By LysCelest

It was a very quiet night.

Perhaps a bit too quiet for Enma’s liking. His ears flicked as he slowly raised his head. A frown made its way on his muzzle when he saw the small yellow flickering light at the mouth of his cave. The light burned brighter and at that moment, he saw the masked Vayron. He could see the mischievous glint in the stranger’s eyes before it tilted its head to the side as if motioning him to follow and it walked away, leaving a trail of wisps in its wake.

For once there’s someone weirder and perhaps stupider than Glacier to even pester me. The Tyrian thought to himself as he snorted and rests his head back down before he closed his eyes.

“Pssst! Pssssttt! Enma.”

The Storm-colored Tyrian groaned as he puts a wing over his head to block out the noise calling his name.

“Enma!!”

“What?!” The Tyrian snapped as he opened his eyes and looked at his friend standing on where the wisp was. “Glacier, what the heck are you even doing here?!” He hissed as he glared at the pink Vayron, who simply grinned and raised her paw to gesture him to come with her.

“Never mind that! Come on, Enma! There’s something going on in the forest! Come on! Let’s check it out!” She giggled as she trotted over to the other Reos and tugged at his mane. “Come on, come on, come on!”

A low growl rumbled out of his throat as he closed his eyes and counted to five. 

“Glacier, I swear to the heavens I will–” He snarled but when he opened his eyes it wasn’t his friend that was there. It was the masked Vayron that had been ushering him to follow.

"Will what~? Kiss me? Hug me? Or perhaps maybee-" The Vayron said but before it can even continue its sentence, Enma's head reared and he snapped at the other, only for its form to waver and disappear.

"What the?" He growled as he looked around, annoyed until he heard snickering coming from the entrance of his cave.

"Whoops, did I strike a nerve?" It giggled as one of its tails flicked, beckoning him once again to follow and he lets out an annoyed growl as he finally stood up to run after the Vayron.

He only ran after a few paces before he finally spread his wings and with a mighty flap, he was easily airborne. He could feel the rush of the cold, evening wind before his eyes narrowed at the shadow of the masked Reos running away.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he dove after the fleeing Vayron. What was that? He could have sworn that he saw and heard his friend's voice but then it was suddenly THIS trickster? He is no expert in the arcane but he could only assume (and blame) it on magic. Possibly a powerful one if they could conjure up illusions even if it was short-lived.

The other question is how did they even know about Glacier and him? Have they been spying on both of them? He would have noticed it if that was the case. Worst case scenario is that this damn Vayron has---

Where the damn hells did they go?

Enma stopped in midair, flapping his wings to keep himself airborne as he looked around. That was so stupid of him… How did he even manage to miss that Vayron? Was he following an illusion???

"Help!!!! Enma!!!!!"

The Tyrian's head snapped in the direction of his friend's voice and he rushed towards it, silently begging the wind to help him get to her faster.

He glided down onto one of the branches and clung onto it with his claws. "Glacier? Glacier, where are you?!" He shouted as he looked around, straining his ears for any sounds that could give away where she is.

"Over here~!"

He looked to the side and his eyes narrowed when he saw the masked Reos sitting as their tails flicked behind them. They grinned as they tilted their head to the side. "How cute~ You're worried about your friend! Such a big softie you are!" They giggled.

Enma growled as he pounced at the Vayron, only for him to pass through as the masked stranger’s form shimmered and disappeared into vapor.

“My, my. Wasn’t expecting that kind of temper from the infamous loner that prefers to live alone~” The stranger said as they reappeared on top of a branch and looked over their claws with a hum before they turned their masked face to the Tyrian. “Not much of a loner if you seem protective of this friend of yours. Would be such a shame if something were to happen to her.”

“Don’t you think so, Enma?” They grinned and the other’s fur bristled as his lips curled back to show his fangs to the Vayron.

“What did you do to her?” He snarled as his claws buried into the ground, which only made the masked Trickster smile at him and tilts their head to the side.

“A good question. But perhaps the question that you should be asking is. What did you do to her?” They giggled before they waved their tails in front of them and disappeared from his sight.

Enma’s blood run cold as his form tensed up. He could feel himself having trouble breathing as he stared where the stranger was before he puts his claws over his snout and he looked down at the ground. How… What? How did…

A bush rustled to the side, which made him snap out of his thoughts.

I need to get to Glacier. He thought to himself as he hurriedly flapped his wings and headed in the direction of his friend’s den.

Lucky for him, it wasn’t a long flight with how fast he’s going.

The Tyrian stumbled as he landed on the ground and he poked his head into the den’s entrance. “Glacier? Glacier? Are you here???” He called out as he frantically looked around to see any sign of the pink Vayron.

“Enma?”

His head turned to the source of the voice and his body immediately relaxed when he saw the female Runner squinting up at the Tyrian through tired eyes.

“Is everything alright? You look like you’re out of breath. Did something happen?” She asked as Enma continued staring at her before he hurriedly shook his head and looked away from her.

“It’s nothing… I just happened to pass by and figured I should remind you about tomorrow.” He muttered as he shook his head. “Anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Then the Tyrian flew away, leaving Glacier rather confused as to what just happened.

Word Count: 1,140 Words

Enma 10970