As the Shrike To Your Sharp and Glorious Thorn

Chapter 7: The Calm Before the Storm?

 Garu slowly moved upright, frowning at Pucca. The girl was looking off into the distance distractedly. He took advantage of the moment to disappear into the bamboo. He scuttled up the trunk of a tree and caught his breath in the branches. Pucca had her eyes closed and her head cocked, listening? Garu stilled his body and tensed, cat like, waiting for just the right moment...

Then he dropped, tossing throwing stars the whole way down. Effortlessly, Pucca slid under them and then looked up at him. He was taken aback by the gleam in her eyes, but quickly settled into a fighting stance.

In a real fight, he wouldn't have given her the moment to recover, but he didn't really want to hurt his girlfriend.

She, however, didn't seem to have many qualms about bruising him. He was hoping she'd try some of the more refined techniques he'd demonstrated, but she rushed at him in a typically graceless manner.

Only instead of stopping by a hair's breadth and kissing him, she slammed right into him, and he slid across the ground until he bonked into a tree.

She growled at him. Honest to God growled. Somewhere behind the haze of pain in his head, he felt a shiver of arousal slip down into his stomach.

He was genuinely afraid of her for a second. Her deep eyes seemed like inky, unreadable pools. It almost looked as if she didn't recognize him, even though they were nose to nose.

She moved slowly down to his neck and bit him, then sucked on the flesh. Garu yelped and shoved her off of him.

She was upright in a flash, her whole body lowered into a predatory stance. Garu struggled upright, wiping harshly at the patch of slime on his neck. He bent his knees and focused on her, adrenaline and training kicking in.

They circled each other for a moment, then she just paused, watching him intently. Still as the grave. Garu didn't want to move any nearer, so he took a few steps back.

This was the wrong thing to do, as soon as he moved she was on him with astonishing speed. He feinted to the left, and tried to outflank her but Pucca was too damn fast. She leapt on top of him, rolling the already aching boy onto the ground. He snarled at her, but she remained unfazed. Garu desperately tried to flip their positions. She wouldn't budge. Her nails raked down his side, leaving welts even through his clothes. He hissed and swung at her stomach, hoping to wind the girl and gain some space. She let out a bizarre rasping bark and he started. He shoved at her, reluctant to use his full strength. She only sneered. Garu felt himself started to get angry, what was Pucca doing?! This was way out of line. He got his hand under him, and sprung up, knocking the small girl back.

She just smiled, and from high in her throat came an eerie stuttering laugh. All the hairs on Garu's body stood straight up and he turned to run. Pucca stood there watching for a half second, then sprinted after him.

Garu had never run from her like this before. His form was all over the place, his chest burned like fire, and he was scared that he'd trip over his own legs. Just when he though he might have a chance at getting away, Pucca leapt on his back and he hit the ground. Garu was completely winded, with an excruciating pain in his ribcage. Something dripped onto the back of his neck, barely perceptible through the shock. He only had one last trick up his sleeve...if he could only just concentrate.

Focusing as hard as he could, despite the red haze of his own agony, Garu called up a small battalion of his clones. Through a combination of the sheer size difference between himself and Pucca, he and his clones managed to pull the seething girl away from his prone body.

She bucked, trying to break free, but he made sure to put enough energy in them to keep her still. Something was very, very wrong. He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his throbbing face.