The Trail of Scars | Tryout | DNP

[ShimmerSolarPets]

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲxxxＦＩＶＥ

ᴘᴇsᴛɪᴄɪᴅᴀʟ ᴊᴏʙ
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It was strange how Malyutka seemed to want to receive a job just a few weeks before. Now, she's a rising assassin. Malyutka killed many with an iron paw and cold blood. Her previously shiny daggers were now dull from so many uses. However, that did not change anything. She was still "Runt" and "Tiny" in camp, no matter how many exploits she had pulled off without detection. They still teased her and mocked her, and scarred her.

Yet, why was there this pulsing, aching feeling inside Malyutka's chest? Whenever she had pulled off a successful job, the news would spread. She would hear of the tears and sobs of friends and families from whom she had robbed her victim's presence. And, whenever she did, she always felt that uncomfortable feeling inside. Malyutka felt more broken than ever. If she was torn apart by her training in the assassin camp before, she was definitely ripped to shreds by all the dirty deeds she had done. What was this feeling?

Malyutka sat by a river bank, staring into her distorted reflection in the ripples. Her eyebrows (or, the skin above her eyes) furrowed as she contemplated on these thoughts. The leader had promised her a new job today. Malyutka's mouth was set in a line. Emotionless, stoic, and never-changing. She was the coldest of all the assassins, never setting off into fiery tempers. The cries and screams of her victims constantly rang in her ears. The terror in their eyes swam before her very own. All the lives that had perished in her paws haunted her. It had felt so satisfying in the process, seeing the life of her victims pour out before her very eyes. The writhing monster inside her had purred and grinned when she stepped back to survey her work. However, every time she returned to camp, she always felt a twinge inside her chest.

Malyutka closed her eyes. Just get the job done. That's all you need to do, she silently told herself. She must not feel for her victims. Better yet, don't feel at all.

"Malyutka!"

Malyutka quickly swiveled her head around. Her gaze met the deputy's. He was weary, tired, and had a few more injuries. However, his face remained strong. "The leader wishes to see you. He wishes to give you another job," he said.
"Yes, sir."
Malyutka got up and sheathed her daggers. As she walked past the deputy, she felt his strong paw land on her shoulder. Her muscles instinctively froze, and she stood rigid on the ground. Her gaze was blank and devoid of all emotion.
"Malyutka, don't feel for your victims. Conquer them. There is no place for mercy within our jobs," the deputy said.
"Yes... sir."

Those words were weird. No place for mercy within their jobs? If so, what had the deputy been showing her all her life? Before she could rein in herself, the question spilled out of her maw. She steeled up herself to look into the deputy's strong gaze. To her surprise, she saw some sadness rippling inside his eyes. Malyutka quickly averted her eyes. It was common for her to see a fierce, harsh look in his eyes. Even more common to see the sparks of strength. But, not... this.

"Ah, I thought you would be useful for our league."

Malyutka was relieved to hear the steel-like strength back in his voice. However, for some reason, she felt like the deputy wasn't being entirely truthful. Malyutka did not bother to argue. If she pushed him further... well, as decent as he was, he was still an assassin. A much better assassin than herself, in fact. He could easily crush her. Malyutka did not want to die just yet. She respectfully nodded and hurried off to find the leader.

As soon as her double-ringed eyes lay sight on the leader, the flaming monster inside her roared in fury. Malyutka despised the leader. As opposed to his nicer deputy, the leader was ruthless and cruel. He was the one who forced her down this torturous path. He was the one who wrecked her mind to pieces. He made her like this.
"You called... sir?" Malyutka inquired, and her facial muscles twitched. It was all she could do not to adapt an expression of revulsion.

"Yes, Tiny. Here's a job for you," the leader sneered, thrusting into her paws a sheaf of papers. Malyutka quickly leafed through them. In one of the papers, she saw the photo of a smiling, cheerful Viscet staring back at her. The monster inside her squirmed and roared. But, all she could do was stare emotionlessly at the picture and say, "What did this one do?" in a flat, monotone voice.
"Ah, that there is an annoying pest. You see, Midget," - Malyutka had to suppress the urge to strangle the leader at this tone - "the rest of us have got no time to hunt down pests. This Viscet keeps on annoying us in our jobs, then get away. She's a slimy eel. Your job is to find the pest, then apply the pesticide on her." He traced a line in the air in front of his neck and laughed cruelly.
"Yes, sir. I shall leave now, sir."

