It wasn’t going to be a full moon tonight. Clouds were brewing thickly over the tree tops, their spear-tips threatening to tear through the soft, downy bottoms of those clouds. There was a high chance of rain; he could smell the water in the air wafting like smoke from a fire. He had to admit, he liked the idea of rain. Everything was greener in the rain, and for that, there was no better place to be than in the forest. And this forest—Jerec could think of no place he’d rather be.
Here, he opened all his senses up to the world around him. Ears perked up to every rustle of every leaf. Skin was caressed by the cool embrace of the wind. Eyes set to each movement around him. Nose taking in every scent as it honed in on one. Tongue ready to taste the blood and meat of the pretty one hundred yards from him.
A white-tailed stag with a long, slender neck perked up in attention to survey its surroundings. A bird was singing in the trees and the stag went back to its feeding. Jerec dug his clawed toes into the soil as he tightened his legs to pounce on the animal. In his hybrid form, he was faster, stronger than normal, but he knew that if he jumped too soon or waited too long or miscalculated a single step, it could cost him his prey that could escape on a single leap and bound.
Jerec let out a breath, a slow smooth exhale and the stag’s head went up again, twitching an ear behind large antlers. It looked all around and shuffled its hooves uncomfortably. This was it. If he waited a moment longer, it would all be for naught.
In a flash Jerec sprang up from the soil, in a powerful leap, all the muscles in his body snapping like a spring tightly coiled. Jerec flew up into the air, claws on his hands grown out and ready to tear into the hide of the anima. But in that moment, the stag too reacted with lightning reflexes. It bounded off and the chase began. Together they ran between trees, threading through them like a cord of fabric on a master weaver’s loom. Jerec beat the ground on all bours, clasping into the dirt at breakneck speed. One second he would be a three feet closer and the next the stag was just three feet farther away. Underbrush was upswept and taken on the wind. But he knew the chase couldn’t go on much longer. The door would tire long before he did and all he needed was to press the distance and soon he would close in for the kill.
They headed past a clearing and going further into the thickness of the trees, Jerec began to close in. As the stag began to lose breath, giving one grand mighty leap, Jerec suddenly heard a snap. The sound violently resonated in the air and he found himself roughly having lost his footing, the earth shooting out and away from him, suddenly embraced by something unseen, as if the wind itself snatched him up from the ground.
The trees bent and swayed from the addition of his weight and they creaked from the encumberance. Jerec yelped as he felt himself entangled in a barbed mesh net. He grunted and cursed in anger, but he soon found that struggling only made the net cut into him. He stilled himself, his fingers gripping onto the net around him, eyes shooting to the barbs strategically placed here and there. He felt them piece mildly into his back but he was far from comfortable as it were.
“Stay calm, Jerec,” he told himself. But his heart was racing in the last dregs of adrenaline. And his breath was coming sharp, short, quick ventilations. Slowly his hair diminished as he returned to his human form, claws shrinking and his body leaner. Jerec felt his canines receding and he felt his face clear up. He wiggled around in the net, trying to break the clasps from the tree it was hung on, but to no avail. His movement only pierced the flesh of his back further. He tried again and still nothing. But the more frustrated he got the more he felt the barbs carve into his flesh.
He was becoming desperate, but he knew that his struggle would only cause more pain. At this realization, he unleashed a great howl than rang loudly in the air. A wolf in distress.
A small, pink, human tongue lapped at the cool stream water before the creature's head shot up to listen intently. Dropping down again to all fours, Ariel drank her fill until she was interrupted by a unnatural snap. Frightened, she fled to some underbrush and hid within. The silence of the woods disturbed her greatly, but her curiosity could not be contained.
Slinking cautiously to the source of the sound, she came to rest with her belly pressed flat against the earth beneath a berry bush. High up in a tree was a net and in the net was- 'what is that? Human!' A soft, pathetic, human growl began to emit from her throat as she watched the struggling man. 'Serves 'im right. Gets what 'e deserves!' She let off a very animal-like huff before moving to go.
A bone-chilling call sounded from behind her causing Ariel to drop back down. 'The wolf's howl.' Instinctively, she answered back, the sound dragging from her throat was sad and low, more of the pining sound of a pup than that of an adult's answering call. She was shocked though when she looked back to find that the initial sound had not come from another wolf but from the human. In the distance she heard other wolves, real wolves, answer the call as well. Divided on whether to stay or go, her decision was made for her when the crashing sounds of human hunters approaching forced her to stay put. 'Filthy creatures!' her mind hissed as she bellied down again.
"Oi, Jon! Come, look at this. We got a live one," a stout, bulky man said as he bumbled through the trees. He wore a thick curly beard and a bearskin cap on a balding head. His face was pale and pinked at the cheekbones from the cold as he wandered into view. Behind him appeared another man, whom Jerec presumed to be Jon, and he was a good head taller than the first man, lanky but no less built with a shaggy head of black hair that clearly had not been washed in a week or two.
"I told you the plan would work, Elwyn," Jon said, grinning nasty teeth at the prize they had found. He stepped forward and Jerec visibly stiffened. Even with just the two of them, he knew their intentions were not good. "Though I can't say, I expected to get a man in that net. A goddamned naked one at that. Where are your clothes, boy?"
Jerec said nothing and watched them with cornered eyes. He didn't move a muscle. Off behind them he knew there was more than just the two of them. It wouldn't make sense to approach a broken trap with just a pair of hunters such as these. He could make out at least three or four more in the background, another coming to step forward along with Jon and Elwyn. Yet Jerec's attention was turned back when Jon addressed him again: "What's the matter, boy? Can't you speak Common? What are you doing out here alone?"
Still he said nothing until they were in reachable distance. "Don't you come any closer!" Jerec boomed at them, snarling and showing all his teeth, though he could only damn himself that he'd left his canines ungrown. "Or I swear, I'll kill you faster than you can blink."
The hunters laughed at him and Jon ordered the man coming behind them to cut the net loose. As he did so, Jerec let out a grunt as he hit the ground with a thud. But just as he did so, he tried to react with lightning reflexes, to scramble out of the net and to lunge at the both of them. But the hunters had quickly seen this coming. Jon pulled out his sword and Elwyn was surprisingly fast for his size. Elwyn shot forward and grabbed the loose ends of the net, pulling it close and tight, sealing Jerec inside the net. Jerec managed to get up in a crouch, but the tugging of the net knocked him down into the barbs, piercing him yet again.
"Let me go! You bastards! Let me go!"
Jon laughed and nudged Jerec with the flat end of the blade. "Yes, boyo, we'll let ye go. To the highest bidder of course," he said. "Even if we didn't catch a good fine stag. We got something better. Let's go back to camp boys. We might come rich out of this hunt just yet." Jon laughed again as Elwyn dragged the net off with the rest of the hunters in tow.
By the time they reached camp, the clouds had begun to thicken further and Jerec opened his eyes to the sheer number of hunters surrounding them. There weren't just these five... but as many as fifteen all grouped together to make their hunts more efficient. The other hunters were curious as to what they were dragging in, but it was clear none of them cared about the man in the net any more than they might care about any other animal caught in the trap.
Jerec continued to struggle and pulled at the net, but his body was tired from the struggle and the small but numerous cuts had left him feeling more than drained of both blood and energy. The hunters conversed amongst themselves and discussed what to do with their fine and sooner rather than later more or less came into general agreement. Jon ordered their fine to be pulled into a cage made of steel. It was pretty fancy for a bunch of ragtag hunters and Jerec was starting to get an idea that perhaps their group was more of a sports club looking for some extra gain out here in the forest, than hunters hunting for survival and skins.
Jerec was more than happy to be free of the net, though his body still bore the marks of its passage, but he couldn't be any happier about being behind bars. "Let me out of here!" he shouted at them all, though his words fell on deaf ears. He cursed and shouted at them and fell limp against the bars. He knew if he wasn't so exhausted he could change and break out of his confinements. But he had no food and no water, and no way of escape.
The cage was rather large and sat the edge of the camp. Jerec huddled toward the back of the cage, the feel of the metal on his bare butt brought unpleasant shivers up his back. Slumping his back against the steel and cringing where his back had been nicked open. His heart was pounding in his ears and he cut his eyes off to the distance, he could have sworn he saw another pair of eyes staring back at him. Eyes that didn't belong to one of the hunters.
From the safety of the shadows she watched the cruel hunters and felt the cruel fire of rage grow within her belly. 'No respect.' She had begun to lose interest with the whole matter until a spark of curiosity about the camp drove her to follow. 'I could salvage something from 'em. Would serve 'em right for scaring off the game!'
Wary and skittish Ariel followed on swift, silent feet. The sight of the camp frightened her. 'So many. Too many.' The treatment of their prisoner had no affect on her though. She was not interested in him but in the rack of fresh deer meat they currently hanging from a tree out of the reach of bears and wolves. 'But, not from me!' For the first time since she had woken that morning she allowed a small smirk to creep across her lips.
The cover of night could not come soon enough. Impatiently the little hunter waited for the camp's members to each doze off until a small watchguard remained. Slowly, Ariel slunk into the camp, pausing at each sound to dart watchful eyes about the camp. To get to the coveted meat she had to first cross to the other side of the camp, past their sleeping bodies and lit fire and then climb the tree to the prize.
This option was quickly stolen from her as some startled birds took to flight behind her, snapping the guard to alert awareness. Ariel dropped to the ground and rolled to hide in the shadow of the cage. The fat man's heavy breathing as he ran past almost made her laugh aloud. She waited a few moments after she could no longer hear him crashing through the underbrush before she moved to rise up.
Her eyes widened as she came face-to-face with the cage's sole occupant. Bending her elbows, she lowered her torso in a defensive posture. She refused to lower gaze though and her lip rose in a silent snarl. A look up revealed that just above the cage was a branch to the very same tree that held her much sought after food.
'He's bigger than me; he can call the guard against me. He's in a cage, he's not going to want to alert them. He's human! Liars the lot of 'em!' She had just decided to forget about the whole thing when the snap of twigs alerted her to the returning presence of the first guard. Eyes wide and nostrils flaring she moved to climb the bars, cutting her hands in feet in the process.
By now the camp knew she was there. Their drunken shouting was enough to send her head spinning. 'I can do this. Just get to the branch. I'll leave. They can't catch me!' Ariel was too confident though and never saw the arrow sent her way. The painful shock of it piercing the back of her shoulder sent her reeling. The minute she hit the ground the wind was knocked out of her and they had her surrounded. Unable to breath but still on the defensive, it took every bit of strength in her little body to curl in on herself for protection. Hiccuping and gasping for air she mentally cursed them for all she was worth as they jeered toed her with their boots.
Drinking had commenced and night had fallen and after a good long time of loud laughter and bawdy talk, the hunter troupe had finally fallen asleep. And it couldn't have been soon enough for Jerec tired of hearing them. Every word they uttered, occasionally referencing jokes to him, made him more and more upset with every passing second. But it was an impotent anger and he knew the thickness of the bars was fashioned for the intent of an animal that refused to cooperate and the weakness in his muscles only made matters worse. He hadn't eaten in two days and his bloodloss had made him weary. He looked at the lock, a massive brick of a bolt-lock on it, strong enough to take whatever abuse he could dish out, which wasn't much at this point.
He leaned back against the bars, skin shivering in the coldness of the wind and actually dozed off against the metal, rather in an awkward position so that his neck was twisted and his arms were loose on his lap. As they slept so did he and he awoke with a start at the sound of someone coming closer to the camp. Someone that didn't belong. He looked around, not murmuring a sound as he saw the figure draw nearer. Jerec looked around him and saw that the sleeping hunters had yet to awaken, but his ears, keen as they were, had caught the sound of the creatures approach. Whatever kind of creature this was. Soon that question was answered for him when it came up face to face. Jerec took his head back and peered at her directly in the eyes with a furrowed brow and flashed his teeth at her just as she did him. But there were more questions and a strange curiosity broiling in him than the need for fight or flight. He was in a cage, exactly how much damage could she do to him there. Still he was on the defensive and when she climbed the bars, he just watched her with caution as she climbed to get the meat above his head.
But he didn't have long before suddenly the hunters were awake and they surrounded her. Many were still quite buzzed from their alcohol and they laughed as they nudged her with their boots. "Well, well, well," Elwyn said as he pushed through the crowd. The men jeered and grabbed at the girl, but Elwyn shoved through them and knocked a few to the ground. "Now, hold on a minute boys! You all stand back! You drunken fools." He leaned down and yanked up the girl by the collar. "Oi, what a wild thing, you are. BAH! And you smell like one too."
"I don't care how she smells, Elwyn, I'll take 'er off yer hands, fer ya," a man named Emri said. Booze was heavy on his breath and he went ahead and wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face against her neck, splaying heavy breath there until Elwyn yanked the girl from him and back-handed him right in the jaw. "No one'll be laying a hand on this one. Ye're mother birthed the dumbest son-of-a-bitch, if I ever saw one and if you think Jon'll have it, ye're dead wrong."
"Have what?" Jon asked, stepping in. The crowd quickly parted and stepped away from the woman. She was small enough that Jon had to actually look down at her to inspect her. He was a good head and a half taller than her and grabbed her chin roughly before forcing it up to look at him. He gripped her entire jaw with his other hand and turned her head side to side to get a better look at her. "She might be another good prospect. Don't know who she is. Don't care. Clean her up a little though, and she'll look like new. I'm sure somebody somewhere would pay good money for her, I wouldn't doubt. Don't you think, boys?"
Emri was the loudest to hoot and holler in agreement but Jon gave him a dirty look. "You put a wrongful hand on her and I'll cut your dick off, clear?" Jon said and smiled at him. Emri's expression sobered and he looked at him with an apologetic gaze, and he nodded hastily, though he did cast a glance at the girl with a languid gaze. "Emri, you dumb bastard, you look about the other's size, get him a pair of trousers and a shirt will ye and make it fast. Elwyn, you can put her in with the other one, but first." Jon twisted around the girl and grabbed the arrow that was dribbling blood. Without issuing a warning, he snapped the shaft of the arrow in half and yanked the object out of her roughly, regardless if she screamed or what damaged it might have done.
"Now get her in there," he ordered, giving her back to Elwyn. Emri returned with the trousers which he took with him, as Jon approached with a key around his neck and unlocked the cage. Jerec had receded to the back of the cage and he looked at them with speculative cautious eyes as they shoved the girl in there with him, along with the trousers. Before they closed the gate all the way, Jerec flew forward yet again, intent on getting free, regardless of the other one they shoved in there, but they shoved the cage door close and Jon locked it shut quickly; the impact struck Jerec in the face and gave him a brief headache, but one that was short lived as he called out to them again.
"Let me out of here!" he screamed, pulling on the bars in rage, but feeling his grip wasn't what it used to be. "Open this goddamned gate!" But still nobody listened. Jerec slammed a fist against the bars and pressed his body against the corner of the cage, curling his legs around him and pulling the given clothes in close to him. He squared his eyes at the smelly, wild girl they tossed in there with him, looking worse off than he.
He slipped on the trousers and knotted the ties at his waist, and slipped on the shirt, though mindful of his sore back. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snapped, giving her a dirty look.
Ariel ignored the men as they talked about her, more focused on escape than what they planned to do with her. 'I won't be around long enough for that to happen.' It came as a complete shock to her when Jon man-handled her. Furious, she yanked her face out of his grip and bared her teeth again.
The only pride she could take in the whole affair was her silence during the cruel removal of the arrow. She did not show a single sign of weakness, save for the whistling sound that escaped her nose instead of the scream she wanted to give. 'I will remember your face,' she thought staring the hunter down. 'One day soon I shall be the one who ensures that mine is the last you ever see.'
They threw her into the cage like a sack of potatoes, uncaring of whether or not it was even a safe idea to put their prisoners together in the same tight enclosed space. Her body slid across the floor as the stranger began screaming and banging at the door. Ariel's hands clapped down hard over her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut in fear. She was not one for loud noises.
Wary of this large man, she looked up at him meekly and said nothing. She sat cross-legged in the opposing corner and leaned forward to rest her body on her forearms like a cat. A prodding at her side had her swiveling her head around to see a bath sponge thrust in her face. It dropped from the hand holding it and bounced off the floor of her new prison to roll back out.
"Scrub off woman. Jon wants you all cleaned up," the owner of the hand barked at her, thrusting the sponge back through the bars. Ariel stared at the hand disinterestedly and decided to ignore the buzzing in her ears. It would have been a success if the spongeman's other hand had not come up to yank her back against the bars by her hair. Her head made a dull clang as it smacked into the cold metal. "Listen you little whore, you'll do as your told or I'll-"
The little hunter never got a chance to find out the end of the ultimatum as she bit down on the arm in front of her. The moment she was released she whipped around and punched the yelling blob of a face as hard as she could, enjoying the spurt of blood that bubbled from what used to be the man's nose. Cheerfully, Ariel scooped up the sponge and chucked it as far as she could outside the cage.
Having had her fun, she turned to settle down again when she was reminded that she was not alone in this tiny cell. She curled back down into her previous position and went back to watching the stranger nervously. 'I can't fight him, not even with these close quarters to hinder him. There is no way to run, no way to escape. He has to see me as nonthreatening, a wolf in sheep's wool.' She reflected on the events that had just occurred and mentally winced. 'Could be a little late for that.'
Jerec observed with dagger eyes as he kept his space. It didn't help that the cage wasn't bigger. It wasn't exactly tiny, but they were clearly invading the other's space without meaning too. Jerec didn't care, however, and if he was forced to be stuck with her in this cage he wanted to make it clear just who was the alpha and who was the omega. He stared at her until another of the hunters approached her to sponge her off, a part of which Jerec was thankful for since the girl didn't seem to have taken a bath in weeks, months even. Even he who lived here in these wilds, made it a habit to keep himself clean as often as possible.
He gauged her as she fought the sponge-keeper, and might have jumped even a little as she punched him in the face and he sat up, pulling his feet under him to crouch on his toes in a pouncing form as his arms braced the bars around him. He could tell she was wary of him, as he was wary of her and for a long time, there was nothing said.
"Do you know what's going on?" he asked her carefully, his bare feet tensing as they shifted his weight from one side to the other. "Do you know why they threw you in here with me? Because if you don't, you're stupider than you look. But intelligence really has nothing to do with it. Do you have something you go by? A name, perhaps?"
"I may be small but I am not dumb," she finally spoke. Ariel's voice was soft and slow, as if the words came to her through a great ball of wool and cotton on their way from her brain to her mouth. She was not taking too kindly to his displace of dominance. His overbearing presence meant to make her feel small and pathetic was working to some extent. On the other hand it was also working to bring her fighting fire to the forefront.
Ariel sat up and leaned back against the bars, appearing to be as relaxed and comfortable she was most certainly not feeling. "I know why I am here. It is the same reason the man who got himself caught in a deer trap is here," she jibed feeling a bit reckless. "I was hungry and they took from me a kill that was rightfully mine. Your own hungry belly can understand that even you cannot."
A dirt-covered hand raked through her tangled hair, making the wooden beads rattle as they collided together. She fell silent, closing her eyes and just focusing on her breathing as she tried to find a solution to escape. But, everything around her was made to distract her. The hard floor of the prison, the ribald comments coming from the hunters, her companion's forbearing presence. Sighing, she gave up and opened her eyes again.
"You don't have to stalk me like some prey that is going to run at any second. There is nowhere for me to go unless you have some brilliant idea on how to escape. Then again, you might actually be as stupid as you look." A smirk formed at the last quip. At last Ariel lowered her gaze from the stranger, giving up the challenge to stare at her hands. "I call myself Owlet. Who are you?"
Jerec gave her a small smirk of approval of her own wit, but he still eyed her like fresh meat. And she used that wit for the better part of herself, she remained calm. But he was starting to find that he could not. The open wound the arrow gave her put blood in the air and he could smell it on her despite her stench. His nose honed in on it, hungered for it and though he was well aware now that she had a fire all her own, that did not deter him from wanting that blood...and the meat that came with it.
"I'm not a man," he said after a moment. "Not exactly." His hands gripped the bars as he felt his stomach rumble much more. He didn't know when they would feed him, but the stench of blood was betting stronger with each second. Jerec balanced on his haunches and tried to concentrate for a moment, as she made a very valid point. They would have to escape at some point. Not together, but if he could use her to get away, he had absolutely no problem with that.
But his brain churned round and round at the smell and before he knew it, he pounced on her and aimed to throw all his weight on her. His teeth came out then, canines extended slightly as he attempted to pin her to the floor. "I am Jerec," he said, flashing all his teeth at her and attempting to take a bite out of her.
She was not prepared at all for the crushing force of his weight slamming into her and pinning her smaller frame between the wall and floor of the claustrophobic prison. Instinctively, she threw the heel of her hand upward, crashing it into his jaw. Her hand followed through to try and punch him in the windpipe. Ariel was well aware that she had nowhere near the physical strength this Jerec snapping at her face did. Her only advantage was her speed, a quality that was greatly hindered by her current residence.
"Hey!" she growled lowly, scratching at whatever part of him she could reach in self-defense. "If you kill me then they will have no reason to keep you alive. They'll stick you while you're in this cage where they don't have to fight you to kill you. You want to make it out of this thing alive you need to keep me alive. You have strength and I have speed. Between us there has to be at least half a brain even if I'm the one with most to all of it. Pull yourself together Jerec! I'm not the enemy here."
Pale grey eyes stared up above her. She desperately wanted to turn and look outside the cage, to see what was happening in the camp. 'Was it this quiet before? Or am I about to die? I'm not going down without a fight. I'm not about to be this chump's dinner!' It was only fear that kept her from growling and resorting to her more feral nature. Her mind warned her that as much as she might hate it, he was a true alpha and more than capable and willing to kill her just to put her in her place.
The fool. She thought he was on her because she was his enemy? Even if that was half true, really, Jerec could only laugh inside. He didn't know her, he didn't want to know her. He didn't even care if he got out and she didn't. He had no obligation to her, and she had none to him, so why bother trying to play the symbiotic survival card? They were two fools had just happened to find themselves in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
Jerec only laughed at her and pulled her up into a sitting position. "You have a hasty mind for over assumption, 'Owlet,'" he responded with every bit of sarcasm he could muster, and twisted around her to lap at the blood that seeped from her arrow wound. It was warm and sweet and he didn't care about the dirt around it or how she smelled and once the warmth of that blood seeped down his throat, taking in valuable nutrients there, he finally put his face up close to hers, her blood smeared across his mouth and chin. He didn't tear into her like he'd initially planned, because really, despite her best interests, she had a point. And he wasn't quite as stupid enough to ignore that. But if she thought he spared her just because she had any real value to him, she was wrong.
He got up off her and retreated back to his corner and sat down in a more relaxed fashion before licking his lips and cleaning the blood off with his hand. He felt a little more rejuvenated then and cut his eyes around them. Most of the men had gone back to sleep, their drunkenness finally having taken its toll. Spongeman was nursing his broken nose and the guard on duty was falling asleep, his heady heavy and dozing off. More or less, nobody had heard the scuffle, which was quite hard for Jerec to believe.
But he turned his head back to her and furrowed his brow. "The truth is," he began. "They won't kill us as long as they think they can make good coin on us selling us as slaves. Look at these men? Do you think they really care if we tear each other apart? Only if it detracts from our value, but what's a slave without a few nicks and cuts and bruises on them? But I tell you one thing, I'll tear these bastards to pieces as soon as I'm strong enough. You're blood only sated my hunger for a moment. I suppose I should thank you, and I do...but it's not enough."
He bit his lip for a moment and sighed. "I can tear out of here with my bear hands if I was strong enough. If you think you want to follow, you're free to do so, if you really want to work together to survive. I might be inclined to accept your offer. Because I know something that they don't."
"Yick," she protested loudly, struggling a bit in his grasp. "I'm not some puppy you can just go licking. Go find someone else to mother hen. Or better yet, go chew on one of them!" Her entire face displayed disgust as she brushed at her shoulder. Yet, behind that mask were keen eyes that spoke of the beginnings of understanding. Ariel could care less what he thought or what he was saying. She was more focused on his actions, his body language and what he was not saying.
When he finished, she remained silent and observant. "Now this would be the time you would have me ask what it is you know that they don't. Thing is, I don't care." Ariel let her words trail off as she turned to stare out the cage. "There is one thing about you that I can't quite understand." Smirking, she suddenly belted out a clear wolf-howl. It was nothing like the pitiful one she had made earlier in the night. This was no cry of pain but a song of the hunt, a call answered by others.
"You and I, we're not like them," she said jerking her chin in the direction of the hunters. We're wild but, we're not the same either. You're not wild like me; you're-" a loud burst of wolfsong interrupted her before the pack settled. "It's as if you're wild like them."
Ariel smiled very briefly before lowering her head in respect. She even went so far as to lower her gaze completely, a feat she would never have done before his earlier powerplay. If it had been anyone else, she would have fought tooth and nail. Yet, something about this stranger that shared her fate kept her grounded and in place. It had been a long time since Ariel had been able to converse and remain calm like a human. She had forgotten what it was like. The impatience of the hunt had been coursing through her blood for too long.
"Goodnight Jerec," she whispered barely louder than a butterfly's wingbeat before curling up into a tiny ball in the corner. The little hunter doubted she would get much sleep but, she was going to try her hardest to at least rest her body long enough for the escape attempt she would make tomorrow. 'They want me clean, they're going to have to do it themselves. Fools!'
Jerec chewed on his lips for a good long moment, sucking what remained of blood on his teeth. Honestly, he couldn't think of anything to say to that, even if she'd given him half the chance to do so. And he wasn't sure he wanted to say anything. But he furrowed his brows in thought, starting to see that she truly was wise beyond her years. He wouldn't underestimate her, but furthermore, she seemed to show him respect though he did not ask for it.
The sound of the wolves crying put a severe pain in his heart and a longing that intermixed with molten anger that lay dormant for a long time. He felt himself tremble all over, but he contained it so well. Their cry, was his cry and he had half a mind to return with a howl of his own. She knew without knowing. Maybe she didn't understand, maybe she did. Before he thought he might explain it to her she was asleep. Maybe it was something that didn't need explaining.
In the deepest set truth, Jerec could not sleep for his exhaustion. His mind wandered and was set on the on sorrow that the wolf's call had summoned in him. But even then as dawn began to rise on the horizon and Jerec felt his tired eyes fall here and there, a sudden rush of cold water had him awake and on his feet. A hunter with a wooden bucket splashed them both with icy river water.
"Good morning, freshies!" It was the Spongeman, with his nose bandaged up and a sneer on his face. Jerec kneeled down on one knee as the cage did not allow him to stand. "Rise and shine. Tell the whore to use the water to clean that dirt from her face." He walked off as the hunters began to awaken one by one.
Jerec shook off the water from his head, tossing his head back and forth until he got a good deal of it off and looked back at Owlet with a scowl. "Since you're the mastermind with all the brains, just what do you think might be a good start of an escape? So I can start killing these fools," he said to her in a hushed tone.
Some time during the night Ariel had managed to nod off and sleep. Her dreams were all filled with running and chasing. Every one featured her as some sort of wild beast on the hunt with the faces of the enemies superimposed on those of the prey. But, this sleep was not meant to last. Icy water shocked her into awareness, startling her into an unsuccessful flight backwards. Ariel was very much not a morning person and it showed in her childlike grumblings. She slowly blinked owlish eyes repeatedly as she scowled at the offending bucket.
Her stomach interrupted her though, reminding her of her unfulfilled hunger and now growing thirst. Shoulders slumped and her expression altered to one of defeat. Crossing her arms of her belly, Ariel crawled on her knees over to the bucket and peered disgustedly into it. Driven by thirst, she leaned down and lapped up a few mouthfuls of water before dropping to lay on her stomach. Her cheek pressed into the cool floor distorting her facial features, while her legs bent up at the knee and her arms latched onto the bucket, holding it close. It was almost as if she did not trust it to not drench her again.
"Ish too early," she whined petulantly in reply. Ariel scrunched her eyes closed and tried to bury her head into her arm in an attempt to go back to sleep. Once awake though, it was impossible to return to slumber. Disgruntled, she shoved the container away from herself, huffing and shaking her head when water sloshed over the edge and into her face. "I'm hungry," she moaned again, flipping to her back.
Whatever keen intelligence she had displayed the night before was not to be found now in the wake of her unhappy child's face. Looking up at the grey sky above, her eyes widened in realization. 'I think I can fit through that!' Ariel lifted her head slightly as she calculated the possibility and distance. 'Even if my head fits I'm still too short.' Her head thunked back down heavily as she let out a pitiful cry of frustration. 'Not fair!'
Jerec made a puzzled expression towards her for she seemed so dazzled and dazed in her attempt to wake from sleep. How one could possibly be in such a delirious half-awake state of mind while after being drenched with a bucket of fresh, icy water, he had no idea. But he crept towards her, sliding on his knees and leaning over her.
"Hey," he whispered, shaking her shoulder a little bit. "Did you hear what I said? You gotta get up. They're coming back. C'mon," he said. He nudged her again, and looked up around them and sure enough a group of five hunters were coming along with a long stick with a leather tether looped at the end of it. The stick was made of a strong wood, but hollowed out to allow the length of the tether to be pulled to tighten the loop. It was an odd looking weapon to Jerec as he peered out from the bars.
All the while, he stared at one of them, he did not see another tether-stick shoved through the bars and managing to loop the tether around his neck. A hunter pulled the loop snugly on him, but Jerec, startled, struggled to breath against it and gasped as he tried to pry his fingers underneath it to allow room to breathe. Another hunter arrived with the key and unlocked the door. Though it was through the bars, the hunter that tethered him, managed to pull it through and yank him out. The hunters yelled and wooped as he hit the ground with a heavy thud, but the loop was eventually loosened enough to allow Jerec to breath a little, but it was still too tight to pry his fingers under.
But at this Jerec felt himself fly into a rage, and flew at the hunter with the tether, using the stick against him. He bashed the stick against the hunter's chest and eventually his chin, giving enough force to knock the man to the ground and filling his mouth with blood. He unlooped the tether from his neck and took on the other hunters as they piled on him. He spun around and threw two off him that clung to his neck.
In the midst of the commotion, somewhere he managed to yell to Owlet: "Get up! Get out of there! Run! Now!"
The moment the cage was opened, Ariel was on her feet and moving. The hunters were so distracted by Jerec's flailing that they nearly forgot her in their efforts. She managed to make it out and a few paces away before they noticed. Her brief companion's cry had her freezing in place. 'I'm not alone in this.'
She hesitated, unsure of whether to obey or to stay. That moment's pause cost her valuable time, for when she at last decided to flee, she took pursuers with her. Ariel dashed off into the woods, running as fast as she could. 'I am like the deer swift and sure-footed. Nothing can fell me, for I am the hunter. I am the wolf who prowls on padded feet. I know no fear. I am the lioness who-' Her mental encouragement ended as she foot caught on a root and she fell.
Pain flared through her as she grazed her hands and knees. 'Get up, get up, get up!' her mind screamed. Ariel burst to her feet and took off again. She ran until she her ankle would carry her no further. Heaving for breath, she allowed herself to stop. 'I made it. They're gone.' As her heartbeat slowed to normal, her mind turned to the man she had left behind. 'He told me to run and I did. I shouldn't have left him behind though. He's wild, he can take care of himself. He's like me and I abandoned him. I need to go back!'
Her resolution to go after him did not work out as planned. The moment she went to turn back, Ariel felt a sharp crack on the back of her head before she passed out. One of the hunters had managed to circle ahead while the other two continued to chase her from behind, she never had a chance. "Let's get this one back before Jon throws a fit," the one who had clubbed her said, slinging her over his shoulder.
Jerec didn't pay attention to the whether or not she had gotten out of the cage, or whether she started running. Perhaps in some part of him, he trusted her enough to be able to make that decision for herself. She had intelligence, cunning, bad hygiene habits; she could take care of herself, there wasn't a doubt in his mind about that. So he focused on his current attackers, who weren't fending very well themselves, despite their numerical advantage.
He grit his teeth in strain as they piled on him, but despite their efforts, they couldn't bring him to the ground. Despite his weakness, his rage gave him strength and before he knew it, he felt himself transforming into his hybrid form. His claws grew in, his body grew thicker with muscle and hair and his canines came out as he slashed his claws across the neck of one of the hunters, bleeding him out like a stuck pig.
He threw them around, cutting down a few before their realization as to what he turned into began to take hold. The hunters instantly backed away, though one was not so lucky. It was Emri's voice that screamed out as Jerec's teeth sank deep into his shoulder and bit off a good hunk of meat. The other hunters watched in horror one of their own fell and nursed his torn shoulder and their prisoner swallowed the raw meat whole. Jon was their too, and his eyes were wide in astonishment. Jerec growled angrily, showing his red, sharpened teeth, and he knew he saw a hint of fear there.
But it was fear quickly uncared for as Jerec took off into the direction of the forest. It was easy to follow the direction Owlet went in due to her heavy scent, and it was then that he knew she had made her escape. His nose picked up something else though and he sniffed the air as he ran and the adrenaline flared through him: there were others in the area. And they weren't animals. He beat the ground harder on all fours and soon caught up to their tracks.
Owlet had made it far into the woods, it seemed, and Jerec was starting to worry he would pass her up, but he resolved to trust his nose and in doing so, soon he caught them in his sight. With a growl, he ran harder and when he was close enough, he caught the other hunters by surprise, lunging at them with claws lengthened and burying them into the chest of the man carrying Owlet. The man yelped in surprise, dropping his load on the ground beside him and coughed up blood as Jerec's claws opened up his chest. Within seconds he was dead.
The other hunters were only momentarily prepared to face the beast before them, but they had time enough to pull out their swords and take aim at Jerec. Though they were not silver weapons, their edges were keen and whistled through the air as they swung down in arcs. Jerec narrowly dodged one aimed at his shoulders and chest, stepping back and then ducking under another as the blade nicked the edge of his ears. Flesh met steel and he stepped back again, clutching his ear, but feeling nothing had been severed, he charged forth again and caught the flying steel in one hand before clawing the neck of the hunter holding it. He fell without much resistance and Jerec took the sword from him, holding it by the blade. The second hunter froze in fear, watching as the wolfman took the sword and snapped the blade in his hands, and tossed both pieces uselessly to the side.
Before Jerec could attack however, the last remaining hunter fled and Jerec watched him go, letting him run back to his group. He knelt down tiredly beside Owlet, and plucked her up like little more than a small sack of flour and began to jog deeper into the forest, careful not to dig his bloodied claws into her.
A jostling movement woke Ariel several times as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Her mind was plagued by delirious dreams that made recognizing reality very difficult. A snake ate her whole and she turned into a butterfly. She was enclosed in warmth and a loud ticking clock by her ear made her brain rattle about in her head. A great big owl the size of the sun flew her through the forest as wind tried to tear her off his back.
Pain constantly tore through her head, driving her back into the recesses of her mind where she could escape it all. Unconsciously she burrowed deeper against the comfort she was finding resting against warm fur. Every thought she attempted to conceive made her head and eyes scream in white-hot pain.
She let out a soft high-pitched whining sound as her hands came up to clutch at her head. Ariel was beginning to awaken and wishing she would not. Fear and pain drove her to find out her surroundings. Opening her eyes did nothing for her, all she saw was complete darkness. She closed her eyes again and pressed cool fingertips against her pulsating eyes. Her body tried to curl up tighter in self-defense against the assaulting pain. "Make it stop, make it stop," she quietly sobbed, shaking and shivering like a leaf.
Jerec carried her in his arms like she was a lost child. For the better part of the morning , he found a halfway point between jogging and walking as he attempted to put more distance between them and the hunters. He doubted they'd come after him right away, not after taking three of their number as a result of their underestimation. But he knew the pride which dwelt in most men's hearts and estimated their eventual resolve would reslt in their continued pursuit of him, if not both of them. Hecould only imagine what sort of satisfaction they'd get if they could stake their claim as werewolf hunters. Jerec was sickened at the thought.
He peered down to the load in his arms as she stirred fitfully in her unconsciousness, but he paid little attention to it as he moved. The truth was, if he thought about it, he would begin to wonder why he'd picked her up in the first place. Every instinct bade him to leave her, he should have left her. She was like the others, she reeked of humanity and it showed in the her fleshy coil. She was not his own. She was not his kind. He should have left her.
...He couldn't leave her.
No, she was not his own. But she was not a threat. Not at the moment at least. She was of frail fresh, but she was of the Wild. The Wild did not have sorrow for the weak, had no patience to mourn the dead. It was what it was, and Jerec knew there could be no god or king or ruler that could be as cruel - or as kind - as the Wild. And if she survived..
He paused. She stirred again, speaking this time. He was at a loss and knew not what to say. Ultimately, he took a short break and knelt beside a tree, placing her down as well, resting her beside the trunk. Though his hybrid form afforded him extra strength, it did not make him a perpetual machine. Turning and squatting so that his back was to her, he wrapped her amrs around his neck and hoisted her on his back.
"Hold on to me, Owlet," he managed to say. "Just close your eyes. We'll be able to rest soon enough. Hang on to my neck." He made sure her grip was secure and held her legs around his waist before walking off again, starting to run this time and soon finding the shelter that he sought. As he walked on, he found the strewn stonework opening of an abandoned den. He could the smell the presence of wolves here, but that was long ago. And whatever drove them out, that was gone too. He smellted nothing more than damn moss here, fresh with falling rain and he soon found his face was growing wet too.
Looking up, he saw the rain, at last, that the sky had promised the day before and the sky darkened with fire-smoked clouds, outpouring above. Jerec stooped and crawled inside the den opening, which was wide enough to fit them both simultaneously. Being narrow at the entrance, the den naturally widened and gave birth to a natural cave that did not go very far in any particular direction. When securely inside, Jerec coaxed her arms off his neck and shook her lightly to gain her attention.
"Owlet," he began. "Hey. Stay here. I'll be right back, okay? I'm going to get us some food. Don't wander anywhere. Stay put. I mean it." And he left without waiting for another response. He returned not too long after with two squirrel tails in one clawed hand and batch of dry wood under his other arm. He crawled into the whole, light falling in through the entrance only. By now, he was well and thoroughly tired, and slowly began to feel himself change back to his human form, hair, claws, and teeth receding as easily as they came, the light playing across his face from where he took a seat against the wall.
"Owlet? Are you still here?"
Ariel did not take to being put down at all. The moment he guided her arms back to him, she comfortable latched on and snuggled close against his back again. The confusion of her concussion still held a firm grasp on her mind but she had enough presence of mind to know that for now with this warm, soft figure she was safe and that she was too weak to take care of herself alone.
She quickly dozed off again only waking when he began to extricate her from him. Whimpering, she fought to hold on but he was stronger and more in control of himself than she was of herself. Her arms fell uselessly to her sides and she would have fallen back asleep if it had not been for Jerec's shaking her. The extreme nausea and dizziness that overtook her with the movement made her stomach clench and her eyes snap shut again. She barely heard his words and understood half of them.
The moment he was gone she was blindly dragging herself to a dry spot deeper within the den. The soft squish of wet moss beneath her hand had her realizing her thirst. Ariel racked her fingernails across the stone floor, searching for more moss which she carefully extricated. Holding the springy plant above her mouth she squeezed it and drank the water it had absorbed. She took up more moss and used it to gently wash off her face and arms in an attempt to make herself feel better. Some but not all of the grime was able to be washed away this way. However, the little hunter quickly lost interest with what she was doing.
Feeling extremely nauseous again, Ariel laid down on the cold floor letting it cool her burning forehead. Little whimpers escaped her mouth as she rocked her body back and forth in a self-soothing manner. Her weak human ears never heard his return, so it came to a surprise to her when he spoke again. She flinched and whimpered before recognizing the voice. Little by little she crawled back out of her small hideaway and back over to him.
