Ruby walks alongside Lyari, her feet crunching over fallen leaves and soft earth, her eyes wide with fascination at every twist of root and glimmer of sunlight through the trees.

  "So how tall is that tree in your vilge, really?" she asks, practically bouncing as she keeps pace. "Is it the tallest one in the whole forest? Are those glowing glyphs actually magic? Oh! Do you guys carve them yourselves or are they just... there?"

  Lyari doesn't answer right away, simply adjusting the pack over his shoulder and stepping over a low-hanging branch.

  Ruby continues undeterred, "And what about the food? That one fruit I was given? The blue one? That was amazing. What was that?"

  "It's called Vaelfruit," Lyari finally says, not turning to look at her.

  "Vaelfruit! I love that. Do you grow it? Do you trade it? Can I take some back-?"

  "You ask a lot of questions," Lyari cuts in, his voice calm but firm.

  Ruby blinks, caught mid-breath. "Sorry! I just-this pce is amazing. I've never seen trees that big before. Or glowing wood. Or rope made of pnts." She pauses, then adds with a grin, "But I can be quiet if you want. Just... let me know if anything is dangerous, alright?"

  Lyari exhales through his nose. "You'll know if it is."

  That doesn't seem to help, but Ruby gives a nod anyways, only half-suppressing the next question bubbling up in her throat.

  The forest is peaceful so far, the sounds of birds and rustling leaves filling the silence left by Lyari's short responses. Occasionally, Ruby pauses to poke at strange mushrooms or admire a vine that glows faintly when touched, then scrambles to patch up with Lyari again.

  The two continue through the forest, Ruby now gging a few steps behind as she crouches behind a cluster of strange blue mushrooms.

  "Oh, wow-these look like they're glowing! Lyari, look at this! Do you think they're safe to touch?"

  Lyari doesn't respond.

  Ruby gnces up and frowns. Lyari has stopped walking. The hunter stands still as stone, eyes narrowed, gaze tilted slightly upward-towards the branches above.

  Ruby follows the direction of his gaze, but sees nothing-just thick leaves, twisting branches, and shafts of golden light filtering through the canopy.

  Lyari's hand moves slowly to rest near the handle of his dagger.

  "What is it?" Ruby asks, her voice dropping, curiosity tinged with something uncertain.

  Lyari doesn't answer immediately. After a few moments, he murmurs, "We're being watched."

  Ruby freezes, her tail bristling slightly. "W-what kind of watched? Like creepy-stalker watched or hungry-creature watched?"

  Lyari doesn't answer again. Instead, he turns and takes a few slow, measured steps back toward Ruby, eyes still on the trees. "Keep your voice low," he says. "And don't wander."

  Ruby nods quickly, her earlier enthusiasm now repced with nervous gnces towards the canopy. Whatever was out there... it wasn't attacking. Not yet. But it was still there. Watching.

  Lyari doesn't expin further. He simply turns, and begins moving again, slower this time, his eyes sweeping the branches above and the undergrowth ahead with practiced precision.

  Ruby stays much closer now, her footsteps are lighter than before, though every few paces she casts a wary gnce over her shoulder.

  The forest, which had been bright and open earlier, feels more enclosed now. The light seems dimmer, the trees closer together. Every so often, a faint rustle drifts down from above-soft, fleeting, just enough to send a chill down Ruby's spine.

  Lyari doesn't speak, but every so often his hand shifts towards his bow.

  After nearly half an hour of quiet, cautious travel, Ruby can't take it anymore. She leans toward Lyari and whispers, "Do you think it's still following us?"

  Lyari doesn't look back. "Yes."

  Ruby gulps. "Do you know what it is?"

  "No." Lyari responds back.

  "Oh."

  The quiet between them stretches longer now-tense, watchful, the kind of silence that presses on your chest like a weight. But whatever is following them... it still doesn't attack.

  As the sun dips lower in the sky, golden light filters through the trees in narrow beams, casting long shadows and leaving parts of the forest cloaked in deep twilight. The birds have quieted. Even the insects seem hushed.