Malyutka packed some essentials and set off. It took a few days of traveling and asking around. Finally, one day, she managed to track down a small campsite. Malyutka saw some pawprints on the ground, as well as a fireplace. "Hm... Maybe she has been here," she muttered to herself. She traced a paw on her dagger. Then, she gripped the hilt. She heard something. A rustle. Spinning round, suddenly, a Viscet jumped out of the foliage and pounced onto her. Malyutka hit the ground with a dull thud. Her dagger slipped from her paw. Malyutka bared her teeth at the stranger. Her eyes came into focus, and she got a clear glimpse of the Viscet's face.

Her victim had come to her.

"Gotcha!" Her smiling face loomed over Malyutka. Then, came a jingling laughter. Of all the victims she had faced, this one shocked Malyutka the most. Troubled her, in fact. How could she smile when her end was about to come? How could she be so happy when she's been marked as an assassin's victim? There was no time to figure it out. Malyutka bared her sharp fangs and raised her left paw to slash at the Viscet's neck. She wanted to make this quick. However, the Viscet was just as quick. Instead of coming down on the Viscet's neck, the Viscet snapped her jaws on her paw. Pain shot up from a digit of her paw. Malyutka tried to wrench her paw away from the Viscet's jaws, but the paw only hurt more.

Finally, the Viscet decided to spit her paw out. Malyutka stared at her bleeding paw, the crimson liquid dripping down to the ground. She knew that those cuts were going to scar. "Hey, hey, attacking the owner of this camp is not the most civil thing to do if you're going to trespass," the Viscet teased. Malyutka felt some loathing beyond measure. All of her other victims had always quivered in fear. This one teased her. Malyutka hated it. She was going to revel in tearing apart the fine strands of her life.

Malyutka kicked Chara off her. She quickly grabbed her second dagger with her unwounded paw. The small, scarred Viscet poised herself to strike, her eyes glazed with a kind of cold fury. "If you have any last words, you can say them now," she said in a cold tone that had a heavy hint of revulsion in it. Chara's eyes widened in shock and fear. A sense of elation surged inside her, and adrenaline rushed through her. However, to her immense surprise and bitterness, Chara wasn't staring at her.
"Yes. COUGAR!" Chara shouted.
"You can't fool me," Malyutka scoffed, raising her dagger to stab the Viscet's body. However, a sound stopped her, followed by the whiff of a scent. Still raising her dagger, Malyutka swiveled her head around. She came face to face with an angry cougar. Malyutka saw her own twisted, malicious face reflected in the cougar's eyes. Her heart pounded loudly against her chest. She made a sudden striking movement at the cougar.

However, she was not fast enough. The cougar pounced at her, knocking her down to the ground. Her dagger merely gave the cougar a deep cut on the leg, before being knocked away as she hit the ground, hard. The cougar was enraged. Finally, Malyutka resolved to do it the traditional way. She lunged to bite the cougar bearing down on her. The cougar slashed at her shoulder, causing her to release it. She tumbled to the ground, unfortunately right on the cougar claw wound on her shoulder. She tried not to groan. Before Malyutka could get back on her paws, the cougar slashed her tail with its claws. The previously recovering Malyutka fell back to the ground. Pain was throbbing in her tail, screaming at her in protest.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see a shocked Chara standing in the distance. The pain was getting to her brain; she couldn't think properly. Kill the cougar! Kill it! her brain shouted at her. Malyutka struck the cougar's face with her unwounded paw. The feeling of her claws grazing the cougar was satisfying. However, the satisfaction was temporary. Malyutka jumped at the cougar. However, suddenly, something exploded inside Malyutka's head. Pain! Horrific, horrendous pain! Malyutka crumpled to the ground, but something held her up. Her vision started to blur as the pain was overwhelming her. Straining her eyes, she saw the cougar's position. Then, connecting it with the pain that seemed originate from her ear, she knew. The cougar had its jaws locked firmly on her thin ear. Malyutka struggled. Malyutka fought the urge to scream. The pain was terrible, so terrible. Her head pounded and her knees wouldn't hold.

