2.7

The Call of the Wild: A silent way

Hiro snuck back to where they were, or at least tried to. The young man was soon surrounded by wolves, familiar with his scent. They had no intention of attacking him, however, just growling leading him back. Soon, he was at his destination, once again faced with their attacker, Jack Thornton who was waiting for him.

Far behind the man on top of a hill was the majestic white wolf still.

“You actually return” The man whistled “Should have run away, that would work”

“How could I leave that guy behind!” Hiro blatantly lied, he didn’t think the solution would be so simple. Well there was some truth to that at least.

The bald man was leaning against a nearby rock, all bloody. With his sunglasses still on, Hiro couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not. Eikichi was, however, unmoving, blood still dripping out from all the bites.

“You have a kind soul” Jack said, believing all of Hiro’s words “Don’t worry he is still alive, I was thinking on using him to lure you and the girl back. But of course, I will kill you all”

“But why” The young man tried to appeal to his opponent. This guy didn’t seem like a bad person, maybe they could get out of here peacefully. Hiro hoped that Eikichi was still alive.

“That’s how the world work, it’s nature” Jack sighed “There will always be conflicts, senseless violence, we have to accept the hand we are dealt”

‘Senseless’, that word stuck out to Hiro. Jack Thornton didn’t fight for a belief, nor a cause he considered just. Yet here they were, facing off against each other.

When he was summoned, Hiro was told by Willow it was his job to slay monster. But they only ever fought one. No, his opponents were the masked people. The group from Saragarhi faced off against the operative Six, then the Biker. Their enemies weren’t beasts, but fellow human. But it wasn’t Eden’s blood that was spilt. No, it was all the people of their world, of Earth.

This Jack Thornton, Six and Four worked for the False Shephard. But Hiro only knew this force to be the ‘enemy’, why did they fight. What was he brought to Eden for, his purpose of being here? Oh right, there was none, he was chosen randomly.

“Come to think of it, I never know your name?” Jack asked with kindness. But it wasn’t one born of a cosy upbringing. The way he moved wasn’t off a cowboy, it was disciplined, filled with intentions. Jack Thornton was a soldier once, his kindness forged in fire.

“My name is Hiro Hanazawa” The young man answered politely, there was no getting out.

He dashed toward the cowboy his power the only bet, but a wolf was already onto him. Keeping calm, Hiro avoided the creature. He wanted to try and grabbed its head, to see if his power would work. The young man decided against it, however, as it would be too risky.

The wolf hadn’t given up yet, the pack was still watching. The beast jump up, grabbing onto Hiro’s back, biting straight at his throat. It could taste blood.

But the jaw of death was stopped by bone. At the last moment, the young man had raised his arm to take the bite instead. Lucky for him, the wolf went for his left side, his power hand still intact. The beast reacted violently, gnawing at the lanky arm, hellbent on throwing it’s target over.

Hiro still stood strong, however, the training he took paid off. The young man was never strong, skilful, nor exceptionally smart either. But he could endure, oh boy he could grit his teeth. The memory of that ‘medical’ operation without anaesthesia was still fresh. The youth spent being beaten by that drunkard of a father, all the while having to listen to his ‘inspirational’ talk. The years lost behind the work table, slaving his life away.

The wolf had made a mistake to go for the kill. It could easily had toppled the young man and ended him, but it got impatient. Now none of its legs were on the ground, and so Hiro could continue to stand. But being a prideful being, the wolf hadn’t noticed his mistake.

And so, the young man continued his trek toward Jack, the hardest walk of his life.

Finally, the wolf realised what it had to do. Then beast tried to jump down, its jaw still firmly around the young man’s arm. It will drag him onto the ground, where he would be easy prey.

But Hiro continued to walk. With great effort, he raised his mangled arm, not letting the wolf to touch the ground. He could feel his gnawed meat being torn out of his born, skin ripped to shred already.

The wolf jumps out, inside its mouth was human flesh.

Underneath the gore, Hiro’s bone was feeling the fresh air once again. But not a yell escaped from the young man’s mouth. He was strong, like many of his countryman, he endured without muttering a single word, dutifully.

“You are all so extraordinary” Said Jack Thornton as he pulled out the revolver and fired straight at Hiro’s left knee cap.

It wasn’t enough, however, the young man endured it all and continued walking without even a grunt. The second shot was the end, both his knees smashed, Hiro fell onto the ground as the wolves circled around him.

