Although her stay in Oak had led to some questionable activities so far, Diana had to admit that it was not all as bad as it sounded. She had been reunited with her beloved sister, and even was able to spend time with her again. Just like the good old days, but yet in order for her to enjoy that peaceful existence certain... sacrifices had to be made.

It all begun when a certain piece of paper reached the room she and Kaede shared in oak, a note that was addressed to her. Usually, she would have let Kaede read it alongside her, but today? Today she had a reason to conceal the nature of this note. And rightly so, when one considered the content of the note it would be understandable why she had been so secretive about it.

We know your sister is behind the recent torching of one of our properties. You do realize we could easily report her to the Rune Knights, right? Or maybe we should pay her a visit ourselves? However, our boss is quite generous and has offered a compromise if you show up at the abandoned warehouse near the castle. Come alone, or else we won't guarantee your sister's freedom or safety for that matter.

Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she clenched the parchment in her hand, slowly rising up from her bed to walk over to the sleeping figure of her sister, a brief brush of her fingers along Kaede's cheek following as she whispered softly. "I'll be back soon..."

She wouldn't allow ANYONE to take away another member of her pack, especially not Kaede...

Finally, she had arrived, on the outskirts of Oak. According to the rumor the wolf-like lass had to be somewhere within the city, but how in the world would she start tracking her down? A task like that clearly was easier said than done, so she would need to track her down. Fortunately, that by itself was not an impossible task, in the end, she was a huntress of the wild and tracking down people was a part of her skills. However, she could take a different approach this time.

Even if Oak was a smaller town, it still held a lot of people so surely one of them might have seen her before? Especially considering the person she was tracking didn't exactly look like an ordinary human. The canine ears and tail should make her look quite noticeable among a crowd, and so she started to ask around, approaching passing villagers if they had seen a girl with wolf ears and tail. At first she had no luck with this approach, but after a while of remaining persistent she finally stumbled onto a trail: someone had seen her eating a meal at a restaurant in the company of a human girl her age.

And even better, it seemed she was staying at a small inn in the city! Feeling close to approaching her query Y'shtola made her way toward the aforementioned inn, hoping to finally find that rumored 'wolf' girl.

Leaving the inn she took a final glimpse toward the room Kaede was sleeping in and taking a deep breath started to walk toward the abandoned warehouse. She knew all too well that she was walking into a trap, but she hoped she could at least negotiate with the leader of those thugs. While it was true that they were responsible for burning down the dinner, she was sure that the man leading those bandits had at least enough common sense to reconsider starting trouble with Kaede.

Simply said, would it be worth all the hassle of dealing with them? She doubted the man would want to waste resources on that, and so she had come with a simple proposal. Her pace swift enough the lass soon arrived at the area she was meant to meet the gang at, finding two rough-looking men standing before the entrance leading into the abandoned warehouse.

Noticing her they looked briefly at each other before making a light nod, as if some sort of signal while the taller of the two addressed her. "Good, the boss is expecting you, I'll take you to him."

A curt nod came from Diana, her usual cheerful and upbeat demeanor darkened by the situation she was in right now. "Keep an eye out for trouble." The thug said to his partner as he guided the Lycan into the warehouse.

It didn't take long for Y'shtola to track down the mysterious girl from the rumors, the sight of a certain girl leaving a nearby building drawing her attention, or rather her ears and tail did, but the expression on her face was grim, a sign that spelled troubles, and yet Y'shtola couldn't help but find herself a bit curious at the sight, and so she started to trail after the lass, hoping to find out what was going on.

It seemed the Lycan was quite occupied with her own thoughts, for she didn't show any signs of being aware that she was being trailed, but no matter... After a brief walk she found her target reaching a large abandoned warehouse and talk to some questionable figures, all the while Y'shtola had taken to the shadows of a nearby alley to try to spy onto three of them.

After a short exchange one of the thugs led the Lycan girl inside, while leaving one guard outside to watch the doorway.

Of course, there was a certain saying that used to be quite popular among humans: curiosity kills the cat, and as a neko Y'shtola was quite a curious person, although much more likely to survive due to being a wild cat. So the first thing that entered her thoughts was: how would she get inside?

