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If it wasn't for the sudden shout of another hunter nearby, Malachi was quite confident he could have easily killed the bird that he had been poised to shoot. But no, the loud noise had caused the bird to bolt up into the sky, cawing and screeching away and leaving Malachi empty handed and prickling in irritation. How daft some of those other hunters seemed to be. Didn't they understand that they weren't the only ones in the woods? They couldn't just shout around willy-nilly all day long. It didn't help to catch the prey, it only scared them away.

As he lowered his bow, another shout reached Malachi's ears. This one, he noticed, did not hold the same sound as the last. Fear flashed through his body as he froze, his brief frustration darting away. No, it most definitely not.

Malachi did not think twice as he dropped his bow and arrows and raced from the clearing that he had been hunting in. He grabbed his spear quickly which he had previously propped up against a nearby tree. As he darted through the undergrowth the wind whipped at his hair and branches slapped against his face, sending through him brief flashes of pain. Being something he was used due to his rather constant days of running through the forests, Malachi easily ignored them, gritting his teeth as he neared the source of the scream.

He came into the small clearing fast, not daring to slow his speed. A wolf was in front of him, its massive jaws clamped around the foot of a girl who had climbed into a large tree. Although the sight was a gruesome one, Malachi did not need to think twice. Letting out a yell he threw himself towards the brute, spear raised and ready to pierce its sturdy body. Blood pounded in his ears, droning out the sounds around him. He would not let this creature win.

At his shout the wolf had released the girl's leg and had turned to focused it's attention on Malachi instead. Not always a good thing, he realized. "Oh shi - " The wolf lunged, it's jaws open wide as it leaped towards Malachi. With not much else he could do now, Malachi continued running towards the canine. Without hesitation he turned his spear sideways and grasped it with both hands, prepared to use it in order to block the wolf's sharp fangs from piercing into his flesh.

The wolf slammed into him with a fast speed and the sharp impact threw both him and the wolf hurtling towards the ground. Malachi landed on his back with a thud. He felt the air knocked out of him, rendering him unable to react as the wolf pinned him to the ground. Grasping his spear firmer, Malachi shoved it into the wolf's jaws as the creature aimed its muzzle at his head. The wolf crunched down on the wood instead, which caused the handle to begin to splinter and falter in its strength. Malachi gave one more forceful push towards the wolf and the wood snapped in half completely. Now free from the barrier that had previously blocked its aim, the wolf lunged forward, its fangs glinting in the sunlight. It opened its jaws and began to clamp down on Malachi's upper arm. Malachi let out a screech and swung his legs upward, kicking sharply at the wolf's belly. The wolf yelped and released its grip for a moment, allowing Malachi to roll back out of it's range of attack. Despite the pain that throbbed through his arm, he turned to face the wolf, who seemed still up for a fight. This time, Malachi was the one to lunge.

Malachi flung himself against the wolf's side, topping it over towards the ground. The wolf snapped its jaws, clawing at Malachi's side, but the boy growled at it and grasped at its fur. He tore and bit at its flesh, causing the wolf to let out a series of sharp yelps. The fur was mangled and felt horrible as it flooded Malachi's mouth, but without a weapon what else was one to do in defense?

The wolf squirmed helplessly underneath Malachi's attack, but quickly found the power to shove him off. Malachi was sent tumbling across the grass, his open wounds smearing blood across its green surface. The wolf staggered, blood dripping from it's mouth and licked at its muzzle as it locked its eyes on Malachi. 'You lose,' it seemed to say. But Malachi wasn't ready to give up. As the wolf lunged for yet another strike, Malachi waited for it to come. As it leaped into the air, it opened its jaws wide, eyes fixated on Malachi's neck.

It was going for the kill.

The wolf neared closer and its sharp fangs seemed to reach for Malachi's neck. But Malachi had already guessed where this wolf's aim had been and he slid away from the path of its attack just moments before it clamped down on his flesh. The wolf's face made contact with the ground, giving Malachi the time to reach up and grab at its neck. As he pulled it towards him the wolf let out a sharp yelp and fell towards the ground limply on top of him.

