"You let her get away!"

A punch was thrown, but I avoided it. I pushed the shorter boy away and he fell back several steps. He wiped away at his eyes, teeth clenched and breathing heavy. He made to come at me again until a hand fell over his shoulder.

"Hey, man, cool it. We don't know what was going through Foxy's head at the time. You can't just—"

"I saw it!" Mutt shouted, shoving aside Stallion's hand. He charged at me, and I sidestepped him, keeping my foot exposed so he would trip over and fall.

Mutt stayed on the floor, his hands curled into tight balls. "I saw you, Foxy. You let the witch live. You betrayed us!"

"I didn't do shit." I walked until I could meet his hateful glare. "She was going to nuke herself if I got too close. She said it would be enough to catch all of us in it. I wasn't about to—"

"Liar!" he shouted, jumping up to his feet in a flash. He had me pinned to the wall in the next second, brown pits of hate boring into me. "Don't lie to me, Foxy!"

Stallion came up to him again. "Maybe we all just need to cool our heads for a second," he was saying as he reached out his hand. Mutt smacked it away, and a loud snap bounced around the near empty basement. Stallion let out a single shout before pulling the limp appendage against his chest.

            Mutt released me and turned to his friend not a moment later, hopping on one leg towards him. "Stallion, I'm sorry—"

"Forget it," Stallion said, smiling even as he winced. "We've all had it a little rough today. How's about we continue this upstairs? Fawn said we'll be having tea this time, maybe we can sort things out with clearer heads once everyone's nerves have settled a bit."

Mutt lowered his head and mumbled an "Okay". When Stallion shifted his attention to me, I offered him a simple nod.

"Good," the big familiar said with a nod of his own. He winced again as he reached down with his better hand and picked up Mutt's discarded cane. The Quincy cane. "Need some help getting up the stairs?" he asked as he handed the walking stick to its new owner.

"No, I'm fine," Mutt said with a quick shake of his head. His eyes fell back to his friend's hand as the two began to walk towards the stairs. "I really am sorry about your hand."

"It's nothing to sweat over." Stallion held up said hand while he let the other hover over Mutt's back as the two slowly ascended. "We heal fast, remember? I'll be right as rain in a few minutes."

"Doesn't mean I didn't hurt you."

"I know you didn't mean it." Stallion's hand came to rest on Mutt's back when the two reached the top of the stairs. "Just like I know you don't really mean what you said to Foxy. We're all in this together. He wouldn't intentionally do something that would put any of us at risk."

I flinched when they both turned around to look down at me. Mutt's face a distorted mess of bruises and breaks, Stallion with larger than normal black eyes, devoid of all emotion and thought.

"You coming, Foxy?"

"You gonna sleep all night, kid?"

Red embers were fading in the pitch blackness. Eyes glinted from high above, the body they were attached to cloaked in the cover of night. They peered down on me and I felt trapped by their stare. I couldn't move a muscle save for pulling the warm skins tighter around me.

"You'd think, after all we've been through, sleep would be the last thing on your mind."

"It helps the healing process," I answered, finding my voice after a few coughs. "Sometimes, if we're hurt bad enough, we don't have a choice."

"And? How are you feeling? Good enough to move?" The eyes moved away from me and in the direction of a hunched over figure who was tearing into a pile of meat and bones. "Your new blanket had meat attached to it. If I were you, I'd eat some before your friend devours it all."

I nodded as I sat up. My body tensed at the dull flares rising up from my ribs, but that's all they were now. Muted aches and hollow pain. Echoes of how I was almost split in half a few hours ago.

"I wasn't going to eat it all," Mutt said with a full mouth as I kneeled beside him. "I was going to save you some."

I nodded again. "I appreciate that, Mutt."

The meat of whatever creature Wolf had slaughtered was still hot. I could imagine steam rising when I gripped and teared off chunks. All I could taste was blood when I chewed and swallowed. Bitter memories threatened to surface as I consumed the raw meat, but it was easy to push them aside. I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten something. It felt like years.

As we ate, howls broke through the quiet night. They were long, sorrowful, and more answered back somewhere in the distance. I didn't have the right eyes to see much. Just dirt, grass, and the occasional tree. We had traveled far in just a short time. Far enough to put the lifeless swamp behind us. Far enough to be on edge at every new sound, sight, or smell.

"Foxy's getting his strength back," Wolf called out to us. "We need to work out our next move."

            "Do you hear her yet, Foxy?" Mutt asked me. "Is your Master calling for you?"

            I swallowed before shaking my head. No, I hadn't heard her. Not once since leaving my dream. She was either too far away, or didn't care enough to try and call me back to her.

            Or she was dead.

            "My Master is still calling for me," Mutt said, turning away from the red corpse. "She is looking for Lady Louise. If we find her, we can find your Master, too."

            "More witches? I don't think Foxy and I are too keen and more run-ins with those psychopaths."

            Leaves crunched and the very air seemed to warm as Wolf stepped up behind us. Mutt spun around to face him, a growl rising up his throat. He immediately relaxed when I placed a hand on his shoulder, but I felt his eyes on me again. Wide. Full of worry.

            "Our Masters aren't like the Hunter and that girl," I said. I tore free another piece of meat, but couldn't summon the will to eat anymore. So it sat there in my clenched hand, bleeding and pulsing, dripping down the length of my arm. "Familiar's like me and Mutt are linked with them. If they wanted, they could find us no matter where we are."

