Wake Me Up When September Ends

[Ärï]

Halo was worried now. He hadn't hidden that well. Heck, anybody Halo's size would have trouble hiding, especially from somebody with such keen eyes. Shifting a bit, Halo heard the leaves rattle as he pushed himself up so he was standing in the sea of bushes, looking around. His ivory auds flicked curiously as his golden orbs scanned the area. "Mosca?" Halo barked.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca, well-hidden in the trees, flicked her ears and glanced over her shoulder at Halo as he called out her name. But something wasn't quite right...
She stared past Halo. Moving leaves.
He's going to paralyze Halo she thought suddenly.
"Catch me and you win Halo!" she howled, jumping to the ground.
I'm easy prey for Halo now... if he comes after me... if I can get him away from there...

[Ärï]

Halo stared at Mosca. There was panic in her eyes. He could see it. Halo didn't move. He sensed someone behind him. Someone was there. A feral snarl ripped from Halo's chest as he whipped around, braced to face whatever had scared Mosca.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca tensed. Halo wasn't coming.
Oh dear Lupus...

A huge brute-- equal, if not larger, than Halo-- leapt out from the thicket. Mosca's father snarled, and swiped down on Halo's skull. "So, you're the one trying to f**k with my daughter, eh?"

[Ärï]

Halo snarled low in his chest, rolling backward as Mosca's father leapt on him. Halo kicked Ragg in the stomach, writhing free of the brute and leaping to his paws. His blackened lips were drawn back to expose his long ivory razors, hackles bristling and topaz pools as hard as diamond.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Ragg stepped back, panting for a moment, and then regaining his posture. "I take that... as a yes?" he laughed, fangs flashing. "You waste your time with that girl... I pity you. Just like her filthy mother."

Mosca was frozen to the ground, listening to her father's insults, each one aimed mostly at her. It was only the last that truly phased her, like a rusty nail being driven into her foot.
For some reason, she couldn't rid herself of the sensation that she was drowning... even though she wasn't in water at the moment.

[Ärï]

Halo's snarl deepened. His muscles coiled and he shot forward like a bullet shot from a gun. Halo threw all his weight at Regg, sinking his fangs into any part of the brute he could reach. Nobody would talk about Mosca like that, not around him. Not without regretting it. This brute had made Mosca's hell and now he was trying to ruin her afterlife. That was going too far. This brute should be burning in Hellfire not running in the Twilight Realm.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Ragg curled his lip as Halo began to attack with more fury. He felt the tearing at his skin, and realized that he had chosen the wrong approach... Fool...
He shoved Halo off of him, jumping to his paws and backing away. "Someday, but not today," he hissed. He turned and fled into the thicket.

Mosca continued staring forward, breathing at a dragging pace.

[Ärï]

Halo hit the ground on his back, a grunt escaping his maw. Rolling over, Halo pushed himself up, still snarling softly. That brute would get thrown into Hellfire if Halo had to do it himself. Looking around Halo's gaze landed on Mosca. She looked paralyzed again. Eyes softening with worry, Halo padded toward her and gently touched her muzzle. "Mosca?"

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Mosca flinched back, and it took a few moments to realize that it was Halo. Her skin crawled, and felt cold to the touch. Everything was cold...
"My mother..." she whispered shakily, "...wasn't filth..."
She closed her eyes, breathing gradually becoming normal. She had been imagining the drowning again... Her father's voice screaming in laughter as she frailed, submerged, in his grasp... Her own vengeful voice fueling her to retaliate... The choking of the water...
The night she emerged and bit into his neck.
"...can we find somewhere safe to sleep?" she murmured softly. "I'm... tired..."

[Ärï]

Halo flinched slightly when Mosca pulled back but his eyes were locked on her, a sympathetic look in his eyes. When she asked to sleep, Halo nodded. "Alright, lets go." Halo touched her muzzle again with his own and slowly began to walk toward the undergrowth. There was probably a thicket somewhere they could lay down without having to worry too much about someone else finding them.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

"Thank you," she murmured softly, following him. She didn't care about what Ragg said about her personally... She had endured all that throughout her childhood. It didn't matter to her now.
But her mother?
That enraged her.