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Other Fanfics / The Crux(SNSD)
« Last post by writerjunkie on Today at 06:09:50 AM »I worked on this piece a long time ago and posted it elsewhere, but since removed the account. It has been a long time. I can't say I will finish this piece, but I have a strong liking to this site. A lot has happened since I finished TTCL. Oh boy! I'm 35 and turns out I'm transgender and non binary! I use they/them pronouns and have been medically transitioning for three years. I no longer follow JPOP or KPOP, but I have a strong fondness to it as it helped me so much in my teenage years. I wanted to share this fic that I am quite proud of.
CHAPTER 1
Yoona rubbed her fingers against the soft blue fabric of her sports sweater. The boat ride had been longer than she excepted and while she was starting to feel a little antsy it was mostly overtaken from tiredness. Yoona had started to feel sleep come at her with a vengeance after the rush of excitement began to die down. The lolling of the boat didn't make it any better and brought her into a more calmer state of mind.
The fight against sleep was becoming a lot more difficult. It wasn't unheard of for her to still be up no matter how tired she was. The nightly outings were always done way past midnight. A normal hour where people should be home sleeping, but not her. Yoona had a much different life than those people who had the time to rest.
Rubbing her eyes, Yoona wasn't sure what time it was now, but when she had gotten the call it was one in the morning. The time it took to get everything necessary in response to her nightly call was at least thirty minutes, followed by the drive to reach the boat waiting for her, and then to get it to the proper location before anything can get done tonight.
The motor-powered machine was still on the move, but Yoona was sure that she was close to where she had to be. It was just something she got good at guessing from experience. Oddly, her mind was not yet that good at having an exact time when they will finish these nightly trips. Roughly, the red-haired teenager estimated it was two in the morning now, so maybe in another hour they will be done. That of course, was just an estimation and was never something to count on.
Glancing down to her wrist, Yoona realized she didn't bring her watch, forgotten in the thick smokey cloud of grogginess from having only two hours of sleep. At least she had remembered to bring some sort of a jacket as a precaution to remain warm if the night had decided to become unpredictable. The day had started out hot and dry with a sudden spike of humidity near the end. It was the middle of summer and it was expected that it remain hot through out the night, but occasionally it will change and a gust of cold air would come through.
Yoona's gut feeling had not failed her this time, tonight's weather was not dry and stuffy, but rather a pleasant cool breeze that fluttered softly against her cheek. Tapping the tip of her finger into the water, Yoona found that even the calm dark-tinted color lake was at an enjoyable temperature.
She had seen it as becoming too cozy that it made Yoona want to go back to sleep and she was more than happy to be back home. It was a much more appealing idea to lay in bed to catch up on lost sleep from her long shift at the bar than be on this boat. Her responsibility, however, had always gotten in the way and always came first even if she had to lose a few hours of sleep to complete it. Leaning on to her hand, Yoona squinted out to the lake around her, but couldn't see anything but darkness after a few inches of searching. The faint sound of crickets and frogs were what confirmed to her that she was still in the lake with the boat's motor still running.
Lifting the hand that had now settled on her lap, Yoona covered her mouth just as a large yawn hit her. She wasn't sure how she would be able to do anything, captive under the need to sleep, but she wouldn't be able to turn back now. Her and the two other people on the boat with Yoona had gotten on this tiny boat and were probably a good mile from shore and then came the problem of walking home in wet clothes.
Bored with the sight of vast darkness as her horizon line, Yoona turned to the right and spotted her friend, across from her, slouched over in her seat caught in a light slumber. It was hard for the younger female to see if the black-haired woman in front of her was sleeping, or trying to fight off the unsettling feeling of wanting to vomit that came with becoming seasick. Keeping in mind that it was her job to always make sure the tanned woman was safe, Yoona reached over and tapped her limp friend on the shoulder. She didn't moved, but just remained in that painful position as the boat rocked, cutting through the tiny waves in the lake.
“Yuri.” Yoona interrupted, shaking the woman's shoulder more forcefully.
There was a loud snort from the corpse-like woman and a second after she had moved, now sitting back into a more comfortable position. Yuri instantly wiped away at the sides of her face for any drool and rubbed her eyes. Yoona was sure she had gotten less sleep than her.
When she had gotten the call she had found Yuri sleeping in her chair with her laptop still on. She had probably spent hours working on a report, or something much bigger to make her pull an all-nighter. Yoona had tried to talk her into staying home and she would go on the boat ride instead, but Yuri insisted on tagging along because she knew her help was needed.
Yoona will probably never tell her that Yuri was right. The three of them made a well organized team. They each filled out the spots that were missing and although that would be good news for a group who loved what they did at night, Yoona had seen it as more of a burden for her roommate.
Yuri had always hated the new change in her life and even though she wished to have nothing to do with it, she would, without thinking, come along on these unpredictable calls in order to help her two friends. The youngest of the group knew that Yuri had better things to do, such as aiming for her degree, but she was stuck here, against her will or not to help her team. Yuri ran a hand through her hair and sighed, noticing that they were still moving.
“Are you alright?” Yoona asked. “You aren't feeling sick, are you?”
Nervously, Yoona tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear. If Yuri had gotten sick what should she do?Being that her duty was to care of Yuri during missions, Yoona wasn't sure how she should handle her if she were seasick. There wasn't anything to fix that. Was Yoona supposed to take Yuri back to shore and go home so that she can sleep it off? Will Yuri have to endure the pain, considering the boat wouldn't get turned around until their job was done? While taking Yuri home would be the better decision, Yoona knew that nothing now can be done, because they were too far from land.
On the other hand, Yuri was needed. The group will not be able to work as well if Yuri was absent. There can be a risk of injury or even death if Yuri hadn't come along with them. The years of training and perfecting their skills together as a team was their way of a good defense and a great offense. All three of the woman had to be together to get missions done without anyone hurt. Yoona looked the raven-haired woman over for any signs of sickness.
Yuri rubbed at the sides of her arms to try and bring some warmth into her body. She didn't bring a sweater. She was glad she had not decided to wear a pair of shorts tonight too, but having a T-shirt didn't make her arms from stop being covered in goosebumps. Yoona was relieved to see that the only thing that bothered Yuri was the shivers.
“I'm fine.” Yuri assured. “I'm just exhausted. That happens when I stay up doing a bunch of assignments.” Feeling less disoriented, Yuri gave Yoona her complete attention. “What time is it?”
Yoona shrugged. “I'm not sure. I guess it has to be almost three AM now. I don't have my watch with me.”
Sleep deprived and bored, Yuri sort of wished she brought a DS with her or maybe a book to read to kill time. The silent ride was enough to have anyone jump overboard just to make their night somewhat of an interesting one. But looking over to the empty lake made Yuri decide not to take forth that idea because the lake was much too creepy. There were no people insight, either fishing or swimming, and since there's not a single light other than the ones from the boat, nothing can be seen and that meant anything can come and attack them. Yuri shivered at the scary thought and rubbed her arms faster.
“Do you want my sweater?” Yoona offered. “You're probably colder than me right now.”
“No, it's okay.” Yuri declined. “What time do you think we'll be done?” There was another shrug from Yoona. “Why are we here anyway? Does she realize we're in the middle of a lake?”
Yoona shifted her body so that she was sitting forward, instead of facing the left of her. “Unnie is never wrong about her hunches. She's good with these guesses, even if they're a little odd to come across.” Yoona explained.
“I'm sure you went through stranger ones since you've known her for so long, huh?” Yuri lightly chuckled.
Yoona kept a stern face, too tired to put on a smile, but also remembering one of her more dangerous adventures. Yuri didn't understand it yet, but sometimes the odd places that they were ordered to come to weren't always the easiest. Yoona rather walk around a cemetery all night than stay here on the silent ghostly lake. It was a lot more cozy and made her worry less.
“The weirder the places are the more dangerous the mission.” Yoona exclaimed.
Yuri's smile disappeared and her eyes darkened, her mind going into deeper thoughts to try and understand what her junior could have meant. Before she could propose a question, the boat had stopped and the anchor resting in front of Yuri's feet was thrown over to station it. Yoona turned to the front of the boat, where their driver of the flimsy looking ship stood, focused on the water in front of her.
Yoona saw the outline of their captain, the slim figure standing still, but the faint sound of exhaling had told Yoona they were in the spot they needed to be. The feminine looking figure brushed down thick locks of short hair. Yoona instantly stood up, realizing now was not the time to make small chit chat with Yuri any longer. She had took off her fuzzy feeling sweater and began to remove her shirt next. Yuri remained in her seat, still not sure of what was going on around her.
“Unnie?” Yoona asked, now standing firm in nothing but a swimsuit.
“Is this...the place?” Yuri softly questioned. “What exactly are we looking for?” There was silence, their captain had not moved and Yoona remained quiet, waiting for instructions. “Why won't anyone say anything?!” Yoona looked back to her best friend. “What is it that we're looking for? Tiffany!?”
The person standing in front of the wheel turned around. Yuri watched her take off her clothes and was in a bikini too. Yuri had put a bikini on under her clothes too like asked, but still didn't understand how that can be important to what they normally do at night. Tiffany had made her way over to the two girls, giving them a clearer view of her face.
