Uni's POV
Cory and I had been running for 2 hours straight, but it felt like days. Neither of us had spoken the the whole time. I'd been running infront of Cory most of the time. I was running blindly (No pun intended ;) , and I had no idea which way I was going. All I knew was that I was running away from Rocka, away from Graser, and that was enough to keep me going. Yet, I was drowning in my own guilt, and the silence had only helped me think. Im such a coward.. I thought sadly to myself. 7 people had died simply because I was to scared to face Graser... He had almost killed Cory aswell... All because of me. I was even running now! I was so deep in thought that I forgot to sense with my feet, and I ended up tripping over a log that was infront of me. I hit the ground with a thud, and groaned in pain.

I heard Cory stop beside me, "Maybe we should stop here." Cory said, he was panting heavily, and so was I. I sat up, "N-No, we have to keep going..." I huffed. Cory reached his hand out, and I took it. He pulled me to my feet, and said, "No Uni, we don't. We're far away from Rocka. And we need to rest. That Graser guy won't find us here, I know it." I stayed silent. Hearing Cory say the name that I've dreaded hearing for ten years, hurt. I simply nodded. "Ok, let's go." Cory said, and I heard him walk forward. I hesitantly followed Cory forward, following the vibrations of his steps, and the sound of his heavy breathing.

After a few moments of walking I heard Cory stop walking, and I did the same. "Ok, this place looks promising." Cory murmured. I sensed that we were in a small clearing, and I sighed. This is gonna be hard... I thought to myself, knowing that Cory would questione me here. Cory walked forward, and I followed, and
soon enough he sat down. He leaned his back against a tree, and I sat beside him and did the same. There was a few moments of silence between us, then I heard Cory turn his head to look at me. "Uni, can you start explaining now?" He questioned.

I sighed, and turned my head to Cory. "O-Ok, but I can't tell you everything, but i'll tell what im comfortable with telling you." I said, my voice a bit strict. Cory nodded, "That's good enough for me." He murmured. I hesitated before beginning "Okay, umm...Well, Graser and I have a....Interesting, to say the least, history..." I began slowly, "When I was young, nine to be exact, Graser...He took everything from me. And he killed my parents right infront of me eyes. And that's a curse, because that's the last thing that I ever saw." I continued, Cory looked at me intently, and I could tell he was hooked on every word. "Go on..." he muttered. "Well, then he...Cursed me... He cursed me so that I could never open my eyes again, for reasons that I won't name." I said slowly, "He thought that I would die because of the curse, but I didn't. I found an enchantress, and she gave me this special blindfold." I continued, shaking slightly as the horrible memories resurfaced, "Graser became enraged when he found out that I had survived, and began to hunt me down. So I ran back to the enchantress, and she told me to go into the forest, because my destiny awaited there. And she also dyed my hair blue, so that it'd be harder for Graser to identify me. And that's the forest that I met you in... So now I guess Graser is still hunting me, even after all this time." I finished quietly.

Cory was silent for a few moments, and I was nervous about what he was going to say. "I know you're mad at me, Cory..." I murmured. Then Cory spoke, "I'm not mad, Uni. If that had happened to me, I wouldn't talk about it either. And Uni, whatever is happening right now, we can face it together, just like we've always done, side by side, 'til the end." Cory said softly. "But I've been endangering you for ten years now, and you didn't even know!" I wailed quietly. Cory chuckled lightly, and I looked at him in confusion, "Uni, we've faced everything together, and im not going to leave you now. I'll always be here. I don't care about the past, what matters now is what we're going to do now." He said softly. I smiled at him, then we both froze. A growl had been heard through the bushes infront us.

We stayed silent for a moment, then Cory whispered, "Y-You heard that to, right?" He stuttered, and I nodded slowly, patting my feet quietly on the ground to try to get a read on whatever was stalking us. But before I could figure out what it was, it burst through the brush infront of us with a loud growl. Cory gasped and jumped to his feet, and I followed him. "What is it!?" I questioned in a hushed whispered. Cory fearfully answered, "I-It's a Planchazo..." he murmured fearfully. I gasped quietly. Planchazos are bad news. They are extremely dangerous, and will kill without a second thought. They are sometimes known as 'Howlers' as well. They are giant wolf-like creatures, except they are 3 times bigger than a grown man, and they have rock-like spikes protruding out of their shoulders. And this one was black in coloration, and its spikes shone a dark grey color. It suddenly let out a loud howl/growl sound, and Cory and I screamed in response.

