He stared ahead as if steeling himself for something... Then he breathed a long sigh, smiling again, and took another step forward, and another.
He walked for several minutes through a grove of cherry trees.
And then, abruptly, he was stopped.
The man cried out as he was pinned against a tree. Blood bloomed across his shoulder -- claws sunk deep, and his once peaceful features twisted with pain. But there was something bright in his eyes too as he regarded his assailant, who stared back at him with glowering blue eyes.