Leone's blue eyes grew twice their size, catching onto KuliKuli's next move as she ran her claws through the smoke grenade latched on his belt. Time moved slowly for them both, locking eyes as they understood what this meant for them. His eyes, once filled with arrogant confidence now shook with fear as smoke began to spew out in a strong gust. KuliKuli flashed a knowing smirk before her face was hidden behind the thick gray cloud engulfing them both. Against his better judgement, he had dropped his guard and the cat girl took advantage to use his equipment against him.
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS~
"Et merde~" He cursed, unsheathing his sword and kicking his feet to propel himself backwards. But the action was in vain, the smoke came from the slashed spherical canister on his belt and he frantically patted his waist as he struggled to remove it. Now every subtle sound he heard around the hissing of smoke kept him alarmed, his eyes darted left and right unable to see anything past his nose. When he tried to retreat from the cloud, he was met with a solid surface of the wall as he placed his hand to feel it, following along its trail.
He flinched and fell down forcefully when she kicked him behind his knee, stabbing his sword into the ground and leaning his weight on it. Groaning as he pulled himself up, he was met with a fierce backhand across the face bruising his cheek. Reaching out with his hand in front of him, he felt a few claws scratch his forearm causing him to pull back. Then a furry tail wrapped around his neck and yanked him back, throwing him against the opposite wall.
Leone rubbed the red mark on his forehead, raising his eyebrow as he heard movement behind him. Removing the sheath from his waist, he swung it below knocking KuliKuli on her back. Feeling relieved, he managed to yank the smoke grenade and threw it toward the far end of the alley. Now with a moment to think, he whispered another latin chanting as he formed several hand symbols before pressing his wrists together and thrusting his palms out.
"Ventus!" His voice echoed as a sharp gust of wind knocked KuliKuli back even further, clearing his vision as the smoke was cleared away.
BOOOM!
KuliKuli rolled back and recovered quickly, posing on all fours with a look of surprise.
Leone laughed back, brushing the dust off his cloak and stretching back. "Well done, you had me nervous. Never thought you would make me use magic to recover from that, that was my mistake."
KuliKuli stood up and shrugged, her eye flaring once she noticed the bag remained behind him. The bastard! During their brief scuffle, he made sure to keep his catch close, taking the risk of facing any injury to ensure that her sister remained in his grasp.
Leone looked down and waved the bag for her. "As I said before, your sister is safe. I made sure to protect her from any of your attacks."
KuliKuli fumed and leaned forward. "Protect her? I'm her to save her from you! You should be the one to back off now that you know how dangerous I can be."
"Yes, indeed I did underestimate you. In this line of work, any mistake in the time of the hunt could lead to your undoing. It won't happen again, mon ami." He pulled his hood back and waved his neck length silver hair around, undoing the chain that held his cloak around his collar. With a swift throw, he hurled his cloak forward temporarily obscuring her sight of him. Before the cloak hit the ground, he said one more word.
"Ventus!"
BOOOM!
The strong burst of wind launched the cloak forward as it wrapped around the Nekomata. She clawed the cape in half and tore it apart just in time to catch Leone sprinting toward her as they were three feet apart. A flurry of clashes between sword and claws were met, sending flying sparks around when his boot met her chest. Before she could recover he was on her again, swinging with accurate precision and leaving sharp slices around her forearms and thighs. Each cut he would mark would send a stinging pain into her head, startling her as she stammered back just for him to follow.
He was a monster in his own right, his piercing blue eyes fixated on his hunt as he offered no mercy on the poor Nekomata.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
KuliKuli yelped as he twisted his blade from her claws and thrusted forward, jabbing the tip under her rib.
Clank! Clank~Clank!
"Ow!" She recoiled when he cut across her paw, sending a trickle of blood to the ground.
Clank~Clank! Clankclankclank~clank!
"Aahhh!" The Nekomata fell on her back, keeping her paws close as her body was left a mess with tiny bleeding cuts.
Leone pressed his boot on her shoulder, pinning her down while waving the tip of his sword under her chin. "Stay down, I would rather deliver you to him in one piece. Hunters honor."
He dug around his belt, feeling around as he kept his eyes set on her. Her body was pressed to the floor, keeping her tails against her back rendering them useless. She looked up at him frozen in fear, yet he wouldn't dare to drop his guard again.
