Moving Along Remastered

Chapter 21: Failure..For Now

Moving Along Chapter 21: Failure..For Now..

"Almost there," Ziro mumbled to himself when he passed the destroyed "Welcome To Furton" sign that now read, "come urton." After he'd woke up from his fight with Zuboi, the wolf had made his way back to his bike and continued his journey to find his lost mate. Most of the damage he'd taken the day before had already healed save for the aches in his joints. Strong wolf genes from his father, in addition to the modifications of the healing pod, had worked overtime. However, it didn't ease his lingering feeling of uneasiness in his approach.  "Maybe I can catch a break this time."

Of course he couldn't. When the town came into view, he immediately knew something was wrong. There was smoke rising steadily from it. Like it was just recovering from an intense burnout. Ziro had seen his share of burning buildings to know this. 'This isn't giving me much confidence,' he complained to himself. 'Wasn't asking for a cakewalk, but come on..'

Sure enough, as he neared the main road into the town, every building before him was blackened and scorched. The once beautiful market plaza was crumbled and burnt to a crisp. On a few occasions, Ziro had passed through here on business and remembered how lively everything was. Most of the buildings here were small homes while bazaars lined the main road.

He remembered thinking he'd return here sometime to vacation. It definitely was a peaceful place to relax from all the hustle and bustle. One shop in particular sold, well, very lovely yellow lilies. 'Damn, I never did come back for those..' Now he definitely wouldn't. The smell they had was very distinct. Almost of a vanilla variety when it hit his snout.

All that was put to an end. Just like everything the LOS ever touched. It was like a shadow that plagued all those that were trapped under its darkness. Ziro looked around for a place to put his bike and found a run down, yet stable garage. After the fight he'd had in the last town, the wolf was ready to keep his mode of transportation hidden this time. It may not have been touched last fight, but it never hurt to be safe. Especially now.

When he drove it in, he noticed there were quite a few trashed vehicles. It must've been a home based body shop or a scrap collector's home. Either way, it seemed the owner had up and left in a hurry seeing as tools, odds, and ends were laying around as if there was a scramble to pack. Typical response to a burning village. Take your stuff and dip before you burn with it. Whatever the case, Ziro could hide his bike moderately well now among the busted cars.

He pulled a discarded tarp that was covered in dirt and dust over his bike to hide it. As he backed up to look at his handiwork, he made a grunt of satisfaction, then set off to track the signal. It was very close to his position now..he just hoped his little wolf was ok. The way things were now weren't giving him much hope. Most of it had gone with Atticus.

His ears twitched, but he hardly noticed while he focused on his task. He only looked up when he saw a good sized crater where a house once stood. From what he could tell, the explosion had happened right there based on the fact that it was the most damaged and burned looking part of the town. In fact, it looked like a huge scuffle had broken out. There were scorch marks on the ground and the pungent smell of dried blood.

Ziro was unable to discern whose it was since most of the blood had been broiled, then mixed with the ground. All he knew was that the smell made him feel sick to his stomach. Odds were that whatever happened here, a lot of Furs didn't make it out. His ears gave the slightest twitch again, which broke him from his thoughts. He pretended not to notice by scratching under his chin with his thumb to simulate the look of being in deep thought.

A sound to his left entered his sensitive ears. The sound of claws scratching lightly against stone. Behind him, there was a shallow breathing that tried to be as quick and quiet as possible. Mid right to him glimmered a reflection of light as it was gleaming off a blade.