Raging Starfire

Grey smoke and black ash blocked the starry night sky, embers rising from the burning oak of the blaze engulfing the surrounding forest. In an attempt to gain an upper hand in the war, a band of human guerillas took everything flammable they could find and set the forest ablaze to cloud the senses of the Zenar animals living within the woods. The various masters of water tried their best to calm the flames, but before they could finish, the flames had already reached their homes.

The inhabitants quickly fled from their homes, doing their best to run from the blaze as a few of the human guerillas struck. The group of group of guerilla troops were small, but they had the flames and the element of surprise on their side, and they mercilessly attacked the Zenar, uncaring of their casualties.

Amidst the fighting, one Zenar cub became trapped under a fallen tree, crying out in a mixture of panic and pain as a human soldier slowly approached, his knife drawn and ready to kill the creature. However, an armored knight leapt through the air like a speeding bullet and stabbed into the man with his spear before finally landing on the ground, the now dead corpse lying face down in a pool of his blood.

The knight drew his spear from the corpse, and spotted the trapped animal almost instantly. Without saying a word, he ran over to the cub and set down his spear, sticking both hands on the tree as he started to push against it's trunk. Steam seemed to rise from his suit, as he pushed the massive tree of the cub in a matter of seconds. The knight, still saying nothing, then picked up his spear and headed off into the blaze, to see if anything else needed assistance.

A manticore cub stretched his back. Thankfully the half of the tree that had fallen on him had been the thinner, lighter part. His back stung, but his spine was in order. His large blue eyes scanned across the area, there were still Zenar struggling in fights, and several humans fighting still.

The blaze reflected off his glassy eyes that were clouded with fear as he tried to remember how this had happened. He had been visiting his friend Melni the lemur. Before he had even made it to see her, there had been cries of Zenar across the area and suddenly everything was up in flames. It was all a blur to him. The humans had attacks so suddenly. And he couldn't reason as to why they had. The tree had fallen upon him, unable to push it off because it had struck him on the back, he was forced to lie there helpless.

The manticore cub shook his head. The stranger had left. He decided to go after him, he could at least try to thank him. Lu, stay away from humans. Stay away from the Zenar tribes. They will bring you nothing but suffering. His father's words rang in his head several times. At this point he had nothing to lose. He only had one chance to use his poison, and weak fire breath anyways. He bounded after the strange hero. The fact he had protected him caused Lu to pursue him. His large paws thudded across the ground as he chased after the hero. Any human who would protect Lu, was immediately someone Lu would stick to, like glue. His golden fur mixed with the fire as he ran along to find the stranger. Being a manticore, his fur was nearly fireproof to the flames that licked at his pelt.

Spirit was using her psychic abilities to smuther out the fire."Cursed Two-walkers' Coming here to destroy the forest." she growled as she ran through the burning forest. as she ran she noticed a young cub running after a Two-walker, she picked up her speed and picked up the cub in her mouth. "Where are you going young cub?" she asked him in a soothing voice.

The smoke was practically blinding, with only the bright light of the flames and the sounds of battle guiding the knight as he spotted a human soldier armed with nothing but a farming sickle running from a dire wolf. The knight's running speed grew faster and faster as steam seemed to burst from the armor around his legs, and within moments, the knight was between the two, using his spears handle to stop the wolf's jaws from clamping down on the poor farmer who had been thrown into the heat of battle.

"Get out." Was the only thing the knight said, using the massive wolf's weight against it as he tripped the wolf and sent it harmlessly to the ground, quickly holding it's head down as the farmer ran away, to what the knight hoped was safety.

The knight let go and somersaulted backwards as the freed wolf tried to bite him in half with it's massive jaws.

"Nooo!" Lu cried out while kicking his legs. "Let me go!" He growled between his teeth. The human had vanished, and Lu had to find him. He had to. He swung his front and back legs as he squirmed in the teeth of the she wolf. "You're not my dad! Leggo!" He cried out and flapped his wings. His lion tail lashed back and forth as he continued to fight against the large wolf he clearly didn't mean any harm.

"Calm down kid if you want to find that Two-walker then stop squreming and listen!" Spirit scolded the young cub. "It's to dangerous right now find his sent and keep it in your mind. Let it guid you." she said looking for the human with her psychic abillities.

The dire wolf lunged at the knight, it's fangs thirsting for his blood, but the knight quickly rolled under the wolf, and ran back into the blaze, trying to lose the beastly canine who was simply trying to protect it's fellow citizens. He hopped over patches of flame, ducked under low hanging branches, and even outran falling trees whose support had given way. Regardless, the dire wolf trailed behind him, still filled with rage over the loss of it's home.

