was on his heels moments later.

        ‘Let me take over,’ the voice said, louder than before, ‘we can run faster. Trust in me, Ember.’ It said, using her name for the first time.

        She looked around and nodded to herself, as if saying ‘what could go wrong?’

        As soon as she gave her consent, she felt her body shift. Her bones elongated, her hair became longer and covered her body. Her hands and feet turned into paws, and her nails elongated and thickened. She felt herself falling onto all fours and lastly, her face elongated and became a snout, with a tail slowly finishing it’s arrival in a few minutes.

        By the time her transformation ended, her fur was completely black as the night sky, and her eyes were as blue as a stormy sky.

        ‘Yes!’ the voice in her head rejoiced, ‘at last, child, I can show you the true abilities granted you.’

        Her mental-self frowned as she watched on from the inside; her wolf-self leapt and bounded through the forest, unable to contain its joy for being free for the first time.

        ‘Eventually you’ll learn to use this form at will; when you do, we’ll be in sync and merged. For now, I will control, at least until we’re out of this situation,’ Wolf-Self said calmly as they caught up to Dark.

        “Well, finally out, eh? Good, we’ll move faster like this,” he said simply, taking off towards the West by bounding through the trees, Ember-Wolf following on the ground.

        Present Day

        “A few days after initially leaving the Vampiress’ compound, Mr. Dark brought me here, but I lost contact with him shortly after that. I don’t remember who I talked to, but I was quickly entered into an arrangement where I would be taken back to her as a ‘missing person,’ with the intent of gathering intel and bringing it back here; but I was assigned monitors, so they always knew where I was. It wasn’t until a few days ago, when the Vampiress sent me on a mission to track you down, Queen, that I was given ‘free roam,’ though I was still saddled with a monitor, as you so clearly saw.” She explained with a yawn as she stretched, “However, if there’s anything you want to know, I’m your wolf. Any other questions will get shot down quicker than an angry whale attacking a ship at sea.” She concluded.

        Mai simply nodded at Ember, waving her hand and pulling a cloak out of thin air, “Here,” she said, tossing it to the wolf girl, “It’ll help hide you, if only for a little bit.” She said, as a servant came rushing in.

        “Queen! The General you assigned to Rosalyn…” the servant trailed off, trying to catch her breath.

        “What of him?” Mai asked in cold anger.

        “She’s about to be injured!” the servant shouted in between breaths.

        At that, Mai & Ember left the room in a hurry, making their way to the training grounds where Rosalyn and her trainer were; Ember deftly slipped into the assembled guardsmen as if she had always been there.