{"sf1_id":586403,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 22","author":"Abyssa","words":5416,"posted_at":"2013-09-06T06:25:00.000Z","tags":["Anthro","Fantasy","Gay","Human","Magic","Male","Phoenix","Relationships","SkyFall","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/586403-skyfall-chapter-22","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/586403","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=586403\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"22\n  I\nfelt myself sink back into the prison of my body. I could feel Misha lying on\ntop of me. Carefully, I opened my eyes, and saw that he had fallen asleep.\n  I remained numb to the current\ncircumstance as my body squirmed beneath his dead weight. As I slowly became\nmore conscious, I tried to assure myself that everything was fine, but it was\nhard to fight the feeling of panic.\n  My movements caused Misha to\nstir. He propped himself up over me with his arms. The moment was blurred, as\nif I were recalling some kind of nightmare. I looked up to his face but I\ndidn't see him, all I could see was the image of his younger, innocent self. It\nwas difficult to imagine them as the same person. I still felt dizzy and\ndistant from reality. Shaking my head, I blinked several times to try and clear\nmy thoughts. \n  \"It's late. I should get to\ndinner.\" Misha said as he pet my face. His blurred face shifted into focus as\nhe asked me, \"Are you hungry?\"\n  \"It's all a game, two-fifty-seven.\" Hale's voice echoed in my\ntormented mind as Misha's face became clear. \"Give and take.\"\n  It was all a game. I just needed\nto start playing. \n  \"Decipher?\" Misha asked. \n  He didn't deserve to say my\nname. I narrowed my eyes. \"Yeah, Misha.\" I lied, \"I am hungry.\" \n  He nodded as he got off of me,\nsliding his hand down my torso one last time. He retrieved his clothing, and I\nwatched his fragile figure move as he slipped his coat back on. It would be so easy to snap him in half...\nMy mind became hopeful at the thought as I slipped on my own black shorts. I\ndidn't bother with a shirt.\n  \"By the way, thanks for that,\nDecipher.\" He said, avoiding my eyes.\n   His\nwords tormented me only for a moment. I pulled my lips back and bore my teeth.\nHe wasn't expressing gratitude. He knew what he was doing. He was playing the\ngame far better than I was. I decided not to dwell on the thought. In the end,\nI would figure out a way to win, and that was all that mattered.  \n  \"Shall we go?\" He asked, turning\nto face me again.\n  \"Sure.\" I said, shoving past him\non my way out the door.\n  We\narrived in the dining hall just in time for the late session of dinner. I\npicked up a chunk of meat from one of the trays and tossed it on to a plate. I\nwasn't paying attention to what Misha was doing. I decided to treat him like a\nstray animal that was following me around; he was certainly acting like one. I\nnoticed Caliber across the room and wandered over towards him.\n  He was carrying his guard\nhelmet, and his armor was covered in dust and mud. I assumed he had just come\nback from the field. He looked exhausted.\n  I made my way over to him as he\nsank down at an isolated table in the corner of the room. I was dying to talk\nto him. I knew it wouldn't be possible to have an in-depth discussion right\nnow, but I wanted to at least say hi.\n  \"Decipher!\" He said, smiling\nweakly as he looked up at me. \"It's good to see you up.\"\n  I glanced behind me to see Misha\nstill picking out food, and then turned back to Caliber. \"I need to talk to\nyou. I have so many questions.\" I whispered quickly. \"When are you free?\"\n  \"I don't think I have the\nanswers, Decipher.\" He said, leaning back against the wall as he glanced at\nMisha with a sigh. \"You know better than I do.\"\n  I sighed. He wasn't going to\ntell me much. \"Were you there the entire time?\" I asked as Misha approached us.\n  Caliber shook his head. \"I was\nthere when I needed to be, but that's pretty much it. I'm sorry I couldn't do\nmore.\" \n  Misha took a seat next to me. I\nturned my focus onto my food and tried to ignore him. I took a few bites as\nMisha and Caliber exchanged forced greetings. It was apparent that Caliber was\nuncomfortable. \n   \"It's not your fault.