TW: Physical Violence, Blood/Gore

Yam led the three troublesome nuisances and Gerald through the forest, scampering over the dried leaves and jumping over the fallen logs with ease. Bread kept stride, copying her step for step, but the other three seemed to be having some issues.

Rolf, who was undoubtedly too short to keep up properly, was continuously tripping on the tree roots the others could clear in one stride and she also had to take two running steps to keep up with one of Yam’s. Her hair had become messy again and her monocles were hanging limply from their chains around her neck.

Aey, on the other hand, was much too tall to avoid hitting her head on the low-hanging branches and her horns kept getting caught in vines stretching between the trees. She had moved Gerald from her head to her left shoulder and was trying to pick her way through the path without discomforting the rock too much.

Ari, who Yam thought would have trouble with her ridiculously tall shoes, was surprisingly doing alright. Her shoes didn’t seem to be the issue, but her fear of nature certainly was. A city girl through and through, she probably hadn't had to traverse through thick forest before. Which begged the question, how had she ended up behind Yam’s house in the first place? Behind the house was nothing but forest.

At the first sign of light at the end of the tree-tunnel, Yam stepped back and gestured for the others to go on ahead. With a word of thanks, Ari took the lead, stalking on with as much grace as she could muster while getting smacked in the face by her hair every time she took a step. Aey gave a nod of assent and followed the Half-Elf, moving Gerald to her hand to continue the journey. Rolf, however, stayed back, hesitating.

“What are you waiting for?” Yam glared down at her, Bread pacing at her feet. “You can go now, you know. It’s not like I’m holding you hostage.”

Rolf paused, looking like she wanted to say something. Suddenly, her eyes widened as fear flashed through them and she rushed towards Bread, yelling, “Yam, watch out, get down!”

Without a second thought, Yam threw herself down, but not before a thin silver object sliced through the air towards her and stuck into a tree five or so metres away. Something clattered to the ground at Yam’s paws and she glanced down, letting out a silent screech as she saw what it was. Rolf followed her gaze and watched as the Tabaxi knelt beside the clock she usually wore around her neck, the glass shattered and the chain snapped.

“Oh, no, you do not,” Yam snarled, getting to her paws and shoving the broken clock into her pocket. She swung one of her sickles off her belt and spun it around her paw, ready to attack whatever had thrown the dagger. It took only a moment for the attacker to show their face.

“You again,” Rolf growled, sounding more menacing than she ever had. The Gnome reached into one of her four pockets and pulled out a massive battle axe that had somehow managed to fit in there.

Riya stared back at the two, a mocking smile on her lips. “Yeah. Hey there, Bread. Did you miss me?”

Instantly, Bread fluffed his fur and tail up, teeth bared and claws stretched out, ready to fight. Riya suddenly threw another dagger, aimed directly at Yam’s throat, but just before it hit, an orange blur flashed in front of the Tabaxi and fell to the ground with a thump. Yam was about to go full rage mode again before she realised that not only was Bread ok, he’d also managed to catch the dagger handle in between his teeth. Other things had changed, too- for starters, she was pretty sure he hadn’t been almost thrice his normal height the last time she’d seen him, and his eyes, normally purple, now had black scleras and red pupils. His teeth also seemed a fair bit longer, and his crow wings were now doubled, with another, smaller pair at his elbows. The jet-black feathers were struck through with white, and his claws now looked like mini sickles themselves.

Riya stepped back in astonishment as Bread spat out the dagger and drew himself up to his full, and considerable, height. He bared his fangs, now just shy of a foot long, and let out a ferocious and drawn-out snarl. Riya stood her ground, however, and tossed another dagger in Yam’s general direction. Bread easily swatted it away with a paw the size of Riya’s head and he advanced on the Air Genasi, who desperately waved her hands.

Magic began to swirl through the Genasi’s fingers, spinning like smoke and dipping and twirling around her wrists and arms. She flung a hand out at Bread, who was less than a metre away from her, and the fox-crow lurched back as some invisible force hit him. He was flung a good ten metres away and slammed into the same tree the dagger had stuck in, falling limply to the ground and staying there motionless. In an instant, he reverted back to his original form, small and vulnerable again. Riya stared after him, eyebrows raised in amusement.

“You know what, Yam, how did that fox manage to survive me the first time? I don’t understand. I’m quite skilled at killing useless animals, but I’m sure you know that already. So how about you tell me what’s going on?” Riya let her arms hang limply at her sides and the magic spiralled away, fading into the air and disappearing in a second. “The longer you talk,” she added, pulling yet another dagger out of her shawl and holding it up menacingly, “the longer that fox stays alive.”

“Like hell I’d tell you,” Yam snarled, lifting her sickle to rival Rita’s dagger. The Air Genasi warningly pulled her arm back, eyebrows raised in a challenge.

“Remember what I told you last time we met, Yam. Fox fur is incredibly good for winter cloaks. And it’s rather expensive, too. So tell me how the damn hell that fox survived and maybe I’ll consider letting him have a quick and easy death. But if you don’t want to… don’t worry. I’m equally skilled in torture.”

Yam’s eyes widened and she flattened her ears. She knew Riya wasn’t lying. The girl was extremely good at drawing out otherwise painless deaths- she’d seen firsthand just how vile Riya could be.

“Yeah. You know I’m not making things up,” Riya smirked, the dagger in her hand poised to slice through the air and find a home in Bread’s chest. “So tell me. Go ahead. I could listen all day.”

“Sheer luck,” Yam snarled, lashing her tail. “Pure good luck and fortune. What else you want me to say? The gods themselves came to heal him? Cos that’s be BS.”

“Yam, I know when you’re lying.” Riya’s mocking tone was soft. “Remember? We used to be best friends. Before you went and betrayed me like that.”

“I did nothing to you.” Yam’s snarl was low and deadly. “You know that. You’re just trying to make up some sob story to excuse the fact that you’re a massive BI-”

Right on cue, the dagger came flying through the air, its aim sharp and straight and true. Another, second flash appeared, intercepting the blade and rolling a few metres away. It took a second or two for Rolf to realise that Yam was no longer beside her, as the Tabaxi’s body was now halfway between her and Bread.

“Yam?” Rolf shoved her battle axe back into her pocket and raced towards the Tabaxi, who was pushing herself to her feet. She coughed loudly and blood splattered the leaves at her paws, staining the earth red. Rolf noticed that Riya’s dagger was plunged into Yam’s neck, causing blood to spread all throughout her fur. The Tabaxi stood up shakily and wrenched the dagger out of her neck, hissing in pain as the wound was exposed to the elements.

“Yam, you shouldn’t have done that,” Rolf screeched, taking the dagger as Yam dropped it in her agony. “Now it will only bleed mor-”

It didn’t take long for her to be proved right. The flow of blood increased dramatically and Yam dropped to her knees, her punctured throat providing a gory and steady waterfall that splashed over her clothes, paws and the earth below. A light laugh sounded from behind and Rolf turned to see Riya approaching them one step at a time, magic spinning around her hands once again. She stood up, unadulterated rage taking over all her thoughts, and she pulled the battle axe out of her pocket once more.

Yam watched bleakly as Rolf ran towards Riya wielding the ridiculously unproportionate axe. She had fallen onto her side as the life slowly drained out of her in the form of blood, the thick red liquid filling her mouth and making everything, even the air, taste exactly like it. Her vision was fading to black and her head spun as her life literally flashed before her eyes. She took one last gulp of air before beginning to slowly choke on her own blood.