In the light, Yuri noticed that her dark green eyes sparkled, turning into a clear shade of green. It reminded Yuri of bright sparkling gems, but speckles of red and orange circled around the iris, making Tiffany's eyes more appealing. Watching carefully, Yuri witnessed Tiffany's pupil dilate and enlarge to the point that it had covered her entire eye, making it turn black for a split second then it went back to a more human appearance.
What caught Yuri's interesting the most was the strong aroma that came off of Tiffany. Unwillingly, Yuri's nose flared. It was intoxicating and addictive. This, recently discovered, ability was odd to Yuri at first and she admitted that she still had not gotten used to it, and probably won't, but it amazed her at how many things she can pick up through from her hyper sensitive nose.
That included emotions. Tiffany had always assured Yuri that with time and enough training she will adjust to her strange abilities, but all Yuri wanted was for it to go away so that she can go back to the normal life she left.
Not that Yuri was ungrateful for Yoona and Tiffany deciding to take her in the night they found her. If it weren't for them Yuri probably would have done something so bad that it might have haunted her until the day she died. It would have changed her life if she had been wallowed in remorse. Yuri had thanked them plenty of times for their kindness, but the university student wanted to return to her family.
She missed her mom and the arguments with her brother when they fought over using the bathroom in the morning. Yuri missed her mother's cooking and her family's presence when she came home from class tired and went to crash in her room for a little before it was time to eat dinner together. That was something Yuri knew was no longer possible because of the new identity that found its way to her. She was terrified of the new world she involuntarily entered the day she woke up.
She wasn't sure on who to trust or who to go to. She wasn't sure where her life stood now that she wasn't normal. It hasn't been long since the change, a little over a year, but she wondered how Yoona and Tiffany dealt with it. They didn't seem scared or worried, or even bothered to their strange life style.
That was what made Tiffany admirable to Yuri. She was able to still carry on their lives even though Yuri was sure she had no more relatives. Tiffany kept her life busy with what they fought now as a group and Yoona always tagged along with her. Yuri can smell how determined Tiffany was to seek the mission through the end.
It made Yuri proud she was their leader. And it was interesting at how different Tiffany can be when forced to face responsiblity. She became more serious and sometimes harsh, even stern, completely different from her friendly appearance. Yuri wondered that her strict behavior was something she needed in the position of a leader.
“Yuri, you should take off your clothes.” Tiffany commanded. “Yoona, put our clothes into my backpack and put that into the cooler.”
Yoona quickly rushed to collect their clothing, while Yuri still refused to remove hers. She still wanted an explanation. She had been to creepy places before that Tiffany had led them into, but those were mostly cemeteries, crypts, and the last few had them running through underground sewers, but Yuri couldn't understand why they were here, a lake.
A public place used by people during the summer for swimming and for fishermen in the early mornings. There wasn't anything odd about a lake from what she can tell through the dark. Yoona had finished putting her own clothing and Tiffany's into a bag then made her way to Yuri to try and convince her to listen.
“Yuri, just do as unnie says.” Yoona whispered. “You can ask later.”
Yuri had started to quietly remove her shirt. She can sense the emotion of panic between her teammates. While being here in this lake might be odd, Yuri didn't forget the reason why they spend hours at night traveling.
Whatever they were going to fight needed her full attention. It wasn't time to argue anymore. When she had taken off her shirt, she decided to remove her sneakers before taking off her shorts. That's when the boat suddenly shook.
The lake was interrupted by a sharp cut in its mellow water and a violent wave had hit the side of the boat, causing it to rattle. Yuri lost her footing and fell to her bottom. Tiffany looked out into the darkness to pinpoint the cause of the disturbance.
“What was that?!” Yuri shrieked.
Yoona helped removed Yuri's sneakers then her shorts before hastily shoving them into the bag and throwing it into the cooler. Yuri felt her body turn tense to the change of temperature in the air and her body started to form goosebumps. She opened her mouth to complain about Yoona's hasty behavior but then the boat had began to quake again, it was much stronger. The three woman grabbed on to the boat to remain standing.
The surroundings of the lake was silent. The crickets and the frogs had stopped making their soothing noises, scared away from the violent thrashes. Yuri felt her legs starting to tremble.
She was unprepared to fight and had no idea what she was up against. Looking at her two friends, Yuri noticed that Yoona was startled, but remained firm and eventually put a fearless face back in place. Tiffany had on a serious almost angry type of glare.
“Yoona, my duffel bag.” Tiffany commanded.
The younger teammate quickly acted, picking the black bag off the floor of the boat and opened it. Inside, Yoona pulled out a sword and quickly threw it over to Tiffany. Yoona yanked out a dagger and gave it to Yuri before taking out a dagger for herself. The duffel bag was dropped to the floor and Yoona motioned for Yuri to come closer.
Tiffany was still fixed to the water, alarmed. Yuri knew she was bothered by something. A shiver ran through Yuri as her mind began to imagine the things that lurked in the water and she knew if it had Tiffany this worried then it was something they all should be scared about. Tiffany was the strongest member.
She was a lot more skilled and that made her almost completely fearless to all things they fought. There was another crash against the boat, but Yuri was more prepared and grabbed on to the edge of the boat. There was shaking above the surface of the lake that caused the water to bubble. Yuri's hands clutched tighter to the edge.
“Quickly, take these!” Tiffany demanded.
She handed over something tiny in Yoona's hand who had given the same thing to Yuri. Looking into her palm, Yuri realized that she was given a green capsule. Confused, Yuri looked up to Yoona for an explanation. She watched her friend take her own capsule and put it into her mouth. Still unsure of what it was, Yuri copied the same action and let it settle on the inside of her cheek.
“Don't bite down on the capsules until we're underwater!” Tiffany commanded.
Before Yuri could object there was a large splash of water that smacked against her face and nearly had her toppling over in shock. Cutting through the water, Yuri can see a large black figure come out and its neck was elongated, appearing to have no end as it rose. Tiffany moved the light, shinning it on to the black figure just a few feet away from them and Yuri's heart almost stopped.
Peering out of the water almost straight into the sky appeared to be some type of sea serpent. Its neck was thick covered in rough blue scales, leading up to the top was a large head with a stretched out mouth. Staring closely, Yuri could only find the best way to explain it as a dragon.
Its eyes were fiery red with splotches of orange around the tiny black centered pupils. Yuri felt herself shake. She had never seen anything this large. The sea monster turned to the boat, hearing Yuri's scream and let out a snort through the small holes at the edge of it's mouth. It blinked and started to let out a snarl. The dragon opened it's mouth and roared.
Yuri put her hands over her ears, feeling her head vibrate and her ears ache. But it didn't go unnoticed when she saw thick portions of water raise from the lake and form a wave the size of the demon's long neck.
The dragon stared at them and let out another roar that sent the waves slapping down to the boat and Yuri felt it lift up. Then she was surrounded in darkness. The boat was tossed into the air, sending her flying up with it.
Yuri's entire body was wrecked with pain when she hit the water. There was a loud splash as her body plunged into the cloudy water.
Yuri nearly passed out when the back of her head hit the water from the tense impact. Her fall started to slow down as she became engulfed with the cool liquid. Yuri's eyes were closed once she stopped sinking, too scared to see what had happened. Her body was stiff, still trying to adjust to the cold temperature. Yuri was shaking to try and fend the chill off.
When she had decided to open her eyes, she only was met with more darkness. The light of the boat was gone and it was hard to tell which way was up or down. Yuri had began to panic. Kicking her legs up and down rapidly, Yuri decided to swim in what she though was the surface. The need to breathe was now much stronger as she cut her hands and legs through the water.
Yuir's lungs had started to ache, crying for oxygen. Before she could get to the surface, she felt something wrap around her wrist, pulling her down and wildly she kicked out. Blindly, Yuri threw her fist outward to defend herself. The water had only weakened the power of her punches. The monster attacking her took a hold of Yuri's other wrist and that's when her kicks became more urgent.
Calm down. Look in front of you.
Yuri only felt a small fraction of relief hearing that voice. Trying to calm her racing heart before listening, Yuri opened her eyes and squinted through the darkness to see what she thought was attacking her. Through the faint glow of the surface, Yuri noticed that the person holding her was Yoona.
She had came over to check on her after the crash. Carefully observing her friend's appearance, Yuri saw that Yoona had looked different, despite having indigo blue colored eyes there was something about Yoona that Yuri wasn't used to seeing. The university student saw that there was something extra that Yoona had.
She was more fluid with the water, as if she had lived in it all her life. That's when Yuri saw that there were gills at the side of Yoona's neck that moved rapidly to convert the water into oxygen. The moving of gills flapped, exposing the small slits in her neck. Staring down to her wrist, Yuri saw that Yoona also had webbed fingers and she was sure she had webbed toes.
Starstruck, Yuri could only describe Yoona as looking a lot like a mermaid, only she didn't have scales or a fin, just gills and a few webbed body parts. Her large doe-like eyes made her seem enchanting. Spindles of red hair fluidly moved through the water, delicately covering Yoona's face. Yoona smiled, seeing that Yuri was more at ease. She began to point at Yuri's mouth, reminding her of the pill she placed inside her mouth before landing.
If you want to breathe you have to bite the capsule.
Seeing that she had no other way to get fresh air, Yuri agreed to bite down on the soft plastic pill. She cringed as the bitter tasting liquid inside as it squirted into her mouth. She had smelled and tasted many different concoctions Yoona and Tiffany had made before sending her into battle. She was the weakest of the group and needed as much power-ups she can get, but the sourness of this small potion was much worse than she's ever had before.
