THE WOLF AND THE MAIDEN
by Sherlgirl
Chapter 1
It was a pale cool night, one where if all had gone as planned, she should
have been back in the warm safety of her home enjoying hot tea and a warm
bath.
But her last call had been difficult - an entire family in the
neighboring town had caught some pneumonia-like illness and she had to make sure
that she had checked every one of them this evening. If untreated, the sickness
would worsen within a matter of days.
She had worked longer than she had
planned, and although the family offered a room for the evening, she had
declined the offer to stay. She did not want to impose when they clearly were in
much need of rest, and if she walked quickly on the main road, it should have
only been a short walk home on a relatively safe road.
But -- very few
people walked the roads tonight. There had been rumors of wolves about, the kind
that did not fear settlements or care, for they would reportedly would boldly
wander into towns and attack anything left unprotected for meat.
Megumi
Takani had never encountered one before, but hoped that the knife she carried
would do her some good if she ever faced one.
Even so, her blood ran cold
as the howls began in the distance. She began to walk faster. She was only
fifteen minutes from her town's outskirts, and there would be more people on the
road.
As the howls grew more frequent and louder, she decided to give up
all pretension of dignity and picked up her skirts and ran towards the lights in
the distance and the safety of the town. She was foolish for thinking that her
knife would help. What might work on one wolf, would never on a whole
pack.
A tall figure suddenly stepped out into the road.
Startled,
she stopped.
"Sir," she gasped for air, all the while keeping her
distance for she could not see his face. "The wolves are close, please let us
return to town."
"They smell your fear." The man tonelessly answered and
took a step closer to her. "You can not outrun them."
Megumi shivered at
the coldness of his words and carefully, tried to edge around him. There was no
way she would stay. Rather she face the wolves than deal with this strange
person. "You propose that we wait to be torn to pieces then?"
His hand
was on her arm before she could bolt. "No."
She opened her mouth to
scream as he drew her to him, but as his eyes fixed on her own, she could only
whisper "Shinomori."
He nodded. "Stay close." With that command he drew
his knife with one hand, and encircled her with the other free arm.
The
gesture stunned her into submission. Aoshi Shinormori, the man who had once
helped hold her captive to a greedy drug lord, and at another time had
threatened her very life , was now holding her close to him and asking her to
trust him.
For lack of a better choice of words...
"What the
hell?"
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