"Hey fucking bastard, hurry and get me another or else you'll fucking regret it." I couldn't see who said it, but I knew that the threat wasn't just to intimidate. Somehow, I just knew that it wasn't at least. Another bottle could come at any second, quickly making my way toward the other doorway in front of me before coming to an abrupt stop. The feeling of immense fear crawled up my skin as my forehead began to sting, a headache only hurting the front part of my head.
Why do I feel like this? Why can't I move forward into the other room? Suddenly, a splinter on my right shot up before another bottle collided with it, sending shards of glass across the room. Luckily, none of the pieces cut me but I had to get out of here, turning around and bolting toward the open door. One by one, the number of bottles being thrown increased as I barely managed to jump outside as one of the bottles crashed right behind me.
Though the grass was coarse and hard to land on, I still found comfort in it as the door slammed shut, chains covered with rust and dark plaque growing around it. At least I was outside now, but something was different. Large opaque black figures stood surrounding the house with some distance between each one. Their shadowy bodies made them seem like trees in the middle of the night, looming thirty feet tall in the air and smiling with a callous mouth.
Their eyes were beady and black like the rest of the body with a white light slightly coming out from within. They were everywhere too, with most of them floating in the air as the island I was on didn't seem to reach far enough for them to stand on. After what just happened, I'll take this over whatever I felt inside that house, raising my head and eyeing the closest one but they weren't moving...at all. They just stood there in the distance and watching me, almost as if they were sneering at me on the ground, thinking less of me. I just couldn't stand it, feeling resentment build in my body until I saw something else.
Another figure was jumping across the shadowy creatures, somehow slicing them up before moving on to their next target. The creatures seemed agitated at this.... other figure, and some of them turned towards this unknown threat to attack. With their hands raised, black tendrils or ropes of some kind shot out from their palm toward this spry figure, but it was fruitless as this mysterious figure twisted in the air to dodge the nearest shot before running up toward the neck of the creature.
It was amazing to watch as this person moved seamlessly, taking them out while also being quick about it. Their speed was, well, it was fast enough that I lost track of them a few times. The only thing I could be grateful for was that we shared a common enemy, at least I think we did. I hope we did. They had a dark purple kimono that reached to the base of their feet and black tights with what I could only assume as ornate wooden shoes that you would see in the Eastern Hemisphere.
That isn't what caught my eye though, as they wore a wolf mask, or maybe it was of another animal like a Jackal or fox. I couldn't tell because of how fast they were, but I couldn't see a weapon. Instead, there seemed to be something wrong or different about their left arm. As I stood in awe, they slowly drew closer before abruptly stopping, our eyes meeting. I didn't move a muscle, instead just staring at them as I suddenly got a bad feeling for what was to come. I immediately got up and waited for them to do something, cautious about raising my fists or running away as that would make me a target.
Then they did it, launching off the nearest shadowy figure with an insane speed toward me like a bullet. Even though the creature was almost half a football field away, they were already only a few feet away. I didn't have the time to react to something like that as luckily, my splinters pulled forward in front of me to create a barrier between us. The force wasn't that terrifying though, seeing them shifting in the air.
How is that even possible, it shouldn't be? Their foot landed on the shield of splinters and used it to push themselves away to a safe distance, now knowing about these things on my back. With them finally stopping though, I could see what was really on their left arm. It was generally normal and skinny but below the elbow was something different, changing into what looked like a fox's paw with bright red fur and claws that could tear out my throat.
So that was their weapon, a fox hand thingamajig? Their other hand was normal though and looked gentle, like from a woman, which now made sense with their body as they were generally smaller than me. Well, I don't know, there are a lot of women with stronger builds than me. I could see the mask, but I still couldn't tell what animal it was supposed to be, but now I was leaning more toward it being a wolf. It was white and generally flat with red spirals circling the eyes.
This mask made it hard to see where they were looking as the eye holes were smaller and slightly slanted as they crouched to the ground. I knew what was coming as I tried to think up a plan on the spot, but I just didn't know enough about this kimono-wearing person. Yeah, I looked strange in this suit, but they were just a copy-paste of another culture. Isn't that a crime in some places, culture appropriation or something?