Yuri felt a strong urge to gag as the plastic covering of the capsule dissolved on her tongue and her entire mouth was fooled with that awful drink. She wasn't sure what it was she was drinking, but she figured it best that she didn't know what made up this liquid just so that it can be a little easier to get it down. Clenching her eyes shut, Yuri tried to gulp it down, but found it too difficult to swallow. Willing herself to swallow the potion, Yuri curled her hands into fist and took a large gulp, feeling the nasty liquid slide down her throat and make its way into her stomach.
The aftertaste was too strong and lingered in her mouth, but Yuri had to deal with that until she can finish the mission. Floating in the water, Yuri waited for the effects of the capsule to kick in. She wasn't sure what she should expect, maybe a horrid mutation or painful side effects as her body changed, but she tried to prepare herself for the worse.
The change for this potion was subtle and pain free for a change. Curiously, Yuri watched her fingers sprout out flaps of skin between her fingers and her toes tingled as the skin loosened and meshed together. Gingerly, the black-haired girl brushed the tips of her fingers to her neck and flinched when she felt the flaps of skin flutter to collect air.
She gasped, allowing water to enter her mouth but was shocked to feel it exit her gills and air reached her lungs. Beside her, Yuri watched tiny bubbles float to the surface and stared down to her feet. They were naturally cutting through the water, constantly in motion, ready to swim. Moving her arms, Yuri saw how fluid she was able to move and how much less energy she had to put into moving through the water so quickly.
Yuri! I need your help! Follow Yoona.
Becoming more serious, Yuri looked ahead of her to see Yoona motioning her to come with her before swimming away. It was easy for Yuri to move her body forward so that it was outstretched flat and her legs were extended to its full length to kick properly. Yuri's hands were steadily beside her. From the distance, she saw Yoona's webbed feet kicking as she swam.
She was amazed at how clear she can see Yoona's movements through the dark water. She didn't waste time to keep up with Yoona as she led the way. Yuri kept her focus on Yoona until she led her to Tiffany who had ended up farther then both of them during the splash. She was also the only one who still had a weapon. Noticing that her teammates have arrived, Tiffany looked at them ready to give orders.
We're going to have to rely on magic if we want to take this demon down.
Yuri was always amazed at how Tiffany was able to enter their thoughts, but also scared that she would use it against her will to get things Yuri never wanted to reveal. But it had proven to be a useful power when they had to work together in silence. At this moment, speaking verbally was just impossible to do so it was the only way they can communicate.
I've targeted where it's hiding, but it doesn't want to come and attack us. Yoona, I'll need you to lure it out.
Examining her surroundings, Yuri saw that the monster had settled into an underwater cave. It wasn't very tall, but wide and the opening curved inward. The hide out could have easily been mistaken as a underwater mountain or large rock. Yuri didn't understand how it can still fit into something like this, but didn't want to think too hard on it's overall size.
Yoona nodded in agreement to Tiffany's order. She shifted her body into a attacking position to prepare herself. She wasn't sure when this beast will attack and she was nervous, but so were Yuri and Tiffany who watched her.
Going in to attack the enemy without knowing where it will go was always dangerous. The whole mission itself was dangerous from the start, but Yuri was sure that from Tiffany's and Yoona's experience they could handle almost any target. Yuri on the other hand, was weak without a weapon because she had no powers or super strength like Tiffany and Yoona had. That made her the easiest target.
Yoona spread out her arms and opened her hands. Yuri watched Yoona's hands glow through the murky water and continued to grow. Yuri was amazed as she saw the light get so bright it made Yoona's entire body glow, covering her completely in a white neon light.
Squinting, Yuri watched on, noticing that the outline of Yoona had started to shake, using all her energy to focus. Yoona clapped her hands together in front of her and the light dispersed, as if exploding, going forward into thin laser lights of needles then vanished. There was an awkward intense silence around the three woman as Yoona remained perfectly still, her hands in the same position, and Yuri waited for something drastic to happen. Tiffany had remained cool, keeping her eyes in front of Yoona, sure that's where the sea monster was going to lash out. Yuri began to fear for Yoona's safety and started to swim over to check on her.
Yuri stay back! Don't go near her!
Unwillingly, Yuri obeyed, still not sure about what she was supposed to expect happen. Yoona continued to remain still. Yuri had to trust Tiffany's intuition if she wanted to or not. Yoona pulled her hands apart and a tingle rippled through Yuri that caused the hair on her arms to stand up.
She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but the atmosphere around her had changed again, but she was only slightly relieved. Quickly, something swam passed Yuri's head and she thrashed her limbs around, startled at how close whatever came her way was about to hit her face. She swam over to Tiffany, scared something else will come by and maybe attack her.
Within seconds, many unidentified figures swam from all different sides, like a swarm of angry bees. Yuri feared they were sharks, but their movements were too fast and nimble. Struck by amazement, Yuri saw that these black masses were hastily spinning around Yoona, making her hair flare up and shake as they continued to spin around her. The amount of the swarm continued to increase and before Yuri knew it, Yoona was covered by the fast spinning animals.
It's okay. They aren't harming her. She's in control of them.
Faintly, there was a glow that started in the middle of the swarm and it had gotten brighter. Until the whole spinning tornado was glowing with a powerful bright white light that gave Yuri a clear view of what was swimming around Yoona.
It was fishes, hundreds if not thousands, of silver colored fish that reflected off the glowing light. They seemed to have been attracted to Yoona. They were all doing things Yuri had never seen a fish do before. They swam faster and thrashed their bodies around lost in the heat of the battle.
Closely, Yuri saw the fishes eyes, they were shimmering a bright shade of blue, almost close to Yoona's indigo blue eyes. It was as if she was in the fish's minds, controlling their movements with her own. She had become a part of the fish, able to get them to obey.
Instantly, Yoona began to move, quickly positioning her arms indifferent directions and each time a school of fish reacted. They were swimming to where both her arms went, fueled by the suggestions that Yoona gave. It was truly an unbelievable, yet serene and beautiful sight. The movement of the fish were quick yet silent.
The way Yoona's arms had moved and her body twirled made her appear as if she were dancing with the fish. It was a performance of art in one of its purest forms. She had seemed to be spinning endlessly and rapidly that Yuri wondered if she was getting dizzy or if her head hurt. Just as the spinning became faster, it stopped and Yoona was perfectly still, suffering from no effects of dizziness.
The fish were gone and it was silent again. Yuri knew the dragon couldn't be gone, it was too large and powerful, so it was a fact that a couple of fish biting at it wouldn't do any damage. The water was then disrupted with a loud painful roar and Yuri was almost close to loosing consciousness to the high frequency of noise. The attack had drawn it out, but it was angry and Yuri knew without a doubt it was going to attack back with a vengeance.
Get ready!
Yuri wanted to know how. She had no weapon. She had no magical powers. It was just her and her normal human strength, which was nothing in the demon realm. She felt more like a sitting duck, or a tiny fish in a huge pond full of vicious monsters.
For all Yuri knew, there was more than one of these sea dragons. There was another roar. Quicker than Yuri's mind can process, the demon's face came out and snapped at Yoona. It would have broken her in two if she didn't move out of the way quick enough.
The strength into the bite caused the dragon's teeth to clatter. It stood motionless for a second, stunned. That gave Yoona enough time to attack.
From the bottom of the lake, a sharp large piece of the floor jabbed into the dragon's neck. The monster let out another roar and retreated back before trying to have another go at Yoona. Tiffany quickly came into the battle, holding her sword up and swung the blade. There was another gash in the side of its neck. Yuri cringed as purple blood spilled out, disbursing into the water.
Yoona and Tiffany started to attack, trying to stun the demon to get a final blow to kill it, but it was too strong and aware to avoid any serious injuries. The only big damage done to the dragon was that gash that kept leaking out decent amounts of purple blood, but it wasn't enough to weaken it. Frustrated, the sea monster roared and slammed its head into Tiffany's gut, leaving her breathless and soaring a foot back.
The monster turned toward Yoona and took another bite at her, and while she was quick to still avoid it that wasn't enough to still get the dragon's teeth scrapped against her skin. A trail of red blood fell into the water, but that didn't slow Yoona down. Before Yuri could think of a plan to attack back, in the distance something rapidly moved through the water and covered Yoona. It was an under water tornado and the force of the water had kept Yoona captured into the spinning funnel.
Yuri! It's distracted. You can kill it!
The black-haired woman's heart raced. If she was the only one left to take this thing down she didn't know how. The only people here with active powers were Yoona and Tiffany and Yoona was trapped, while Tiffany was probably still trying to recover from that attack. It would have easily killed a normal human who took the hit, but Tiffany was only down, waiting to recover again.
All you need to do is cut off its head. I'll take care of the rest. I'm still a little weak, so I need your help.
Yuri's mind almost went blank. It was probably due to fear, but Yuri knew her friends didn't have time for her fear. They needed her. She gulped, trying to bring back some courage in herself. She couldn't understand how Tiffany knew something that Yuri held, while she knew nothing about it. It was probably another type of gut feeling her leader had.
Yuri! We don't have much time! These capsules run out after an hour.
W-What do I have to do?
You have a power too Yuri. You can use it. You're just as strong as us!