Even on her hands and knees she weaved about, occasionally running into a boulder or wall because of her temporary blindness. As she drew closer she pulled up another patch of water-filled moss and painstakingly carried it over to him. Offering him the only gift she had to give, Ariel laid the small plant down beside him and collapsed. The effort of so much movement made her sick and exhausted. She just lay there, praying to whatever powers that be that she would live through the night and that the pain of her head would recede for who knew how long Jerec would care for her. 'He's going to eat me,' her brain decided, perhaps illogically.
Jerec set everything down on the floor and watched through the darkness, his eyes adapting to the shadows, as she crawled closer to him. Something was the matter with her. She wasn't acting normal. But really, he didn't know what normal was to a wild girl like her? Did she always act so weak and delirious? He set his jaw a little irritated, but he wasn't going to scream at her or eat her. She'd already proven herself, but this—this was just pathetic.
"Hey, Owl. What's the matter with you?" he inquired. Not really expecting a response, his hand reached down to grasp the offered moss, thick with water. He squeezed it and drank what it offered and picked up her head to lay in his lap. Careful not to jostle her too much, he took off her head piece and inspected her head and soon gasped as he found a bloodied spot that marked where her head had made impact with the ground.
"Owl, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?" Jerec asked softly. He felt around the tender spot on the side of her head, not pressing it too hard, but knowing he ought to find some way to seal the wound. He carefully laid her on the ground again and started to make work on the fire. She didn't have the fur like he did to shield from the cold, so it would only be logical to have such a source of warmth. After several tries and several failures, cursing vile words all that time, until, at last, he had light, and put the tinder together to keep it going. The fire was set away from them, to let the heat bounce off the walls and surround them.
"Owlet, you hungry? Want something to eat?" He skewered one of the squirrels on a stick and held it over the fire. The silence was starting to get to him. "Say something, won't you!?"
From her spot on the floor Ariel made no sound, ignoring Jerec's words in order to focus on soothing the roiling going on within her belly. She only began to react when he poked and prodded her tender skull. Later she would take pride in the fact that she did not scream or cry but her knuckle did manage to find its way between her teeth to bite out the pain.
She hated that he left her and took his warmth with him and mewled slightly in protest before curling up again. Her hands came up to cage her head out of view. Jerec's persistence in speech annoyed her as his voice seemed to grate against her sending sharp knives of pain into her skull through her eyes. 'Food?' The very thought of it made her dry heave and then go back to biting her knuckle to silence the pain the movement had caused. "No," she at last replied meekly.
Lying on the floor, Ariel noted that while she could not see any definite shapes, her sight was returning as she could now make out the light of the fire even if it was very dim. But, its heat brought no comfort to her fevered mind and body. She was too delirious to know that even with the fever rising she would chill herself with sweat. "It hurts," she moaned, wishing she knew a way to stop the pain.
Jerec has at a loss. He'd never had to care for another before. Certainly not out here in the heart of the wild. But he knew that if he was going to do something, he had to do something fast. He stopped working on the squirrel, which was previously skinned and now taking its time to cook, and then thought back to the vegetation around the den whole. Jerec patted her shoulder lightly as a brief farewell as he exited the den opening.
Out in the rain, even he shivered against the wind and began to forage through the bushes, looking for the right plant. It was a reddish shrub with black, dotted berries that grew on its branches and he was a half a mile away when he finally found it. He had no name for it, no documentation as to what it really was, but he knew that it could help relieve her pain, help her get some rest if she didn't fight it's qualities. Plucking some leaves from the edges of the plant and some berries too, Jerec soon returned to the den, and not a minute too soon.
The squirrel was more than well-done by then and he set it off to the side, taking it from the fire. He really didn't want to move her again, but he knew, it was probably for the best. He removed the moist shirt that clung to his body, wet from the rain and he knelt down by her. "Now, I know you don't want you. But you have to," he said in a gentler tone than before.
Jerec took some of the leaves and rolled them up and chewed them up before spitting them out. He gave no thought or care that he shoved something into her lips, that he'd just pulled from his own mouth, but he gave her one simple command. "Swallow that. It'll make you feel better," he said, before pushing the half-chewed leaf into her mouth. Chewing another, he did the same again. "It'll relax you. Let you rest," he whispered.
With that he forgot about his hunger and lifted her up to lay against his chest, using his balled up wet shirt to cool her forehead, which he found was growing alarmingly hot compared to moments before. Please be okay.
She gagged slightly as the leaves were stuffed in her mouth but obediently swallowed. Her only act of defiance was to glare over his shoulder, still not quite able to see where exactly he was. The second time he went to feed her, she compliantly opened her mouth and swallowed it easily. Her stomach fought at the little bit of food it had been given, but she forced herself to keep it down.
Ariel was surprised to be picked up and moved again. "Not a ragdoll," she mumbled even as she nuzzled closer against him and got comfortable. There was a sense of security and comfort that she managed to receive from Jerec that made her feel safe and able to rest and not resist him. Her jumbled mind wondered if it was because he was wild like her or because he was the first person to show her kindness in as long as she could remember.
The coolness of his wet shirt made her sigh in relief. Her body felt heavier and numb and for a moment she fought the need to sleep, ignoring his words. But, as the pain was washed away the weariness took its place and she gave in. Her final words to him were a soft, barely intelligible "thank you," before she returned to the dark world of sleep.
If Jerec ever prayed in his life, it was now. But he did not pray to any god, for such a thing was unknown to him. He did not pray to the weather or wind, or the forces around him. He prayed only to the hope that this girl could cling to life long enough for both of them to survive the hunt that he knew was coming. But he could not project his mind to the matter for it would only make him angry, and he didn't need to be angry now. In fact, he was quite tired himself.
He sleepily pat the moist shirt against her forehead to keep her cool. The way he was reclined against the wall put a cramp in his neck and he grunted uncomfortably. His back was crooked and his legs were inclined out towards the fire, so at least his feet were nice and toasty. His sleepy eyes glared down at his dirt-ridden feet, looking no better than the odd girl he held. A part of him detested the fact that he still had any sympathy for these creatures of the human coil. For so long he'd gone his own way, lived where there were no rules but the rules of survival, and to be so near one now, cradling one against his chest, he felt disgusted with himself.
"I should leave her hear," he mused to himself. "She can take care of herself. After she wakes up of course. I can just leave the fire burning to keep her warm and I can be on my way. She doesn't need me. She'll be fine..." But even he knew he was lying. Damn her eyes! He felt more irritation rise in him, not just at her for the burden she so abruptly became, but also himself for being stooping so low, to this – this! – this sense of compassion! What kind of man had he become?
'You are one that will inhabit two worlds,' he recalled his mother's voice. 'Stick with your own kind, and you will prosper. But be wary of those you encounter as you search for your own. Even hunters become the hunted.'
What could she have meant? Was this girl one of his own kind? Was she deserving of his kindness, something no one else earned or saw without due process? Jerec bit his lip in hesitation, afraid of the answers to his own questions. But one thing he could not doubt: his mother was right. He did inhabit two worlds, though the humanity was covered in dust and had lain dormant for so long, he was so sure that it had been dead and gone.
But with this contact now, as unnerving and unsettling as it was, it was starting to emerge again, and he wasn't sure if rejecting it was the best possible thing. So, as he felt himself, he lay his chin against his chest, and falling asleep himself, the den reeking of dead squirrel.
Ariel woke slowly, coming into conscious awareness just before the coming dawn. The piercing pain in her head had dulled but was still ever-present and sight had returned to her eyes. She woke disorientated, unsure of her surroundings and skittish of the warmth she was laying on. Warily she began to stir and sat up.
Curiosity overtook the young woman-child as she stared closely at Jerec. She had never really noticed his appearance before now. His maroon hair confused her but his scar entranced her. Hesitantly, as if possessed her hand came up to gently trace it, her head tilting as she followed it with her eyes. Flinching away like a guilty child she lowered her head and raised her shoulders expecting to be hit. Peeking out from underneath her fridge she was relieved to find he was still asleep, or at least pretending to be.
Not wishing to be caught staring, she tried to extricate herself from his lap. She had just managed to do so when her world suddenly tilted to the right and she landed hard on the floor with a loud slap. Groaning, Ariel tried to rise up again and found that she kept listing to the right. Even on her hands on knees she could not manage to move far.
Halfway between Jerec and the fire she gave up and pouted. Every so often her body would start to tilt the right as she sat there and she would put her hand down to steady herself in her sitting position. Deep within her mind she was trying to piece together what was going on with no success. She remembered so little and what she did made no sense to her.
'Where am I? How long has it been? Are the hunters still looking for me? Are they even alive? Why is he helping me? What does he want from me? Is he going to kill me? No, he wouldn't help me if he was going to kill me later, would he? Too many questions and no answers.'
The pounding in her head was worsening again and now her stomach rumbled demanding sustenance. Moving a hand to the wound she found it swollen and hot to the touch. A thick crusting of dried blood had formed making the area not only tender but itchy as well. Frustrated with her situation and her lack of understanding, she fiercely shook her head, rattling the beads in her hair before wincing. The world spinning again had her rolling to her hands and knees again to cough and gag as her body tried to vomit the emptiness it held.
It was rare that Jerec dreamed. But when he did, his mind made apparent vivid images that passed over him like the gentle ripples of a pond, and he lay underneath that glassy surface, watching these images rove over him. Jerec was deep in this world of water and dreams as visions of blood and hunters and screams and terror and he twitched in his sleep.
His breathing hitched and he responded to nothing outside of his body, only to the pounding of the heart in his chest, resounding like a drum—thu-thump thu-thump thu-thump... He saw Jon and Elwyn, and he heard Emri's scream echo like thunder in his ears as he tore through him. Faintly his mind cast itself to an image of Emri lying on a cot, nursing a bloody, dirty bandage on his shoulder. He was sweating profusely and were surrounded by the other hunters. Jon said something to him, and gave him a piece of leather to bite down on as Emri suffered in his pain. That image passed over and Jerec saw another werewolf, much like himself, but bigger and fur black as dark water, roaring against the fullness of the moon. He heard a growl resonate around him and he jerked as he awoke, body starting up from his crooked position against the wall.
He breathed hard and looked through the darkness. The fire was nothing more than ashes and embers now, offering little more than a soft glow of light in the darkness of the early morning. Jerec had noticed a weight had gone off from him, for there was now a coldness where warmth had preceded it and as he moved, his body creaked and cracked in protest. His neck hurt to lift and it's ache gave him a head ache. To the side, he heard his companion's severe coughing and gagging and he rubbed his temples to try and block the aches that throbbed there.
Groaning, he managed to get up, flexing out the stiffness in his joints and crawled over to her. "Hey, stop! What are you doing?" he asked, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. "Don't make yourself puke!" Jerec frowned at her and offered a displeased scowl. He sniffed her for a moment and frowned, giving another displeased grunt. "That's it."
Without waiting for a reaction, he grabbed her hand and began to crawl out of the entrance. "Come with me," he demanded. When they were outside, he tossed her over his shoulder roughly and began to walk through the woods heading north by northwest. The soil was moist from the rain, and smelled fresh and wet and the air was cool against his skin. He ignored any protest he might have received and carried her far from the den.
It wasn't long before the sound of streaming water echoed on the air. And through the trees a pond appeared before them and Jerec sped up his walking pace as he neared the edge and without a word he got a running start before plunging both of them into the freezing depths. He let go of her as he hit the water and gave a gasp when he surfaced, shaking his hair free from water and brushing it aside. He swam over to her and grabbed ahold of her hair before starting to scrub it thoroughly, avoiding the tender spot on her head.
"'bout time," he murmured.
Ariel allowed herself to be led out of the cave. The lack of a hand threw off her balance, forcing her to close her eyes and lean against Jerec to keep from flopping about in an attempt to move straight. She had just begun to breathe a sigh of relief at being outside when he unceremoniously took off with her over his shoulder.
"Put me down, put me down!" she screeched, beating her little fists across his back and shoulders. The jostling movement of his walking was not helping with her nausea and she gleefully informed him of it. "If you don't put me down, I'm going to throw up on you!" Her defeated act of defiance once she realized he was not giving up, was to knock him in the back of the head with her elbow before becoming limp and silent.
'Just you wait! I'm going t-' her plotting was cut short as her body hit the water with a heavy splash. "Ayiee!" Squealing and sputtering she broke the surface and began dog-paddling toward the shore. However, she did not make it far before he caught her and began washing her hair. "No!" she howled, flailing. "Stop, stop, stop! I like my dirt! What are you doing?"
Many unladylike words later Ariel became whiny but, complacent. Pouting and occasionally slapping her palms down on the water's surface to create splashes, she mournfully watched the clear pond darken with her precious dirt. "Was this really necessary?" she bemoaned, scrubbing the dripping grime of her hair out of her eyes. 'First chance I get, I'm fixing this.'
With a grunt, Jerec maintained a hold on her hair, if a little too roughly. But as far as he was concerned, he thought this was a vast improvement compared to the rat's nest it was before. He thought women took care of themselves? This girl must have been out here a long time for her to have accumulated this much grime in her hair.
"You have no idea how necessary," Jerec retorted and bore a face of concentration as he worked through every knot, tress, and tangle. "Should I take out the beads? Ah, never mind. It wouldn't make a difference, but this is a hell of a lot better than before." He continued to scrub. "You ought to take off your clothes. Clean yourself. You smell like the ass end of those hunters, and that's worse off than an animal."
Already he began reaching for the bottom of her shirt and trying to yank it up over her head.
"No, not the beads!" she cried, clapping her hands over her head. With Jerec's firm grip on her hair, there was not anywhere that Ariel could go without causing herself undue pain. "I do not and I will not! There is nothing wrong with me now stop-" she shook her head as water dripped onto her nose again. "There is nothing wrong with me, now stop!"
Ariel froze suddenly as his hand tugging on her tunic finally registered in her mind. Her eyes widened as fear set in just before the adrenaline rush of feral instinct took over. Snarling, she twisted and turned, viciously splashing about in the water as she tried to pull away. "Who do you think you are? Don't you touch me! Quit messing with my dirt!"
She was like an animal possessed as she tried unsuccessfully to fight her way from him. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as her mind flooded with past memories. "You're just like them," she accused, "a filthy human!"
Jerec expected a fight. In fact, he might even say he was disappointed if she didn't. He couldn't stand the weak, the fearful and inane. And even if she didn't have to good sense to keep herself clean. But sometimes the only way to learn something was the hard way. He fought back to keep her still, even going so far as to wrap his arms around her. But she said something that made him flare up.
He did let her go and his face, despite his tan, did turn red with fury and he was about to launch a fist at her, but instead he clenched them both and let the steam come out of his ears. "Don't you dare compare me to them, you bloody meat bag. If I didn't tear those bastards to shreds, you'd be still locked up in that cage and getting raped and tortured and who knows what else. So learn to show a little gratitude and respect, or else your attitude just might get you killed!
"Now, undress and clean yourself. Hell, if I wanted my hands on you, don't you think I would have done it already. You're not leaving this pool until you're thoroughly clean, got it. I don't care if I have to fight you for it."
The moment she was free, Ariel fled from him, choosing flight over fight. She knew she would never win against him but, that did not stop her from verbally lashing back. "I warned you before that I am not to be underestimated. I had just figured out how to get out of the cage when you decided to play hero. I am capable of caring for myself! I have survived worse without you; I could have handled them then. I am not a little girl!"
Her face was red from shouting and her head pounded a reminder into her skull of the pain it was currently enduring. Water leaked from her eyes that she quickly swiped away, pretending it was muck from her hair and not the tears it really was. 'No one notices me when I'm dirty. But, they never forget me when I'm clean. I can't hide who I was when you get rid of what I am.'
She stood there shivering in the cold water for a moment, trying to contain the sniffles before she finally raised her gaze and stared him down. "What do you want from me? Are you planning on protecting me from now on? Because you are destroying everything I have to protect myself. I'm not big and strong and a bully like you. I can't win a fight the way you do. I have to conceal myself and hide to win. If you are just planning on abandoning me then go ahead and kill me now because at least then I know I die quickly and properly. Humans would not grant me that curtsey."
In that moment, despite what she had said, Ariel did look every bit the young child that she was. She was a dirty, frightened, hungry and lonely little child who did not know who or what to trust. She had found something akin to her own nature in Jerec yet she feared it as much as she was in awe of it. Experience with humans had taught her that they were quick to use you and then discard you. While her gut told her he was not the same way, her mind reminded her that he certainly looked human enough.
'Why does he care? Why does he do this? Am I a toy to him, a doll? Am I prey made more vulnerable through kindness and trust? I don't understand. I'm not sure I want to.' As much as she did not wish to surrender to him, Ariel dropped her gaze to keep her pride. Tears fell heavily from her eyes, dripping to the water at her waist. 'Perhaps it is best if I was dead. No one ever wants me and its too hard to keep myself alive most days. Better indeed.'
"You weren't so capable last night. I've never seen a weaker, more despicable form of life than you were, huddling in that cave, whining and moaning like a babe searching for mother's milk. Even an ant had more strength than you. But even animals have an instinct to protect their own. I must admit, I gave thought as you laid there to disappear and vanish with the rain, but I knew better. Because even if we are different, we are also alike. We share something that we do not share with those hunters that captured us, even if we were both fool enough to get caught.
"Do I help because I want to? No. I help you because I must. If we are enemies, then we can be enemies afterward. But even if a part of me wants to rip you to shreds for your sheer stupidity, I hate those hunters more. They come here and invade my home...your home if you do indeed live here as I think you do. And the truth is, they will come after us, both of us, no matter where you try to run and hide. And if what you said in the cage was true, then perhaps we have a greater chance of survival together rather than apart. Together we're almost half a working brain right? Even if you have the greater half." At that recollection, he actually smiled at her and gave her an amused chuckle.
"But," he began, remembering himself, "if you'd rather not, then your free to swim away. We in the heart of the wild...survival of the fittest. Now quite talking rot, or I'll knock you into tomorrow and you're head will really be throbbing then. Can't survive like me? Ha, savagery lies in the hearts of all beasts. If you detest humans as much as you do, then you remember to become one of us, you must be one of us. So quite feeling sorry for yourself and know there is someone here trying to help you survive a little while longer."
As much as what he began saying hurt, Ariel recognized that he was speaking pure truth. Many things including the hunters were things her young mind had not even considered. 'I am being a fool, he would be better off without me. I am more of a hindrance than a help,' she started to believe. Then, Jerec said something that she would always remember. A genuine smile lit up her face as he repeated her words said to him in the dark of the cage. 'He remembered. Someone does notice me. Someone does care.'
She did not listen to the rest of what he said on survival. Ariel had made her choice, a choice to stay with him as long as she could. Inch by tiny inch she made her way back over to him. A wary face looked up at him before she silently nodded. As quick as she could she embraced him and then dashed away with a splash. The girl knew that she would not get far if he did not want her to but, she had been compelled to do it anyway.
Looking back over her shoulder she smiled impishly and made a small shooing motion in his direction. She turned back and began to pull up her tunic, ducking further down in the water so as to not be seen. A small bit of humanity still remained in her that demanded at least the semblance of privacy. Then, for the first time in as long as she could remember, Ariel willingly bathed. Muddied hair returned to its pale white-blond hue. Grit and grime was removed from fingernails and skin alike. Even her face ashes were dutifully scrubbed away to leave behind a lightly-tanned freckled face. Pale eyes glanced back behind her before quickly facing forward again and causing the corner of her mouth to turn up in a small smile. 'It can't be a wrong choice when I feel this warm, snuggly feeling. Not that I would tell HIM that of course.'
For someone who didn't have much contact with people, Jerec was starting to get the feeling she was the oddest girl he'd ever met. And he had a pretty general assumption as to what people were like. True, no two people were exactly the same; everyone had their differences. In the same turn, however, this young woman had the strangest quirks that ever he'd seen.
He quickly became alarmed when she actually started approaching him, and, dare he say, he was even a little fearful. Nobody approached him, and when they did so in that cautious way he did, he felt every reason to be on guard. People were sly and conniving creatures that would do just about anything to get the upper hand! He held his breath; she was getting closer. He put his arms up to protect himself! AND! Then she hugged him? "What the—?" he breathed when her arms when around him quickly and his eyes were locked open, staring at nothing in particular but unsure how to respond. And he remained frozen that way long after she departed and did as he asked—well, commanded—completely of her own accord.
He glanced back at her and furrowed his brows and forced his eyes away. He wasn't in any position to be staring at her since he wasn't so fresh and clean himself. And he cleaned himself, kneeling down in the water to remove his borrowed trousers. He didn't have much of a care to keep them, but he knew it was going to be a long time before he was going to get another pair of pants again, if he discarded them now.
But he took them off anyway. They were not leather pants and were easier to remove than before. He was done quickly, and only cast back one glance at her and found she was a lot more agreeable than before. He might even go so far to see she was pretty. And what's more, the smell was gone. He smiled inwardly but walked onto the short buck-naked, holding the trousers under one arm before tossing them on a small nearby bush to dry off. He shook himself dry like a dog with a soaked coat before looking up into a tree. There in the branches he saw a large next roosted high among dense branches. The vertical angle of the trunk would make it a difficult climb, but thankfully Jerec had a few tools to make that task a little easier.
He grew out his claws then, both hands and feet, and stuck them into the bark, and proceeded to climb. With a grunt and some difficult, he slowly but surely shimmied his way up the tree, using every muscle in his body to get up there, the task only getting more and more difficult the higher he scaled, but determination kept him going. Finally, he reached the level of the branches that held the nest, and quickly plucked two eggs from the hold. They were large from the size of it and difficult to carry. Hell, if he thought getting up there was a pain, he had no idea he was going to get down. With one arm holding the eggs, and the other three limbs holding him. He whined and huffed, frowning at his predicament, but he sure as hell wasn't going to drop the eggs, not with his stomach grumbling like it was. "One at a time," he soothed to himself, and again, the process, as grating as it was, he was making progress toward the ground.
It was a shame that he bathed so soon because he was starting to sweat from the tediousness of all this work and he felt like his claws were going to be torn from his fingers and toes. But alas he made it to a few feet above the ground and dropped down, cradling the eggs like they were made of the finest crystal. Jerec made it to the ground and raised the eggs in his hands. "I found breakfast," he said, smiling.
After splashing about in the water for a while, Ariel had come to realize something. With Jerec now in her company and her wet clothes on the shore thanks to his dunking her, she had nothing to wear but the skin she was born in. Silvery eyes widened in shock. 'He can't see me! I'm ugly and scrawny. He'll only laugh at me! How can I prove to be strong and independent if I look like such a fragile child? Oh I wish my clothes would dry faster!' Looking up at the sky did not bring her any hope of that though. The sun had decided to hide beyond a wall of grey clouds.
From her place in the water she curiously watched him climb up and down a tree. It took everything she had not to giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. Arms crossed over her chest, she smiled back and nodded her head in acknowledgement. "Sounds wonderful," Ariel called back. "Although," she bit her lip worriedly and toed the sandy bottom of the lake, refusing to look at him. "Perhaps next time I can help you? I mean I'm used to climbing trees and..."
Ariel giggled despite herself and turned away from him. She whispered a quick "sorry," not really meaning it. Her eyes darted back and forth between her wet clothes on the rocks, to Jerec, to the water she stood in. 'What do I do?' Her hand went to run nervously through her clean hair, making her frown. Several times she did this until she realized that something was missing. "My feathers!"
Forgetting about her earlier concerns she began to approach the shore. "Jerec? Will we be going back to the cave? I need my..." unable to find the word, she pointed to her head. "It's important. Please?" Ariel looked at him worriedly, fearing a rejection. 'Why am I asking for permission? He has no ties to me. I don't need him! But, I trust him, I think. I feel so small around him. It's not fair!'
Jerec hoped she wouldn't complain about the food he kept getting them and her sudden refusal to eat. Though, he did consider in her defense the previous time had her rolling around in pain like a pup with a sore paw. He'd get over that, but he wouldn't take to whining. If anything that would only be a waste of both of their own time. He cradled the eggs under his arms and glanced over at his companion, still stuck in the water.
She said something about her feathers, but he wasn't sure he caught it. "Feathers? Oh, right, you're head dress thingy. Yes, we can go back. Get your clothes, and if you're the shy type just keep your eyes ahead of you. Don't worry, I'm not looking at you." Jerec walked over to the bush that held his trousers and flopped them over his shoulder. They were still quite wet and not yet ready to don, but they could dry along the way.
"Come on, now, don't stay in the water all day." He motioned for her to follow and led the way back to the den. "I left the shirt back there too. Not that I need it, but it might be useful for some things. Hurry, don't stay too far behind! What? Are you afraid of being seen bare-bummed?" He laughed at her in good humor.
Ariel blushed heavily as Jerec teased her. "I'm not afraid of that!" she protested with a child's scowl clouding her face. 'I just don't want you thinking I'm pathetic and useless. Again with that. Why do I seek his approval so much? How do I-ah, that'll work.' Feeling playful, she splashed water in his direction before snatching up her clothes and bolting up a tree.
Hidden by the green foilage she scuttled along the branches as she followed him. The leaves rustled lightly with her movement like a gentle breeze passing them by. But, the only thing that really gave her away was her sporadic pixie-like giggling. 'If he left his shirt then I can steal-borrow it from him. That way he wouldn't see me as weak and it'll be try.' Her giggle sounded again as she jumped trees.
'Should I gather more food along the way? He looks big enough to eat what he gathered plus me and still be hungry afterwards.' Using her wet clothes as a sack, Ariel gathered as many trees nuts as she could carry along the way. She decided that she would just eat them if he would not. 'Although, I could always use them as projectiles too.' The thought of chucking one at him from her place above him sent her into another bout of giggles before she thought better of it. 'He would come up here and plaster me. That is, if he could get up here faster than I can get around.'
Jerec, for some lingering reason, could feel his patience wearing thin. And he also had a feeling that she was no longer following him, so he stopped and looked around him. Lo and behold he saw no one on ground level and began to feel suddenly very stupid. She was just here a minute ago! What was with the hug if she wasn't going to stick around? He skewed his face in severe irritation and hollered out: "All right, Owl. Where did you go now?"
He did a complete three-sixty turn, eyes surveying through every bush and behind every trunk he could make out, but found no sign of her presence. And just when he was about ready to move on, his ears caught hold of her giggling. He turned again, spinning on his heels. "Where are you!?" he demanded, but he had a feeling he wouldn't get an answer. "Owlet!"
He growled a little and slumped his shoulders with a sigh. "Owlet," he tried again. "I've just half a mind to eat these two eggs by myself if you don't show yourself!" He heard some more giggling and turned in that direction. A that, he raised his head to peer into the branches above him, twitching an ear to hone in on the sound. Wolfish eyes sharpened his vision and he finally saw something move above him! "Hey! I see you now! Get down here, right now! What's wrong with you? What are you doing up there? Come down!" He demanded. Then gave a short consideration. "If you don't come down. I'm coming up!"
Ariel was proudly gathered nuts and did not hear Jerec until his ending threats. "I'm coming!" she called back, hurrying to get that piece of food just beyond her reach. The moment her fingers enclosed around it though another began to slip out of her makeshift sack. Scrambling to capture the elusive nut, she lost her balance, causing the entire "basket" to upend on Jerec down below.
Distressed and embarrassed, the young girl hurried down the train, profusely apologizing along the way. "I didn't mean it! It was an accident! Honest!" On light feet she dropped down before him, no longer aware or caring about how small and pathetic she might look to her new companion.
Her eyes widened when she saw how much of a mess she had made and her heart dropped into her stomach. Ariel's head hung low as she hid her face behind a curtain of moonbeam hair. "I was trying to help. I don't-" A jaw clicked shut suddenly as she became angry with herself. 'I have no reason to explain myself to him. I do what I do because I want to do it. What difference does it make if he benefits or not from it. I am my own person.'
"Nevermind," she evaded. Ariel snatched up her wet clothes again. She left the nuts on the ground as a mark of her uselessness and shame. 'I shouldn't have bothered. I was being stupid anyway.' Her hands clenched tightly around the fabric as she dug her toe into the soft dirt. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! Foolish dimwit!'
Jerec was working to spot her though the foliage but he was ashamed to admit he was having a hard time doing so. He grunted in frustration until he yelped as something bashed him in the head. "Ouch!" And suddenly felt a rain of those hard projectiles down on his head. He used his body to shield the eggs he cradled, but those damn nuts – he opened his eyes to see them littered around him – hurt like hell!
He frowned and grimaced at the girl as she dropped from the tree with ease. He'd have to remember to turn into a girl the next time he wanted to climb a tree: he was far too big and heavy to make as graceful a landing as she did. Getting over his envy, Jerec said nothing at all during her verbal fumbling until she snatched up her clothes and saw the shame in her eyes. He chewed on his lip before setting down the eggs he'd found on the ground and taking his own trousers. He turned them inside out then proceeded to knot the legholes before taking the nuts off the ground one by one and filling the pants until every last nut was picked up.
When it was, Jerec smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. It was tough for him even to do that. But he had a feeling that they would have to start getting along at some point if they were going to survive. And would he really want to spend his energy getting mad at her for dropping tree nuts on him? He didn't think so. "I get it. It's okay. But those damn things hurt pretty bad," he smiled. "Let's just get our naked butts back to the den. You need your feathers bad, don't you?"
Surprise and confusion shone in her eyes as she watched Jerec collect the food she had dropped. 'He wants it? Does this mean I was doing a good thing? Is he going to chuck them at my head in return?' The smile and then the quick embrace left her squeaking and frozen in shock.
At his direction though she was scampering back into motion. Clutching the eggs close, Ariel kept a half-step behind at his side so that she could follow while still staying close. She did not want to upset him again, he was scary enough without smiling.
Curious child's eyes looked up at him innocently and without cheek. "Because I'm Owlet," she finally said by way of explanation. Clarifying further she added, "I'm the little owl." Thin shoulders shrugged as the den came insight at last.
Perhaps he assumed too much. It wouldn't be unusual for him to misunderstand her, but she seemed so timid since she broke through her delirium, like she was afraid of him. This was where he was at a loss. Here, he thought she was fearless. And perhaps she was in the right situations. She certainly could have taken care of herself around those hunters. She fought like an animal. But though he had no intention to threaten her or to treat her as a threat, she seemed demure, child-like, innocent, and fearful of retaliation. He just didn't understand.
Ought he strive to be more patient? To show her that she had nothing to fear from him as long as they were working together? Jerec felt no need to put her in her place; he'd already done that back at the cage, and here his natural instincts to maintain order through domination were backfiring on him. It was clear he would have to work to understand her better, and certainly moreso if they were to survive the conditions life had currently placed them in. He hated the thought of it, but he had a feeling that compassion would get him better results than ferocity had. She might have acted like an animal, but that human sense underneath began to draw out the humanity in him, and he hated her for that. But if it was the only way to get her to trust him without fear, then it might be worth it in the end.
"Owlet," Jerec repeated after her as he crawled into the den. "That's what I don't understand," he continued. "That can't possibly be your real name. I mean you look nothing like an an owl....wait, I see now. That's where the feathers come in. Hm. But the question still stands: How did you get a name like that? What is your real name? ....And furthermore...where did you come from?"
The moment she was in the cave, Ariel secured the eggs in a safe place and reclaimed her "owl fluff" feathers. The more feral confidence she had displayed in the cage seemed to return with it. She stood up straighter and prouder as she moved to take Jerec's discarded shirt and claim it as her own until her own clothes dried.
"My name is Owlet," she insisted sternly. A dark look of anger skated across her face at his questioning. "Doesn't matter where I'm from; the forest is my home now." Ariel shook her head slightly like an irritated dog make the feathers and beads sway and click.
She moved to sit on the cold stone floor before the died-out fire which she worked at bringing back to life. Yet no matter how hard she tried she could not get it to light. A frustrated sigh escaped her but she refrained from throwing a fit. Out of habit her hand started to move to the ash so that she could "repaint" her face. The fact that she had just bathed and was trying to be clean because her companion wanted her to seemed to have slipped her mind as if focused on images of the past.
Oh, so there it was. The cold shoulder. He could see this was not going to be an easy task. Thankfully, Jerec was never one to give up so easily, though he remembered why he'd treated her so harshly in the first place, thanks to her attitude. He wouldn't be deterred. He slinked down beside her and gave a dissatisfied grunt.
"Are you sure you don't have a real name?" he tried again, but before he could wait for an answer he saw her go for the ashes and he flew at her, gripping her wrist to prevent her from getting them. "Oh, no! You just bathed! What's the matter with you? Don't you know how to stay clean? That's how you prevent a smell. And maybe you can't smell you, but I sure can and you don't smell half as foul now as you did yesterday! Why must you feel the need to be filthy?"
"I'm quite sure that whatever vile human name I once held is long since forgotten. My name is Owlet. It is the only name I know." With an exasperated growl she yanked her arm away from him. "You and your obsessive cleanliness. A little dirt never killed anyone. It's saved my life more times than I count."
A snorting huff escaped her nose as Ariel shook her head and took the "basket" of nuts away from him. Using a rock and her hands she began the task of breaking them open and pulling the meat out of their thick husks. "Why do you want to know about me so badly? I've lived on my own for nearly as long as I can remember. I don't know how long its been, how many years have passed. But, I like my peace and my freedom, both of which were threatened when those hunters started stealing my game. Until they're gone, you and I are in this together. That doesn't mean you need to know me. I am not threat to you, I would never win in anything except tree climbing and a lot of good that would do me the minute you drive me out them. I have far too many weaknesses and too few strengths to need to actually root out more."
Her hands worked at preparing the food more aggressively than was necessary, causing minor scrapes and abrasions on her knuckles from coming in rough contact with the stone floor. 'Stupid man! No matter what he says he is just like a human. Always prying, always insisting that he knows better. I am Owlet, nothing more.' Yet, despite her thoughts she could hear a softly murmured "Ariel" echo in the back of her mind. 'That girl is dead. Only Owlet remains.'
Jerec was at a loss. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was sigh and he saw there silently for a long time as she angrily broke those nuts. He had half a mind cover his own self up with the way she was smashing them, but he didn't and only stared at her. After a few steeling breaths, Jerec found the gumption to kneel closer to her and put a hand on hers. It wasn't like him to reach out, he knew it wasn't, but he needed for her to trust him.
"Those nuts aren't a threat to you either," he said before pulling her hand away. He took the trousers he made as a sack and dumped the rest out. "I only want to know because I know for a fact that normal people just don't suddenly pop up from the roots of a tree to live out here in the wilderness. They come from towns, cities, villages. Usually they stick to the life of hunters, taking from the wild what they can use and never once thanking for such things. But you are like me, you were raised here, in the Wild. You know how to respect it.
"I want to know because I think we have more in common than we know. And maybe what we could learn from each other would be more to our advantage than not. Like for instance, as you saw, I'm not so good at climbing trees. I have some advantages for it, but you're much better at it than I could ever be. Maybe you could show me how you climb. And maybe I can teach you a few things too."
The touch was unexpected and made her heart squeeze tight within her chest. She inhaled sharply and watched the path of the hand as it drew hers away from what she had been doing. 'He wants to talk. He will just abandon and reject me in the end. There must be a point of separation at some point. When that comes he will just leave me like everyone else. No! Don't think about it Ariel!'
She froze as she mentally slipped and called herself by her given name. 'Ariel, how I had nearly forgotten that name. The name he so desperately seeks I desire to bury.' Clear, pale eyes turned to stare at him, judging him in that long pause. "I was very young when I left that world, I hardly remember it anymore. Doesn't matter anyway, this is my home now."
Ariel rose slowly from the floor and moved over to get the eggs. Even she did not know what the thoughts running through her head at that moment were. One by one she collected them and brought them over to him. Yet, as she moved to hand him the second one, she found her mouth moving of its own accord. "Ariel," she finally spoke aloud, shocking herself at her self-betrayal.
If he could describe the torment he saw from her decision to tell him a simple thing as her name, he might have called it a flooding river, quickly threatening to break away from its channel and down and flood all that came across it. But he had to marvel at her self control, and the difficulty it must have been to provide an answer at all.
And in his serenity, he finally noticed something he hadn't before, blinded by anger and irritation. For she had the most beautiful eyes of blue. They reminded him of water in winter, cold, but not without its purity. Untampered with, untouched, true to the very heart. They were such a stark contrast to his own iron-grey eyes, rather unremarkable eyes he felt he bore. But even in the darkness of the cave, he could make out how her eyes show like blue crystals in the shade. Jerec seemed mesmerized for that long moment, though he was not a person often taken with shiny things.
Of course, he snapped out of it when she turned away and mentally-slapped himself for finding nothing to say in return. As she reached for the eggs, handing him his, there was yet another surprise. He took his offered egg slowly, but offered her a toothy satisfied grin. He knew she couldn't only hold out for so long.
"That's a nice name," he commented. "It suits you. But I get the feeling that you'll still want me to call you Owlet, and I shall if that is what you want. You know, you can't run from your past. Everything that happens to you, now or then, makes you who you are. And you should take advantage of it. Just thought you should know."
With that Jerec, carefully extended one claw and pierced a tiny hole into the egg, big enough to fit his finger though and proceeded to drink the yolk out from the hole.
Ariel opened her mouth to protest then slowly shut it, choosing to keep quiet on the matter. "Thank you," she whispered out, staring at the egg in her hands instead of at him. Her fingers took in the pebbly surface of the shell as the gears of her mind slowly turned with thoughts.
"But, isn't that we are doing?" she finally spoke up. "Running, I mean. Isn't being wild, throwing away what we were and becoming what we are?" Her shoulders shrugged in embarrassment. "Well maybe not for you then. You're different. I don't know why but I can sense it, like the rabbit that knows the fox is nearby and going to catch her."
She extended her arms, still holding the egg, out to him. "Would you mind? I'm afraid I'll break it." A deep blush crossed her face but she kept her head held high for once. Jerec had done one good thing, reminded her of who she was before she met him. The wildness she found in him was something she had never seen before, it intimidated her, making a reckless, fearless nature turn wary and skittish. 'I am useful. I'll prove it. One way or another, I will show him that I am not as pathetic as I feel.'
Jerec drank a good mouthful of the bittersweet yolk. It was not meat, there was no flesh to tear, no blood to savor, no bones to crunch solid. But it was food and something to eat and after spending so long without food, Jerec knew better than to be ungrateful. He looked at his companion. It was good to see that neither was she, as she looked at her own egg.
Wiping his mouth he looked across at her again as she offered him her egg to crack as well. Angling his against the wall to keep from spilling over, he tapped the tip of her egg as well until the shell broke just enough to let his finger though and kept the broken shell pieces from falling in, before giving back her meal.
"Yes, we're running," Jerec finally admitted after a while. "But I don't think it's the same. We're not running from who we are, but for our very lives. Against people who want to destroy our way of life! I've lived here since the day I was born. Sometimes...I think you're like them. You wear skins like them, but you're smarter. You have the good sense to be wary. I'm not exactly human. I'm a wolf. This is where I belong." He finished the egg by them, savoring every last drop he could get out of it, before taking a handful of the smashed nuts and stuff them into his mouth, eating very much like an animal.
Once all the crunching and chewing was done, he took the trousers he'd turned into a makeshift sack and unknotted the ends before dusting off the part that held the nuts, turning them back outside in. They were not too dry, but he put them back on anyway and proceeded to cut a section of cloth around his calves, turning them into makeshift shorts with his claws, retracting them back when finished.
"We should eat as much as we can and get a move on soon. I have a feeling we don't have much time before they come looking for us."
Slowly the young one sucked out the treasure within the fragile shell that encased it. Never one to really like the feeling of the it sliding down her throat she tried to get through it as fast as she could stomach. The constant reminder that it was energy she would need for later helped her along.