"Hm, you broke the anesthetic. I may need to use an alternative, you may feel some pain but it'll be over quickly." He explained. his hand grabbing onto a small cubical container when he noticed something about her. Amongst her look of horror, her eyes were no longer looking at him but rather behind him.
He ducked just in time, feeling something swipe just over his head as he rolled out of the way.
KuliKuli crawled away from him and behind her savior, looking up as a new Nekomata had joined the fight. She was agile, she was angry, and unlike her this cat girl wasn't fond of humans like him.
"You keep your disgusting hands away from her!!" Na'Vi screamed out, her claws raised and ready for a fight.
Leone seemed more annoyed than startled, combing his long hair away from his eyes.
"Damn it, I don't have time for this." With that, he snuck a cylinder instrument from his belt and pressed the wooden tip between his lips.
Whoooooooooooooooooo! Whooooooooooooooooooooo~ooo!
The noise wasn't loud enough to hurt their ears, only creating a sight annoyance. It was a distress sound, drawing attention to them as people began to peak into the alley to discover the source of the noise. Voices began to whisper and gasps were heard, with both Na'Vi and KuliKuli looking behind them as people started to shout their presence.
"Monsters! Monsters!"
"We have monsters in the city, monsters in the city!"
Some women screamed in horror, grabbing their children and pulling them away. Leone felt like he could breathe at last, the tension fleeing from his body like a huge weight gone from his shoulders. He looked calmly at them as a familiar sound of metal boots could be heard approaching them. KuliKuli cupped her mouth when a group of soldiers appeared behind the Hunter, wearing the same armor and symbol as the ones she found in front of the tavern, the same people who took away Felix and Reta. Such reminders brought a mixed feeling of fright and anger coursing through her. She growled, revealing her sharp teeth which intimidated the front pair of men who paused.
Their allies pushed them forward, the narrow alley hindering their movement as only two of them could fit through side by side. Na'Vi looked behind her, spotting a few soldiers slowly stepping forward, jabbing their spears ahead. Leone slipped behind the herd of men, casually grabbing the bag which held Syri and swinging it over his shoulder. He may have been unable to capture the two of them but he succeeded in his original mission.
"Damn it, get back here!" KuliKuli roared, stepping forward when Na'Vi stopped her with a paw to her chest.
"Don't! We can't do anything yet."
"He's taking Syri away!"
Na'Vi flinched and her eyes flared up but she kept a calm head. "Grrrrr, damn him! We'll get them back, but we can't if we get caught."
"Monsters, act accordingly and remain calm or we will use force!" One of the soldiers screamed out as their spears came closer.
Scooting close, Na'Vi glanced down when she felt a cold surface under her paw. Her eyes lit up when she realized a manhole beneath them, with KuliKuli catching on quickly.
"It's one of those weird things, we can slip down there~"
"Then do it!" KuliKuli pushed forward, digging her claws around the edge and prying the lid open.
"They're getting away! Don't let them!"
"Hurry!" Na'Vi shouted, watching KuliKuli jump down before diving in head first through the sewer.
SPLASH!
"Uuuugggghhhhh, this place!" KuliKuli shrieked and stepped around the damp tunnels, covering her mouth and nose as she felt her lunch threaten to resurface.
Na'Vi hunched forward and coughed, spitting out before cupping her nose as well. The soldiers hunched around the sewer opening, slowly making their way to climb down after them.
"We have to go." Na'Vi called out as both Nekomata's began to sprint down the tunnels, kicking up green water around her paws until the noises of men shouting commands became faint.
Janette moved up atop her carriage stopping near the tavern, counting the number of soldiers around the front entrance.
"How does it look?" Emyri asked from inside the carriage.
"A bit worse than I thought." She sighed, her heart sinking when she spotted Felix being pushed into a particular white caravan. "Damn it, they have Felix."
"And your Reta friend as well." Emyri pointed out, looking out the passenger glass view and spotting another soldier carrying a sleeping Reta in his arms. "They seem to be gentle with her at least, might not be good though."
"Why is that?" Janette asked.
Emyri sighed and leaned back into her seat. "I know the man they work for, he's... he never does something without any reason to benefit him."
"No sign of Syri here. You think they're taking them somewhere else? I don't recall seeing them here when we arrived."
"Maybe. I can't seem to find their scent here, so hopefully that means my girls are safe from here. All but Syri." She hissed, lamenting her failure as a mother. "Damn it Leone."
"What?"
"Nothing. We need to leave."
"Right ahead of you." Janette agreed, instructing her horses to march away from the scene.
