Dire Kingdom 2

Chapter 6 "Tides"

Sirocco POV

I quickly put on my trench coat, dress pants and a pair or light boots. Without any trouble, I comb my tangled mane forwards, put on my belt and sword holster and look myself up and down in the mirror. A mess. All I see is a mess. I'm the mess, my fur is tangled, my coat is ripped and blood stained, my scars don't blend well into my fur. One last thing to do before I wake up Meadow. Mustering up all my strength from my near sleepless night, I punch the mirror, glass shatters and blood drips down my paw. Oh well, at least I can't see what a monster I am anymore.

I shake Meadow awake and guide her down the hallway. "Listen, I just need you to swing the sword when I tell you to, okay?" I order. She nods, not knowing what's really going down today. Little does she know, we're going to the woods to try and find my sister who's supposed to be dead. I highly doubt Meadow will be much help with me today, but I'll still bring her along. Meadow walks along beside me and keeps looking down at her hoof, the one that I scarred and hurt. I'm not sure why, maybe she's thinking about when I did that. The last time she held a sword in her hands. "I don't know if you've ever been down here, but this is the stable and we gotta go quickly" I instruct her. "I didn't know there were horses here" she replies. "It doesn't matter right now, get on behind me" I say as I hop onto Shire's back. Once she was on, I dug my heel into Shire's side and away we went with a flash.

Meadow seems quiet today, I'm not too sure why though. Maybe she's just being drowned out by  the thoughts on what happened yesterday. Swiftly, I bring Shire to halt and dismount him. Meadow stays on for a few more minutes. "We've got business to handle. I dunno if you saw the letter that I had in my desk" I say as I tie Shire to a tree.

 "I did... what are we doing?" She asks. "Well we're going to go find my sister and kill her. Simple as that" I say with my voice laced with guilt. Meadow blankly stares at me, "we're doing what?" She asks. "You heard me" I reply. "Just stay close to me and we'll be fine" I add. She nods and follows along beside me. I take out my map of the woods and look at it, we're not far from where she was last spotted a few days ago. The slightest rustle of leaves sends me in a frenzy of paranoia. She must be near, she can't be far. Hell, that noise was probably her. "Sirocco... I'm scared" Meadow tells me. "Don't worry, I won't let her touch you" I reassure with a slight smile. I turn around to see a shadowy figure stalking us. "Meadow get behind me" I whisper. Drawing my sword, the figure gets closer. I hold it out and call "Who goes there?" With a growl. A chuckle comes from the figure as it continues to get closer to Meadow and I. "Why, your majesty. I'm Chinook, have you missed me?" Chinook smirks as a wide toothy grin becomes present on her face. It's true. She really is out here. "I-I thought you were dead..." I trail off by the surprise. "Oh what a big surprise this must be then, well clearly I'm not." She laughs. I barely recognize her, she wears a heavy coat made of leather and leather pants, chains hanging off them. "I've noticed" I reply. She walks in a circle around Meadow and I. I feel Meadow clinging to me tightly and her shaking overwhelms her. Chinook finishes her circle and looks me and Meadow up and down. "Tsk tsk tsk" she shakes her head. "This won't do at all. A big, powerful coyote shouldn't be accompanied by a sheep" she growls. Meadow clutches me tighter. "Allow me to take care or your little insurrection" she smirks as she lunges towards me, pushing Meadow off me. "Don't you move. It'll be quick" Chinook growls. She has Meadow held against her tightly, a blade pressed to her throat. "Don't you fucking dare." I snarl. I need to think of a plan quickly. Wait, I have one already. I step closer to the two and run my claws through Chinook's dirty fur. She flinched a bit as I do so. Hastily, I put my sword to Chinook's neck and choke her. She lets go of Meadow, allowing her to fall to the ground. "Thanks" Meadow whimpers to me. "Anytime" I reply as loosen my choke hold on Chinook. "You know, you're pretty scary when you need to be. That's not how I remember you" Chinook grins. "I can be too" she says as a dozen wolves surround us. "Let her go immediately." One of them barks as they point their loaded bow at me. "Fine." I snarl as I push Chinook away. "That's a wise decision" Chinook says as she steps behind the ring of wolves surrounding Meadow and I.

New chapter later today