Staring down at her hand, Yuri finally put together what Tiffany was explaining. It had never came to her to try and morph while underwater, under a potion that was only designed to give her gills. But what probably scared her the most was her lack of ability to control herself when she changed.
Yuri was able to almost completely control her morphs, except when the moon was full, that was something she hasn't mastered yet. There were still dangers, however, and Yuri wasn't sure if she wanted to get her two close friends into more danger. Glancing back at the spinning tornado and squinting through the dark to try and find Tiffany, Yuri knew she couldn't stand here and let her friends get hurt either. She had to take the risk.
Filled with both curiosity and worry, Yuri began to prepare herself for the transformation. She wondered if it was possible to change forms while still being able to keep her ability to breathe underwater. It was the only weapon she had now, her blade lost during her fall from the giant tidal wave the rocked the boat. The only way she can fight now is if she changed forms.
Finding no other way to defend herself, Yuri willed herself to shift, a painful process she wished to skip when it had to happen. The hard worker wanted to scream as she felt her nails push out, stretching the skin to her fingers and tightening. Her mouth throbbed in agony as her jaw sprouted outward and her teeth grew.
There was a low pop in her arm as her shoulders dislocated itself and her feet grew. The joints in her knees popped shortly after. It felt as if Yuri was dying and her entire body was becoming stretched apart as every muscle was pulled.
When the transformation was done, Yuri was amazed to see that her entire body wasn't covered in fur and her hands weren't paws, neither were her feet, but were human hands with fingers just much larger than a normal humans and her nails were long and pointed to the tip. She looked like a taller and more muscular human except with a snout and pointed dog like ears. She even kept her regular thinking process of a human but her sense of smell was much better and her hearing was ten times much better. The potion had made it possible for her to not only still breathe underwater but still keep her human form in someway while she shifted.
A strong push of courage came through to her. Yuri knew her limits in this form, but knew that her chances to fight back without an instant death greatly decreased. Clenching her teeth, Yuri let out a snarl and swam forward to attack. All she had to do was aim for the neck and if she slashed deep enough the dragon would be headless. Yuri's fingers were spread open, her claws ready to deliver the deadly blow.
Fiercely, Yuri's legs kicked, bringing her closer to the demon. She had decided to swim underneath it's neck to have an easier attack. Carefully sneaked underneath the monster, Yuri winded both her arms back and viciously scratched at the tough scaly skin. The dragon shrieked and moved, but Yuri didn't let go.
She kept trying to slash at the spot of scratches she left, eager to get through the thick neck to reach the other side. She felt bits of it's rubbery skin brush against her face and eventually her entire view was covered with a cloud of purple. Yuri's nails continued to shred through meat, tendons, and nerves, as splashes of blood sprayed out against her hands. Then the feel of the dragon's neck was gone and Yuri was still left in that cloud that made it difficult to see anywhere.
Flaring her nostrils, Yuri tried to smell her way through, but all she picked up was the sent of the blood that covered her. She bared her teeth in frustration and let out a small growl. Waving her arms around, Yuri tried to move the blood out of view, but it only stayed in one spot. Yuri was to the left of her that she figured was the way out.
When she broke through the shroud of blood, she saw that the tornado was gone and Yoona was left floating in the water unconscious. Yuri paddled over, cradling Yoona in her arms and shook her. She was still bleeding from her thigh, but it wasn't enough blood to kill her.
Yuri was never the medic of the group and had no idea if Yoona was dying because of the bleeding or because the bite had a type of toxin that slowly was going to kill her. Yuri shook her again to try and wake her.
Fany! She isn't waking up! What do I do?!
Yuri brought Yoona closer to her chest and looked above her. She was certain that was the way out. There was another roar, putting an end to Yuri's idea of escape. She shifted Yoona in her arm so that one hand had a hold of her and another was out ready to defend them.
She was sure if she did one last large swipe it would be the last blow to decapitate the dragon. Changing her fighting position, Yuri took a hold of Yoona again and put her over her back so that Yoon's head was resting on her shoulder. Yuri wrapped both of Yoona's arms around her neck and moved her legs so that they were around her waist.
Tiffany, it's dying. I can sense it. If we can both attack we can kill it.
Yuri carefully swam forward, using her nose to follow the faint smell of blood. The closer she got the stronger the smell was. As she moved, Yuri felt Yoona's head loll up and down against her cheek. The spindles of red hair that occasionally came into Yuri's view was a reminder that Yoona was still with her, but still unconscious.
She felt a few strands of hair lightly brush against her cheek. Faintly, through the distance, Yuri saw the outline of Tiffany and she came over to join her. She still had her sword and while Tiffany couldn't use her magic under the water because her element was weak against water, Yuri knew Tiffany would be able to put up a powerful attack with her strength alone.
It went into hiding again. We will have to wait until it attacks.
The rush of fear, mixed with adrenaline burst through Yuri as she waited. She knew it can attack anywhere and if it had decided to go to the back then Yoona was at risk of another injury or even death. The water was too dark to see until the dragon was close, but it was wounded and being up close to them again was not on the demon's mind if it wanted to survive. Yuri jumped when she felt a ripple of water hit the left side of her face.
It was trying to find the weakest prey. Yuri's hand went to Yoona's arm and rubbed it. There was another wave of water that hit Yuri, but this time she reacted and turned around with her claw swiping out. She felt her nails slice into skin again and a trickle of blood came into the water, wrapped around her fingers. The monster roared and Tiffany went into action, swimming upward and thrust her sword up.
There was more blood. The beast finally came into view and through the cloudy purple water, Yuri saw a large flap of skin hanging where her claws had went earlier. From an angle, as its neck twisted and turned, Yuri can see a huge gap in its neck. The bone of the neck peeked out. The tanned girl estimated that if she did several more swipes it will without a doubt finally kill this monster.
Glancing back at Tiffany, she saw the woman stab her sword through the bottom of the dragon's mouth and out through its nose. There was more blood added to the fog. It will take the final attack easier. Yuri swam toward the wound, but before she could get close enough the sea beast wildly thrashed around, hitting Yuri in the process. She nearly passed out when the massive muscle hit her forehead.
She looked around her to see the dragon still managed to take a hit at Tiffany with it's mouth closed and used its large head again to stun her. Yuri growled to get it's attention. The dragon turned around and snorted. The water around him bubbled and spurts of purple blood came out of the small holes of its nostrils. Yuri stared at the dragon.
She decided that blinding it will make it easier to finish it. The sea creature charged toward her and Yuri waited for her arm to line up with the dragon's eyes to cut them. Before the monster cloud lay any type of attack on her, there was a huge ball of white that moved in front of the dragon's face. The ball began to spin.
The shine of the ball made Yuri realize that it wasn't light, but a school of silver fish again that were all attacking the dragon's face. Yuri turned around and saw Yoona looking down at her, smiling. Yuri knew she was still in pain and probably weak, but at least now she was awake. Yoona pointed to the monster's neck and Yuri went back into action, ready to finish her plan.
She swam forward, feeling Yoona's arms tighten around Yuri's shoulders as she moved faster. Yuri brought her hands out and saw Yoona do the same just as their hands plunged into the gap. Yoona's hand took a hold of the monster's bone and pulled it. Yuri heard a sickening crack as the neck snapped and Yuri felt the soft, warm, fleshy tissue around her hands disappear as they went out to the other side of its neck.
Both of their faces were covered with blood and all they saw was a dark pool of purple, but their instinct to kill didn't go away. From the pressure, the skin tore in two and the dragon stopped moving. There was a comforting silence around them. Yuri swam through the cloud of blood and turned around when her sight was clear again.
The neck of the dragon was snapped in two and it's head began to sink to the bottom of the lake along with its body. She had never been able to take something this large out by herself. There was a tingling sensation of confidence and pride that came through Yuri as she watched the body sink.
Yoona gave her a tight squeeze to get her attention again then pointed down next to the monster's head. Tiffany was still down there, unable to move. Yuri quickly rushed down to spot her leader and took a hold of Tiffany's wrist.
W-Wait. My sword.
Yuri looked to the right of her to see Tiffany half awake. She removed the sword from the dragon's mouth and Tiffany took out a small bottle from her bikini top. She handed it over to Yuri.
Put it into the dragon's mouth. This will cause it to dissolve and clean up the blood.
She was already tired from swimming and fighting, but the sooner Yuri did as asked the quicker they can finally go home. Yuri swam down to the dragon's head and pushed it's heavy mouth open. A puff of purple blood came out once it opened and Yuri cringed.
Its mouth smelled and she saw chunks of human flesh caught between the teeth mixed with fish. Yuri opened the bottle and threw it into the monster's mouth and quickly closed it. Almost instantly, the dragon's skin began to fall apart and burst into a white powdery substance. The blood started to thin out and turn clear before disappearing.
Let's go home.
Yuri saw Tiffany nod in agreement. She started to swim to the surface again and felt Yoona weakly kicking her feet, starting to gain her strength back. When they reached the surface, Yuri felt her gills flap down and mend their way back to her neck. The webbed skin of her hands and feet shrunk and her nails began to sink back into her fingers. Yuri's shoulder popped again as it became smaller and go back into its socket.
This was the more painful time of the transformation. Yuri's teeth got smaller and her ears were back to its normal size. The snout was pushed in and then it was over. Yuri sighed. Her whole body was in pain, but at the same time she was relieved.