Cory suddenly grabbed my arm and began running left, running through the entrance that we came through. I followed him quickly, and when he was sure I was behind him, he let go of my arm and let me run on my own. I jumped slightly as I heard the creature howl and begin chasing us. I knew it was faster then us, but my adrenaline allowed me to run with incredible speed. It was hard to sense possible obsticles infront of me when the whole ground was vibrating from the giant wolf running behind us. I was keeping up well with Cory, when suddenly the worst case scenario happened. While I was running, I felt something wrap around my leg, and sharp, thick spikes stick into my leg, through my pants. I gasped loudly as I fell on the ground on my stomach. I tried to get up, but I just kept getting more tangled up in the spikey plant. I growled in anger as I realized that I was tangled up in a bramble vine. You stupid... I growled angrily as I tried to untangle myself, hearing the bigger creature approach.

Cory's POV
Uni was running behind me, when I suddenly heard him gasp, followed by a small thunk. And I quickly looked behind me to check on him, but I gasped as I saw him on the ground. I quickly stopped running and turned around to look at him. Under further inspection, I realized that Uni was tangled up in a bramble vine. The thorny vines were wrapped around him leg, and the more he tried to get out, the more tangled up he became. And he sensed me stopped, and looked in my direction, then he gestured for me to keep running. "Just go, Cory!" He yelled. I was taken aback, "Are you crazy!? Im not leaving you here!" I yelled back. Then the creature came into view behind Uni, it was just walking now, but it was walking quickly, and when it saw Uni laying on the ground, it picked up speed. Uni looked back at it, then his head turned to me, "Please, Cory! Go!" He pleaded, and even through his blindfold I could tell that he was terrified. "No!" I telled, and ran towards Uni. I stopped beside him, and kneeled down next to him. I began pulling at the brambles, yearning for then to release their tight grip on Uni. "What are you doing!? Run you idiot!" Uni yelled. "I'm NOT leaving you here, Uni! Either we both make it out, or neither of us do!" I yelled in response.

My hands were bleeding in some places from the spikes stabbing me, but the brambles were barely moving. I decided, hesitantly, to look up, to see how close the monster was. So I slowly looked up, and froze as I saw that the Planchazo was standing only two feet away from Uni and I. It's teeth were bared, and it was ready to attack. I began ripping harder at the brambles, but I was still barely making any progress. Then, I looked back at the Planchazo, and stood up. I stood protectively over Uni, and prepared myself to be attacked. The creature creature prepared to leap at me, and I shut my eyes, bracing for the impact, but nothing came. So I slowly opened my eyes, but I froze in shock at what I saw.

There was someone standing protectively infront of me. I coudn't see his face, since he had his back to me. He was wearing a brown trenchcoat-like thing on, and I could see that he was wearing dark brown fingerless gloves, and he was holding a machete. His hair was red, brown, and gold color, like a fox. But most noticably, he had a thick, beautiful, cat tail protruding out the back of his trenchcoat. A....neko? I questioned myself. I watched as the neko took a step closer the the creature. "Hey beastie. Looks like you found new toys." He said to the beast. "Well, how about you play with me?" The neko continued, "I like to play..." he then muttered darkly.

Then, as quick as lightning, the neko jumped at the beast, slashing it on the shoulder with his machete. The creature let out a pained howl, then growled at the neko, its gaze burning with hatred. The neko stepped back, "Oh, you didn't expect to get a fight now, dud ya?" The neko teased, then once again lunged at the Planchazo. But this time, the creature was prepared. It snapped its huge jaws at the neko, barely missing his arm. The neko dodged it, and landed on the ground next to the creature, "That cut it a little close, beastie." The neko said through bared teeth. I turned away from the fight, and began to try to release Uni once more, "Who's here?" Uni questioned me nervously. "It's a neko, he's fighting the monster." I explained quuckly. "Wait Cory, why don't you cut me free with your knife?" Uni suddenly exclaimed. I gasped, and facepalmed angrily, "Im SUCH a moron!" I growled. Uni nodded, "Yeah yeah, just PLEASE get me outta here!" He pleaded. I nodded and pulled my knife out, and quickly began cutting the brambles that trapped Uni.

