Escape

"Don't make any mischief out there, Suni!" Old Man called out to me.
"I won't do anything bad, Old Man," I replied. I placed my dark grey hood over my head and walked outside. Old Man's place is such a beautiful area compared to what's surrounding it. There used to be a whole forest around here, but it was now replaced by dirty humans and their polluted slums. I sighed. What barbarians! They’re stupid, but powerful enough to take away my home. I walked onto the streets that led to the marketplace.
"Out of the way, useless girl!" a voice yelled from behind me. I found myself being pushed down onto the ground. I stared up at them with disgust, and my ears twitched. I wanted to rip them apart, but I'd risk being found out. I acted weak, staying on the ground and listening to their laughs. If only I was strong enough to do something! After they got bored, they walked away. I stood back up and brushed the dust off my cloak.
"Such harmful creatures..." I spat in disgust. I hated being a human, but they'd take me away if they found out who I was.
The Marketplace was the only placed I really liked in this area, other than Old Man's home. There was a large variety of smells from the goods that vendors had to sell. I walked up to a nearby peddler and threw him two coins. He caught them, and held up two cod for me to take. It should be enough for me and Old Man... I was about to grab them, but he suddenly dropped them from his hand. They landed onto the ground.
"A-Ah..!" he stammered. I turned around to see what caught his attention. A hooded man was quickly sidestepping pedestrians, as a pack of guards were chasing after him. The man accidentally tripped over a stray person's foot, and he crashed into the dirt. I jumped near to take a peek at the victim. A pair of bright red ears was hidden under the hood that he kept on so tightly. I silently gasped. He was another one of my kind. The man shuddered and slid back as a guard held a spear to his throat. Even if it was going to risk my life, I had to save him.
Slowly, I changed into my true form and hopped onto the back of the guard who had his spear, and bit his shoulder. He cried and dropped the spear, then threw me off. The rest of the guards backed up slowly as I growled at them. Everyone in the Marketplace had already evacuated, scared to face the violence.
The leader ordered, "Let's go!" The rest of the guards dispersed. I stepped over to the man and grabbed his shirt collar. He gasped for breath as I pulled him over to an alley. I transformed back into a human and placed the hood over my head.
"W-What just happened!?" he mumbled. He sat up and hooded himself again, then looked at me. The clumsy guy nodded his head in thanks. "Name?"
"Suni," I replied shortly. "You must come and stay with me." I placed the hood back on his head, and we stumbled back to Old Man's home together. I could feel him tremble in fear, every step of the way. As we entered Old Man’s area, I already saw him waiting at the front door. It looked like the news had already reached him.
“Oh no…” he murmured. He took the man into his arms and tried to soothe him, but it barely worked. We walked inside together, and Old Man poured out some tea. “Calm down a little bit, and then we can talk, alright?”
“Yes sir,” the man replied. He consumed the tea, and took a deep breath. I couldn’t help but stare at him and watch if he was okay. He looked very timid. “My name is Erwin. I’m just like Suni, I guess.”
He continued to explain his background. Like I, he was dedicated to finding another hybrid to live with. I was excited to find out that I finally found someone else, but now we were both in danger. Old Man heard rumors that the guards would check every single inch of the village to find us. Erwin explained that we had to escape as quickly as possible.
“What if they found us here before we could leave, though!?” I yelled. “Surely, they’ll punish Old Man for keeping us safe!”
“Don’t worry about me,” Old Man sighed. I shook my head. He’s kept me with him for years. I couldn’t just leave him to be killed. Tears started to fall from my eyes as I realized that I had to leave him someday. There was no avoiding it.
“I have a plan to save everyone, you don’t need to cry,” Erwin stated. We looked at him, wondering what he had in his mind. He smiled, and then lowered our heads as he whispered his idea. Old Man smiled after he finished explaining. I hoped it would work out as smoothly as he claimed it would…
The next day, the wooden door that guarded the only way into Old Man’s house was kicked down violently. Another pack of guards, bigger than yesterday’s, marched in. Erwin and Old Man hid in a room at the very end of the house, while I stayed hidden under his bed. I watched as feet marched past me. My heart beat faster each second. For the first time, I felt scared of humans.
I heard a sharp wail from the back of the house. They found Erwin and Old Man. I slowly snuck out from under the bed and rushed over to the commotion. Erwin was pretending to injure Old Man. The guards hesitated as he growled at them. I yipped, and jumped up onto the head of a guard. They continuously tried to attack us, but we were fast enough to dodge their jabs. I clawed the face of a guard, and he stepped back and retreated. Erwin glanced at me. He was tired, and he couldn’t take anymore fighting. They managed to impale his ear… I pointed to a nearby window. Without hesitation, he jumped outside. I glanced at Old Man one last time. He looked back at me sadly. I turned my head back and climbed up and out the window.
We didn’t stop running until we reached the borders of the village. The sun was setting, and there was nobody in sight. I nudged him to walk a little farther, but he collapsed. I had to drag him deeper. I never knew that there was a forest out here. Memories flooded back into my head. Once again, I was in a world of beauty.
“I hope they don’t destroy this place, either,” Erwin whispered. I nodded. After a rest, he was able to stand again. We continued to walk through the forest, never turning back to look at the horrible place behind us.