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Seize the Moment

A Heartbreakers tale.

A pair of riders made their way along a forest trail, the horses they rode on looking tired after a long trek. A female white wolf trailed behind a gray male tiger, both wearing heavy looking cloaks over their light armour to protect them from the elements.

"Hey Zayne." The wolf called out as she spurred her horse to catch up to her traveling companion. "Why is it I get stuck with you on these missions?"

"Lets see." The tiger said easing the reigns on his mount. "It's either because Sonya hates you. Sonya hates me. You have a thing for me and you hide it behind a curtain of hate or you are just unlucky Arctic."

Arctic Sekai sneered quietly behind the mans back.

"Me have a thing for you? Heh, your dreams my nightmares." She spat onto the ground. "Still I will take the 'Sonya hates me' excuse."

"Well I was trying to be funny but thanks for taking notice of what I said."

The feline pulled his horse to a stop as the trees cleared and the trail continued uphill leading into a narrow rocky ravine. Zayne dismounted and checked the packs he carried with him.

"Yeah I know but still." Arctic muttered and also dismounted, her blue eyes following the tails path. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"Pretty sure." The tiger paused and looked over to the wolf. "Tell me were you paying attention at the Monastery?"

Shaking out her long blue hair Arctic shrugged her shoulders and patted down her horse. "Should I have been?"

Zayne sighed out a loud. The two had set off from the Heartbreakers guild three days ago on a mission to reclaim an artifact stolen from a healer's sanctuary located in a monastery. Zayne spend several hours talking with the clerics and workers while Arctic followed and made mention of how bored she was. It wasn't as though the wolf assassin felt the mission was beneath her, no that judgment was reserved for the tiger solely. Deep down she figured if she could irk him off enough he would complain to the guild mistress and Arctic wouldn't have to be paired with him again.

"Sometimes helps to pay attention to what's going on girl."

"Yeah, speaking of paying attention. I heard rumors you were tricked into signing your working agreement by Sonya. You know, the whole concubine thing?"

The tiger seemed unphased by the remark.

"Well I heard you were the one who killed the leaders of three of the biggest armies ever to park themselves on the borders of this land all in one day." He looked over to see the wolf glaring at him. "Any truth to that?"

Arctic had also heard the same rumors, how three armies had come seeking war but ended up falling apart due to the assassination of their leaders. No one was sure who was really responsible other than a series of stories about a white furred, blue haired woman who had been seen at the sight of each killing.

"Yeah well I don't put much faith in rumors." The wolf admitted and turned to retrieve a short sword from her own packs before shedding her cloak and rolling it up.

"Neither do I." Zayne said already securing his own cloak to his horse before looking over his shoulder. "And to seriously answer your question. You get 'stuck' with me because as a trainer at the guild you need to learn about bizarre encounters just as much as the girls do."

Arctic hated to admit it but the tiger was right. It was Sonya's responsibility to ensure the girls were trained properly and this is why the guild mistress had hired the ex-adventurer Zayne. And Since Arctic's not-so-welcome return to the guild she too had to endure this insufferable man's teachings.

"I suppose you are right." The wolf sighed and brushed a strand of hair from her face before wrinkling her nose at a foul smell that started coming from something Zayne had fished out of his pack.

"Ah good it smells like they are ready."

"What in the sweet Goddess' name is that?" Arctic shied away as the feline opened a small sack and pulled out a length of foul smelling cloth.

"Something that may help us. I mixed them up before we left the monastery, remember?"

"I remember you cutting stuff up but it was no way near as bad as that is now." The assassin gagged and took a step back. "What the hell did you make that for?"

"Worst case scenario." Zayne replied before holding the cloth out for Arctic who simply shook her head. "Never know what you might find."

Shuddering at the smell and possible reasoning Arctic waved off the offering and drew her sword before walking off towards the path, leaving Zayne with his creations. "Far as I know it's one guy who ran with the thingy and maybe a few possible buyers. Nothing we shouldn't be able to handle." She gave the tiger a smug look. "See I do pay attention."

