Sakura ran all the way back to the campsite, stopping for nothing and no one. When she finally stopped to catch her breath from running and saw what she had done to the campsite, Sakura fell to her knees and sobbed again. Boy, it sure was a mess. Her tent was the only one that was destroyed, allowing the princess to presume that her friends were alright, which relieved her a little. However she must’ve worried them a lot by going missing all night, they must’ve been so worried about her that they left the campsite without taking any of their stuff with them. Sakura crawled into each of the remaining tents to rummage through all of the bags for any clothes she could put on. Luckily for Sakura; her dress from Clow World had been kept with Syaoran’s clothes in Fai’s tent last night, and it was in perfect condition unlike the shredded clothes that were in her tent before she wrecked it. Sakura finally let go of the balloons and quickly dressed into her original clothes, she would have to dress again into her village clothes later. Once fully dressed, the princess immediately hurried through the forest to get back to the lodge. She didn’t have much time either, for the sun was setting by the time she’d left the campsite and there was no telling when she would next change. What am I going to do?! Sakura thought to herself as she hurried along the path. What on earth am I going to say to them? How am I ever going to explain this without scaring them?! Sakura’s heart almost stopped when a frightening thought struck her hard like a kick in guts. What will they think when I say ‘Hi guys, guess what? I’m a werewolf!’…What will Syaoran say? Would he help me, or will he be too scared of me? Mokona’s already terrified of me, for heaven’s sake!

Suddenly Sakura’s body froze. She stayed perfectly still. Her ears twitched. Listening eagerly for every little sound. She heard nothing. Absolutely nothing; no birds, no insects, not so much a rustling in the trees or among the leaves on the earth. Everything had gone so quiet. Too quiet. Yet she could definitely sense another's presence near her. She was not alone...
Then the loud snap of a broken twig reached Sakura’s sensitive ears. Sakura twirled her head around. The noise had emitted from the thicket on her left side, precisely ten meters away. She fixed her gaze on the direction of the sound and very slowly turned the rest of her body around to face that direction. Instinctively Sakura closed her eyes then shot her head up and stuck her nose in the air. She sniffed; once, twice, then three times. Sakura was amazed at how well she could identify things just by smelling! She sniffed another time then froze again. A man. She could actually smell a man in front of her. She could smell his sweat so distinctively; smell his rancid breath, his salty skin, and something else. Something…strange, and oddly compelling…yet familiar as well. What is that smell? She thought. It smells so... While Sakura was relishing the intriguing smell that fascinated her, she didn’t notice a big hefty man walking up to her. So yummy…

“Hey!”

Sakura’s eyes ripped open. Sakura’s breath hooked in her throat when she found herself looking at the man she’d attacked the night before. It was definitely the same man; she knew that not just because he was missing an arm, but because of the scent she had picked up from him. Now she knew what that yummy smell was that had distracted her so much, because she had also smelt it last night when she attacked him, and it was now soaked through the bandaged stump; it was blood.

So intent on smelling his blood among other strong scents that were new to her, she hadn’t noticed him approach her, but now he stood between her and the path to the village, smiling down at her with a rather pleased expression. He wasn’t alone either, two other men stood behind her. “Oh, g-good evening.”  She stammered and smiled uncertainly, hoping to god that he didn’t recognise her now that she was in human form. “Indeed it is, missy.” he answered, then smirked at his companions behind her.  “What did I tell you?  Is that a face, or what?” She heard one of them say. She turned around and instantly recognised them both. They were two of the hunters from the village that helped bring down that werewolf who had the feather! What were they doing here, and with a thief? “She’s perfect. What do you think, Tony; twenty? Twenty pieces of gold?” He said to the one armed man in front of her. “I think twenty-five pieces at least. You don’t see a pair of eyes like that every day.” He replied. What on earth were they talking about? She thought nervously. Sakura felt slightly uneasy as she looked back and forth from one face to the other. Sakura was starting to feel very uncomfortable with their conversation. “Is something the matter?” she finally asked, the politest way she could think of to ask what they were discussing. “No, not at all.” the man they called Tony assured her. “Just do me a favor, and come here.” He crooked his finger in invitation but Sakura didn’t move, instinctively sensing something was not right. There was a peculiar glint in his eyes, and the smiles of the two hunters did not seem quite as friendly as she remembered. “Um, no thank you.” She took a step back, watching the second hunter with great trepidation uncoil a length of thick rope from his belt. “I h-have to get back home now. Please excuse me.” She took another step back, wanting only to be back in the village and with other people. But something was wrong. Her legs refused to move. Her mind said go, but her beast within said NO. Sakura wanted to run away, but-
She turned pale. The smell of the three plump men was making her salivate madly.

