• Chapter 4
    Kayame had fallen asleep on Ruku. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. He held her close and tightly, because he knew how prone she was to get very cold very quickly. She had said yes! He couldn’t believe it, he was going to-
    The lighting cracked and Ruku ran towards the body surrounded by a pool of blood. He picked up her head and had cried for her to wake up. He buried his head into her still chest and sobbed. He raised his head; his eyes were a bright fire. The murderer threw her head back and laughed maniacally. He gently laid the body down and drew his katana and charged at the assassin. A pillar of Earth shot out of the ground and hit him square in the chest. He fell and blood spurted from his mouth. The killer walked over to him, eyes glowing bright green and laughing. She had an Earth gauntlet on and was about to kill him, when the girl in the pool of blood threw a sword at the killer. The gauntlet destroyed the sword and the woman laughed as she walked to the near-death girl. Ruku cried out,
    “No stop, K-!”
    Ruku awoke in the hospital, sweating. He groaned and got out of the bed and walked over to the mirror. He examined his reflection. His tawny hair was slightly disheveled and there was a bandage wrapped around his right eye, from the wound Demogorgon had dealt him three weeks prior. He was slim and stood at about six feet, close to six feet one inch. His left arm had once been in sling, but now had recovered very quickly. His skin was a slight tan color. His left eye was a dull coffee color, and as far as he could remember, so was his right eye. He ditched the standard hospital gown and changed in to his regular clothing. It consisted of flexible Kevlar armor that covered his whole body; on top of that was a black bandana around his neck with a white martial arts long sleeve button up shirt with three front pockets. He wore marital arts pants with accompanying shoes for speed. He suddenly clutched his stomach, forgetting the doctor’s warning. He said that they had to put stitches in there after Ruku’s katana had broken and the tip dug into him. The staples had just been put in and he was not supposed to make any exaggerated movements. He sat down with his hands clutching his stomach, the pain slipping away as quickly as it had come. He was going to leave this hospital today, even though Dr. Watanabe was said he would leave in two weeks when his eye healed. He muttered an incantation in the Old Tongue and touched his stomach. He gritted his teeth as the green light emitted from his fingers and sparked onto his abdomen. It hurt like heck, but worth it. The staples fell from him, bloody. The flesh seemed together and the blood seeped back into the lesion. Ruku cried in agony as the skin sizzled. Then he pulled his hands away, unable to finish the Healing due to fatigue. As a result, a pink scar was left on his stomach. He recuperated after a few minutes and walked over to the window, recalling his nightmare. Then, there was a knock at the door. He slightly turned his head to the left and saw Kayame. Her right hand was rubbing her left arm.
    “Hey,” Kayame started, “Can I come in?” Ruku shrugged and Kayame walked over to bed and sat down. “You know you don’t have to do this,” Kayame said. Ruku continued staring out the window, eyes never wavering.
    “Do what,” Ruku responded with no emotion in his voice.
    “Stopping Demogorgon for me-“At this point, Ruku cut off Kayame in mid-sentence with maniacal laughter. Kayame feared that Ruku’s prolonged stay in the hospital had caused madness. Then, as suddenly as he had begun, Ruku stopped; face dead serious as he turned to Kayame.
    “Hear me and hear me well, Kayame Ayumi. I-would-never-ever-do-anything-for-you.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me. After you destroyed my heart, do you honestly think I would ever do anything for you!?!”
    “I did what I did because I love you.”
    “That’s a lie and you know it. I was more than willing to give you me and when your life as a mercenary was in jeopardy, you broke it off and left me.”
    “NO!!! My sister, Konata, almost killed you because we were together because of your vampire heritage-“
    “I’m only half! And you’re just using that night as an excu -“ Kayame slammed Ruku against the wall, eyes turning green. She snarled as she tossed him out the window and pursued him. Ruku fell 2 stories headfirst. He shot his arms out in front of him, fighting the G-force. When his hands touched the ground, he used his martial arts training and had his hands act like springs, absorbing the shock and shooting himself back into the air. Kayame was stunned, for her hand had connected into ground, where Ruku should have been. He spun in the air and landed on his feet, hands cocked for a counter attack. Kayame charged. Ruku eyes turned red and ran towards Kayame, right hand engulfed in a red aura; Kayame’s right hand cloaked in green. The two fists causing a huge explosion, sending Kayame flying into the hospital while Ruku landed against a tree. They both shook themselves off and charged again. Ruku dropped and slide kicked while Kayame jumped over him. She slammed her fists down into Ruku. He deflected her attack sending her airborne to the left of him. She wrapped her hands on a very narrow tree, using the slingshot effect and sending her twice as fast towards Ruku, tackling him into the ground, rolling together. He kicked her off and launched a Fireball towards her. She rolled out of the way, only to see yet another Fireball speeding towards her. She quickly constructed an Earth Shield, canceling out the Fireball. She shot the Shield towards Ruku. Ruku ran towards it, jumped on top of it, and spun away from it shooting a Fire Stream. Kayame phased and started running into her natural territory, the woods. Ruku snarled as he landed on the floor. His canines protruded, increasing the size. He used his vampire speed to chase her. Soon, he was a hand away from her. She upped her speed, running at maximum velocity. Ruku jumped into the air, high above the forest and flew past Kayame. He levitated into the center of the forest and wrapped his arms around his knees, which dug into his chest. He focused all his rage to the center of himself. He shot it out of his body in the physical manifestation of fire. It engulfed the forest. Kayame, wide eyed, tried to escape; the flames surrounded her and were even above her. She was trapped like a rat. Then, like a nightmarish vision, Vampire Ruku walked through the wall of fire, without a single scorch mark. He pointed his hand towards the tree above her, and using his telekinesis, broke off a thick fiery branch. He let it go and so it plummeted towards the unsuspecting wolf. It smacked straight into the base of her neck, rendering her unconscious immediately. Ruku threw his head back and laughed maniacally. The inferno closed in on the now human Kayame. Ruku left her to her fate and walked away. Samson had been meditating in the forest when the fight had erupted. He ran towards the fight. This infernal fire was destroying the Sacred Forest. Samson entered a clearing and saw Ruku levitating the branch. He watched in horror, motionless, though the smoke was choking him. When Ruku left, Samson dived on to Kayame and summoned an Ice Dome to protect him and her. Please, Master Zorion, I know you can hear me, Samson thought, save us. Samson felt water falling on him. He knew the fire was swallowing the ice. The end was near.