The beast was dead.

It seemed as soon as the fight had begun it was already over. Pain shot through Malachi's body as he worked to shove the heavy beast off of him. It was quite a hard task to do after almost getting ripped to shreds by an animal. But soon he was freed from beneath the mangled body, bleeding and panting with exhaustion. His eyes wandered towards the wolf, dead and lying limp on the ground. The boy blinked. The strong yank he had made on the wolf's neck did not kill the animal. No, instead an arrow was lodged into its body, pierced right through its upper torso. Blood trickled from the wound as the wolf stared up into the sky, its eyes foggy and cold.

The arrow had been the killing shot. And it had clearly been made by the girl.

Fear prickled through Malachi's body as he saw her lying in a heap on the ground. She was a bloody mess, her leg wounded up quite badly from the wolf's attack on her. But she seemed to be alive. Thankfully.

Rushing as quickly as one could manage after a bloody fight with a wolf, Malachi hobbled his way over towards the girl. He fell short of his target as he stumbled towards the ground just a few feet from her, his body impacting harshly with the ground. He ground his teeth together, holding in the scream of pain he wished to make and instead dragged his body the few paces he had left in order to reach the girl. When he finally reached her he glanced her over a moment, examining her wounds briefly before tearing off a piece of his sleeve that seemed to be the cleanest part of his clothing. He figured the cloth would stop the bleeding for the time being, but they would need to get something cleaner to wrap the wound with soon.

Malachi began to tie the piece of cloth firmly around the girl's leg, glancing behind him to see if the wolf was truly dead. When he noticed that it hadn't moved a bit since he had heaved it off of him, Malachi decided that it was. Dead as a doornail, as some might have put it. Grinning weakly despite the circumstances, Malachi turned his attention back towards the girl, tightening the knot he was tying on her leg. "Well now... that... was thoroughly... exciting," he commented, letting out a laugh through his heavy gasps. Positivity helped relieve tension, or so Malachi believed. "Most... excitement I've had... all day. And look... it's not even... noon... yet." Malachi took a pause, panting still from exhaustion and pain. He tore off another piece of his sleeve to wrap his own wound. "Quite some bite... you got there. How much pain... are you in? Feeling... nauseous? Woozy?" He bit down on the cloth he was tying to hold it in place as he continued to make his knot. "Nothing at all?" He added with a muffled voice.

Malachi admitted he was a bit surprised when the girl took hold of the cloth he had been steadying in his mouth. He was so focused on his task that he hadn't seen her reach for it. Malachi was about to protest, but the girl had already begun tying the knot before he was able to respond to her actions. Oh well, he supposed. He had tied her cloth, so why not let her tie his? Besides, it was much easier to breath without the cloth barrier stuffed into his mouth. The girl talked while she tied the knot and Malachi grinned at her comments. His panting was less severe now. The pain, not so much. But Malachi figured he would grin and bear it. No use complaining over things you couldn't really change, right? The girl was almost finished with tying the knot by now.

"Hurt me? Oh, I'm sure you won't - " Seems he had spoke too soon. A fresh ripple of pain shot through Malachi's arm as the cloth secured itself in a tight wrap on his arm. Malachi let out a short high pitched yelp. Okay, so much for bearing it. But at least he had managed to keep on grinning. If she brought up the yelp, Malachi decided he would claim it was only made for dramatic effect.

The pain was still present as Malachi allowed his arm to rest across his torso, but he managed to let out a stifled laugh at the girl's comments. "Crazy?" Malachi grinned, "I was thinking more valiant and brave, but I suppose crazy could work too. I'm Malachi Fischer, and, well, I suppose I did just save your life. But hey," He raised his arm up, grimacing because of the pain that shot through it again. "You just saved my arm. Well, sort of." His laugh trembled as he dropped his arm back down in front of him, heaving a sigh as his muscles relaxed again. His eyes darted down to his arm for a brief second before focusing again on the girl. "So tell me, what did you do exactly that caused a wolf to attack you?" He paused for a moment before adding with a small laugh, "And I suppose I would like to know your name as well."

