After months of drought from Ravyn's work, my mind is catching up to me. I finally understand what you all mean mean by rabid plot bunnies... be kind, this is my first. Though please let me know of grammatical errors, as I have no beta and a tendency to forgo grammar in favor of story.

Disclaimer: I own no characters, only the story do I claim.

Midnight Run

Never taking shortcuts ever again. Kaoru thought as she half ran, half stumbled through another badly lit backstreet. If I hadn't been so desperate to pass out in bed, I probably wouldn't be two steps from passing out in the nearest dumpster.

She'd been sprinting off-and-on for hours since she'd fought off that… thing. And no matter how good a shape she was in from daily practice and part-timing at her family dojo, her stamina was not up to a midnight cross-country dash through trash strewn back-alleys.

Kaoru had stopped trying to lead the monsters away from the small apartment she shared with her best friend long ago, and was hopelessly lost in the underbelly of the city. Of course, not panicking long enough to read street signs could probably correct the problem, but every slight sound reminded her that the creature she had beaten into a pulp with her trusty, crusty, rusty pipe had pack.

Pack that she last saw numbered something like too many and seemed distinctly unhappy that she'd reduced one of their own to a bloody, twitching ruin.

But really, was she expected to just lie down and let the monster eat her?

She was never going to let Misao's infamous puppy face guilt her into taking a double shift at the diner ever again. Providing she survived the night.

What was that?

Kaoru abandoned her headlong limping dash and skidded to a halt. Was that rustling of fur against concrete?

Feet suddenly frozen to the ground (though that could be her shoes finally fusing with the ground from the dubious puddles she'd been traipsing through all night), she strained her ears and eyes for another hint.

There!

The darker shadows just a few meters before her were definitely… shifting. She backed up a few steps to give herself some swinging room and shifted the death grip she had on her pipe-turned-weapon-turned-crutch to shift it back into a makeshift bokken.

As she took the last step and slid into a defensive half crouch, a huge black animal silently detached itself from the shadows before her.

It looked like a dog, she decided, a beautiful, if oversized dog. Kaoru liked dogs, but she was starting to suspect this night was going to cure her of the near irrepressible need to adopt every stray puppy that crossed her path.

The animal before her was a truly beautiful specimen. It had shaggy black hair glossy with health, and a well-formed, well-proportioned body. And it's- his, Kaoru decided- his face was positively compelling. It was sharply defined but still cute like a puppy- that was probably its ruff talking, she did always have a thing for dogs with ruffled collars.

In fact, if beast didn't stand shoulder to shoulder with her and didn't have claws and canines as long as her fingers, she'd probably be falling all over herself to take it home and pamper it. Screw Misao's "allergy" to dogs.

Once she got over its golden eyes, that is. The animal's eyes glowed; it wasn't a trick of the light. The animal's eyes actually seemed to emit yellow flame. The longer she looked into those eerily intelligent eyes, the more certain she was that this was not an oversized puppy she could just take home and cuddle.

Not that she had such illusion to begin with, given its size and the other supernatural dogs she'd met tonight.

The beast took a soundless step towards her.

Heart thudding wildly, Kaoru took a stumbling step back. Kaoru had no illusions that she could defeat this massive hound as she had with the other beast.

Another silent step.

An answering step back.

The animal still hadn't taken its beautiful- Freaky! Kamiya, freaky!- eyes away from hers, though she had a feeling he was aware of everything around them.

Another.

And another.

She was now flat against the wall with the great beast's muzzle huffing in her ear.

This was it then.

Kaoru squeezed her eyes shut for a fraction of a second. Then decided that she was NOT going to die hiding from what killed her, and snapped them open again to glare at the offending canine.

The golden eyes blinked. Backed up a step and….

Grinned!

The massive dog tilted his head and grinned. Like an overly proud puppy offering its owner a teeth- mangled pair of favorite pumps. It almost scared her to death, and then had the audacity to grin!

Kaoru gritted her teeth and raised the pipe in her right hand to give the smug animal a well-deserved whack over the head. But the dratted dog only dodged gracefully then pranced a few steps, tail wagging furiously and tongue lolling.

Great Kamiya, letting an over-sized, supernatural puppy get to you.

Feeling decidedly less threatened by the great oaf, Kaoru pushed away from the wall she had been plastered against and turned to get her bearings. Only to stop cold, familiar dread creeping into her bones as she glanced back in the direction she's fled from.

As she watched, three pairs of gleaming red eyes blinked into existence followed by a violent growl. Dozens more eyes appeared, as if summoned from deep within the shadows by the reverberating sound.

Kaoru gulped, eyes flicking to the other side of the alley. The shadows there were peppered with glowing eyes too. She watched, morbidly fascinated, as more eyes appeared until the alley was tainted blood red from their disembodied glow and alley began to reverberate with countless growls.

Ok, this was it.

At least my death will be on the scale of The Battle of Helm's Deep, instead of a ridiculous semi-accidental death at the paws of an over-zealous supernatural puppy.

The puppy! She was the one who'd killed- or at least thoroughly maimed one of these creatures, Kaoru wasn't sure these things could die- the puppy had nothing to do with it. Except for being in this particular alley right at this moment… pacing a tight perimeter around her while rumbling so deeply from its chest that she could feel the base growl shake both her body and the stained brick walls around them.

Her puppy didn't look anything near playful now, it suddenly looked even larger and much, much more threatening. In fact, if he turned those teeth on her, running towards the glowing eyes in the shadows was probably more promising for survival.

The dog that had acted like a playful puppy just seconds before, had drawn back its lips and was now displaying an impressive number of sharp teeth and snapping ferociously at the shadows. The golden eyes, which had looked like banked glows earlier, were now amber pinpoints of light leaving traceries of after images as it snarled into the darkness. The fur that had looked glossy and black was now bristled and back-lit by an unnerving crimson light.

The effect was terrifying. The massive canine now looked like a shadow creature, an animal form barely containing the fires of hell.

Kaoru suddenly remembered the silent way this dog had stepped into the alley, the fluidity with which it had moved, and her conviction that she could not fight this hunter and win. She had been lulled by its playful act, but now she was seeing the fearsome potential for which her training had screamed at her to run when the hound first appeared. The same instinct that convinced her she was a dead woman, when just hours ago she'd survived an ambush by a three headed rabid dog with a rusty pipe and had since been beating off the advances of its avenging pack mates.

Oh boy, so it's this hellhound or those hellhounds. Kaoru rather preferred no hellhound, crawling into her comfy bed and writing the night off as a bad dream. And in the morning, maybe burn her hoard of horror movies for therapy.

Kaoru shook herself from her suddenly wandering thoughts and gathered her courage to step next to the lone canine. At least, he wasn't growling at her and seemed set on keeping the others off. The beast didn't glance in her direction, but shifted position to include her as it continued to keep the shadow hounds at bay with snarls alone.

Good, it seemed like the huge puppy dog wasn't interested in having a midnight snack. Things were starting looking a little bit more in her favor.

Kaoru closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking a moment to exhale slowly and find her center.

Blue eyes snapped open as the shadows lunged.