\" I mumbled to\nCaliber after a few moments. He didn't reply.\n  After a few moments, Caliber\ndismissed himself and went to get food, and I was left alone at the table with\nMisha. I inhaled deeply as I leaned back and stared at Misha. \n  \"Misha.\" I began. \n  He seemed to be startled as I\nspoke to him, and set his fork down to listen to me. This is good. I thought. He\nwon't be expecting this...\n  \"Do I need to speak with Hale?\"\n  \"Hale's gone for a bit.\" Misha\nsaid with a shrug as he continued to eat. He seemed to be relieved. \"I think he\ngets back tomorrow. I'm sure he'll summon you to his office eventually, but\ndon't worry about it for now.\" He said. I continued to stare at him, and my lip\npulled up in a strange smile. \n  I glanced at Caliber as he\nreturned and sat across from me. He didn't seem to want to, but I think he\nwanted to support me. I turned and glared at Misha again, who was finishing his\nlast bite of food.\n  \"I have to get back to the lab...\"\nHe said as he began to gather his dishes.\n  \"Before you do, I have another\nquestion.\" I said before he could leave. He stopped and turned to look at me.\n  \"Sure, what's up?\" \n  \"What made you Hale's bitch?\" I\nasked in a surge of bravery. Caliber nearly choked on his drink, and slammed it\ndown to stare at me with wide eyes. I felt bad that Caliber was going to be\nexposed to this, but I didn't have time to ask him to leave. I had to say what\nI needed to say while I had the strength. \n  \"What has he ever done for you?\"\nI continued as I ignored Caliber, who was shaking his head and pleading with me\nto shut up, \"Besides kill and destroy those you love, of course.\" \n  \"What?\" Misha snapped.  \n  \"Oh don't worry about me causing\ntrouble; he'll kill me soon, too.\" I said, holding up my hands with a grin,\n\"You love me, right? You think Hale's going to let you keep a pet, after all\nthe mistakes you've made? Haven't you learned your lesson by now?\"\n  \"Shut up.\" Misha said, slamming\nhis hands down on the table. \n  My mouth twitched at his\ncommand, but he must not have really meant it, because I was still able to spit\nout a reply. \"I can't wait to die, Misha.\" I leaned in closer towards him.\n\"I've got nothing left, thanks to you.\" \n  \"I said shut up!\" Misha growled.\n  I jumped up and shoved him out\nof his seat without thought. I pinned him up against the wall and snarled,\nbringing my teeth close to him face, but not striking at him.\n   \"You owe it to me!\" I growled. \"You at least\nowe me an explanation. Why the fuck do you follow Hale, after all he's done to\nyou?\" \n  Misha's face looked twisted in\npain and shock as I pinned him up against the wall. \"You don't know ANYTHING\nabout me!\" He yelled.\n  \"I know enough!\" I snarled. \"At\nthe very least, I now understand why you choose me...You never thought I would\nturn on you, huh? You thought I'd always be your submissive little bitch,\nright?\"\n  \"No!\" Misha yelled. I was suddenly\nreminded of the werewolf from his vision, and I roared as I slammed Misha's\nhead against the wall. \n  \"You deserve everything that\nhappens to you.\" I growled. \n  \"Fuck you.\" He coughed. \n  \"No need. That's your job.\"\n  Misha's face was a mixture of\nanger and surprise. I was happy to have caught him off guard. I snarled again\nand went to slam his head against the wall one last time when I felt someone\ngrip my shoulder and toss me off of Misha. I growled, and was about to attack\nwhen I saw it was Caliber who had thrown me to the ground.\n  \"Don't move.\" Caliber commanded.\nI cursed under my breath, knowing that Caliber had to do his duty before help\nme. I knew Caliber couldn't risk being found out, and it was probably better\nsomeone stopped me there before I could do any real damage.\n  \"Doctor Aras, are you alright?\"\nHe said.\n  Misha was shaking as he moved\noff of the wall I had pinned him up against. His nose was bleeding, but other\nthan that he looked fine. I purposely didn't do much damage; I only wanted to\nshake his emotions a bit. I was glad that I hadn't seemed to damage him enough\nfor him to need medical attention...I slowly began to regret my actions. I might\nbe in serious trouble.