“They are here. We have to hurry up!”

“He is so small and innocent. How will he survive in the outside world, Daren?”

“But we have no choice. Do you think we can fight those people? It's impossible. We have to let Tendo go!”

Everything was fine yesterday. We were so happy. 

We went to the amusement park. I’ve enjoyed it a lot. My mom baked for me my favorite blueberry pancakes. I was so happy. But now my parents are so tense. And I don’t know what they are talking about. My mom is hugging me so tightly and my father is saying her to let me go. I don’t want to go anywhere. 

And what kind of people are coming here? I am so scared!

“But look at him, Daren. He is just a four-year child. The outside world is a very dangerous place for him”

“I know but don’t you remember what Elders told us that nothing will be going to happen to him because he is our last 

descendant. We have to hurry up Marvin. We have to protect our child and our only descendant”

My mom was sobbing so hard. I can’t see my parents like this. 

Taking the Tendo's hand, Daren said;

“Listen to me. And listen to me very carefully.

 There are some bad people who don’t want us to live. But you out of all of us have to live. Those bad people are coming for us. We will let you go from the back door. And you have to run as fast as you can. Do you understand? You have to survive”

Tears were falling from Tendo’s face,

but he still nodded his head. Deep inside he was crying to not let him go, he wants to be with them no matter what. His parents were the most important for him in this world. He will do whatever they’ll say to him because he trusts them. 

“They are here Marvin. Quickly open the back door. I will distract them in the meantime”

Marvin picks Tendo up and ran towards the back door, while Daren walked towards the front door. 

After crossing the backyard Marvin moves into the forest and places Tendo on the ground. She removes her necklace and after tying it around the Tendo’s neck, she said;

“Tendo my baby, mom and dad loves you so much”

She kisses his forehead.

“Now you have to run. Run as fast as you can and do not look back. Remember we are always with you, here”; she placed her hand on Tendo’s heart.

 “May Moon goddess always protects you. Now run!”; she turns him and pushes him towards the woods.

Tendo started running towards the woods as fast as he can with his short legs. And he could hear the sounds of growls and gun fires in the background. 

But he didn’t look back because he has to do what his mom told

him that not to look back.

After running for so long his legs gave up. It was so dark in the jungle but his night vision was so good and he could clearly see everything. After looking around for a while he found a good place to hide in the near bushes.

With trembling legs and labored breathing, he hid himself in the bushes. His heart was beating so fast. 

Weird noises of nocturnal animals were coming from all sides, disrupting the peace of the woods. 

Tendo was not scared of the woods because he had spent four years of his life playing in these woods. He has very beautiful memories here that he want to cherish for the rest of his life. Besides nature always appeals to him and for some weird reason, he feels very close to nature like it's calling to him. The only thing scary for him right now was that he won’t be able to see his parents again. This thought hurts him like a knife has pierced his heart. 

After running for so long Tendo was feeling so tired

and his eyelids were drooping. Clutching the crescent shape necklace in his hand, Tendo started to drift into a dreamless sleep. 

Velvety vines started to cover his legs and torso providing him a little warmth in the cold night. 

Tendo woke up from the rustling sound of leaves followed by the sound of footsteps. It was coming from the other side of the bushes. He peeked through the bushes. There were three men on the other side, two were holding guns in their hands while the third one was carrying a torch. They were searching for something and that something was definitely him.

“He must be here, hiding somewhere. He can’t run so far. He is just a small child. We must find him, otherwise, the boss will gonna kill us”; one of the burly men was saying.

These are the bad guys my mom dad were talking about. I don’t know what they did to my parents and now they are here for me.

“Shawn look behind those bushes. I will look here”; he was pointing towards the bushes where Tendo was hiding.

Tendo became so scarred that his eyes started to brim with tears. His heart was pounding in his chest and it became difficult for him to breathe. He placed a hand on his mouth to avoid producing any sound.

The man was coming towards the bushes.

‘Tendo’

Suddenly he heard a noise in his head.

‘Tendo’; again

‘Tendo, I am here'

A voice so deep so soft like a warm cocoon has surrounded him on this cold and scary night. 

All of a sudden, he started to felt a tingling sensation in his right hand. At the same time, the man pushed aside the bushes.

“I found him”; he shouted.

“Come here you ugly monster”; he picked up the Tendo from his collar.

Tendo didn’t know what was happening with him. The tingling sensation was increasing on his hand, it felt like something was growing on his hand and his hand was getting bigger and bigger. 

Suddenly his hand moves on his own accord towards the man's face. The man screamed and loses his grip on Tendo as he fell to the ground. 

Tendo saw a claw mark on the man’s face that was dripping with blood. Then Tendo's sight moves towards his hand that has now transformed into a large claw full of fur. He didn’t know what was going on. He only knows that he has to run, he has to survive that’s what his parents told him.

He started running towards the opposite side.

 He has to escape.

“Catch him. He is running”; the man with the claw mark shouted.

He can hear the sound of footsteps behind him. In his hurry, Tendo tripped and fell to the ground. 

“Where do you think you are going?”; the man has caught up to him. One of the men yanked his collar. Tendo tried to claw him with his right hand but the other man was fast. He took a hold of his right hand.

“So it’s really true. No wonder they were trying to protect him so much. But there is no one who will gonna protect you from us”; the man started to laugh like a mad man.

The man’s laughter was stopped in the mid-way as he fell to the ground with a thud. An arrow was piercing his heart. Same happened to the other man, the arrow was sticking out of his windpipe.

Tendo saw a man wearing a straw hat and holding a bow and arrow in his hand was coming out of the bushes, 

When Tendo saw that he was coming towards him, he started to crawl backward. But one second the man was standing at the side of the bushes, from where he might have come from, the other second he was right in front of him.

Tendo was so scarred. He didn’t know how the man could move so fast. 

“Don’t be afraid my child. You are safe now”; the man said with his soft voice.

The man has very beautiful forest green eyes. He smiled and bends down towards Tendo. He takes the small fluffy paw of Tendo in his hand. 

“How can you transform so early?”; the man said with some astonishment. 

Tendo felt like all the energy was draining from his body.

He was feeling so hungry all of a sudden and he hadn’t eaten anything the whole day. The tingling sensation has consumed all of his leftover energy. And his vision started to get blurry.

The man then placed his hand on Tendo’s forehead. His touch was so warm.

After touching Tendo’s forehead, the man was so shocked.

“You are a…..” but before Tendo could hear what the man was saying, darkness had consumed him completely.

But Tendo was sure that he was safe now. He is safe with the man whose eyes look like they were holding a whole forest in them.