feral | sting eucliffe

LXVIII | FFH

Episode 68: Far From Home!

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SHE DODGED ANOTHER ATTACK, growling under her breath as part of her lower leg scratched against a gnarly root of a large tree. The wolf that was following her around snarled back, baring his fangs. These were far from the animals that she was usually used to; some of them were more rabid or influenced by a higher power.

The latter seemed to be the case at this point, a metal muzzle clamped down on his jaws. Y/n let out a whimper, a desperate yell as she attempted to get through to the wolf. He refused to comply, lunging at her again as she swiftly dodged and darted to the side, paws skidding on the ground. Her claws dug through the dirt, scraping up pieces of nature.

He bared his fangs again, metal muzzle covered with dirt, leaves, and remnants of wood. As the canine jumped at her again, she swung her tail and blinded him with dirt, a whine leaving his lips at the action. Within that instant, the female feline swung her claws and sliced the muzzle into bits. It fell to the ground, making loud ringing sounds as the wolf whined.

He seemed to be eternally scarred by the armor, backing away as a pained howl built up in the back of his throat. Y/n let out a convincing purr, rising to her more humane form as she reached a hand out. The canine growled at first, but Y/n smiled softly and clicked her tongue a few times, calling for his attention.

He reluctantly padded forward, sniffing her palm before roughly licking her hand with his sandpaper tongue, coming to the conclusion that the human was indeed the panther from earlier. Y/n picked up a piece of the muzzle with her free hand, studying it for a moment. The wolf let out a cry, hoping to a higher power that she wouldn't apply such torture to him.

She quieted him easily with a few pets, his ears folding back. She grabbed the metal piece and sniffed it, studying it for a moment as she traced the scent to the most recent location other than the wolf. "Up the mountain, huh?" The girl mumbled, turning her head to the right and looking up, eyes narrowing at the slightly distant hill up ahead.

Y/n looked towards the slightly fearful wolf, petting him again and kissing his forehead. "Go ahead; you don't have to tag along with me, little one." He barked defiantly, his tail perking as it wagged slightly. He seemed almost elated to have someone by his side, refusing to leave her alone. She beamed at him, giving him another rub behind his ears before heading for the mountain.

Up the rocky area of the mountain, there was a small little cave tucked away into the walls of the rough hill. It seemed that most of the scents blended there, leading to one that Y/n couldn't exactly identify. She shrunk down to a tiny harvest mouse, nose twitching as she squeaked at the wolf twice before running into the cave.

Almost immediately, she was left immobile as a heel clamped down on her tail. "Oh, what's this?" A plump woman lifted her up, the two looking face-to-face. Her nose twitched again, the scent leading straight to the woman. Studying her for a brief moment, Y/n was right. There was a belt of muzzles, traps, cuffs, and abusive chains wrapped around her leather slathered waist.

Y/n quickly shifted into a wolf, growling and snapping her jaws against the lady's face. She let out a shriek of terror, tossing Y/n aside as the h/c wolf skidded slightly, spitting out whatever skin she managed to tear from the woman. It tasted absolutely dreadful. She snarled, challenging the ruthless human. She took out a whip, cracking it in the air.

In the surrounding cages, the animals whimpered at the sound and Y/n's heart broke; what torture could they have possibly endured from this woman? Instead of pondering on the question, Y/n shot herself forward and tackled her, dodging and dancing away from the long rope with a certain rhythm and timing.

One crack of the whip slammed against her upper leg as she tumbled to the floor, feeling the magic energy that coursed through the object make direct contact with her skin. It burned and ached as she attempted to get back up, a whine escaping her mouth. The lady was about to stomp on her abdomen with a sharp heel when Y/n let out a loud cry.

Immediately, all the cages started shaking as other animals cried out and howled, seeming to distract the lady momentarily. Using this time, she swiftly got up and latched her jaws to the plump woman's ankle, feeling the bone against her fangs. The previously saved wolf ran along with the cages, biting each lock with precision and accuracy.

It exerted a lot of her energy, but Y/n tilted her head, hearing a loud cracking sound from the lady's bones. The plump woman let out another shriek, nearly tumbling to the floor. As she did so, the doors swung open and the beasts jumped down, letting out aggressive noises of their own. She attempted to scramble away but failed as the animals lunged at her.

Y/n didn't want to see, but she knew that they were mauling her to death. Morphing back into a human, a few of the more concerned animals went towards her and nuzzled her. Her scent hadn't changed at all, but it did take them a moment to process it. They licked and sniffed at her wound, trying to understand how to fix it. 

She let them be, scratching a wolf pup's ears. He whimpered at the contact but seemed to enjoy it as he pressed the top of his head further into the palm of her hand. Y/n smiled at the soft sensation and pulled out a scroll from the white cloak that she adorned, sighing quietly. Opening it, she studied the document briefly.

The mission was located miles away from where she'd created such a ruckus. The puppy whined again, realizing that her fingers had stopped scratching. She nestled her fingers behind his ears, rubbing against them as he whined out of pleasure again. The girl looked towards her scratched and bruised right leg.

She looked up to the first wolf from earlier who looked at her with mild concern, his eyes telling more than the fangs that he bared. Her h/c hair swayed as she scratched the puppy again, glancing outside of the cave. "You all were far from my mission, but I'm glad I ran into that one."