Tony sighed then shrugged. “Get her.” The three men surrounded her then rushed forward and Sakura shrieked, bolting to her right and ducked in between the two hunters then ran for her life through the forest. But the distance was too small and they were too fast for her, an iron grasp closed over her wrist and yanked her back, almost throwing her to the ground. Sakura screamed again, too terrified to think straight. She struggled to pull free but it wasn’t even a contest, and he caught her other hand when she tried to pry off his grip. Almost casually the bigger of the two hunters held her wrists together and looped the rope around them, knotting it securely. Panicked, Sakura screamed for her friends to come save her. Something terrible that she didn’t quite understand was going to happen, and she had to escape it at all costs. More by luck than any skill she kicked her attacker right in the shin, and he dropped her with a muffled grunt. Sakura sprinted for the path with a fresh burst of hope, but she hadn’t taken more than a step before his vice-like grip closed around her arms. He yanked her off her feet and back against his chest, holding her firmly in place. “Bloody hell, she’s going to wake the dead like this!” he complained over Sakura’s frantic screams. The smaller hunter produced a strip of cloth and held it up to her mouth. Quickly Sakura tried to lean her head back out of reach. “Shh, no more screaming please. We’re not going to hurt you; we just want to take you somewhere. Don’t struggle; it’ll only be worse for you.” Every word only solidified Sakura’s terror and she screamed again, and continued screaming…until the sun had almost set.

Sakura fell deadly silent all of the sudden, and ceased her struggling. “There, now that’s more like it.” Tony sneered. Then without any warning Sakura dropped to the earth on all four limbs, snarling under her breath and refusing to get back up. The two hunters bent down to try and pick her up…when suddenly they were both sent flying right smack into the trees. Tony saw his partners crash painfully into the tree-trunks then looked over to Sakura only to see that she had somehow ripped her hands free from the rope that held them together, and was growling angrily, literally like a rabid dog at Tony. Seeing this as her chance to escape; Sakura turned tail and fled back to the village, but not before Tony had caught a glimpse of her eyes. Her eyes were glowing. Tony started to wonder…
“Man, that was one strong bitch!” One of the hunters groaned. “She’s getting away!” The other complained. Tony chortled cockily. “Relax. She won’t get far. The boss ain’t dumb; he wouldn’t just send us to get the job done, and they’ll be waiting for her and her friends when they go home…”

Sakura ran and ran until at last she was at the lodge’s gates. Sakura slowly came to a stop, and then collapsed on the ground. Panting madly and her hands grasping the gate-post for support. Sakura was so glad that she escaped and was almost a little proud, but at the same time she was also stricken with grief and guilt. She wanted to eat them, not run from them. Also, she had only escaped because the wolf inside her had made her stronger than them. It was the wolf’s strength that bested them, not herself. The worst part was, that she actually liked hurting them.