She didn't have to worry about losing herself and giving into the beastly thoughts that often raced through her mind since she's become a werewolf. She was in control in human form. Pushing through the clear water, Yuri's eyes started to hurt from the moonlight, still trying to adjust. She was glad to finally be on the surface. That's when she realized something was missing when she her mind was in a more level-headed perspective.
“Tiffany, where's the boat?” Yuri asked.
CHAPTER 1
Yoona rubbed her fingers against the soft blue fabric of her sports sweater. The boat ride had been longer than she excepted and while she was starting to feel a little antsy it was mostly overtaken from tiredness. Yoona had started to feel sleep come at her with a vengeance after the rush of excitement began to die down. The lolling of the boat didn't make it any better and brought her into a more calmer state of mind.
The fight against sleep was becoming a lot more difficult. It wasn't unheard of for her to still be up no matter how tired she was. The nightly outings were always done way past midnight. A normal hour where people should be home sleeping, but not her. Yoona had a much different life than those people who had the time to rest.
Rubbing her eyes, Yoona wasn't sure what time it was now, but when she had gotten the call it was one in the morning. The time it took to get everything necessary in response to her nightly call was at least thirty minutes, followed by the drive to reach the boat waiting for her, and then to get it to the proper location before anything can get done tonight.
The motor-powered machine was still on the move, but Yoona was sure that she was close to where she had to be. It was just something she got good at guessing from experience. Oddly, her mind was not yet that good at having an exact time when they will finish these nightly trips. Roughly, the red-haired teenager estimated it was two in the morning now, so maybe in another hour they will be done. That of course, was just an estimation and was never something to count on.
Glancing down to her wrist, Yoona realized she didn't bring her watch, forgotten in the thick smokey cloud of grogginess from having only two hours of sleep. At least she had remembered to bring some sort of a jacket as a precaution to remain warm if the night had decided to become unpredictable. The day had started out hot and dry with a sudden spike of humidity near the end. It was the middle of summer and it was expected that it remain hot through out the night, but occasionally it will change and a gust of cold air would come through.
Yoona's gut feeling had not failed her this time, tonight's weather was not dry and stuffy, but rather a pleasant cool breeze that fluttered softly against her cheek. Tapping the tip of her finger into the water, Yoona found that even the calm dark-tinted color lake was at an enjoyable temperature.
She had seen it as becoming too cozy that it made Yoona want to go back to sleep and she was more than happy to be back home. It was a much more appealing idea to lay in bed to catch up on lost sleep from her long shift at the bar than be on this boat. Her responsibility, however, had always gotten in the way and always came first even if she had to lose a few hours of sleep to complete it. Leaning on to her hand, Yoona squinted out to the lake around her, but couldn't see anything but darkness after a few inches of searching. The faint sound of crickets and frogs were what confirmed to her that she was still in the lake with the boat's motor still running.
Lifting the hand that had now settled on her lap, Yoona covered her mouth just as a large yawn hit her. She wasn't sure how she would be able to do anything, captive under the need to sleep, but she wouldn't be able to turn back now. Her and the two other people on the boat with Yoona had gotten on this tiny boat and were probably a good mile from shore and then came the problem of walking home in wet clothes.
Bored with the sight of vast darkness as her horizon line, Yoona turned to the right and spotted her friend, across from her, slouched over in her seat caught in a light slumber. It was hard for the younger female to see if the black-haired woman in front of her was sleeping, or trying to fight off the unsettling feeling of wanting to vomit that came with becoming seasick. Keeping in mind that it was her job to always make sure the tanned woman was safe, Yoona reached over and tapped her limp friend on the shoulder. She didn't moved, but just remained in that painful position as the boat rocked, cutting through the tiny waves in the lake.
“Yuri.” Yoona interrupted, shaking the woman's shoulder more forcefully.
There was a loud snort from the corpse-like woman and a second after she had moved, now sitting back into a more comfortable position. Yuri instantly wiped away at the sides of her face for any drool and rubbed her eyes. Yoona was sure she had gotten less sleep than her.
When she had gotten the call she had found Yuri sleeping in her chair with her laptop still on. She had probably spent hours working on a report, or something much bigger to make her pull an all-nighter. Yoona had tried to talk her into staying home and she would go on the boat ride instead, but Yuri insisted on tagging along because she knew her help was needed.
Yoona will probably never tell her that Yuri was right. The three of them made a well organized team. They each filled out the spots that were missing and although that would be good news for a group who loved what they did at night, Yoona had seen it as more of a burden for her roommate.
Yuri had always hated the new change in her life and even though she wished to have nothing to do with it, she would, without thinking, come along on these unpredictable calls in order to help her two friends. The youngest of the group knew that Yuri had better things to do, such as aiming for her degree, but she was stuck here, against her will or not to help her team. Yuri ran a hand through her hair and sighed, noticing that they were still moving.
“Are you alright?” Yoona asked. “You aren't feeling sick, are you?”
Nervously, Yoona tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear. If Yuri had gotten sick what should she do?Being that her duty was to care of Yuri during missions, Yoona wasn't sure how she should handle her if she were seasick. There wasn't anything to fix that. Was Yoona supposed to take Yuri back to shore and go home so that she can sleep it off? Will Yuri have to endure the pain, considering the boat wouldn't get turned around until their job was done? While taking Yuri home would be the better decision, Yoona knew that nothing now can be done, because they were too far from land.
On the other hand, Yuri was needed. The group will not be able to work as well if Yuri was absent. There can be a risk of injury or even death if Yuri hadn't come along with them. The years of training and perfecting their skills together as a team was their way of a good defense and a great offense. All three of the woman had to be together to get missions done without anyone hurt. Yoona looked the raven-haired woman over for any signs of sickness.
Yuri rubbed at the sides of her arms to try and bring some warmth into her body. She didn't bring a sweater. She was glad she had not decided to wear a pair of shorts tonight too, but having a T-shirt didn't make her arms from stop being covered in goosebumps. Yoona was relieved to see that the only thing that bothered Yuri was the shivers.
“I'm fine.” Yuri assured. “I'm just exhausted. That happens when I stay up doing a bunch of assignments.” Feeling less disoriented, Yuri gave Yoona her complete attention. “What time is it?”
Yoona shrugged. “I'm not sure. I guess it has to be almost three AM now. I don't have my watch with me.”
Sleep deprived and bored, Yuri sort of wished she brought a DS with her or maybe a book to read to kill time. The silent ride was enough to have anyone jump overboard just to make their night somewhat of an interesting one. But looking over to the empty lake made Yuri decide not to take forth that idea because the lake was much too creepy. There were no people insight, either fishing or swimming, and since there's not a single light other than the ones from the boat, nothing can be seen and that meant anything can come and attack them. Yuri shivered at the scary thought and rubbed her arms faster.
“Do you want my sweater?” Yoona offered. “You're probably colder than me right now.”
“No, it's okay.” Yuri declined. “What time do you think we'll be done?” There was another shrug from Yoona. “Why are we here anyway? Does she realize we're in the middle of a lake?”
Yoona shifted her body so that she was sitting forward, instead of facing the left of her. “Unnie is never wrong about her hunches. She's good with these guesses, even if they're a little odd to come across.” Yoona explained.
“I'm sure you went through stranger ones since you've known her for so long, huh?” Yuri lightly chuckled.
Yoona kept a stern face, too tired to put on a smile, but also remembering one of her more dangerous adventures. Yuri didn't understand it yet, but sometimes the odd places that they were ordered to come to weren't always the easiest. Yoona rather walk around a cemetery all night than stay here on the silent ghostly lake. It was a lot more cozy and made her worry less.
“The weirder the places are the more dangerous the mission.” Yoona exclaimed.
Yuri's smile disappeared and her eyes darkened, her mind going into deeper thoughts to try and understand what her junior could have meant. Before she could propose a question, the boat had stopped and the anchor resting in front of Yuri's feet was thrown over to station it. Yoona turned to the front of the boat, where their driver of the flimsy looking ship stood, focused on the water in front of her.
Yoona saw the outline of their captain, the slim figure standing still, but the faint sound of exhaling had told Yoona they were in the spot they needed to be. The feminine looking figure brushed down thick locks of short hair. Yoona instantly stood up, realizing now was not the time to make small chit chat with Yuri any longer. She had took off her fuzzy feeling sweater and began to remove her shirt next. Yuri remained in her seat, still not sure of what was going on around her.
“Unnie?” Yoona asked, now standing firm in nothing but a swimsuit.
“Is this...the place?” Yuri softly questioned. “What exactly are we looking for?” There was silence, their captain had not moved and Yoona remained quiet, waiting for instructions. “Why won't anyone say anything?!” Yoona looked back to her best friend. “What is it that we're looking for? Tiffany!?”
The person standing in front of the wheel turned around. Yuri watched her take off her clothes and was in a bikini too. Yuri had put a bikini on under her clothes too like asked, but still didn't understand how that can be important to what they normally do at night. Tiffany had made her way over to the two girls, giving them a clearer view of her face.
In the light, Yuri noticed that her dark green eyes sparkled, turning into a clear shade of green. It reminded Yuri of bright sparkling gems, but speckles of red and orange circled around the iris, making Tiffany's eyes more appealing. Watching carefully, Yuri witnessed Tiffany's pupil dilate and enlarge to the point that it had covered her entire eye, making it turn black for a split second then it went back to a more human appearance.
