Trial and Error

"How do you know my name?”

Kira felt a strong presence behind him.

He slowly turned around, only to be met with a pair of boots. Casting his eyes upward, he saw a man standing in front of him.

He was tall and had a noticeably muscular physique. Broad shoulders and an even broader chest could barely remain hidden underneath the flowing sky blue robes he was wearing. Gorgeous embroidered images of golden Phoenix birds and flowers were dedicated stitched into the fabric. The man had fair skin. His features were both refined and elegant, yet sharp enough to distinguish him as an adult. Silver hair cascaded down his back, as some of it was pinned up into a hair fastener made of gold. From his frosty, cold facial expression, his shimmering emerald green eyes had darkened into forest green pinpoints.

"What? What are… you talking about?" Kira asked, as he kept his eyes on the man’s face.

“My name. How do you know it?”

The silver haired man bit at each and every word with violence and vicious anger.

Kira's head was a tangled mess. He didn't know what to do or what to say. The question that was asked, confused the child more than his own current situation.

This Human. Those eyes. Is he…? He can't be!

“Wait… Wait please…” Kira murmured weakly, his hands trembling.

When he clenched his teeth, the adult swung his fist. This left Kira only a few precious seconds to dodge the attack. The boy stumbled and fell into the stream. Terror struck his face; his body refusing to move on its own. The lunatic had turned and plowed the heel of his boot into Kira's face. Kira nearly passed out from the intense blow, but not before he saw a fiery rage in his eyes.

Why is he so angry?! was Kira's next question.

“Where is he?! Answer me!” raged the silver haired man, as he threw Kira aside.

Kira tumbled across the grass, too terrified to defend himself. But what could he do? It wasn't like they'd met before. Nor was it like they were in a lover's quarrel. Kira saw the next punch being struck straight in his face. He felt his instincts overtake his body and dodged the attack simultaneously. But this dodge seemed to only further enrage the silver haired lunatic.

Strike.

Dodge.

Strike again.

Dodge again.

Kira could only evade the strikes for so long. He was beginning to lose strength in his legs. His drenched clothes weighed him down and restricted his movements. The words he wanted to speak were getting stuck in his throat. He was too scared to plead for his life. And now, Kira found himself being strangled by the raging Human.

“If you're not going to answer me, then I'll kill you with my own hands!”

“Please! Don't!” Kira pleaded desperately.

But the Human wouldn't listen to words anymore. He was already half-mad. With his hands tightening around Kira's neck, his face was full of monstrous hatred. As Kira fought to breath as much oxygen as he could, he saw something in the reflection of the Human's eyes. It was for a fleeting second. But it was there.

A Wolf. A reddish brown Wolf, who was barely a few months old.

Kira blinked and saw this same Wolf vanish within an instance.

“Riku… Riku… it's me!”

The child immediately shut his eyes, as he awaited for Death to claim his life. But that moment never came. Suddenly, a red shadow appeared with blinding speed. With a strike of her palm, a small silver item whizzed through the air. An acupuncture needle stuck to the side of Riku’s neck, and he immediately collapsed at once. Kira gasped sharply. As he coughed a bit, he realized he'd been saved. Wu Qing walked over before scolding in a cold voice.

“How stupid are you?! If you wouldn't have wandered off too far, you wouldn't be in this situation! Do you want to die?!”

“Wu Qing!” Kira shouted, as he saw the woman.

“You have the nerve to call me by name? Do you not have any respect for your elders? I gave you permission to take a walk around and here you are disrupting my patients!”

Kira realized the woman's last words weren't aimed towards him. They were meant for Riku.

Her words remained stern and forceful. Wu Qing’s tone allowed for no rejections. Ning Yuan and Wei Zhan arrived immediately after. They refused to interrupt her. Kira's face was white as snow as he stared at her. eyes And just when it seemed like the woman had ranted enough to quell her anger, another man quickly stepped in.

He was a man of relatively tall stature. His face was feminine and beautiful in appearance. The stranger's inky, black hair hung to his ankles. Refined, silky, and breathtaking. The blue robes and the golden Phoenix embroidery matched the same ones Riku was wearing. He snarled out of disgust and anger, he intensely glared at Wu Qing with a pair of sharp, oceanic blue eyes.

In his hands was a broad sword crafted from a spectacular piece of crystalized metal material; a blue, wave-like outline etched meticulously into the blade. Even in the bright sun, a cold chill could be felt from the blade, as if it were exhaling a breath of cold air. Just the sight of this weapon was enough to send shudders down the backs of Wu Qing and the young cultivators. The man placed the sword against Wu Qing's chest, keeping her at bay. He effortlessly shielded Kira and Riku from being targeted any further. Kira’s eyes fell upon the man’s back and felt an extremely familiar presence.

“Wait a second. Let me see if I understood what you just said.” sighed Yeong, as he sat across a dinner table with a glass of red wine in his hand. “You looked at the radar and… none of the Wolves could be traced?”

“Would you quit questioning my observations?” Cher asked with pursed her lips. “This situation could be serious!”

“But I’m not questioning anything you're saying. I just don't believe a group of… Dogs… would simply just vanish off the grid.”

Cher and Yeong had made arrangements to meet at a small hideaway bar. It'd been a couple of weeks since they last talked, as Cher had been desperately trying to track down Tazuna. And after she conducted a few more scans, she considered the conclusion that the Wolves had indeed vanished without a trace!

The signal frequencies she'd been tracking, resonated from the tracking device Cher had. Only now these tiny blips had begun to become longer and longer on the night they escaped the Black Lotus Research Center. Eventually, the signals stopped altogether and never resurfaced again.

“I don't understand it. W– I mean– Dogs don't just disappear out of thin air!” Cher argued, as she seemed to slowly descend into worry. “What if something happened to them? To him?”

“Do you really believe that? They seem to be a lot stronger than what you give them credit for.”

“I suppose so. Anyway, I have to get going. It's been a very long day at work this evening.”

Cher stood up from her seat and placed a hand on Yeong's cheek, before departing from the bar. Yeong looked at Cher and sighed to himself. After paying for the bill, he walked out the bar and stood outside in the icy cold winter air, his breath creating puffs of smoke in the dim back alley lights. Lifting his head to the sky, his drowsy looking eyes peered through the high rise skyscrapers, hoping to get a view of the stars. He always knew Cher was the type of person to keep herself busy either in the research lab or tending to the Wolves.

But it seemed like lately, she appeared to be more emotionally distant from the rest of the world.

Now that I think about it, I wonder if Cher ever contacted her father. Maybe it would do her some good for once. Yeong monologued to himself, before he sighed and walked down the street of the city. Keeping up with family affairs is too much of an effort for me.

The city was an enormous kaleidoscope of neon colors. Motorcycles were powered by liquid filled alchemy batteries. These vehicles created a beautiful streak of color as they zoomed and sped on the roads. Buildings and billboard signs were also powered by this same type of alchemy.

Stopping suddenly, Yeong heard the familiar loud and monotonous droning sound. The sounds eventually drowned out the surrounding city noises, which caused several people around him to stop and look towards the skies.

“Is that Lord Masahiro's airship?”

“The aristocrats are extremely powerful beyond anyone's wildest dreams!”

“I heard he murdered his entire family, just so he could stay in power.”

Gossipers are dangerous. Yeong observed. No one knows what the aristocratic families are like. Those rumors really will be nothing but rumors.

He started walking again, as he blew fresh smoke from the cigarette he lit up.

I just hope those Wolves know how to properly survive out there.