  Ruby's ears twitch as she walks. She doesn't hear anything, but something feels off. Like the air is thicker. Heavier.

  Lyari stops suddenly, one arm raised to halt Ruby. His other hand drifts to his bow once again, and this time, he draws an arrow.

  Then the branches above them shudder-and something nds with barely a whisper of impact on the path ahead.

  The creature is long-limbed and low to the ground, its dark fur shimmering like smoke as it steps forward. Its head lifts, eyes gleaming like molten silver. Muscles ripple beneath its coat, and its jagged quills bristle along its back, catching the dying sunlight like curved daggers.

  Ruby gasps. "What-what is that?"

  Lyari's voice is cold and steady. "Sylverine."

  The creature stares them down, tail twitching zily behind it, quills rattling like a warning. For a moment, it's a standoff-nobody moves.

  Then it growls. A low, guttural sound that reverberates in Ruby's chest like thunder from beneath the earth.

  Lyari pulls back the arrow. "Don't run," he says quetly.

  Ruby freezes. "I wasn't going to!"

  The Sylverine shifts and vanishes in a blur of motion-its form melting into the shadows again, reappearing in a nearby tree branch above them.

  It's circling. Hunting.

  Ruby's heart pounds in her chest, her ears pressed ft against her head. Her eyes lock onto the dark blur of the Sylverine shifting between shadow and light above them.

  She whispers, her voice cracking a bit. "What do we do?" She looks at Lyari, her expression a mixture of terror and helplessness.

  Lyari doesn't take his eyes off the tree line. "We fight." The words leave no room for doubt.

  He releases the arrow in a single smooth motion. The shaft whistles through the air-just as the Sylverine leaps.

  A fsh of cws. A shriek of wood as bark explodes where the arrow strikes.

  And then the creature is in motion again-nding with a thunderous thud several feet away, hackles raised, teeth bared.

  It's eyes fsh as it lunges. It's fast-so fast that Ruby barely sees more than a blue or shadow and teeth before Lyari steps between them, releasing another arrow mid-motion. The shot sinks into the beast's shoulder, but it doesn't slow.

  Ruby stumbles backwards, tripping over a root, nding hard on her side. The breath rushes out of her in a gasp as dirt and leaves scatter around her.

  She scrambles to her knees, eyes wide as Lyari draws his bde and meets the Sylverine head-on.

  The sound of steel cshing with cw rips through the forest.

  Ruby's hands fumble uselessly at her side-no sword, no knife, nothing. Her bag's still on her back, but filled with nothing that could help her.

  She ducks behind a tree, heart hammering. She wants to run-but her legs won't move. Her body refuses. She peeks around the trunk and sees Lyari ducking under a swipe of those razor-lined cws, spinning around and nding a cut on the Sylverine's side.

  It snarls in pain-but it's not stopping.

  Ruby bites her lip, thinking frantically.

  What do I do? What do I do?

  Her eyes flick to the forest floor-rocks, sticks, broken branches. She grabs the biggest branch she can find-more of a crooked club than anything. It's not a weapon, but it's something.

  She stands, legs shaking, and calls out before she can think better of it. "HEY! You big dumb beast! Over here!"

  The Sylverine's head jerks towards her, a snarl twisting its muzzle.

  Ruby's heart skips a beat. "Bad idea-bad idea-" she squeaks, but stands her ground.

  Lyari seizes the opening-darting in with a brutal ssh across the creature's fnk, drawing a real cry of pain this time.

  The Sylverine whips toward Ruby, its silver eyes locking onto her with unsettling precision. It snarls, muscles bunching beneath its fur.

  Ruby's blood turns to ice. "Oh no-"

  It unches at her. She turns and runs, the crooked branch still clutched in her hands.

  Branches tear at her clothes. Leaves blur past her vision. She doesn't look back-she can hear it. The pounding of heavy paws, the rasp of breath, the rattle of quills through the underbrush.

  "Nonononono-"

  She spots a fallen log ahead and dives behind it, just as cws rake through the air where her back had been moments before.

  The Sylverine crashes down, splinters flying as it strikes the log instead of her.

