Alone

Intruder

That night, Tonoko was awoken by the rustling of leaves and grass near the now burned out campfire. He lay still, not wanting to alert the creature of his awareness. Whatever it was had footstep patterns that resembled Tanoki's, who was asleep next to him, which he assumed meant it was another human.

'What's a human doing sneaking around all the way out here at this hour?' He thought to himself wearily.

They crept around the site, taking care to be as quiet as they could, slowly inching closer. Tonoko mentally prepared himself to jump to his and Tanoki's defense. Before the footsteps got any closer, in the blink of an eye the tiger was on his feet reared on his hind legs with his ears flattened against his head and his teeth bared. The unknown person stumbled backwards and stared up at the blue lumbering beast before them. With teeth gnashing and claws extended, Tonoko let a snarl slip through his jaws startling Tanoki from her slumber. The silver-haired girl jumped up once she noticed what was happening and ran to make sure the person wouldn't flee or fight back. He was outnumbered and severely outmatched, what with a massive tiger standing across from him, so Tanoki wasn't too worried of his fighting back. Tonoko on the other hand wasn't going to take any chances. He dropped to all-fours, his tail lashing, holding his defensive stance and stalking closer to stand beside his human companion.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Tanoki held her dagger dangerously close to the man's throat as she questioned him.

"I'm sorry, please don't kill me, I was part of Skinner's group but I left it!" The man answered quickly, his eyes darting between the blade and the tiger.

Tanoki was taken aback, blinking in surprise, "What? Why did you leave? How do we know you're not lying?"

"He's horrible! He treats everyone like they're lower than dirt. He nearly killed a man when we got back to camp for failing to capture you two," he spoke with sorrow lacing his tone, "I can't stand it there anymore, I can't stand living in fear of him anymore. I wanted to join you. I understand if you dont trust or believe me, I wouldn't trust someone after that either, but I swear I'm telling you the truth!" The man finally finished his rant, staring up at Tanoki with hopeful eyes.

The girl leaned back and pulled her dagger back from his throat, causing him to let out a soft sigh and touch the skin where the cold blade had rested. She stayed crouching, deep in thought. Minutes later she looked back up at the man with cold eyes and spoke sternly, "Alright, you can stay. But don't think you're off the hook, you're staying because you know where Skinner's main camp is, right? Tonoko and I will be keeping a close eye on you, so don't try anything you'll end up regretting."

Tanoki stood and the newcomer smiled up at her with relief in his eyes, "Yes, I do! I can take you there. Thank you so much, I owe you my life! Oh and by the way, my name is Kajiwara."

He stood from the ground and dusted off his clothes, still beaming with happiness. It was only now that the two were able to get a good look at Kajiwara. He stood a good few inches taller than Tanoki and his frame was well built, which led her to believe he was stronger than he appeared to be under the baggy shirt he wore. He had short but messy ginger hair and large brown eyes with freckles dusting his face. His face was soft, but structured, a gentle smile still plastered on his lips.

'He looks alright, but there's not a chance in hell I'd even consider anything with him. His story and expressions were convincing but I'm not going to take chances,' Tanoki looked away sourly, crossing her arms, "Yea whatever. It's nearly morning anyway so we should get moving soon."

Tonoko chuffed in agreement and sat, waiting patiently as Tanoki pulled food she had gathered the night before for the three. She hesitated on giving Kajiwara a share, but split the food for three anyway. The trio ate in silence as the sky slowly faded into a pastel navy hue, the sun about to peek over the horizon and bathe the sky in shades of orange. Once they finished, the girl went to wash up while Tonoko and Kajiwara sat in an uncomfortable atmosphere.

"So, um, sorry about the whole attack thing the other day..." the ginger-haired boy apologized awkwardly, to which Tonoko growled bitterly.

"You may have convinced Tanoki but you haven't convinced me. I don't trust you in the slightest-" The feline rose and shoved his face so close to the boy's he could feel the tiger's breath, "-so if you think I'm just going to believe a word from your mouth you're poorly mistaken. Do not speak to me, and if you try anything at all I will tear you apart myself," Tonoko snarled, venom dripping from every word, before marching away. Kajiwara let go of the breath he didn't even know he was holding, and swallowed harshly as he watched the beast retreat to the same stream Tanoki had been washing her face in. Once the two returned, sky was light and the group was ready to set off. Since Skinner and his men traveled on horses, they were able to cover much more ground than Tanoki and her group was able to.

They journeyed north towards the Tall Mountains, stopping here and there throughout the day to rest. By the time nightfall arrived, they had made considerable distance, but not nearly enough to catch up to Skinner. They solely depended on their new member to find them now. The three were exhausted and hungry, stopping for the night as they rested and prepared for the next journey ahead of them.