            Maybe that was a lie. Maybe, if we stayed far enough away, they couldn't find us or hold sway over us. But that just meant a life of running. Always looking over shoulders. Always bracing for the moment we would turn on each other.

            "Then, what if we found them? What if we took them out of the picture?"

            Mutt tensed, but I kept my hand locked on his shoulder. I refused to meet the eyes that searched my face so forcefully.

            "When we get too close, they can make us do whatever they want with just a word. As our Masters, we hold no power over them."

            "So, it's lucky you have me, right?" A flash of white, pointed teeth joined the gleaming eyes. "I have no Master. I have the power you need to get rid of them."

            Mutt stood up and I joined him, another grip on his arm. I couldn't avoid the eyes then, still searching. Still struggling to make sense of what he was seeing.

            "Foxy," Mutt said, his voice small, uncertain, "No."

            "This needs to happen," I pressed, squeezing his arm and shoulder. "You almost killed Kat back there. I almost killed you! And it's all because of our Master's. With them out of the way, we can be real friends again. You see that, right? With them gone, we can live our own lives."

            Mutt closed his eyes and shook his head. He tried to pull his arm away, but I held firm. "That's stupid," he said as tears started to brim from his eyelids. "My Master cares about me. She takes care of me. And I take care of her too! How can you say that stuff, Foxy? Your Master cares about you, too. How can you talk about killing her?"

            "They don't care about us!" I hissed, now glaring into Mutt's shut eyes, willing them to open. "Back at the mansion, your Master threw you aside so she could escape. She left you behind to die so she could live!"

            Mutt's eyes opened, and I was met with their burning intensity before a vicious shove knocked me off my feet and into the dirt ground.

            "Hey!" Wolf snarled, his almost formless body moving through the darkness towards the boy. Mutt jumped back, balancing on his one foot, but looked ready to meet the great beast's claws with his fists.

            "Stop!" I shouted before the two could meet. I jumped up and ran in between them, keeping Wolf at my back while facing the still glowering brown eyes of my friend. "Mutt, don't do this. You're acting irrational—"

            "You don't know anything!" Mutt shouted. He wobbled on his one leg, but managed to keep his balance. He sucked in deep breaths and sniffed as more tears dripped down his face. "Master was scared. She thought she lost Shepherd because of you and that she was gonna lose me too. She doesn't have family like Lady Louise has. All Master has is me and Shepherd, and you're trying to take that away from her."

            "You're my family, Mutt." I stepped closer, but he braced himself, as if ready to attack, so I stopped. "I care about you more than that witch ever could. You care about me too, right? That's why you're here."

            Mutt wiped his eyes, but fresh drops replaced them. He held my glaring with one just as severe. "Your Master needs you too. You need to do your job. You need to stop messing everything up."

            "Mutt—"

            "Give it up, kid. You aren't going to get through to him," Wolf whispered. "His mind's made up. I think we should just—"

            "Shut-up!" I roared without turning around. Instead, I took the few steps needed to reach Mutt. I dodged the few punches he sent my way and caught him before he could fall over. We both fell to our knees instead, me still holding him and suddenly crying. My body shaking as I held the small boy close to me.

            "Please," I said through new coughs. "You don't know what I've been through to get you. I need you to be on my side. I need your help."

            Mutt didn't return my embrace. His body remained limp in my arms and he didn't move until I let go. Then, he only scooted away on his backside a few feet so I could see the smile and the eyes that were no longer stained.

            "You have to let go of the past, Foxy. You have to let go of me. You have a Master now and a family who needs you. We need to do a better job than last time."

            In the absence of Mutt, I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face in my knees. The desire to cry was passing, but in it's place I only felt cold and empty. Alone.

            "You can try to run, but you won't get far," Wolf said, stepping up beside me. "You can try to fight me, but you won't win. The only way you get out of this alive is if you take us to your Master."

            "Wolf, stop," I said without looking up. "If Mutt wants to leave, we aren't going to try and stop him."

            "But, kid, this might be your one chance—"

            "I said no." I met the glinting eyes so he would know I was serious. "And if you want me to stick around, you'll listen to me."

            The eyes hovered over me for a few seconds more before finally looking away.

            "I'll take you to her."

            Wolf and I both looked over to Mutt simultaneously. He had not moved from his position sitting on the dirt floor mere feet away. He met Wolf's eyes, "But you won't kill Master, Shepherd and I won't let you." Then he met mine, "I'll show you how much your Master still needs you. You'll see how I do."

            "Hey, I'll be on my best behavior as long as that's what Foxy wants." Wolf nudged me with one of his claws when I didn't respond. When I looked up, his big head was almost all I could see. "You got me out of that nightmare. Let me help get you out of yours. There's still other familiar's you gotta try and save, yeah?"

            I nodded for the third time that night as I stood up. Mutt tensed up again when I walked over to him, but, after a moment's pause, took the hand I extended to help him stand.

It didn't take long to find a stick sturdy enough to support him, and soon we were on the move again, leaving the dying fire and remains of meat behind.

            A series of howling picked up again. I felt the warm presence of Wolf as he walked just behind me, whispering in the dark corners of my mind. 

            "And, worst comes to worst, we won't let a witch get in your way."

...

*Author's Note*

Even when not fighting for his life, Foxy still struggles with his own desires and those of his friends. Is what Mutt is saying truly how he feels, or is he simply the mouth piece for someone who controls his life?

Whatever you all think, there is never an easy answer. This is far from the last hard decision Foxy will have to make if he wants to achieve his ideals.