Malyutka felt faint. She wanted to fall. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't. The teachings that had been burnt into her mind were working on her, sealing her mouth shut. She did not know how she looked in front of her victim, and she didn't care. So what if her victim found her weak? She was badly wounded, and she might not even get out of this encounter alive anyways. Within her foggy vision, a Viscet-like figure ran up to her, brandishing a stick. The color scheme looked similar to her victim. However, instead of hitting her with the stick, the Viscet slammed the stick full force onto the cougar's head. "LET GO OF HER EAR!" the Viscet yelled.

The cougar jerked away from Malyutka. Pain exploded in her ear, and she collapsed to the ground. Her tail ached, her paw stung, but none of them compared to the pain in her head. She closed her eyes, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the cougar dealt her the final blow. Or perhaps she would wither away because of her injuries. Either way, the only life that would be taken that day was her own, and not her victim's.

She cracked her eye open by a sliver. She saw the blurred figure of a Viscet taking on the cougar with a stick and her own tooth and claw. Malyutka lay limp on the ground. Her arm outstretched, she managed to grab hold of the hilt of one of her fallen daggers. The familiar feeling of wielding her weapon comforted her. "CAN I BORROW YOUR DAGGER OVER HERE? THANKS!" a voice shouted, rapidly. It sounded so, so far away. Malyutka felt her strength fading away. She felt like she was slipping into oblivion. She shut her eyes.

She did not know how long she had been lying there, limp and weak, until Malyutka felt a paw on her shoulder. She opened one eye, expecting the cougar bearing down at her. What she saw, however, was the concerned face of a Viscet. "Hello? Are you dead yet?" she asked. It was obnoxious, but Malyutka thought she heard a small quiver in her voice. She opened her eye wider.
"Oh, good, you're alive. Good gracious, your ear looks bad!"
Malyutka grasped the hilt of her dagger. Kill her! She's within dagger-throwing reach! Kill the pest!

Pest? How could she say that the Viscet was a pest? She saved her life. Had she not driven away the cougar, Malyutka would've died. She had never known such an act before in her life. So, she decided to ask her.
"Wha- what was that?" Malyutka asked, her voice hoarse and weak.
"That? That was a cougar, silly! Don't tell me you didn't know!"
"No... That... What you did..."
"Oh, the stick trick? I dunno. I've done that a few times in the past." The Viscet shrugged. Malyutka's ear was still throbbing. It felt like needles were pierced through her ear.

"No..." she wheezed. "Why did you save my life? I... I tried to kill you..."
"Oh, blimey," Chara said, her eyes widening. She fixed them upon the X-shaped scar on Malyutka's shoulder. "You're one of them."
"Who?"
"The killer Viscet pack. I annoyed one of them once, and now they all hate me and keep on trying to kill me."
"Yea, that's the one..." Malyutka shifted her position, and her wounds stung.
"But... You're different."
"Don't tell me. I'm smaller, I'm weaker, I'm-"
"No, no!" Chara shook her head, earnestly. "The others would've killed me right now."
"I would, if I'm not so injured to go on," Malyutka said. Pain surged from her wounds and her muscles twitched, wanting to flinch but being held back by her resolve. "Why did you save me?"
"Er... I dunno. Sometimes, a little kindness can go a long way."
"Kindness?!" Malyutka bared her teeth. This word was in their code, though she never really understood what it meant. "Kindness is weakness!" she recited from her memory of the code, word by word.
"Yea, and I'm the one standing and you're the one lying down," Chara said, sarcastically.
"Touché," Malyutka replied.

Malyutka closed her eyes. The pain rang like a siren in her head. Nobody ever granted her this sort of mercy. The other assassins? They would just leave her to be finished by the cougar. Why would this stranger, who also happened to be her victim, spare her life like this? She also even risked her own life! Her grip on the dagger relaxed. No, she couldn't kill her. Not after what had happened.

"You still alive?"
Malyutka opened her eyes. She saw Chara kneeling next to her. She had a bunch of herbs in one paw and some bandages in the other. "Good, you're still alive. Now, I dunno if you've noticed, but the cougar tore off half of your ear. Stay still. This is gonna hurt a bit, but it's gonna heal you. And would you please put that dagger down? It's making me uneasy." Chara said all this very fast, and Malyutka released her grip on the dagger, not knowing why she did it. Chara reached a paw out and rubbed herbs on Malyutka's torn ear. The pain was immense, but Malyutka remained stoic. Finally, Chara bandaged her torn ear. She was about to bandage Malyutka's other wounds, but she stopped her.