With a shrug of his shoulders Zayne secured their horses and followed after the white wolf.

After following the rocky trail for a couple hundred yards the pair came to a cave entrance that seemed to be the best place to hide out and conduct illicit deals, and while Zayne frowned at the lack of anyone guarding the opening Arctic was more eager to head inside.

"Doesn't it seem strange no one watching the entrance?" Zayne asked quietly as they warily entered.

"Probably smelled you coming and ran for it." Arctic smirked in reply.

A short distance from the entrance the tunnel split into two separate paths. Zayne pointed that he should go right but the wolf girl gave him a flat look and montioned that she should go right. Again the tiger allowed Arctic her way and watched as she slipped into the darkness of the right passage before he went down the left one.

Arctic felt good. The wolf knew that as an experienced assassin she worked much better alone and if she could wrap this mission up without Zayne's help then it would be one more thing she could hold over him. Pausing the girl could make out a source of light coming from around the next bend and with a smile she closed the distance in anticipation of some action.

The closer the assassin got the more she realized the light source was natural and after taking a deep breath she could smell fresh air along with something sweet in the air, like flowers.

"Much better than Zayne and his crap." Arctic whispered and after taking another long sniff at the air she found herself thinking about the gray tiger and his broad shoulders and toned body.

The wolf stopped herself and shook those thought off; she was certainly not interested in the tiger in any way. Instead she moved forward towards the light and was surprised by what she saw.

The tunnel opened into a large sized grotto, the majority space of which had vines hanging from the walls. The light source was the sun shining in from several openings above and along with an increase in the smell of flowers Arctic could her a faint trickle of water. Letting her eyes adjust the wolf could see the near the middle of the opening was a pile of rocks on which sat a small bowl. From the bowl a steady flow of water came and it became apparent to the assassin that a large pool of water had built up within the cave area.

"I guess that's the thing we are looking for." Arctic thought as she carefully looked around for signs of life but could only see the plants on the walls and floating in the water. "Easier than I had hoped."

As she stepped into the grotto Arctic could see the flowers from which the pleasant odor came. Large pink petals growing on many of the vines in the sunlight and the girl noticed as she took a few steps that more began to open, flooding the air with more sweet fragrance.

"That's...pretty." The wolf smiled and took a deep breath and didn't seem to notice that she had taken a few steps into the pool with the water rising to her shins. The pollen in the air filling her senses and making her feel pretty good.

Arctic continued forward and with the water now up to her hip she kicked something submerged in the water, something metallic. With a frown she bent down to retrieve it trying to avoid wetting her head while unnoticed behind her several vines began to move.

"Aha."

Her fingertips managed to snare the object and to the assassin it felt like the blade of some kind of weapon. Standing up Arctic brought her discovery up out of the water to see she had the blade of a short sword, curious as to why it was in the water she brought it fully out of the water and recoiled as she saw the skeletal remains of a hand was still holding the handle.

Arctic jumped back a bit, dropping the grisly find and gripping her own sword a little tighter, the adrenaline from the shock coursing through her veins and clearing her head a little as the sobering thought of her not being alone set in. Meanwhile more flowers on the vine popped open and the air started to feel thick with scent.

"Dear Goddess." Arctic cursed, as within her dulled mind she knew she had walked into something's lair and decided it was time to leave but as she turned she saw that the vines now covered the path and the exit out of the grotto. Trying to work up the urge to fight the wolf raised her sword ready to cut a way out but a tendril slithered around her legs beneath the water to trap and trip her up.

With a loud yelp the girl fell into the water and several more plant-like tentacle lashed out, snaring her sword arm and slipping round her waist to grab her firmly. The sudden dunking under the water cleared Arctic's head some more and she struggled fiercely in order to attack the vines with her weapon, but another lashing tendril knock the blade from her grasp and sent it flying into the water.

"HELP-!" The wolf began to scream and was once again dragged under the water where more appendages rushed forth to wrap around her arms and legs, the unnatural strength of these things lifting the assassin coughing and spluttering out of the water.