Uni was almost out when I heatd the creature wail in pain. I stopped cutting for a moment, and looked up. I was suprised when I saw that the creature had several gashes on it, including a deep gash right on its eye. It's ears were back angrily, then it backed up slowly and retreated into the woods with a whimper. The neko was panting tiredly, vut he didn't seem to be hurt. I quickly looked back down and cut the last few brambles off Uni. Then I helped Uni sit up, and looked back up at the neko. He was still facing the opposite direction as us, but the he turned around. I was suprised to see that he wore a bright yellow smiley mask. It's mouth was opened happily, and its eyes looked right. The mask only covered half of his face though, you could still see a small bit of his nose, and you could see his whole mouth. He also had big cat ears coming out of the top of his head, and they were the same color as his hair a tail.

He stood above us then a small smile formed on his face, and he offered me a hand. "Are you guys alright?" He asked kindly. I looked at his hand for a moment, then hesitantly took it, and he quickly pulked me up. I turned away from him and helped Uni up. Then I turned back to the neko, "Yeah...we're fine. Thanks to you." I said quietly to him. He nodded,then looked up at the sky, "Nightfall's coming..." he murmured. Then he looked back at us, "You can stay at my place tonight, it's dangerous out here at night." Ge said to us, and began walking away. I watched him walk away, and Uni didn't move either. "Can we trust this guy?" Uni whispered to me. I sgrugged, "Im not sure..." I murmured. The neko paused before he disappeared into the brush, realizing that we weren't following him. He turned back to us abd sighed, "Look guys, I know that it's hard to trust me right now, you don't even know my name, but right now you have to trust me. Because you have two choices at the moment, follow me or get killed tonight by the beasts that lurk in this forest at night." He explained simply. Uni and I were both silent, then Uni sighed in annoyance, "Fine." He murmured, then began to walk towards the neko. I followed hesitantly, and the neko smiled and began walking again, us follwing carefully behind.

"This is the place." The neko announced as we approached a cave. We had been silently walking for about 10 minutes now. The neko turned towards us, "Come in in, I have to block the door." I looked at him in confusion, "Block the door...?" He looked at me for a second before gasping, "Oh, sorry! I should have specified. This forest is dangerious, so I pull a lavender bush infront of my cave entrance every night to hide my scent." He explained. "Okay..." I murmured skeptically, walking slowly into the cave. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything. I didn't know what to do, then I felt someone grab my hand, I stiffened for a moment, then I realized it was Uni. He gently pulled he through the darkness, then he stopped walking and sat down. I jumped at the sudden sound of something being pulled against stone, and for a few moments, that was all that coyld ve heard, then silence. I wondered where the neko was, then suddenly a fire was lit in the middle of the cave, eliminating everything. The neko stood next to the fire, assuring that it wouldn't burn out, and I looked around. We were in a small cave, yet it was a a few meters wide and long, not to cramped, and not to big. I glanced at Uni, "You're really good at navigating through the darkness, Uni." I whispered to him. Uni shrugged, "Well, I guess it's normal for me." He murmured, and I nodded. In response. We were sitting on the ground against the back of the cave. Everyone was silent, the only noise was the crackling of the fire. I heard Uni sniff the air, then he broke the silence by asking, "Uh, how do you keep the smoke from filling the cave?" The neko looked at him, "oh, there's a whole in the roof, so I build the fire under it so that the smike has a place to go." He explained while gesturing towards the roof. Uni nodded, "That's kinda interesting."