"No, thanks. The assassins are going to ask questions if-" At these words, Malyutka's heart jumped. What would they do if they found out that she had spared her victim? Would they kill her? Would they hunt Chara? What would happen to the deputy?
"You know, why don't you leave? I mean, there are better things to do than kill," Chara suggested.
"I can't," Malyutka said, her tone sharp. However, inside, she felt like moaning. "They'll kill me. They'll kill YOU. They'll... they'll do something bad to the deputy."

"Kill me? Pfft, please! Let them try! I've been outrunning them since many moons ago! You're the only one that actually came close to killing me!" Chara laughed, as if the whole thing was just a funny joke to her. Just a game. "As for you, as long as you don't kill me, you can come with me. I can hide you much better than you think."

"I... I... I really want to," Malyutka said, the idea of it sounding absolutely divine. No more abusive trainings. No more teasing. No more taunting. No more of that disgusting, loathsome lead assassin. "But, the deputy... He's the only one in my life who ever came close to giving me mercy. Every other Viscet would taunt me and abuse me. These scars mostly came from them."
"He can come with us! Or, you know, you could ask him for advice if he's all that swell," Chara suggested.
"You... really think so?"
"Everyone deserves a chance to change. Even you. Many Viscets do and achieve great things through kindness."

Malyutka thought about it. The thoughts churned over and over in her head like a hurricane. The idea of it was so tempting. An escape from the lifetime of torment and pain? Yes, please. Finally, convinced that it was a good idea, she nodded.

"Okay. Let's do it."

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Word Count: 2913 words

Author's Note

I know I've mentioned this in the disclaimer, but I only want to clarify. Chara is NOT a real Viscet. I did try out for a Viscet with the name Chara and roughly the same personality, but I didn't win, so Chara is not real. While there may be other Viscets named Chara (I dunno), this Chara is not based on any of them. In the future, if I find a suitable Viscet, I may be trying out with the name Chara, though.

If I do win Malyutka / find a substitute for Chara before the end date, just letting you know that Chara might be replaced by a real Viscet (though I will really want that Viscet to have the same personality as Chara if I do replace her with a Viscet belonging to someone else).

The reason I used Chara is because I got really attached to her personality (and want to incorporate it into another Viscet), and Chara is simply a placeholder name (though I like it as well).

[ShimmerSolarPets]

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲxxxＳＩＸ

ғʟɪɢʜᴛ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴄᴀᴍᴘ
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The soft rays of dawn appeared from the horizon. The sun crawled upwards into the heavens, slowly, but surely. Malyutka was outlined in the horizon, approaching the sleeping camp in the forest clearing. Days had passed since her encounter with Chara, but she hadn't forgotten what the Viscet said. Her paw closed over the hilt of one of her daggers. It was time to put the plan into motion. She had to do it. The runt of a Viscet slinked into the camp. It was quiet. All the other assassins were asleep. Quickly, Malyutka hurried off to find the deputy's tent. She had to ask him, she had to. There was no way Malyutka would leave him behind, and let him suffer for the choices she made.

Finally, the black Viscet arrived at his tent. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Deputy?" she asked.
Silence. The deputy did not answer.
"Deputy?" she asked, a little louder.
Still no answer.
Malyutka put a paw in front and opened the flap of the tent. Nobody was in there. The black Viscet was taken aback. She had expected the deputy to lie in there, sleeping peacefully and dreaming of all the killing he had succeeded in doing. However, there was nobody there, and it looked like he hadn't been there for days.

"Looking for somebody, Midget?"
Hatred rose from Malyutka's stomach. She recognized that voice. She could recognize it anywhere. Whipping her head around, she clenched the hilt of her dagger tightly. "Where is the deputy?" she asked, coldly.
"Is that how you treat your leader, Worm?" The leader's eyes blazed with anger when he heard her disrespectful tone.
"Where is the deputy?" Malyutka asked again, not bothering to change her tone. Without anyone else around, Malyutka had to focus on the leader. The more she focused on him, the more the loathing rose from deep inside her. Her inner fiery monster reared up its head, growling viciously.
"Have you finished your job, Tiny?" the leader demanded.