"I'm nothing like them," she responded without her normal bite. "Aye I wear skins but for a different reason. It's the same with the dirt." Her head dropped in shame. "I felt that if I looked like the animal then I was the animal. I allowed myself to be lost in it because to be human was..." Ariel shuddered as she let herself trail off.
'A wolf huh? I wonder what that means. Does he have the wolf spirit then?' A smile unknowingly tugged at her lips. Brushing her hands off she took the cutoffs he had let go and quickly tied one end on each closed and made them into little bags which she filled with the nuts she could not eat. "Um Jerec? Do you want this back?" Ariel pulled at the front of the tunic she had taken from him, letting it snap back out of her grip.
It hung loosely on her form but was comfortable, making her a bit unwilling yo part with it. 'It smells like him. Safe and wild, I like it.' Slipping her damp pants on, she winced at the tightness she felt in them but tried to ignore it. Her shirt made her frown though. 'It's almost at its end. Good for thread but not much else. I'll have to try and get more. Ha! Good luck with that with no bow or knife. Damn those hunters, I'm going to kill them when I see them next.'
Ariel wrung out the last bit of water from it and wrapped it around her waist, tying the two little bags she had made at her hip. "I'm ready when you are. Any ideas on where to go?" She bit the inside of her cheek to say anything more. 'In other words Mister Leader I have no idea what I'm doing here. No, that's not true. I know what I'm doing I just-give it a rest girl. You're going to make yourself sick again.'
"He's a sorry sight, ain't he, Jon? But he's a lucky bastard, for all the damage that wolf did to him. Lucky to be alive. Unlike Mac and Thom, eh," Elwyn said frowning at the sight of Emri lying on his back in one of the hunter's tents. The man was stripped down, sweating buckets as he fought against his delirium and the tending of his half-bitten off shoulder. The bite was as big as a human jaw and blood-soaked bandages covered it.
"No....no! Don't touch me! GET AWAY!" he shrieked. Emri pushed at another hunter that tried to pour water down the wounded man's mouth. It took three other men to hold him down. "Please! Let me GO! Gods....!" He tossed his head back and forth, nearly breaking his teeth as he grit them.
Jon stood on the side, looking grim as ever. His gaunt face was shaded, but it was clear there was something else on his mind. Elwyn knew his thoughts by expression, even in the dim lantern lights of the tent. Jon looked back outside before bothering to speak at all. "That wolf should have killed him. He might from infection, now. Or worse."
"Worse?" Elwyn asked. Jon have him a look that told him exactly what he meant and the rotund man nodded in comprehension. "What ought we do about him? The wolf I mean. I never see one aside from the stories. But to see one real up close. You don't suppose, it's a full blood, do ye? He can't be. He was like half-man/half-beast. I always thought all them werebeasts were shaggier. Hairier, you know. But maybe it's a good thing, he got away. He might have broke out of the cage and killed us all."
Jon looked at his partner with a furrowed-glance. "Let him go?" he scoffed. "We're going after him. And the girl. They escaped together, and I doubt he'd let a meal as easy as she, get away so easily."
"After him!? You saw what he did to our number! He could easily kill us all."
"Not with these weapons." Jon lead Elwyn out of the tent and back to his own before opening up a wrapped dagger he had underneath his cot. It gleamed by lantern light, shone like gleaming moonlight. "Silver. You think I don't know the legends, too? You want to kill a wolf-man. You kill him with this. The weapons we have now are pretty useless. Sure it's iron and steel, but they don't cause much lasting damage. Yes, we're going after him. We'll melt down all the silver we have to make weapons just like these. Gild our current ones if we have to. Might even be faster. But I'm not going to let a prize like him get away."
Elwyn appeared horrified for a good long moment. He took a deep breath, looking flush in the lighting at the thought of hunting down a werewolf. "How will we hunt him? What do you expect us to do? He'll kill us. Even if we do manage to wound him with these silver weapons. He'll get most of us. And do you really expect the men to give up their hard earned silver to melt down into weapons? Pah, good luck on that."
"This is our yearly hunting expedition, need I remind you? We've all got plenty more where that all comes from. And besides, imagine what gold ten times what they melted down we'll be rewarded with if we hunt down a bloody werewolf. Dead or alive. Better off dead, though, I imagine. Now, go tell the men to get the dogs we have back at town. We'll flush him out."
"Dogs? Would they not be in league with him? Hound for hound."
"Dogs are not wolves. Lineage made them loyal to us not them. You forget our hunting hounds are trained to kill. Not even townsfolk are safe around them. And if they don't flush him out, we can use them as bait all the same. Then we move in for the kill. Take half the men with you, and tell the other half to start smithing pits for silver weapons, and recruit any more hunters you find in town with the promise of treasure beyond their dreams. We'll catch our wolf soon enough. Go."
____
Jerec brushed away the cold ashes of last night's fire, dashing them all around to better disguise their use. Dusting off his hands, wiping them off his clean trousers, he was ready to exit the cave. Glancing back at her, he offered a confused glance before looking at the shirt. After some thought, he shook his head rather violently and said, "No, you keep. I don't need it. You'll get colder than I will. Now, come on. We should keep moving, keep them off our tracks."
Without turning back he exited the den , crawling on all fours for a while, scouting out the area for any sight of life. He found none, save some movement of birds in the trees, an owl on a branch, swerving its head to survey them. He motioned for Ariel to follow him before standing in a semi-crouched position, staying close to the ground.
As they moved, he thought of the layout of the land, keeping his mind to where the best place would be to hide, to evade if possible, and knew a few days travel further north of them was a river. It was wide and powerful as tempest. Perhaps if they could cross it, there might be chance of escape. Pausing for a second beside a tree, he peered out to his companion. "We can head for the river. If we can cross it before they do, we could be free of them. Is that a sound plan to you?"
"For someone with the least amount of brain between the two of us, you came up with a good plan," she teased with a smile. Ariel seriously nodded her in acknowledgement before heading off. As much as she just wanted to climb a tree and hide ther, her truce with Jerec kept her moving forward. Yet out of habit she kept close to the trees, ready to bolt and climb at the first sign of trouble.
They were headed back to the lake they had bathed in which was fed underground by the very river they needed to cross. Getting to the other side of the lake would only make them circle about in the end and still force them to cross the river further ahead. 'I need to make another bow soon. If we get ahead of the hunters I could do it later. So much for staying dry though.'
Jerec and Ariel were able to make good time back to where they started but she could not help but eel as if the hunters were right behind her, breathing down her neck. As she went to follow the lake's edge, the the bank beneath her feet sank and compressed. 'Tracks! The ground is too moist to walk on but, to narrow not to leave behind tracks.' Looking further back in the opposite direction and idea formed. "Go ahead, I'll catch up!"
If they have the hunting dogs out after us, this'll give us a few extra hours.[/i]' She ran down the bank, ensuring that her feet left depressions in the mood as she headed for a tree just along the shore. Up the trunk she went until she stood on the weakest branches that she dared to be standing on. There she removed the shirt she had tied around her waist and laid it on the granch close to the trunk as if someone was clinging close to the branch. As an after thought she ripped off the sleeves and tucked them into her pants.
In the distance she could almost swear that she heard the sound of unwary feet crashing through the forst. Ariel scuttled as fast as she could now out towards the water along the frail branch. Her hope was to drop safely to the other side and then meet Jerec at the end of the lake. But, a sharp crack of wood followed by a sudden drop sabotaged that plan.
Still holding tightly to the broken treebranch she used it to pull her back up to the surface. The opposing bank was a higher rocky surface, perfect for keeping the dogs from climbing it, bad for her as well. 'Now that was a brilliant idea,' her mind growled. She could hear them getting closer and prayed they could not see her, hidden amonst the foilage spilling down the rocks as she fought to climb. 'He's going to kill me for this.'
If Jerec was going to kill her for her foolishness, he wouldn't have a chance to do so. Something was getting really wrong, really quick and Jerec's nerves were starting to get the better of him. He couldn't admit it though, he just couldn't. But he had a feeling that with the coming of night there would be more bloodshed; and whether that bloodshed would be his or there's he couldn't be sure. He knew one thing that he would have to conserve all the energy he could if they were going to get out of this alive. Already, the sky was darkening with the fading of light and the moon was visible through the crest of the trees.
Jerec headed around the lake, thinking he was followed by Ariel until he noticed she was no longer behind him. He was almost on the other side of the lake until he saw her hanging from a tree. "What the hell are you doing now?" he yelled at her. She was lucky she was so far away from him now. He watched in stock-stillness as the branch abruptly snapped and she fell down into the water below, clinging to the branch.
He cursed savagely, words that would make holy men blush. Already he could hear dogs barking in the air. Dogs! He listened for just a brief second and already he could tell they were dealing with a pack of fifteen to twenty. Possibly more. Damn all gods, they just had to send dogs, didn't they? A small pack he could deal with, they would be no match, but their numbers could easily overwhelm him. The barks were getting louder, followed by hungry growls. They were hot on their trail and closing in.
Jerec had two choices and didn't have time to even choose between the two. He could run and get away. The dogs would tear though Owlet like fangs through flesh. Or he could stay behind and help her. There was no choice. Immediately he tore towards the bank, knowing he'd just wasted whatever precious time he had to escape on his own. But he'd made a promise, to survive together. She was a part of his pack even if he didn't want her to be. The pack stayed together.
He jumped down into water and swam towards her, pushing against the drag of the current that went out towards the river. He swam hard until he got close enough before wrapping one arm around her. "Hold onto me!" he yelled. "And kick! Kick hard."
Already the dogs cut through the trees and he saw them close in on the edge. They growled and showed all their teeth. They skidded to the edge, hesitant to swim. The alpha snapped at the ones at his side and began to lead the pack around the lake toward the other side. Jerec swam as fast as he could to the otherside, powerful muscles cutting through the current as the other side was coming closer. They had to make it to the other side before the pack.
The hounds closed in on them rapidly. The moment Ariel touched land she was in a whirl of movement as she and Jerec both were attacked. The broken branch became both spear and club as she fought to remain standing. She knew from experience the second she lost her center and fell they would kill her.
Every strike was meant to incapacitate on the first impact so as to minimize her work. There was no room for error as she fought to get away. Every instinct screamed to climb but she refused to abandon her companion like that. 'I got us into this mess, I damn well will help get us out of it!'
Wishing to see how Jerec was faring, Ariel dropped her guard and paid the price for it. A sharp tearing sensation gripped her right arm, disabling the use of her weapon. With a growl she drove her arm further into the dog's mouth, chocking him as she punched his throat. He whimpered and howled as he was let go, soon to be replaced by another. This one she met head-on, actually shoving her hand into its mouth before it had a chance. Fingers pressed harshly on the roof of its mouth as her thumb pressed down on its snout.
Yet, despite her efforts, for every hound she chased off two took its place. She was not stupid to think she was even handling the majority of them. Behind Ariel they snarled and swarmed on Jerec, snapping and leaping at him to bring him down. 'What do I do? Think! What are a wolf's weak points? They are not much different than a hound's. Smell and sound. What good is that going to do me? We are only wasting time; the hunter's get closer the longer they delay us. We can't run either. I'm not fast enough and Jerec can't climb.'
A hound finally managed to knock Ariel to her knees and latched onto the back of her neck. It shook her about as if she was a piece of parchment, rattling her already concussed head. As she struggled to stand again, she could feel the others chomping down on her body, growling and biting. Yelling in aggravation and pain, she fought harder, striking blindly. One got too close and broke its jaw. Another earned a shatter hind leg.
In this fight to the death, the hunter refused to be the hunted. What felt like an age but was no time at all, the numbers dwindled until the rest finally drew back. "Run!" she urged Jerec, stumbling on shaky feet to where he still fought. They had wasted too much time and all because of her. Guilt would come later, right now the intent to survive was more prevalent.
A hound did not have many weapons of war that a feline or a human might at their disposal. These were not feral wolves. But they were trained to be vicious and to fight to the death no matter how hard they were clobbered or beaten. Yet, even that didn't make them immune to the pain. Because he was the larger one between the two of them, Jerec took the brunt of the wolves as they leapt up on him.
He fought them off as viciously as they did him. Yet where he swiped away one set of teeth he felt another latch onto him and attempt to break through the thickness of his skin. At that moment, quite briefly, he thanked himself for putting on the trousers. That was the last thing he needed getting ripped off. All the dogs fought with were their teeth, for that was all a hound had at all. It wasn't the size of the tooth that mattered but how it was used.
He felt his skin puncture on his forearms as he fought them off, clubbing them in his fists here and there, swiping and gouging where he could. He plucked out the eye of one, and broke the neck of another, but their numbers soon had him panting for breath and exhausting his energy. He was slowing down despite his adrenaline, and he punctured with holes along his arms, hand, and claw marks on his chest, and teeth on his sides. One dog leapt for his neck, the death stroke attack. He put his elbow up just in time, but he was knocked back several feet and almost lost his footing. He cracked the hound in the mouth before gouging out another eye.
The pack was thinning with fleeing hounds, and Jerec could feel himself tire further with what dogs remained. He heard someone tell him run and he whirled his head around to see that Ariel was still alive. But she wasn't looking as if she was faring any better. But he couldn't think of anything to say before his muscles answered her order. He ran off into the forest, leaving her behind, instinct to flee after the fight kicking in full throttle.
He labored for breath, like a beast long since stagnant. But he couldn't help it, he was losing a lot of blood. He kept running and didn't know how long or far he ran. The sky was getting darker, the moon higher, and his sight felt like it was getting blurrier. He ran until he felt his chest was going to burst until he fell to his knees and leaned against a tree. He looked behind him and all around, uncertain as to what he was really seeing. "Owl!" he howled. "Owlet!"
The first cahnce she got to run she took. Yet, even with all of his injuries, Jerec still ran much faster than her. 'To each his own.' At last she could give in to her instincts and climb. The adrenaline was steadily dropping in her system. She could feel her body creak and cry with each maneuver she forced it into making.
Exhaustion slowed her considerably, preventing her from keeping up with him even in her own element. It was his calling for her that spurred her own that last stretch though. Not as gracefully as before, Ariel fell more than jumped down beside Jerec. "I'm 'ere," she replied in a weary whisper.
Looking him over and noting his copious wounds, she resolved to tend to him before she did anythingelse. 'Good thing I kept these after all.' The little hunter tore the fabric of the sleeves she had salvaged, using them as bandages for the more severe of his bites. The thick sinew thread she put aside for a later use.
Ariel was entirely focused on the task she had put before herself, going so far as to ignore everything else that did not have to do with it. The flighty movements she normally displayed were stilled by the need for concentration and calmness.
"Rest Jerec, we'll move come daylight." Determined to be of use, she set herself up to keep watch during the night. Ariel sat with her side pressed against his own, sharing her warmth. Her hands kept busy as she watched for signs of trouble. Fingers cleared her precious branch of its offshoots and leaves. Once it was naked, she began the arduous task of bending and strengthening it. 'Seems I got my bow now.'
Ariel glanced over at her companion and sighed quietly. 'He came back for me even though it was my own fault that I got attacked to begin with. I only wanted to help but, caused more problems in the end. He must hate me. I'm just the runt that gets kicked out of the pack. I'm useless!' She pressed closer to him, feeling guilty for what she had done. Tears threatened to fall but she blinked them away rapidly. 'I will not cry. I will be strong!'
The hounds were fended off for now, but Jerec didn't know how long that would be. They wouldn't be safe unless they kept the distance between them. Jerec's will pushed him to move, but his body had no power. He was drained, almost completely, only having energy enough to breathe and deeply and exhaustedly at that. He said nothing, only looked at Ariel as he caught his breath as she dressed his wounds. No words were exchanged, but there didn't need to be. There seemed to be an understanding between them that needed no explanation.
Jerec leaned his head against the tree, still saying nothing as she leaned against him. Though he was warm to the touch, the wind gave him chills when it come into contact with the sweat on his skin. He looked at her for a moment, his gaze with a slight look of bewilderment. But in that bewilderment, deeper still within, he began to feel a newfound respect form for her.
Without saying anything, Jerec leaned forward and put his arms around her, hugging her close, tightly, almost possessively. "Thank you, " he breathed. He buried her head underneath his chin and turned his head to dig his face in her much cleaner hair. Good thing he made her wash it. Even after several seconds, he still did not let her go.
For a moment the young girl did not know what to do. Held so possessively both scared and comforted her. She was not accustomed to being embraced and touched such. It had been so long since Ariel had felt things like that. Had it been anyone else she would have fought tooth and nail yet, with Jerec she felt safe and well-protected, as if with him no harm could ever come to her.
The tears she had been fighting to keep in place fell suddenly, surprising her with their moisture drops on her arm. Ariel watched in silence as they quietly began to accumulate. 'Why am I crying? I am not afraid. There is nothing to cry over, I am safe. I am safe. Jerec, with him I remember things I have craved and missed or never had. Why with him do I become so meek and complacent? I am not weak! I need to move away, I need to leave. This is not right'
No matter how much she coached herself though, Ariel did the exact opposite. She stayed where she was and even pressed closer, wrapping her arms overtop of his own as the tears finally subsided. Luck was with them on this one as the night remained without events and peaceful. Morning came quickly, much to Ariel's dismay. She was exhausted but knew they had to keep moving. "Jerec, it's morning. We need to move again," she whispered, watching the sun bleed pink rays up the horizon. "They'll be moving soon if they haven't already." Her hand moved to offer him one of the little food pouches. "Are you hungry?"
Jerec knew that for people like him, he could never truly be at peace. It was more like an imperceptible dream, given to mortals either given the gift of complete solitude or quiet death. For once Jerec didn't shy away from the company of another as he was so often prepared to do. She had proven herself, and if she had any doubts about herself and about her ability to trust him, he hoped they were dispelled in this moment.
He felt warm and right all through the night, letting himself drift asleep. He did not dream, thankfully. But just let the warmth of her presence spread through him. He awoke with the dawn again, eyes stirring with the light and the presence of her voice. He blinked at her stupidly for a while before taking one of the offered food pouches. He was thankful for her foresight, eating the contents of the little bag, every last crumb and nodding to her that they ought to get a move on.
He stood there up and cracked his joints back into place. When he turned to hand her back her little baggie, he just grinned at her, a friendly smile as he grabbed her other hand and began to lead her toward the river. He didn't know why he smiled. Just that he did when he saw her and it was just as weird for him as it was for her. He started a jog for the river, keeping a gradual pace that would let her keep up easily.
The river was not that far ahead, nearly a day's travel from here. He paused at as they reached a man-made road that cut through here, unsure if there was anyone on it. Approaching with caution, Jerec popped his head out from the underbrush, peering both ways before leaping across it in one fell swoop, powerful legs leaving the ground to land agilely on the other side. There was no need to leave prints where one could easily see them. "The river's close by, I can the sound of rushing water. We'll be there by nightfall. I'll get you some real food on the way."
This time when he smiled at her Ariel did not recoil in fear but smiled back in turn. Against her will a faint blush warmed her cheeks, forcing her to turn away as she went about securing her things to her person. The feel of his hand enclosing around hers startled her though and had the young girl looking up at him in confused wonder.
Exhaustion and hunger were certainly not helping her case as she tried to keep pace with him. Her shorter legs meant she had to take two or three steps just to match his one. 'I was stupid not to eat. I knew we would be on the move. Why did I do that? He's killing me. I'm tired!'
Stubborn to a fault, Ariel was determined to not admit weakness no matter the irrationality of the situation. She tried to think of other things as she let Jerec lead and tug her along. 'How did Jerec become wild? The way he talked made him seem like he wasn't always this way. He said he was wolf. What does that mean? Can he talk like them? Can he understand them? Why hasn't he hit me or punished me yet? I almost got us both killed. I got him injured. Treating his wounds is not enough payment for that, not when he refused to abandon me. What are his intentions? What happens when we get to the river? Will he leave me after that? How long will we travel together? So many questions and all of them without answers.'
Ariel stumbled as Jerec halted his movements at the side of the road. She had not even been aware of where they were. 'I'm going to cause problems again. I'm so tired. I should ask him to rest. He won't be happy about that. The time for resting was last night! The hunters are on the move after us now. We need to keep ahead of them. I can rest later. Focus!' She shook her head harshly and was just in time to notice him about to leap. Right before he sprung across the road, Ariel latched onto his back and joined him for the ride.
"You know some of us can't do that," she grumbled under her breath. Something sounding much like "little foot" and "big foot also followed although in a quieter voice. His words finally registered in her mind and she froze in anger. 'I'm not a baby! I don't need you to feed me.' Looking at the piece of wood in her hands, she lamented the fact that she could not use it yet as it still needed some arrows to launch. 'I'll show him!'
"Let's keep going," she urged strongly. There was a look of frustration swimming in her eyes as she struggled to maintain a modicum of strength in his presence. "We can rest again once we get there." Ariel picked up a handful of good sized rocks and untied the empty pant-leg bag she had made earlier. 'Has it only been a day since then? Seems so much longer now.'
Keeping her eyes peeled for game, the little hunter was intent in showing Jerec that she did not need him to take care of herself. The closer they came to water the more signs of life she observed. But, what she was looking for was something a bit bigger than a squirrel or a rabbit. Ariel wanted something that would do more to put a dent in her companion's hunger.
Then not ten paces to her left a flock of waterfowl appeared just beyond the brush. Glancing at Jerec ahead of her, she made a decision and wound the first of the rocks into the fabric. Fashioning a deadly sling out, she began to swing it high above her head. The rock released too early and she missed, startling the birds into flight. A curse flew from her lips as she reloaded and threw again. This one was better, hitting a bird and breaking a wing. It fell hard to the ground, still very much alive. Loudly, it thrashed about in the brush and Ariel hurried to subdue it. It managed to add more claw marks to her person before she was able to break its long thin neck and kill it.
Her arms stung were blood oozed out of a deep gash on her forearm. She ignored it as she hurried to return to Jerec. Ariel knew she had been taken a gamble, all that noise was sure to attract something's' attention even if it was not the hunters and their vicious dogs. The young woman threw the bird indignantly at his chest the moment she was within range. Pursed lips and glaring eyes stared at him as she finally spoke. "You're not the only one who can hunt you know. I'm not completely useless, contrary to popular belief," she hissed out before stomping off ahead of him with no real idea of where she was going. All Ariel could focus on was her exhaustion driven anger at being so easily determined in need of caring.
Jerec observed her fashion her sling once they reached a flock of birds just prime for consumption. His stomach rumbled something mad, but he was grateful it was more of an internal quaking rather than something that was heard. The birds only ruffled their feathers as the squawked and honked amongst each other, speaking in a tongue others did not understand. Jerec crouched in the brush, getting ready to pounce when a rock flew out to the crowd. The birds fluttered angrily. Another was launched and she finally caught one.
But in her struggle, Jerec couldn't hold back a laugh as she fought to break the bird's neck. His amusement was clear on his face when she stalked back to him and launched the dead fowl at him. His smile quickly faded as he caught it against his chest. She was pissed, though he didn't know why. What the hell was the matter with her? Jerec furrowed his brows at her and began to walk after her.
"Why do you mean you're not completely useless? What are you trying to prove? And why would you bother proving it to me?" he snapped at her. "You're going the wrong way, genius! The river's north! Not East! Ariel!"
Fire shone in her eyes at the sound of her true name. Whipping around she threw the third and final rock at his head as hard as she could. She did not wait to see if it made contact as she flew at him in rage. The wooden stick was abandoned, strapped unused on her back as small fists beat against any part of him she could reach. What civility had been there was lost in her more wild instincts and desires.
Something deep within Ariel called to her to tear and bite, to claw and break, to maim and kill. There was no way in reality that she could ever succeed in doing more than scraping Jerec and maybe if she was lucky giving him a small bruise, she was just not that strong to do more than that. But, that rationality would not reach her in this over-tired, hungry, and emotionally unstable state of being.
Struggling harder and fighting more wildly the small form foolishly growled in Jerec's face. Any animal in their right mind would have known not to mess with an alpha. But, Ariel was not in her right mind now, was she? "I'm not useless!" she screeched. "I can take care of myself, I don't need you babying me. I can hunt just fine without you getting food for me! Don't you dare laugh at me again either! I told you that I am not big and scary like you but that doesn't make me worthless! Quit being so arrogant in the mask of humbleness! You can't do everything yourself, Mr. Can't-Climb-Trees!"
And before he could prepare himself she flew at him in a flying rage, the kind he'd only seen on a mother bear trying to protect her young. But she was not a bear and she had no young. In fact, one could only look at her small, unintimidating form and laugh at her for all the chest-puffing and barking she did. But he knew just as well, even a small pup could bite hard as long as they had teeth. Jerec dropped the bird in his hands as she bashed into him. He had to be careful not to step on their new meal, never knowing when they would get another one.
But for someone so tiny, she managed to take him back several steps, almost making him lose his balance here and there. And for all his figuring, he couldn't understand what had gotten into her from here and now. The animal in him threatened to break through the surface as she thrashed against his chest, scratching him with her nails. Jerec did his best to maintain his anger, but the levy was slowly ebbing away with every thrash. He grabbed her shoulders and bared his teeth at her.
"What are you talking about!? What's gotten into you!? Hold on!" Jerec shoved her back and pivoted around her to grab at the stick on her back. He swung it to smack her on the shoulders, to knock her down, anything to get her to stay still. "Why would you think I would think you are worthless!? Calm the hell down, or I swear I'll make you regret it."
The crack of the stick across her back knocked her balance and sent Ariel tumbling to the ground where she remained crouched, ready for attack. "You would further humiliate me by forcing me to tell you what you already damn well know? You are despicable! Constantly saving me from things, determining that I can't do things for myself, always acting like you're the only one who can do anything! Ever! To you I'm just some worthless thing that I have no reason why you let follow you around like some tiny little puppy. I won't stand for it!"
Ariel was not heaving for breath as her ranting ceased. Yet, getting it all out did nothing to quell the raging sea of emotions coursing through her. As soon as she had caught her breath again she was kicking off the ground and launching herself at him. 'If I can knock him down I have a better chance of proving myself. I am not worthless and I'll prove it!'
Jerec furrowed his brows in disbelief. He couldn't understand what he was hearing. For all his effort to try to prove to her that she could trust him, and here she was attacking him on the basis that he thought she was lesser than he. It was all nonsense and frankly, he was sick of it. He forgot all about his efforts to calm her down and instead felt himself engulfed in as much rage and fury as she. In the instant she launched herself at him, he felt all his rage transform him into the beast within and he met her arms and put her on the ground in one fell swoop.
He did not fully change, but even his halfway stage allowed him still the ability of speech and he bared his teeth at her, gripping her wrists with clawed hands. "You don't realize what fortune you have when you have it," he barked at her, growling dangerously and shoving all his weight on her. "I could tear you apart! But I don't! So that's enough of this inferiority bullshit! We are trying to survive together! That means doing what's best for the pack! For us! And if you can't do that, then don't follow me anymore! I'd sooner eat you alive than have you feeling sorry for yourself or believing I'm making you feel like nothing! What part of your mind would believe that? From now on we are equals and we will hunt for each other! Understand?"
He didn't wait for a response before taking a swipe across her face, clawing her left cheek with is right hand. The gouges weren't deep, but she wouldn't forget them anytime soon. With that, he got up and walked away from her before turning his head slightly and saying. "I'm going to find more meat. Start cooking that goose!" And bounded off on all fours to hunt more game.
The first thought that came to Ariel's head when she saw his new form was, 'wolf. Now I know what he meant.' She found herself frozen in place. The little hunter was very much aware of what she had just done now. One did not go up against an alpha as she had and come away unscathed.
Getting over her shock she resumed her struggles all the way up until the point that he pressed his sharp claws into her face. Even when he got off her and was gone, no longer within her range of hearing, Ariel still laid there in fear.
Her wounds from the night before had reopened and yet she did not care. The marks to her face were not only a wound to her physical body but also one to her pride. She had been foolish and had lost. As equal as he claimed they were, she was still inferior. But, this time around she would respect that hierarchy and her place in it.
Slowly she rolled onto all fours and then up to sit. She methodically went about the tasks of lighting the fire, plucking the goose, cooking it, and completing the task of making herself a bow and a handful of arrows. The cuts on her cheek itched and throbbed, a constant reminder of her stupidity.
'This is why no one wants me, I am a fool and a rash one at that. I am lucky to have Jerec. He was right about so many things. I repaid him by attacking him. Pack, he called us. What kind of pack am I? I don't care about anyone but myself, always thinking about my benefits. What happens when we no longer need to survive? What-stop! Stop thinking Owlet! That's how this got started. Be still and end it!'
She waited in chastised silence for her companion's return. Her hands never stopped moving as they fitted feather tips to imperfect arrow shafts. Yet, her eyes were not focused on her work. Pale eyes stared blindly into the fire, seeing not flames but faces of the past. "I am always the fool." She huffed and closed her eyes. "Ariel the pathetic little fool."
The anger fuelled his hunt. He needed to blow off steam, a great deal of it to keep from going back and eating her alive. Why did he bother? All this time to try and show her some respect, to show her that she could trust him, to tell her that he could help her as much as she could help him had all gone to waste in that single moment. It was true, though, and he knew it. They were not truly equals, and could never truly be. His blood set him apart from the others, and no matter how he tried, no matter who he talked to, he would always be different. At this, Jerec grew angry again, but he couldn't let it get the better of him.
As he stalked a boar, he worked to clear his mind, taking his savagery out on the animal that he'd chosen for his meal. As he took his fill of the carcass, once slain, Jerec peered down at his hands, covered in that sanguine liquid of life. "Why am I wasting my time?" he said to himself. But he knew he'd made a vow. Who would he be to go back on his word? Less than he already was that was for sure. He was an animal, a part of the sacred earth... If she couldn't accept him for who he was, then that was tough cookies for her. He frowned for a moment before cleaning his hands with his tongue and dragging the remains of the body back to the fire. He looked dirty, haggard, as he dropped the body gently by her side, in a sort of peace offering.
He sat down on the other side of the fire, against a tree for cover. He looked at her, through puzzling eyes. What was it about her that confused him so? She went through all this and still she felt as if she had something to prove. Were they not in this together in the first place? He slowly transformed back, hair, claws, and teeth going back to normal.
When she spoke, he looked up and softened his features. "Fool? Why are you a fool? What happened to you to make you foolish?"
Ariel was startled out of her thoughts by his voice. For a moment she just stared at him as if uncomprehending before she at last bowed her head once more. "You were right." The woman sighed sadly and repeated herself, "You were right, I don't know when I am fortunate to have something. I have always been that blind ever since I was a child."
Her hand grazed along her cut cheek as she recalled the events from earlier. Ariel wanted nothing more than to run to Jerec and curl up close to him, to beg his forgiveness and feel the comfort of his embrace. But, her pride and shame kept her in place. "You have been nothing but good to me and I threw my own fears and insecurities at you. Only fools and children act in such a way. I am no child so I must be a fool. It makes sense though, it is the truth that I have always been told since I first learned to crawl."
Ignoring the crackling pops of the fire, she made a decision and rose slowly to her feet. On cautious feet she shuffled towards him with open palms and submissive head. The young girl sank to her knees beside the werewolf, just shy of brushing against him. "Did you have a family once Jerec?" The question was voiced in such a soft manner that even to her own ears, Ariel suspected that she was just a child. "What is it that you left behind, that you run from?"
Eyes filled with sadness looked up in a silent plea. "I'm sorry," they cried. "Don't be angry with me anymore. Please take care of me. Don't give up on me. I will try." Over and over the message seemed to replay in those crystal orbs for anyone willing to see.
Truly, Jerec didn't know what to think about what she said. He was right. Well, he knew he was right. But he didn't know whether that acknowledgement came from just pride and arrogance because he'd dominated her and showed her he was not some fool or because he really meant what he said. He didn't know what it was be equals with another. His entire life, he'd spent hounded, on the run, so isolated from what other mortals would call civilization. His family was no more, he had no friends, no pets, nothing save himself to depend and hold onto. Then what did he want from her? Did he want her submission, her fealty, her loyalty, her understanding? Would they remain companions only for the duration of this hunt? Jerec became frustrated that he did not know the answers to any of these questions and it showed when he clenched his fists and stared at the fire.
She came closer to him and he didn't even take the time to notice. Only when she spoke, did his ears perk up to listen. But he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. Nobody wanted to know about him. Nobody cared what he'd been through. Why would she!? Jerec growled a little, but didn't know exactly what he was growling at or to. And it was then he realized that he was just like her in more ways than he thought. He was just as scared. And what he feared was worse than death: himself.
Jerec scooted a little further away from her, uncomfortable with all her prodding questions and finally did look at her. "I did. Once. They died by the same kind of people that hunt us now," he said rather matter-of-factly, hoping that remaining so nonchalant would freeze over the hole her reminder was tearing in his chest. "I don't run from anything!" he said defensively. "I live here because this is where I belong. I don't belong anywhere else. And what do you care anyway? You're just a fool, remember. A bloody fool. That makes two of us."
He huffed and curled is legs up close to him, wrapping his arms around them, clenching his fists so tight, he could feel his nails gouge into the callused flesh of his palms.
"Ah," she sighed quietly, "it is yourself that you run from then." While his growling and recoiling did cause her to flinch, Ariel held her ground. 'Once a fool, always a fool. No point in turning back. I'm going to die one way or another, might as well learn something before I go.'
"I know what that is like. I saw it enough times at the-where I came from. Whether we are born fools or made into them we blame ourselves not for our misfortunes but that of others who were close to us. Your family perhaps?" She leaned forward so that she now rested on her hands and knees before him. "I have seen you in your true form and yet I foolishly perhaps, do not fear you. I fear what I may do to you, or rather what my being in your company will cause to happen to you."
Ariel reached forward and ran a small finger along the back of one of his hands before letting it fall to the dirt. "I didn't have a family." A loud pop from the fire broke the moment and she rose to take care of the food. She worked quickly and in silence for quite some time before she suddenly spoke. "If you want me to leave then I will leave. I will not ask you to honor any promises to such a foolish human as myself. I know we are never going to be equals, you're too good to lower to my level." A wry smile curled her lips as she sat and set about tearing out meat off the dead avian's frame.
Jerec could feel his face grow red with an irritated blush. How the hell had she known? Jerec had to seriously fight the urge to put her back in her place. Who was she to question him? She who was so preoccupied with feeling sorry for herself. Jerec didn't want to believe they had more in common than they really did. But with every word she spoke, every syllable, he knew the reality of it was brushing to the surface and the more he wanted to run away from it. He didn't need her understanding or her sympathy.
And when she turned her attention to the dead bird, he looked at her, giving her jealous daggers. But those daggers gradually softened into something less malicious. He actually scoffed at what she said. "Too good? What makes you think I'm so good?" he laughed again. "When did you get so wise? Well, I'm not good. I'm an animal. I'll always be an animal. You, you're some weird girl who lives in the woods and dresses in skins and leathers.
"Do you know what it is to truly be an animal?"
Ariel smiled but otherwise chose to ignore his first questions instead, favoring the answer to another. "Perhaps I have always been wise and you have failed to take notice. Or," she looked up at him mischievously, "even more likely, I am still the fool who has just happened upon spouting something that comes off as sounding very wise. But, you'll never know, for really where is that line between wisdom and foolishness, between genius and madness?"
Wishing to keep his space, she did not move again towards him even though she desired to do so. The young woman sat still for a moment deeply thinking on his last question. "An animal, what really is the difference between a human and one? Our morality? Our mind? I have seen wolves more loyal than men and even squirrels who lose more acorns than they ever find oft have more intelligence than my kind. Humans are the worst sort of animals, for they have no respect and value nothing."
Her eyes peeked up over the fire to glance at him before ducking down again. "But, that wasn't what you were asking, was it? You were asking if I have ever felt the primal urge to kill, to render flesh with tooth and nail, and acted on it." A slow nod ended the sentence. "I was much this way when I left...I wanted nothing to do with them and sought to become as far from them as I could. Bloodlust doesn't serve any purpose though. When it's gone, I'm nothing but a cold, useless shell. I will always want to be the animal and will do my best to become so. But, that thread of humanity will always remain and therefore so will my faults."
Damn her and her smart-assed answers! Jerec cringed inside. He knew at least one thing she'd said about him was true: he was a bully and a brute at that. But he didn't care. He hated the way he felt small in the face of her words, though he didn't know what that meant. Yet he knew, if he felt small it was his own fault for doing so. He didn't want to be dissected vicariously through her choice of words and phrases. Even if it was not her intention to do so. But gods be damned if she wasn't smart in her own right. And gods were damned for all the good they did in the mortal world.
"That's why you attacked me then? To prove that you could be an animal as well? You didn't have to do that. I didn't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone. I might be a bully, and a brute, and maybe you don't think I'm very intelligent, but look around you. Everything anyone could ever need is here. Maybe you understand that. Maybe I respect you because you understand that. Brutality is only the answer when a threat must in turn be threatened. Everything you could ever need to survive, to thrive—" he paused. It wasn't his instinct to do so, but he knew the only way to show her would be just that –show – her. He crept beside her and laid on his hip, balancing on one arm and using the other to feel along her breast, his fingers lingering over where her heart was.
"In here," he said. "Being an animal means being able to follow this, and to hear the call of the wild within."
Her head shook slightly in disagreement with his assessment but she kept otherwise silent. It would not do to argue, they only seemed to circle around and around the 'why' without coming to the heart of it. 'If only I could explain it better. Not that he would ever understand. Only fools could comprehend the nonsensical things I spout out.'
Ariel did raise her head though when he made an assumption on her thoughts. 'But, I don't think you are not intelligent.' In the blink of an eye she could hear her own voice echoing words she had spoken on their first night together. Between us there has to be at least half a brain even if I'm the one with most to all of it. Words of protest quickly died once more as she allowed her head to fall forward once more.
She did not hear him as he rose and moved closer to her. Ariel did not even realize he was there until his hand was brushing against her chest. Frozen in shock, the girl could do nothing but watch him through her blond fringe. Her heart beat wildly against his hand yet her breathing remained steady, as if trying to pretend along with her that she was not affected by his sudden closeness.
Swallowing dryly, the hunter raised her hand to lay it over top. It rested there in indecision before she finally gently removed it from herself. A small nod acknowledged what he had said and then she was speaking and changing the topic. "We should eat. We need to get moving again. I have already wasted enough of our time."
Jerec noticed the way she reacted, and furrowed his brow in confusion and his hand retreated back to him. It wasn't like him to go out of his way to touch someone else. To him it was the only way to show her what he meant. And they were two people trying to cross broken bridges with no way to find a safe path in the middle. There was no safe path. Jerec knew then that he just had to accept her for what she was and she him if they were going to get along.
As she reminded him that they needed to get moving again, Jerec paused to look around them. Already he could feel eyes on them. They were far enough away to avoid detection, but they were still eying them like fresh meat. Jerec sat closer to Ariel, to better survey their surroundings.
Turning back to her, he took a piece of the cooked bird in his hands and seethed a little at the burning sensation before chewing it himself. Sucking the juices off his fingers, he waved them clean. "We'll move before dawn. You look like you need some rest, more than I do. I'll wake you when its time."
As Ariel watched Jerec reach for and begin eating the bird, she felt her own stomach tighten and demand its own portion. Shakily she reached out and torn off her portion, slowly eating it even as it burned at the tender pads of her fingers. Hot grease ran down her palms and chin.
Glancing to the side she nearly left it there before remembering how much her travel companion hated uncleanliness. Ariel took one of the former pantleg bags, which now seemed to have so many uses, and used it to wipe her chin. She then passed it to him for when he was done.
With a full belly, the hunter could no longer resist the call of sleep, especially not now that Jerec had given her permission to rest. Her knee bounced as she fought to keep awake and alert beside him but it was no good. Sighing in defeat she at last lay down on her side.
