First thing in the morning, the group were back on the run. Everyone but princess Marina decided to transform into their wereanimal. The princess chose to ride on Satarou's back and carry Elly's bag, which contained some simple medicine, as well as the wereanimal's clothing.
Satarou felt the leaves under his paws and the wind rustle his fur. He sniffed the air and the scent of food immediately filled his nose.
"Food" the princess muttered, "doesn't this mean that we are close to a clan?" All of them had been traveling for a few hours now. Satarou was not happy. This was not his clan. He didn't recognize any of his clan mate's scents.
Satarou froze and everyone had to stop running before they crashed into him. There was one scent that he did recognize, and it was Casper's. They were in Moonstone territory.
Letting out a small growl, Satarou gestured everyone to hide in the bushes. The princess hopped off of his back so she wouldn't be seen.
"What is it?" princess Marina whispered. Satarou let out a very quiet growl, telling the princess that she needed to be quiet. There were footsteps, and the scent of Casper was getting stronger. They were close enough to hear. This would be pleasant, Satarou thought. Maybe now he could finally carry out his revenge.
"Did you finish conducting your business, Rou?" Casper told a strange man.
"Yes, I did" the man that Satarou realized was probably Rou answered, "Carrel is dead, I can assure you. I have succeded in the mission."
"That is very good to hear, Rou" Casper answered. Satarou didn't recognize Rou's scent, but he realized he was screwed when he recognized him as a werelion.
Satarou could hear Rou sniff the air, and he knew he had been spotted when Rou's eyes met his.
Satarou growled at his pals and gestured them to start running.
"Casper, I smell were-" before Rou could finish his sentence, Satarou jumped out of the bushes and tackled Casper to the ground, biting into his shoulder.
"You damn mutt!" Casper yelled, punching Satarou in the throat. Casper and Rou thankfully didn't notice when the rest of the group had started running out of their territory, still being careful not to be caught.
Satarou went to take a big, bloody chunk out of Casper's neck when Rou had transformed into his werelion and tackled the blood-thirsty wolf off of Casper.
Rou stared Satarou in the eyes, daring him to attack. Satarou tossed the lion off of him and immediately jumped back on to Casper, clawing at his chest. Blood was dripping off of Satarou's nails and teeth. He growled in the Angel's face.
Rou immediately tackled Satarou off of Casper again, this time clawing at the teen. Satarou soon found himself bloody and covered in open, bleeding wounds everywhere as he fought with the lion.
They were both panting and exhausted by the end of their fight. Neither backed down, but neither continued attacking. They were both too exhausted to continue.
"Congrats, wolf. You are the first who matches my top clan member's strength" Casper said coldly, "change back, wolf." Casper was quick to have Satarou pinned to the ground by the throat. He had no strength left to resist, and he noticed Rou had slumped to the ground completely. Instead of changing back, though, Satarou used that oppurtunity to slash Casper across the cheeks.
"Who are you? Why are you attacking me like this?" Casper demanded. Rou growled his agreement with Casper's words. Satarou knew he couldn't change back. He wasn't ready to show Casper who he was.
Satarou let out a loud roar as he growled at Casper, showing defiance.
"Maybe I should just kill you now, then? Since you won't behave!" Casper yelled.
A sudden flash of fear crossed Satarou's features, but it was quickly replaced by anger as he remembered what the Angel had done to his family.
Suddenly, a dark aura began to form around Satarou. His eyes began to turn black, and it felt like strength was restored to his body. Satarou was able to reach up far enough to take a large bite out of Casper. Casper screamed in pain, and when Satarou released his grip without tearing off Casper's shoulder, black blood started to pour out of the Angel's wound. Casper's wound began to stitch up on it's own, showing the teeth marks clearly. The pattern it made looked like a king cobra.
"What are you?" Casper asked with a tint of fear.
Satarou could faintly feel something crawling under his fur before the sudden surge of power was gone, and his eyes returned to normal. He seemed more exhausted than normal.
Confused, Satarou looked at Casper to see his shoulder was a mess.
"Just-just go! i don't want you on my territory!" Casper snarled at the wolf, "all you do is cause disaster! What have I done to you?"
With a flick of his tail, Satarou used up his remaining energy to run out of the territory. However, as soon as he exited the clan borders, he dragged himself into the bushes and passed out.
Satarou opened his eyes at the sound of the birds chirping and realized he was sleeping inside of a tent. However, surprisingly, he was still in his wolf form. He realized his wounds were bandaged. He noticed that the interior of the tent was a blueish gray, and there were blankets everywhere.