\n  \"Aras!\"\n   \"Yes...Yes, Caliber, I'm fine.\" Misha said,\nglaring down at me. \n  \"Good. Then I won't document\nthis matter unless you want Hale to hear of it.\" Caliber said with a deadly\nserious voice. \"I'm the only guard on site right now.\" \n  \"No. It was my fault.\" Misha\nsaid. \"I could've used the compulsion but I didn't. We don't need to bring this\nup to anyone else.\" \n  \"Understood.\" Caliber nodded.\n\"Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll escort Decipher to his room for the night,\nunless you want him somewhere else?\"\n  Caliber grabbed my hands and\npinned them behind my back as he slipped some bonds over them. I allowed it,\nknowing that if I fought Caliber I would likely just get into more trouble.\nBesides that, I definitely did not want to hurt Caliber. \n  \"No. That sounds fine.\" Misha\nsaid, wiping some blood from his nose.\n  Caliber shoved me towards the\nexit and kept his hands gripped onto my bound wrists while Misha stormed off\ntowards his lab. Caliber was doing a good job at playing the role of the guard.\nMy arm was twisted at an uncomfortable angle behind me.\n  \"What the fuck was that,\nDecipher?\" Caliber asked once we were out of the dining hall, enraged, gripping\nonto me tightly.\n  \"Sorry.\" I winced. \"I just had\nto say it.\"\n  \"Why?\" He demanded. \"It's not\nlike it's going to help you! Don't piss him off, especially not while he has\ncontrol over you!\"\n  \"He's going to torment me either\nway, Caliber.\" I sighed. \"He didn't ask me to stop, either.\"\n  \"You seem different, Decipher. I\nmean, the guy deserves to be told off, but seriously...what came over you?\"\nCaliber asked, releasing his grip on my wrists and relaxing a bit. We walked up\nthe stairs and past the information desk. \n  \"People change.\" \n  \"I just didn't expect something\nlike that from you.\"\n  \"After a while you stop caring\nabout what could happen to you.\" I sighed. \"Especially when your worst fears\nare already happening to you.\"\n  Caliber leaned closer to me.\n\"What about Kato?\" He asked. \"Aren't you afraid they'll hurt him?\"\n  \"I can't afford to live in fear\nanymore.\" I said, meeting Caliber's eyes for a brief moment. \"Kato and I are\nrunning out of time. Look, Caliber...I just had to get it out!\" \n  We stopped at my door. I sighed\nas Caliber unlocked the bonds. \"I'm sorry you had to be involved.\" I said,\nfeeling guilty. \n  \"Don't worry about it.\" He said\nwhile avoiding my eyes. \"It's better I was the one, anyways.\"\n  \"Thank you.\" I said. I thought\nfor a moment on how I should phrase my next statement. \"Come with us.\" I\nwhispered. \"Please!\"\n  \"I have to stay here. You know\nthis. There will be others who need my help.\" He said. \"Which reminds me... I\nwill have to try and stop you when you and Kato try and escape. Don't be afraid\nto hurt me when the day comes, Decipher. You can't do any real damage to me. I\nhave the Goddess on my side, so make sure you remember that when I'm shooting\nat you.\"\n  My ears fell. \"Wait, what?\" I\nasked, panicked. \"No, Caliber. I can't hurt you!\"\n  \"That's right.\" He said with a\nsmall smile. \"You can't. Now get some rest. Kato will come find you tomorrow\nmorning if Misha doesn't need you.\"\n  He turned and began to walk away\nas I stood frozen in the hallway. Even if I couldn't actually hurt him, I\nwasn't sure I would be able to even defend myself from him. He would have to\nhurt me, though...and I wondered if he had a clear shot, if he would take it.\nSurely his mission from the Goddess was more important than I was, but still I\nwondered how much he actually cared about my well-being.\n  I missed him already. Caliber\nwas different. Everyone was different. I missed the days when Caliber was just\na strange, goofy man who had invaded my shower, and Misha was just a confusing\ndoctor that was always busy in his lab...and Kato. Kato was just a good friend\nwho I could always count on.