Once Sakura had calmed down, she lifted herself up and made her way back to the lodge. However, as soon as she got to the door she knew that something was not quite right. Considering that the front-door was unlocked. Sakura opened the door then slowly and cautiously walked in. “Fai-san! Kurogane-san! Syaoran-kun! Moko-chan! I’m back!” She called out. She received no answer. Sakura figured that they must still be out looking for her, so she decided it was best to stay in the lodge until they got back. Sakura went into the kitchen to get something to eat because she was famished after being out all night and running around all day, only to find the back-door wide open. Sakura was beginning to grow uneasy again. Just to be on the safe side, Sakura picked up one of the kitchen knives and went to look in the other rooms of the house. Sakura kept the knife close to her chest, not letting loose her grip once. Sakura had just warily entered the lounge, when she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a sudden banging coming from the cupboard beneath the staircase. Sakura guardedly opened it, only to find Mokona tied up and gagged inside. “Moko-chan!” Sakura instantly used the knife to cut the rope that held Mokona and undid the gag around his mouth. “Mokona! What happened? Where is everybody?” But before Mokona could answer her, he squealed at what he saw behind Sakura. “Sakura! Look out!” Mokona tried to warn her, but the warning came too late as a fat hand came from around the back of the princess and covered her mouth while another hand grabbed the knife from her hand then threw it to the other end of the room, out of reach and out of sight. Sakura bit the hand, forcing it to release her then headed with Mokona towards the front door. Mokona managed to get out, but before Sakura could even make it to the door a large bull of a man with a hideous bite wound on his neck slammed the door shut and locked it. “Sorry, girly; but we’ve got some business with you.” Sakura recognised this man too. This was the other man she had attacked last night, the one who was whipping the sheep.

Sakura turned to flee through the kitchen only to be blocked by two other men, who merely shoved her back into the big bruiser behind her. “Wow, those two hunters were right, Rick. She sure is a cutie.” The skinnier man said. “Yeah, she’s not a bad piece of ass.” Sniggered the other man with ginger hair. Sakura cringed at the way they were speaking about her. “Now, we just have to take her upstairs while we wait for those other strangers to get back.” Rick ordered. Sakura’s mouth went dry. Why were they waiting for her friends? What did they want with them? The minute they tried to move her, Sakura took the opportunity to squirm out of her captors’ clutches and ran for the kitchen, only to be caught by the foot by Rick. “And where the hell do you think you’re going?” He snorted. Rick flung Sakura into the arms of his two partners who then proceeded to carry her upstairs, ignoring her screaming and thrashing. The ginger thug was losing his patience with this girl, so as soon as they got her to the top of the stairs he pushed her down onto the floor then slapped her. Sakura was silenced with shock. Nobody had ever struck her before. “Idiot! The boss said he wants her unspoilt!” The skinny thug yelled. “Fuck what the boss says! This bitch won’t shut up so-” The ginger haired man never got to finish his sentence. His words were cut off by Sakura’s beastly snarl as she grabbed him by the throat and threw him down the stairs, using that same frightening strength that battered those men back in the forest. The brutish red-head smashed against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, the mere force of the impact crushed his skull and broke his neck instantly.

“Jesus Christ! Is he dead?! You little bitch!!” Now it was Rick’s turn to beat her; not with a slap, but an almighty punch across the face. The strike knocked a little sanity back into her; after she saw what she’d done to that man, she knew full well that they weren’t going to let her get away with it. “You go down stairs and see to Zeke! I’ll take care of this little shit…” Rick bellowed, and then he looked at Sakura with one hell of a perverted glare. Then grinned sinisterly and licked his lips. Sakura had never been so scared in all her life.

Mokona flew as fast as he could to find Syaoran and Kurogane, luckily he found them just coming back from the forest and immediately flew to them. Syaoran was tired and worn out, Kurogane too but Syaoran was exhausted with worry not fatigue. Suddenly they both saw Mokona heading towards them and panicking. “Syaoran! Kuro-rin! Thank goodness you’re back!” Mokona squealed. “Mokona! Calm down! What’s wrong?” Said Syaoran. “It’s Sakura! She’s in trouble!! Big, big, BIG trouble!!!”