    Zorion hit the floor and rolled to the left just as Ruku launched another fiery offensive. Zorion countered by shooting a kunai knife towards Ruku. A fiery tendril shot out of the crimson aura surrounding Ruku and deflected the knife. Zorion was hardly ever surprised by anything; however, this was a rare situation that left him speechless. Zorion thought, Fire tentacles?!? Maybe they purely defens- He was cut off as one of the Fire tendrils shot out and slammed into his body, throwing him. Zorion barely had enough time to catch his breath when another limb hit him, sending him flying. For goodness sake, he hadn’t even had time to draw his weapons, and now Zorion was being thrown as if he was rag doll. Then suddenly, the attacks stopped. He looked up and saw Ruku looking towards the west for some reason. Then started the low chuckling and from there it escalated to Ruku throwing his head back and laughing manically.
    “They’re dead!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!” Just then Zorion felt something probing in his mind and then he heard a voice. Please, Master Zorion, I know you can hear me. Save us… It was Samson! He was in trapped in the forest with Kayame. Zorion’s eyes started turning jet and then attacked Ruku with his strongest Darkness beam. He continued shooting the beam for a few more seconds and then he broke it off. Ruku was no longer there. Zorion started running towards the forest; it was a race against time. Even though Samson was an excellent Water mage and could already change it into Ice, not even the strongest Water or Ice spell could protect him and Kayame from Ruku’s Hellfire. Hellfire was the strongest form of Fire, melting anything that stood in its way. However, it only burned for so long or it died after destroying a certain area or target. In this case, it was the latter; Ruku intended to burn down the Sacred Forest. That means Kayame and Samson would die if they stayed. Zorion plunged headfirst into the Fire. He found them; Samson was covering Kayame as the last remnants of the Ice Dome collapsed in on them. Zorion eyes turned cerulean as he shot a Water Shield over them. He dived in and swooped the pair up just as the Shield and Dome collapsed. He threw them over his shoulders and started running towards the clearing. The Fire was swallowing the forest much quicker than Zorion could run. He made a desperate tactic; he threw the pair out of the forest and controlled the Wind around his body and increased his speed significantly. Zorion barely escaped the Hellfire that day. He plunged through a tree and caught Samson and Kayame. They were safe. Just as Zorion thought he could rest, he heard the maniacal laughing He shot off his claws and activated the blades on his feet. He lunged towards Ruku and spun himself to ensure at least one hit. Ruku was caught off guard and as a result received multiple wounds. Zorion never stopped attacking, rage flowed through him. Ruku grabbed both of Zorion’s hands and shot his head towards Zorion’s neck. He bit and started drawing blood. As he did so, his wounds regenerated. Zorion screamed and sunk his feet blades into Ruku. Ruku let go and jumped back, hissing. Zorion felt light headed after losing so much blood. Almost all of Ruku’s wounds had healed; he was ready to fight. But Zorion was in no shape to contend. As Ruku shot forward, Kayame intervened, throwing herself between Ruku and Zorion. Both parties were surprised at her recovery; however Ruku was the most, for he received a fist to the face. This sent him flying five meters and when he looked up, instant dread set in. Kayame had phased into her third form, the form for which Werewolves are known best for. The standing Humanoid Wolf. She pounced and Ruku ran. But Kayame was already in front of him. She sank her fangs into his shoulders and Ruku bit her neck. The two greatest monsters, and mortal enemies, were locked in combat. Then Ruku broke it off and became the pursuer.
    “Come on, little half-breed leech,” Kayame goaded. Ruku threw a punch and Kayame jumped over him. She started throwing rapid punches at his back. Ruku sunk and screamed in agony. Kayame pierced Ruku’s chest, claws on either sides of his spine. She drew them out and Ruku fell face down. She was about to deal the death blow when Samson rushed over to Ruku with an armful of blood packets. He started feeding Ruku and his wounds regenerated. Kayame was outraged but Samson ignored her and continued feeding Ruku until his wounds healed completely. Ruku’s evil aura disappeared and he once again became human.
    “Why did you stop me,” Kayame yelled at Samson.
    “Because Master Ruku wasn’t in control of himself; Raka, Ruku’s sister, is a full vampire. She has been stalking you for awhile, wanting to eradicate the werewolves. So she slipped into the hospital last night and put a potion in his water that would bring out his Vampire side the moment a werewolf was by. It’ll wear off by the time he wakes up” Kayame was shocked.
    “How do you know this?” Samson grinned and said,
    “I can read minds; I reached into Ruku’s subconscious and read this. The best thing for now is to rest and don’t worry, Raka isn’t going to be back for awhile.” At this Kayame collapsed and closed her eyes.