Her back faced the far as she unconsciously curled herself around Jerec in a contorted "C." Ariel closed continued to resist but in the end her eyes drooped closed as she nuzzled her head closer into the arm that was propping it up in the place of a pillow. The other hand clasped tightly in front of her in a miniature fist. Sleep slowed her breathing and finally eased away the crinkling of her brow. She once more looked like the younger woman that she was trying to hide away from everyone including herself.
Jerec's nerves were all on end as he felt as if more eyes were coming around them. The pack has found them for sure, but why they didn't bother to attack, he couldn't tell. He could feel his hackles rise around his neck and he growled warningly to the glittering orbs he saw around the edge of the fire. He felt his anger rise and he wanted to take the fight to them. Oh how he hated being hunted and hounded like prey and it took all his strength to keep from running out into the darkness and doing just that.
He remembered he had Ariel to protect, even if he knew she was plenty capable herself after attacking him like she did. Maybe she didn't have super-human strength, but she was fast and she had her anger to back her up. And if that failed, she had him. Jerec cleaned himself up and let the fire fade into smoke and ashes as the night faded and dawn would soon come. He took what meat remained and ate heartily as well, leaving a good portion for Ariel and dashing the ashes away with his foot.
He nudged her awake. It was still dark, but the sky reddened to herald the sun. "Owlet," he whispered before pushing her awake. "The river is close, we should go now. Come on, we can't waste anymore time. I can hear the water already. And I can hear the hunters." He twitched an ear backwards, honing on the sounds of voices coming near. The pack was gone, apparently back to their masters, but they would be able to track them if they didn't move soon.
"The time is now!"
It seemed as if in no time at all had passed between her closing her eyes and her being reawakened. Ariel struggled into alertness as she scrambled to collect her things. Slinging the bow onto her back she moved to follow right on Jerec's heels.
'I hear nothing. Once again he proves more useful than me. Hush Owlet, now is not the time for that!' she chastised herself, trying to pick up the pace. The sun steadily rose in the sky painting it in hues of red and blue as the pair's feet flew across the turf towards the river.
Their arrival there though did not bring her the sense of relief she had been expecting. The riverbed was swollen from the rain of before and raging rapidly along. Fear coursed through her stronger than it ever had before as she began to realize she no choice but to enter it. There was no bridge to cross, no overhanging tree branch to climb and no going back.
For a brief moment Ariel took a step back as if to flee when she at last heard the howls of the dogs and shouts of the men. Frozen in place she could move neither forward nor back. Memories of the past blurred and merged with those of the present making it impossible for to distinguish between reality and imagination.
Looking over to Jerec, Ariel was able to pull herself together enough to plunge forward in to the brutal current. The moment she was in the waters pulled and pushed her, trying to drag her under as she fought to keep her footing. She knew well enough that the first wrong step and she would never surface alive again. However, what she did not know was that just around the bend upstream a heavy log was barreling down through the waters towards her struggling frame.
"I don't understand... Is he really like the other one? Will he kill us next?" Elwyn look at Jon as the men moved out the evening before when the dogs returned. "How can you trust it now that he's a beast?"
"Because he's still Emri, somewhere under there. He's still that horny idiot, but now he's got something he didn't have before: A score to settle. And...besides, even if he does turn on us, he'll more than likely take the chewy ones first." Jon laughed at Elwyn as he prodded the shorter man's round belly. Elwyn turned red in the face and shoved Jon away.
"Ya bastard," he said bitterly. "Are ye sure we have enough silver to take on the wolf-man? We spend the last days smelting and casting all we had! The men are pissed, but by the gods, ye'd better pull through on your promise of gold. They're hungry, Jon. They mean to make their money, though they know they're walking into the mouth of hell as it is. Are you sure?"
At this, Jon grew very quiet and stared out towards the moving men until suddenly he rounded and struck Elwyn right across the face in a steel-gloved back hand. The blow was strong enough to know the rotund man off his feet. He gave him demon eyes. "I knew it would come to the gold. You were never one to doubt me before. In fact, I expected more from you. They'll have their gold when I have my wolf. Nobody escapes from me. Not even a goddamned wolf-man and that little whore. Now get a move on before I take to testing the quality of my silver on your fucking neck."
Elwyn was still on the ground quite in shock, still trying to register what just happened. But it was clear when he saw that look in Jon's eye, one he'd only seen a few times before. They flickered in the starlight, much like a cat's would when having spotted a meal. He knew then that he didn't care how many men would have to die for him to get his prize. With the current lieu of hunters he'd recruited, they had enough to make a suitable small army, but he doubted it still was enough. This was no longer a hunt. It was a sacrifice.
Already Emri had attacked two men, scratching them gravely with claws he'd never had before and then and there Elwyn knew the curse had gotten to him. The full moon would rise the evening after next. Who was to say who would die...and who would be a spared meal for next time. He wasn't sure even he wanted to take that chance. But he did as he was told. He stood and began shouting for any stragglers to move along. Silver shone aplenty in the moonlight, gleaming like night candles, and he knew they were ready. The hounds were loud and barking and urging for their constituents to get a move on. The hunt was on.
__
Jerec's heart beat madly in his chest and he was shaking all over from a strange solution of adrenaline and fear. But it was not a sensation he was unaccustomed to. Jerec used it to press him harder and faster, but he reminded himself it wasn't just him anymore. He had Owlet to look out for and she was right behind him. At least he hoped she was. He knew that he couldn't waste even a second of precious time to look back to see if she was there. His ears strained to hear her footfalls and a small sense of relief washed over him when he knew she was indeed following him. But it was short lived and soon he saw the river coming up ahead.
They would have to cross it, however they could and he knew it was easily five feet deep in the section they were in. He wandered toward the edge, stopping just before the mud sucked his bare feet in. He said nothing but strayed from her a bit to find a shallower section and felt his stomach sink further when he heard her splash into the water.
"Owl!" he shouted, angry and desperate at the same time. The shouts and howls were getting closer. The dogs were hot on their trail. Jerec did look back in anxiety and looked across to the river again. It was too wide to jump in one bound. He'd get caught in the powerful current and dragged under with no footing to begin with. But suddenly he had no choice when he saw a log coming down stream at them. No not at them – at Ariel! Jerec didn't think before he did jump in, and swam desperately for Ariel, getting to her a fraction before the heavy log came barreling at them.
Yet, he did not go unscathed and felt the wood bash into the back of his head as he pulled himself under the surface, taking Ariel with him. He saw white for several seconds and his lungs clawed for air that did not come. His footing was lost however, and his arms in a vice grip around Ariel, soon took her with him as they were swept in the rush of the water. When he regained some semblance of consciousness, they resurfaced once again, but were crashing through the rapids. He gasped for air, still holding on to her with one arm while he tried desperately to alter their direction toward the other side.
Ariel gasped painfully, sucking in a lungful of cold water as she was suddenly dragged down with Jerec. Frantic she tried to flail her way back up to the surface but without a real sense of which way was up and which was down, she did nothing more than waste her limited oxygen supply. Eventually they made it back to the surface in time for the young female to cough up the water in her lungs before she was bobbing back under for a moment.
The crashing current tossed the pair to and fro as if they were nothing more than a set of rag dolls. Due to the height of the water and the speed of the raging water, it was impossible for Ariel to see where the rocks were or even control her path downstream. On the banks she could hear and catch glimpses of the hunters and their dogs but, considering the watery death she was facing she was a bit more preoccupied to pay them more mind. Perhaps she should have been though as some of them hurled various silver projectiles at them.
Breath was knocked out of her body as she was forcibly slammed into another large boulder before the water peeled her away from it again. Adrenaline drove to her ignore the pain and fight to survive. She knew that without Jerec's powerful attempts at swimming and his clinging so tightly to her, she would not be doing as well as she was.
Smashed into the opposing bank though, she wondered whether she was really doing so well at all. Her tiny fingers scrabbled for purchase on the slippery rock as thorny foliage clawed at her head and shoulders and the river dragged her side along the hard turn of the high bank. At last her hands clenched tightly around a thick albeit heavily thorny branch. Clinging to it with both hands and legs, Ariel hugged it as she close as she could and tried to not let Jerec's weight pull them both back.
Thankfully the outlying shrubbery provided them with some protection and camouflage as the hunters continued racing further downstream. She was too afraid to move, to even call out to Jerec for help as it took all her strength just to hold on. Still the water ripped at her straining limbs and dunked them both under once more. Unable to touch the bottom and unwilling to let go, she prayed that the branch would not break that somehow they would both make it out of this alive and whole.
He was drowning, he thought. If not, he knew he was going to drown. He could feel his body begin to tire already the more he tried to fight against the current. His sheer weight, more muscle than fat, was dragging him down and he had a hard time remaining afloat. The trousers he wore didn't help either as they made his waist and legs feel so much heavier than he knew. But though he knew the inevitable was coming no matter what, he fought hard to reach the other side.
He felt water slip into his lungs and he coughed violently to toss it out but already he could sense his body dragging deeper and deeper into the water. As Ariel grabbed ahold of something on the other side – what it was he didn't know – he began to slowly feel his grip on Ariel's side begin to slip. The water...it was so damned cold. His body had lost quite a bit of heat and the water was reddened where it made contact with the back of his head. The scalp there had been split and was leading his life's blood from it.
He was feeling so dizzy, the world around him was spinning.
A tug at her waist had Ariel opening her eyes in the murky water. Jerec's grip was loosening and it was then that she realized something was wrong with him. She struggled harder and ended up sinking lower. Just as stars began to cross her vision, her feet touched the ground and she kicked off with all her strength, using her arms to pull up and her legs to propel her further.
As she broke the surface she gasped and did not pause to catch her breath as she strained to reach higher. Yet, the higher out of the water she pulled herself, the heavier she felt and the more her companion's grip lessened on her. Dangerously holding on with only her legs, Ariel allowed her hands to let go to clutch one of Jerec's wrists firmly in her wet grip. Determined, she struggled to drag him up with her.
She was tiring quickly and making no success. 'Come on Owlet! Do you want to always be remembered as some weak little mouse or do you want to prove one and for all that you are the owl, that you are a bird of prey with strength and cunning?' Gritting her teeth she pulled on him again but slid down the branch, back further into the water.
"It's no use!" she petulantly snapped. With tears in her eyes she glanced around for something to help her but found nothing. "I'm sorry Jerec, I have to let go. I'm sorry." Yet, her hands did not release his. Instead, her eyes caught sight of the bank just around the bend. While there was moving faster the shore was also lower. Looking down at her near unconscious companion and then up at the unclimbable bank she came to a decision and let go.
Together they plunged back into the treacherous current and she gasped from the cold but, kicked her legs and tried to keep her head up. Eyes focused ahead, she waited for the river to whip her around the bend and send her careening back into flow that had already damaged the pair enough. Just before it could though, Ariel kicked off a boulder and tried to propel them back towards the now lower shore. With Jerec's deadweight they spun around and around, making her dizzy and throwing her sense of direction off.
They came near the bank not as close as she had wanted and further downstream than expected but Ariel was not going to complain. Dragging Jerec with her, the young woman threw herself half onto the land and dug woman hand into the moist earth as the other tried to hold onto the larger man. After some more flailing and flopping, the girl managed to swing her legs up onto the land and rotate herself around so that she was facing Jerec who was still in the water.
Some more exhausting and crucial minutes later Ariel at last achieved what she thought impossible, she dragged them both onto the safety of land. Giggling hysterically and proudly, Ariel crawled over to Jerec. "I did it. Did you see Jerec? I did it!" She hugged him excitedly, not noticing his state until she say up and saw the blood on the grass near his head. Running her head through his hair she felt the gash and flinched at the blood that came away on her hand. "Jerec? Jerec!" She desperately shook his shoulder, trying to determine if he was even conscious.
"Jerec!" Ariel was afraid to leave him but also afraid not to get something to stop the bleeding. It terrified her that this figure that she had always believed to be invincible was injured and bleeding.
The course of events that occurred flashed before his eyes in a confusing array of flashes and visions and he wasn't sure what was real and what was fabricated from his disoriented mind. He felt his eyes roll around in his head and his brain was hurting like something mad, from the lack of air he could no longer get in his lungs. Something was dragging him down, pushing him around until suddenly he was no longer in the water, though he could not fully register this. His body was numbed from the cold water and he shivered as chills ran through him.
He wasn't breathing and he didn't respond to her. He heard a voice call out his name. It was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place a face. Instead he saw the face of his father beneath the darkened lids of his eyes. He was starting to turn blue and the rest of his body was ridiculously pale and the life was slowly draining from him. And with a weakened shudder of his shoulders, he knew he was slowly going to die.
The young woman went from being distressed to furious as her companion refused to respond, or at least that is what she assumed he was doing. "You idiot," she growled out. "Don't you dare do this to me. Don't you go dying on me! Not when I've worked so hard to save you. You bastard, do you hear me?" She slammed a fist down loosely onto his chest, too upset to really strike him.
Ariel sat up on her knees so that she was hovering over Jerec and continued to scream at him. "You keep making me believe that you are this big unstoppable force, but you're nothing! You're just another fake, another liar!" Tears raced down her cheeks as her face turned red. Angrily, she continued to bang her fists again his chest, harder and harder as if to beat him into his raging beast-state.
"You're just like them. You're as bad as a human! I hate you, you monster. Do you hear me? I hate you!" Her vision blurred and she hiccuped weakly as she just continued beating at his chest like a small child throwing a temper tantrum. "This isn't over Jerec! They're still out there. You said we were in this together. What are you doing? Get up. Get up! Please Jerec. I can't do this without you. Don't go dying on me without letting me repay that debt. I refuse, do you hear me? I refuse to owe my life to a dead man!"
Bringing her hands down in one last fierce blow, she collapsed forward onto the cold skin of his chest and just sobbed, believing that it was all over. "You promised. He promised. It's not fair."
His pulse was deadening, fainter and fainter with every beat. His heart hurt, struggled to pump fresh, bright reddened blood through the rest of his body. But just turned paler and his veins turned bluer than normal. Sounds were deafened, sensation was numbed, and his chest tightened more and more and more as he vaguely registered something bashing against it. The bashing got more and more frantic until he felt something rush up from his throat and he coughed violently until water sprang up from his mouth.
Everything came rushing back at that moment and he sucked in air and he felt the cold come in and he lurched upward, gasping and trying to regain some understanding of what just happened. He still coughed here and there, sputtering and feeling his chest suddenly and mysteriously become very sore.
"WHO THE HELL HAS BEEN DANCING ON MY CHEST!?" he yelled, feeling himself course with anger. But his sudden shouting brought needles to his brain and he fell back into the grass, reaching up to nurse his sore and bleeding head.
Ariel fell away from him as Jerec suddenly sat up and stared in shock as he coughed and then yelled. Biting her lip did not keep the giggles away and as he fell back to the ground she hugged him fiercely for a moment. "I thought you died, you idiot!"
She sat up quickly in time to slap his hand away from his head. "Don't touch it." Moving around him, Ariel began to carefully examine the wound. It was still bleeding pretty harshly, matting his hair in sticky crimson. The young girl rubbed her hands clean on her pants without any regard to cleanliness. "Lay still and shut your trap. Let do something I'm good at for once."
Concern creased her face as she fought over whether to leave him out in the open like that or not. 'We need to get away from here as soon as possible. Once the hunters can cross, it is only a matter of time before they come upstream again. But, is he really in any condition to move? I'm too little to be of assistance. He needs medicine. This bleeding needs to be stopped.'
Making up her mind, the girl pressed a firm hand to Jerec's shoulder. "Stay put and don't do anything stupid. I'll only be a minute." Dashing off, she ran into the treeline in search of fuzzy gold-flowered weed that always did to make her nose red and her eyes burn. 'If it'll help Jerec though I'll rough it.'
Ariel nearly cried out with glee as she found a huge patch of it. Coughing and sneezing she gathered as much as she could and ran back to where she hoped her companion was still resting. 'Wolf or not he's going to be one dead one if he isn't where I left him,' she thought just as she came back to the bank.
If he could make the pain of his mind numb, he would for it throbbed with an angry ferocity that even he couldn't match. He had to admit however, he was glad to be alive. And the sheer happiness that came with that thought sprang forth a thin wave of tears that made him glad he was soaked from head to toe of icy river water. The shouting and barking and cursing from the other side of the river and that only made his headache worse. And then he didn't know if the tears came from happiness or the pain from his head. He was coming to a point where he didn't care.
His eyes stung, and he closed them and pulled his arms over his face, but away from the section of his head that was wounded so that she could inspect the wound. Touching it wasn't helping. He cried a little more and burned in shame because of it. But he couldn't for the life of him let her see it. He instead just groaned, still unsure what had happened except that the hunters on the other side were going to try and find a way to this side of the river. Jerec bit his lip as he heard her step away from him just for a moment.
But despite her orders, he knew he needed to move and move he did. Shortly after she disappeared into the trees, Jerec found some strength to get up, though every movement made his head throb in dizziness and his eyesight swayed to and fro, back and forth with every step. Luckily for Ariel, he didn't go to far and he saw her vaguely run past him as he collapsed by a tree, trying to regain his breath as his legs forgot him. They were still numb from the cold.
"Owl," he managed to say hoarsely. "Over here. We...we, can't stay here. Forget...my...head... We need to move." But one could easily tell he was tired. He held a hand up to his wounded head. By this time, the bleeding had slowed, but it wasn't making him feel any better. He dropped an arm down to cradle his weight but fought to find strength to stand again.
The little hunter froze in her tracks and whipped around at the sound of her name. Finding Jerec not where she left him, stoked that snappy fire of before within her and was the drive behind the small kick to the legs she gave him. "I told you to stay put. Idiot wolf!"
Seeing what he was trying to do, Ariel growled and plopped herself down on top of his legs. "No! You're going to listen to me now. You're in no shape to move. Let me treat the wound before it gets worse. If you would stop fighting me it would only take a moment. Then, we need to find a shelter to hide. We can't run like this. You're too fat for me to carry," she stated matter-of-factly, knowing that he was anything but.
"If you don't cooperate I'll scream and bring the hunters right down on us," she growled getting in his face. It was not one of her more brilliant ideas. She knew better than to threaten an injured animal, there was no knowing how Jerec would react. "Let me help, let me be useful and then we can get out of here, together."
"Get off me!" Jerec growled at her furiously but the pounding in his skull made him impotent to do anything about it. He couldn't lash out at her like he did before. She was awfully heavy after crossing that river? And he –surprisingly weak. Did they suddenly switch body mass on this side of the river? Not that would understand anything about that, but he knew it was because he was far too tired to fight her off. The noises from the other side frankly made him more nervous than f acing a tiny, furious girl that left his chest purple and blue.
After a few seconds, he whined a little and resigned, shoving her off his legs with a good deal of force despite his weakness and plopping down on his behind, leaning forward to allow her to inspect his head. "Make it quick," he said. He looked down at his hands and frowned as they were covered in his own blood and he rubbed them in the dirt to give them some semblance of cleanliness. He said nothing during her ministrations, until, at last, he managed:
"I'm not fat."
If the situation had not been so dire and required so much stealth and quiet, Ariel would have cheered at her victory over Jerec. Instead she kept the celebration to herself as she moved quickly to strip the plant of its irritating buds and mash them in her hands until they took on a sticky yellow paste consistency. Her eyes ran like a waterfall as she furiously blinked them and diligently continued working. Every so often she would let out a very soft squeaking noise that sounded more like a mouse than an actual sneeze.
In no time at all she was applying the gloopy mixture to Jerec's skull. She was glad that she was out of his sight-line has his last statement made her want to laugh. Her face contorted in silent laughter as she finished her work. "I know," she whispered. Pressing a quick kiss to his temple, the girl at last pulled away.
"There you big baby, all better." Ariel stood and held her hand out to him. "Now we can move." She watched him worriedly, wondering if they would ever make it with the shape they were both in. The rapids had destroyed all of her weapons and taken the little food she had stored. They were both bruised and bloody and Jerec was the worse off of the two. They would be lucky if they could make it to some shelter. 'We made it this far. We'll make it! Even if I have to drag his worthless carcass the entire way, we'll make it.'
He bit his lip. He couldn't stand having to be treated like wounded prey or a child that had been caught being very bad. He didn't know how Ariel could do it in all their time together. He knew then that he'd treated her quite poorly, though he supposed he didn't know any better than to do so. He had nobody and nobody had him; how else was he supposed to act? He didn't want to answer that question. He just wished she would hurry up so that he could run off.
He didn't much care for her kiss either and he burned in embarrassment before standing, a little dizzily at first, and began walking off, ignoring her hand and trying to make his own way. Immediately he regreeted that decision and felt the world spin around him again. Whatever she did, it didn't help much, or he didn't feel the effects right away.
Jerec groaned and made a face. "What the hell was that!?" he demanded to know, reaching for the back of his head again. "Where are we going? You lead the way, damn you!"
She rolled her eyes as he stubbornly refused her help and walked off by himself. Staying put she just listened to him, unamused. "Whine, whine, whine. You think you could be a bit more grateful. It'll stop the bleeding and prevent infection so don't touch it. For now you can just deal with the pain, it's good for you, keep you on your feet and moving."
Pausing to take in her surroundings she tried to judge a course of action. 'I've never been here before. Which way, hmm? If we follow the stream we'll be caught for sure. But, if we stray too far away we may not find water again. It's a chance we're going to have to make. Left or right?'
To their right was a steep incline of loose dirt and tree roots. It would be difficult to climb, especially with the way Jerec was carrying on, but it meant if the hunters made it across they would also struggle and waste time. The foliage above the incline was also thicker, able to both trap them and provide more hiding places.
The left on the other hand was rather flat and open. It seemed that it was the edge of the woods and would lead them back into open territory. Had she been a fast runner and Jerec in better condition, she might have chosen that route but, the way things were going, Ariel had no choice but to choose the harder right path.
"This way, birdbrain," she called, carefully choosing where she stepped. "Just step where I step and it'll be easier. If we get to the top we'll have a better chance of survival." Taking off slowly, the hunter took tentative steps before placing all of her weight on each next step. She was doing everything she could not to slip and fall as it would probably cause her to take Jerec out with her on the tumble downhill.
"What's an infection?" he asked tentatively but did not receive an answer. He did remove his hand from the back of his head and had difficulty standing. The truth was, he didn't really want to follow her. She obviously didn't know where she was going, but then again he wasn't in any better condition to navigate either. Gods be damned. He cursed savagely as he watched her wander further and further away. He was afraid to leave the steadiness of the tree beside him, his head couldn't take any more movement.
He hated feeling so helpless, so useless. He felt a quiet whimper quiver through him, mixed with the anger that came with impotence of body. He watched her wander further away still, before suddenly crying out to her. "I can't! I can't.... Please," he said, near tears. "Help me."
Jerec's pleading cry made Ariel whip her head around in surprise. The movement of her body shifted the already loose soil beneath her feet, causing her to go sliding back down. Not even stopping to care about the tumble she took, the young woman bounced back to her feet and ran to her companion.
The look she offered him was not one of pity or disgust but of understanding and concern. She knew better than most how miserable it was to feel so weak and helpless, to have to rely on others when you have always relied on yourself.
"You're right, that was a stupid idea," she stated, pretending that he had insulted her again instead of crying for help. Lifting his arm up and putting it over her shoulders, she did her best to help stabilize him. "We'll just go a few steps over here and then rest. You can lean on me, I'm not a blade of grass." Ariel kept close to trees and other things he could lean on as she led him back over to where she had been.
As she had fallen, the girl had caught sight of a patch of undergrowth that she felt would be good enough to hide them while she tried to figure out their next move. Half-dragging, half-supporting Jerec she got into the small clearing in the brush and plopped down heavily. "We both need a rest." With a sigh she glanced over at him and smiled weakly.
Her mind on the other hand was elsewhere. Desperately, she tried to judge how far it would be before the hunters could cross and then for them to come back upstream to find them. 'Will they stop come dark? Have they crossed already? I give them half a day, a full day at most before they find us here. Think Owl think! If you were the hurt one what would Jerec do?'
Ariel rolled her eyes. 'Pick me up and throw me over his shoulder. i doubt I'm strong enough even to drag him by his hair. The water will slow the hunters down but time is running out. We can't run, we can't climb and we can't stay here. Maybe he'll get some of his strength back," she mused doubtfully.
Sitting tensely she waited, listening to every sound the woods made, eyes searching for something they had missed as night began to fall. The shouts and howls of the hunters and their canines had long since died down and while it should have been a relief it only made her more tense as she could no longer know where they were. 'Please stop for the night, please. Just give us some more time. I'll figure something out. I know I will. I just need more time'
"You idiot!" Jon shouted to another of the hunters that was in charge of the dog pack. "How could you let them get away! You should have let the dogs loose like I told you! You goddamned bastard!" He lunged at him and grabbed him up the by collar. "They were just in our grasp. Why I ought to throw you in the river!"
"Jon! Jon! Calm down!" Elwyn said grabbing him by the shoulder and pulled him back. Jon pulled away from both of them, letting the other hunter go. Jon stepped away and looked viciously at his lieutenant.
"Don't tell me to calm down! We had them, and now they're gone. How are we going to cross this river? They just jumped in and nearly were killed. They're no good to me dead. Night will fall in a few hours and what then? They'll get further away!"
"Well, there ain't nothing we can do about it now! We'll just have to stop for now. I'll have some of the men chop a tree or two down. We've enough to make a bridge. We'll have it up for tomorrow. Don't worry. We'll get them." For once Elwyn seemed to speak words that actually got through to Jon. He did calm down afterward, though he did so with regretful resignation.
____
Jerec walked much steadier with her under his arm, supporting him. He wobbled a little, but at least the world stopped spinning and he could concentrate much better. He closed his eyes and just breathed, letting himself lean on her. Slowly, he could feel himself come back and when they plopped down onto the ground, he just laid there, still feeling the shame of his weakness and not knowing how to come to terms with it. What kind of a beast was he to let her see him at his weakest? What kind of a man was he, that he couldn't even walk more than a few steps without falling like a child out of balance?
He wanted to cry again, like that child. But he didn't. Instead, he reached for her, his head having relieved much of the pounding he'd previously suffered. He wrapped an arm around Ariel's shoulders and pulled her in and buried his face in her neck, kissing her there.
Ariel was completely surprised to be pulled in and embraced by Jerec. She had been so focused on her thoughts that she had not paid mind to her surroundings. It frightened her that if Jerec could do that then what would have happened had it been the hunters.
She did not get to think about it long though as she broke down and clung tightly to him. The feel of his lips against her neck shocked her but, she refrained from commenting on it, believing that it was only stress and the need for comfort that drove him to do so.
"I'm sorry Jerec. I'm no good at this. I don't know what to do. You have always been the one leading us and I'm such a failure at this. I even got you hurt this time. It's all my fault. I really am such a mess at this," she hiccuped, burrowing closer against him. "I've never taken care of anyone but myself before. I'm just going to do more harm than good. I don't even know where we're going. Please get better soon. You're the one with the real brains here." Hot tears flooded her eyes which she would later blame on the goldenrod poultice that was now close to her face.
Jerec was shivering from the river water that clung to him and the cold air that whistled through the forest trees. He drew closer himself and buried his face further against her neck. The vibrations of her speaking voice came through her neck and he wrapped his arms around her tighter still. He didn't know what to think or what to do right now. It killed him to have them both helpless, to both be running from mere men.
"Don't be sorry," he whispered back against the pulse of her neck. It was tempting. All he had to do was bury his teeth into it and take back sustenance his body desperately needed. He drug his teeth against her throat before pressing his lips to it once more. The temptation got stronger, but he knew it was no use.
"Being sorry can't help us. You saved me... you're not sorry about that are you?" Whatever she had put on his head, it was starting to work. The needles gradually began to subside from his brain. His moved his head to the other side of her neck and gently kissed here, listening to her pulse.
The grating feeling of his teeth against her tender throat sent shocks of fear and confusion through her system. But, then just as quickly he was kissing it again. "Jerec?" she called hesitantly, her voice getting higher as she continued. "What are you doing? Remember we went over this, I'm not a chew toy."
Her heart beat wildly within her chest as she became more and more nervous. 'What is going on? Is he going to eat me? This is so sudden.' A flash of memory reminded her of their first night in the cage together when he had licked the blood off her shoulder. She wondered if he would do so now. "Um, Jerec you can stop now." Gulping anxiously, Ariel began to struggle slightly and push against him.
Jerec just held onto her tighter and moved his lips up to her jaw. He could feel her hesitation and anxiety. Her pulse was jumping in her neck and he bit his own lip for a while to keep thinking about it. All this time, he slowly replaced his appetite with the smell of her skin. He wasn't sure what he wanted then, but he knew it was better to kiss her than to eat her, so he did.
He said nothing and stole her lips with his own, holding her in a vice grip with his arms so that she couldn't squirm away. "Stop what?" he whispered against her lips. Jerec moved his lips along her jaw enough to distract himself. It was better than the alternative and he didn't remember the last time he kissed someone.
Like a deer anticipating the kill, Ariel froze in place as she was kissed for the first time in her life. Never before had someone done this to her, although she had seen humans do it several times in the marketplace whenever she dared to wander into civilization. She was completely lost as to how to react.
The moment he pulled away she tried uselessly to wiggle her way out of his arms, but his grip was too strong. 'Even when he is weak and injured I am still too weak. How pathetic.' His face moving along her jaw scratched and tickled as the stubble rubbed against her skin.
"Stop this, this whatever this is," Ariel continued to try and protest. "What are you even trying to do? Jerec we need to focus! Did that hit to the head scramble your brains?" She struggled harder to get away, but was also curious as to what had come over her companion. It seemed so sudden to her and it was an attitude she had never seen before from him or anyone.
Jerec was at a loss. He didn't know what he was trying to do and finally, when his headache had gradually passed he did stop and just sat there, hugging her close to him in a way he'd never done anyone else before in his life. He didn't know how to explain the sense of gratitude that washed over him that this tiny, pathetic form of life had found strength enough to save his life. He couldn't think of any way to repay her. He wondered if he could ever repay her.
"Thank you," he breathed after a time. "Thank you for saving my life. I know you didn't have to. I know you probably didn't even want to. But all I know is I've never been more grateful to be alive than now. Even with death at our heels."
Her features softened and her squirming ceased as Jerec thanked her for saving him. A warm sense of pride bloomed within her chest at those words. The knowledge that for once she had done something right made her smile broadly and hug him back.
"It is I who is still in your debt. You have saved my life several times now. That is but one life debt repaid. There are still more." Ariel laughed slightly and nuzzled her head against his chest tiredly. "At the rate I'm going I'm going to be forever in your debt."
A yawn stopped her from continuing for a moment. "Death likes to yap at our heels like a troublesome dog but he will not do more than tear and bark. I think I would fear you more than him in a fight. How much time do you think we have? Enough?"
Jerec finally let her go, slightly prying her off of him. He smiled at her and shook his head. "After the way I treated you, why would you want to help me? I've...been hard on you," he said, frowning now. "I know that some things I say...are quite harsh. But you've proven yourself, more than you know. I think we need each other more than we think. We don't have a lot of time. It's only a matter of figuring out how to cross the river before they're after us again."
His lips burned from where he kissed her, and he bit his lip a little. He was never one to blush and he leaned in and kissed her again, taking a little longer this time. "You don't have to be afraid of me...well, not of me trying to eat you or anything," he said, grinning.
Ariel shrugged indifferently. "You get used to being treated that way when you're bite-size. It's nothing new to me." What she said was true. It was rare when she was not looked down on because of her size or youth. Jerec's treatment while frustrating was familiar. It was his new attitude that concerned her.
All the kissing was starting to get to her. It took her a moment or two to gather herself again to think straight. Her eyes blinked open and closed slowly as her brain refocused. "What were we talking about? Eating me, yeah don't do that." She poked herself in the stomach. "Nothing here but bone and fat."
The young hunter pulled away a bit more from Jerec, worried that he might try and kiss her again if she stayed. "I don't understand; why are they so persistent? Surely we are not the only catch that has ever gotten away. What makes us so special?" Shaking her head, Ariel shrugged and gave up. "We can't keep running. We need to find a way to gain ground and hold it. I'm tired of having to look back over my shoulder. We are the true hunters, it's coming time that we proved that."
Looking up at him, her expression changed to one of concern. "How's the head? Should I look at it again? You're going to need you strength. If it worsens," she shook her head, "we're dead. You're the one with the strength, the one they fear. I'm only good at hiding, maybe. The only think in my favor is that they underestimate. Even then, my skills are limited." Ariel growled and threw up her hands. "Greedy, selfish humans!"
He knew it was only a matter of time before the conversation turned to this. He knew it was eventual that their pursuers would come this close again. Jerec frowned when she distanced herself and that only made him draw closer to her. "I may be the stronger between us," he said. "But it's because of me that they're chasing us so hard... Because of what I am. Men like them...the prize of pulling a wolf-man's carcass from the brush. Could you imagine the look on their faces?"
Jerec reached a hand up and put it on her face. She seemed so put off by him now, but he didn't care. "You're right. We'll make a stand. It's time for you to do something for the both of us. Find us a place to hide for now. My head is manageable now, whatever you put in there. Night will fall soon, and we'll need our rest before the moon rises."
Jerec managed to stand now and held a hand out to her. He was grimy and covered in dirt and visibly shivering having been soaked to the bone. "Come now, before we freeze to death."
'I don't need to imagine them getting you. It'll never happen. I won't let them,' she silently vowed. The woman had become strangely attached to Jerec ever since their lot had been thrown together, moreso now that he was injured and needed her help. 'Ack! What's with all the touching. He wanted nothing to do with me, now he won't stop.'
Accepting his hand, Ariel allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Then, in a moment of spontaneity she lunged forward and hugged him around the waist before nervously skittering away. 'Why did I do that? Wasn't I just complaining about him doing it? It's just giving strength and comfort. That's all it is Owlet. Don't over-think it. In fact, don't think about it all.'
Leaving their current haven, Ariel began the task of tracking to find shelter. Every set of prints told her something. Like signs at a crossroads she could read them and find whatever she needed or wanted. 'Follow the treesnake to find eggs for eating. Avoid the bear if you want to live. A frog? Water is close.'
She knelt down and studied the ground closely before finding what she was looking for. "Come. I know where we can go. It should not be far." Ariel took the lead once more but, was wary of going too far ahead. As much as Jerec claimed he was doing better, she did not want to take any chances. They were both tired and weary. It would not do for their situation to be made any worse because of her carelessness.
After some walking and pauses to check the tracks she was following, the young girl was at last able to let out a sigh of relief. She was just beginning to lose hope of being as useful as she promised she would be. However, before them stood a set of trees that would provide them with the warmth and security they both craved.
"I know it doesn't seem like much but," she gave him a reassuring smile as she walked up to one of the larger ones, "this is exactly why it will be overlooked." Each tree was strange in that its roots did not go beneath the earth but above it. Instead they came out of what appeared to be the middle of the tree's trunk and shot down like supports into the ground.
Ariel kicked at some of them until she was able to create a large enough opening for them both and crawled inside. As she promised it was an excellent place of security and warmth. What one could not see from the outside was that the tree was hollow on the inside. Ariel could jump up as high as she wanted with her arms raised and never touch the trunk above them.
Once inside the warmth of trapped heat gave her a chill as the dampness of her clothes became noticeable to her. She had been so focused on Jerec that she has forgotten about herself. Shivering, Ariel thought nothing of stripping off the overly large shirt and casting it to the side. As she rubbed her arms, trying to warm up, she stated more to herself than anyone that they would be warm enough soon. "Jerec," she called hesitantly. "Are you, are you still doing better?"
Jerec had not been expecting the hug when she lunged forward and embraced her arms around him. But unlike before, he didn't feel defensive about it or feel threatened. She did it quick enough to get away from him having to respond, so for that he was somewhat thankful, and yet the warmth that left his body left him shivering all the more.
The cold. How could he have overlooked something like that? Jerec felt himself shake nigh uncontrollably, but he said nothing of it. Where the cold usually didn't do much to him, being soaked from head to toe by the river did nothing to help. He stayed close to Ariel, wrapping another arm around his middle to stave off his shivers but it didn't help either. He was beginning to think they were never going to find warmth or shelter.
"Ariel," he whispered but his voice was far too low to be heard. But just then she found something. Beyond all doubt she found something and he looked up to see a tree with large wide, sprawling roots. This? This was what she had in mind? But there was no room to doubt her futher before she made an opening for them and he slid inside. Complete darkness surrounded them, and with the falling of the sun, it became thicker. He was shivering ferociously now, wrapping his arms around his chest.
Slowly he put his back up against the dirt of a makeshift wall. "I-I don't think so," he admitted. He wrapped himself into a ball. "I can't stop shaking."
Ariel followed the sound of Jerec's voice until she was kneeling beside him. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into the dark. Her hand came to reach out for him, brushing up along his shoulder until she found his head. Gently she ran her fingers through his hair until she found the cut. 'Bleeding's stopped. That's a relief. It'll heal fast. Now to get us both warm.'
"Oy, shove over," she commanded, pushing his legs down away from himself so she could squeeze in close. "I'm cold too. This way we both can get warm. The girl rubbed her hands together quickly until they became very warm and placed them on his chest as she laid down in front of him. She vigorously began to rub them across his chest and arms, hoping that he would not send her tumbling. Her own body was cooling quickly without the little warmth the sopping wet shirt had provided.
Without thinking she pressed up closer to him and wrapped her arms around his back. "We should be able to rest here without them finding us for a while. At the very least we can both sleep for once."
Jerec was very reluctant to remove his arms and legs from his chest. He'd gotten only moderately warm that way, but her pushing his limbs away summoned a weak but persistent protest. Too bad, her tiny strength was just enough to get him to pause his protest and he whined like a child, making a face as if she took away his blanket.
His trousers were still heavily wet and they were clammy and clung to his thighs like a second skin, but before he could take them off she was rubbing his chest in an attempt to warm him up. All the touching, without him condoning it, honestly was making him look at her with wary eyes, his heart speeding up. He didn't throw her away as he might have done before and the wariness soon dissipated.
He couldn't find anything to say when she pressed into him, embracing him, and his shivers became smaller and small. His arms slowly went around her and he pressed his cheek against hers. His eyes were open and he stared into the darkness. "I'm...too cold to sleep," he said with a shivering breath. Her warmth was starting to spread through his body. He pressed his face in closer, breathing against her skin.
"Why is it so important to you?" he asked softly. "Why is it important that I see you as useful?"
His questions caught her off-guard, sending her heart into her throat and halting her breath. Her entire body froze as if ready to spring even though she had nowhere to go. Behind him, her hands clenched into painful fists. She was glad for the darkness in these moments as her emotions raced across her face. He would not be able to see her pain and fear.
It felt like an eternity between the time he had asked her and when she finally responded. At first she wanted to just ignore him or even feign sleep, no matter how unbelievable it would be. Anything to avoid talking about herself was good enough for her.
"Everyone has a use or purpose. Some are good, some are bad, some are neither, most are both. But, I don't other than to cause trouble. My own parents wanted nothing to do with me and abandoned me because I was useless. I'm not smart or strong. I'm not good at anything."
She paused letting the trapped air in her lungs escape. Her breathing came faster now and her voice shook slightly. "You saved me and took care of me when you could have left me to die or otherwise. No one has cared enough to do that. All my life I have been a burden. I just-"
Ariel was forced to stop as tears warmed her face. It took all her effort not to make a sound even as her chest heaved and stuttered for the inhalation of breath that she tried to keep quiet. "Maybe you think it's stupid to want to be seen as useful. But, it is all I have ever wanted. I don't want to be the weak girl everyone sees me as. I don't to be hurt anymore," she added more softly. Her movements stilled as she hiccuped. "Forget it Jerec. I'm not important anyway."
