Now I know it's you [KyouHaba]

Chapter 13

He was woken up by someone shaking his shoulder. He growled and got up on his elbow.

"Wha-"

A warm hand covered his mouth.

Still half-asleep, he blinked a few times, trying to assess the time. It was still dark outside, and it seemed the sun was going to rise soon.

Kyotani was kneeling by his head, finger on his lips in the 'be quiet' gesture. Yahaba nodded, and the hand disappeared.

"Something is moving through the village," whispered Kyotani right next to his ear, gesturing towards the centre of the village.

Yahaba got up as quiet as possible, trying to focus on whatever Kyotani was pointing.

The wind was blowing harder than when they went to sleep, so there was a lot of plants moving around, but Yahaba was sure Kyotani wouldn't be on alert because of a moving tree. He scanned the whole village, forcing his eyes to get used to the dark. And then he saw it. A fast movement, faster than the plants, right between the two houses closest to their shack. It was gone the next second, but it was rather small, fast and moving in the shadows along the forest line.

"What a hell..."

It appeared twice more, always only on a split moment in the gap between houses.

Yahaba grabbed his dagger, carefully rolling himself out of the bedroll and nudged Kyotani, nodding towards the area where the whatever creature it was disappeared. He saw a feral glint in Kyotani's eyes, the one he always had when the hunt actually started. The blond quickly fastened one of his swords and merged with shadows next to the shack.

Yahaba rolled his eyes on his recklessness and slowly followed his example, taking the other way around. He was a lot more exposed than Kyotani, especially because he had to cross the road leading through the village, but if anything, he could be used as bait and divert the attention of the creature from Kyotani.

He slowly made his way in the direction where they saw it for the last time, taking the same route as the creature. He wondered why it took such a weird detour. He wasn't sure why he wanted them to follow it in the first place. There was no certainty that this was their killer, but Yahaba refused to risk it getting away again. If the creature was the killer, it would partially explain why it was moving so strangely. After all, they've already established the killer was smart, be it a monster or human. If it was on a hunt, they had to hunt it first.

He was already almost at the place where they lost sight of it when he heard a quiet rustling of the leaves on the ground. The sound was almost inaudible due to the wind, but years of being a Hunter taught Yahaba to recognize footsteps from rustling leaves on a tree. He stopped and listened. There it was again, this time more to his right and seemingly further in the forest. A cold shiver run down his spine, his mind screaming at him he's being watched.

He stared among the trees, trying to make out some out of place shapes when he froze on spot. About five meters from him, behind some shorter bushes, were two gleaming eyes approximately at his chest height, staring directly at him.

Yahaba's mind raced. His only weapon was his dagger, and he had no idea what kind of weaponry the creature had. He could run after it, but he would risk losing it in the dark or get ambushed easily.

He decided to risk it, hoping Kyotani would hear the eventual struggle and came to help. He gritted his teeth and bolted after the eyes. As soon as he crossed the forest line, the eyes were gone, and there was rustling moving away from him. He caught a glimpse of a darker shadow among the trees. To his surprise, he realized the creature had very human-like features and was moving like a human but faster. He even caught a glimpse of long hair. He cursed quietly and sped up as much as he dared in the undergrowth. But no matter how fast he ran, the sound of footsteps in front of him was getting weaker every second, and he soon found himself in the complete silence of the forest.

He listened but heard nothing. As if the creature flew off.

"Dammit!"