Silence once again filled the cave, then the neko said, "Im Tommy by the way... What are your names?" He questioned curiously. We hesitated before answering, "Im Cory." "Im Uni." Tommy nodded, "Nice to meet you Cory, Uni." He said quietly. "So, what were you doing in the woods, Tommy?" Uni questioned curiously. Tommy shrugged, "Well, if it isn't evident enough, I live here." Tommy answered simply. "Yeah, but I thought nekos traveled in groups and stuff." Uni pressed. Tommy shifted uncomfortably at the statement, "Well, I don't." He murmured. "Why?" Uni continued. Tommy seemed to be getting annoyed at tge questions, "Well...Enough questions. Tge real question is what were YOU doing in these woods." Tommy countered. Uni stayed quiet, "How do we know we can trust you? Because you certainly don't seem to trust us." Uni said. Tommy chuckled, "What do you expect me to do? Tell the non-existent people your secrets?" Tommy joked, then gestured at his mask, "And doesn't this just spell trust issues?" He continued. Uni nodded, "I suppose..." Then Tommy leaned a bit towards Uni, "Can you even see through that blindfold?" He questioned curiously. Uni shook his head, "Can you see out of that mask?" Tommy looked down, "Yeah, and how do you know about my mask if you can't see?" Uni shrugged, "I have my ways." Tommy scoffed, "Wow, so much elobaration." He joked.

Then Tommy questioned again, "What were you doing in the forest?" I looked at Uni, "Maybe Uni should tell you that." I said. Uni sighed, then told Tommy what he had told me, and Tommy seemed very interested in every word. And when he was done, Tommy nodded silently, then questioned, "What were you doing visiting Rocka?" His voice was curious, yet he sounded like he was expecting us to say something. I sighed, "Well, neither of us really have a place to call home, so we've been traveling around, looking for a place that we can be accepted." I murmured. Tommy nodded, "Same here...except I quite looking a long time ago." He said quietly, his voice had a sad tint to it. Then he changed the subject, "Where do you plan to run to? Because it sounds like this Graser guy is gonna find you wherever you go." Tommy said. Uni stayed silent, then said, "Before my mom died, she told me that if I survive, If Graser finds me, to run to a certain place, and it'll explain all..." he murmured. Tommy and I looked at him in confusion, "What place?" Tommy questioned. Uni looked at us, "It's called Destino. She told me that I would know the way, if I really needed to find it." Uni murmured. I nodded slowly, "That sounds cool." Tommy agreed, "Yeah, sounds righteous." He said, but his voice was hiding something. I looked at him sympathetically, "What's wrong?" Uni questioned before me. Tommy frowned, "You guys are lucky. It seems like your lives were written out for you, and your destiny is already fortold... But I don't even have a darn purpose." He murmured.

I frowned, "That's not true Tommy. I may not have known you for long, but I know that you're an amazing fighter, and you're smart. And those are pretty good factors." I said to him. Tommy looked at me, and smiled slightly, "Thanks. I really hope you guys find what you're looking for." He said quietly. I glanced at Uni, and he seemed to be thinking deeply about something, then he looked at Tommy, a smile on his face. "You should join us on our quest!" He then exclaimed happily. Tommy looked taken aback, "Really? I don't think im cut out for an adventure like that though...And I already know that there isn't a place for me..." Tommy muttered. Uni frowned, then turned his head right at Tommy, "Tommy, you're like us, you've never had a chance to belong somewhere. You've never had a chance to grow. People have pushed you down as low as you can go, and they've broken you. We're broken to. But you know what the good thing about being broken is? You can get fixed. And you get so much more respect when you're fixed, because people can tell how strong you are. And Tommy, you ARE strong. And there's a place for you, somewhere, there's a place for everyone. And you can't give up on that place. So, will you join us?" Uni questioned again, holding his hand out, waiting for Tommy to accept. Tommy was still for a moment, then he chuckled lightly, "You dinkweeds don't give up, do you?" He said, then he grabbed Unis hand, "Im in." I smiled, and put my hand on their hands. Uni smiled brightly, "We'll leave at dawn."

A/N word count: 3451 THIS LITERALLY TOOK THREE HOURS TO WRITE!!!!! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!!! GAH, IT'S LIKE 11:40 PM, AND I STARTED WRITING THIS AT 8:33 PM!!! IM GOING TO BED NOW, I HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY/NIGHT!!!! AND GOODBYE PEEPS!!!!