Jerec was silent during the length of her admission. It took a lot of guts to admit that, and to a perfect stranger such as he. He felt his throat run dry at the thought, but it wasn't because he didn't understand where she came from. In fact, he could only understand too well the feeling of being unwanted by those he'd loved. Blood was stronger than water, and it called to those that knew how to listen to it. But to those that couldn't hear it, it didn't matter if it was their own family that was in need. They wanted nothing to do with them.
Anger threatened to rise up and he felt his chest grow hot, but then he remembered it was just Ariel pressing against him. Jerec took his face from hers, feeling her cheek grow wet. Maybe he couldn't see her face that well, but he could feel her cheek heating up and he waited a moment before pressing his lips to her eyes, kissing her tears away. He licked his lips, the salty taste there vanishing on his tongue.
"If you were a burden, I would have gobbled you up a long time ago," he replied. "You must have been important for something, sometime. Maybe that moment was here and now. You saved my life...you're saving it now." He put a cold clammy hand up to her face and splayed his palm on her cheek, pushing her tears away. "Don't cry," he whispered before closing his eyes and kissing her softly.
It seemed that Jerec was a never-ending stream of surprises on this night. Ariel had expected ridicule or silence but not kindness or comfort, at least not in the manner that he was offering it. He was so gentle with her. So much so that it almost frightened the girl. In her experience no one treated her that way unless they wanted something or were about to hurt her.
She giggled slightly at his statement about gobbling her up, knowing that he must have considered it at least once. But, then he was telling her not to cry which only made her want to cry harder. 'This again?' she thought as she found his lips once more pressed against her own.
Yet, Ariel did not feel as resistant or angered by it as she had the previous two times. Maybe she was getting used to it or maybe it was just the comfort she needed in this time of weakness. Whatever the reason was did not matter for she found herself, hesitantly at first, kissing him back.
It was difficult too for Jerec to even conceive that these acts of gentility were actually coming from him; he who was convinced he'd abandoned any sort of humanity left inside of him so long ago. If he didn't press his mouth against hers, he wouldn't have known what to do with what she said. She was the first to have ever bared so much of herself to him at any given period. At any other time he might have refused to believe the thought that he was not as alone as he'd always believed.
Perhaps that was why he kissed her now. It was sweet, at first, and he tasted her lips with curiosity. She tasted strangely with a mixture of sweetness and salt from her tears that still lingered on his tongue. His arms wrapped around her and he was finding his body surge through with warmth, his heart speeding up. He deepened the kiss, growing hungry for contact and letting his hands speak through touch.
Ariel pulled away at last, gasping slightly for air. The fingers of one hand were tangled in Jerec's hair while the other hand had been exploring the scars on his chest and back. She giggled, the sound seeming so much louder to her ears in comparison to their breathing. 'I think I like this!'
She leaned back in and kissed him again, the tears at last topping as a smile tugged at her lips. "Thank you," she whispered against his. Ariel shifted slightly to rest her forehead on his shoulder and let her hands continue running up and down his back.
"Jerec, why do you care? No one else ever does. You couldn't have known I would save you back then." She huffed and pressed a kiss to his neck before curling up closer. "I didn't even know I could."
His blood was running hotter inside him and he could hear his own pulse in the caves of his ears, echoing through him like a scream in the night. Jerec might have even growled a little when she took her lips away from his, but if he didn't he wasn't paying attention. He almost didn't hear her, too focused was he with the way her fingertips felt like fire against his skin.
He thought he was being burned alive.
"I didn't know," he whispered. "I thought I was going to die, I was ready to die. We both didn't care, but maybe we saw something in each other that gave us a reason to. I know I did." The admission was a hard one, especially since all he could think about was how she was touching him and though he still shivered, it was considerably less so.
"You need someone to care about you. Maybe we both do," he said. He pressed his lips against her shoulder, running his teeth along her skin there, even biting it lightly before trailing his lips up to her neck.
She squeaked lightly as he dragged his teeth along her sensitive skin, no longer disliking it as much as she had earlier. 'What am I doing? What are WE doing? It tickle!' Ariel giggled again, enjoying their closeness. But, something in the back of her mind kept nagging at her, kept digging in and refusing to be ignored.
Her head fell back and away from him as his lips climbed higher. She brought her hands forward to continue their exploring. 'So many scars, so much pain.' Eventually they worked their way up to cup his face. Ariel paused and pushed him away from her, running her thumb across the scar that was there.
"What happens when we are no longer hunted? What happens when we no longer need to run, together?" It bothered her to ask. This was the question on her mind but not the one she wanted to voice. Ariel wanted to know where things were going between them. She worried about how much hope and trust her heart was starting to put into him. She feared its destruction.
Brown eyes stared blindly into the dark to try and see his face. Every sound though sounded like a loud drum in her ears. The beat of her heart, the whistle of her breath, the rush of blood in her veins, it was all painfully audible. 'I shouldn't have asked. He's going to just think I'm a baby, that I need to cling to him.' Ashamed, she attempted to let go and pull away from him.
Jerec's eyes gleamed with what scarce light made its way between the thick, twining roots and the reddened sky that signaled the falling of the sun. He made out her face in the darkness and his night vision was coming in now. Wolves could see much better in the dark than others and he could see her now, almost see her pulse throbbing in her neck.
He didn't k now how to answer her question. What was he supposed to say to her? What did she expect him to say? "The truth is," he said. "I don't know. I've never wandered with another before. How could even you say that we might be together still? I've never been one to see too far ahead. I didn't think I would have to now. I'm sorry if that's not the answer you wanted, but it is my honest one."
Jerec felt her trying to pull away from him and the heat she inspired only made him eager to keep it further, even if it was selfish to do so. He reached up to grab her wrists and tried to keep her from leaving. "What are you doing? Where are you gonna go?"
"Don't be," the girl mumbled. "Just me being stupid again. You worry too little and I too much. Oh what a pair we make." Ariel sighed as her hands were caught and she was stilled in place. "Nowhere apparently," she replied.
Between the cold, the physical exhaustion and the mental draining of the past few days, Ariel was not feeling as energetic anymore as it all caught up to her. "Feeling warm enough yet?" The girl was uncomfortable being so close now. It was as if asking the question had given her the reality check to remember that the future was uncertain and that she did not know anything about him. "I should let you rest."
'What are you doing Owl? Do you even know? Does he? How can you trust him? He will be just as much of a disappointment as everyone else. Why are you setting yourself up for the kill? Are you truly that pathetic?' Over and over her mind cruelly queried her and hissed at her, reminding her of her failings and her weaknesses.
The anticipation was killing him and Jerec could feel the tension beginning to rise again. The last thing he wanted was for things to become awkward between them again. He felt frustrated by the prospect and he gradually let his grip grow loose. He just looked at her until suddenly his brow furrowed and he pushed forward and smashed his mouth to hers possessively, feeling challenged by her sudden lack of attention.
He felt stronger now, driven by her lack of energy and kissed her so forcefully, that he pressed her down to the ground. He handled her roughly and perhaps if he'd been born a woman, he might have understood better that perhaps the mood had been ruined, but being male and animal in the same flesh, he couldn't forget as easily the fever.
"I haven't even begun to kiss you properly yet," he said between breaths.
His attack on her person first shocked her then enraged her. Like a small child who had been over-stimulated she fought and struggled with him. She attempted to kick him while still unable to see where she was aiming due to her weak human eyes trying to see through the dark of their hiding place. Her only hope was that she could cause some amount of pain.
"Get off me you oaf!" She huffed and tried to roll over to her side in a show of completely ignoring him. "This isn't fun anymore and I'm tired. Leave me alone!" Ariel frowned and tried but failed to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "Go find someone else to play your kissy games with. I don't wanna anymore."
While he was fortunate to have the heart of a beast, sometimes he was not so fortunate to have the brains to realize when his attention was quite unwanted. He still tried to kiss her and her physical resistance only spurred him to want it more. He did pull away however and leaned over her, just letting his sheer weight hold her down.
"You're tired!?" he said, almost in sheer disbelief. "I nearly died and, you're tired. Aye, saving lives is taxing business, isn't it, heroine? Who said I wanted to play games? Who said I wanted to play them with anyone else?" He almost kissed her again until he paused, hovering just above her lips. "You've never had sex before, have you?"
Ariel growled at being so forcefully pinned in place. "Of course I'm tired! If I hadn't had to drag your fat ass everywhere I would be doing much better. But nooo, I had to save you. Excuse me for having a bleeding heart! Next time I'll just let you rot!"
Her mind was racing ahead of her, unable to focus fully on what he was saying as she thought of more things to cruelly hurl at him since she could not physically do so. 'Wait, what? What does he mean by that? Is he saying he only wants to do that with me? No! He can't be, I'm only convenient. Why chase down a kill when you have fresh meat already chained up in your yard?'
She struggled harder until his last question at last penetrated her mind. Her cheeks flushed and her heart raced at being called out. "It's none of your business!" she screeched fighting like a wild thing, clawing and howling to try and escape. 'It's not fair! He can't know that! He just can't!'
At long last, Jerec did let her go, pushing himself off her and sitting on his haunches. Jerec crawled backwards and grinned at her. His eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness now and he could see her reaction. In a way it was intriguing, and he knew it was true by the way she reacted so hotly.
He bit his lip and just looked her over. "It's true isn't it?" he asked again, gauging the distance between them. "You don't have to be shy about it. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
The moment she was free the girl was scrambling as far away from him as she could get, only stopping when her back hit the root wall behind her. She felt ashamed and looked down on. 'I'm only a child pretending to be all grown up. How silly.'
"It's none of your business," she hissed again, covering her bare chest and turning so her back was to him. Now more than ever she was regretting her decision to remove the wet article of clothing. Without his warmth she was cold once more. Ariel wondered if he could see in the dark, if he could despite her inability to.
The little hunter laid down on her side, pulling her knees in close to her chest and presented him with her bony back, completely ignoring him. Her anger and frustration ran deep. She had not really understood what they had been doing, in truth she did not fully understand now either. It frightened her that she had been so vulnerable and so reckless.
She did not want to make the same mistake again. Her mind was convinced he would use her and leave her in the end. Ariel had already saved him, what more good could she do. 'I won't be his little toy anymore. It was fun at first, now no more. I'm not an animal like him. I'm not going to be pushed around like that.'
He saw the way she reacted, and though it amused him deeply, he began to see his 'enthusiasm' had been too much for the poor girl. It wasn't like him to feel sorry for anyone, and he felt ashamed to admit even to himself that his coming on so strong had made her recede from him. Jerec waited a moment before crawling toward her, propping himself behind her and gulping.
"I'm...I'm sorry," he said plainly. He never said sorry to anyone – anyone! "I didn't know. But truly...you don't have to be ashamed," he continued. "Maybe I'm not one to talk, being scarred the way I am, but you are beautiful. You are. But don't think that's solely why I tried."
He said nothing as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back and burying his face in her shoulder. "Perhaps that was my way of thanking you for saving my life. I was wrong," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I don't often have people in my life that find me worthy enough to save. I've been alone, like you, for most of my life. I had to give a damn or nobody else would. I wouldn't have lasted one day."
Ariel heard and was surprised by his apology. It was something she had never expected from him. 'Yet how can I judge him? I know so little, we know so little about each other. He really apologized! He seems sincere.' Her eyes widened in silent surprise. She could not believe her ears. 'He called me beautiful! No one has ever called me that before.'
She turned in his arms finally and hugged him back. "I forgive you and I'm sorry too. I teased you and you paid for it in the end. I'm sorry too." Ariel hugged him tightly, afraid of what would happen if she let go and wish to both give and receive that comfort that neither of them had in life.
"You're wrong though," she finally spoke up. "I'm not beautiful. You don't throw beautiful things away like trash, like they did me. They all did it, even when they promised they wouldn't. Everyone does, you will too. Don't you ever get tired of being alone Jerec? Don't you start forgetting what it was that made you like them? The good, and the bad?" The girl sniffled slightly and hid her face so that she could not see how truly scared and small she felt. Even now she still wanted to be strong in front of him for reasons she could not tell.
Jerec was just as surprised as she was. Truth be told, he didn't have a lot of experience apologizing to anyone for anything. The lives he took for food, the things he stole when he needed it, it was all a part of surviving for him. There was nothing apologize for in the way of nature, whose constant motion of give and take, growth and destruction had been a part of his life since his first memory.
Jerec brushed a hand through her hair and shook his head furiously at her last statement. He knew it came from constant reminders that she was nothing more than garbage. "You'd be surprised how many things go to waste that are beautiful to others," he said. "Here in the forest, you should know better than that: nothing goes to waste that doesn't return to the earth to serve its purpose. You haven't gone to waste. You're not garbage."
He felt himself swarm with anger and he bit the inside of his lip until he felt a slight taste of blood. "I stay alone because I don't have to be reminded of the things that I've had, that I've lost. When I'm alone, it's just me and the trees and the wind and the beating heart of the wild. I'm not like them, not even when I was born. My mother knew my life was going to be hard, different than other men and she tried to prepare me for it...until she was taken from me. I was born to be here. Maybe you were too. This is where we belong."
"Maybe," she agreed still somewhat doubtful. Words from a stranger who she had been running with for days to survive could not change years of experience and ingrained thought. "But Jerec, even wild things have packs. Are there really none like you out here? You deserve a family to run with, people like you. Is being alone that important to you?"
Ariel realized what she was saying and shook her head. "Never mind, forget I asked. That was too personal. I don't know you. I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry. Please don't get mad with me." It was a natural habit to assume that asking questions would get her into trouble. After all it was one of the reasons she had left. She was far too curious to not ask questions and the environment she grew up in demanded her silence.
Yet, another part of her wanted to stamp her foot and demand answers. She did not understand why he was like this and why it made her feel drawn to him. 'I don't even know how old he is or why he lives alone. He may be wild like me but we're still so different. Give it up Owlet. You can run the first chance you get and then you'll never need to worry about him and all the weird tummy feelings you get around him. Just a few more days and it'll all be over. Just hang on until then.'
Jerec almost wanted to laugh at her. Not because he was trying to mock her, but he imagined the sheer idea of a family too was beyond him. He didn't think what he was doing was anything noble or good or more complex than it really was. And he couldn't pretend that it was. He didn't think he deserved a family or a pack as she called it. The truth was he didn't know why he was alone, other than the fact that he liked it. It was something that he was used and he never stayed in company longer than a few weeks or days.
But he frowned as she recanted her questions. "First things first, if you want to know something and you know the one you confront has the answers: demand nothing less," he said firstly. "Secondly, I'm sure there are more out there like me. I haven't bothered to find them, nor have they stumbled upon me. I have a hard time believing that a family ought to be reserved for me, when mine is so long gone. I don't know what the future holds. But I won't argue when it comes for me.
"I was born twenty-three years ago, in a cabin here in the northern forest. My mother was like me, but she kept it from my father. She knew he would have a hard time accepting us, so she hid her blood for the sake of her love for him...and for us. My brother, who was older than me, knew it as well. But I didn't understand. My mother would take us on hunts, to show us what we were when our father was away on his own hunts. It was...a frightening thing, but invigorating at the same time. We would run, hunt, tumble and howl and it was the greatest freedom I'd ever known.
"But my brother and mother were killed by hunters much like the ones that hound us now and my father couldn't understand. He thought it to be no better than murder. For years, he would wail in mourning and look at me in misery. I thought telling him the truth might be a way to ease that misery. But I was wrong, and I understood then why my mother never told him. He...looked at me with such disgust, regret, anger. Told me to be like him, to forget my mother's blood. But I couldn't do that either. I loved my father...but I couldn't live with him. Not like that.
"I ran away. But he hunted me, like I wasn't even his son, like I was just another animal in the woods." He stopped there, his voice had gone hoarse and he didn't know if he could finish the story. He did not regret what he had done, though even he wished it had ended differently. He laid his head down against the root wall and felt blood draw from the inside of his lip as he bit it.
She flinched at his serious tone, expecting a blow that did not come. Curious she tilted her head to the side to listen. The more he told about himself the more she relaxed and even began to smile. 'He's not that much older than me! Well, at least I think he isn't how old am I?' She tried to think on it but could not come up with a definite answer. Time was always a hard thing to keep track of when you were on your own and had bigger problems to focus on.
Yet as the story shifted from a happy family life to his world falling apart, Ariel could feel the space within her chest to ache horribly. 'We're not that different after all. Although he was a bit happier than I, the pain runs deeper with him. Poor Jerec, betrayal of your family is one thing but the loss of ones who cared is even worse.'
Ariel sat up straight in his lap and faced him so that their noses touched. With what little light there was to reflect off them she stared into his eyes. "You're an idiot," she finally declared. "Was it not you who told me not to run from what I fear? Seems though a fool I may be I was right about something. You run because you fear being hurt again. Hurt here," she emphasized by taking his hand and placing it on the tight space that was growing beneath the pale flesh.
The girl could feel her heart beat wildly and painfully there but, she did not let go of his hand. "I'm sorry about your family. I cannot understand all that you have suffered but I would like to think that I understand some." Hesitantly she smiled up at him before latching on to his neck for another warm hug. What she said next she would never understand but, it was leaving her lips before she could stop it. "I'll be your family for now. Or at least until we part, that way we can both not be alone anymore."
She gave him one more squeeze before pulling away far enough to look at him again. There was a playful look about her face now as she wagged a finger at him. "Just no more of that kissy stuff or I might be forced to-," she leaned in close until one eye stared closely back into one of his, "to take drastic measures." Ariel giggled despite herself and hoped that this moment of shared pain would allow them to bond and move forward instead of the continued clashing of heads that kept resulting mostly on her part.
By this point, Jerec couldn't understand her here. Like she, he couldn't comprehend why she would bother listening, but he had to remind himself that they were kindred in spirit in more ways than he thought. He was no longer resentful of the fact as he usually would have been, but he couldn't understand the way she pulled away from him only to zoom back in and hug him. The inconsistency, frankly, was starting to get to him. Why would she say and do one thing, then another? Jerec just frowned, staring at her with confused, somber eyes.
He pulled away from her. "I'm not running because I'm afraid of being hurt!" he said defensively. "I've had my share of feeling and it doesn't matter what happens to my heart. It doesn't make difference if I've had family or not. I'm strong because I made myself that way; I didn't need one to survive before you and I won't need one after you.
"Don't mistake this for pushing you away, but don't pretend to assume more about me than what I've told you. Never make assumptions...but learn to trust your instincts. And don't take anything for granted. What's so wrong with being alone anyway? I don't regret what I've done or the life I've lived. My pain is in the past and there it'll stay. I killed my father because it had to be done; it was either me or him. And I don't regret a single minute of it."
Ariel smiled and shook her head. "Believe what you want and I will believe what I want. You say it is your instincts and I say it's my heart. To each their own." She shrugged. "Maybe you're fine with being alone or maybe you have just convinced yourself of that matter, that's beside the point. The point is we are not alone. Right now, we have each other. Quit being so selfish and defensive! That may have saved you before but we have to work together if we are going to stay together like this for now. Otherwise what is the point? I know I am one to talk but, it is something I have to work on too."
She fell silent for a moment to catch her breath. It had been a long time since she had talked so much and yet in Jerec's company she almost never shut up. 'You may want to be alone but then why am I here? We have been through this. All we do is go in circles. You didn't know I would be useful but then I was. But, you couldn't have known that at the time and yet you still decided to stop being alone to protect me. It makes no sense. I'm tired just thinking about it.'
"It's no wonder you are alone when you send so many conflicting messages!" she growled frustratedly. It surprised her though that her silence had made the pain grow within her. She thought that she had not been affected by it and then all of a sudden she was. It made her angry that she was. 'It's not like I know him. What's the problem?'
Huffing at herself, Ariel got up and after some searching retrieved her shirt and put it on. It was damp and cold and clung to her without providing any warmth. She did not know what she was doing as she just stood there, leaning back against the trunk wall. She did not know whether to run or to stay, to ignore him or to apologize, to cry or to scream. So she did the only thing she thought safe, she kept quiet and stewed.
Jerec sighed, shoulders slumping. "Look," he began, sighing heavily again. "I'm sorry. I just...gods be damned. I don't know how to word anything right. Maybe I should have just eaten you up the moment I found you." He actually smiled then and just laughed. He didn't know who was more stubborn between the two of them. But he knew one thing, that it got them this far and it might even work to their advantage if they could only find the patience for each other. And that...only seemed to come from mutual despair.
Jerec tired of fighting with her, for once. And he just laid down on the ground, still shivering slightly from the loss of warmth and curled up like a pup. "I'm going to sleep now," he said. "I never thought I'd meet someone more stubborn than I was... Stubborn enough to not make me want to fight anymore. Good night."
And he closed his eyes and did just that.
She almost felt bad for him but, her pride and stubbornness got in the way of it all. As cold and uncomfortable as she was, she refused to move back and curl up close to him again. "Good night Jerec," she finally mumbled back once she knew he was at last asleep.
Her eyes had adjusted some to the dark and if she squinted, Ariel could just barely make out his shape in the dark. 'You're such an idiot Jerec. But, I like that about you. You don't take any lies and you don't pull any punches. You're honest and stubborn. You were right when you said I needed someone to take care of me sometimes. You even said that you may as well. Yet, maybe I'm not the one meant to because you get so grumpy when I try. It seems my hotheadedness goes well with your pigheadedness.'
Ariel smiled and settled in for sleep. 'Maybe we are meant to be alone. Or maybe it is better this way. But, in the end, I'm happy we've been able to be alone together. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to care.'
___
Elwyn sighed in relief as he was the last to cross their makeshift bridge, before turning to Jon. "See I told you we would catch up. A few hours lost is nothing. They can't have gotten far. She's too little a thing to drag him far and he wasn't looking in very good shape when we lost sight of them." He placed a hand on the other man's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "We'll get them."
Jon growled and shoved the hand away. "We'd have them already if you hadn't have lost them in the first place! Get Emri. It's time that he did something useful in his worthless life."
"Jon, what are you doing? Hasn't he injured enough men? Don't be stupid! We said we'd get them and we will," Elwyn pleaded, fearful of the consequences of his companion's rashness. The madness in the other man's face was beyond that of his normal persistence and determination. Meeting this wolf-man had certainly changes things and Elwyn did not think that it would be in their favor.
Already as Jon marched ahead to do as he wanted, Elwyn could feel beads of sweat break out on his forehead. 'This is a very bad idea.' The howl that Emri released into the night took his breath away in fear. "Come on Emri!" Jon yelled almost gleefully. "You've got a score to settle. Go find me that bitch and her pet."
"I still don't think this is a good idea. He'll kill them."
Jon kept quiet for a moment as he watched the werewolf that had once been one of his men surge ahead. 'No he won't. They'll kill him and I'll get them. Three birds with one wolf.' A slow smile crossed his lips as he ordered the others to follow but to leave the dogs behind. "They have been useless thus far. Quit worrying so much Elwyn. I'll make sure they don't make a chew toy out of you."
Jerec jerked away to stare in the darkness. He flexed his ears backward to listen more intently and he felt a familiar chill run down his spine. The temperature had dropped significantly since he'd fell asleep until now. And again time was in the balance. But what he'd heard almost brought him another chill as he realized what it was. His mind wandered back to the nightmare he'd had after rescuing Ariel for the first time. Emri, his mind recalled. And he knew then what that howling was.
Immediately Jerec sat up and slid over to Ariel. "Owl," he snapped, shaking her shoulder a little bit. "Did you hear that!? Did you hear it!? They're here. They've made it across! Owl, there's another wolf. Another one like me and he's going to kill both of us. I'm going out there. Promise me you'll stay here, stay hidden! Where he can't find you!"
Jerec could feel the moon pull the wolf out of him. It was not quite full, but it was enough to summon the beast. He felt his breath deepen and he clutched his chest before he bolted for the opening of the trunks roots. It was a tight squeeze as he felt his body grow thicker with muscle, but he managed his way out of the hole and up onto dry land. His body was better rested now and he felt himself grow larger. The change was slower this time as a thick coat of fur covered his skin and his claws grew thicker and longer. His face extended, molded into a snout and his fangs came until his entire body, twice its normal size, became the wolf.
He didn't howl as Emri did. Already he could the other wolf drawing near.
She was falling into a great black pit which had no bottom. It was void of sound. Even as she tried to she could not scream, for no sound escaped her cracked and bleeding lips. Her body felt weary as if she had been falling with no end for years.
Then, suddenly there was a painful, piercing sound that started low and deep before escalating into a high whining. From the darkness a hand reached up and yanked her down to slam her into the infinite pool of sludge that finally resided at the very base of the pit she had been falling into for ages.
With a gasp, Ariel awoke from her dream to Jerec's urgent shaking. Pressing a hand to her head she groaned. "I thought it was the dream." She wobbled to her feet and nodded her head. "Then we best get moving. Wait. What? Jerec!"
Ariel tried to reach for him as he dashed outside. "Jerec you idiot! You tell me he's going to kill us both and then you go out there!" From the safety of the roots she could just barely make out his shifting form in the moonlight. It gave her pause as she stared memorized in both fascination and fear.
'It's still Jerec. He cares about you, remember. He told you that. He even told you to stay. Stay! Oh if he doesn't die out there I'm going to kill him! How dare he!' She nearly followed only to remember all the other times she had done stupid rash things around him and gotten them both injured and herself nearly killed. "Think Owlet! Don't get him killed before you get the chance to."
Her eyes darted about looking for anything, any reason to leave or stay. "He told me to stay hidden and to stay here. But, he never said I couldn't climb." Steeling herself, Ariel grabbed onto the root walls and used them to propel herself up into the hollow part of the trunk. Just above her she could see a hole where moonlight filtered into the tree. From there she climbed out onto a thick branch and stayed put. 'Not my brightest idea, but from here I can at least know if he needs help or not. Oh please be safe Jerec. I would really hate to have to kill you.'
__
Emri tore rapidly across the terrain following the two mingled scents that he come to loathe. Nothing would get in the way of his prey. He was so close he could taste their sweet blood on his tongue. His howl of anticipation rang out once more in the dark and he picked up speed.
Thoughts of crushing bones and tearing flesh spurred him on. The pound of his heart matched the beating pace of his limbs tearing at the earth. He was only slowed as he neared their hideaway. The trees were close here, making maneuvering difficult but, that was only a minor hindrance. Another blood-chilling howl permeated the air, signaling his arrival.
The scent was strong, that of dried blood and sweat and odor not his own. Jerec's nose crinkled as it sniffed and he bounded off towards it. He didn't need to go far, thankfully as he found glowing eyes return back to him as if an omen of what was to come. Jerec didn't need an omen, and he bared his teeth back and growled at the other wolf, a warning not to take another step closer. He stood on his hind legs and let the fur around his neck rise and fluff to make himself appear even larger than he already was.
But his size was dwarfed by the size of Emri and the other wolf's cold breath cloud and hang in the air as he too stood back on hind legs. Jerec took several steps forward, gauging the distance between them and growling louder and angrier this time to keep him back. Yet the other wolf was growing too bold and he roared before lunging at Jerec, claws unleashed full-force ready to dig them into Jerec's hide.
Jerec fell backwards and tumbled but missed being pierced by his opponent's claws. He was back on all fours but not before Emri lunged forward and attempted to sink his teeth into his throat. Jerec slashed his claws at him, cutting him across the face and putting more ground between them.
Below on the ground, the hunters had circled around and were closing in on Jerec from behind, bidding their time until Emri had weakened their prey enough for them. Jon suddenly looked up as a flash of moonlight above caught his eye. Staring intently he nearly missed her until she moved again. "Look Elwyn," he chuckled pointing up at one of the branches. "Our little tree-rat is stuck. What do you say we help her down?"
______
From her high up perch, the young girl watched the death brawl that was unfolding. There was an even greater newly found respect for Jerec once she saw the way he fought. But, the fear that overtook her negated most of that once she saw how much bigger this other was in comparison. 'He'll never win. Please be safe Jerec!' Her head whipped back and forth as she desperately watched the enfolding events, praying for it to end, wishing she could help.
The smell of burning wood drew her attention downward. Flames were climbing quickly up her tree, clawing their way up to her. She could hear the hunters jeer at her to come down, making false promises that she knew they would not keep. 'Sorry Jerec but, this time I need to save my own skin.'
Ariel threw herself from one branch to another, trying to find a tree close enough to jump to. But, there were none. The fire rose higher and higher, sending irritating smoke into her eyes and nose. As she coughed and tried to brush the tears out of her eyes, her grip slipped and she dropped heavily to the ground, temporarily stunned.
The heat of the blaze brought her back to her senses and drove her to her feet. Ariel knew she was in dangerous footing now. With Jerec and the other wolf fighting at her back, the burning tree to her right, and the hunters at her front and left, there was nowhere for her to run to safety. 'I will be a burden no longer!' Recklessly she barreled into the group of men, hoping to steal a knife and move to higher ground once more. 'I'm not going to let you hurt him because of me!'
Jerec had underestimated his opponent. Though he'd been a wolf longer, Emri was larger and stronger than he was. He was gradually driving him back, but only because he was able to use brute force to counter Jerec's agile and tactical movements. But where he couldn't overthrow Emri with his own strength, he began to look for his weakest points of balance and had him on the ground after evading his claws a few times more. Jerec was getting tired and so was Emri and the blood shed on the ground was equally caused by the both of them.
As soon as Emri was on the ground, Jerec dove for the creature's throat. He felt nails sink into his neck however as Emri raised an arm and blocked his attack just in time. If it weren't for the thickness of his fur, Jerec knew the claws would have sunk into his jugular. He growled and lunged his own claws out at his opponent. Emri carried him up off the ground as the hunters began to close in.
There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and there were too many of their number to fight them all. Not with Emri here with his claws at his throat. Jerec choked against the hand around his throat. Suddenly he raised his feet and clawed them against Emri's chest, startling his opponent, breaking his grip and making him tumble backwards. Jerec rolled back and headed for the hunters instead. He saw Ariel leap into them, but they quickly had her out numbered.
As he lunged for one hunter, he felt a blade enter into his shoulder and it burned like wildfire, causing him to yelp and howl as the silver left his flesh. He put his back toward a tree, even as Emri regain his footing and begin his own assault on the hunters that were in his way between him and his prey.
Her plan to head for higher ground was not working in her favor but, Ariel continued to do the best she could. Knowing that her size and strength worked against her she attacked with quick, crippling blows: box the ears, punch the jugular, break small bones in neck, hands and feet.
She was running almost completely on adrenaline. The girl could not feel the pain that came from them cutting at her or yanking and grabbing her. It was only when metal sliced into the meat of her thigh that she cried out and collapsed to her knees. The pain served to anger her though but also to pause and realize just how reckless and stupid she was being.
'Jerec is going to kill me,' she thought nervously as her eyes trailed up in front of her to see a man kneel before her and reach out to touch her face.
____
The men had gone from jeering and cheering to screaming and running as Emri turned on them with only one thing in mind: kill the wolf. Anything in his path he destroyed, knocking the men away as if they were blades of grass.
Elwyn watched in fascinated horror the events that were unfolding. He worried about Jon and his choices as they came closer and closer to getting them all killed. A female cry drew his attention away from the wolf-men and down to the ground where the little fighter had dropped. A knife was embedded in her thigh which she just stared at as if surprised to see her own blood.
Slowly, he knelt down and found himself reaching for her. "If you give up now, no more harm will come to you. You mustn't keep fighting like this." The look in her eyes was that of a scared lonely child. Elwyn could see so much fear and vulnerability in the look and tried to smile reassuringly as she moved closer to him.
"See, nothing is going t-" he gasped as white-hot pain surged through his abdomen. Looking down he saw a little hand wrapped firmly around the hilt of a dagger whose point now fit snuggly into his own stomach. 'Sly little tree-rat'
The eyes that looked at him now burned down on him with hate. A lip curled in disgust, then she was gone again. Elwyn did not care to take note as to where. He had more important things to take care of. Yet for the life of him, the urgency to move, to retreat, did nothing for him. Incredulously he stared down at himself and laughed. "And he said I would be the beast's first victim."
He chuckled again. The sounds of the chaos were muted to him almost, as if they were happening very far off in the distance. Ahead of him he watched the monster Emri had become wipe out three more hunters in his pursuit of the prey. Men scattered about, many retreating now in fear of the beasts rather than staying in fear of their employer. It seemed to him at least, that the odd pair might have a chance after all.
Blood dripped from his open wounds, seeping into his fur. Jerec knew in the best of times, he could have slaughtered all of them, or scared them away. Even he, a beast in heart and mind, preferred to control just how much red gushed from his palms. But in the center of the fray, it seemed like there was to be no hope, no point of return and he could feel the weight of the world pressing down on him. And somewhere in that pressure, he could feel a remaining ember spark a brushfire in him. Despite the burning of his wounds and the blood he'd lost, Jerec managed to get on his feet and a rage began to burn sickeningly in his gut.
Oh how he hated to be cornered, but here he was prey chased for sport, not survival. His hatred began to boil over in a melting pot of absolute rage, that roiled like the sea against the battered sides of a ship. Time was quickly running short. Here at the center, the order by which Jon and his men had planned their attack was quickly turned against them as Emri rushed in towards Jerec, throttling any and all in his way. The men, even those with silver in their grasp, had fled in terror without even bothering to use their weapons as the large wolf came for him. But Jerec was ready this time and met Emri's lunge with his own claws outstretched. He felt his nails puncture through the thick fur there. While he was considerably smaller than his opponent, Jerec felt his anger surge through every vein and vessel in his body, smashing into Emri with the fury and rage of the Wild unleashed within.
He was like a viper coiled up and struck with everything he had. He tore Emri's chest open, much to the larger wolf's surprise and his opponent yelped out and howled. The damage was severe and was enough to incapacitate Emri for a few seconds more before Jerec turned his rage on the hunters. There were well more than thirty people in the lot, though more than ten had fled, heading back to the river. Yet, there were many still brave enough to stand their ground, Jon included.
Jon saw with wide eyes as his comrade had fallen, his face turning white as he watched Elwyn drop. For a moment, he was distracted and felt as if the air had become like molasses. Jon was caught between a mixture of shock and anger and all he could do to maintain composure was to holler out his own primal call.
Jerec had no time to take in what was happening around him. He dropped whatever hunters he could, not worrying whether he only killed or injured them and searched for the familiar scent of his companion. Still fuelled by adrenaline, he had found the space between Ariel and the rest of the hunters and violently snatched her up with a huge clawed hand, yanking her up by the arm and leaping off to gain distance between them. By this time, Emri had managed to get back on his own feet, clutching his shredded chest, breathing heavily, but the fight was far from beaten out of him. He wanted to charge again, to follow the scent of his prey, but Jon quickly gave the order for him to be subdued, and the beast fell as he was trapped by a ring of silver as the remaining hunters drew their weapons.
Emri still clutched his chest and felt the sting of the silver as he came into contact with one, quickly stepping back and taking his place.
Jon turned back to Elwyn and called for a few other men to help that were not wounded or occupied with the wolf. "You're bleeding like a stuck pig," Jon said kneeling beside his friend and offering a wry grin despite the circumstances. Elwyn almost wanted to laugh but Jon stopped him. "It doesn't look that grave, but we'll take care of you. We were so close, Elwyn. We'll get them again. I'll get that little runt of a bitch that did this to you. To that I swear."
Ariel tore herself from his grasp the moment they stopped to take a breather. The pain of putting her weight on her wounded leg made her inhale sharply and wobble as she tried to regain her balance. Stubbornly, she limped away from Jerec. A battle raged within her to lash out at him or to be silent. For now she chose silence except for a few terse words.
"There is a place not far from here where we can regroup. You can come or you can go but we are both hurt and in need of tending." Turning her back to him she continued on slowly, trying to ignore the jarring pain shooting through her thigh with every step she took. Her pride kept her from asking for help though.
The cave behind the waterfall was just across the clearing. She had spent some of her winter months in it, protected by the ice shield that the falls became. Her fists clenched tightly, the one clutching the dagger, imprinting the leather pattern of the hilt painfully into her palm.
It was taking everything in her power not to whip around and throw the silver weapon at Jerec. The anger with herself and with him boiled dangerously within her, waiting to be released once she was settled and feeling a bit safer.
Jerec collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion from his transformation. His body resorted back to the flesh and he laid there on the ground, bare bummed and naked and gritting his teeth in pain from his wounds. His flesh still burned where the silver touched him and he couldn't have bothered to pay attention to a word Ariel said in her anger.
His muscles were contorted and his blood simmered from its boil. Gradually he found the strength to push himself up from the ground, slowly while Ariel was too busy being pissed off. Perhaps she'd just forgotten, but he'd just saved her life – again. There was not going to be any easy way out of this, he was starting to grasp on the concept now.
He dug his hands into the ground and pushed himself up, standing against a tree for support. He cleared his throat and shot a dagger gaze at her. "You ought to be thankful," he said hoarsely. "I saved you're life! I told you to stay hidden! What is the matter with you?"
But, of course that precarious balance within her was once more pushed over by the werewolf. Later Ariel might reflect on the fact that he was the only one who consistently managed to send her on such an emotional hurricane whirl. Now, however she was too far gone with adrenaline to think clearly and analysis her current psychological state of being.
Whipping around, she had to pause momentarily as her leg gave out and the world shifted sharply. With a growl, Ariel pulled herself back up to also lean against a tree, staring Jerec down angrily. Her breath came in fast short puffs of air and her lips twitched as if holding back a snarl.
"What is the matter with me? What is the matter with you? 'He's going to kill us,' you said. 'I'm going out there,' you said. Do you really think I'm going to sit around and watch you die and then wait there for me to be next? No! What am I supposed to do if you die? This is all your fault!"
Ariel took a few hopping steps closer until she was toe-to-toe with the injured man. "This is your fault," she cried again, jabbing a finger into his chest with each pointed word. "Your fault for dragging me into this, your fault for saving my life, your fault for making me worry, for making me care! It's all your fault!" she sobbed, dropping the silver knife numbly.
The tears seemed to wash away the anger and the fear as only pain was left behind. The young woman fought to control her tears and ignore the raging headache forming behind her eyes. "What am I supposed to do if you die? You show up in my life and turn everything the wrong way. Get me thinking weird things and then just like that you'll be gone again. I'm so lost and confused, Jerec."
Sniffling, she looked him over and saw the extent of his injuries. She recognized how much pain he was in and how her stubborn pride was getting in the way of helping him. Ariel sighed and shook her head. "Come on. We need to get you all patched up before you bleed on me," the jest sounding flat even to her ears as she tried to take him by the arm.
If he could conceive of the concept of something to kill his pain, he would drown in it. His mind was under attack, caught between attention to the pain from the silver burns, from the after burn of rage, and the growing impatience at being challenged and being unable to meet it. But it was an impatience that fluttered away with the ashes of his rage and all he could do was endure her gaze and he closed his eyes and let his head rest against the tree.
The hatred of helplessness was absent and all he felt was the cold air embraced him, icy against his moist skin. After her tirade was over, Jerec didn't resist when her when she tried to help him by taking his arm. But inside he was roiling over and over from the brunt of her words. He knew she was right, in his heart of hearts, but he didn't know what to say. What could he say? That he was trying to protect her? How could she have known that he was going to die? Even he didn't; he never thought about it...but maybe he should have.
Jerec grimaced and forced that thought from his mind. As he limped along beside Ariel, doing his best to hold his own weight. Finally he found the strength to speak, but did not look at her. "Who's more worse for wear?" he asked with a grin of his own. "You or me?"
Ariel looked him over, her eyes reflecting understanding even as she smiled cheekily. "Me, of course," she boasted, looking at him from the corner of her eye as she led him through the waterfall into the cave. "I really, really hate being wet," she grumbled under her breath as she shook her head slightly, her squelching as it slapped her in the face.