Just a sniff was all she needed to catch the disgusting scents: Alchohol, drugs and the various odors of human men. There was no doubt the gang they had messed with in that last task was all here. Of course, this meant an opportunity: she could ensure they would back off and leave Kaede out of this mess.

After a short walk, she was led into a large spacious room where a small crowd was gathered. All around her thugs were gathered, some looking at her with leering eyes, even going as far as whistling while others scoffed at her. As she was led into the center of the room a tall and muscular man who towered above the others was seated on top of a chair that was standing on a platform at the back of the door. "If it isn't our little wolf princess, forgive me for the lack of a proper welcome party."

The crowd laughed in amusement as she pressed her hands against her hips, glaring up at the leader of those thugs. "I came to negotiate."

The leader of the thugs raised a hand to his chin, seemingly pondering about something before finally inquiring with a hint of curiosity. "Straight to business hmm? Can't say I dislike that."

Although there were plenty of ways for her to sneak into the warehouse, the issue was that she had no idea what to expect once inside. Did they prepare traps? Were there more guards inside? Perhaps even a dangerous foe was waiting inside the building. However, after some consideration, it seemed that a frontal assault made the most sense. Simply attack the guard, deal with him before he could raise an alarm and then sneak her way into the building. However, that would require quite a swift approach. In the end, just a single cry could be enough to alert everyone inside the building, and that would spell a disaster for her.

However, before she could even consider her plan further a sudden opening revealed itself in the form of a distraction. A large window from one of the higher floors shattered, the glass shards falling down the sky like a flurry of rain droplets while the body of a man followed in its wake, crashing on the ground with a painful smash.

The guard looked clearly bewildered, approaching his fellow gang member with a look of bewilderment in his eyes as he stepped closer, and it was in that moment that Y'shtola would act...

A hand lowered to the inside of her jacket, making the thugs look with a hint of interest at her as she tossed a bag full of jewels at their feet. It was all of her savings, but hopefully, it would be enough to sway the thugs to see some reason.

"This should be enough to cover the repair bills and the stolen cash. In return, you'll leave my sister alone"

The leader of the thugs gestured toward one of his mooks, who picked up the bag and walked over to him, seemingly showing the contents before the man sighed softly. "I'm afraid we can't accept that deal, my dear. However, I might make you a counter-offer."

The man looked at her with a lecherous gaze, licking his lips like a hungry predator as he stated his terms. "A girl like you fetches a very nice price on the market. I can imagine some guys to offer quite a high sum for a slave like you."

Her eyes narrowed into a sharp glare at his taunt, and yet judging from how his slight wave of his hand made a thug step away from the window into her direction made it clear it was not a joke.

"Perhaps someday you'll fetch us enough money to pay back the costs you forced upon us."

Of course, she wasn't going to play along with that game, and when the thug tried to grab a hold of her shoulder the spun around, her left fist colliding against the man's stomach with enough force to make him reel backwards. But that was not all of it. As the man recovered and attempted to punch her in return she nimbly took a step backwards, avoiding his swing and retaliated with an upwards swing of her fist, her knuckle colliding against the man's chin and sending him off his feet before she struck the airborne fool with a shoulder-blow that carried enough force to make him smack against the window behind him, the glass shattering and making him fall outside the building.

"Get her."

the leader of the thugs commanded his mooks.

The moment Y'shtola saw the guard heading toward his fallen comrade she moved. A rapid dash followed as she soundlessly approached the guard, raising her arms above the back of the man's head before she pulled her hands together and struck him as hard as possible, making the poor sod fall onto the ground, the club he was carrying as a weapon falling onto the ground. Of course, before he had the chance to get up again she grabbed a hold of the club and gave the man a violent whack on the head, hard enough that he collapsed once more, and this time remained unmoving.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she sneakily opened the door and peeked inside, to her surprise finding the area unoccupied, but the sounds from further upstairs quickly told her that a violent commotion was unfolding up above. Deciding she wanted to investigate further the neko sneakily made her way toward the next room, and there she found the staircase leading upwards. It seemed the wolfish girl was upstairs, likely the source of all that noise. Perhaps a brawl? If that was the case, as a fellow non-human she would likely want to help her out, and so she sneaked her way upstairs, unsure of what to expect...