Malyutka showed him the bloodstained dagger (conveniently stained by her own already wounded paw, but the leader needn't know that) and some clumps of Chara's fur. He took it in his paws and examined it. An evil grin broke out on the leader's face. It was a kind of an insane, psychopathic grin that Malyutka had never seen before on the leader's brutal, cruel face. A grin that mirrored her own feelings when she's in the middle of a job. A shiver ran up Malyutka's spine; she couldn't help it. However, Malyutka's face was still the stony, cold, emotionless mask as it usually was. She was not going to let him take pleasure in seeing her rather disturbed.

"Yes, yes... This is the pest's fur. THE PEST IS GONE!" he announced. There were heads popping out of tent flaps right after he shouted that. Her fellow assassins were sleepy, and they yawned and rubbed their eyes before registering what the leader had said. Murmurs broke out among all the assassins. Some of them cheered. Malyutka wondered what they were going to do once they found out that she wasn't dead at all.

"You wanted to know where the deputy's gone, didn't you?" the leader asked, his tone relapsing into its usual brutal one. Malyutka nodded.
"He's been captured. He was spotted doing a job. He succeeded, yes, but he was detected. Who knows what the punishment would be?" the leader sneered. "Let's just say... he won't be coming back to us for a long time. He's a skilled assassin, I must admit, but good riddance to him. Taking you into our league. Now that he's been captured, if by some miracle he could return to us sooner than later, well... he won't be returning as a deputy."

The leader snorted, and a cold feeling crept around Malyutka's heart. The deputy was... gone? Malyutka would've cried, if only all those moons of training in the assassin camp hadn't damaged her ability to express emotions. She knew that there was nothing else left for her in this camp. She would be better off far away.

Night crept around the corner. The moon was high in the sky, and everyone had retreated to their tents to sleep. Some others had journeyed out to track down their victims and finish them. Malyutka set her plan into motion. For this, she would need some provisions. She slinked through the night and broke into the armory. There, she found two black paw armors and a black tailpiece, matching the black helmet and black leg armor that she had taken from her victims. Then, she raided the food storage. She was preparing to leave, when suddenly, all the assassins crowded around her.

"Well, well, well," the leader said, in a scornful tone. "Going somewhere, Midget?"
Malyutka bared her fangs, her snaggletooth protruding awkwardly. She unsheathed her two daggers. Everyone drew their weapons, some only using their teeth and claws. The point of the leader's sword was inches away from her chest, and she hastily stepped backwards. "Unwise, Tiny. Unwise. Submit, or... well, I guess all of us are eager for a free kill," the leader sneered. Malyutka suddenly threw the dagger at the leader. The leader had to dodge. In that moment of confusion, Malyutka seized the chance to run.

An explosion of clashes and yells erupted around her. Malyutka had to dodge weapons and sometimes make decoy attempts to strike back. Some weapons hit her armor, but luckily, she was well shielded now. They merely scratched her black armor. She whacked an assassin in the snout with her armored tail, sending him toppling backwards and tripping up a trio of assassins. She could see the edge of the forest coming into view. She was close. Close to freedom, close to everything she had ever wanted. Feeling the dull thuds of weapons banging against her armor, she ran and shifted her position so that weapons would continue to hit her armor instead of her. She knocked an unarmed assassin out of the way, not caring where he landed.

Suddenly, pain seared from her thigh. Malyutka stumbled, and she felt a hind paw knocking her down to the ground. Her dagger fell away from her outstretched paw. She looked to see a bite wound on her thigh and the leader towering over her. "Picked the latter, huh? Funny... This scene reminds me of something..."
Malyutka gritted her teeth, trying to grab her dagger and ignore the pain throbbing in her thigh.
"Ah, yes... She looked like this that night. Pity I didn't get to strike the finishing blow. Well, I'll get to do it on you." The leader chuckled, the insane look in his eyes returning.
"You do realize that running away is hopeless, right? I can always track you down, far better than I could track that pest. Remember that X-shaped scar, the one that looked a bit like part of our symbol? Ah, yes, there it is, on your shoulder. You remember what I used to inflict that punishment on you?"
"Your sword," Malyutka said, between gritted teeth. Her paw groped around for her dagger.
"Yes, my sword indeed. Don't you realize it was enchanted?"