Satarou let out a growl as a woman walked into the tent. She had dark purple hair, bright blue eyes and she wore a plain, light brown dress with flowers scattered across the design. He could smell that she was also a werewolf.
"There's no need to be afraid. I'm your friend" the woman smiled, "my name is Mia. I found you passed out in the bushes near our territory. How are you feeling, dear?"
Satarou folded his ears back and backed away. He was wounded, and he didn't trust them. For all he knew, they could turn him into the castle!
Satarou let out a louder growl when a man entered the tent to join the woman.
"Oh, no need to be alarmed, dear" Mia let out a small laugh, "this is my husband, Rox. He is about as harmless as a fly."
"Hey, there" Rox smiled at him, "we are only here to help. Please accept our help."
"You are probably wondering where you are, right?" Mia asked. Satarou warrily nodded and the woman continued, "you are in the Amber clan currently. Are you a lone wolf or do you have a clan?" Satarou just nodded, which gave her no answer, so she asked "You're a lone wolf?" Satarou shook his head at that question.
"So you have a clan, then" Rox replied, "I would ask if you are apart of a nearby clan, but I won't. I'm sure you want to keep it a secret. You don't trust us yet, right? So I won't pressure you into telling us."
Satarou has now been staying with the clan for a week. He hasn't changed out of his wolf form yet, and he has barely warmed up to them. He only trusts them enough to change his bandages. But he's decided he can't stay in his wolf form forever.
Satarou changed out of his wolf form and found a decent outfit that was just lying around the tent. It was a long, ripped brown shirt and some beige pants. Satarou just pulled up his pants when he noticed something. From his wrist up, he had two king cobras wrapping around his arms. They looked like tribal tattoos, and he hadn't noticed them because he had been in his wolf form the whole time. He knew he never had those before, so he was wondering why. He did not recall how he got them.
"Hey sweetie, let me check your-" the lady Mia walked in the tent but froze when she saw Satarou, "Yorrel?" She sniffed the air, "no, you aren't Yorrel! You're..."
Satarou finally looked at her shocked and afraid face.
"Y-Yoshi?" she asked.
Now Satarou was glaring at the woman, "my name is not Yoshi. It's Satarou, if you must know. Can I assume that you are the woman who abandoned me when I was two?"
"I did not abandon you!" Mia cried, "you were taken from me! I tried to stop them, but I was too weak! I thought you had died!"
"I almost did. By some miracle, I had washed up on the beach in a village. A village called Malcrow" Satarou replied, "that's where I met my family."
"Family?" Mia asked, "what happened to them? They couldn't have left you to die in those woods back there-"
"Dead" Satarou replied.
Her eyes widened. "No way! How did they die? When? I'm so sorry, hun!"
Satarou's frown deepened as his glare intensified, "why are you acting like you care? You probably think it's better that they died so you can say I am your son."
"No, not at all!" Mia frowned, "yes, I miss having you as a son, and it broke my heart to think you were dead. But it can't be helped that you were found and raised as someone else's son. I respect who you consider your family. Do you have any other family?"
"I have a little brother. He's at my clan" Satarou muttered, "I need to get back to him. He means the world to me. I've already been gone for too long."
"Where have you been to make you run away?" Mia asked.
"Why should I tell you? You might turn me in" Satarou growled.
"I know, you wouldn't trust me" Mia sighed, "but I don't want anything to happen to you again, Satarou. Only tell me if you want to, son."
"I was taken by the palace warriors" Satarou growled, "but then I started talking to someone while I was trapped there. It wasn't until we escaped the palace that I realized he was my twin brother, Yorrel. I wasn't even aware that I had a twin brother."
"Yorrel's safe?" Mia asked, her eyes shining with hope and joy at the thought.
"Yes. I had everyone leave me behind. I was too busy trying to get my revenge on the man who killed my parents, anyways. I don't know where any of them are now, but I can assure you that they are safe" Satarou mumbled.
"Thank goodness they are safe. I only wish you were safe, too" Mia turned her eyes downcast. Noticing the weird tattoos for the first time, she looked up at Satarou, "you have tattoos?"
Satarou figured it'd be best to lie, so he replied with, "yes, I have tattoos." He didn't want to tell her anything about them until he had information himself.
"Oh? When did you get them?" Mia asked.
"Recently" Satarou sighed before bringing up another topic, "I am leaving first thing in the morning to go see my clan. I need to get back to my brother."
"But you are injured!" Mia protested, "are you sure that you are ready to leave?"
"I have to" the teen replied, "but for tonight, I will sleep so I have plenty of energy." And with that, the conversation ended. Satarou headed towards his sleeping spot and decided now was the time to sleep. It didn't take him long before he gave into the darkness and started to lightly snore away.