\n  Kato was the only one that had\nremained unchanged enough that I could grasp onto the feelings from the past. I\nclosed my eyes as I opened my door and stepped inside. \n  The air in my room felt cold and\nI shivered as I stepped inside. An overwhelming feeling of loneliness chilled\nme. I would be lucky to escape here with Kato...but I wished that I could take\nevery innocent soul from here...even if they had sinned. Fleur, the innocent\nwerewolf girl, both of them had died by my hands. Did they deserve it? I do not\nthink they deserved it. What about Sheila? What had she really done, besides try and avenge her lover? I had only disliked\nWes and Sheila because they posed a threat towards Misha. Why the hell did I\never feel compelled to protect Misha?! My thoughts drove me crazy as I wandered\ninto my room.\n  It was dark inside, and the\nworld outside my large windows was shrouded in snow and fog. I wondered what\nthe world would look like by tomorrow morning. Earlier today, I had sat with\nKato on the plateau overlooking the valley. I could hardly believe what had\nhappened since then.\n  I slowly wandered over to my bed\nin the dark room and collapsed onto it. My head was spinning with all the\nevents of the day. It seemed impossible that so much had happened in such a\nshort period of time. Even though I was free from the basement, my mind was\nstill adjusting. Between happy moments with Kato and disturbing trips into\nMisha's memory...time still made no sense to me.\n  I clutched the blanket and\nwrapped myself into it with a shiver. The air felt so cold as I began to fall\nasleep, feeling more alone than I had in a very long time. \n \nDreams.\n  A concept I had become quite\nfamiliar with ever since crashing onto this fantastical planet, a planet I\ndidn't even know the name of...a planet I understood very little of.\n  Dreams back at home weren't full\nof life like the ones found here. At home I used to dream of an idea, rather\nthan a place or image. I used to dream that one day everyone would wake up and\nsee that their current system was flawed, and that they were slowly leading\nthemselves to the death of all. I dreamt they would wake up and revolt against\ntheir oppressing leaders. \n  They never would, though. The\nonly important ones, the Elites and the Council, had the option of just\nleaving...and the rest of us, the drones, would accept our fate in the wasteland\nof their decisions. \n  For some reason, I didn't accept\nmy fate. Through some magical turn of events I had landed here in what might as\nwell have been a dream. \n  I knew I was dreaming as I\nwatched Kato fly around the snowy peaks of Skyfall. His blazing, orange\nsilhouette cast orange fire across the white canvas of the mountainside. I\nwondered if I would ever see this image for real as I watched it. It felt only\nvaguely real, like a myth or legend that had been passed down for generations.\nThe image was clear, but the feeling was distant, something you longed to be\nreal. \n  This dream filled me with\ncontent. I had no desire to do anything but watch Kato twist and spin with\npassion, with the desire to be alive.\n  The image became hazy as I began\nto wake up. I tried to cling to the sight of Kato flying through the mist and\nfog, but I lost sight of him as my eyes slowly cracked open. \n  I shivered as I awoke to pale\nlight filtering through the foggy window. The room was silent and empty, and\ncold described more than the temperature.\n  I slowly stepped out of bed and\nmade my way over to the window. I rubbed the fog aside and gasped at the sight.\n\n  The world outside was shrouded\nin white. The snow had settled and left mounds of ice across the landscape, and\nthe mountains of Skyfall were completely white. My eyes adjusted to the white\nand moved along the curves and edges of the trees and mountains.\n  Skyfall mountains. The name felt\nso haunting after seeing this. It was as if the sky truly had fallen, and each\nstar had dripped down from the heavens to glisten in cold light. I wondered why\nthe mountains had been given their name. Snow was not always present; there had\nto be another reason. \n   I reflected on my dream as I traced the edges\nof the massive mountains with my eyes. I imagined Kato's orange body flying\nacross the white surface. The sight was beautiful, even if it was eerie, and I\nshivered again.