Oh how the pain hit like a broken dam. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt so much. His arm was torn apart, his bones shattered by cold lead. He was bleeding like a stuck pig. It all hurt so much. He wanted to scream, he wanted to yell out in pain, he wanted to cry.

But Hiro Hanazawa, both him and the voice within him remained in silence.

Who would heard their cries, there wasn’t anyone here nor when they were young either. Hiro couldn’t even shed a single tear for his death.

Perhaps because this wasn’t going to be the time for that.

“Stop!” A voice rang out from behind the bushes.

Jack wasn’t surprised, his wolves knew someone was there. That person was there for quite some time now. He was wondering when she would show herself.

That time was now as Fleur exited her hiding place. She walked toward Hiro, who was withering. The wolves all split up for her to reach him while Jack watched on.

This oriental man had put up a beautiful struggle, it was cordial to at least had him felt kindness before his eventual gruesome death. The cowboy wondered if this could be cruel, to dangle a carrot like this, but he decided a little comfort wouldn’t hurt.

“So charging in was your only plan” Fleur said as she sat down next to Hiro, avoiding the spilt blood.

“I… am not a smart person, although… I would like to believe I am one”

Momo: ‘There you go again’ Joking around at the brink of death. At this point, the voice wasn’t surprised anymore, he could understand now.

The woman wanted to bandage the wound, but she didn’t want blood on her white gloves. Fleur sighed as she removed the pearly item, beneath was something she didn’t want to show. From the top, her hands were normal, dainty.

But as she grabbed the bandage and ethanol out of her handbag, Hiro could catch a glimpse.

The shrivelled flesh, all greyed and dead, a palm reduced to cinder. These… things was not girlish, it wasn’t pretty nor dainty. Fleur hated to show them, mostly because it wasn’t fashionable, lesser so a reminder of a life she had left behind. There was a dark period, but the beautician didn’t care too much.

“This will hurt” Fleur said as she poured the ethanol over the bite wound.

“Ugh” Hiro grunted, which surprised him and the voice. This didn’t hurt that badly, compared to what had happened at least. And yet here he was, gritting his teeth grunting.

“Come on, this doesn’t hurt that bad!” The woman pouted.

As the voice wondered why Hiro had to endure the reason. He was treated by many ever since coming here, Suiren, Caron, Victor and even Malcolm. All of them were particularly gentle in the way they handled the injured, yes even Malcolm. But Fleur, oh she was a different beast altogether. Despite being a beautician, there was something rough about her handling, perhaps because she was rushing.

“Sorry but blood is really hard to wash off” Fleur tried to give him a smile, noticing that he noticed “I’m sure you can handle this!”

Momo-chan: [She sounded… experienced]

Hiro: {Ah hah hah, this hurts so much}

Momo-chan: [Why are you moaning about it now, I can feel it too you know}

After finishing a sloppy job on bandaging the mangled arm. Fleur moved to the knees. This was taking way too long and the woman was feeling more and more self-conscious. Was she sweating? That would show the straps, what bra did she even wear anyway?

To make matter worse, the wolves and Jack were still watching silently.

“That should do it” Fleur held back on patting the wounds “The bullets, they have to be taken out later, at least there doesn’t seem to be any internal bleeding. Just sit still”

The beautician stood up and tied her hair back only to find out she had done that already. Around her, the wolves readied themselves. Fleur could see that Eikichi was still alive, breathing slightly. There was nothing she could do for him or Hiro but pleading.

“Please, find it in your heart to leave them out, while we fight at least”

“If that is your wish” Jack said “But there is no going against nature, I am not going to tell you not to struggle. But I will say giving up would be much less painful”

“They are the same thing!” Fleur exclaimed as she took another item from her handbag, dental floss. She started to pull a string out and tie it around her body “Sorry, this will be done soon”

The wolves growled impatiently but they stood still. Finally, Fleur finished her preparation. The woman glanced at Hiro who had sat up, looking at her attentively.

“I know you would be back” The young man said, this was the truth.

“Wait how?”

“Back at Saragarhi, when Eikichi was fighting that Biker, you were the one who ran in front of us all to help him”

Fleur remained quiet. Of course, she couldn’t stand still after seeing his display of will. Everyone was pumped witnessing it, even Jim stood up from near death. But she didn’t think she would actually lead the charge.

The beautician turned to Jack, a fire in her eyes, one she was not aware of. The wolves jumped at her, but they were all repelled as Fleur pulled out a lighter and set herself ablaze.