The cave itself was well-stocked from bandages, to clothes, to firewood, it had everything one small girl would need to survive a winter inside it. She left Jerec to settle himself, feeling it would better than to have him growling at her that he did not need her help. Although, Ariel was surprised at how out of character he seemed to be. 'He must be hurt very badly. I wonder what the silver does to him. Does it poison him? How is it treated? Does he even know?'
Limping still, she gathered clean rags, thread, and a sea sponge into a woven basket before flopping down with it next to Jerec. "Let me help?" The look in her eyes was more than just a pleading to be helpful but also a silent heartfelt apology. Ariel filled the basket with water and dunked the sponge into it, hoping to wipe away the dried and still flowing blood on them both. "I wish you didn't get hurt because of me," she whispered, refusing to look at him.
Jerec whimpered weakly as they entered the cave. Once inside he shook his head, freeing it from water, and looked around to find a comfortable place to sit. He couldn't remember placing this cave before... In fact, he was sure he'd never seen it. His companion had surprised him yet again. He grinned. Perhaps she was more traveled than he thought she was; there was hope yet. He knew his faith had not been misplaced for this place she had chosen, though not far, was well-hidden.
The water fall gleamed and reflected back onto the stonewalls from the moonlight that passed through the watery veil. It was beautiful and a welcomed sight when compared to the state of his present person; she no better. Jerec sat down, but to stone and, nursing his cuts and bruises. The burning sensation had subsided a little and his flesh no longer smoked, but given time, his wounds would heal.
Looking up at her, Jerec nodded. As she cleaned the wounds that bled still, he winced and whimpered like a sad, lost pup and frowned. "You wish a lot of things, Ariel," he said, calling her by her real name. "But you know I only wanted to protect you. Protect both of us. I don't mind getting hurt if it means defending something I care about."
He stopped there, not realizing what he'd just said, not even sure he had even felt that way. He didn't know how long he was going to stay with her, or even when he began to trust her. But somehow, in this way, he did, rather wholeheartedly so.
Being called by her true name made the girl freeze in place for a moment before she continued. She would have protested being called it had Jerec not continued speaking. 'Protect me? Does he-oh, protect us. Of course; I should have known that.' Then once more Ariel was freezing in her movements. Her head shot up to stare at Jerec's face, to judge for herself the meaning of his words.
'Defending something I care about,' repeated over and over in her head like a beating drum. 'He defended me. He cares. I care. How strange, I'd forgotten what that was like. Maybe for once it will end differently.'
Ariel finished up treating his wounds and bandaged them up quickly before moving to address her own. "And a lot of good my wishes do. After all what are wishes but empty words we know will never change the course of the future. I wish you didn't get hurt," she shrugged and motioned her heads towards him, "but, you're still hurt. You'll heal but, it doesn't matter anyway."
Steeling herself, she began the painful task of sewing the deep gash on her leg. Her eyes teared as she gritted her teeth and pressed on until the job was done. 'Remember pain Owl? Remember the dead feel no pain. Ariel is gone only Owl remains.' Grunting, she got to her feet and grabbed some clothes and blankets to wrap them both up in.
"Thank you, for everything," she finally admitted as she unfolded a blanket on his lap. Gently but swiftly she reached a hand behind his head and pressed her lips against his own. Her fingers ran through his hair softly, not wanting to hurt him, but her lips were bruising in their assault.
Jerec was amazed at the sheer amount of supplies that was stocked up here. He almost wanted to laugh that she called herself Owlet instead of Squirrel for all the items she had stowed away here he was sure done over a period of time. He almost wanted to ask just how long it had taken her to accumulate all these items: blankets and bandages and miscellaneous clothes no doubt stolen. But he grunted as she fixed his wounds and he realized it didn't matter.
He looked over his wounds, observing her work. It was suitable, though no salve had been applied. The silver burns couldn't be treated with normal methods and the bandages would only irritate it further, but he said nothing about it. He only could watch her then as she began work on herself, fixing her own wounds, starting with the nasty gash on her leg. He bit his lip in thought, the blood reminding him of hunger and sorrow at the same time. She was so much stronger than she knew, and yet, Jerec knew they could never truly be equals. She lacked so much faith in herself, he thought. Faith she so rightly deserved.
He was tired, soothed in the afterglow of rage, and leaned against the wall of the cave. Curling his limbs up against himself, Jerec hugged his legs and watched with some wariness as she neared. He did not expect her to cover him. She spoke, drew closer and pressed her mouth to his, catching him off guard. He physically stiffened and pulled his face away from her. "What are you doing?" he asked, his eyes not daring to look at her.
He shied away from her and now he would not even look at her. Ariel leaned in and pecked him on the lips one more time before falling away to rest at his side. She chose not to get upset by his reaction, trying to blame it on him being hurt and her startling him. "Nothing," she replied very childishly, also refusing to look at him.
In an attempt to distract herself from talking his ear off or bothering him, she decided to switch her clothes. The pants came off slowly and with only a few winces as they passed over the treated gash. At last off, they got unceremoniously tossed to the far end of the cave before she was speeding up what she was doing.
Now dressed, she paused as she held her former shirt in her hands. It had been the one he had been wearing and was now hers. Something inside her claimed it and demanded it kept close while another part rolled its mental eyes and humored the first part. The wet article of clothing quite folded and plopped down beside her.
Biting her lip, Ariel looked around for something else to do. Her leg hurt too much to be walking around much and she was resisting sleep, feeling it was her duty to keep an eye on Jerec. As she sat there with one of the blankets wrapped around her like a cloak, her mind began to wander and she found that she had so many questions to ask Jerec, specifically about his "wildness" as she had come to call it.
Ariel looked over at her companion beside her and sighed. Only a few minutes had passed and she had run out of things to do and think about. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" she asked hesitantly. "Do the silver ones need something special?" She truly desired to help and would rather face his petulance at being assisted than not ask at all.
Jerec grunted, unsure as to the motives of her attentions and certainly not in the mood to care for them in the first place. As always he was quick to irritate and moved his head away from her again. But he surreptitiously cast a glance at her, curious as she moved to change her clothes. She was acting so different around him, so much more open. He figured it was about time he started to as well. So much has brought them together, so much pain and blood and anger and violence. He was starting to see her as his friend, though he knew time and again he didn't need any friends. The forest was his friend, his most unforgiving of friends, but he knew how to survive. Here with another being, a person, a girl no less, he had no idea what he was doing. He was monster playing man.
The thought slipped away and he closed his eyes to sleep, but his stomach kept him awake. The feast from the night before, he knew it wouldn't last. His body burned through energy, food and water all the same, like how a fire at until it was embers. His gut was cold, hollow like the tree she had hid them in. If there was ever the time he felt so helpless, like prey, it was now. Not even when he washed up from the river did he feel so broken. His mind wandered to the wolf that fought for the hunters, something that he knew he had created. Before they were just men, but now they had something more and for the first time since the hunt began, he felt truly threatened.
Jerec shivered underneath the blanket and huddled it further around himself, the silver wounds reminding him of that weakness, whittling its way further and further into his mind. His stomach growled again, and his head throbbed. Taking a breath he looked up at his companion, thinking of the blood that dripped from her body, of the warmth of its taste as it touched his tongue the first night he met her. His head throbbed louder, he could hear his heart beat in his ears and the sound of her voice as she spoke was drowned out.
Eventually he snapped out of it and looked at her as if she were a meal. He reached out a hand and pushed off the blanket from her thigh, slowly and unthreateningly. "I need to feed," he explained. "The blood...from your leg...just loosen the stitches...just for a moment. I won't...I won't bite you. Blood will do."
"Blood?" she repeated, swallowing thickly. 'You couldn't have said that before I put my pants back on?' Nodding her head slowly, Ariel struggled back out her pants and tried to hurry her efforts to loosen the stitches. They were already caked in dried blood though and would not be easily moved.
Huffing in frustration, she grabbed a knife from one of her supply piles and just cut half the threads down the middle. She resolved that she would pull them out and retie them at a later time; Jerec was more important now. His shivering concerned her when she should have been more wary of the hungered look he was sending her way.
Ariel leaned back on her elbows, silently allowing him access to what he wanted. Detachedly she watched as a dark red, almost maroon, drop began to glide down the pale flesh towards her knee. Her breathing became so slow and shallow, she was almost not breathing at all. The battle between nervousness and trust kept her frozen in place. He had taken blood before and never once harmed her. But, he also had not been as injured as badly as he was now.
To keep her mind from the topic she found it soon wandering back to the questions she had. Ariel had promised herself to be quiet and not irritate him but the more she thought about it the more it niggled at her mind begging her to speak, even if he would not listen to her. But, still she hesitated. "Will this be enough," she asked instead. "I can go hunt something. You need your strength."
Jerec had never been so vampiric in his ways, but for the sake of not tearing into her then and there, he took his time and let the blood she offered him be enough to nourish him for now. He leaned over her and lapped up the thick, red liquid of life that dripped from her thigh. He resisted the temptation to bite into the meat there, and drank his fill. The blood eventually slowed its flow and he leaned against her stomach, laying his head against the warmth of her belly there.
"That was enough," he said through bloodied lips. "Thank you. You couldn't hunt anyway... Not with this leg of yours."
Ariel would be lying if she said she did not like the sudden weight of his head resting against her. In those moments of vulnerability for them both she felt a little less alone. Her heart warmed within her chest and she unconsciously rested her hand on his head, gently carding her fingers through his hair.
"You sure? I would hate for you to suddenly get hungry and decide I might make a nice snack." Shifting slightly, she pulled the blanket up to cover them both. "Can I ask you something, Jerec? I mean there is a lot I don't know about you and I think it's only fair that I know the things that involve me, like how much of the legends are true. The full moon is coming, should I be worried? And that other wolf, do you know him? He seemed awfully interested in you, unless that was a territory thing."
Jerec only knew of legends what he heard when in the rare moments he caught conversation as he traveled into populated areas. He was never one to stay in civilization for long, the pollution of judgment and scrutiny and humanity permeating the air and choking him into near submission; there was only so much he could take in one sitting.
Jerec buried his face against her belly, feeling the softness there with his cheek and looked out to the water at the cave opening. "The full moon..." he repeated. He wiped his mouth. "The truth is, I can change whenever I want, provided I have the energy to burn. The moon...only makes me want it more." He pressed his lips warmly to her stomach before finding the strength to return to his own spot beside the wall. "I think the other wolf was the one I had bitten when we escaped. I was fighting them and I got the one they called Emri in the shoulder. He was the wolf... I could smell him. They have him in their thrall somehow...control that's shaky at best, but something's there. Maybe it's the silver. I don't know."
He looked over at her. "What more do you need to know?" he asked softly.
"So you can change at will, you're not forced to change with the moon, your bite no matter when will change a person, and silver maims," she repeated thoughtfully.
She sat up as she mulled what she knew and found still more questions. "The blood though, don't you need to eat? How can just blood sustain you? I thought it was those batpeople that needed blood." As she pondered, her mind kept circling back to the hunters though. The idea of Jerec changing someone had brought up a lot of scenarios in her mind, both good and bad.
"Before you said that they used Emri but their control is shaky. Typical, how quick humans turn on their own but, could they in turn use it on you? His mind, I don't know maybe you were the same but his mind seemed warped, not quite his anymore. I would hate to have to worry about you taking a bite out of me," she jested. "Although if you did maybe then I would have a better chance of beating you in a tussle."
Ariel paused then and retreated slightly into her own mind. The possibility had some merit and she wondered if Jerec would do it. 'It would mean finally getting rid of the last traces of the scourge. But, then I would be like him. Do I want to be hunted like this all the time?'
"Does it bother you that he was turned?" she finally voiced aloud. "Aside from him now hunting us I mean. Do you even care? I don't know how everything works. The stories they tell are meant to scare human children into staying in bed." Ariel shrugged and let her gaze fall on the moonlight bouncing of the water to dance reflections on the cave walls. "I stopped listening to them a long time ago. It's so hard to know truth from lie, but I'm sure you know that."
Dawn was soon coming. The night had been a long one and for one, Jerec was weary to the bones. He kept silent the whole time, training his vision to soothe by the glare of the water as it reflected moonlight, or what was left of it. He saw the moon in its near entirety, five fifths full and would finish by the next evening... The full moon. He'd told her he'd wanted it more, but he didn't tell her how much more. Wolves belonged to the moon, to the night and in the distance, his ear twitched as it caught a ghastly moan that attempted to portray itself as a howl to the moon. Jerec grimaced; he could only imagine what those hunters had to do to get Emri under control again. He didn't care for Emri's sake, he was still a bastard that needed killing no matter what form he took, but silver burned like a son-of-a bitch. Thankfully Emri was just the son of a bitch that deserved it.
"Sometimes...well, most of the time...your mind is not your own, when you change. It's you but it isn't you. You feel yourself, your body, transform into this nigh unstoppable force. You feel invincible, true, wild. But if you're not careful, you could get yourself killed, you'll kill anyone or anything that gets in your way. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you feel, you're caught up in everything, in a rush. You're blood becomes hot, like fire, like lightning. A storm rides inside you."
Jerec paused, solemn. He supposed that was the best way to describe it. It was the only real way he knew how for he was never one to be so eloquent with words. "Even legends have some basis of truth. Blood holds me for the moment. It's the stuff of life, but you had no idea how hard it was not to tear into your leg when it was right in front of me. Meat is better, but I eat what I can get: fruit, nuts, vegetables. Anything is good to eat when you're out here. Unless it's poisonous, but even those don't have the same potency.
"Emri will change with the moon, because he has to, not because he wants to. The moon calls to him just as strongly, but he doesn't have the control that I do. I was born Wolf, my blood is purer than his. But not just that, I learned through experience of my years. I don't care that he's changed, but I do that he's hunting me. Hunting you as well. He was stronger than me. Look at all the damage just he did alone, not to mention the silver of those hunters." He paused again, looking at her.
"I don't think I want to imagine the thought of transforming you," he said, grinning mischievously.
Ariel smiled back. "You only say that because you know I would tear you to shreds." Her chest puffed out in mock pride and she threw her head back to chuckle. "Seriously though, don't go forgetting me and decide I look like a leg of lamb because I promise to make your afterlife a nightmare if you do.
"Do you need to rest before the full moon?" she asked changing topics. "We might be safe here. The water will throw the scent off and keep us hidden. Then there is always the tunnels that lead deeper. Although," Ariel paused to glance back into them, "I only know where one leads. They are easier to get lost in and I doubt we want to head further into civilization. Sorry I'm no help in that area."
She could feel her eyelids droop but, continued to fight the heaviness. The young woman had decided Jerec was her first priority and she damn well was going to follow through with making sure he was going to be alright. It would probably be the last chance she got to do something useful for a while before she was in trouble for reckless stupidity again. "You should get some rest. Maybe you'll heal faster then," she suggested weakly. "I won't yap your ear off anymore, I promise, for now."
Jerec actually found the energy to laugh. "Don't kid yourself, little owl," he said. "I don't even like lamb." He laughed again and looked at her a little more seriously afterward, thinking a little in what she said. Afterlife. What a curious thing. It wasn't something he would consider himself an expert on, for all he knew was the here and now. The promises of life beyond seemed little more than an imperceptible dream to him, like trying to touch your reflection in a pond, rippling away on contact.
"We'll be fine for the moment," he said. "Rest is something we both desperately need." He laid down then, brushing off the blanket a little on him and was soon fast asleep, dreaming nothing and he liked it just that way.
She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, secretly reveling in being called little owl. It made her happy that he had dropped using that other name. Ariel was really coming to regret ever giving it to him in the first place. It had become his way to get her attention and while it worked it raised her metaphorical hackles.
The young woman battled a bit longer with her body and finally lost, giving in to curl up and join him in slumber. Her mind did not rest though and danced with images of silvery orbs and lonely howls. She would wake a few times always to check on Jerec before succumbing once more to rest.
After the seventh time though she gave up on sleep and sat up quietly. Her eyes would drift over to her companion's form, but she tried to keep her staring to a minimum. She feared just looking at him would disturb his needed sleep. The moment was peaceful as nature breathed all around her, making her love her choice to leave them all over again. 'I'll let him sleep a little longer. He deserves that much. We have time.'
Jerec slept soundly and did not disturb easily. He'd never been a heavy sleeper; that kind of alertness was necessary for a life in the forest. The cave was decidedly warm, though he did not shiver. He never shivered when it came to the cold, but he felt something warm at his back and pressed into it, not really caring what it was unless it tore into him, which it didn't.
He could hear the early morning birds, and he stirred with their sound. The cave was still very much dark when he opened his eyes, the dawn coming. He'd only slept for a few hours, but it was all he needed for now. He turned on his back from his side and blinked in the darkness.
He returned her stare for a long while, lying on his back. "Come here," he whispered, holding out his hand to her.
Ariel startled at his command and was beside him before she had realized she had even gotten up. "Are you hungry?" she asked worriedly, kneeling down beside him and slipping her hand into his own. 'He should have slept longer. Who knows when sleep will come again. I probably woke him up. Shouldn't have been staring! You don't like it when people do that to you, do you Owlet? Little Idiot!'
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you."
Jerec shook his head at her as he took her hand and gently pulled her down to lay atop him. He wanted to hold her and wrapped his arms around her when she was in range, whether she cared to be held or not. "The birds outside did, not you. You did nothing wrong. You keep me warm," he said softly.
"How did you sleep?"
"Jerec stop! I'll hurt you like this, your wounds," she protested weakly, trying to wiggle away without causing any more damage. She relented though in the end, settling down carefully and resting her head on his shoulder. If she had not been so concerned for his health she would have been enjoying it a bit more. The closeness and warmth was soothing to tired frazzled nerves. His heartbeat close to her ear was comforting and she finally began to relax in his arms.
"I slept. Or at least I think I did. It's kind of hard to tell when I see you even when my eyes are closed. And you? Are you feeling any better? Should I got hunt down those nasty birds that woke you up when you should be resting?" Ariel kept her tone light and smiled softly at her half-serious jests.
His wounds, save for the ones caused by silver, had already begun the healing process. With the blood she'd given him, he was returning to his normal state. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face into her neck, into her hair and breathed in the scent he found there, water sweat, blood, and tears.
"No, you don't have to go around killing any birds," he assured her. He grinned against her cheek and pressed his lips there for a moment. "You don't have to go anywhere."
She giggled and squirmed slightly as he snuffled at her neck before settling back down. "Good because I rather like being here." Ariel sighed contently as her fingers ran gently over his chest, surprised that many of the injuries she had treated were gone or nearly so. "So fast," she murmured, "another wolf thing? Your healing is so much quicker than mine."
Tiny peck were placed on the now healed wounds of his upper chest as she worked her way up. ""You carry so many scars." Leaning over his face she stared down at him and smiled softly. "How did you get this one?" she finally asked, rubbing her thumb gently across where it ended on his cheek. "I like them, all of them."
The silver wound in his shoulder was the tenderest one of all and still hadn't started healing. The burning sensation was partially gone and it did not bleed, but contact would have made him yelp like a kicked pup. The healing of his other wounds, especially those deep gashes caused by the other wolf's claws. He'd been more afraid those would have trouble closing, but he took for granted that his companion would not have helped him.
He smiled at her in her exploration, and squeezed her a little tighter to him. That was until she mentioned the scar on his face. His smile faded and he frowned a little. He bit his lip in thought, considering his response.
"A parting gift," he said, "from my father just before I killed him. He was very good at one he did, just before I got him he got me. Took a dagger of silver, sliced it right across my face. It took three years to fully heal. But it's still tender, even to this day."
"Sorry," she hissed, immediately pulling her hand away from where it made contact with the scar. "I didn't know." Ariel leaned in and kissed his other cheek in apology and laid back down again. She was content to lay there silently for a while, sharing his comfort and breathing his scent.
"The woman at the orphanage hit me over the head with a frying pan once," she volunteered, nuzzling her head into his neck. "I thought my ears would never stop ringing. I was always getting into trouble, even when I didn't mean to." Her breath whistled out of her as she chuckled quietly. "Were you a terror as a child too, Jerec? Or did you just never get caught?"
A shiver went down his spine at the sensation of breath on his neck and he nuzzled his face into her hair. He kissed her forehead and brushed his fingers through the tresses there. Boy was he glad he made her take a bath, she certainly didn't smell as bad anymore and her hair was far easier to comb through now.
"That woman sounds like she would make a fine meal," he joked and chuckled. "Now don't get me wrong, I don't always go looking for humans to eat. They're too much of a hassle to hunt down most of the time what with all the screaming and yelling in terror. They're more work than they're worth, really. A deer provides a better meal...but you know...beggars can't be choosers." He smiled and kissed her forehead again, letting his lips linger there for a moment.
"As a child," he repeated, mulling it over. "I was...a brat. I whined a lot, I remember, cried when I didn't know what was going on. I wanted to go wherever my brother went. My mother boxed my ears when I didn't listen. My brother and I fought constantly over my place as his living shadow. But mostly...I did as I was told. My mother dished out all the punishment though for Father was out mostly on his hunts. When he came back, it was bliss. He was a good man, never raised his voice, never knew a harsh word."
Ariel reached up and pulled the feather headband out of her hair and tossed it to the side. It felt good to have the werewolf pet her hair like that and she did not want to hinder him in any way from continuing. "She would have made a terrible meal, like a squirrel. She had to have been all gristle and bone. And you better be a choosy beggar around me. I don't fancy having to start running. I'm far too comfortable right here." She gave him another chaste kiss and closed her eyes as if demonstrate just how comfortable she was.
"You sound like you were a normal child growing up. It must have been nice," she commented neutrally. Her hands had begun to wander again, drawing imaginary long-forgotten letters on his chest. She did not even realize what she was doing until she glanced down and watched her hand form a letter "s" and then an "o" right after it.
Her mind drifted back a few days, and could not believe their time together had been so short. She felt like they had always been fighting and running now. She could not say though that she did not like the moments in between, moments like now where the world seemed quiet and still.
"I can't believe you made me get rid of my dirt though," she pouted, her brows crinkling together. "I like my dirt." Ariel laughed suddenly and shook her head. "Since I met you have I have been thoroughly drenched," she counted on her fingers for a moment, "four times. I blame you for that. I hate being wet."
"You needed it. I like you clean, it's never good to have that much dirt on you and not feel yourself crack like a dried riverbed. Do you even remember the last time you had a bath?" he asked rhetorically. Jerec pulled her up higher on his body and held on to her tighter. "Besides with you clean, I can finally smell the real you. I can finally run my fingers through your hair. I can finally taste your lips better."
He pressed his mouth to hers, a lot less chaste than she to him, kissing her as he'd never kissed anyone before. He pulled away for a moment and grinned. "If you hate being wet so much, why did you choose a cave by a waterfall?"
The young woman would have purred if she could as they kissed. "Mmm, don't stop," she grumbled, holding his hand against her head. "I like that." Her lips lowered once more to his. She nipped lightly at his lip before pulling away again to breath. "I was eight and it wasn't a waterfall but a sheet of ice when I found it the first time, in case you were wondering."
Ariel kissed him again, winding her arms around him so that she clung to him as much as he did to her. It was different for her now than it had been in the tree. While she would not admit it to him, she really liked the "kissy stuff." She breathed deeply and sighed.
"And what does Owlet smell like now that she's all clean? Blood and sweat I bet. I don't see how that's any better than good fresh dirt. Although, I guess I'll have to deal with it if it means you don't stop, won't I?"
Where Jerec felt warm from her body heat, he felt flushed from the pressure of her lips on his. He broke out into a soft sweat, cooling the fire in his cheeks as he smiled against her lips. She tasted sweet, of sweat and blood, two smells he loved in the whole world aside from the fresh scent of dew on the forest underbrush at dawn. Even that scent found its way into the cave.
"That's exactly what you smell like," he whispered to her. "But something's unusual. You seem so eager. What if I stopped now?" He grinned teasingly at her and nipped at her lips, and a hand roved down her back to slide down her spine.
Ariel growled and bared her teeth as she hovered over him and glared down. "Don't be an ass, Jerec," came hissing out from between her teeth as she flicked his ear. The hand down her spine though sent fire racing along her skin, causing her to arch into his touch.
She lowered once more but avoided his mouth choosing instead to attack the hollow of his throat. Teeth nipped only to have soft lips follow and sooth. "How eager am I in comparison to the one who started it? I don't hear you complaining. Or would you prefer I stop? I'm sure I can go back to where I was. You're sweating Jerec, should I let you cool off?" Ariel taunted, moving her mouth to his ear as her hands gripped his biceps. "Wouldn't want you getting a fever."
Jerec laughed at her threat and moaned lightly underneath the attention she gave to his throat. She had a point and she drilled it into his mind with every kiss. His hands roamed down her back and grabbed her behind and gripped the muscle there. He smiled knowingly at her, tilting his own head opposite hers and dragging sharpened teeth along her skin and biting her shoulder lightly.
"I'd have to let you, of course," he replied. "It seems whatever I have is contagious. You're burning up."
Her body shuddered with each sensation he caused. A soft moan escaped her before she could stop it. Soon she was laying down flat on him, her movements stilled. "Perhaps you're right. It's too late then if we both have the fever. We'll have to sweat it out."
Ariel's heart beat heavily within her breast, like a hammer raining down on the blacksmith's anvil. Everything was all so new and exciting. Had it been anyone else she was sure she would have been terrified but Jerec was safe, Jerec cared, Jerec was a home. She paused at that thought and found that she really was coming to think of him that way. 'He's pack. No denying that now.'
She bit back, this time catching him where neck met shoulder. "Don't go turning me into a ragdoll wolf. You're not going to want to be stuck with me the rest of your life, do you?" Hungrily she brought her lips down on his once more and savored his taste upon her tongue. 'If this is what we do for the rest of his life I would be okay with it.'
Jerec bit his lip, almost feeling his teeth draw blood. He paused for a moment before meeting her lips in hunger, almost as if he were eating her alive. An inferno raged in his chest; if he thought the brushfire of anger was going to tear him apart that was nothing compared to the phoenix he felt himself become.
He pushed off her top, too cumbersome an object in a moment like this. He made no promises to be gentle or handle her with care. He would treat her as true as he would himself. She was becoming a part of him now, there was no denying that even if he wanted to. "Perfect ragdoll," he murmured, drunk on her scent as he kissed her neck and chest.
Every touch of skin against skin seared and scorched. Ariel thought she was going to burn alive and if so was going to enjoy every last second of it. She mewled and panted, bit and clawed, kissed and kneaded Jerec, as she lost her mind to the feelings.
This was the wild, something they both were. She did not expect pathetic human romance, although somewhere inside her might take affront at that. No, the woman was willing to give as good as she got. In the end she would not be the only coming out of this unmarked if she had her way about it.
"Mutt," she barked back, tugging at his hair, trying to draw him back up for another kiss. "Don't break me too badly," was the only warning she gave. If she could not walk let alone run come morning he was going to be the one to deal with the consequences.
He only growled at her response and bared his teeth to her in response to her warning. He knew a challenge when he smelled it, but he was becoming far too lost in the sensations with in. His legs went up in flames. "I'll try not to," he replied, trying not to laugh a little, though he could be sure how true he could hold up to his response.
Instead, he twisted around and rolled around in the blanket that wrapped them both, holding an arm underneath her head, and pressing his mouth to hers again. Her breath told him all he needed to know before he locked in, sharing the fire that burned inside.
Ariel kissed back as if doing so was drinking in the very air she breathed. She ran her nails up and down his sides, varying the pressure feather touches to clawing that would leave red lines in their wake. All that she did was instinctive, the girl had never been intimate with anyone. But, she was not about to go all shy on him now.
"I don't know what I'm doing," she blurted out. "So you better not stop now." Another bite would mar his skin for the small time it would take before it was healed away again. 'I'm not backing down, it said as her eyes offered up their own challenge. If she had her way, she would not be the only sore one when this was over, even if his pain was only fleeting.
He grunted hoarsely, only grinning against her flesh at her instigation. Her nails ran like liquid fire over his flesh and he felt his skin singe with their touch. Already he was sweating heavily and he kissed beside her ear, feeling his own hands dig into the flesh of her thighs. His mind was roaring, rearing and tumbling all over in a land of perfect confusion.
Nothing made sense, nor did it need to make sense. Jerec just enveloped himself in the moment, in she, in all the was and all that ever would be. He was not as experienced as might be assumed, but nor was he green to passion burning within. He'd felt it all before, yet strangely there was a new strength in the fire and he gave her all she could take.
It was also so new and yet all so instinctive to her. Her body felt as if fire and ice raged a war within her. She could not tell if she was burning or freezing to death. Every time she thought she had it figured out Jerec would to touch or kiss something else and then she was spiraling all over again.
She hissed and growled as his hand came close to her knife wound. Her own fingers gripped over top of his before moving it to her breast instead. Ariel was too far gone to do much else before she was drowned once more in the feeling of it all. It was exhilarating and exhausting all in one breath. Her head fell back, exposing the vulnerable flesh of her throat where blood flushed and pulsed in time with the drumming within her chest.
Ariel felt wild and free. Her body responded without her directing it and she welcomed him into her embrace even as she dragged her nails none too gently down his back and into his hips. Their fighting even now was an intoxicating mix of pleasure and pain for her, so much like mother nature's treatment of her children that Ariel felt herself laugh with euphoric glee at the irony of it all. 'Wild at last.'
In instinct, his mouth moved to the vulnerability of her neck, sucking on the flesh there as he tasted the saltiness of the sweat that glazed her skin. In the heat they shared, he was spiraling downward, eaten alive by force and convulsion which they moved. He moved his mouth down to chest and took his lips to a breast.
His body was screaming in protest beneath the clawing of her nails on his skin. In moments later, he could have sworn, he felt her draw blood. Just another set of scars to add to the portrait. And in that downward spiral, finally he was taken completely by the inferno and moaned in submission.
Ariel lay there recovering, content with her more lethargic and docile touches. Her fingers trailed across Jerec's back one more time before she let them fall away, catching the flash of red on their tips that sent a swell of pride within her chest. 'I did that.'
She kissed him one more time, much softer than before and smiled lazily up at him. Ariel felt no regret or disappointment with what they had done, if anything she was thinking of bribing Jerec into doing it again if they ever escaped the hunters for good. "Well," she finally stated, stretching, "I don't think you broke me. Guess you'll have to try harder next time."
Jerec dismounted and lay atop her contentedly for a moment. He just offered a laughing grin and finally rolled off her, laying on his side. If anything he felt as if those few hours of sleep had done little to bring any real rest to him. Indeed she had him worn out, but he wondered if she did as well. He leaned on his elbow, propping himself up.
"Broke you? Try standing and saying that," he said challengingly.
"Fine," she exclaimed, taking the bait. Ariel hastily struggled to her feet but, as soon as she was standing she began to quickly regret doing so. Her knees felt as wobbly as a newborn's and a dull pain shot up her spine from between her legs. "See, I'm not broken," she proclaimed, sounding much less confident.
With a groan she collapsed back down to all fours beside him and then let her limbs slide away from her so that she rested on her belly. "Wipe the smug look off your face, Jerec," she grunted without looking at him. "You win wolf. I'm not broken, I'm destroyed...temporarily. But oh," pale lashes fluttered open over crystal orbs, "what a way to go."
He laughed when she fell, but more out of humor rather than to mock her. He sat up and reached up to wrap his arms around her waist and to pull her in his lap. He winced at the destruction of his back and pressed his lips to the moistness of her chest before working his way up to her neck and resting his head at last on her shoulder.
"I think it would be better to call it a tie. Are you sure you were a virgin? My back is shredded thanks to you. I don't think I can stand either," he chuckled.
The young woman practically purred with happiness as she was maneuvered close to him again. She felt a myriad of emotions as she rested there; his arms were safe and she was happy. 'A tie, I can live with that. Equal in something for once. I think Owlet you have proven your worth now.'
"Positive, you're the only one." Ariel sighed and pressed a kiss to his pulse-point. She really had no intention of moving anytime soon and was glad that for now they did not need to.'Please let it stay that way!' Her arms wound around his neck as she nuzzled closer.
"Do you want me to look at it later for you? I'm sure it'll heal soon if it hasn't already though. For now though we can be a wreck together." She fell silent then. Ariel did not know what else to say so said nothing. A human might say 'I love you' but, she was not going to get all romantic and she worried that if she reminded him that she cared that he would pull away. All she wanted right now in this moment was to be doing what they were doing and she was not about to let anyone not even herself ruin that.
Jerec felt warm inside as well as out. He would not let the reality of their plight, that the hunters would move in on them as soon as they could. Reality would take a step back to moments like this, though he'd never been one to do so before. Thankfully he didn't have to be the only one, and Ariel too seemed content to stay like this. There didn't have to be any words exchanged between them, nothing but the breath in their lungs to show them that they were still alive.
"No you don't have to look at it," he assured her. "It'll be fine. Just sit here for a while." And he did just that. He let his hands explore her body, trail over her hands, fingers, bones, her skin, looking for nothing but paying attention to every detail. She was beautiful, he realized them. Truly beautiful in her own wild way. And he said so as he held her hands in his own.
"Okay," she whispered back, not wanting to break this one moment. Who knew how long it would last. In the back of her mind the idea of the hunters closing in and trapping them kept sounding off like a peeling bell but, she selfishly ignored it just to sit with him a little longer.
It awed her that he wanted her there, that he wanted to touch her, that he thought she was beautiful. The sentiment earned him a watery smile and another kiss. She believed him and for once did not want to argue. Her eyes looked down to stare at their joined hands. Both callused and worn, hers smaller and paler, yet, both of them to fit together so comfortably as if- 'Hush Owlet don't ruin this with thoughts of perfection. There is no perfect when you are one of the wild. Just enjoy what time you have.'
___
Jon paced and barked orders shortly. A quarter of the men had either fled, died, or been maimed in what should have been an easy catch for the hunters. The possible future loss of Elwyn was not helping matters. Right now the heavier man was lying in the tent sweating and watching Jon and either uncaring or unable to calm his friend's nerves.
A fever had taken over them both, one more real than the other but both possibly as fatal as the other. Elwyn's wound had turned red and puffy yet, all Jon could see was red. "I'll wring her neck. I'll cut her 'til she bleeds black. You'll see Elwyn, she'll pay and then we'll be on our way to selling both those wolves.
"Hurry up you girls! What's taking so long?" he barked, leaving the tent once more to scream orders at the tense men. Many were quiet or scare, all were unhappy. The full moon would be that night and with one wolf in their midst and another on the loose, they wanted nothing more than to be rid of all this evil.
Elwyn's eyes were roiling in his head as the pain was taking its toll. The wound was not looking good and he'd lost more than enough blood. For the moment, sweat took him in a sort of half-dream delirium. He stirred at the sound of Jon's voice, piercing the dawn. Nobody made a sound to object him. That was likely, nobody knew the man well enough to say anything, nor would they with a wolf at his side.
"Jon," he said, weakly. "Jon." He came to his side at the sound of his friend's voice, sitting on the small stool beside him.
"We'll get them, Elwyn. The men are getting ready as we speak. But you shouldn't be talking, your wounded. You'll—"
"Go home, Jon."
"What?"
"Enough of this." Elwyn breathed softly and he looked away for a moment. "Just let all of us go home," he said. "What more is there to give?"
Jon looked at his friend as if he weren't serious. "What are you saying? That bitch! She nearly killed you! What do you mean 'Go home'!?"
"There doesn't need to be anymore blood."
Jon grunted and snarled at his friend, despite his wounds. "I've come too far for anything else. I'm so close. I'll avenge you. I promised. I follow through on my promises."
"I don't need anyone to avenge me!" Elwyn shouted. He coughed and breathed painfully. "I just want to see my girls again. You should see your sons, your wife. Instead of being out here in this dreadful place. Neither of us belong here...you know that."
Jon looked at his friend, whom he'd known for so long and actually sat back. "What a coward you are..."
Elwyn chuckled before it turned into another moment of painful coughing. "But, you've always known that Jon. Better a live coward than a dead fool."
"Well then it's a damn good thing I'm not a fool. We're not going to die Elwyn, neither of us. I'm going to keep that promise. You know my word is my bond."
"Then break that bond. Just this once Jon, don't this please I'm begging you. Let me live to see my girls one last time. Don't persist with this. We already have one wolf, leave the other. He'll eat the girl and then you won't need to avenge me." The dying man coughed again and winced as he shifted painfully.
Jon glared down at him as if feeling deeply betrayed. "I'll show you Elwyn. You'll live and we'll have our revenge and twice the coin this way. Then, I'll take you home. You can even retire, sit in your perfect little home with your perfect little wife and get as plump as a prize pig for all I care. But, you can't stop me, not this time."
Elwyn coughed again, this time spitting up reddened saliva that dripped from the corner of his mouth. "Look at me, Jon! Look how I am...do you think I'm going to survive a few more hours? I am dying. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But I'm losing strength, Jon. Please."
Jon's eyes were reddened, swollen even as his face seemed drenched. His face was filled with a strange mixture of sorrow, disbelief and rage all at once. He knelt down beside Elwyn's side again and gripped his friend's shoulder until his knuckles were white. "Listen to me, you goddamned coward. You're not gonna die... You're not. Not from a gut wound." He spoke slowly, almost manic with the way he leaned over the bleeding man.
Despite the look on his face, Jon knew that Elwyn was right. There was no telling how long he would last. No telling if he wouldn't die in the next few hours, in the next few days. His eyes glazed over to the wound, saw it's state. They had no healers, were running low on supplies, the wolves had killed half their men already, and there was no telling what would happen next. But the anger that kindled inside of him twisted in sickness, like an acrobat whirling in the air until he felt he couldn't take it anymore. There was no going back...but neither was there sanity enough to save what was left of his humanity. Jon wouldn't go back. But he couldn't let his friend suffer here, not like this.
He finally set his jaw and lifted Elwyn's head to his breast and held him there, hugging him fiercely. "I'm sorry, my friend," he whispered as he squeezed harder and pressed his face fully to his chest. Elwyn began to struggle, to try to push away, moaning and doing all he could with what strength he had to pull in air. But Jon held him there in a vice grip, amidst the tears, eyes boiling over, trembling from what he was doing, until Elwyn ceased to struggle furthermore.
He waited there a second, then pulled away, Elwyn's face was white, eyes closed and looked still. Peaceful even.
Jon felt no remorse for what he did. In his mind it was the right thing to do, the only thing to do. He apologized once more though no ears could hear him now, and got to his feet. Turning on his heel, the man wiped his face with a handkerchief seemingly also wiping away anything but the bloodthirsty desire for revenge.
Upon exiting the tent, any man who caught Jon's eyes was greeted with an almost wild look of hunger. Jon would not stop now. He blamed the bitch for the death of his friend and his men. Now she would be, they would all pay.
"Send the dogs ahead, the rest of us will follow. The wolf will bring up the rear. We'll need him come nightfall. They can't have gotten far, make sure they don't get any further," he commanded the skittish men. His eyes darted between them, latching onto even the slightest movement. No one questioned him, no one said anything. The only person could stop him was now dead. His sanity was not to be found.
__
Unknowing of the events going on outside of the cave, Ariel had begun to doze off with Jerec. The warmth of his body, the beat of his heart, the puffs of his breath on her cooling skin, and the touch of his caresses and lured her into a blissful state of peaceful numbness. For now her wounds did not pain her, he mind was not working out escape plans, her heart did not worry about Jerec. For now she was home.
If she did not worry, she should have been. The dogs were spine-tinglingly close. Jerec, who too had been drifting off, widened his eyes as the faint sound of wild dog barks, frantic, fervent in pursuit of prey. Fear drove it's way deep into his heart, a painful stab that shocked through him as he jerked up from his place holding Ariel. They were close, dangerously close, and truly, he saw no way out but to go deeper into the cave. Already he could see the blurred shape of the beasts running closer to them through the motion of the waterfall.