Although Diana disliked fighting, she was not a stranger to brawls, in the end her pack had always included street urchins and orphans, and considering the less savory means her siblings used to survive she knew that every now and then she needed to lend them a hand to keep them out of the mess. However, while she might had been considered a kind person, there was a reason her siblings tried their utmost not to provoke her. Something that became evident when Diana started fighting the encroaching thugs. One of them approached her boldly from the front, holding a club of some sort but that would do little to deter the Lycan.

As the man swung his club she raised her knuckle and punched straight at it, the club shattering while she only felt a slight discomfort on her knuckle. Luckily her weapon had taken the brunt of the damage, but she didn't plan to let the opportunity go to waste, something that became evident when she lunged straight at the disarmed thug. A fist strike at the temple was enough to knock all lights out of him, making her turn toward the approaching one from her flank.

However, the enemy had the superiority in numbers, and after several minutes she found herself slowly being cornered, for as one thug fell two came to take his place.

Arriving upstairs the wild neko sneakily took a peek from the corner of a wall leading into the more spacious room where the brawl was unfolding. For most, it would likely be quite a sight to behold. Despite her girlish looks the wolf girl was fighting with a certain ferocity unlike seen in most humans. The way she mauled the approaching thugs without mercy and showed such overwhelming strength. Despite the fact that a part of her wanted to rush in there to help the Lycan, another part of her was hopelessly mesmerized by the warrior-like nature of the lass.

She had just watched how Diana had punched one of the thugs straight in the temple, a single blow that was vicious enough to knock him out, and as a second thug approached her the fool found himself on the receiving end of a shoulder tackle that slammed him straight into the ground before she dashed backward to avoid the approaching thugs. The way she fought... it truly reminded the neko of a certain predator of the wild. And for a moment it was as if she could no longer see the Lycan, but instead in her place saw a Grey Wolf fighting for her very survival!

But then things went wrong. A momentary lapse of her guard led to a thug to sneak up behind her, a kick into the back of her leg making the Lycan let out a painful cry as she was forced onto the ground, another thug pinning her down from each side as their leader approached her.

His gaze wandered around the room. How curious, despite being all by herself the lass had taken down at least enough of his subordinates that it might as well had been a gang war. However, in the wake of their little conflict she had been ambushed and conquered, and as he stood before her, all she could do was glare defiantly at him. That look irritated him, badly enough that he raised his hand and slapped her with it.

"Did you really think resisting would do anything? This shows that you're a foolish girl who knows not the way things work in the bigger world. Perhaps a lesson is in order."

He clapped his hands as several thugs rallied toward him. "Go and kill her sister, that should teach her what happens to those who resist us."

Despite her attempt to protest the thugs who restrained her simply pushed her down harshly onto the ground again, making Diana let out a pained grunt.

Was this the end? Was she going to allow those scumbags to take away her family a second time? They were such unreasonable bastards. They kept going on and on and on about their own desires, their own sick and twisted minds that didn't even know a speck of kindness. And even worse, they planned to try to kill Kaede?

It was unforgivable
It infuriated her...
A faint glow came from her eyes as the girl's breathing turned deeper, her body trembling lightly as her skin started to become covered in a thin layer of fur, her canines growing more prominent and her hands growing more into claws.

It was evident what was happening, the girl was starting to undergo her transformation. Even the three thugs couldn't restrain her, her arm flinging one of them against the wall while the one on the other side was grabbed by the head and violently smashed into the ground.

A deafening roar escaped from her mouth, and at that time Diana had disappeared, a monster taking her place...

When Y'shtola saw the wolf girl being cornered her initial reaction was to try to help, but something made her freeze on the spot. A presence came from the lass, a presence of such intense primal bloodlust that made all the hairs on her tail stand upright. She couldn't help but cower behind the cover of the wall as the wolf girl started to undergo her transformation into what she could only describe as a creature that seemed half man, half beast: a werewolf.

The Lycan lashed out with pure rage at those who had restrained her, knocking one of them straight into the wall while the other one had been grappled and smashed into the ground with such a ferocity that she wouldn't be surprised if his skull had been smashed by that hit. However, it was clearly not the end of the fight yet, for the leader of those thugs remained, alongside a small amount of mooks who were hesitatingly looking at their leader.

