Heroes to Hunted

After running a few moments, Agawa was the first to make it underneath. Next came the sisters; the older one, in particular, was surprisingly fast. Not as fast as Agawa, but fast nonetheless.

Obviously, I was the next to make it under. I definitely would've been first if it wasn't for the fact that I'd been carrying the lemming around. I mean, Agawa was a taxi to Sato again, so I could have for sure beaten her! (Not that I couldn't beat her on even footing, mind you.)

Grinding the soles of my feet against the hard soil, I slid beneath the roots and swiveled around.

"Ah...What the?" I winced, feeling a sharp throbbing in my ankle. Once within the safety of the roots, I turned to see a rogue stick piercing my leg. Small but noticeable blood spurts exited the new wound in my foot.

Though we'd been running around a while, this was the first time I realized none of us had proper shoes. Maybe that's what the threat of death does to a person. It makes you forget any pain in the moment.

I looked back to the final two idiots as they heaved their bodies toward us, the predator hot on their heels.

"Keep running!" shouted Agawa next to me.

Likewise, Ayame followed suit. "You're almost there! Don't look back!"

'They'll be fine; they'll make it,' I reassured my worried mind. There was plenty of space between them and the beast. So long as they kept running, they would barely escape their pursuer's clutches.

At least, that's what would've been true for an average bear. A fact that I'd forgotten was this thing had been anything but average.

Howling, it glowed with green light and accelerated at even greater speeds.

"Is that...magic?!" Ayame gasped, a new flicker of panic in her eyes.

'It looks like it,' I clenched my teeth in frustration. 'But how is that possible?!' I always thought in these situations that magic was limited to people and mythical creatures. But a random bear in some starter town woods was using it?

'How could that happen?' I felt I had that information at the tip of my mind. Like someone told me the "why" already at some point. Trying to remember was pointless, though. Not because I couldn't, but because it was literally meaningless information in this situation.

The predator sprang forward, its powerful muscles propelling it closer to its prey with lightning speed.

Kamida's hair, once glossy and styled, now hung in greasy strands as he stumbled away with a look of abject terror on his face. It was the sort of expression that would make a seasoned horror movie director proud.

On the other hand, Nakamura's expression was frozen, his body seemingly disconnected from his brain. He was the picture of helplessness, his face an unreadable mask as he ran toward us with dull eyes.

The beast cocked its head and focused on one of the two meals before it. I guess Nakamura looked like the tastier snack since that's who it veered toward.

It's because the bear became preoccupied that Kamida finally made it beneath the roots. Infuriatingly, I couldn't say the same for the other moron.

"Oh my god!" Ayame shouted as we watched the beast tackle Nakamura to the ground.

The beast took hold of Nakamura, its massive jaws closing around his shoulder with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed in all directions, drenching the bear in a gruesome shower of crimson. Nakamura's howls echoed through the forest, filling them with a haunting chorus of pain and terror.

The predator shook its prey like a rag doll. I could see Nakamura's flesh tearing under its powerful grip. Then, the beast threw him downwards to claw at his back. His blood-curdling screams mixed with the victorious roars of his assailant.

Between the sight of a human being torn to shreds and the chilling chorus of sounds accompanying it, I froze. But I had no time to be traumatized; I had to act.

Since my time in the town, I realized you can't save everyone. Some die, and there's nothing to be done about it. But you? There's no way I'd let you die, old man. Not after I wasted all that energy letting you lean on me…. Not after you promised to carry my burden with me!

"Alright fuck this!" I shouted, dropping the lemming and swiping the sword from my sheath. "I'm tired of running."

I dashed out from the cover of the roots with a look of hateful vengeance on my face. I planted each step firmly into the ground, crunching the grassy mulch underneath, and propelled myself forward.

"Wait, are you crazy?!" Ayame shouted from behind me.

But I ignored her, and, once in range, I screamed, "Let him go, you bastard," and swiped at the surprised beast.

While screaming a battlecry, I ran my blade along the length of its snout until I nearly split the side of its face in two. A piece of its cheek came undone, revealing a layer of pinkish muscle underneath.

The beast shrieked and flailed from the lost skin, unlatching its jaws from Nakamura in the process.

He fell to the ground, merely laying there deathly still in shock. His back ran slick with a deep red coating, and his right arm was twisted in ways an arm shouldn't be twisted.

With pried open eyes pried a small stream of clear drool leaking from his mouth, his body had gone completely limp. The amount of pain he was in must've overwhelmed his senses.

"DON'T YOU DARE DIE, OLD MAN!" I bellowed, taking more jabs at the guarded beast. I could feel my heart constrict tight with the thought of him leaving me behind. Leaving me to deal with my trauma alone. "YOU CAN'T DIE!"

Water glossed my eyes at the thought of his death, but I couldn't cry. I was never one to cry, and I wouldn't start now.

So I took my free hand and wiped my eyes free from tears. "Agawa!" I called out with a slightly cracked voice. "Get him out of here…." I took a breath, faked a savage smile, and pointed my blade at our furry friend. "I want some one-on-one time with this guy."

"Fine!" she agreed, sprinting to Nakamura, who'd been unnervingly quiet. Then, bending downward, she speedily threw his arm over her neck and glanced at me. "What are you gonna do? Be stupid?!"

I laughed while waving my sword nonchalantly. "Nooooo, I'm gonna do what we delinquents love doing..." I made eye contact with the beast, "I'm gonna teach a weakling to respect his betters!"

Almost to accept my challenge, the bear ceased its incessant wailing and gruffly snorted while narrowing its eyes. At this point, the beast knew I was something to fear.

I swung my sword forward in an amateur flourish, taunting the bear and mockingly smiling at it. "Let's get started," I smirked with a facade of confidence.