Seeing its prey run off angered the wind wolf leader. It wanted to kill both Nana, who killed its kin, and the original prey that was the cause of its kin’s death. Wind wolves were fast, very fast. Even with Nana’s top speed, she was having a hard time keeping a few feet away from the wind wolf. 

Yuki was in and out of consciousness. She really did not know what was going on. She knew she was being carried, and it seemed like Nana was trying to save her, but she did not understand why Nana would risk their life for her.

*Ahwoo!* 

The Wind wolf leader let out a howl as it kept swiping its paws at Nana, who was doing her best to dodge them. She could only continue moving straight at this point in fear of the wind wolf catching up even one single step as it would result in her and Yuki having a bad end.

As she continued to run, she headed straight into a thicket, not caring for the thorns and sticks that were tearing at her skin. She could hardly see anything in front of her as she pushed through as best as she could until she finally broke through it and came to an open area but instead of being happy, her face paled as she found herself standing in mid air. “Damn it!” 

Nana cursed and hugged Yuki tightly as they fell down towards the rushing river below. Nana could only thank the heavens that there was a river below them. She just hoped it would be deep enough to keep them from hitting the bottom. 

*Splash!*

Nana let out a grunt of pain as she used her back to hit the water while cradling Yuki in her arms. She was desperately trying to hold her sword and Yuki at the same time. Water flooded her vision as they began to sink. Nana waited for impact on the river floor, but it seemed to have gotten lucky, and she, with Yuki in her arms, was swept away by the rushing river. The wind wolf leader’s howls filled the sky after losing sight of its prey. 

An unknown amount of time passed. Nana had struggled to get to shore. While in pain due to the gash on her back, she ignored it as she checked Yuki’s injuries. “Shattered arm and leg…. Broken ribs…. Yuki, why did you stay?” 

Tears began to fill Nana’s eyes. She did not want to lose Yuki. She did not want to be alone. She found a bottle of pills on Yuki’s body and poured some out, and began feeding them to Yuki. But the effects were weak. The damage was too great for these lower ranking pills.

“Why isn’t it working!?” Nana could only see some signs of Yuki healing, but it was not enough. She racked her brain on what to do. She had no high ranking healing pills on her. But she still had one thing she could do. “I guess I have no choice. If it is to save Yuki, then….” 

Nana bit down hard on her lip, causing her mouth to fill with blood. She then lowered her head while gently pulling Yuki’s jaw down to open her mouth. Her lips covered Yuki’s lips as her tongue curled up and slipped into Yuki’s mouth to funnel the blood from her mouth down Yuki’s throat. Nana’s cheeks turned red. She had never thought her first kiss with anyone would be done in such a way. But this was to save Yuki’s life. Her clan’s blood had high healing effects. While it did work on one’s self, it was much slower than when it worked on others. Why this was, even the elders of her clan did not know.

As the blood entered Yuki’s throat, Yuki instinctively began to swallow. The blood slowly turned into a stream of red energy and began spreading throughout Yuki’s body. Her organs that had been damaged began to heal rapidly. The same went for her broken and shattered bones. Nana kept pushing more and more of her blood down Yuki’s throat. Her lips were in tatters from her biting them over and over. She did not care how messed up her lips became as long as she could save Yuki.

After almost fifteen minutes of repeating this process, Yuki’s eyes began to flutter. She slowly opened them and looked at the face that was close to hers. Yuki did not expect to wake up to Nana’s face on top of her own, never mind being kissed by her. She was about to panic when she felt something warm flowing down her throat, making her gulp loudly. It was then that Yuki realized that Nana was doing something to help her. Her eyes softened a bit as she gently patted Nana’s shoulder. 

Nana’s eyes opened wide when felt Yuki tapping her. She raised her head, revealing the bloody mess on her face with tears in her eyes. “Thank the heavens!” Nana began to cry as she buried her face into Yuki’s chest. “Thank the heavens you are alive….”

Yuki let out a sigh. She went to pat Nana’s back to find it all bloody, which made her frown. “You idiot…” Yuki muttered as she pushed Nana up. “Turn around!” 

Nana pursed her lips as she wiped her tears. She hesitated for a moment, but when she saw Yuki glare at her, she did as she was told. When Yuki saw the large gash on Nana’s back, she couldn’t help but frown even more. This girl put herself in danger to the point that her spine was almost cut in half to save her. “You are really stupid… You could have ended up paralyzed!” 

“I don't want to lose anyone ever again….” Nana replied softly. She was like a child being scolded. Her head was lowered, and her shoulders were slumped forward. If she were a dog, her ears and tail would have been drooping. 

Yuki looked at the bloody wound on Nana’s back and closed her eyes. To think a girl she barely knew for more than a month was willing to go this far for her. Yuki could feel a slight warmth in her body as she gently hugged Nana from the back, making sure not to press up against her wound. “Thank you….” She now owed Nana a life debt. This was something that could never be repaid.