Arctic was held spread eagled in the air as more vines rose up, the wolf could see cruel looking claws on their end and as they waved in the air the girl felt that this was the end, her eyes closing as one lashed out and struck at her armored torso.

Yelping in pain the blue haired femme felt the claw slash her leather tunic, the blow cutting it down her back but the blow itself only causing a minor cut down her back. Her armour was suddenly tugged away leaving the wolf with her torn linen shirt as a second and third tendril stuck out and cut away her leggings, causing more painful cuts to Arctic's legs.

Hissing, the wolf focused on the pain to renew her struggles but more vines began to wrap around her and with a yelp of surprise she felt one slip roughly against her crotch as the tentacles slithered under her ripped clothing.

"Get-get out..." Arctic panted, her struggles becoming weaker the more the tendrils tightened around and moved against her sex and bosoms. She swore she wasn't going to become some perverted plants plaything but things for the wolf were about to get worse.

As the assassin struggled helplessly within the vines grip, near the rocks where the bowl sat a large plant bulb rose out of the water, the creature reveling its large body now it had secured it's prey. From where she was hanging Arctic saw the bulk of the plant appear and horror set in as she realized she wasn't a plaything, she was this monsters next meal.

With water running off its form the enlarged mantrap opened its maw and the wolf felt her blood freeze as a long red tongue uncurled and wavered in anticipation of tasting her flesh, but as she was lowered towards her doom the creature suddenly screamed in what Arctic could only guess as pain. The huge bulb closed quickly and turned to face something the wolf couldn't see, so straining her head she caught sight of a familiar gray tiger, Zayne.

The feline swung not only his sword but Arctic's as well, slicing through vines as he moved forward to attack several of his companions' restraints. Several more flower pods popped and thick pollen filled the air but it didn't seem to affect Zayne, as Arctic noticed he had one of the foul smelling cloths tied over his nose and mouth. The wolf winced slightly as she felt the remaining vines grip her tighter, the monster not wanting to lose its current catch as it lashed out at this new intruder.

Zayne stayed to the shallow waters, lashing out at any vines that came near. He glanced to see Arctic hanging in the plants grasp and knew he had to move quickly unless its grip crushed her. Looking quickly back he could see the bulb of the creature was in the deeper part of the cave where it could lurk unseen, but this meant he had to wade out to it in order to kill it.

The tiger cursed silently as he skirted around the edge of the water trying to close the distance as Arctic struggled for breath against both the pollen and the crushing force imprisoning her. Zayne then saw the bowl on what looked like a makeshift altar close to the plant and a plan came to mind.

Gripping Arctic's sword tight he stepped forward and tossed it like a dagger, the weapon spinning forward to hit pommel first against the creatures' bulb. In response a vine shot out towards Zayne and he barely managed to side step it as he bought his sword down to cut the savage looking claw from it. Once more the creature screeched in pain but before the slashed tendril could withdraw the tiger gripped it and dug his claws in before getting tugged forwards towards the beast.

The bulb opened in a menacing manner as the tiger closed the gap quickly, his sword arcing over his head in what looked to be a deathblow but instead of hitting the plant's body the weapon struck out at the bowl. The tip of the blade clipping the edge to send it flying.

As the petals of the bulb closed around the tiger, a heart was dislodged from the clay bowl and fell onto the rock altar as the artifact landed a short distance away. The effect was instantaneous. The water ceased flowing and the pool in the grotto suddenly dried up and disappeared. The giant plant now deprived not only of it's hiding place but its magical sustenance, gave a high pitch squeal at it began to whither and die.

Zayne tore through the plant's drying bulb with his sword and rushed towards his trapped friend, knowing with the dehydration of the plant then her bonds would only tighten more. He reached her and quickly cut through the dried tendrils to finally free her only to find the half naked wolf passed out but alive. The tiger smiled and gave a sigh of relief.

---

"Did you know?"

