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Baney was having a lazy night after having eaten the poor dead bird she find outside the lion's cave. She shifted her weight as she laid on sturdiest of all tree branches at the edge of the swamp. The sky slowly turned an ominous red.

And the moon, well she heard it from somewhere long time ago when she was just a tiny cat learning how to use her teeth and claws, well she heard a story about the sun being eaten by something. Almost as if it was a sign that the world was ending.

Her own red eyes glowed in the dark as she laid there watching the sky darken as time went by. Her tail hung loosely dangling off the branch as she relaxed, undisturbed by the silence around her.

Where did all the creatures go? not even the cawing of crows were heard, neither did the sound of crickets that would happen around now. she only merely pondered about it for a moment before forgetting about such trivial not important matter in her life.

Lazily, she let out a long yawn and stared up at the sun again. this time though, a dark sliver had blocked the sun's view. "Is the world really going to end?" she asked herself out loud, not really talking to anyone but herself.


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Ryouken felt rather funny as he noticed the darkness come creeping in as he hunted. The sun was just at its fullest a while ago. now almost half of it is gone. blocked by something dark. A shadow perhaps? Or perhaps dark magic? Or a curse? He had no idea what to think of this event.

Shifting into his wolf form, he darted through the forest quite effortlessly as if he had done it a million of times before. the branches clawed and teared at him but never once penetrated his thick black fur. Not a scratch was done to his body.

Panting hard, the wolf decided to stop at a nearby pond to drink some water to quench his thirst. It was then that his hound nose picked up a scent nearby and a rather strange question: ""Is the world really going to end?"


"The world, you say, is not going to end. The only thing that will end is your life if you don't show yourself," he spoke back to the creature hiding in the shadows.

It was then that he spotted a long fuzzy tail with bright pink marking dangling down the tree.

Looking up, he tried to figure out what it was. "Enemy or not, get down from there."


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Baney's ears flattened at the offensive remark and she let out a cursed laugh.

"if you insist," she said back and slithered down the tree like a snake, using her sharp claws for leverage as she clawed onto the tree trunk to let herself down. "I've heard stories that the world will end once the sun turns pitch black. like a bad omen..."

And it then that she saw a black wolf stare back at her with glowing purple eyes. They didn't seem ferocious enough but decided to not let her guard down just yet. They did threaten to kill her after all.

"So. what brings you here? Would you want to watch the sun disappear with me? I need a witness to see if we are indeed all going to die. and the world going to burn to a crisp and then into nothingness...."


-----


Ryouken never heard such ridiculous reasoning before. He howled in laughter and transformed back to his walker/shifter form. After turning he realised how much bigger he is than the catlike creature standing before him. But my was she goodlooking. He couldn't take his eyes of off her....

Shaking his head to focus once more on the silly topic, he looked the stranger right in the eyes and said "darling, if you like, i'd stay with you to watch this world end with you. but, if we survive, you gotta do as i say. at least for a little while, until i get bored."

He really did not believe in dying for no reason. especially from the sun being completely covered by a dark shadow.


---


Baney was shocked at his response. "You mean we won't die. but i've heard stories....


---


"No we won't. I'll stay by your side and prove it to you. This is a bet in which you will lose."

Ryouken went to drink a bit more water. This conversation may leave him parched at the end of the event.

He chuckled as he heard her come closer towards him. "have some water," he called to her as he kept on drinking.


----


The cat walked cautiously towards the pond and drank her fill too. Lifting her head, she could barely see the sun's reflection in the water, for it is almost completely covered by the dark shadow.... Lifting her head up high, she asked once more "will we die?"



---


Ryouken laughed again. He too looked up at the sun now. and he inched closer to the female until he was a step away from her.

"Once it becomes total darkness, you can touch my chest, and you;d still feel my heart beating. we wont die. trust me."


Deep down in his memory, he knew he had felt this before. whether in his dreams or when he was younger he could not remember.

"Get ready now. the sun will disappear right now."


----


Together they watched the sun turn into a solar eclipse.
Ryouken was curious about the event while Baney was in a panicky state.



"i'm still here, alive." he called to her as he heard her heavy breathing. "relax.."

soon enough he felt her wet nose touch his chest. checking on him. and he got a little embarrassed and felt his cheeks flush warm but luckily she did not get to witness this.

"well. are you still alive, stranger?" he asked back at her.


---


"Y-yeah i'm here..." Taking some time to process the real truth she witnessed with a complete stranger. she wondered how their ancient old tale was so wrong? the world is not burning. nor is she dead..... was it just a tale told to scare the young ones to not stray from the herd? this is the question she will never find the answer to since had left the heard many years ago.


Feeling the stranger's heart beat through his chest, she felt rather calmer. Less panicky. Less scared. For now she knows the world won't end once the sun vanishes. before she knew it, the sun came back and the darkness has vanished.

If it wasn't for this stranger, she feared that being on her own to watch the sun vanish. she may have frightened herself to death before she could even witness this event.

She could see him clearly now. It was a wolf shifter/walker... much more bigger than her...


"Thanks for staying with me........"


-----


Again Ryouken laughed, he couldn't help it. He had never ran into a walker/shifter this silly.

"Did your elders tell you spooky stories about the sun in the past? I swear i have witnessed this event before. but i can't remember when and where... some of them that believes in this event they start acting very strange, kind of like you at the moment..." Prodding into his own memory, he wish he remembered more details about what happened many moons ago when he first was able to witness such an event. considering how he is still alive, he is very confident that the world will not end once the sun vanishes into the darkness.


He nudged her hard to loosen her nerves. "BUT, i get to boss you around now. Come on, let's go for a run. Let's find a nice snack to eat." He started to run off and called out to her, come on, Ryouken, me as your leader, wants you to go hunting with him!"


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Well he was right, i lost the bet. i didn't die and he didn't die. Dumbfounded, she stared at his back as he ran further and further away from her. "ARGH, wait up. Let me get to know you better. What exactly are we hunting for anyway?"


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Together as a team, the two strangers went chasing after a wild boar and in the end decided to kill it together and eat together. Ryouken teased Baney for a while longer and then decided to befriend her in order to study her better. Baney had no idea she was being studied but was content that the stranger had no intentions to try and kill her in a 1v1 fight.


The sun causing the world to end as it turned black though, was nothing but an ancient old myth.....and Baney will never forget this fact for as long as she lived.


As for Ryouken, he felt like his normal self again as the eclipse had come and gone.


[1501 words]