\n  A knock at the door shook me out\nof my daze. I jumped and quickly slipped on a pair of pants and a warm jacket. \n  I opened the door with no\nexpectations of who was behind it, but was pleasantly surprised to see Kato's\nface.\n  \"Good morning!\" He said. He was\nalso dressed in thick clothing. I imagined he must be freezing. \"Have you eaten\nyet?\" \n  I shook my head. \"No. I just\nwoke up.\"\n  \"How are you feeling?\" Kato\nasked. \"I heard from Caliber something happened last night, but he couldn't\nrisk talking about it.\"\n  Kato looked upset, and I wanted\nto ease his worries. \"I'm fine.\" I said as convincingly as I could. \"I just\nsort of...told off Misha...and then slammed him into a wall.\"\n  \"Oh!\" Kato said, shocked. \"And\nthere weren't any negative repercussions?\"\n  \"No. Caliber was the only guard\non site so he handled it pretty well.\" I sighed. I had forgotten about the\nincident during my sleep, my mind had been too focused on the meaningless\ndream. \"It turned out okay. I might have to kiss Misha's ass in the coming\ndays, though...just so he continues to trust me.\"\n  Kato nodded. \"I'm sorry,\nDecipher.\"\n  \"Don't be.\"\n  \"Well, come on, let's get some\nfood.\" He said as we began walking. \"Are you up for some training? You could\nfight a few werewolf entities to brush up on your skills, and it'd give us\nsomething to do.\"\n  \"You mean an excuse to spend\nsome time together...\" I mused. When I realized I had said it out loud, I wanted\nto slap myself. Kato gave me a confused expression.\n   \"Well, I guess.\" He said, avoiding my eyes\nas we walked down the stairs towards the dining hall. \"Do you want to?\"\n  \"Yes!\" I said, \"I'm sorry, I was\njust a bit distracted. I have a lot to think about.\"\n  I closed my eyes with more frustration\nas I finished my statement. Kato was smart, and I knew he would figure out what\nI meant. I had a lot to think about concerning my feelings for him, but that\nwasn't what I had intended to say.\n  We walked in silence for the\nrest of the way. I felt a bit guilty for letting that topic slip into the open.\nI cared about Kato more than anything else, yet I still couldn't call it love.\nI wanted to be able to think of it as love, but I couldn't. We had very briefly\nspoken about it, but still I felt the need to explain myself.\n  We entered the dining hall and\ngot ourselves some food. I saw Misha sitting off at a far table. It looked like\nwe were in the middle of the morning, between the early and late shifts. I\nswallowed hard as Misha ignored me and wondered if I had made a mistake the\nnight before. \n  I wasn't sure what Hale would do\nto me if I was no longer important to Misha Aras. Hale took an interest in\nMisha. I wasn't sure if it was because of personal reasons, or nothing more\nthan the fact that Misha was great at his job, and great at following orders. \n  Kato and I sat at a table not\nfar from Misha. I knew I couldn't interact with him while Kato was around, or\nelse he would see right through me. Kato's rage towards Misha rubbed off on me,\nand I wanted to be able to fool Misha.\n  I picked at my food anxiously.\n\"So, werewolf entities?\" I said in a pathetic attempt to make conversation.\n  Kato nodded and sipped at a hot\nbeverage. \"Yeah. You could use a refresher course...\" his voice became hushed,\n\"especially with what's coming.\"\n  \"Alright.\" I said as I attempted\nto eat my food. I felt as if I were slowly losing my calm, and had to focus to\nremain composed. Kato and I finished our meals in silence.\n  \"Are you ready to go?\" He asked.\n  \"I'm worried.\" I said. \"I think\nI need to speak with Misha.\" \n  \"Alright, but be careful.\" Kato\nsaid, letting his golden gaze rest on my eyes for a moment. \"Meet me in the\narena. Don't do anything crazy.\" \n   \"I won't.\" I mumbled as he walked away. I\nwasn't sure what I was going to say to Misha, but I knew I had to say something\nto soothe my nerves. I needed to know that Misha wasn't going to have Hale do\nsomething terrible to me for what I had done...I needed to make sure Misha\nthought part of me did care about him. Was there any chance he would believe\nme? \n  I took a few steps towards his\ntable. He was glancing at some paperwork absent-mindedly, and didn't look like\nhe was really reading it.