Kaya smiled. "Thanks, your name isn't half bad either," she added with a grin. The wound seemed about forgotten, except for the occasional stab of pain, she felt alright. "You know we could - " but she got no further because she heard a growl coming from somewhere behind her. She whirled around and then let out a yelp of pain as her foot objected to the sudden movement. Was it another wolf? Or maybe even a cougar? A bear?

Her eyes focused slowly, the dots of pain only gradually disappearing and allowing her to see the new arrival. It was a girl. She jumped involuntarily for the girl was quite a horrendous sight. There was an arrow sticking in her stomach after all. "M - Malachi..." She knew who this was. Of course she had heard rumours about some girl who had gone crazy. Her parents had told her about it when she was just a child. She couldn't remember the name of the girl, but she knew that she had changed her name herself.

Kaya gasped and drew her bow, pulling the arrow back on the string, waiting to fire a fatal shot. "Malachi... it's the crazy girl. Don't!" But it was too late. He was trying to talk to her. But he was also blocking her way, her arrow just pointing out beneath his outstretched arm. Was he trying to protect her? "I most certainly will not!" she said in indignation when he told her to stay back. "What? And let you die? You're in no better shape than I am!" Her bow was still stretched taut, her lips shaking as her foot rebelled against the contact with the forest ground. The girl was scary, she looked dangerous... she looked about to kill. And then it dawned on her. The girl did not want Malachi... she wanted her.

Kaya's mouth actually dropped open in amazement when Malachi tried to communicate with the crazy girl. Until she had a name for her, she was going to keep calling her that. "I am not - uh - sure that what you're doing will work," she said to Malachi and a low giggle escaped her throat. She couldn't believe that she was even able to laugh considering the situation. "You!" she said angrily to the girl. "I'll kill you! Back off, this is my turf." She did not know what made her say it. But she felt that the girl was intruding upon her territory and she was not about to give it away.

OOC: Malachi is fine, haha =) He does talk a bit, but Kaya doesn't mind! She's not the type to be a damsel in distress, so she doesn't take kindly to him telling her to stand back ^-^ this should be interesting.

So maybe my plan would have proved to be a failure, fine. Maybe it was impossible to reckon with a girl as crazed as the one before us. But come on, at least I had tried to be nice to her. I didn't even understand what Kaya was trying to do. Entice the girl to attack us? Well, it was probably working. Her "plan" was much more like death wish rather than a recipe for survival. Yeah, definitely a death wish.

"Kaya, what the heck are you doing?" I did not let my vision falter from the girl in front of me. No way was I taking my eyes off of her. I didn't want to take my chances. "You're not helping this situation..."

I trailed off as a shudder wracked through my body. The sounds coming from this girl were disturbing. Were they even from this earth? I wasn't totally sure, but I kind of doubted it. I'd never heard anyone make such growls and hisses before in my life. All were so utterly terrifying.

She took another step forward. I scooted back. No way was I letting this girl close to me. No way was I going to die. She grabbed at her head for a brief moment. Was she struggling? Maybe. Quite possibly. Perhaps she was trying to decide which of us to eat first. I kind of hoped she would choose Kaya, though that would have been a waste of me saving her from that wolf if she did.

Instinctively I reached for my spear. My hand hit only ground. Great. Too bad I had to break my weapon back while wrestling the wolf. So I reached for the next best thing - a piece of sharp stick lying beneath the tree Kaya and I were seated under. It wasn't a spear - no, definitely not. But it would have to do.

I was distracted when the girl jumped. Well, pounced was more like it. Or sprung up from the ground like a rabbit. Nah, more like a tiger. Whatever her movement had been, she was now hurtling towards us. Her blood curling scream reached my ears and I let out a surprised shriek in response. Without thinking I felt my legs begin to push themselves away from her line of target. My instinct for survival swarmed my brain. I had saved Kaya once and it had been my choice to do so. But this was not my choice. As far I knew it, now it was every man for himself. But I guessed if she needed saving, I could always use my stick or something to throw at the girl in defense.

Pfft, like a stick would really help me win in a fight.