"OWL!" he screamed and shook her violently. "Owl! Get up! They're here!"
With his first shout, her eyes were open. The moment his words and movements registered in her brain she was on her feet and moving. She did not stop to question him or argue, trusting him implicitly. "This way," she called, snatching up his old shirt and a bow and quiver as she ran past the wall of supplies and deeper into the cave.
Ariel did not stop as there was no time, struggling to secure what she grabbed while running forward. One hand ran along the wall as the other reached back for hopefully where Jerec was. She prayed he decided to follow instead of fight them but, she was not about to stop and find out. The girl knew she had gotten him hurt enough with her stupidity, this time she would run.
Her mind struggled to remember the correct passageways. But, fear and the drive to run clouded some of the memories. Everything looked the same to her; dark, wet walls that smelled of moss and mildew surrounded her at every turn. With every choice she made she prayed it was not a dead end. While Ariel knew where some of the caverns went, it was impossible to know them all. Some led back into the forest while others led right into town itself. Behind her she could hear the growls of the dogs and the shouts of the men as the sounds echoed of the stone walls. Her own breath was loud in her ears, urging her faster and further.
Jerec's heart leapt up into his throat. The dogs were only a few yards away from them by the time they started running down the cave tunnels. Fight or flight instinct took over and as there was no time for preparation to fight, all he could do was run. His legs were nearly numb for having sat so long and he'd took for granted that the hunters were much closer than he suspected. As he ran, he didn't know what direction Ariel was taking him, but he'd have to trust her no matter where she went.
He could nearly feel the breath of the beasts at his heels and his heart pounded pounded pounded in his chest. For once, he felt the icy grip of fear spur him on, instead of the heat of anticipation. He wished there had been time, he wished he hadn't been so foolish as to waste it in the morning. How foolish could he have been!? Goodness, there was no time for such consideration.
He felt teeth trap around the meat of his calf and he abruptly fell to the ground, yelping as a large hound tripped him over. His fists flew at the dog, though he saw more on their way to tear into him. The dog yelped and cried as the pain of each strike fell to his head, but the beast still snapped and wrapped his jaws around Jerec's forearm.
The first cry of pain from behind her, sent Ariel spinning. She did not stop to think as she raced back to Jerec to try and help him. More dogs descended on them as she threw rocks and fists at any vulnerable bit of flesh she could reach. It seemed that as one was driven back three came to take his place.
The hounds began to force Ariel away from Jerec as her attention became diverted from defending him to now defending herself as well. At last she too was knocked back when one of the vicious canines latched onto her already wounded thigh and proceeded to shake her like a ragdoll.
The girl had little time to think of much else as teeth snapped in her face and angry growls rang in her ears. The shouts of the men were almost a welcome reprieve as the dogs were dragged back and she was yanked up to her feet again.
The fight had been sapped out of her though; between the morning's activities, the lack of sleep, the running and now this there was little more Ariel could give in an effort at resistance. One man snapped her head back by her hair so fast that she heard her neck pop.
"Jerec?" she shouted, straining to hear anything that indicated he was still alive. A punch to her jaw silence her though as blood flooded her mouth and made her moan in pain.
"Pity Emri can't have any fun with her. I'm sure Jon would have let him at her now, what with Elwyn gone now," one of the men leered, as he half-led, half-dragged her back through the tunnels to the entrance cave.
"Who says he still won't let him at her?" responded another, sending several of the men into bouts of almost manic laughter. "Good one, Frank!"
As the dogs found their way on him, Jerec had no choice but to curl his body up and protect his most vulnerable body parts. He wrapped his arms around his neck and curled his legs up close to his chest, and felt teeth slash into him. He refused to yelp, to cry out, to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream and just when he thought they were going to bleed him out, he heard the approach of the hunters sending the dogs away. At the moment, he might have preferred the teeth of the dumb hounds compared to what was going to happen to him with these men.
Jerec was grabbed and yanked up by his arms. His side and legs were viciously torn into, though they were small, they were multitudinous. The one called Frank gave him a violent shake and slapped him hard across the face. "Oi, boy, wakey, wakey. You ought to be lucky them dogs didn't snap your long-john off, eh, wolf-boy," he said. Jerec, in a quick surge of anger, lunged at him only to have another hunter brandish a sword of silver and cut into his back with it. Jerec cried out and landed on the ground again, feeling his flesh burn and sizzle.
"Cowards," he groaned as they picked him up again. Jerec's eyes were broken into light as they were dragged out of the caves. He looked to see if Ariel was around and gave a sigh of relief when he saw her.
"That was far too easy. We over-estimated your ability to escape," one hunter said to him, but he said nothing. "Your wolf blood must be thin. But we've got a friend waiting for ya back at camp. He ain't all furry now, but wait till full moon rises, and he's all yours."
As soon as Ariel saw Jerec she struggled harder to free herself but was only rewarded with a blow to the stomach and being thrown over her captor's shoulder like a sack of flour. "Settle girly. You'll be wanting to save that for later. Jon's got some fun planned for you later."
Ariel lost sight of Jerec once they reached the camp. The men dragged her off to a tent leaving her companion behind. Inside, she was chained into place and left alone until the man she had sworn to kill entered. She had not forgotten him removing the arrow from her shoulder nor his treatment of her. She sat up a little straighter and raised her chin a little higher in defiance as if she was the one being inconvenienced by it all.
Jon laughed darkly and crouched down in front of her, gripping her jaw tightly in his hand. "Welcome back, I expect your next stay to be far more enjoyable, for me at least." It amused him to see such cold hatred in her icy eyes. "No need to be so frigid dearest, no one is going to touch you. We leave that to your wolf, who knows what bugs you got crawling on you."
The growl she gave was too much for him though and he had to pause to laugh again. "Quite the little beast you are. Pity you're too stupid to understand what will happen tonight. Oh, I see that got you quiet now." Swinging at her, he smirked as his fist connected with her jaw.
"Tonight as you may well know is the full moon. And I thought what better way to celebrate than to have our two resident wolves give us a bit of show. But, then I realized that wasn't enough. The two of you have been so generous," he yanked her head back by her hair, "why not return the favor."
Jon was vicious with his attacks on Ariel's small body. By dusk, her voice was gone and there was not a single scrap of skin that was not bathed in hot, red blood. She could not make a single move to resist as the men came back to literally drag her out. They dumped her bound form in the middle of the encampment, equal distances from where they were keeping Emri and Jerec.
One last weak, gravelly scream was ripped from her throat as Frank dumped salt into the wounds in her back and began to grind them in. "Don't worry boys," he shouted, "just adding a bit of seasoning!" Hoots and hollers sounded around the camp as the men gathered to watch in the light of the setting sun.
If Ariel's treatment had been brutal, Jerec's hadn't been any better. Jerec didn't expect them to go soft on him. It amazed him truly the animals that civilized men could become and still have the gall to call themselves men. He'd lost the strength to fight, but not the will. And yet, he knew there was nothing he could do to tear free. They set the dogs on him a few times, tore into him a bit before yanking them back and when he was too tired to claw at them or growl or even snap, they went ahead and threw an empty pair of trousers at him and a rope to tie them. Well, he suspected that was what it was for. It wasn't long enough to hang from the nearest tree.
Dawn was fading and all he could think about were the horrible things they were doing to Ariel. He released a timid whimper that caused a few men to roar with laughter. They had thrown him back in that cage to let him rest before the evening's entertainment. At least they'd given him that much. He groaned and collapsed in sheer exhaustion before he felt the cage being moved.
He blinked, vision blurry as he saw vaguely the cage being moved into a ring crafted from the silver weapons. How much time had passed since they were beating the ever loving crap out of him? Dawn was fading and he managed to sit up after the cage was dragged and dropped down. Across from him, his heart leapt into his throat as he saw Emri. He knew it was him from the massive scar left in his shoulder. The man had yet to change into the wolf, but was darkness rose, he would. Emri was chained to a wooden post, groaning in a manic agony as he felt the animal in him stir.
Emri moaned and breathed hard as he struggled against his chains. Another hunter came into the silver weapon ring and unchained the poor man as he wailed and struggled to contain himself. The same man came around and let Jerec out of the cage, kicking him out more like as he was too weak to resist and quickly walked outside of the ring. Jerec tried to collect his own senses, tried to get his feet first as he felt the moon coming higher in the sky.
As Ariel was dropped down between them, looking more worse for wear. His heart leapt into his throat and he rushed to her. "Owl!"
Through bleary eyes, Ariel watched as if through a fog, Jerec rushing towards her. 'Alive,' she thought briefly before allowing her eyes to close. The effort to keep them open was too much for her considering how much everything else hurt. With her ear pressed to the ground though she was able recognize Emri's approach even though she could not see him.
The pale goddess rising in the night sky bathed the circle in her silvery glow, reminding the injured woman of her need to move, to escape, to survive. As Emri closed in on her, Ariel was able to gather strength enough to push and roll herself out of his path. She landed on her back painfully, gasping and panting at the fire that raced within her veins.
Every movement tore her apart a little more and no matter how much she wished for it, the peacefulness of unconsciousness would not claim her. Wearily looking about, her heart sank as she realized that she could not get to Jerec from where she was. 'Help him. Blood. Life. Needs me.' She hated the weakness she felt. She wanted to scream but, held back. It would do more harm than good. Tensing instead, she waited for the next attack that she would have to try and flee from.
Emri on the other hand, was completely lost within the mind of the wolf. He saw her weak and bloodied form and found the blood and flesh his being craved and now demanded. The werewolf wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into her and tear her to shreds. The only thing giving him pause though was the other one encroaching on his territory. Snarling at Jerec, he bristled and bared his teeth as he tried to claim his future kill.
Jerec stopped dead when Emri has closed in on Ariel. He watched him as he'd slowly started to progress in his state of change, though he'd not yet fully transformed. It would only be a matter of time, he knew, before the beast inside would fully be unleashed. Jerec had his own change under control and as the moon grew higher in the sky, glaring silver light for all the world to see. Emri growled at Jerec upon his approach, and he watched as the claws on his hands grew and the hair thickened and his face began to change.
Emri breathed harshly and hunched over and howled in pain as his body began to take change. Jerec receded, putting ground between them as he too began to feel his body change. But something was different this time. Jerec could feel as if the progression of transformation was slowing down and his form took pause as he reached his hybrid state. Before he could will the beast to take over, Emri lunged at him as he roared and dug his claws into his arms.
Jerec was in no state to fight back effectively, but he used the momentum from being thrown back and launched Emri away from him. Jerec looked behind him, at the vulnerable form that was Ariel and he reached for her, yanking her up to her feet. "Get away from here! Stay away from either of us. Go before it's too late!" he said, though even he knew there was no real way of escape.
Ariel tried to thrash away from the hands that gripped her until her mind was able to slowly process that it was Jerec. His words though had a harder time getting to her brain though. Try as she might, she could not fully understand him and nodded her head slowly in hopes that he would stop yelling and release her.
Emri's howls were distracting her from concentrating on what she wanted to do. Between the pain and the sounds around her, Ariel could no longer remember the plans she had begun to form only moments before. Using what little strength and a lot of pride she pulled away from Jerec and took a few shaky steps away from him.
Wild eyes took in her surroundings, looking for anything to use to help her companion. There was nothing inside the ring but the three of them. The silver forced the werewolves to stay in the ring and- 'I'm not a wolf.' The young felt a wave of hysteria cross her. 'Silver doesn't hurt me.'
She collapsed to her knees at the edge of the ring. But, her body did not stay there long. Before she could take a deep breath she was being kicked harshly in the ribs and sent rolling back into the ring. "Get back over there girly! You're not getting away that easily. Try that again and I'll let the dogs eat ya!" The men hollered at her still form.
With her back to them though, Ariel could not help but smile. Even as her body ached and pulsed in pain she could not be more pleased with herself, for clutched tightly in her hands and close to her chest was a piece of the ring that kept the two wolves in. In her hands Ariel help a weapon made of pure silver, perfect for stopping a wolf in his tracks. She only hoped that she would have strength and piece of mind enough to stop the right one.
Jerec didn't have the capacity to hold his attention to both Ariel and Emri at the same time, so he had to focus on the most immediate threat at the moment. That and to keep Ariel as far away from either of them as possible. He didn't explain that to her, though he probably should have that though he knew her well enough, she was just as at risk as anyone when it came to the smell of blood and the hunger for flesh.
He felt the wolf inside take over as he savagely fought Emri, blow for blow though he was significantly weakened in comparison to his opponent. He gave his all, or at least what was left to give and everything inside told him to press on, even though he felt his very strength whimper and wane. He clawed and bit and lunged and shredded as much as he was being clawed and bit and shredded. He groaned and felt himself begin to falter and only fought harder the weaker he got.
Their savagery brought them closer and closer along the edge and the smell of silver and burning fur didn't sit well with either of them. He was deaf to the roar of the men surrounding them and blinded by the fury of his opponent. They drew closer to Ariel, though Jerec did not register that she was there. All that existed was his need to survive.
She knew when they got closer to her. The sounds of their struggles, the hollers of the men, the dirt kicked up in her face told her everything. As soon as she deemed them close enough to her, Ariel struck. The silver of the blade glinted in the moonlight as if winking, right before it tore into tender fur and flesh.
Ariel felt a tug as the blade went through one and into the next. She knew that meant she had injured them both but her mind was too focused on making it end to focus on the implications of harming Jerec. Her ears were besieged by furious pain-filled howls as the larger wolf raised up on his hind legs, front paws trying to claw at the pain in his middle.
Refusing to look back at the other wolf, 'Jerec,' her mind prompted, she kept her gaze to Emri, trying to focus all of her effort in killing him as quickly as possible. 'With him dead this nightmare will end. Jerec and I can get away from here. It'll all be over soon.'
He stared right back at her, waiting for that moment of weakness that would eventually come so that he could feast at last. Blood dripped off them both in pools but all Ariel could think of was that at least she was not the one slobbering all over the place.
She flexed the hand with the knife, feeling how sweat and blood made the grip slippery, daring Emri to charge. The flash of moonlight was all it took to send him howling and barreling towards her. Diving for the ground, Ariel rolled between his paws, hoping to slice his belly. She escaped injury but the wolf also was quick to move out of the way. Instead of a fatal blow he received a crippling one instead, for she had managed to cut the tendons in one of his back legs.
Enraged and blinded with pain, he did not wait to collect himself and lunged for her again, his back leg dragging behind him. Ariel struck again, catching him in the chin with the but of the blade right before knocked her to the ground beneath him. She did not think, acting solely on instinct as she drove the blade up above her. Hot blood splashed into her face and eyes, staining pale skin and hair copper as she dug the knife deeper and deeper.
Jerec paused. The world stopped and for a whole moment, he wondered just how he could have been so foolish. It was only a matter of time really. He would skip a step, or miss a beat or forget something important. And that's exactly what happened. He felt the smooth entrance of the silver weapon pierce into him, his side gored and bleeding along with the burn and smoke induced by the metal. Jerec had never felt so weakened in his life. It dug into him, crippled him beyond the breaking point and he fell away, unaware that the rest of the world was falling around him.
Emri too had been gored by the weapon, but had retained what strength he had for far longer. He fought with the small human that he intended on making his meal. But something happened and he howled as the silver burned into him, gouging and stealing what life he treasured and he fell to his knees, trying to recover from his wounds and astounded when they would not heal.
His eyes were ragged as he looked over to his prey, the tiny human with that knife in her hands. And he kept on staring at her long after the light of life left his eyes, reflecting only with dullness, the glow of the moon.
Ariel stared directly into the eyes of the beast until the light of life left them. Her hold on the blade was shaky but there. She had brought down a werewolf. She was alive and Jerec-, her eyes drifted over to her fallen companion.
As if in a trance, her feet brought her to stand above him. All around them the camp had gone quiet. Man and beast waited in shock. She had done what they deemed impossible and now she looked ready to take out her own companion, staring down at him with cold calculation.
Their thoughts though, could not be further from the truth. Pale eyes took in the sight of the blood-matted fur, the smoke, the pain-filled breathing. Ariel knew what she had done. To her horror though, she felt nothing but empty. In her mind she would change nothing; she would still sacrifice Jerec just to kill Emri. That thought, chilled her blood, making it feel as if sharp blocks of ice floated within the crimson liquid scraping against her inner walls, bleeding her from the inside.
Slowly, she knelt down beside him, an empty hand reaching out to gently trace his face. The other pulled close to her body, clutching the blade's handle firmly. Her expression flickered, softening before hardening into another cold mask. "I'm sorry." she mumbled to him, barely audibly.
The knife came up, glinting in the moonlight as it sliced through the night air. More hot blood was spilled and a gurgling whimper were the last sounds heard from the adventurous hound before it died. Ariel raised defiant eyes to meet her main captor's, a foolish challenge. While her mind refused to acknowledge it, her body knew there was no winning this. Too much blood had been spilled on her part and there were too many of them to face. The dog was one thing but a slew of men and dogs was improbable on a good day, and today was most definitely not a good day.
If Jerec was still alive after the grievousness of the wounds he'd endured, he could not hear nor see nor be aware of the goings on of the world without himself. Was he dead? He would not know the sensations himself, having lack of experience in the field of dying. Killing would be a different matter; seeing the glow of life fade from the eyes of prey. He could not say of these things for himself. Where he was...wherever he was...he was little more than drifting in that space between the shadow and the light.
But without, there was a rage stirring. There was a rumbling amongst the men, and the dogs were becoming uneasy. A space was made between the ring of silver weapons and in stepped a tall slender figure, driven by determination and impatience. He had come quietly and without bringing too much attention to himself, and reached down to yank the knife from Ariel's hand before grabbing the girl up by the hair and pulling her to her feet. He held here there for several moments between snarling a strange, creeping grin.
"It seems our champion," Jon said as he held her, "deserves a reward for her bravery. It's the least we could do. After all, she killed not one but two werewolves. If the red one yet lives. Throw her in the cage." The ring was broke and several men came forth to do just that.
"Check the vitals on that last one. If there's a pulse toss him in another cage too. Lace the bars up good and get them ready to transport. We'll leave first thing in the morning."
The weakness that had set into her very bones was overcome by the fire running in her veins. As the men dragged her back to the cage, Ariel still struggled to get back to Jerec. She feared she had killed him what with the way he laid there so still and unmoving. Each time she was moved so her sight was obstructed she growled and fought harder. The hunters found it quite amusing and continued to do so even after she had been tossed painfully into the cage.
She ignored all of their doings save for the ones that involved the limp werewolf. There was no sigh of relief though as a pulse was found and he too was dragged off to be placed in another cage far from her. This one had silver around its edges just to be sure and it sickened Ariel to see such cruelty.
'He is not some beast to be caged! He'll die this way. Even on his own he might not live.' Her heart clenched painfully as pushed away thoughts that his weakness was all her doing. 'He will not be alone. I am going to protect him. It's my turn to protect what is mine. I won't let them kill him off. As long as his spirit remains, he will heal and return.'
Knives of ice sliced through her back and ran down it to the floor of the cage. Shivering, she turned her head slightly and was greeted with another bucket of ice water to the face. Leering on the other side of the cage was a familiar face. "Told you, you'd get cleaned up one way or another," the heavy hunter with a still broken nose gleefully chortled.
He opened the cage again, his girth disallowing any chance of Ariel squeezing by him to freedom. The young huntress sat very still, one leg bent up close to her chest while the other bent in front of her on the floor. She kept her eyes staring ahead into the dark where they had taken Jerec even as the hunter handled her rougher and rougher in an attempt to get a rise out of her.
The coarse sponge grated on her skin, tearing anew clotted wounds and dragging filth back into the sores. Over and over he smeared and wiped at her back and body until her shone clean and a deep red from his ministrations. "There, look at you! You almost look pretty. Perhaps someone will be drunk enough to consider you. Ha!"
The cage door closed with a heavy bang that seemed to echo within her very soul. For now though she continued to try and deny herself the fear that was beginning to rise. 'Think of Jerec. He needs you! Remember how he never left. Protect him!' A final ice bath sloshed into her cage, thoroughly soaking her before the man bid her good night and left whistling loudly as he went.
"Jerec?" she called out softly into the night, her throat feeling raw even with the use of the little word. "Please be alright. I'm here now. I'm going to look at for you. Get some rest." Ariel had no way of knowing if he heard her unless he responded. Yet, that did not stop her from continuing to murmur on the wind, the words boosting her courage as she played at protector. The girl would not sleep tonight. As long as Jerec was like this, she resolved, she would not abandon him and she would not rest.
Yes there was a pulse. Yes, he was still breathing. Slowly, Jerec flowed away from that place where he lingered in shadow. Slowly he felt himself grow heavy with gravity and the fur slowly began to recede from his body, leaving only the paleness of maimed flesh behind. Jerec was still when they moved him, he was still when they tossed him into his silver gilded cage. He was nearly a void in itself though the pain of the fall was enough to summon his breathing.
He heard his name, but said nothing. In blurry vision he could make out the form of someone across from him, patterned with iron bars. He heard words and his eyes opened. He felt his face grow wet with a strange combination of sweat and tears that came from sheer exhaustion. His breathing was slow and hid his wound was still raw, though no longer bleeding. She kept murmuring, saying something, though he really wished she would stop.
After a moment of silence he blinked and let go a sigh. "What...do you want?"
At the sound of his answering voice, Ariel practically flew at the bars. She clutched the cold metal tightly as she pressed her face tightly against the space between them. A thousand questions ran through her mind but not a single one made it to her tongue.
'Are you alright? I'm sorry. Do you know what is happening? Do you know what I did? How badly are you hurt? Have they caused you anymore injury?' The list was endless yet also useless. What could he say? Of course he was not alright, she had done a damn good job of ensuring that.
For a moment her heart dropped with guilt before she once more built a strong wall around it, burying those emotions deep with in the rubble of her already shattered heart. "You going to live?" It was the best she could do to sum everything up into one phrase without further upsetting him. Her limited experience with him over the past few days had taught her he was not one for big shows of emotion or words.
Briefly her mind flitted over the events of the morning but just as quickly they too were locked away deep within herself. 'I promise Jerec! I'm going to fix this. Me! Not you, me. I don't need to prove myself to you, because I'm going to do it. Just you wait. I promise.'
He couldn't have anticipated it at the time, that swelling in his throat, like a knot had bundled itself up just above his adam's apple in that nook below his jaw. He swallowed hard, tried to drive it away but it just wouldn't budge. He was covered in sweat, in dirt and blood and just frowned as the knot grew tighter. Tears escaped his eyes, he closed his eyes, feeling the burn of salt there. The tears drifted through the dirt and grime, forging clean paths amidst them.
He barely mustered the strength to raise a hand and wipe them away. He sniffed again and kept his eyes closed. "I...hope...not," he murmured. "I can barely find the strength to breathe. But either way...I'm probably going to die soon."
"Tell me...what happened."
"If you talk like that I wouldn't be surprised," she bluntly replied. Perhaps if she had known he was crying she might have been gentler. But, then again given her nature it was quite feasible that she would have said it anyway. Such was the nature of the beast.
Ariel took a deep emotion-filled breath before slowly letting it out again. It would not due to be bouncing with excitement over her success considering she was still stuck in a cage with an unknown future. She took that moment to gather her thoughts before beginning in a halting fashion to explain what had happened.
"I took some of the silver from the ring even though you told me to run. I wanted to help. I know you're probably mad. Owl was stupid and foolish again. I was lying on the ground feeling like I was going to die when the two of you got close. I just reacted Jerec; one moment I was on the ground, the next I was slicing at anything that moved. You fell but that other, he still stood. We fought and...I...killed him. He's dead.
"The leader, he," she gulped painfully as she fought the urge to cry. Jerec was hurt, therefore she would not allow herself to breakdown. He deserved his chance to be weak considering how often she always dragged him into trouble. "He did terrible things. I made him mad. There is talk of us becoming slaves. But, I think we can escape. When they try to transfer us we can run. Run and never look back Jerec. You'll be alright by morning. It's just the effects of the change you are feeling. You'll see!"
Ariel knew there was little hope if any for them. She still held onto frail hope though. Jerec had become very special to her in their short time together. She refused to give up on him now. "You'll see," she whispered again, although whether to console him or herself she did not know.
Jerec burned inside; a fire born of a useless anger. Her words did nothing to console him, to comfort or heal him. Slowly it was all coming together now and he realized that his weakness had come from her. She had wounded him...perhaps gravely so. Jerec carefully reached back and felt along his maimed side. It was moist with blood and cold to the touch. He winced at the contact of it and buried his face in his shoulder. She had hurt him...she didn't attack him but she hurt him. But he could find no room in his heart to be angry with her. And he knew that was a terrible thing. For instead his anger burned at himself...at his foolishness. He'd been careless and this was where it had got him.
Jerec sighed and looked at her though the darkness. There was a soft glow from the fires as the hunters were finally put at ease. One wolf was dead, the other was in the cage and they got an extra slave out of the mix, a scrawny gangly thing, but a slave nonetheless. He relaxed or tried to and scoffed at her confidence. But it was a mournful scoff at best.
"There is no escape," he murmured in honesty. "No reason to bother."
She scowled at him, angry that he would call her on her false hope. "You're pathetic. You're nothing more than a scared little puppy! There is no escape in your eyes because you don't want there to be. You want to die!"
Her voice grew louder as she spat nonsensical venom his way. The fear and guilt she was trying to keep in check was escaping through anger and blame. If she could not internalize it then she she was going let her poison run another route.
One of the hunters banged on her cage yelling at her to shut up or he would make her. Cowering into the center of the cramped space Ariel continued to glare hatefully at her wounded companion.
"Go ahead and die for all I care," she hissed in a whisper. "Just hope you got all the pleasure you wanted out of me because if you use me like that again I'll make you eat silver! You're as useless as the rest of them. Once a human always a human. You're not wild, you only pretend to be."
For once Jerec wouldn't deny all the implications of his weakness. He knew that every man, at least once in his life, would have to face his mortality. Even those with the wolf blood strong in their veins didn't live forever. He never thought he would live forever, but he didn't think the day of staring fate in the face would come so soon. He could be heard chuckling at her words because he knew what she said had a bone of truth too it.
"And neither are you," he whispered back to her. His chuckle was pained and moving caused spasms. He regained some sense of composure before turning his eyes to the stars above them, a traitorous beauty compared to the state of them below. Yet leave it in a moment like this for him to attempt philosophy. He'd never been so deep.
"I'm a realist," he said plainly. "We're not getting out of here this time. If we do not die, then we will wish we did."
"Only yellow-bellied cowards say such things. You're as good as dead once you have given up on hope. We already know I am a fool, but better I fool than you. Look at yourself, laid weak weak and helpless by the fool girl. Mark my words, I will get out of this hell alive and whole and when I do," she smirked hatefully even as tears welled unwillingly in her eyes, "I'll leave your sorry ass behind."
Ariel turned away from him, unable to look at him, to face what she had done to him, any longer. In, out. In, out came her breath as she struggled to keep each one even and steady. In truth she was just a scared little girl who had found out that even the toughest man you know can be made weak and defenseless. It frightened her the way he talked when before Jerec had always been so firm and commanding.
It was only natural now that she lashed out. She feared the connection she had made with him as things now turned sour. 'I didn't mean it Jerec. Please don't give up. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, any of it. I hurt you in so many ways. Please, please, please.' Her small body finally surrendered as she moved into the farthest shadows of her cage and quietly cried with her back to him. In a few hours they would be moved and she would be need to be strong again but, for now the young woman allowed herself this moment of weakness.
Because Jerec never believed in the powers and forces of godly things for such things were the subjects of topics beyond his realm of understanding, he did not pray for such things to save him. He didn't think it was done out of weakness that one should plead for salvation. As much as he was animal...he was also a man. His father had never been a beast yet he'd loved one for all he knew, and in his blood ran the blood of men and so on until the dawn of his lineage. His mother had been beast and had loved a man for all the weakness of his mortal flesh, of all the miscalculation of his judgment. And having loved, they'd borne two sons of such shared blood, of man and beast.
Jerec knew then that though, as all animal kind inevitably must do, adapt to their current environment, he knew he must accept the fate that had befallen him. He knew what was in store for him and knew that it only took a moment for him to be shattered into weakness. He made no choice for there was no choice. If he was not going to die now, then he knew that he was going to endure a life of servitude. Of course, he had no way of knowing whether such a thing would be good or bad. But the unknown that frightened Man, frightened Beast in much the same way. And his blood sent fear into his heart twofold. And for the first time, his fear couldn't save him.
[Gah, sorry for not posting in such a long time. I just haven't been in much of a writing mood lately, but I at least managed to punch this post out for the moment. Feel free to time skip now, perhaps a few weeks go by and they're traveling to the nearest city to be sold at auction. Something like that.]
Despite her resolve that she would be alright, that she would make it out of this whole thing alive, Ariel was already showing signs of stress and they had not even been sold yet. The journey from forest to town to city had been hot, long, and extremely uncomfortable, not of course that she had expected anything else considering her hosts were her captors. It just did not make her mood any easier. She spent nearly all of it curled up into a ball in the center of the cage to both avoid the men and Jerec's eyes. For the most part she was silent and docile, choosing to save her strength for the opportune moment.
Coming into the crowded and noisy streets that were cluttered with filth and people disgusted her. The little huntress hated it all and if it were not for her stubborn desire to be strong she would have been screeching and fighting like a trapped beast. There were reasons why she left civilization. Ariel never had any intention of returning and to now be dragged back was unnerving.
The actual process of being prepared for auction was a blur for her. One moment she was in the cage and the next she was being dragged out to be drenched and scrubbed, stripped and prodded until she an overall overstimulated and wound up bundle of nerves. Briefly she wondered what was happening with Jerec but their last real conversation still weighed heavy in her mind and kept her eyes downcast from meeting his.
The actual auctioning would not start until after high-paying potential buyers had the chance to peruse the slaves beforehand. Even now they were beginning to line up to see what Jon had dragged in this time. "He always has interesting merchandise," one confided in another as they jostled each other about to catch a glimpse of the wares.
Jerec couldn't find words and said nothing to Owl after that night by the fire, after licking his wounds and feeling as if he were little more than the scum of the earth. He began to see that she was the reason behind his incarceration; that was what he got for trusting a woman of the wild. Well, claimed that she was a part of the world he'd adopted as his home. In some ways, he began to doubt if such was the place where he truly belonged. So what if he escaped? There would always be more, another hunter to run from, another stranger to keep distance from.
As they were prepped for the auction, Jerec knew their chances at being passed over were slim to none. They were young and generally fit except for the few scratches and bruises here and there. Jerec knew they'd be the first amongst the pickings. Even now as the potential buyers perused these wares, he knew there were already a few serious buyers lining up to claim them. He hoped they wouldn't go in pairs; she'd done enough damage as it was. If taken alone, he felt he'd have much better chances of escape.
With that in mind, he shot daggers at her, this woman, wicked and deceitful, the source of all these current woes.
Seeing the interest of the growing crowd, Jon quickly stepped up to curry the crowd's favor. "Come catch a preview of the finest slaves you will ever see here today. They are young and perfect for the breaking. Take this one for example," he said strutting up to Jerec, "a laborer by day, watchdog by night. A fighter for sure that won't disappoint you. He was a pretty piece of work to track down and capture. You will not regret your purchase should you chose him, of that I assure you."
He had to stop himself and turn away to walk to Ariel just to hide the chuckles that danced within his diaphragm to escape. 'That is of course provided you live long enough to feel such things.' Waving his hand out to wrap around the huntress' shoulders he pulled her tight into his chest. "Then there is this precious exotic beauty. A serving girl to wait hand and foot on your dearest lady or perhaps a mistress for your bed, it matters not she is good for whatever your depraved minds desire. Take care with this one though as she has enough fire in that heathen soul of hers to swallow you alive. She'll be the one to show you a good time, guaranteed!"
It tickled him how they all meandered about, hanging on his every word like flies around honey. Jon was sure to get a good price out of one of them if not both. 'A packaged deal perhaps with a cutthroat discount? They did come together, whoever gets them is in for a treat.' He snorted slightly and shook his head. "Come, come, are your pockets all dry? Come see what will soon be yours!"
The die was cast and fate sealed, Jerec was sure of it. He viewed the crowd gathering outside from within his cage and gripped them with anxious hands. He looked across to Ariel then to Jon who was giving his pitch with the utmost enthusiasm, which in truth made Jerec's stomach churn at the thought of his companion being a slave for the rest of her life. Though he determined she had no place in his life, that didn't mean she wasn't entitled to be free to live a life of her own. He waited for anyone to speak up, but they mingled and murmured amongst themselves, perusing these two potentials.
Maybe there won't be anyone, Jerec thought to himself, looking up from his swollen eyes at them all. He felt sick at the thought of being bought, even more so than fearing who would take him. He tried to reinforce his will, to seem defiant but his broken tired body couldn't allow him much strength to do so. He gripped the bars ever tighter as he watched one man approach the raised platform that held them and inspected them further. He gave a snicker to Jerec then to Ariel before hardening his face and addressing Jon with a wave.
"And how much for the pair, man? If you're willing to bargain, I believe you can make quite a bit of gold on them," he said.
He wasn't a very tall man, nearly six feet and light in stature, but his presence was foreboding. Jerec didn't like the look of him and he inwardly growled, his face scowling at the potential buyer.
"Have an interest, do you?" Jon asked, turning to face the man. A quick look up and down of this figure pleased him immensely. This man oozed power and money is power so he must have been dripping in coin. A profit most certainly could be made from this bargain if the slaver played his cards correctly.
Taking a relaxed defensive stance before the cages, Jon stared the man down. "And what do you suppose they are worth as a pair? Keep in mind the labor of acquiring them as well as the years of benefit they will be able to supply you with. Should you purchase them, you could be their master for a very long time."
The man said nothing yet in response. He looked over at the pair of them clumped in their separate cages. They were pathetic and filthy, and obviously had a hard time either getting into the cages...or being kept in them. The male was weak but defiant and made the man grin and scoff before looking at the female. They would do, certainly.
"Fifteen hundred for the pair. Ten for the girl and five for the male. She's in much better condition, save for the bruises on her. The man looks like he's about to keel over and die if you so much as touch him," the man laughed slightly and jerked his head suddenly.
"Hey!" Jerec growled at the man and launched a hand out to snatch at the coat tails before the potential buyer pulled away just in time. "You better think about watch you say before you say something you regret," he managed and surprised himself at the fire he found inside.
The man peered at him, quirked a brow and just laughed. "Spunk, that's a bonus. Fine sixteen hundred," he said to Jon.
While Jon did find it amusing that the wolf managed to raise the price himself, he was still intent on bargaining further. The amount of men and time wasted on acquiring this pair demanded it. His stance remained firm as he stared the buyer down.
"The girl is a fair price, but he's worth at least fifteen just by himself. He'll heal twice as fast as her and be in better than perfect condition in record time. However, as you expressed interest in purchasing them together, I'll make you an offer of say, ten each? Seem fair enough? It really is quite a steal. You'd be a fool not to take such a bargain."
From inside her cage, Ariel scoffed. "Some bargain it is to take ugly over there. He's useless. I wouldn't pay a single shiny for him. In fact I'd make him pay me to be his master. Bu then again, what would pathetic human know?" she sneered, glaring directly at Jerec.
The prospective buyer made an obvious expression of distrust in that claim. The look of Jerec was unimpressive to say the least, yet even such a phrase was a kindness most undeserving. The buyer took his eyes over at Ariel and narrowed them in humor. His mouth twisted in a smile at hearing her speak.
"Pathetic human know much. Much more than you, darling, but we'll get to that. But I admire fire," he said. He turned back to Jon and took out his hand. "I don't have all day to dawdle, man, so I think the deal's fair enough. I've got the gold if you've got the men to move these two in a carriage down the way."
Jerec was about to say something in retort but stopped just as the men left the display platform. Jerec weakly slumped against the bars before gripping them with what meager strength he had and yanking at them, though they wouldn't budge. A hand slid onto a silver knob and he yelped back in pain as it burned him. He nursed his hand close to him and leaned against the side of the cage before throwing a glance at Ariel. "Why the hell did you do that for? ARIEL."
The slaver smirked and bowed his head in acknowledgement before snapping his fingers. A silent nod to his men had them preparing to move the pair to their new owners. Two men went ahead to see where the slaves were to be taken while Jon himself followed to collect payment.
In her cage beside his, Ariel hissed and snarled, baring her sad little canines in a more laughable than frightening display towards her former companion. "What difference does it make what I do? I am only a useless human remember, puppy," she spat out at him.
"Well let me tell you something. I may be a human and not as much of the wild as I would hope to be, but at least I can say I'm not a monster like you! At least I don't take advantage of people and use them for my own whims! Perhaps that makes you more human than me. Ever think of that?"
As Jon and the proprietor made their way to finish their business, Jerec, for only a brief moment, cast them a look of sheer disgust, but he couldn't abate the hopelessness that swarmed his eyes for a fraction of a second. Here they were headed off toward their fate worse than death. Owlet's words burned in his ears and he gripped the bars that made his cage, making them crooked in his anger, but that much took enough out of him.
"Take advantage? What are you talking about you half-wit? Don't you see what's going to happen to you, to me, to us both? Man or beast it doesn't matter...we're about to take one step into hell. He'll break you until are dead inside. You just resigned your soul to a devil. Can't you see that? Or are you just too stupid being spiteful to open your eyes?"
Ariel sneered, crawling on her knees to press her face against the cage's bars and wrap her hands tightly around the cool metal. "My eyes are wide open, pup. I was not raised in the light of a mother's love as you were. I am not as tender-footed as you wish to believe me. I was born in hell's fire, this is just going home. I fought my way out once before, I will do it again, without your help. I'm not like you; I don't let my fear rule me into resignation that all is lost. This is not the end, not mine at least."
Without her warpaint, she felt naked. Unable to hide behind that which had given her a semblance of strength, she had no choice but to shake off her reservations and plunge headfirst into conflict. No matter what he said, she would win. Ariel hated to admit to it but she was the human here. She would win, she always did.
Turning away from him, she allowed her back to rest against the bars as a small smirk curled the corner of her mouth. 'Just you wait Jerec, I'll laugh in your face and leave to rot when this is over. This owl's going to fly home before this is through. I'm not going to lay down like the dog you are and die. Wait and see.
Jerec only offered her a scowl, and said nothing in return. He could respect her resolve, only an idiot could look at her in the face and not be able to do so. And in any other event, he would think that he could feel the same way too. He wasn't the kind of person not too. But she had misjudged him in her words. Fear never guided the beast astray; in fact, fear had kept him alive. And it was this fear that would continue to do so. And deep inside, he knew she had the same kind of fear.
The cages were lifted by the hired muscle and taken to a well-guarded wagon. Whoever their buyer really was, one thing was for sure: he had more gold than a god to be sure. Not that Jerec would know anything about that. He resigned himself to sitting as they cages were loaded into these structures that resembled very much like crates themselves. The buyer was giving Jon a great deal of heavy bags filled with clinking items, no doubt gold, or jewels of great value. Jerec did not place a monetary value on himself being that the Wild had no room for such things, yet the feeling of disgust at being sold for something as measly and worthless as coin turned in his stomach and he held his gut to hold it down.
It was not long before the creaking, rotted wheels of the crates began to turn and turn, squeaking with the weight of a life in chains.
The false bravado quickly wore off though as the cart made her sick from rocking back and forth so much. Her stomach curled and a foul taste kept burning her throat and resting on her tongue to further sour her mood. A small part of her, the child that she had locked away long ago, craved for Jerec's attention. That part of her wanted nothing more than to be acknowledged by him and even comforted if that was possible. He certainly was not the type to do so. Even a brusque word or a cuff to the ear would do right now.