For a moment, Malyutka was taken aback. What did he mean?
"What are you-"
"Ah, yes, Runt. The sword was enchanted by a powerful evil wizard Viscet. Quite cool, too, the enchantment he casted over it. You see, if I were to wound a Viscet with this sword in a pattern similar with the symbol or an important element of it, it would cast a binding enchantment on the Viscet, marking him or her as an assassin of our league. If he or she were to betray us, we could track them down. Not too many times, no. There is a timed break between each tracking spell use. However, know this, Midget" - he licked his lips in a cruel manner - "you will be hunted down by us. You do not want the whole league as your enemy, Worm."
Malyutka didn't care. Her brain was blurred with her desire for freedom and the pain emanating from her thigh. Thinking quickly, Malyutka jerked her hind legs up and kicked the leader. Taking advantage of the confusion again, she grabbed her dagger and darted towards the forest. However, suddenly, right when she was only a paw's reach away from the first tree, the group converged in on her.
"LEAVE HER TO ME!" the leader bellowed, rushing towards Malyutka. A malevolent grin was on his face. "Ah, yes, the kicking trick. Just what your mother did on that night, Tiny."

Those words had an effect on Malyutka. She stopped fiercely fighting off her fellow assassins. For a moment, she froze. Her mother? What did he know about her mother? "What do you.... mean?" Malyutka inquired, narrowing her eyes from behind her black helmet.
"Didn't you know, Midget? Didn't our lovely ex-deputy tell you? Ah, yes, she was a slimy victim, that Viscet. Always meddling, always-"
Suddenly, he was cut off by a ball that sailed right into his face. As soon as it came into contact with him, it exploded into a splatter of goo. Tree sap, by the looks of it.
"AAAAARGH!" he and the assassins shrieked as they were pelted by the tree sap balls. A familiar laugh echoed from somewhere, but Malyutka didn't know where.
"Isn't that the pest?" one of the assassins murmured.
"Is she a ghost?!" another shouted.
"MMMMHHH!" yet another mumbled, trying to get the tree sap out of his face.

Malyutka quickly darted off into the woods, the pain in her thigh seeming like nothing. She didn't know what just happened, but one thing she knew was that Chara had come through. As she dived deeper and deeper into the forest, she heard the faint sound of the leader's yell.

"YOU WILL RUE THIS DAY, WORM! YOU WILL FACE MY WRATH!"

Malyutka kept on running, her legs soon feeling heavy. Suddenly, a familiar Viscet jumped out of the foliage and joined her, still laughing. "Oh man, that was totally good!" she laughed. "Come on, I found a place where we can stay. Keep running, keep running. We'll treat that thigh of yours when we arrive. Follow me!"

Malyutka followed her, her possessions slung over her shoulder and her daggers safely back in her paws. A feeling of elation erupted in her chest. She was free! She couldn't believe it! She was free at last! Or was she? Something haunted her. The leader's words swam in her mind.

"You will be hunted down by us. You do not want the whole league as your enemy, Worm."

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Word Count: 1792 words

[ShimmerSolarPets]

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲxxxＳＥＶＥＮ

ғɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀssᴀssɪɴs
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The black Viscet sat in the run-down, abandoned shack, cleaning her daggers vigorously. It had been weeks since Malyutka' flight from the assassin league, and she had been on the run ever since. She was incredibly grateful that Chara had found her this place. She'd been safe here for a week or two, while Chara went around traveling. Chara was due to be back any day now, and Malyutka was looking forwards to meeting her again. So far, so good. No assassins had come after them. Malyutka was starting to believe that the leader might be bluffing after all.

Malyutka briefly wondered what Chara was doing out there. In many ways, she envied the Viscet. She envied how she could smile and laugh, while Malyutka's own emotions were permanently damaged from a young age. She envied how her body was so clean from scars, and her amazing way of dodging her enemies. Malyutka constantly chided herself for thinking such thoughts. The Viscet had given her lodging and protection. She had saved her life twice, and what had Malyutka ever done for her? She tried to kill her once, that's for sure

Suddenly, the door burst open. Malyutka looked up with a jolt, but slumped back down onto the floor with relief when she saw that it was only Chara. However, Chara did not share her relief. A hunted expression was on her face. "Something wrong?" Malyutka asked in a gruff voice, sheathing her daggers. Chara nodded.
"Yes... Grab your stuff... We've got to run... They're after us... They're after YOU!" she panted. Malyutka's eyes widened a little. Both of them stuffed things haphazardly into their bags, clearing up the shack. Then, they ran out the door.