Before I could back up to make more space between us, she bulleted toward me once again. This time, as I should have guessed, she lifted herself from the ground and used gravity to make her faster, her fox-hand reaching out. Three of the splinters that could reach saved me again, but I didn't leave unscathed as two of the claws cut the base of my nose. I couldn't land a hit as my splinters focused on defense, but her speed was significantly slower. If she keeps this speed, then I have a chance to win as long as I get used to it. With her arm being so close right now, I attempted to throw a punch only for her to jump backward before I could make contact.
So, she was very agile and deadly with claws on her left hand but... that was her only form of attack. As long as I stop her left arm, I can eventually tire her out as she was the only one jumping around. This gives me an idea, taking direct control of the splinters and having them focus on different points of my body, two of the lower ones focused on my feet and the rest ready for any attack in the sky. If this works, then there's nothing to worry about, raising my hand and taunting her to attack. My other hand was prepped and ready to sling forward with a good amount of power, ready for this fight.
Again, she charged but this time didn't jump at all, her body slightly angling itself to push herself forward. This made her a lot faster but hopefully, not fast enough as I sent my fist flying forward the second she was close enough. I knew it wouldn't hit though as she jumped off from the ground, her normal right hand padding my wrist before being used to push herself farther into the sky.
As she flew over my head, the top two splinters darted toward her but she twisted her body in the air just enough to dodge them, landing on the back of them but that was just part of the plan. The next two followed the attack as I could tell that she was unsure of what to do. If she didn't do anything though, this would be the end but all of this was happening so quickly, I didn't have time to do anything to make sure she would lose.
Her hand grasped one of the splinters that she was sliding down on and pulled herself up and over my head again as the other two splinters zoomed toward her, barely missing as she swung herself around to the front of me. I had to defend myself as she was swinging herself into me as an attack, her left leg raised toward my neck. I quickly moved my head to the side and managed to grab her ankle with my hand, holding her there as it turned back to my favor. Now, all I had to do was let gravity do the rest as she slowly fell toward the ground, the lower two splinters waiting until she was in range. Before she collided though, her other leg clamped into my shoulder with the back of her knee on the edge and barely hanging on.
"How strong was she," I thought as she pulled herself up using only the core of her body. Well, there isn't much she can do, I have a pretty good grip on her, and all my splinters were still apt to attack. I didn't have time to hesitate, immediately sending my splinters to her on all sides as I saw her freeze in fear. She had to move her entire head to see all of the dangers coming at her, which told me something invaluable... she couldn't focus on all of them at the same time with her mask on.
Inevitably, she began to panic as, I believe, it was about the time to boast about my victory. This was certainly the end, I got it, I won. Before I could bite my words, her right leg that was on my shoulder suddenly shifted farther and locked between my neck and shoulder blade, getting a good grasp as she forced her body closer to me. It was dangerous but she still did it, managing to twist her body with her normal hand grasping the back of my head and her fox paw flying toward my face. I tried to grab her hand with my other free arm but I would still be hit, I couldn't risk it, letting go of her leg.
Still, she had the speed on me as before I could hope to block the attack, her fox paw soared past me, slightly cutting me from the tip of my jaw to the end of my ear. Her other hand though, pulled with all of her might forward as the leg I let go twisted unnaturally so that she could use it as a hook to spin around my body. Her back slid across my shoulder blades with her body slightly curled as I was powerless to do anything, still trying to coordinate the splinters to continue in closing around her but as I was forced to retract my hand close to my chest to brace for whatever attack she had in plan.
I could feel her hands grab onto that arm and, to my surprise, used my own force to launch herself away from danger. Was this even possible for a human to do? Her light frame managing to fly a few meters away to safety but not before her fox paw tore up the back of my hand. I have to say though, despite the pain that I was feeling, I had to give her credit for being so crafty. Not only that but I noticed something else when we were fighting. She always seemed to quicken her movements when I attacked her in multiple directions. Especially when I grabbed her leg, she definitely hesitated for a few milliseconds, and that was no doubt fear that she felt?
