The stillness of the forest was shattered by the soft crunch of footsteps pressing into the earth. The sound was measured, cautious. Kyuu remained motionless, head slightly tilted, watching the space ahead with passive curiosity. She did not know what she was waiting for, only that the orb beside her trembled ever so slightly.
Another step. Closer.
Then, from the shadows, a figure emerged.
A wolf.
Its eyes locked onto Kyuu, its hackles raised. It was thin, its fur marked with scars. Hunger burned in its gaze, but there was hesitation in its stance. It did not yet understand what stood before it.
Orby wobbled violently, shifting between Kyuu and the predator. A quiet, defensive motion. The wolf let out a guttural growl in response.
Then it lunged.
A blur of fur and fangs. A flash of movement.
Pain.
Kyuu’s eyes widened slightly as the wolf’s claws ripped through her chest, carving deep into flesh—but there was no blood. Instead, where the wound should have been, her body split apart, revealing something beneath.
Pink. Semi-transparent. A writhing, shifting mass of slime.
The wolf landed, skidding to a stop just beyond her. It turned sharply, expecting its prey to fall, to bleed, to crumble. But Kyuu stood, unmoving.
The pain faded just as quickly as it had come. Her skin began to knit itself back together, sealing over the wound as if it had never been there.
She touched her chest lightly, fingertips pressing into the soft, unblemished skin.
The wolf hesitated. It had expected a clean kill. Instead, it was now staring at something incomprehensible.
Orby, however, did not hesitate.
It shot forward, slamming into the wolf’s side.
The impact was harmless, nothing more than a weak shove, but it startled the beast. The wolf snarled and swiped at the orb, claws slicing through empty air as Orby jerked away at the last second. It wobbled wildly, shifting back toward Kyuu before bouncing forward again, a futile attempt at attack.
Kyuu watched, her expression empty.
The wolf prepared to lunge again.
Orby darted back to her, nudging against her hand. It was frantic, insistent.
Orby extended a thin tendril, wrapping gently around Kyuu’s wrist, then her fingers. It nudged, guided—lifting her hand with slow, deliberate effort. Kyuu let it move her, watching curiously as her index finger was raised and pointed toward the wolf.
The moment she extended her finger, Orby lurched forward with renewed force.
The wolf barely had time to react before it was engulfed.
The pink slime clamped around its body, stretching and kneading, folding over like soft dough. The wolf thrashed violently, its snarls turning into strangled sounds as its form was steadily pulled inward. The more it struggled, the tighter the slime compressed.
The wolf’s limbs disappeared beneath the surface, swallowed inch by inch. Its fur, its muscle—everything was absorbed in an eerily seamless motion. Orby’s mass rippled and shifted, folding the creature into itself, layer by layer. The wolf’s body, once whole, was kneaded inward with an unnatural smoothness, its shape becoming indistinct, shrinking further into Orby’s depths until there was nothing left to see.
Kyuu blinked, lowering her arm.
She looked down at the space where the wolf had once been. There was no blood, no remains. Just the soft tremor of Orby beside her.
Everything was still again.
Kyuu tilted her head slightly, her eyes shifting between Orby and the empty space where the wolf had once been. She flexed her fingers experimentally, then looked down at her chest where the wound had been. There was nothing but smooth skin.
Orby wobbled beside her, its form trembling slightly as if catching its breath. It stayed close, shifting between her feet as though regaining its composure. The silence between them stretched, interrupted only by the soft rustling of leaves overhead.
Then, before Kyuu had the chance to react, a second wolf leapt from the darkness behind her.
Its fangs were bared, its muscles coiled with the intent to kill in a single strike. It moved faster than the first, its trajectory direct and merciless—aiming to tear into Kyuu before she could even turn.
But Orby was faster.
The orb launched itself between them, twisting mid-air as an elongated limb of pink slime erupted from its body. The tendril morphed, shifting into the unmistakable shape of a wolf’s claw.
A single swipe. A flash of pink against fur.
The second wolf howled in pain as the claw tore through its side, ripping deep into flesh. The force of the blow sent it tumbling to the ground, where it staggered, wounded and dazed. Blood splattered across the dirt, stark against the muted earth tones of the forest.
The air grew thick with tension. Hidden shapes in the underbrush—the rest of the pack.
They had been waiting, watching. But now, they hesitated. The scent of blood and the unnatural attack had shifted the balance of the hunt.
A low whimper came from one of the shadows. Then, like ghosts retreating into the fog, the remaining wolves turned and melted back into the trees, vanishing into the night.
Kyuu stood still, her eyes lingering on the wounded wolf, watching as it trembled before finally dragging itself away, following the others.
The pink claw melted, dissolving back into Orby’s form as if it had never been there.
Orby drifted back toward Kyuu, nudging against her leg before settling at her side once more.
Without a word, without hesitation, Kyuu turned and continued walking.
Orby followed.
