As Zach stared off into the night sky, he let out a gentle sigh before looking down at Zuma. He transformed into his human self and gently picked up the small pup before carrying him over to his pup house and setting him in it.
"Thanks for listening to my ramblings." He said as he gently pet the pup. Zach let out a gentle sigh as he gently pets Zuma. As he stared at the brown-furred pup, he let his mind wander to the snow leopard from earlier. He couldn't seem to get the image of those terrified green eyes staring at him. They looked almost like a reflection of himself. He shuddered and pulled himself to his feet. As he continued to think, a loud snore interrupted his thoughts. He turned and looked at Rubble, who was the source of the excessive noise. "How can something so small be so loud?" Zach said, chuckling a bit at his statement. "I should probably find somewhere quieter to think." He thought to himself before he headed towards the darkness. As Zach began to walk away on the other side of the Lookout, Charm walked up to the tower. She held the glowing red vial in her hand tightly.
"Just choose the first one you see." She said to herself. "That way it's not personal." She took a few deep breaths before she walked to the tower. She walked to the very first pup house she saw and poured the liquid into the blue water bowl. Leaving as quickly as she came, she tossed the vial into the grass before heading into the woods behind the lookout. "There, all done." She said as she approached the small clearing. She froze as she looked at the white-haired teen sitting on the edge of the cliff. After studying him for a moment, she recognized him as the same one that let her go. She stared at him before he reached out and tapped the ground beside him.
"Come sit with me. I know you're there, I can feel your eyes burning into the back of my head." He said, still staring at the sky. She gulped and walked over to him and sat where she was told to. He looked over to her and offered his hand. "I'm Zach." He said with a friendly grin. She stared at him for a bit before nervously taking his hand and shaking it.
"Ch-Charm." She said timidly.
"That's a rather unique name." He said. "I like it." He said, turning his attention back to the stars. She smiled at the compliment.
"Thank you." She responded. "So, what are you doing out here?" She asked.
"I could ask you the same thing." He said with a wry chuckle. "I thought I said it was best if you stayed away from here." She looked at the ground, trying to come up with an excuse, but nothing would come to mind. "If you just wanted to say thank you, you could have done that by staying hidden," Zach said, still not looking at her. She suddenly had an idea. She put on a fake pouty face and folded her arms.
"I thought I'd at least thank my hero." She said. The boy began to laugh lightly before looking at her, their green eyes locking for a moment as he spoke.
"Couldn't let someone as pretty as you go back into a cage." He said softly. She stared at him for a moment before the pair felt their faces begin to heat up. The two quickly looked away as Zach stood up. "R-Right. I-I need to get back." Charm grabbed his hand and held onto it.
"Stay with me, please." She said, still looking at the ground. Zach stared for a moment before sitting back down.
"Sure." He said with a kind smile. They sat in the moonlight, not really saying anything, but just looking at the stars. Meanwhile, back at the tower, Chase had begun to toss and turn in his sleep. As he slowly came to, he felt his mouth was extremely dry. He got up and went to his water bowl and began drinking. As he continued to drink, he suddenly began to cough heavily. He turned away from his water bowl and began to cough more, then he collapsed to the ground, unable to call for help as he coughed more, his vision slowly beginning to fade to red, his panic suddenly shifting to a burning feeling. This wasn't just normal anger, he felt it start to swallow him. He heard a small growl begin to come out of his mouth before he heard a female voice calling out to him faintly. It was too distorted to tell who it was, but by that time it was too late. He had completely blacked out.
*Chapter End*
Word count: 810
