Chapter 1 — The boundary line, the marriage between a girl and a wolf. Part 23
At some point, I realized that I was grasping onto the knife tucked into my skirt.
Inside the maddening gale, blows were rapidly being exchanged and evaded.
Their fangs would clash, causing sparks, then they'd jump away to create some distance between them.
The wind was gradually becoming stronger, yet the shadow wasn't yielding to it either.
Shiro let it extend and take the form of either a spear, a blade or a whip, and struck Silent Steps incessantly from all directions.
But Silent Steps managed to destroy the shadows one after another even though he was covered in wounds, pushing on ahead. Using the propulsion of the wind, he brandished his claws in quick, straight-forward attacks.
And while this stalemate continued on, his life was slowly being chipped away by Shiro.
I could feel that the conclusion of this fight was slowly approaching, but suddenly it took an unforeseen twist.
Silent Steps put his plan into motion.
The wind started ravaging from both above and below, carrying the leaves from the trees from above while puffs of dust whirled up from below, sealing off Shiro's eyes with different shades of brown and green.
Shiro stood still.
He simply extended his shadow in all directions, and waited.
It didn't matter if the next attack was going to come from the front, back, left or right—he would be prepared for it.
Whether it was going to be a surprise attack, a rear attack, or even an attack meant to create an opening, to move into his blind spot.
Then, I saw it—a glimpse of gray fur between the leaves.
Above! But by the time I noticed, it was already too late.
The gray shadow had already leapt upon Shiro, and his gaping jaws were less than a meter away from cutting off Shiro's life.
He can't dodge it. My eyes were about to close shut instinctively, but I forced them to stay open, and saw…
…fresh blood trickling down like a thin curtain as the gray wolf was pierced in midair.
A single shadow spear extended out from Shiro's feet, passing right through Silent Steps.
His body fell to the ground with a loud splashing noise, and blood continued to slowly ooze out from the deep wound.
Between his irregular breathing, he mustered the last sliver of his strength and spoke:
"Pff…ahah…hah…you've… become strong…that's why…you're my---"
Blood filled his throat, and while he was choking on it, he stared at Shiro, seemingly wanting to say something—words that he could speak no more. Nevertheless, he smiled, slightly satisfied, perhaps even proud of him, and then, he closed his eyes.
"Farewell, brother."
The forest turned silent. Shiro also stood still, his gaze lost as he stared at the sky, illuminated by the twilight sun that peeked through the leaves which were still dancing in the air from the earlier gale.
I rearranged my disheveled hair and straightened out my clothes, and while I erased all emotion from my face, I walked to his side.
"Shiro," I called, but he didn't answer.
I reached out with my hand and caressed his cheek. Even at a time like this, his body was warm.
"If you aren't going to eat him, I will."
He turned to face me, his eyes blank and lacking emotion.
Those black eyes that peeked through silver fur, reflected my own figure, shrouded in black. I looked really sorrowful.
But I didn't understand why I appeared that way.
"Shiro, you are living in a human city, sleeping in a human bed, eating human food and even killing like a human. You have come so close to becoming one of us, but you simply can't become a human since you are a wolf, and there is no way around that. So ultimately…you're not a human, but you aren't living like a wolf either—you are utterly alone."
He was still silent.
"But then, what about me? I live just like a human, and am nothing other than a human, so what am I supposed to be?"
"You're…"
There was a tinge of surprise, anticipation and fear mixed into his voice when he finally opened his mouth.
I grasped his silver fur between my fingertips.
"You know, Shiro, I truly want to get closer to you."
After releasing his fur, I knelt beside Silent Steps' corpse.
I closed his eyes and felt his fading warmth in the palm of my hand.
Since I didn't know any words for mourning, I just remained silent.
After all, what I was planning to do could only be called a funeral.
I moved my face closer to the wound that Shiro's spear had left, and like a wolf, I took a bite.