What caught Yuri's interesting the most was the strong aroma that came off of Tiffany. Unwillingly, Yuri's nose flared. It was intoxicating and addictive. This, recently discovered, ability was odd to Yuri at first and she admitted that she still had not gotten used to it, and probably won't, but it amazed her at how many things she can pick up through from her hyper sensitive nose.
That included emotions. Tiffany had always assured Yuri that with time and enough training she will adjust to her strange abilities, but all Yuri wanted was for it to go away so that she can go back to the normal life she left.
Not that Yuri was ungrateful for Yoona and Tiffany deciding to take her in the night they found her. If it weren't for them Yuri probably would have done something so bad that it might have haunted her until the day she died. It would have changed her life if she had been wallowed in remorse. Yuri had thanked them plenty of times for their kindness, but the university student wanted to return to her family.
She missed her mom and the arguments with her brother when they fought over using the bathroom in the morning. Yuri missed her mother's cooking and her family's presence when she came home from class tired and went to crash in her room for a little before it was time to eat dinner together. That was something Yuri knew was no longer possible because of the new identity that found its way to her. She was terrified of the new world she involuntarily entered the day she woke up.
She wasn't sure on who to trust or who to go to. She wasn't sure where her life stood now that she wasn't normal. It hasn't been long since the change, a little over a year, but she wondered how Yoona and Tiffany dealt with it. They didn't seem scared or worried, or even bothered to their strange life style.
That was what made Tiffany admirable to Yuri. She was able to still carry on their lives even though Yuri was sure she had no more relatives. Tiffany kept her life busy with what they fought now as a group and Yoona always tagged along with her. Yuri can smell how determined Tiffany was to seek the mission through the end.
It made Yuri proud she was their leader. And it was interesting at how different Tiffany can be when forced to face responsiblity. She became more serious and sometimes harsh, even stern, completely different from her friendly appearance. Yuri wondered that her strict behavior was something she needed in the position of a leader.
“Yuri, you should take off your clothes.” Tiffany commanded. “Yoona, put our clothes into my backpack and put that into the cooler.”
Yoona quickly rushed to collect their clothing, while Yuri still refused to remove hers. She still wanted an explanation. She had been to creepy places before that Tiffany had led them into, but those were mostly cemeteries, crypts, and the last few had them running through underground sewers, but Yuri couldn't understand why they were here, a lake.
A public place used by people during the summer for swimming and for fishermen in the early mornings. There wasn't anything odd about a lake from what she can tell through the dark. Yoona had finished putting her own clothing and Tiffany's into a bag then made her way to Yuri to try and convince her to listen.
“Yuri, just do as unnie says.” Yoona whispered. “You can ask later.”
Yuri had started to quietly remove her shirt. She can sense the emotion of panic between her teammates. While being here in this lake might be odd, Yuri didn't forget the reason why they spend hours at night traveling.
Whatever they were going to fight needed her full attention. It wasn't time to argue anymore. When she had taken off her shirt, she decided to remove her sneakers before taking off her shorts. That's when the boat suddenly shook.
The lake was interrupted by a sharp cut in its mellow water and a violent wave had hit the side of the boat, causing it to rattle. Yuri lost her footing and fell to her bottom. Tiffany looked out into the darkness to pinpoint the cause of the disturbance.
“What was that?!” Yuri shrieked.
Yoona helped removed Yuri's sneakers then her shorts before hastily shoving them into the bag and throwing it into the cooler. Yuri felt her body turn tense to the change of temperature in the air and her body started to form goosebumps. She opened her mouth to complain about Yoona's hasty behavior but then the boat had began to quake again, it was much stronger. The three woman grabbed on to the boat to remain standing.
The surroundings of the lake was silent. The crickets and the frogs had stopped making their soothing noises, scared away from the violent thrashes. Yuri felt her legs starting to tremble.
She was unprepared to fight and had no idea what she was up against. Looking at her two friends, Yuri noticed that Yoona was startled, but remained firm and eventually put a fearless face back in place. Tiffany had on a serious almost angry type of glare.
“Yoona, my duffel bag.” Tiffany commanded.
The younger teammate quickly acted, picking the black bag off the floor of the boat and opened it. Inside, Yoona pulled out a sword and quickly threw it over to Tiffany. Yoona yanked out a dagger and gave it to Yuri before taking out a dagger for herself. The duffel bag was dropped to the floor and Yoona motioned for Yuri to come closer.
Tiffany was still fixed to the water, alarmed. Yuri knew she was bothered by something. A shiver ran through Yuri as her mind began to imagine the things that lurked in the water and she knew if it had Tiffany this worried then it was something they all should be scared about. Tiffany was the strongest member.
She was a lot more skilled and that made her almost completely fearless to all things they fought. There was another crash against the boat, but Yuri was more prepared and grabbed on to the edge of the boat. There was shaking above the surface of the lake that caused the water to bubble. Yuri's hands clutched tighter to the edge.
“Quickly, take these!” Tiffany demanded.
She handed over something tiny in Yoona's hand who had given the same thing to Yuri. Looking into her palm, Yuri realized that she was given a green capsule. Confused, Yuri looked up to Yoona for an explanation. She watched her friend take her own capsule and put it into her mouth. Still unsure of what it was, Yuri copied the same action and let it settle on the inside of her cheek.
“Don't bite down on the capsules until we're underwater!” Tiffany commanded.
Before Yuri could object there was a large splash of water that smacked against her face and nearly had her toppling over in shock. Cutting through the water, Yuri can see a large black figure come out and its neck was elongated, appearing to have no end as it rose. Tiffany moved the light, shinning it on to the black figure just a few feet away from them and Yuri's heart almost stopped.
Peering out of the water almost straight into the sky appeared to be some type of sea serpent. Its neck was thick covered in rough blue scales, leading up to the top was a large head with a stretched out mouth. Staring closely, Yuri could only find the best way to explain it as a dragon.
Its eyes were fiery red with splotches of orange around the tiny black centered pupils. Yuri felt herself shake. She had never seen anything this large. The sea monster turned to the boat, hearing Yuri's scream and let out a snort through the small holes at the edge of it's mouth. It blinked and started to let out a snarl. The dragon opened it's mouth and roared.
Yuri put her hands over her ears, feeling her head vibrate and her ears ache. But it didn't go unnoticed when she saw thick portions of water raise from the lake and form a wave the size of the demon's long neck.
The dragon stared at them and let out another roar that sent the waves slapping down to the boat and Yuri felt it lift up. Then she was surrounded in darkness. The boat was tossed into the air, sending her flying up with it.
Yuri's entire body was wrecked with pain when she hit the water. There was a loud splash as her body plunged into the cloudy water.
Yuri nearly passed out when the back of her head hit the water from the tense impact. Her fall started to slow down as she became engulfed with the cool liquid. Yuri's eyes were closed once she stopped sinking, too scared to see what had happened. Her body was stiff, still trying to adjust to the cold temperature. Yuri was shaking to try and fend the chill off.
When she had decided to open her eyes, she only was met with more darkness. The light of the boat was gone and it was hard to tell which way was up or down. Yuri had began to panic. Kicking her legs up and down rapidly, Yuri decided to swim in what she though was the surface. The need to breathe was now much stronger as she cut her hands and legs through the water.
Yuir's lungs had started to ache, crying for oxygen. Before she could get to the surface, she felt something wrap around her wrist, pulling her down and wildly she kicked out. Blindly, Yuri threw her fist outward to defend herself. The water had only weakened the power of her punches. The monster attacking her took a hold of Yuri's other wrist and that's when her kicks became more urgent.
Calm down. Look in front of you.
Yuri only felt a small fraction of relief hearing that voice. Trying to calm her racing heart before listening, Yuri opened her eyes and squinted through the darkness to see what she thought was attacking her. Through the faint glow of the surface, Yuri noticed that the person holding her was Yoona.
She had came over to check on her after the crash. Carefully observing her friend's appearance, Yuri saw that Yoona had looked different, despite having indigo blue colored eyes there was something about Yoona that Yuri wasn't used to seeing. The university student saw that there was something extra that Yoona had.
She was more fluid with the water, as if she had lived in it all her life. That's when Yuri saw that there were gills at the side of Yoona's neck that moved rapidly to convert the water into oxygen. The moving of gills flapped, exposing the small slits in her neck. Staring down to her wrist, Yuri saw that Yoona also had webbed fingers and she was sure she had webbed toes.
Starstruck, Yuri could only describe Yoona as looking a lot like a mermaid, only she didn't have scales or a fin, just gills and a few webbed body parts. Her large doe-like eyes made her seem enchanting. Spindles of red hair fluidly moved through the water, delicately covering Yoona's face. Yoona smiled, seeing that Yuri was more at ease. She began to point at Yuri's mouth, reminding her of the pill she placed inside her mouth before landing.
If you want to breathe you have to bite the capsule.
Seeing that she had no other way to get fresh air, Yuri agreed to bite down on the soft plastic pill. She cringed as the bitter tasting liquid inside as it squirted into her mouth. She had smelled and tasted many different concoctions Yoona and Tiffany had made before sending her into battle. She was the weakest of the group and needed as much power-ups she can get, but the sourness of this small potion was much worse than she's ever had before.
