Anger flared briefly at the edges of Anna’s mind, but she quickly suppressed it. Losing one’s head in the midst of battle was never a very wise thing, after all. Sliding her fingers over Apollo’s head gently, she inquired as to his well-being.

Are you alright, my dear friend? Have your injuries adequately healed?

The silvery wolf nuzzled his nose into her side affectionately. Yes, daughter. I’m perfectly fine. That cursed arrow only grazed my stomach.

Anna smiled, closing her eyes half-way in satisfaction. Good. Now…shall we clean up this little mess?

Looking down at her necklaces, Anna found that her hand had involuntarily gripped one of her many charms. It was ruby, crafted in the shape of a single flame that seemed to catch the sunlight and dance all on its own. She shook her head. No, that wasn’t the way she was going to start out. A frontal assault was never logical to start a fight with. She would probe her enemies, seek out their weaknesses and then exploit them. Dropping her hand away from her necklaces, Anna sent a silent, mental command to Apollo. He nodded his regal head at her and turned to snarl quietly in the master of shadow’s direction. With a flourish of his handsomely-furred tail, the alpha male padded off through the swaying grasses of the plains to some destination known only to his master and friend.

With an affirming blink, the Dream Dancer turned her focus back onto her purple-haired opponent, sizing him up with her haunting, wolfish eyes. If it were possible for her to see through him, she would have been accomplishing just that with the intensity her gaze riveted itself upon his figure. Mentally, she made notes of his appearance, filing them away for future reference. Knowing any details about him would make her job easier if she did indeed choose to harness her conscious-probing abilities later. He was several inches taller than her and clearly much more physically built than she was, but that didn’t necessarily count in his favor. A smile crossed Anna’s face. No. That certainly didn’t count in his favor at all.

Deciding she had stalled long enough, Anna’s hand touched a charm, an almost crystal clear one with a hint of blue shaped into a lazy, erratic swirl. As soon as she made contact with the trinket, it dissolved into a bluish-white mist that flowed out from that one tiny source to blanket the surrounding landscape in a rolling, eerie mist. It was so thick that it completely hid Tsuukai from her sight. But she knew that wouldn’t matter. He would betray his location to her in mere moments. And after ticking off about five seconds inside her head, she was proved right. The sounds of a scream coupled with the snarling of a wolf broke the ominous silence her mist had created.

Not bothering with moving, for Anna could clearly sense Apollo’s presence about 45 degrees northwest of her current location, the Dream Dancer touched another charm. Within moments, she held a simple, yet well-crafted, wooden bow in her hands, an arrow already nocked to the sinewy bowstring. With stealth that would make her wolves proud, Anna slipped gracefully through the inhibiting mist toward the sounds of the struggle between Apollo and the so-called master of shadows. While moving, she allowed herself to briefly wonder what had become of that quite intriguing creature that was her partner and their other opponent. Shaking her head, she forced herself to focus on the present task at hand. She was certain that Konjiro could take care of himself.

When she had judged she was within range, Anna raised her arrow-laden bow and pulled the string taut until her tensed fingers touched her right shoulder. She closed her eyes, knowing that sight wasn’t necessary for her at the moment. To guard against any possible miscalculations, the Wolf Dreamer sent another message to the one whom she counted among her dearest friends.

Apollo. I’m loosing my arrow.

Two seconds after she’d said those words, she made good upon her promise.

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Lovely sig and avy by insaney. <3

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