Looking at the fox mask, I could see that her eyes were obscured. Well, it was hard to tell because she was panting quite heavily after pulling that acrobatic move off and she was holding her weight off of her left leg... she sprained it or something like that? She did twist it weirdly and that would most definitely slow her down.
So, her mask is stopping her from focusing on a lot of things at once since she can't see all of them normally, and she's going to be slower... I think I might have an idea, looking back at the shadowy figures in the distance. Some of them were closer than before, still staring at this fox-paw person in front of me with their black beady eyes. They weren't attacking though, we must be out of their range, so how about closing that distance?
There was maybe a little more than a hundred feet between us and the closest shadowy figure. That one didn't matter to me as there was another who was closer to the edge, and that one was maybe half a football field away. Well, that shouldn't be a problem as she was already worn out. I quickly turned around and bolted to the shadowy figure that stood still like a statue, immediately hearing the wooden shoes clacking along the ground toward me. There was no way she can still have enough energy to catch up, especially in shoes like that. Just as that thought ran through my head, I looked over to see that she was matched with me, her fox-paw hand already rearing back.
How, she's way cooler than me? My feet continued to carry me toward the shadowy figure as she lunged at me, the splinters on that side of my body creating a barrier between us. It was just part of the plan though, suddenly launching the splinters forward before immediately pulling them back. At best, she got some whiplash from that. Her body jerked forward as she gripped the splinters in fear of falling over and letting me escape, not realizing that I didn't want her to fall behind either.
When I pulled the splinters back, her hand let go of the splinters as she flew forward, feet scrapping along the ground before settling. She didn't have time to re-position herself as black tendrils or rope-like things plummeted into the ground where she was, this fox-masked figure barely managing to jump back toward safety. It wasn't from the one above her though as another shadowy figure attacked from a few feet away. A three vs one, let's see how you'll deal with this.
I simply watched as she couldn't balance herself with her foot sprained while two of the shadowy figures constantly continued to launch tendrils in her direction. That's when I saw it, my chance to end this. Her feet landing on the edge as for a few seconds, she began teetering on the cliff of this strange floating island. I know I'm good but I didn't know I was this good. Maybe I'm being a little cocky, as I stretched my legs for one final charge, but I knew that I already had this in the bag.
With one clean inhale and exhale, I charged forward like a bull toward her as she tried to swing herself back onto solid ground, glancing up to see me running up at her. I wasn't holding back at all, putting everything I had into this one run... which was a mistake as she crouched down and held her arms splayed out in front of her body, tediously holding herself up as I ran closer. I tried to stop but my body was already at a good degree where I just couldn't, at her mercy when she put her hands on the ground and stretched her leg out, tripping me. I fell downward into the abyss but not before my splinters rushed around for any way to save me, two of them stabbing into the side of her ribs and the others gripping a piece of the flat ground, violently swiveling me. My hands caught the cliff edge with the help of my splinters, but it wasn't enough as I was left there hanging, but she wasn't as lucky when she was clawed off the edge as well.
It seems as if luck also wasn't on my side today as she grabbed my legs, looking at her destination within a split-second and beginning to climb. I tried to focus my splinters on attacking her but she was perfectly in the center of my back before they couldn't reach her, using two of them to hold on. I guess they can't invert to the other direction... nice to know. Before I could do anything, a group of tendrils wrapping onto one another stabbed into the ground where my hands were barely holding on and loosened the dirt.
I had to get up now, trying to pull my body to safety, but as everything began to shift, a jolting pain ran down my right arm as blood from my palm where she clawed me earlier began to run down. My grip failed me just like that as both of us fell into the empty abyss below us. There was no hope this time, both of us helplessly soaring into the darkness as she held her face in disgust. I can only guess that I'll wake up after some time but what if I actually die. I don't want to die, not now, I don't want to leave my dad alone.
My thoughts were overwhelming as I felt like hyperventilating but a voice full of hatred and disgust came from the fox girl next to me. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" She could talk? I never met anyone who could talk. I tried to open my mouth but the next thing I knew, everything went black.