"Keep running straight ahead. If you come to a path, just cut across it," Chara instructed, between puffs of breath. "I'll catch up to you."
"What?! No! You're coming, too," Malyutka insisted, with a sharp finality to her voice. However, Chara seems to have quite different ideas about her tone.
"No, listen! I've got a plan. Chara always has a trick. Your job is to stay alive."
"What if they catch you?"
"They won't."
"You've no idea what they're like," Malyutka said, darkly.
"I've got no idea? Puh-lease! I've been thwarting them for ages!"

The shouts and yells of their pursuers had caught up to their ears. Malyutka unsheathed one dagger. She was preparing herself to fight her way out of here. Even if it meant taking the life of one or more of her pursuers. Her eyes were focused on the sights in front. She swerved to dodge some trees. Suddenly, arrows started flying towards her. Malyutka sliced some of them out of the air with her daggers. Her yellow and red eyes looked around, finally realizing that Chara had left her. Continuing to run, she tried to throw her pursuers off her tail. There were around five of them. One of them was, unmistakably, the leader of the assassins. Some Viscets jumped out at her. Malyutka slashed the air and trees and everything else around her with her daggers, not knowing nor caring what she hit.

That's when she felt something big and heavy knock her down to the ground. One of her daggers flew out of her paw, and a sword point landed just inches away from her neck. Malyutka's red and yellow eyes came to focus, and realized that it was none other than the leader. He had pounced on her. Malyutka bared her fangs, her snaggletooth sticking out awkwardly. They wrestled on the ground, fighting sword-to-dagger. Miraculously, Malyutka managed to whack the sword away from the leader with her tail. Anger rose from Malyutka's chest. This was it, she's got the upper paw now. Malyutka slashed wildly with her remaining dagger. A feeling of satisfied amusement pulsed inside her, and the muscles around her mouth twitched, wanting to grin. It was always the feeling she felt when she was going to kill someone.

However, looking into the leader's eyes, she realized with a jolt that it was exactly the feeling her leader felt, too, when he was going to kill someone. Was she as insane as the psychopath of a leader after all? In her moment of doubt, the leader slashed her paw. His long, razor sharp claws hit her paw armor, but it knocked the remaining dagger out of her paw. Malyutka snapped back to attention, the fury she felt inside mingling with the twisted desire to kill. She was going to finish this, dagger or not. They slashed and bit. The cacophony of sounds could be heard by the other assassins from the blur of fur, tooth, and claw that was Malyutka and the assassin leader. She felt a huge blow to her head, and found her black helmet knocked off her head. Momentarily dazed, she lashed out at the leader, trying to bite him.

That's when the leader raised a paw and brought the claws down hard on her face. She blinked just in time. She felt pain screaming out from the left side of her face. Malyutka let out a gasp when she found that she couldn't open her left eye for now. With her right eye, she looked up at the towering figure of her leader, sneering in a derisive and amused way at her suffering. "Before I finish you," the leader said. "I'd like to show you something."

Out of her right eye, she saw some assassins dragging someone in. It was Chara, looking beaten up, but no wounds deep enough to scar. She was unconscious. "Your little friend here was caught setting up a trap for us. Naturally, we must dispose of her," the leader continued, placing a paw on Malyutka so that she wouldn't move. Her face was emotionless, but her heart was cold. No... They couldn't kill her. She had risked her life to help Malyutka. A whole and happy Viscet like her had so much potential in life. Unlike Malyutka, who was broken and scarred.
"But, naturally, we should kill her in front of her friend, shouldn't we?" the leader said, breaking into a monstrous grin. He nodded at the assassins to show his approval. They raised their weapons...