Yuri felt a strong urge to gag as the plastic covering of the capsule dissolved on her tongue and her entire mouth was fooled with that awful drink. She wasn't sure what it was she was drinking, but she figured it best that she didn't know what made up this liquid just so that it can be a little easier to get it down. Clenching her eyes shut, Yuri tried to gulp it down, but found it too difficult to swallow. Willing herself to swallow the potion, Yuri curled her hands into fist and took a large gulp, feeling the nasty liquid slide down her throat and make its way into her stomach.
The aftertaste was too strong and lingered in her mouth, but Yuri had to deal with that until she can finish the mission. Floating in the water, Yuri waited for the effects of the capsule to kick in. She wasn't sure what she should expect, maybe a horrid mutation or painful side effects as her body changed, but she tried to prepare herself for the worse.
The change for this potion was subtle and pain free for a change. Curiously, Yuri watched her fingers sprout out flaps of skin between her fingers and her toes tingled as the skin loosened and meshed together. Gingerly, the black-haired girl brushed the tips of her fingers to her neck and flinched when she felt the flaps of skin flutter to collect air.
She gasped, allowing water to enter her mouth but was shocked to feel it exit her gills and air reached her lungs. Beside her, Yuri watched tiny bubbles float to the surface and stared down to her feet. They were naturally cutting through the water, constantly in motion, ready to swim. Moving her arms, Yuri saw how fluid she was able to move and how much less energy she had to put into moving through the water so quickly.
Yuri! I need your help! Follow Yoona.
Becoming more serious, Yuri looked ahead of her to see Yoona motioning her to come with her before swimming away. It was easy for Yuri to move her body forward so that it was outstretched flat and her legs were extended to its full length to kick properly. Yuri's hands were steadily beside her. From the distance, she saw Yoona's webbed feet kicking as she swam.
She was amazed at how clear she can see Yoona's movements through the dark water. She didn't waste time to keep up with Yoona as she led the way. Yuri kept her focus on Yoona until she led her to Tiffany who had ended up farther then both of them during the splash. She was also the only one who still had a weapon. Noticing that her teammates have arrived, Tiffany looked at them ready to give orders.
We're going to have to rely on magic if we want to take this demon down.
Yuri was always amazed at how Tiffany was able to enter their thoughts, but also scared that she would use it against her will to get things Yuri never wanted to reveal. But it had proven to be a useful power when they had to work together in silence. At this moment, speaking verbally was just impossible to do so it was the only way they can communicate.
I've targeted where it's hiding, but it doesn't want to come and attack us. Yoona, I'll need you to lure it out.
Examining her surroundings, Yuri saw that the monster had settled into an underwater cave. It wasn't very tall, but wide and the opening curved inward. The hide out could have easily been mistaken as a underwater mountain or large rock. Yuri didn't understand how it can still fit into something like this, but didn't want to think too hard on it's overall size.
Yoona nodded in agreement to Tiffany's order. She shifted her body into a attacking position to prepare herself. She wasn't sure when this beast will attack and she was nervous, but so were Yuri and Tiffany who watched her.
Going in to attack the enemy without knowing where it will go was always dangerous. The whole mission itself was dangerous from the start, but Yuri was sure that from Tiffany's and Yoona's experience they could handle almost any target. Yuri on the other hand, was weak without a weapon because she had no powers or super strength like Tiffany and Yoona had. That made her the easiest target.
Yoona spread out her arms and opened her hands. Yuri watched Yoona's hands glow through the murky water and continued to grow. Yuri was amazed as she saw the light get so bright it made Yoona's entire body glow, covering her completely in a white neon light.
Squinting, Yuri watched on, noticing that the outline of Yoona had started to shake, using all her energy to focus. Yoona clapped her hands together in front of her and the light dispersed, as if exploding, going forward into thin laser lights of needles then vanished. There was an awkward intense silence around the three woman as Yoona remained perfectly still, her hands in the same position, and Yuri waited for something drastic to happen. Tiffany had remained cool, keeping her eyes in front of Yoona, sure that's where the sea monster was going to lash out. Yuri began to fear for Yoona's safety and started to swim over to check on her.
Yuri stay back! Don't go near her!
Unwillingly, Yuri obeyed, still not sure about what she was supposed to expect happen. Yoona continued to remain still. Yuri had to trust Tiffany's intuition if she wanted to or not. Yoona pulled her hands apart and a tingle rippled through Yuri that caused the hair on her arms to stand up.
She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but the atmosphere around her had changed again, but she was only slightly relieved. Quickly, something swam passed Yuri's head and she thrashed her limbs around, startled at how close whatever came her way was about to hit her face. She swam over to Tiffany, scared something else will come by and maybe attack her.
Within seconds, many unidentified figures swam from all different sides, like a swarm of angry bees. Yuri feared they were sharks, but their movements were too fast and nimble. Struck by amazement, Yuri saw that these black masses were hastily spinning around Yoona, making her hair flare up and shake as they continued to spin around her. The amount of the swarm continued to increase and before Yuri knew it, Yoona was covered by the fast spinning animals.
It's okay. They aren't harming her. She's in control of them.
Faintly, there was a glow that started in the middle of the swarm and it had gotten brighter. Until the whole spinning tornado was glowing with a powerful bright white light that gave Yuri a clear view of what was swimming around Yoona.
It was fishes, hundreds if not thousands, of silver colored fish that reflected off the glowing light. They seemed to have been attracted to Yoona. They were all doing things Yuri had never seen a fish do before. They swam faster and thrashed their bodies around lost in the heat of the battle.
Closely, Yuri saw the fishes eyes, they were shimmering a bright shade of blue, almost close to Yoona's indigo blue eyes. It was as if she was in the fish's minds, controlling their movements with her own. She had become a part of the fish, able to get them to obey.
Instantly, Yoona began to move, quickly positioning her arms indifferent directions and each time a school of fish reacted. They were swimming to where both her arms went, fueled by the suggestions that Yoona gave. It was truly an unbelievable, yet serene and beautiful sight. The movement of the fish were quick yet silent.
The way Yoona's arms had moved and her body twirled made her appear as if she were dancing with the fish. It was a performance of art in one of its purest forms. She had seemed to be spinning endlessly and rapidly that Yuri wondered if she was getting dizzy or if her head hurt. Just as the spinning became faster, it stopped and Yoona was perfectly still, suffering from no effects of dizziness.
The fish were gone and it was silent again. Yuri knew the dragon couldn't be gone, it was too large and powerful, so it was a fact that a couple of fish biting at it wouldn't do any damage. The water was then disrupted with a loud painful roar and Yuri was almost close to loosing consciousness to the high frequency of noise. The attack had drawn it out, but it was angry and Yuri knew without a doubt it was going to attack back with a vengeance.
Get ready!
Yuri wanted to know how. She had no weapon. She had no magical powers. It was just her and her normal human strength, which was nothing in the demon realm. She felt more like a sitting duck, or a tiny fish in a huge pond full of vicious monsters.
For all Yuri knew, there was more than one of these sea dragons. There was another roar. Quicker than Yuri's mind can process, the demon's face came out and snapped at Yoona. It would have broken her in two if she didn't move out of the way quick enough.
The strength into the bite caused the dragon's teeth to clatter. It stood motionless for a second, stunned. That gave Yoona enough time to attack.
From the bottom of the lake, a sharp large piece of the floor jabbed into the dragon's neck. The monster let out another roar and retreated back before trying to have another go at Yoona. Tiffany quickly came into the battle, holding her sword up and swung the blade. There was another gash in the side of its neck. Yuri cringed as purple blood spilled out, disbursing into the water.
Yoona and Tiffany started to attack, trying to stun the demon to get a final blow to kill it, but it was too strong and aware to avoid any serious injuries. The only big damage done to the dragon was that gash that kept leaking out decent amounts of purple blood, but it wasn't enough to weaken it. Frustrated, the sea monster roared and slammed its head into Tiffany's gut, leaving her breathless and soaring a foot back.
The monster turned toward Yoona and took another bite at her, and while she was quick to still avoid it that wasn't enough to still get the dragon's teeth scrapped against her skin. A trail of red blood fell into the water, but that didn't slow Yoona down. Before Yuri could think of a plan to attack back, in the distance something rapidly moved through the water and covered Yoona. It was an under water tornado and the force of the water had kept Yoona captured into the spinning funnel.
Yuri! It's distracted. You can kill it!
The black-haired woman's heart raced. If she was the only one left to take this thing down she didn't know how. The only people here with active powers were Yoona and Tiffany and Yoona was trapped, while Tiffany was probably still trying to recover from that attack. It would have easily killed a normal human who took the hit, but Tiffany was only down, waiting to recover again.
All you need to do is cut off its head. I'll take care of the rest. I'm still a little weak, so I need your help.
Yuri's mind almost went blank. It was probably due to fear, but Yuri knew her friends didn't have time for her fear. They needed her. She gulped, trying to bring back some courage in herself. She couldn't understand how Tiffany knew something that Yuri held, while she knew nothing about it. It was probably another type of gut feeling her leader had.
Yuri! We don't have much time! These capsules run out after an hour.
W-What do I have to do?
You have a power too Yuri. You can use it. You're just as strong as us!
Staring down at her hand, Yuri finally put together what Tiffany was explaining. It had never came to her to try and morph while underwater, under a potion that was only designed to give her gills. But what probably scared her the most was her lack of ability to control herself when she changed.