The wolf cut the knight off at a small clearing, small huts engulfed in flames surrounding them as the wolf slowly circled the knight, the later of the two readying his spear as he awaited for the wolf's attack, remaining silent as the crackling of the blaze surrounded them, enveloping all sound while the heavy smoke masked their presence from the rest of the forest.

Lu squirmed even harder. "I don't wanna fight him! He saved me!" He cried out. He knew there was something different about the human. Something told Lu he wasn't like the rest in the village. He was special somehow. "He's not bad! Why else would he save me? Let go!" Lu growled. He was started to get frustrated. He was going to get away now, and unlike the large she-wolf, he wasn't able to track as well. The smoke and fire would cover and tracks he had left, and Lu had lost sight of him. "If you keep holding onto me, he'll be gone! I know it!"

Spirit stopped where she was and placed the cub on the forest floor, "Light Blizzard!" she roared sending out a blizzard like attack onto the flames. She could hear another wolf growling at something so she left the cub behind and went after the wolf. "If you truly beleive that the Two-walker is good then go find him!" she said taking off.

Damascus and fang clashed, sparks flying as the two clashed, the small orange flicks of heat merely adding to the inferno surrounding the two combatants. The knight breathed heavily, his muscular endurance fading quickly as his suit started to overload his body. If this continued much longer, then Artorias' muscles would slowly start to diminish, before outright failing. Of course, the wolf was unaware of this fact, and took the knight's heavy breathing as a sign of weakness, it's fur sparking with electricity as it shot toward Artorias like a bolt of lightning, yellow sparks trailing behind it as it lunged at the armored warrior.

Andre, seeing no other way to end the fight quickly, roared as steam poured out of the armor around his arms, and with a mighty swing of his spear, the dull end of the pole was sent crashing against the side of the wolf's temple, sending it off course and deftly knocking unconscious as it rolled along the ground, it's eyes closing, chest rising and falling as it continued to breath, brimming with life.

The knight's spear dropped from his trembling hands, his arms aching to the bone, so much so that the knight had to sit down and rest for a minute or two. He looked around, remembering some of the herbs local to the area, and smiled under his helmet as he spotted a small patch of white grass sitting under a nearby tree. The white grass, as he had read in a herbology book, raise metabolism and aided in muscular growth and recovery, though only by a minute amount. Still, it was better than nothing, but before the knight could rise, another wolf entered the clearing, obviously having followed the one who now lay unconscious.

Artorias started to speak, but was cut off by a deafening crack, as the tree above the wolf slowly started it's decent. The knight didn't even have time to think, as he bolted to his feet and sprinted over to the wolf. Andre leaped into the air, and with a trail of steam pouring en mass from his right leg, he kicked the tree's trunk. The force from the amplified kick altered where the trunk would fall. With a crash, the tree had hit the ground, avoiding the unconscious wolf, but only by a few inches. Artorias then hit the ground, tumbling unceremoniously as a dull beep filled his ears, warning him that the suit had just overheated. He coughed, slowly pulling off his helmet and setting it to his side so that he could breath properly, but only in gasping wheezes.

As soon as his paws hit the ground Lu ran along to find the human. His ears had picked up on some strange sounds from a wolf. Then a crashing sound like another tree had fallen. He ran towards it, hoping it would be the same one that had helped him before. Once again, he was dashing along on his own through the fire and wreckage of the area. The flames were being put out in certain areas, but still spread in others. Lu's eyes flicked back and forth as he ran along, a panic in his chest that someone might have tried to killed the strange human again made his heart race.

He saw the body of a Zenar lying on its side. Lu couldn't tell if it was dead or not, but he saw the fallen tree, and the knight laying on his side. Lu dashed over to the knight. He had taken off some kind of shell that protected his head. It revealed the face underneath and the man seemed tired. Lu slowed down as he got closer to him. His instincts kicked in and warned him to be careful after everything that had happened.

"Be careful little one. A two-walker will od almost anything to protect themselves, but this one wanted to help the Zenar. So we should return the favor." Spirit said picking up the human to put on her back.

Andre coughed, quickly grabbing his helmet and hastily putting it on as he felt the female wolf pull him up and lay him across her back. The knight had barely understood what had been said between the two, his helmet's translator only audible for the final part, about returning a favor of some sort?

Weakly, Artorias spoke, "G-get your friend some help,"

Lu watched as the human was placed on the back of the large wolf. His eyes were wide with curiosity. He tilted his head at the words spoken by the human, unable to understand them all that much. "I dunno what he's saying." Lu said to Spirit. "He looks hurt though! And that wolf over there looks hurt too! What should we do?" He asked, glancing back and forth between the two. His main priority really was the human, as he had been following him ever since he had been saved.

"We must get the Two-walker somewhere safe. The other wolf will be fine. He has a pack somewhere out here." Spirit said picking up the Two-walker and put him on her back. She walked over to the cub, "Come with me." she said as she ran nto the forest.