Their hesitation was understandable, most would be somewhat frightened at the sight of a Lycan who was acting like a monster that considered them nothing but prey. But how could it be that when she looked at her, she could only feel a mixture of awe and fear toward the monstrous transformation of the lass.

Similar to a bull seeing red Diana could barely retain her sanity as she lashed out in this form of hers. Although it came at a great risk, it was also accompanied by a great reward, for her strength, speed and endurance increased remarkably in this form. She had easily dealt with the mooks who had restrained her, and in the wake of their defeat lashed out at the hesitating reinforcements of their leader.

The first one found himself mauled in the chest, his attempt to slow down her approach being pretty much useless as she flung him onto the ground with a sweep fo her clawed arm. When the second mook rushed at her she violently rushed at him, a clawed arm spearing his chest upon which she discarded his body aside like a ragged doll when finally her gaze turned at their leader.

The man stepped backward, yet realizing his escape was impossible turned toward verbal threats. "I-If you keep this up none of you will leave Oak alive!" Yet as Diana reached him and he tried to fling a fist at her she grabbed a hold of the man's arm and started to violently tug it upwards, the man flailing in pain as his muscles started to strain and tear under the pressure.

Yet what followed might had been more terrifying, for the Lycan opened her jaw and went straight for the man's jugular, tearing into his throat as she snarled wildly, unaware of the bloody display she was giving to the neko who was observing her in hiding.

However, in the wake of the adrenaline rush, she felt her transformation being undone, her body shrinking back to its regular form as she gasped and collapsed to her knees, coughing violently.

And so it ended, just as quickly and violently as it had started. Looking in awe as the Lycan changed back into her more feminine form and collapsed to her knees the Neko finally came out of hiding, rushing to her side. It was clear what had caused the poor girl to start coughing so violently, her coughs seemingly causing blood to be coughed onto the floor, but not hers, no the bits of flesh she spotted in between the blood stains suggested she was throwing up  what she had just torn out of the leader's corpse who she had dealt with moments earlier.

Noticing her bewilderment Y'shtola quickly answered her with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm an ally." Extending a flask of water she watched with mild amusement as the lass drowned its contents with the same eagerness of a traveler who had crossed a desert for days.

"Let's get you out of here, before the men in metal suits show up." She still remembered how those Rune Knights tended to misunderstand things quite easily, so after making sure that Diana's mouth and hands were cleaned of blood stains she carried the lass out of the building.

Although she had caught the unfamiliar scent before, even knew it was not a human Diana had found herself incapable of caring about their presence till now. Perhaps it was because the stranger lacked that part in her scent that made Diana feel when someone was being hostile toward her, but at the same time she was also aware of the fact that she had been consumed by her rage moments ago. It didn't help that she felt a feeling of disgust overwhelm her as she threw up the bits of flesh she had torn from the man's jugular, coughing in pain till a hand extended a flask of water toward her, her own rapidly grasping a hold of it as she started to drink its contents. She didn't care what it was, as long as it could drown the horrible taste of blood from her mouth.

In the wake of those events, she found her mind calming down a little as she was helped upright. The Neko told her about that they should get out of here before men in metal suits, perhaps rune knights showed up. However, it was after that statement she asked the one question that had been haunting her thoughts so far. "Who... are you?"

(exit alongside Y'shtola next post)

She was lucky that Diana had calmed down enough to consider her not a threat, not that she believed she would be able to handle that transformation of the lass considering how brutal her strength was. Nonetheless, when she inquired about her name the wild neko was eager enough to provide it. "Y'shtola, pleasure to meet you 'Wolf Girl'."

Carrying her along the streets back toward the inn she made sure to avoid the more busy sections of the town to avoid drawing attention, but a lot of questions still remained in her mind. Who were those thugs and why did they have such a fight with the Lycan?

But perhaps those questions would be answered another time. "Kaede? you want me to take you back to your sister?" She had a sister? How curious, carrying her back to the inn Y'shtola wondered how many more surprises would await her, but no doubt the greatest one in her eyes would be the revelation that this 'sister' of the Lycan was an ordinary human being! It didn't seem like she was a domestic lycan, in fact she doubted those even existed, but for now she merely handed her over to her sister, deciding to intrude upon them another time...

(exit)