\n   \"Hey...Misha.\" I began with a shaky voice. \n  He tossed his paper aside and\nglared up at me. \"What?\" \n  I wondered how I could fake it\nwithout overdoing it. He would never believe me if I suddenly acted like I\nloved him...\n  \"What do you want, Decipher?\" He\ndemanded.\n  \"What I said about an\nexplanation...\" I trailed off. \"I really do want to know why. You betrayed me.\"\n  His expression softened just a\nbit as he glared into my eyes. The emotion in my expression wasn't hard to fake.\nI truly did feel betrayed and terrified when I looked at him.\n  \"I had to.\" He said through grit\nteeth as he rubbed his head with his hands. \"I told you.\"\n  My ears fell. He wasn't going to\nconfess anything to me, and I wasn't sure where to go from here. \"That's not an\nanswer.\" I whispered. \"Who forced you?\"\n  \"Leave me alone!\" He yelled,\ncausing a few people to glance over at us.\n  \"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to\ncause you any harm.\" I said in a dark voice. \"I just wanted you to understand\nwhat you had done to me, and realize what was going to happen to me.\"\n  I turned and walked away. I felt\nhis eyes watching me as I walked off, but I had no idea if my words meant\nanything to him. \n  I\narrived in the arena to see that Kato had already set it up with large boulders\nand fallen logs. I sighed as I approached him. Deciding that I wouldn't need\nthem, I slipped off my pants and jacket. I didn't want to tear the clothes when\nI transformed into the werewolf. \n  \"Well?\" Kato asked. \"Everything\nokay?\"\n  I nodded. \"Yeah. Give me\nsomething to attack.\"\n  Kato nodded, \"Sure. I'll wait\noff to the side. Try to use a lot of magic today.\" He said as he climbed up one\nof the trees and sat in the branches. \"Magic will be good for you. It'll help\nyou clear your head and focus your thoughts!\" He called down to me.\n  I allowed myself to close my\neyes and focus on the moment. My heart was thumping with anticipation. I had\nlied. I did want to cause Misha harm, and I would. \n  When I opened my eyes, the glow\nwas fading from the werewolf entity. I focused my mind on the parts of my body\nthat shifted with my rage...the way my joints twisted in my knees and arms, the\nway my slender fingers became heavy, thick paws that could barely grasp at\nthings...Paws meant for ripping. \n  The wolf was charging at me as\nmy body shifted. I allowed it to collide with me and drag me across the ground.\n  When the dust settled, I was\ngone. I climbed up onto a rock and sent a wave of pure energy that burst into a\nflame at the werewolf. The energy exploded from my body with ease, and the wolf\nwasn't able to get within twenty feet of me. It snarled in frustration as it\ntried to get to me, and I became bored of using magic.\n  I dove off the rock and smashed\ninto the wolf, which roared and flailed it's massive paws at me in attempt to\ntoss me off of its back. I snarled along with it, a wicked sound that was more\nlike the laughter of a monster. I dug my teeth into the strangely solid fur and\ntore at it's neck. To my surprise, blood splattered from the entity, but it\ndisappeared as soon as it hit the ground.\n  With a few more twists of my\npowerful jaws, the beast was dead. It died before I even noticed it, and I continued\nto tear at it with insane force.\n  \"Alright, alright!\" Kato\nshouted. \"Get ready for the next one!\"\n  The dead entity burst into light\nas another one came crashing towards me from across the field. I stood my\nground, and dodged it easily once it reached me. I gripped onto it's back with\nmy own massive paw and pinned it to the ground. With my paws delivering a swift\ntwist to it's neck, this one also fell dead.\n  The process repeated. I allowed\nmy rage to manifest itself and tear into these entities. I charged at the next\nentity, ripping it's eyes out before it even knew where I was. It was dead\nquicker than the last. This happened a few more times until the arena fell\nsilent. \n  I sat panting, waiting for my\nnext challenger. \n  \"Decipher...