Mending The Past To A Better Future

Chp. 25 Behind The Veil {Part-2}

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Hound has a new location for us,” Dove said through the comm link as Pakkun disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Northeast, for about a few minutes,” Hound relays exactly what Pakkun had told him. “Whoever this is has a trace-scent of venus fly traps.” For some reason that strikes a cord in Hound, but he doesn’t remember why.

As they pass through the dripping trees, Hound feels more tense with each step, like something’s waiting to jump out at him from the shadows that don’t make it to his eyes. He wants to ask Owl if he senses anything, but with the open comm link, speech isn’t so free. Even as Leopard and Dove fly on ahead, Hound feels the urge to scope out his surroundings before taking another step forward. He activates his lone Sharingan and lets his gaze dart around quickly to see if he can spot anything out of the ordinary.

Other than his three companions, though, there seems to be  nothing in their immediate vicinity. “Hound,” Dove is sharp through the comm. “Stop falling behind.” 

Scowling beneath his mask, Hound takes an extra step so that he’s matching pace with Leopard.

“I have an eye on the target,” Owl says. “Smoke signals are burning in the northeast, but there’s only two people. Not five, as we initially thought.”

“Keep your eyes sharp, squad,” Leopard orders. “The other ones are probably hiding.” 

As Hound soars over a tree, he nearly stumbles and falls as he catches a bare sight of yellow eyes staring back at him from the clutches of a venus fly trap. His head jerks back on reflex, and he catches himself.

“Hound?” Owl sounds worried. “Why did you stop?” 

“ Owl, Leopard, Dove. Come in. I’ve just seen two eyes staring at me through a venus fly trap. This is a set up,” he hisses. “Get back, now!”

But it’s too late. The venus fly trap melts into the ground as though it never were, and the light being outed from the smoke signal slams shut so fast that Hound nearly gets whiplash in the process. Hound darts his eyes up to where Owl is positioned vertically, and once he sees he’s relatively unharmed, he turns his attention back to the direction in which the smoke came from.

The silence as they wait is eerie. The skies are dark from the storm and the trees are black instead of green, their leaves swaying ominously in the wind. It’s too loud and too quiet all at once. Hound wishes the leaves would stop moving for a second so he could make out their surroundings better.

The sound of a twig snapping in Leopard’s direction as his neck cracks as he spins to look, but there’s nothing there. Hound tries to ignore how his heartbeat ratchets up a few pulses. When he sees those same eyes again, he presses the comm link in his ear desperately.

“Leopard! Your six!” 

Leopard whirls around in haste, but the thing is already gone.

Owl unsheathed his katana, and it glimmered under the faint moonlight.

“Formation E,” Dove orders. Immediately Hound, Owl, Dove, and Leopard meet in the middle, their backs against one another in order to cover every direction.

Then something darts out of the woods at breakneck speed, and Owl barely manages to catch it against his katana, slicing it in half.

“What the actual fuck,” Owl says, but Hound can’t be bothered from what he’s found - can’t take his eyes off of the clearing. His pulse is jumping, and it’s with sudden rage and fear that he realizes where he’s marked the importance of the smell of venus fly traps before.