Cryptid Combat

FELIS staggered backwards, his knife dropping from his hand as Ash shoved him off. He watched as the boy slid across the floor, clutching the little girl and screaming her name for all to hear. He couldn't afford that kind of attention right now. Swiftly, he clamped his hand over Ash's mouth.

"Shut your mouth," he hissed into Ash's ear. This was exactly why he had banned them all from his room. He tightened his grip, but in his haste, a finger slipped into Ash's mouth. Before he could pull it back, sharp teeth sank into his flesh with a force he hadn't imagined.

He yanked his hand away, even though he didn't feel much of the pain, he didn't want him breaking any of his bones. He sighed and shook his head as the boy dropped the girl and turned to him. "What did you do?" The boy asked him with a maddening defiance. 

Felis understood the situation and he knew he couldn't explain anything so he stepped backwards, although he knew he could control his strength to a certain extent, he's never fought a kid with it and he'd just downed a potion just a few hours ago. The potion had already assimilated into his system and he was way too strong to not mistakenly hurt him, so he stepped backwards and stretched his hands out in surrender. 

He however kept his senses awake, because it wasn't just three of them in this room; there was another, hidden from the normal human eyes, blended into the scenery and waiting for the right moment to strike. 

Felis was in a very dangerous position, if it was just him and the intruder, he could deal with them however he wanted but with Ash and Glit here, he needed to fight while protecting them. He glanced around scanning the environment to just get a glimpse of the invisible person. 

"Why would you kill her?" Ash asked in his frenzied state. 

""Kill her?" Felis echoed, his tone laced with confusion. "What are you talking about? She's just unconscious," he clarified, casting a wary glance around the shadowy room. "Pick her up and get out of here. There's someone in here trying to…"

He didn't get to finish his statement when he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. The knife he had discarded earlier was now levitating, moving with eerie deliberation towards Ash.

Felis's instincts kicked in immediately. With a burst of speed, he launched himself across the room in a single, powerful leap. He reached Ash just in time, shoving him aside with little difficulty. As he did, the knife veered towards him, and before he could react further, it plunged into his chest.

The blade sank deep and Felis watched as crimson liquid began to trickle down from his chest, staining the floor. Ordinarily, such a wound would have been incapacitating, but Felis's enhanced physiology kept him conscious and alert. He immediately began to scan the room for the unseen assailant.

Then he felt it; a subtle shift in the air. Summoning his remaining strength, Felis lunged at the invisible force, his hand closing around something solid yet unseen. He tightened his grip, feeling the form of his invisible attacker struggling against his ironclad hold.

Felis held them down with his left hand and then drove a fist into them with his right. To any onlooker, all he just did was punch through the air but his fist had connected to someone's cheek. Air would shuffle around him and the person he punched would materialize into real space unconscious in his arm. 

The person was masked and dressed in a cloak. They were obviously an assassin, Felis shook his head as he dragged the unconscious body to a wooden pillar in the center of the room. He dropped them there, fished out a line and tied them to the post. He then turned to Ash who was just staring at what had happened just now. 

"Are you okay?" Felis asked him. 

place

The boy shuffled away from him, crawling backwards till his back hit the wall. "You… you…" he stretched his hand, pointing at the ship's captain with a frightful gaze. "You are a Cryptid," he spoke out at last.

"Yes," Felis answered as he knelt towards Glit who was still lying unconscious on the floor, he checked her pulse and affirmed that she was still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I need your help," He turned to Ash again. 

The latter however was frozen to a spot in fear. "That man was invisible?" He asked. "Can you turn invisible too? How many people can turn invisible?" He began asking erratic questions and Felis understood what he'd just seen was a breach to his entire perception of reality. It doesn't matter that he'd been carrying ice to the place where the vials for several Cryptid potions were stored, seeing a Cryptid use their powers always affected the mind of those who had no idea they existed. 

It was easier to imagine the existence of entities that use godlike powers to act but to see them use it was maddening. "No one else on this ship aside from your friends and I is a Cryptid," he explained to Ash. "It is a rare phenomenon for Cryptids to exist in the first place, and this ship having five is already a special case."

"I am a Cryptid?" He asked, his eyes widening. 

Felis stood up at last, his fatigue waning. The burst of speed he'd used earlier had caused him to metabolize most of his energy in one burst so he usually rested when he did that. He didn't need to exert his body to the extreme when he wasn't facing any danger. "Yes, Ash. You are a Cryptid," he repeated and the entire room fell silent.

"Did you say all his friends are Cryptids too?" Glit mumbled as she raised her head up. She had heard Felis's statement earlier but she had been too weak to move. "Am I a Cryptid too?" She inquired in a tired and weary

voice. 

"Yes," Felis replied simply.