“So I see you two must be the two timber wolf twins Ive heard so much about,” said the girl with a sly smile. Then she put her hands on her hips and her smile faded to a scowl. “And what do you mean 'what do you think you're doing here'? As if this is wolf territory!”
The girl was someone we prayed would not meet on our way to Soule. She was a black panther who looked to be around seventeen years old. She had short spiky dark brown hair with blonde highlights on her bangs, and wore a gold hoop in each ear. She also had a black choker necklace with a gold, crescent shaped charm attached to it. Her top was black, along with the rest of her clothes, and showed most of her upper body. She wore a glove that went a little past her elbows on each arm, and tall heeled boots that cut off right before her knees. Her pants were slightly baggy, but feminine, with two belts crisscrossing, and showing a bit of her hips. On her long slender tail she had a piercing shaped similar to the charm on her choker.
“Who are you and how do you know us?” Luna asked the feline stranger.
“The name's Halle, and I know about you because you two are quite popular a topic in my city,” she replied.
“By 'your city' you mean Nahai, right? Where all the other cats live?”
“Yes and yes,” Hall nodded.
“Another question,” Luna said,” why are you here?”
“Heehee, I was hoping you were going to ask that,” she said with a smile,” why, none other than to kill the both of you, of course.” As soon as she said the word 'kill', Luna and I tensed up, fearing danger, and braced ourselves for Hall to shift and attack us in her animal form.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not mean enough to go all animal on you,” she said as if she read our minds. “Instead, I’m gonna do this,” Halle said as she pulled out a katana.
The sudden appearance of a sword came as a shock to us. Neither one of us thought she had a weapon on her, so we both took a closer look at her. The belts that crisscrossed across her pants also served as a holding place for her sword's sheath, which was black and blended in with the rest of her clothing. The sword was rather short, which was why we didn’t see its sheath earlier.
“We're at a disadvantage,” Luna said to me, claiming the obvious.
“Now, which one of you wants to visit the rest of your pathetic clan first?” Halle said as she tested the sharpness of her blade by running a finger down the tip.
“Not me! Luna does though!” I shouted and hid behind Luna as a shield.
“Really, Leanne?” Luna looked back at me with a quizzical expression. “Anyways,”she turned back to Halle with a serious look on her face,” so it was you cats who annihilated our clan?”
“Cant someone ask a question without being accused of something?” Halle said, avoiding the question which played on Luna's short temper.
“Answer me!” Luna replied aggressively.
“Hmm...” Halle tapped her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Alright. I’m not really supposed to tell you this...but seeming as to how you're going to be dead anyways, I suppose it doesn’t really matter.” She stepped an inch or two closer, leaned forward, and cuffed a hand around her mouth as if she was going to tell a deep dark secret that not even the trees should hear, should they listen.
“We slaughtered the gray wolves of Himitsu village, and then burned the pitiful place straight to the ground!”
Luna clenched her fists and I peered aver her shoulder to see what the reaction on her face was. Her eyes were narrowed in deep anger. She pointed a finger at Halle.
“You’ll pay for that!” She screamed at Halle. “Each and every one of you will pay! I'll pay you back for killing all of my family and friends!”
“Really now?” Halle tilted her head as a sly smile came across her face. “Because the way I see it is, you have no way of hurting me. I clearly have the advantage. You'll die at the hand of my blade that will chop you into tiny bits!” She pointed her sword at us.
“I’ve got weapons,” Luna replied as she cracked her knuckles menacingly.
“Ooh, how scary!” She taunted. Halle then ran toward us with her blade outstretched.
“Dodge her attacks as best as you can,” Luna informed me as we jumped apart when Halle's sword swung vertically between us.
“I don’t know about you, but I was just gonna stand here and get sliced and diced!” I responded sarcastically.
“Fine miss sarcasm!” Luna yelled back at me.
“Alright then miss obvious!” I countered right back at her. Halle swung her sword horizontally as an attempt to hit us both since we still stood close to each other. The blade would have made contact with both of us had we not dodged once again in opposite directions, increasing the distance between us.
“Hmph. Looks like I don’t have to go easy on you after all,” Halle observed. She must have noticed that we had combat training.
Every wolf nagual, especially in our clan, has to undergo combat training when they reach the age of ten. Most wolves never end up needing the training in the future, unless they either become a fighter or defender of our village, but most still shift instead of using weapons whenever possible during battle. Only the fighters and defenders of the village were allowed to carry a weapon wherever they went, distinguishing themselves from the rest of the citizens as a protector of people.
