Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 9 - Bloody Knuckles

TW // PHYSICAL ABUSE

We walked for what felt like hours, before seeing smoke in the distance. We followed the smoke and hid atop a small cliff. There before us were the hikers that were delivering the letter to the opposing organization.

"You think that's them?" Saturn asked. I nodded.

"Yup, who else would be out here?" We watched over them for a bit before planning.

"Alright Salem, you ready?" I asked. Salem nodded and wagged his tail in determination. Salem ran off towards a bush and disappeared. Me and Saturn started to walk towards a tree, climbing up it and watching the hikers.

"Hurry up, who knows what will happen if we don't give this to them on time!" said a man. He was average height, with dark red hair and orange eyes.

"Chill out would ya Zane?" Said another man. He had a mixture of light and dark green hair. "Shut up Corey, I wasn't talking to you!" Zane said with a glare.

"...then who the hell were you talking to-" Corey said with a confused expression. A small, young looking male with tan skin and curly dark brown hair stayed silent.

Suddenly, a mountain lion appeared out of nowhere, growling at the group of hikers. "Alright... everyone we've-" Zane was cut off by Corey's screaming.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" The mountain lion turned to Corey with daggers in its eyes. it ran for Corey in an attempt to kill him. As the lion jumped for a strike, a shadow leapt from a bush and tackled the mountain lion with great force. The hikers turned to their left to see a large black and white wolf throwing the mountain lion by the neck against a tree. That wolf was Salem.

"Good boy..." I said with a smirk. Saturn cheered Salem on secretly from the sidelines. I giggled at her quietly. Salem growled deeply at the mountain lion, blood dripping from his fangs. The mountain lion, knowing it was going to be beaten, backed away slowly. Salem took this moment to rush at the lion, to which it turned and ran. Salem, out of pride howled with victory. I nodded at Saturn and we entered into frame.

"Corey you idiot!" Zane said hitting him on the back of the head.

"OW! Dude chill! We aren't dead, are we?!" As the two were fighting, the small dark brown-haired boy moved away from the group.

I watched as the small boy approached Salem slowly. I stopped Saturn from going any further. "What's up?" She asked. I pointed at the boy and Salem. "I want to see something..." I said.

Salem looked behind him to see the boy approaching him. Salem lowered his head and ears as he looked at the boy. The boy knelt in front of the wolf and tilted his head slightly. Salem did the same, slowly walking towards the boy. I smiled slightly. "Salem..." Salem gently nuzzled against the boy's face. The boy looked shocked and scared, but suddenly relaxed after feeling how soft Salem was. I nodded at Saturn. "Let's go."

Saturn and me rushed at the group. "Salem!" Salem jumped at the sudden call of his name, which in turn made the boy stand up quickly. I hugged Salem and whispered 'good job' in his ear. His tail began to wag as he licked my face ever so slightly. Zane walked towards us with Corey. "That your wolf?" I stood up with a nod. "Yeah! This little guy ran away from us," Saturn said with a laugh. I looked down at Salem, who looked at me and whined. I gasped.

Salem had a huge gash on his side from the mountain lion.

"Salem... did you tangle with a lion?" I asked.

"Yeah, he did. That wolf of yours is amazing!" Corey exclaimed. I looked up at Corey with a glare. 'excuse me? When did I ask?' I thought to myself.

"No! We don't have any heals!" Saturn said with a sigh.