I Believe In You- a TPS Short

(Written in the P.O.V. of Ocean.)

I could smell the Phantoms arriving. The awful stench of smoke and death and all things evil clogged my nose and burned. Still, I tried to find her. My little sister Lilyana, I knew she was still in the house.

"Lily! Come out!" I called, voice cracking, as I ran up the stairs to her room. She was huddled on the bed, tail wrapped around her snout. "Lily, get up! We have to run!"

She looked up with a weak-sounding cough and shakily stood, climbing off her bed.

Then, the sound of wood shattering and rusty hinges screeching tore through my ears, followed by an overwhelming wash of scent. Smoke, goop, decay. That could only mean one thing: the Phantoms were in the house.

I threw open the window and ushered Lilyana towards it. She froze in front of it and refused to let me move her, and I could see the terror in everything from her posture to her expression. "Come on, Lily, you have to jump."

She let out a frightened "No," and begin to back up.

"I believe in you," I told her softly. She nodded, took a deep breath, and flew out the window with a big leap. I heard a gentle thud. I followed her as the Phantoms were heard barging up the stairs.

I landed next to Lilyana and I began nudging her to her feet. We ran, but I kept myself at her slower pace. We were halfway across our large backyard when a Phantom yelled, "The window's open! I know where they went!"

I grabbed Lily and powered myself forwards. I was nearly to the woods when I felt a slimy tentacle wrap around my tail. I released my hold on my sister and shouted, "Keep going into the woods and don't turn back! I believe in you!"

She nodded, wearing a fearful expression, and fled into the forest. The bushes rustled as she shot through them, and then I couldn't see her anymore.

I twisted myself around, digging my fox fangs into the tentacle. It had a tough and strange texture, flexible but hard to tear and kind of sticky and slimy on top. It also tasted horrible, but I kept up my attack and the Phantom shrieked and let go. There were five Phantoms chasing us, and three were approaching the woods as the other two were slowly forming a goopy net with their combined magic.

I didn't hesitate to body-slam one of the two Phantoms and disrupt the magic flow, feeling more tentacles slither onto and around my torso. I thrashed and writhed, bit and clawed, until eventually they let go. Black, sizzling Phantom blood spilled each time I made contact.

Eventually I got myself on top of a Phantom and sank my claws into a soft spot that somewhat resembled an armpit, digging in until my entire foreleg was covered in blood. The Phantom exploded due to that spot being a severe weakness. I snapped my jaws at the other Phantom and raised my claws, which dripped black liquid, and watched it flee through a portal that instantly closed afterwards. Then, I bolted into the woods.

I caught up with a Phantom who was pursuing my sister and tackled it from behind, grabbing a stick from a nearby bush and snapping it off with my jaws as I leaped. The Phantom hissed menacingly and the whirring sound that meant it was making an electric attack sounded off. i was prepared for this, however, and stabbed the stick into its eye, immediately releasing it. All the electricity went into the stick and fizzled out as the Phantom shrieked and exploded.

I snatched up the stick and kept running. The other two Phantoms had captured my sister by the time I caught up with them, so I quickly tackled one and stabbed its eye with the stick before it could react. It shrieked, and the blackish purple dust it exploded into blinded the other Phantom momentarily due to the close quarters the battle took place in.

I hurriedly chewed a hole into the net and helped my sister climb out, urging her to run away. The other Phantom threw a lightning bolt that barely missed my ears. She nodded and ran, and I stayed and dealt with the remaining Phantom.

After killing it, I caught up with Lily once more. This time, however, a Phantom Hound had been unleashed upon us by the fleeing Phantom. It was my sister's turn to repay me.

She stayed and helped me defeat the hound, though it took a lot longer than normal Phantoms to kill. As we limped through the forest after the battle, I examined my sister's and my wounds. She had suffered from a major wound in the stomach and...

throat...

She collapsed unexpectedly and lay in a small and growing puddle of blood from her wounds. "Ocean..." she rasped as I nearly cried out in shock.

"Yes,Lily? I asked tearfully.

"Keep... keep fighting on..." she panted, growing weaker. She was dying of blood loss. This I could tell immediately.

"I can't without you," I tried, tears rolling down my face.

"Yes you can," she coughed, blood trickling out of her mouth. "I believe in you."