Luna and I in particular absolutely had to go through the training because of our shifting problem. We were, as said before, trained by our father, the most skilled fighter in our village, who prepared us for every type of combat. Swordplay, long range with a bow and arrows or spears, short range with daggers and knife, close combat with our fists, and of course, how to avoid attacks successfully, with or without a weapon. We even had our own custom-made weapons from an experienced blacksmith who immigrated to our village, but they were burned up in the fire, and we were only allowed to use them during our training. At that time, all of those training lessons seemed pointless, but now was the time they finally came in handy.
“Stay as far away from me as you can so she'll be forced to attack one of us at a time,” Luna called out to me.
“Can do!” I saluted. Halle charged at Luna and they engaged in a battle that looked more like a swords dance. Luna gracefully dodged every quick slice, jab, and cut of Halle's blade with a cartwheel, back-flip, or sidestep. I was mesmerized as I watched the two and their everlasting dance of sword.
“Hey! What am I supposed to do?” I yelled to Luna. She glanced at me with a look that said I had to figure out the answer myself. “You and I both know that I’m not very good at figuring things out by myself! Cant you give me a hint or something?”
As if in response, Luna quickly jumped backwards as Halle jabbed at her. Luna swung her leg around and caught the tip of Halle's blade under her foot, forcing the sword to become stuck to the ground, with Halle still holding it. Time seemed to pause for a split second as Halle realized that she was vulnerable to an attack, and in response, she acted with haste. She pulled the sword up from under Luna's foot and at that exact moment Luna jumped up. With the extra boost from Halle's sword, Luna was able to jump over Halle's head and land behind her.
Then an idea sprang into my mind. The two were going at it again, both too busy to notice me. I positioned myself so that Halle's back was facing me. I immediately began sprinting towards her, and as soon as I got within reach, I jumped her, knocking her to the ground. Her sword flung from her hand as she fell, and face-planted into the dirt as I sat on top of her.
“No! You stupid mutts!” Halle yelled angrily, lifting her head up from the ground to glare us.
“Hey, I’m not mutt! I happen to be a purebred,” I nodded as a matter of fact.
“How could you two have possibly beaten me? I had the advantage of owning a weapon!”
“You know, winning isn’t just about being the only one with a weapon. Sometimes there’s strength in numbers,” Luna replied.
“Yeah! Power to the sisters!” I declared joyously. I still sat on top of Halle, preventing her from getting up or going anywhere. Luna walked over to Halle's sword and picked it up quickly, and then returned to her spot in front of Halle.
“Now, do you promise not to bother us or our kind ever again?” Luna questioned Halle.
“And if I don’t promise?” She challenged.
“I could just sit here all day!” I replied, and then added,”you make quite a comfortable chair you know,” and patted her on the back as if it were an compliment.
“Your sword is tempting me to drive it right through you..” Luna added as she looked over Halle's sword, turning it every which way to view it from all angles. Halle sighed in disappointment and rested her head on her hand in thought.
“Fine. I promise not to bother any more wolves,” Halle agreed. “Now will you get off of me!?” She yelled at me. I got up and stood next to Luna. Halle stood up, brushed the dirt from herself, and reached for her sword that Luna held. Luna moved the sword out of her reach.
“What? Is that a part of the deal too?” She asked. Luna nodded in response. “But that was custom made and everything!” Halle said in disappointment.
“Well then you're either going to have to get a new one made or go without because you're definitely not getting this back,” replied Luna as she shook her head. Halle looked at Luna with an angry expression on her face. Luna glared right back at her until Halle's expression softened and she looked to the ground.
“Tch. I cant believe I’m going to do this...” She said quietly as she began to slide the swords sheath from the belts on her pants. “You might as well take the sheath too then,” Halle said as she threw the sheath to Luna, who caught it and slid the sword back into it. Halle turned her back to us,” dangerous to keep a sword without a cover.”
Luna and I glanced at each other, having similar thoughts in our minds. Maybe this cat wasn’t so bad after all, or perhaps, she could be changed. She may have just tried to kill us, and aided in destroying our clan, but she must feel an ounce of remorse or restraint towards us. Otherwise, she would have fought us in her animal form and wouldn’t have given us her sword's sheath.
“Better go and tell them of my failure,” Halle sighed and then shifted into her animal form. “This oughta be good.” She ran off and we watched her until she was out of sight. I turned to Luna with a wide smile on my face.
“At least I got my break,” I said happily and Luna face palmed herself.
