Elysium remained as strong as ever, Damira wasn't outright concerned even after seeing just how bad things could get out there. With her slight and dainty frame she knew she stood little chance of defending herself against any attacker, infected or otherwise, but she was swift on her paws and confident she could run home to those who would gladly protect her. The red sky was a stunning sight as she stood by the cliffside, the horizon looked foreboding almost, threats were only just starting to come to fruition. She had been watching and waiting the whole while and frankly, she felt a little irked she hadn't seen it coming. She had known something was amiss, everyone had felt the ground shake and yet...

Damira sighed, if the world was ending there was little she could personally do about it, she supposed.

A knight in black armor would need to find an answer by any means necessary.

Uncertainty among the continents had began with the trembles. A darkened night with no stars. The dawning day painted red and furious. As if the very ground beneath their paws had come alive. Soon prey animals alike were sick. Not just any old sick, but infected. Going crazy, acting odd, spewing worms from their mouths. It didn't take long for wolves to get it either. Eating tainted meat that had eggs festering and growing into worms inside their own bodies.

He had to find the source, the origin. Keep it away from the bamboo. Blood splatter his paws, his mask keeping his facial orifices safe from infection. Bamboo staff strapped across his shoulder nicked and bent, needing attention. There wasn't time. More needed to perish for the infection to go away. There was no cure. No remedy that would reverse the effects. A sacrifice was needed.

Just a moment though. One breath, one afternoon of rest. Tomorrow, he could keep up with the murders sacrifices. His large paws, aching and tired, carried him through the short grass and thorny thicket. A break in the trees pointed him toward a sheer cliff and a small area that appeared unattended. Could it be a place for a nap? The thought of sleep was too alluring.

Ducking beneath the pointed canopy, he scans the area, steel gaze landing on a small, feminine form that appeared rather koi-like. More family related to Hattori? His daughter had had pups, had she not? His head cants as he approaches slowly, an alerting chuff releasing from his maw toward her.

Halfway across the flat expanse of earth, a rustle behind him in the thicket catches his attention. Off to the side, closer to the girl, a wolf emerges from the shadows. Its shoulders are hunched, eyes crazed, lips drooling thick mucus. His body goes on alert, fur bristling, ears pinning to his head. Looking between infected and the girl, he calculates. Could he reach her in time before the sick one did? He wouldn't be given any more time.

"Run!" Akito yells, his own paws kicking off the dirt to try and intercept the wolf headed straight for her.

"speech"

Damira's ears twitched as she turned, brows furrowing as her eyes caught sight of the sickened wolf that approached. It moved far faster than it ought to, stumbling forward as though something was dragging it along on strings, the rhythm of one paw in front of the other was all off. Not how any four legged creature would naturally walk, as if it had forgotten how to.

She didn't need to be commanded to run, as that was what she'd been fully intending to do, but a bit of assistance from the stranger certainly wouldn't go amiss. Damira kicked off into a sprint, body swivelling as she turned on her paws, tail flicking up to counterbalance the motion. But even though she was fast, she didn't take into account just how...unnaturally it moved, she'd almost been certain it would try and cut her off in one direction, only for it to twitch into the other.

She'd spent so much of her life watching others, learning queues and just seeing what made them tick. But this? She couldn't get a read on this wolf, because he was no longer just that; it was something so entirely other she simply couldn't understand it. Damira doubted anyone could at this point.

Damira had no choice but to skid to a halt, her paws dragging into the grass as she struggled to slow herself. The wolf opened its maw, all wide and gaping, something squirmed at the back of it's throat.

The diseased wolf is entirely too fast for how it appears. Akito watches in real-time as it peels past him toward the girl. How did it get so close to her? Frustration builds in him as he pedals his paws faster. Closer and closer he gets to him, but he has to figure out what to do when he gets there. The wolf is clearly far too sick to get close to. How it stumbles and leaves its mouth gaping as if it can't breathe through its nose warns him of the sickness.

Could he push it from the ledge?

Just as the girl whirls on her paws, face to face with the wolf that stumbles before her, gaping maw slewing mucous and yuck, Akito also puts on the brakes. Moving swiftly, dirt churning beneath his paws, he reaches back to slide his bamboo staff from its sheath. Wielding it in his jaws, he doesn't quite put himself between the two wolves, positioning himself more beside her to keep room between him and the wolf as well.

Lashing out quickly, Akito pokes at the wolf's shoulder with his staff. Thrusting it hard so that the sick wolf stumbles back a step, but it persists. His teeth clamp down on his staff, a growl rising in his throat. His eyes flicker toward the cliff's edge. He would have to push it over if he wanted it dead without touching it. Moving his gaze to the girl, he tries to meet hers in hopes she sees his plan. Would she go along with it?

"speech"