Yuri was able to almost completely control her morphs, except when the moon was full, that was something she hasn't mastered yet. There were still dangers, however, and Yuri wasn't sure if she wanted to get her two close friends into more danger. Glancing back at the spinning tornado and squinting through the dark to try and find Tiffany, Yuri knew she couldn't stand here and let her friends get hurt either. She had to take the risk.
Filled with both curiosity and worry, Yuri began to prepare herself for the transformation. She wondered if it was possible to change forms while still being able to keep her ability to breathe underwater. It was the only weapon she had now, her blade lost during her fall from the giant tidal wave the rocked the boat. The only way she can fight now is if she changed forms.
Finding no other way to defend herself, Yuri willed herself to shift, a painful process she wished to skip when it had to happen. The hard worker wanted to scream as she felt her nails push out, stretching the skin to her fingers and tightening. Her mouth throbbed in agony as her jaw sprouted outward and her teeth grew.
There was a low pop in her arm as her shoulders dislocated itself and her feet grew. The joints in her knees popped shortly after. It felt as if Yuri was dying and her entire body was becoming stretched apart as every muscle was pulled.
When the transformation was done, Yuri was amazed to see that her entire body wasn't covered in fur and her hands weren't paws, neither were her feet, but were human hands with fingers just much larger than a normal humans and her nails were long and pointed to the tip. She looked like a taller and more muscular human except with a snout and pointed dog like ears. She even kept her regular thinking process of a human but her sense of smell was much better and her hearing was ten times much better. The potion had made it possible for her to not only still breathe underwater but still keep her human form in someway while she shifted.
A strong push of courage came through to her. Yuri knew her limits in this form, but knew that her chances to fight back without an instant death greatly decreased. Clenching her teeth, Yuri let out a snarl and swam forward to attack. All she had to do was aim for the neck and if she slashed deep enough the dragon would be headless. Yuri's fingers were spread open, her claws ready to deliver the deadly blow.
Fiercely, Yuri's legs kicked, bringing her closer to the demon. She had decided to swim underneath it's neck to have an easier attack. Carefully sneaked underneath the monster, Yuri winded both her arms back and viciously scratched at the tough scaly skin. The dragon shrieked and moved, but Yuri didn't let go.
She kept trying to slash at the spot of scratches she left, eager to get through the thick neck to reach the other side. She felt bits of it's rubbery skin brush against her face and eventually her entire view was covered with a cloud of purple. Yuri's nails continued to shred through meat, tendons, and nerves, as splashes of blood sprayed out against her hands. Then the feel of the dragon's neck was gone and Yuri was still left in that cloud that made it difficult to see anywhere.
Flaring her nostrils, Yuri tried to smell her way through, but all she picked up was the sent of the blood that covered her. She bared her teeth in frustration and let out a small growl. Waving her arms around, Yuri tried to move the blood out of view, but it only stayed in one spot. Yuri was to the left of her that she figured was the way out.
When she broke through the shroud of blood, she saw that the tornado was gone and Yoona was left floating in the water unconscious. Yuri paddled over, cradling Yoona in her arms and shook her. She was still bleeding from her thigh, but it wasn't enough blood to kill her.
Yuri was never the medic of the group and had no idea if Yoona was dying because of the bleeding or because the bite had a type of toxin that slowly was going to kill her. Yuri shook her again to try and wake her.
Fany! She isn't waking up! What do I do?!
Yuri brought Yoona closer to her chest and looked above her. She was certain that was the way out. There was another roar, putting an end to Yuri's idea of escape. She shifted Yoona in her arm so that one hand had a hold of her and another was out ready to defend them.
She was sure if she did one last large swipe it would be the last blow to decapitate the dragon. Changing her fighting position, Yuri took a hold of Yoona again and put her over her back so that Yoon's head was resting on her shoulder. Yuri wrapped both of Yoona's arms around her neck and moved her legs so that they were around her waist.
Tiffany, it's dying. I can sense it. If we can both attack we can kill it.
Yuri carefully swam forward, using her nose to follow the faint smell of blood. The closer she got the stronger the smell was. As she moved, Yuri felt Yoona's head loll up and down against her cheek. The spindles of red hair that occasionally came into Yuri's view was a reminder that Yoona was still with her, but still unconscious.
She felt a few strands of hair lightly brush against her cheek. Faintly, through the distance, Yuri saw the outline of Tiffany and she came over to join her. She still had her sword and while Tiffany couldn't use her magic under the water because her element was weak against water, Yuri knew Tiffany would be able to put up a powerful attack with her strength alone.
It went into hiding again. We will have to wait until it attacks.
The rush of fear, mixed with adrenaline burst through Yuri as she waited. She knew it can attack anywhere and if it had decided to go to the back then Yoona was at risk of another injury or even death. The water was too dark to see until the dragon was close, but it was wounded and being up close to them again was not on the demon's mind if it wanted to survive. Yuri jumped when she felt a ripple of water hit the left side of her face.
It was trying to find the weakest prey. Yuri's hand went to Yoona's arm and rubbed it. There was another wave of water that hit Yuri, but this time she reacted and turned around with her claw swiping out. She felt her nails slice into skin again and a trickle of blood came into the water, wrapped around her fingers. The monster roared and Tiffany went into action, swimming upward and thrust her sword up.
There was more blood. The beast finally came into view and through the cloudy purple water, Yuri saw a large flap of skin hanging where her claws had went earlier. From an angle, as its neck twisted and turned, Yuri can see a huge gap in its neck. The bone of the neck peeked out. The tanned girl estimated that if she did several more swipes it will without a doubt finally kill this monster.
Glancing back at Tiffany, she saw the woman stab her sword through the bottom of the dragon's mouth and out through its nose. There was more blood added to the fog. It will take the final attack easier. Yuri swam toward the wound, but before she could get close enough the sea beast wildly thrashed around, hitting Yuri in the process. She nearly passed out when the massive muscle hit her forehead.
She looked around her to see the dragon still managed to take a hit at Tiffany with it's mouth closed and used its large head again to stun her. Yuri growled to get it's attention. The dragon turned around and snorted. The water around him bubbled and spurts of purple blood came out of the small holes of its nostrils. Yuri stared at the dragon.
She decided that blinding it will make it easier to finish it. The sea creature charged toward her and Yuri waited for her arm to line up with the dragon's eyes to cut them. Before the monster cloud lay any type of attack on her, there was a huge ball of white that moved in front of the dragon's face. The ball began to spin.
The shine of the ball made Yuri realize that it wasn't light, but a school of silver fish again that were all attacking the dragon's face. Yuri turned around and saw Yoona looking down at her, smiling. Yuri knew she was still in pain and probably weak, but at least now she was awake. Yoona pointed to the monster's neck and Yuri went back into action, ready to finish her plan.
She swam forward, feeling Yoona's arms tighten around Yuri's shoulders as she moved faster. Yuri brought her hands out and saw Yoona do the same just as their hands plunged into the gap. Yoona's hand took a hold of the monster's bone and pulled it. Yuri heard a sickening crack as the neck snapped and Yuri felt the soft, warm, fleshy tissue around her hands disappear as they went out to the other side of its neck.
Both of their faces were covered with blood and all they saw was a dark pool of purple, but their instinct to kill didn't go away. From the pressure, the skin tore in two and the dragon stopped moving. There was a comforting silence around them. Yuri swam through the cloud of blood and turned around when her sight was clear again.
The neck of the dragon was snapped in two and it's head began to sink to the bottom of the lake along with its body. She had never been able to take something this large out by herself. There was a tingling sensation of confidence and pride that came through Yuri as she watched the body sink.
Yoona gave her a tight squeeze to get her attention again then pointed down next to the monster's head. Tiffany was still down there, unable to move. Yuri quickly rushed down to spot her leader and took a hold of Tiffany's wrist.
W-Wait. My sword.
Yuri looked to the right of her to see Tiffany half awake. She removed the sword from the dragon's mouth and Tiffany took out a small bottle from her bikini top. She handed it over to Yuri.
Put it into the dragon's mouth. This will cause it to dissolve and clean up the blood.
She was already tired from swimming and fighting, but the sooner Yuri did as asked the quicker they can finally go home. Yuri swam down to the dragon's head and pushed it's heavy mouth open. A puff of purple blood came out once it opened and Yuri cringed.
Its mouth smelled and she saw chunks of human flesh caught between the teeth mixed with fish. Yuri opened the bottle and threw it into the monster's mouth and quickly closed it. Almost instantly, the dragon's skin began to fall apart and burst into a white powdery substance. The blood started to thin out and turn clear before disappearing.
Let's go home.
Yuri saw Tiffany nod in agreement. She started to swim to the surface again and felt Yoona weakly kicking her feet, starting to gain her strength back. When they reached the surface, Yuri felt her gills flap down and mend their way back to her neck. The webbed skin of her hands and feet shrunk and her nails began to sink back into her fingers. Yuri's shoulder popped again as it became smaller and go back into its socket.
This was the more painful time of the transformation. Yuri's teeth got smaller and her ears were back to its normal size. The snout was pushed in and then it was over. Yuri sighed. Her whole body was in pain, but at the same time she was relieved.
She didn't have to worry about losing herself and giving into the beastly thoughts that often raced through her mind since she's become a werewolf. She was in control in human form. Pushing through the clear water, Yuri's eyes started to hurt from the moonlight, still trying to adjust. She was glad to finally be on the surface. That's when she realized something was missing when she her mind was in a more level-headed perspective.
“Tiffany, where's the boat?” Yuri asked.