Arctic sat against a tree wrapped in a blanket. The wolf looked shaken, even waking with a panicked start at remembering what had happened in the cave. Her words were soft as she looked at the ground, barely feeling the warmth of the fire Zayne had made.

After the tiger had carried her out he had returned for the artifact and made sure the remains of the plant had been burned. Zayne also told her about the remains of several people found in the lair where the creature was.

"I had a hunch."

"A hunch?" the wolf hissed almost angry.

"Well," the tiger began as he added another piece of wood to the fire. "Remember when I was asking questions? About the bowl? Well I discovered it uses strong life magic and figured if used incorrectly then things might turn bad." Zayne explained. "I also knew there were species of plants in this area that used tricks to lure their prey in so they could eat."

Arctic shuddered slightly at this.

"And while they don't normally grow to the size where they are a danger to people, I assumed the worse could happen if the two met." He stoked the fire a bit.

"You said strong life magic? But why would anyone make a thing that could create monsters?"

"I did say 'if used incorrectly'." The feline looked as if he was going to take a shot at the girl but saw she was more shaken by what happened than he had first guessed. When he had brought her back to the horses he had to clean her physical wounds but it seemed she other things on her mind. "The bowl works on sacrifice. I found a heart in it. The heart keeps us alive and what I am guessing is someone wanted a demonstration so some poor person was sacrificed to show how the bowl worked. The power of the sacrifice was too much to control and was more than enough to give a mantrap plant new life."

Arctic remembered the tiger tell of the remains in the cave, quite possibly the one who stole the bowl and potential buyers.

"It just feels wrong." Arctic sighed. While she clung to the blanket around her she still only wore her ripped linen pants.

Zayne stood and walked over to his horse to pull out the bowl, the wolf sat still looking down and didn't really notice him at all until he came to stand in front of her. She looked up at him.

"What are you..." Arctic asked and baulked as he pulled a knife and cut the palm of his hand. "...doing?"

Tossing the knife to the side he dripped some of his blood into the bowl and tipped it towards the wolf.

"Hold still."

Still confused Arctic sat with her mouth open in surprise as a light trickle of water spilled over the bowls rim and dripped onto her forehead. At first she felt annoyance build but where the water touched she felt a tingling sensation, one of cleansing. More water fell upon her skin and dribbled over her body, the tiger adding more of his blood to keep the water flowing just enough. The cuts on her back and legs closing, and her state of mind after what happened becoming more positive.

Soon the wolf eased forward, her eyes closed, the blanket falling from her shoulders as she made soft sound of content, her face, bosoms and body wet from the water. Even her sex tingled as the cool liquid trickled between her legs.

"How do you feel?"

The water eased and Arctic opened her eyes to see take in the scene she was in. On her knees half naked and panting and wet in front of a man she didn't like very much.

There was a long silent pause. Zayne tried not to smile too much.

Arctic tugged the blanket back up to cover herself.

"O-okay. Point made." She slowly stood on unsteady legs to find her injuries were healed.

Zayne returned the bowl to his pack.

"I once knew a young tiger who started an adventure to go out and fight monsters. Real rash young guy." The tiger said, his back still to the wolf to give her time to change. "Confident, full of life. Use to get into a lot of trouble cause he thought he knew everything."

"Let me guess," Arctic smirked while slipping on her shirt. "He eventually learned to be a great adventurer and went on to become a legend in his own mind?"

"Nope." Zayne said quietly. "He died quick painful death because he refused to learn how to survive as an adventurer. That's why I am here Arctic. To make sure you and the girls don't die the same way."

The pair stood in silence for a moment before the wolf stepped over to Zayne and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you for saving my life." Arctic breathed softly before adding. "Now let's never speak of this again." Her eyes motioning to the spot where she sat when the tiger had healed her.

Zayne chuckled and bowed. "As you wish Milady."

After extinguishing the fire the two mounted their horses and began the long trip home.

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Arctic (C) herself, Zayne and Heartbreakers (C) Jaffah; story (C) Jaffah 2015

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