  Ruby scrambles to her feet, swinging the branch with reckless abandon. It connects, more luck than skill, striking the creature's snout with a dull crack.

  It recoils with a hiss-but not for long.

  It circles, slower now, deliberate.

  Ruby's chest heaves. She can't outrun it. She can't outfight it. But maybe-just maybe-she can outthink it.

  Her eyes dart upward. There-a tree limb hanging low. She bolts for it, leaps and grabs on, scrambling cws gripping bark, tail whipping for bance as she climbs.

  The Sylverine snarls and unches after her, but the branch creaks and bends beneath its weight. It can't follow far.

  Ruby pulls herself up, heart hammering, crouched on the limb. "I-I'm alive?" she gasps.

  But the Sylverine is still below-stalking, snarling, eyes fixed on her like a puzzle it hasn't solved yet.

  And Lyari? She can't see him. She's on her own. Again. For now.

  Ruby grips the branch with trembling hands, her chest rising and falling with ragged shallow breaths.

  The Sylverine paces beneath her, frustrated but patient-like it knows she can't stay up there forever. Its cws rake into the park of the tree as it circles, looking for a way up.

  Then-

  A sudden blur from the side. A whistle of air- followed by the thunk of an arrow piercing flesh.

  The Sylverine screeches, stumbling back.

  Lyari emerges from the trees, calm and lethal, another arrow already drawn.

  The Sylverine turns to face this new threat, but it's too te. Lyari fires.

  A second arrow sms into the side of its neck-the creature staggers, cws tearing into the earth-

  And Lyari is already moving. He closes the distance with smooth, precise footwork, bde fshing as they ssh once-twice, the st blow driving deep beneath the Sylverine's jaw.

  The beast lets out a ragged growl-then colpses, motionless.

  Ruby remains perched on the branch, staring down in stunned silence.

  Lyari wipes his bde on the grass and looks up at her. "You alive?" He asks.

  Ruby nods slowly, still wide-eyed. "I think so."

  "Then climb down."

  She does-clumsily, scraping her hands and nearly missing a foothold-but eventually drops to the ground with a soft thud. Her knees buckle slightly as she nds. "That was... that was terrifying," she mumbles. "I mean... I think I hit it with a stick. That counts as helping, right?"

  Lyari just sighs. "Don't do that again."

  By the time the Sylverine's body is still, the sun has dipped below the canopy, leaving the forest bathed in deep twilight. The sound of the woods slowly returns-birds chirping cautiously, the rustle of the wind in leaves, as if nature had been holding it's breath.

  Lyari doesn't waste words. He retrieves his arrows-two recoverable, one snapped- and moves quickly to set up a small camp a short distance away, just off the trail.

  He works efficiently, building a low fire and clearing space beside a fallen tree for Ruby to sit.

  Ruby plops down with a tired sigh, pulling her bnket out of her bag, and dragging it over her shoulders. She pokes the fire absently with a stick. "I didn't think it'd be that fast," she mumbles. "Or that angry. Or that sharp."

  Lyari kneels beside her without looking directly at her, pulling a small pouch from his belt. He draws out a roll of bandage, a cloth, and a small vial of pale green liquid. "Hold still, he says, reaching for Ruby's arm.

  Ruby winces as the cloth touches her scarped elbow. "Oww-hey! That stings!"

  "That's because you're scraped up from filing through the woods like a wild animal."

  Ruby huffs, tail flicking. "I was trying to help."

  "You nearly got yourself killed." Lyari's tone isn't cruel-but it's firm, edged with frustration. "You yelled at a predator that outcssed you in every way. You're lucky it didn't rip your throat out the second you opened your mouth."

  Ruby shrinks a little under the weight of the words, ears fttening. "I just... I didn't want to be useless..."

  Lyari presses a final strip of bandage into pce and finally meets her eyes. "Being useful means staying alive. That thing saw you as prey the moment you made a sound. You don't fight a Sylverine unless you're trained, armed, and stupidly confident."

  Ruby opens her mouth, then closes it again. "...okay. That's fair."

  Ruby_Foxgirl