...and Malyutka went completely berserk. The livid, writhing monster inside had just burst into flames, hotter and fiercer than she had ever felt in her whole entire life. She pried the paw of her leader off her and pushed him backwards. Then, she lunged at the assassins holding Chara and slammed into them, knocking them backwards. Chara crumpled onto the ground. Malyutka cared not whether she herself lived or died. She was broken and twisted anyways, perhaps even beyond repair, unlike what Chara had always believed. But, Chara had to live. She has her whole life filled with fun and potential; she was whole and happy. Her left eye couldn't see the Viscets rushing towards her. She seized Chara's bag and started throwing all sorts of oddities out her bag: vials filled with smoking potions (who knows where she got those?), sap balls, and many more.

The assassins recoiled at the swarm of things attacking them. The leader kept yelling and shouting, but Malyutka did not hear him. All she heard was the rush of anger and the roaring of her monster inside. She grabbed her daggers and Chara. Then, dragging the unconscious Viscet out of that place, she slashed her daggers or threw items from the bags and ran. As soon as she left most of the assassins behind, she heard the leader shout, "MARK MY WORDS, TINY! WE'LL MEET AGAIN!"

Malyutka cut across the path like how Chara instructed her. The left part of her face was throbbing fiercely, but she did not care. All she cared about was getting free. She had escaped the assassins! Alive! However, suddenly, in the middle of the woods on the other side of the road, Malyutka collapsed. From fatigue and pain. She lay there on the ground, panting hard. Nobody was here to see her exhibit this sign of weakness. Chara was unconscious. However, she stirred. "Ugh... What happened?" she moaned. Then, she gasped when she saw Malyutka lying on the ground.
"What happened to YOUR EYE?!" she shouted.
"SHH! They'll hear you!" Malyutka whispered. She got up and started to run again. Chara followed close behind. Then, both of them jumped into some thick foliage that would obscure them.

"Your eye..." Chara choked out, aghast.
"Don't worry about it," Malyutka said, dismissively. Her face was pulled in a stoic expression that really did not define the pain she was feeling. She took a deep breath. "Look, I- I really appreciate what you've been doing for me. But, if you keep on hanging around me, your life's in danger. More danger than you'll ever know. So... well, there's time to call this mission off and let me wander on my own. I can survive." Her face still exhibited no signs of emotions, but Chara could see the determination and decisiveness in Malyutka's eyes.
"No can do, Maly!" Chara said, stubbornly shaking her head. "Hey, I said I'm sticking to you like a leech, and I'm not gonna go back on that! We'll figure something out, don't worry."
"You have a lot of potential in your life. Do you really want to spend your time helping me, a broken and scarred soul?"
"Aaaaaah, Malyutka. You're not the only one, I've helped, you know. Helping others makes me happy."
"But-"
"DON'T argue with me! I'm not gonna go back on the plan. Period. Deal with it!" Chara said, with a tone of finality that showed that no matter how much Malyutka pleaded, she was not going to change her mind.

Her face was still emotionless, but her right eye (seeing that her left eye was too painful to open right then) gleamed with gratefulness. Malyutka could not express in words how much she appreciated having a friend like Chara. Chara smiled.

"Okay, first of all, we'll get to that refuge. I've got a friend there that can treat that eye of yours. Secondly, I'm gonna go to the nearest village and research on witches, sorcerers, wizards, warlocks, and other magic-users. There's gotta be someone that could remove that tracking enchantment on you. Then... Well, we'll figure it out. I sense that this is the beginning to an amazing adventure, and I wanna be part of it!"

"Chara... Thanks," Malyutka said.
"Don't mention it," Chara said.

The two friends stepped out of the foliage and continued on their way, now that they're confident the assassins had lost track of them. Something light and wonderful was filling Malyutka's chest, despite the throbbing pain of her left eye. However, the assassin leader's words still haunted her.

"You will be hunted down by us. You do not want the whole league as your enemy, Worm."

But, Chara was right. Malyutka realized that this was only the beginning. There are still more chapters to her life laid out ahead. Who knows what kind of pain and hardships she would have to endure next? However, Malyutka was determined to go through that arduous path.

For she would not let her scars tear her down. She would let them remind her of the torture and abuse she had to endure. Perhaps she would sustain more scars in the future. She was trained to fight, and that was what she was going to do.

She's going to fight until the very end.

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Word Count: 1940 words

Author's Note

Aaaand... That's it! Malyutka is still going through and continuously writing the next chapters of her story, striving against the pressures of life. Hope you enjoyed the story, and please forgive me for the sheer length of it.