\" I heard Kato's voice\necho.\n  \"Another!\" I shouted. \"Come on,\nI'm ready.\"\n  \"I don't think you need to rip\napart another entity...\"\n  \"COME ON!\" I roared, glaring at\nKato.\n  \"You're not even using magic.\nBlind rage will get you nowhere, Decipher!\"\n  Kato hopped down from his tree\nand began to walk towards me. He wasn't being cautious, and I was nervous. I\nsnarled and backed up in case the wolf in me decided he was a threat.\n  \"Calm down.\" Kato said softly.\nWas he trying to get hurt? He was walking right towards me when I clearly the\nwerewolf wasn't ready to calm down. I let out a low growl, and he continued\nwalking towards me.\n  \"Stop, Kato.\" I rumbled, \"I...I\nneed to let this out.\"\n  \"You're taking things too far!\"\nKato snapped, causing my attention to lock onto him. \"What happened with\nMisha...who's next, Decipher? That was a stupid move you pulled yesterday.\"\n  \"I hate Misha!\" I growled. \"He\ndeserved it!\"\n  \"Maybe, Decipher...but you're\nstill changing!\" Kato shouted. I sensed his energy heating up...he was upset,\nperhaps afraid. \"Hate can only get you so far!\" \n  The wolf in me snarled and\ncharged at him, it could smell his fear. Kato braced himself for impact but\nstood his ground. I stopped myself just short of him.\n  I leveled my eyes with him. Kato\nlooked calm on the surface, but he was hurt on the inside. He was trying to\nprotect me from myself; I could see the fear and concern hiding behind his\ngolden eyes. He had always been trying to protect me from myself.\n  \"Be careful of what you change\ninto.\" Kato whispered.\n  My mind began to calm itself as\nI leveled my eyes with his. His golden, knowing eyes poured into mine. I felt\nmyself shrink back down into my normal form, and took a few steps backwards.\n  \"You should be more careful...\" I\nmumbled, panting heavily from the adrenaline rush. \"I don't want to hurt you.\nI'm sorry.\"\n  \"Then don't.\" Kato said with a\nwarm smile. \"You didn't, Decipher. There is no need to apologize for something\nyou didn't do.\"\n  \"How can you have so much faith\nin me?\" I asked quietly. I wondered how anyone had faith in me at this point.\n  \"I don't know.\" Kato said, still\nwearing his smile. \"Maybe it's because you give me hope. You're the first\nperson to tell me to chase my freedom...everyone else has told me to just be\nhappy with just being alive, or out of the basement...But not you, you're\ndifferent.\"\n  \"You deserve your freedom.\" I\nsaid, still panting.\n  Kato laughed, \"You're the first\nperson to say that, too.\"\n  His smile was infectious, and I\nsmiled back at him timidly. I still had no idea why I gave Kato the hope that I\ndid, but I wanted to live up to his expectations.\n  \"So, feeling less rage-induced\nnow?\" Kato asked.\n  I nodded. \"Yeah, thank you for\nstopping me.\" I sighed. \"You're right. I do need to be careful of what I change\ninto.\"\n  \"Don't worry.\" Kato said. \"We'll\nbe out soon enough. Just keep your head together until then.\"\n  \"Would you like to toss some\nfire around?\" I asked. \"I still have a lot of energy that could use burning.\"\n  Kato nodded. \"That sounds\ngreat.\" He said.\n  I sent him the phoenix-shaped\nflame once more, and we began to fly it back and forth. I focused on the\ncalming, warm energy of the bird as we silently meditated on the flames.\n  My days were running out. I\nneeded to stay calm, and be strong. I had only begun to realize how difficult\nit was to do both at the same time. Rage brought power, uncontrollable power.\nRage was a fire without purpose, a tightly knit ball of destruction, waiting\nfor someone to unravel it. I couldn't let this happen. I would never escape if\nI relied on blind rage alone, Kato was right.\n  I closed my eyes and felt the\nwarmth of the phoenix that danced between Kato and I, feeling our energies sync\nup and twist together in a beautiful waltz. I allowed my mind to drift away\nwith the phoenix. \n  Become strong, remain calm.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/582243-skyfall-chapter-21.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/589735-skyfall-chapter-23-re-read.json"}