Yet, the stubborn part of her was still winning out and she refused to call for his attention. Ariel did eventually lay down on her side; the bars were far too cold and unyielding for all the bouncing around she was doing right now.
Listlessly she listened to the men talk about her and Jerec, about the tasks that would be set out for them. She did not understand it all but, was smart enough to recognize that the wolf had been right and a lifetime of backbreaking work was in store for her if she did get out of her soon. Her fingers played with the beads in her hair as pale cornflower orbs stared out at her former companion.
What could she say to him after all? By now it had only been said, lest they repeat themselves. Only if they reconciled, if she admitted how weak and afraid she truly was could they perhaps find new common-ground once more. They had been through so much together. It felt strange to know that together they may be in situation, divided they remained in companionship.
"Stupid wolf," Ariel finally muttered under her breath, giving her locks a rather vicious tug as she attempted to break her train of thoughts.
The carriage they rode in was the first of two, the one they stumbled in, obviously was far more ragged than the one of obvious comfort in the one behind them. The roads were not well trodden and bumpy, tossing Jerec too and fro in his cage, but he remained silent all the way through. He didn't know where they were going and he kept his mind from it. He thought of nothing. He didn't think of the forests where he roamed, where he walked with beasts, where the wind could caress him and reminded him of the softness of his mother's touch. He didn't think of the cabin where he was born, of the man he called his father, or the brother that showed him the beauty of the wild. He thought of nothing because, he knew if his thoughts strayed, his heart would be faster. With that futile desperation of the animal in the cage, that roaring of the blood that couldn't break free of bindings. Because he knew he would be driven mad with sorrow with anger with hate with the tantalizing moon that called out to him in a bleak vision of a whitened eye that glowed high in the blackening sky, that he saw vaguely through the veil of the curtained wagon-end.
They were well on their way north it felt, with the way the air slipped into the carriage. He wrapped himself in his arms to keep from shivering, he felt colder than he was used to. With the way the carriage lurched he could tell that they were starting to ascend a mountain path, the rocks churning with the wooden wheels and the horses escorting them were getting antsy.
Something odd was coiling itself in Jerec's stomach, making him feel sick and his heart beat a little faster, but he couldn't tell what it was. They had travelled for many hours since the auction and darkness was thickening. Still the carriage rose higher and higher and the wheels squeaked in exhaustion. The road was becoming more and more unforgiving and Jerec slammed his head on one of the cage bars, cursing a little when he suddenly realized—
"We've stopped..." he muttered, speaking to no one in particular but knowing Ariel was probably listening. "Shh...listen."
There was a rustling outside, and the sound of more horses coming along, as if there were coming from in front of them. He didn't know how many horses they were, but he could hear the voices of the guards that were escorting them and they were quickly getting frustrated. They said something about getting out of their way, of moving or else...stressing on the else.
Jerec waited, for really that was all he could do. But he knew...deep in his gut, that something very bad was going to happen very soon.
[Honoes...who goes there on the road!? 8O]
Ariel huffed angrily and rolled her eyes. 'Could have told you that myself. Human not deaf, mutt!' She kept her internal rant to herself; although whether it was out of self-preservation or a continued desire to follow Jerec's lead she could not say. She would be damned to admit it being the latter in any case, aloud or otherwise.
However, despite her irritation with the werewolf, Ariel could not hear the actual words being passed between their entourage and their current impediment. All she knew was that they had indeed stopped and if she played her cards right there was a chance she could get herself out of this mess. It was just a matter of understanding what was going on outside and using it to her best advantage. Therefore, she chose to ignore Jerec's presence and prepare herself for whatever state of mind she need be in to deceive or flee.
____
Just in front of her current prison, a lone man dressed in peasant garb was in the process of making a right nuisance of himself. He refused to budge, citing his lame mule and a broken wagon axle as reasons to remain put unless he was assisted. And all the while he stood there proud and almost amused, as if the whole affair of bad luck was a great big joke to him.
As it were, it was indeed a joke to him, for Mylene the stubborn knew that just beyond the bend in the road up ahead his fellow thieves were gathering to ambush the riches-laden group. A quick glance towards the wagons revealed how both sunk heavy into the soft earth. 'Oh yes, there were riches to be had indeed.'
"Hey! Guard! Hey! What's going on?" Jerec called out, moving the curtain that was blocking his view.
"Shut up! We're taking care of it. Get back in there," was the only reply. That along with a crack of a whip on his arm. Jerec seethed with the lash, yanking his arm back into the bars of the cage. The sting of the silver from the bars didn't make the pain any better. All he could do was listen and wait. He listened, looking at Ariel for the first time since they were carted off.
"Get out of the way, bastard," cried on of the escorts, scowling at the figure in their path. "I'm not afraid to throw your insolent ass off the side of the road, if I have to! Make way or be crushed."
Mylene just laughed, almost as if he were mad. "Crush me, then!" he said daringly. "How can I move a sodden wagon with a snapped axle. Me own stupid mule was dumb enough to get caught under it now 'e can't walk... Throw me down...there's not much I can do to stop ye." He clutched his staff, climbing the buckboard of his broken wagon and sat down.
"Would you just shut up and help the man!?" another of the guard yelled to the first one who spoke. "I'll help you move that sloppy thing. Come along." The escort nudged his horse toward the wagon, as three others followed him, all except the one who threatened to throw the roadblock off the cliff. "Help me snag a rope around the bloody thing. We'll drag it off the road." The proceeded with their plan, the peasant man just sat there, even pulling out a pipe to smoke it.
The escort glared at him. "Well, aren't you going to help us?"
"Why should I? It's not like I'm going anywhere, even if ye move the wreck."
He grunted at the man. "Well, we can drop you off at the nearest farm! But by gods at least help anchor the rope!"
Had the guards not been so preoccupied with moving the broken wagon, even the ones that grumbled amongst themselves, merely watching, they might have seen the shapes that had rerouted their position, placing themselves on the cliff's edge above. There was an abrupt crack that stung the air, almost as loud as thunder but not as deep. But there as a sudden rolling sound as suddenly two massive boulders were launched down the cliff's side, each one aimed for the carriages. Both man and horse were crushed or maimed severely as the boulders crashed violently into the carriages, knocking them both on their side, hard enough to make them tumble down the cliff below them.
Jerec felt the blow severely, and he cried out as the felt the wagon lurch and turn over on its side, the iron that framed it bent and damaged by the impact, wood cracked and smashed as it went rolling down the hill. Distantly, he could hear the yelling of men and clash of steel as battle commenced. But gods be damned, he could care less.
By the time the smashed wagons made it down the hill, boulder miraculously rolling off to the side, Jerec was surprised that he had not broken his neck. But he was not unscathed. He could not feel much of his left arm. The cage had taken the brunt of the damage, bent and twisted from the impact. He ignored the dull throbbing of his arm, seeing the bars bent just enough for him to squeeze through... He had to try. He launched an arm through, risking the burning of his flesh, trying to pull himself out.
But he was a little too big. He slumped back down. His cage had been turned and he couldn't see Ariel. Suddenly he panicked, all he could see was bent silver bars and tattered wagon pieces. "Owl...Owl... Ariel! Are you okay!?"
The squabbling of the men amused her up until she heard the mighty cracks of the boulders. She had enough time to cast one last scared glance Jerec's way before the wagon was blindsided by the impact and sent tumbling down the hill.
Ariel dared not grip the cage's bars for fear of having broken fingers as she was bounced from one side to the next and all over again to finally be ejected out of the cage entirely when the door was smashed open. From there she became entangled in a wagon cover as everything else continued to rain down around her and on her.
The huntress took in the moment, laying there as she tried to ensure she still had every part of her body and in relatively good condition given her previous ordeal. Above her on the top of the hill she could still hear the fainter sounds of fighting and shouting, although it did sound like it would die down soon. She did not care to stay long enough to see who won.
A growl escaped her lips and her blond stock of hair poked out from under the fabric as she glared at Jerec's back. "I told you not to call me that," she hissed before crawling out further and getting to her feet and smirking after discovering she could stand. "Also told you I would get free all by myself, now didn't."
An immature freeing of her tongue in his direction followed before she inched closer. "So are you going to tell me I was right and apologize, or do I get to leave you in there to stew a little longer?"
She couldn't have picked a worse time to suddenly become haughty with pride and a smart tongue. And he couldn't have been in a worse mood to listen to it. Not that he had much of a choice however, as he nursed his arms, shrouded in smashed wagon pieces. He doubted the wagon of their purchaser had fared much better, and chances were he was dead if not wounded and dying.
Jerec frowned at her words, feeling defeated and broken at her speech, and at his own vulnerability. It was not that he had to admit it, it was because he realized then how poorly he treated her, and she deserved so much more than he, scowling and cursing her for all the weakness she brought out in him. Jerec looked at her imploringly, but sighed.
"You got free because of a rock," he said carefully. "I'm...I'm." He couldn't say it. He couldn't. She had to understand. It wasn't pride, it was the way of the Wild. "You are free and I'm trapped. I'm not going to feel sorry for myself. Or sorry for you. I know I treated you poorly. You are better than I. Man is too feeble to be exalted to the status that he thinks himself. The Wild has no mercy on those that are foolish enough to get locked in a cage.
"You of the Wild—Owl. You always were. And I'm a mutt caught between two worlds that don't want me. If you choose to leave me to die, I will understand."
"Alright enough," she growled, hopping on top of the cage. "You're being pathetic and it's disgraceful. A simple "you win" would have sufficed Jerec. You don't have to be such a girl about it." Ariel rolled her eyes as she worked on breaking the cage's lock. She was not strong enough to pry apart the metal bars but she had enough experience from her childhood in this matter and the fall had done a great deal to weaken the lock's structural integrity.
The huntress paused though in her work to look down into the cage and at the wolfman within its confines. "You're not going to eat me when this is over are you? I mean it would really suck if I just free you to die by you. I am saving you. Again. Does that make us even now? Or do I still owe you? Or do you owe me now? That would be a nice change," she chattered on nervously.
Her hands shook with the adrenaline of the fall and the sounds of the fight dying down. There was arguing but her feeble ears could not make out the sounds of what she was sure Jerec already could detect as if it was whispered right into his own ears. Just because she was free did not mean that this was over already. She really hated the idea of having to run again though. 'Maybe they'll just forget us, Ariel hoped even as she heard the shouting of voices getting closer to the edge of the top of the hill and knew it would not be so.
The lock was very close to giving when she stopped to look down at Jerec again. "Promise no eating?"
He couldn't help a smile as she made her quip. He taught her well. But then again, her attitude had nothing to do with him. And yet, she should have learned by now that Jerec admitted defeat to nobody. Not even to her. She pulled at the humanity in him, and the animal inside didn't seem to rebel against the notion. In fact, it seemed almost in-tandem with it.
The sensation confused him, that he might feel thankful for her presence after he just humiliated himself. Such a girl, huh! The nerve of some people. Maybe he wouldn't eat her, but he might chew on her a little.
He only waited in anticipation as she messed with the lock, the likes of which he tried to comprehend. She was bending at it and twisted it until it seemed just about ready to pop, but she stopped suddenly and gave him a strange look. Oh, couldn't she just focus on the damn lock! "Please hurry!" he muttered, gripping his useless arm anxiously, watching her hands work. He wished she would just shut up!
And just when he thought she had it. He glared at her. "Really!? I've had several days to decide if I wanted to eat you or not, little owl. I think I would have done it by now! I had plenty of opportunity. You won, okay! I won't eat you! Not know, not ever! Just open that goddamned lock!" Jerec snapped and when it was loose enough he bashed his good shoulder against it himself, the cage smashing open.
He pulled himself out at the risk of silver burns and crawled through the woodwork. It was only a matter of time before the people from the hill would come and check what happened to the "slaves." Jerec frowned with disgust. But he heard noises in the wreck of the carriage across the way. There was another man, dead with his head twisted all the way round, and his body was thrown out of the way as a fist plummeted through the crushed wood and iron.
A heavy groan came out as the man emerged from the pile, almost completely unscathed, only with clothes quite torn and covered in dust. As his eyes fell on the pair, he grinned menacingly. "Oh, ho, ho. I guess I'm not the only one that survived."
The force of his exit from the cage sent her sprawling in the springy grass. While she suffered no more injuries it did not stop her from grumpily complaining. "It's Owlet not little owl, mutt," she griped, getting to her feet again. "And there's no knowing with you anyway. You still slobber all over me every chance you get. All I'm saying is, what happens when you're hungry and forget? I really don't want to be puppy grub, it's not high my list."
Ariel came to stand right beside him, laughter clear in her bright eyes. It felt good to be free and just be passing the moment in jest considering how their past few days together had been filled with terror and running. Playfully she grabbed his uninjured arm and batter her eyes up at him.
"But thank you for saying I win," she so sweetly chirped, just as the carriage before them burst open. Startled, her eyes widened as she clung tighter out of a desire to both protect him and to be protected. However, seeing their adversary made her shrink in an almost primal fear. There was just something about him that screamed at her to run.
Slinking behind Jerec, she pushed him forward slightly. "Your turn!" the huntress demanded, hiding behind the larger man. "I just got us out. Don't get too banged up though. Don't fancy lugging you around." Her words though said as if in jest were a false bravado. With the way things had been going of late, turning from ugly to grotesque, Ariel feared for both their sakes. She was starting to become very attached to the wolf-man and even though she would not admit, especially not now; her feared what would happen once they parted ways. Her only hope though was that it was on their own terms and not on the heels of death's footsteps.
"My turn?" Jerec said incredulously. "I don't want a turn! I can't do anything." His voice came as a harsh whisper as the man that had survived the accident better than they did only grinned and stalked closer. Something was foreboding about him and darkness oozed from his back as two strands of leather fell from his back, looking like the remnants of torn wings. Jerec felt a fear crawl into his stomach like never before and it was a fear that humans felt, not the fear of survival that drove the animal to fight.
With only one useful arm, Jerec knew any fight about to occur would vastly be in the man's favor. And if he could kill him...what would he do to Owlet... For a moment, he might have considered just why he would even begin to worry about the little owl, why did he care since half of this was her fault anyway! But the thought was secondary to the danger that loomed ahead of them. "We're free!" Jerec yelled bravely, giving his teeth a snarling flash to the stranger that approached them.
But the man only laughed. "Oh no, my pets, I'm afraid that's not even a half-truth," he laughed. "Because you see, I spent a lot of money on the both of you. This little...fiasco as you would have it, is nothing but a mere set back. We'll walk from here."
Jerec's heart was beating in his throat as he put himself between this stranger and Owlet. "You get near us, I'll tear you to pieces."
"In your condition?" he laughed, looking taller, meaner. "I'd like to see you try! In fact, let's test that theory!" And in a flash, moving faster than humanly possibly, he leapt for Jerec, moving like a blur.
But Jerec was still fast as it were and yanked Owlet aside with him. "Run! Goddammit RUN!" he screamed, adrenaline giving him strength he didn't know he had. Jerec's wolf blood spurred him on, his useless arm nothing more than dead weight and paining him even as it swung next to him, and he nearly ran faster than Owlet. But he wouldn't let her get attacked by this man, whoever he was - whatever he was - even if he had to drag her on the ground.
Ariel slunk further behind Jerec, pressing close to him even as she hissed back to him in a feverish whisper. "He doesn't know that though!" Her teeth worried her already abused lower lip as she worriedly peeked out from behind her companion, interjecting with false bravado after Jerec's claims.
"Wouldn't mess with him if I were you he-POSSUM BALLS!" she cursed in surprise, eyes wide in shock at the speed in which their opposition moved. Her mouth hung open as she continued to stare. Even Jerec's shoulder-popping yank did nothing to shut it for the first few moments of his dragging her.
Then with a burst of fear-fueled energy, she shot forward in half hopping, half skipping steps to keep up with the werewolf's longer, racing strides. Her whole body ached with the effort to keep moving, the beatings, imprisonments, escapes, and cliff-rolling taking a heavy toll on her fragile frame.
Yet, despite the pain and burning of both lungs and legs the only thing her brain could focus on was the speed with which the man- 'hellish creature,' her mind supplied, for nothing else could move that fast. 'Jerec can move faster though...right? Of course he can. He's a werewolf, MY werewolf.'
"D-d-did you SEE that! That-that THING its not HUMAN. He-he-he..." Panting for breath she had to stop as she scrambled to clear a fallen log, already feeling her body slowing and failing her despite her valiant attempts to force it onward. Ariel gulped down air before continuing breathlessly. "It just POOFED right in front of you!"
Her eyes wildly looked about without actually registering anything she was seeing. The huntress was too burnt out from the recent events to process everything at once especially since what she had seen what the man who had bought them had done. She knew it was only a matter of time before they were dragged back and punished. That was how it always was in the human world, for the way of the wild was more brutal albeit more merciful as well.
'I'm the lame deer of the herd. I'm going to get us both killed!' Her mind railed against her, making every step harder to take. 'But I don't want to die,' another thought softly cried out from one of the last remaining human parts of her.
Torn between self-preservation and human caring, Ariel tugged on the larger hand clutching her own, trying to get him to release her. "Go! Better off without me. I'll-" 'I'll do what?' "I can climb," she tried insisting, knowing that she mostly did not have the strength to do such a task but also not wanting to get him killed for her sake either.
If Jerec thought something would stop him in his tracks, he never thought that would be it. The fear of death - prevalent in any creature with a smidgen of sense - was the only thing that kept him alive - would keep them alive. But this was beyond primal fear, beyond anything Jerec had encounted before - the fear of the unknown, of the origin of the creature that pursued them, that scared him the most. This was mortal fear.
And if Owlett had intended to help by sacrificing herself, even with the excuse of climbing a tree for her own safety, she only hindered him. Jerec stared at her with wide, dogged eyes for the brevity of a second, pausing in his tracks. That second was all that was needed for their pursuer to close the distance. Before Jerec could utter a word, he was yanked away by a blur, and his grip torn from Owlet's palm. In that blinding moment, Jerec found himself sprawled against the trunk of a tree, his head had bashed against the trunk quite hard, rendering him dizzy and disorienting him.
He could only weakly try to resist the hand that came down around his throat, a clawed hand dug into his neck and lifted him clear off the ground. The claws dug into flesh and blood seeped through down his fingers. Jerec choked and could only feebly claw at the powerful hand that could snap his neck at any moment. "Let...let me go!" he demanded, but even he saw how pathetic he was, his other arm incapable of even fending him off, and far too weak to transform.
Jerec's eyes were watery as they slowly came back into focus, but the strangulation was only the start of the damage to be done. The man lunged forward an held on his face as he yanked him close and sank his teeth into shoulder, tasting the blood that poured out from there. And certainly would be an easier to drink than from bleeding out everywhere if he tore out his neck. He only laughed as he drew his face away and grinned.
"Wolf's blood, indeed," he said as he held Jerec at his mercy yet again. "Your blood will do nicely. As will your tiny friend over there." He laughed again and before he knew it, Jerec was on the ground, his body wracked in pain and anguish. Even in his own anger, he couldn't be saved.
Jerec yelped as he was pinned, face smashed into the dirt, the smell of blood and earth seeping through his nostrils. The man had a boot in his back and held his broken arm pulled up behind him. Jerec screamed bloody murder, the pain shooting through him like a bolt of lightning. His arm was jerked up andhe could feel his tendons straining to keep it attached to him. Tears flowed forth and he could feel himself engorged in the weakness of his humanity. But even an animal could not endure such torture.
With his head planted so to the side, he could see Ariel vaguely through the corner of his eye. His face was wet with soil collected from his tears, but looking at her restored some semblance of strength though he remained quite incapable of fighing back. "YOU RUN! OWLET RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Jerec cried out hoarsely, throat wretched and dry.
The man looked up, twisting Jerec's arm, which made him cry out, and his eyes honed in on Owl. "You heard the man," he said, with a grin. "Run, little piggy, run."
Ariel found a scream flooding her lips as in a blur of movement, Jerec was torn from her side. She did not understand how this was happening. Everything was spinning out of control faster than she could puzzle through the events she was experiencing and it struck chords of pure unadulterated fear within her heart. What shocked her though was that the fear she felt was not for herself, or rather not just for herself. The little human huntress who prided herself in her solidarity and independence was concerned about a fellow creature.
"Leave him alone!" she screeched, rocking on her heels, unsure of whether she should really risk her life further for the werewolf or to obey both his command and her natural instincts to run. Whatever this man was, he was a true predator and she had become his prey. Ariel did not see herself escaping on her own. He moved too fast for her to see, faster than Jerec who she had thought invincible, and therefore too fast for her to outrun.
That left her with two useless options. She could run only to be caught and possibly killed or she could fight only to be most likely killed. 'If that thing doesn't kill me, Jerec will. If he lives.' The last thought was her undoing though. Ariel did not like "if's." The wild was not a place of "if" it was a place of "when." The uncertainty was always balanced by the fact that whatever was coming would come to be, eventually.
"I'm not a pig," Ariel hissed, bending to scoop up a handful of rocks and then straightening to hurl one at the creature's head. "I said leave him alone!" Another rock was chucked without direction as she tried to race away from them both, tears blinding her as she went.
From the hill she could hear the men approaching and despite everything in her that cried "No!" she ran toward them. They had attacked the caravan and overpowered the guards. Perhaps they could prove distraction enough for this thing until she could find away to drag Jerec off to some place where he could heal. Not knowing how much time she had before she was stopped, if she was going to be at all for that matter, Ariel belted out a shrill cry of help, all the while smothering the sickening feeling deep within her gut that reminded her of how human she sounded.
Jerec could kill her for all the shrieking she was doing. If he didn’t know any better, it was the wail of the banshee his mother had told him stories off to frighten him as a pup, coming now to herald his death. It was a fleeting thought that followed, of how pathetic his death would seem. No fight, not even flight, which would result in his certain demise. And he knew then that was one of the things that he feared most, that he would die like a mortal man rather than the animal that he was.
But even I know that what I fear most is not being able to protect you, little Owl, he thought. I only wish you’d use your brain and run.
The thought almost brought him to tears. But, no, the tears that expelled from his eyes were those of pain, not sorrow. He cried out yet again with his arm angled like it was about to be ripped off. And the very fact that she didn’t run, set his blood ablaze with rage. “AHHHHH! ARIEL! RUN YOU STUPID RUNT! RUN!” he continued to cry out, this time trying to make her angry enough to listen. When she threw the rocks, Corvus dodge one and was pelted with another on the chest, and another managed to hit Jerec rather hard on the head, leaving a red love-tap on his forehead.
As the men started to come down from the hill, not only to assess the damage of the ruined wagons, but drawn from all the screaming coming from the bottom of the hill. The shouting was getting real close real fast. “Fuck,” Corvus cursed as he watched the girl suddenly go running for help. No, that wouldn’t do at all. Suddenly, he let Jerec go, who remained limp in the brush, too exhausted to move and entire body throbbing from the pain. And went after the little banshee that didn’t know when to shut up.
Corvus moved as quickly as he did when he downed Jerec, and soon had his arms wrapped around Ariel’s midsection. “You talk far too much for your own good,” he growled, and plucked her from the ground, holding her against him in a powerful embrace, as he ran back to where he’d left the exhausted wolf. The men were only partly visible through the brush, some inspecting the damage and a few others coming toward the strange voice shrieking for help.
But when he returned, Jerec was gone, vanished from his spot on the ground. Corvus grit his teeth and let his eyes assess the area but found no trace of him being nearby. As he turned his face to Ariel, he gave a small cruel grin. “Looks like your friend has left you to your fate.” He gripped her roughly as he dragged her off into the thickness of trees.
[I wonder if Jerec is even still wearing pants. :\ Just sayin']
She did not even realize that arms had slipped around her waist until she was being yanked in the opposite direction of where her feet had been racing her towards. In a quiet whoosh of rushing air her lungs were deprived of their expected oxygen and Ariel found herself gasping in surprise to try and reclaim it.
By the time she could gather enough air to cry for help again, the men were far out of her sight range. It did not stop her from risking one more just in case. Anything that would delay their return and further distract this creature from Jerec would be enough for her. She knew she stood no chance against something that could incapacitate her wolf but, she would give it as much hell as any little human could.
To arrive back to where Jerec should have been and find him gone though took the cake. The first of many emotions to flood her system in that moment, was relief. 'He's alive. I succeeded. He's safe now. That's all that matters.'
Even as the creature taunted her with the knowledge, Ariel found she could not contain the mirth that bubbled within her breast. Chin on chest, her whole body shook with the silent tremors of her laughter. She had won; Jerec was gone.
Euphoria turned to gut-wrenching sorrow for a single flash of time before dissipating into indifference. 'He did what I should have done, what he told me to do. The wild cares not for others, only themselves. It was human of me to stay for him. Guess he was right after all. Can't be wild no matter how much dirt you cake on.'
Ariel snorted in response to her captor and shrugged as best she could given her current position. "Not my friend. Just a beast like you," she spat in his face. "Now let me go and I won't beat you as I did him!"
Jerec's pain that wracked his body was unbearable. It sent his mind whirling in a perilous haze and he threatened to pass out then and there. He was helpless on the forest floor when the creature left him to tend to the howls of his companion. His friend... The thought so foreign to him, yet it left him with a renewing warmth, tinged his numbed flesh with life, with light and gave him the strength to open his eyes. Friendship, never thought he'd come to value the feel and taste of the word as it rolled off his tongue in a breathy whisper, blood dripping from his mouth, his shoulder feeling dislocated and nothing more than a numb useless weight.
Slowly he managed to stand, wavering and wobbling in the precious second he had to do so. As fast as the damned creature moved, he hadn't a chance other than this. His legs were still unbroken, and he held his useless arm against him as he ran as quickly as he could into the woods, vanishing from the bloodied patch of ground. He'd left Owlet behind, his friend, who helped him though she was better than he, and had proved that time and time again.
He couldn't think about that now, even as his stomach suddenly soured. And when he was far enough away, at long last is legs gave out and he wretched his empty stomach out into the grass. Wiping his mouth he leaned against a tree, breathing on numbed aching lungs. He left her...his companion. He reached up to wipe his eyes, face streaming with tears. Human tears.
I'm sorry, Owl. I know you understand. But that is not what I would ask of you. You deserve better than to die by the hands of that terrible creature, whatever he may be. All I can ask is that you survive. Long enough. Just survive. Please, for my sake. If only there was a way to project his thoughts into her, to tell her he meant to return.
But did he? After all, this was his chance at the freedom he wanted, at the chance of permanent escape. He stood there at the precipice of the forest, staring out into the Wild. He wanted to be free of her, to run away, for his life had been perfect up until he'd met her. She'd been the source of all his troubles. But he knew that was an untruth for trouble would always hound the heels of the Wolfman of the Woods.
Jerec began to walk down the hill he stood on, stepping down it little by little until he found a little crook of dirt to sleep in, underneath the roots of a great maple tree. "Survive, Ariel," he whispered before falling fast asleep.
But in the forest behind him, Corvus had taken Owlet and threw her over his shoulder, holding her legs like a sack of potatoes. Her protests were quite annoying to be honest and he'd only hope she had the intelligence to be quiet long enough to let him think. Darkness was beginning to fall. He'd need to ge as far to Northrock Bastille as he could before his hunger set it. Before he needed to feast.
"Would you be quiet!?" he snapped, squeezing her legs a little tighter. "You speak nothing more than nonsense and gibberish! Your wolf is not coming for you and if you don't be quiet, I'll rip out your tongue before dawn."
Being thrown around like a sack of potatoes was infuriating for Ariel. She could not be made to feel any weaker than she was now, dangling downside-up with her head and upper body bouncing repeatedly against her captor's back. Futilely, the naked woman beat her fists against the creature's back and rear. But, she wore out quickly, the effort of running and escaping having already drained her of all her energy.
Her owner's displeasure though served to brighten her mood, if only slightly. From behind him she sneered and stuck her tongue out in childish mockery. As far as Ariel was concerned, she had won and she told him as much.
"He's not supposed to come back, stupid. That's the whole point of running away," she grumbled quietly, not taking the threats towards her person, seriously. "Who do you think nearly killed him before you got him....THE ONE YOU HAVE DANGLING OVER HERE! Put me down! NOW!"
One last punch to his back, punctuated her point. 'Maybe,' she hoped, 'he'll get angry enough to put me down. Or overconfident...either works. Bet he can't climb. Wuss.'
At her tiny fury, Corvus couldn't help but belt out a laugh as he kept carrying her. It was was quite amusing to see her struggle and try to break his grip, but that didn't stop him from holding her over his shoulder. In fact, after his laughter passed, his free hand reached up and smacked her hard in the ass. "I seriously doubt you could have caused any kind of severe damage to the wolf," Corvus pondered idly.
He looked up to the fullness of the moon. If her companion indeed planned to comeback, the force of his injuries would no doubt heal much faster than the present state he'd found him in. It was a shame too, since the blood of a werewolf would undoubtedly be much more potent to ritual. But if all else failed this squirming little run would do just as well.
"Honestly," Corvus went on as he carried her, keeping an eye on their surroundings, ever watchful though he didn't show it. "How does a small runt like you keep a wolf for company? What's your secret to keep him from eating you if he so pleased? Though I'm sure sex might be a strong point in your favor, but he'd tired of you sooner or later." He laughed and smacked her ass again.
Thin lips pursed tightly together as the little wild child got fed up with her treatment. With a growl she latched onto her captor's hip and pant leg, pulling her upper body around his side and slightly up to glare at him from under his arm.
"It was not sex you lecher! As I've warned you before, I am not what I seem. Touch me again and I'll make you wish you hadn't," she hissed out from clenched teeth, silver eyes flashing icily up at him.
"I am no human like you; I do not lie. I dealt that wolf great harm and for that he nearly died. I can do the same to you even now. If you release me I shall be kind and let you live." Ariel chuckled softly. She calculated that if she could keep him amused and unwary of her then he would eventually slip up and underestimate her. By talking big, he assumed the weakest of her. Or at least that was her hope. Her limited experience with dealing with men had taught her to hide but once caught to fight with nearly all her might, saving the strongest bits for when she was believed weakest. The element of surprise was her strongest asset given her small stature.
But, so like her fiery nature, Ariel was unable to drop one last taunting barb from escaping her. "Then again, killing you might actually be the kinder of two evils when I'm through with you 'possum-face."
"High talk for prey ripe for the harvest," Corvus growled at her. He reached around and plucked her from his leg, pulling her upright and holding her fiercely by the arm, grip hard enough to snap her bones and the other around her neck, feeling her flesh softly. "You speak of me underestimating you, that I can easily tell. For you are right, things really aren't as they at first seem. Just as you think of me as a mortal man, and I think of you nothing more than a succulent meal, perhaps we both have secrets worth divulging. And because of them, you might prove more useful than you at first seem.
"You will prove your use by summoning back your friend. It doesn't take much but observation of his protection of you that he cares deeply for your company. Or like the heart of any animal, he would have fled without you at the first sign of danger. He is more human than you know, though his blood reeks of wolf. I know by the brave face you try to put on that you care for him too, though I could only imagine why. Unless that's your thing. But in any event, you'll prove more than the bait I need. Now, enough talking. More walking."
And dragged her again once more.
Ariel blinked away the dizziness that came from being upside-down for a period of time before pointedly looking at the hand gripping her bicep while trying to ignore the other that rested upon her throat. "You know the whole letting me go thing only works if you finish it by actually letting go," she promptly informed him, motioning with her unhindered arm as if talking to a young child.
It was all a cover to hide the spikes of fear she felt inside though. Already cold sweats were beading up from every pore despite the already cool temperature and her own unclothed state. Jerec could not come back, not after everything she had done to send him away. Besides that, Ariel knew of no way to call him back to her even if she wanted to. He was wild and despite what her captor said, he would not return for her.
Where before her heart leaped for joy that he had been saved now it sank in realization of how much she may suffer for that choice. She had believed she would be killed quickly or soon for her brazen act, not kept as bait for a wolf that was most likely long gone by now and not even thinking of returning.
Either out of shock at her realizations or out of complete exhaustion, Ariel put up nearly no struggle as they walked along. An occasional resisting tug or dragging of feet would occur but it was nothing to stop the other man from just yanking her along.
"He's not as human as you think," the little huntress piped up quietly as she tripped over another unseen root and pitched forward. "He's all beast with no loyalty. He did flee first chance he got. Or have you forgotten which one of us is still here." The last bit came out as a grumble as the young woman tiredly weaved on her feet, wishing she could break free and be done with this whole thing.
All the uncertainty of what was to come or not bothered her and put her on edge. It was not like living in the wild. There what would come would come. But when it came to humans, they had an unfortunate way of ruining everything they touched. Ariel did not want to be around when fate decided to play her hand. As the smaller of the two, she had a sickening feeling she would be the one to pay the biggest price for being in fate's path.
"In all due honesty, I'd LOVE to forget, but I'm afraid your mouth won't let me," Corvus grumbled as she shoved her along. He was nearly afraid that she was right, that the wolf truly would not return for her. But he knew he'd just have to wait and see if her guess was really as good as his. Corvus dragged her along to a grassy knoll that rose up to the moon, with a crown of trees cresting it in a green circle.
The air was cold, cold just to his liking and made the huntress' form quite enticing if he could say so himself, though she was a little too scrawny. As they rose toward the top of the hill, Corvus looked at her with a raised brow. "You realize that if I let you go, your chances of escape are none at all," he said menacingly. "I will catch you and tear your limbs from your body and beat you into submission. " His warning had gone softly, like a whisper of the wind tickling at the hairs on the back of her neck.
But he did let go of her arm, seeing the skin already bruising where he'd gripped her. This girl... What about her made the wolf so eager to protect her? Perhaps she was just a snack he was saving for emergencies. Gods knew she was too much of a runt to be taken for a mate. The prospect made Corvus grin in amusement. Yes, he knew now the wolf would come. He wouldn't leave her behind.
As they reached the top of the hill at last, there were logs fashioned around the center of what seemed to be the remains of a hearth. Trees still surrounded the zenith, but it seemed the hill served as a makeshift resting place for weary travelers. Yes, this would be the perfect spot. He motioned the huntress toward a log. "Sit, you'll need your rest. The moon is full tonight. You wolf will surely come for you because of it. It will give him strength where he didn't have it before. He will no doubt take it personally that I took what he considered rightfully his. What brought you two together anyhow? Curious circumstance? Or were you truly hunting him?" Corvus laughed at that last prospect, but even part of him seemed he might even believe it.
His words that were beyond a threat but a promise that Ariel recognized caused the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck to stand completely on end. Her form hunkered down some, shoulders going up over her ears as she peered up at him over one shoulder with the haunted look of a beaten dog. She knew that tone. He was not the first man she had ever encountered to use it with her and it sent a shock of fear through her heart.
It did not that Ariel claimed to be a fearless wild child. The blood of humanity flowed purely through her veins and with it came human fear and caution. The grassy knoll was too open. The huntress wanted nothing more than to dash away from the hunter, out of sight, out of mind. But, his causal statements held her in place.
In seconds the huntress had become prey and it terrified. Ariel felt like a deer before the wolf. She wanted nothing more than to bolt as she curled up in a small ball on the ground in front of the log. Her hands immediately dropped in front of her to nervously tear out handfuls of grass by the roots as if she were kneading the ground like a cat while her wide silvery eyes darted glances up at the great trees whose leaves waved in the chilling breeze that raced across the knoll.
She wanted to climb, to feel safe and secure high up and hidden. Experience as a hunter taught the easiest prey was those that stood out in the open and on the ground. Those that could burrow or climb were always harder to trap on the run and would be abandoned in pursuit of other easier prey.
The fear was eating away at her as Ariel fought to hide it even as she rocked back and forth slightly and pulled grass faster in larger clumps. 'Owlet! You're not some little chick, show him no fear. He'll back down. He thinks you controlled Jerec. Prove to him you're not something to be taken lightly. Do not ask, DEMAND. You are a child of the wild!'
Immediately the tremulous look without her eyes solidified into icy stone. The rocking slowed to a stop but the grass-pulling continued. She was not completely without apprehension, after all. This look of stone was hurled at the cruel man, a near-silent growl rumbling from her throat.
"Are you deaf? The wolf will not come! It was not I who was his, but he that was mine. You cost me more than you can ever know. As for our meeting," Ariel sneered with the look of the wild that knows something the listener does not. "I had no need to hunt one as pathetic as him. There are other ways of bending one such as him to my will."
She huffed, casting another look to the trees a bit forlornly. "Must I sit in the open? You're going to get me mauled and I don't 'ppreciate it!"
His breath was becoming more and more ragged as the sky darkened to night and the full moon rose higher in the sky. Jerec was tired, well and thoroughly exhausted as he took shelter beneath the massive roots of a tree. His shoulder was throbbing painfully beyond anything he could stand before and knew it had to be set as his transformation as going to call to him soon. Far sooner than he thought. Jerec crawled to the base of the root and saw a small hole big enough to lock his wrist into. With some effort he managed to wedge his useless arm into the hole, locking his wrist through the other side. His face was streaked with tears that fell from the pain, but he refused to scream lest that that thing possibly be somewhere nearby.
Jerec turned his body just as much as he could before planting a foot just at the base of the hole. He had to try, and his body hyperventilated in desperation, knowing with each second wasted his time was running short. Jerec suddenly pushed back with his leg as hard as he could, trying to snap his shoulder back into place. He screamed to the high winds, his voice carrying with it all the pain and fury that echoed inside of him. But his shoulder only misplaced itself again.
Again… No, not again...again. “AGAIN!” he told himself after a few short breaths of preparation. He planted both feet this time, his ass landing on the soil and without thinking, he pushed harder than before to pop his arm back in. All the while blood pounded and roared in his ears at the distress his body was undergoing, sweat coating him in another layer of skin. He howled again, pulling with all his might when at last he heard a pop and a crack and the pinched nerves gave some relief. He collapsed against the dirt, freeing his wrist at last, sweaty and tired but knowing the time for rest had not yet come.
The moon called him.
Jerec crawled on his belly, clawing at the dirt as he moved from the roots of the tree. His vision had grown haggard and his body snapped and groaned as his bones began to flex and shift, changing their shape and size. Hair sprouted from his face, his arms, his body. “Ahh!” he cried out, feeling his legs grow longer, more powerful and at long last his body transforming itself against his own will. His animal instinct was kicking in, his vision turning gold, heating to signs of life, brightening, fluctuating with the heartbeat of prey.
A loud howling struck the air.
Meanwhile, Corvus had been watching Owlet carefully from the side as she plucked grass nervously, trying to keep herself busy. He smiled again, her words big, her voice brave. “Oh is that so? And just what were you planning to do with a werewolf in your thrall? You couldn’t possibly control him of course. No doubt he’d slash you open and make a meal of you, the first chance he got. Suck the marrow right from your bones.”
Corvus laughed and gestured a hand over to the small hearth. He summoned a spark from his hands and shot it to the fire where there it smouldered the wood and made it smoke until it finally took to flame. “Perhaps you are better off with me than you are with such a hairy beast. At least your life hold actual value to me. And he, well, he would just be an added bonus.”
The howling run over the trees, making night birds flutter across the stars, dashing over the moon. “Ah, well, it seems we might have company sooner than we think.” Corvus grinned and produced a small flask from his boot. “Here have a drink. It might soothe your nerves,” he said, reaching across to hand it too her.
"You know nothing! You're such a fool to underestimate me! I have already spent a great deal of time in the mutt's company. I have already survived moon cycles with him. I have even brought the beast to his knees with the strength of a full moon at his back!"
She was on her feet without even realizing when she had done so, hands curled into such tight fists that they ached from the effort of keeping the closed. Her lack of height and apparent nakedness did not dissuade her from holding her defiant stance. In the wild you held your ground and she damn well was going to hold hers.
Ariel hissed though at the spark of fire that nearly made her jump. That was certainly something she had not expected from this creature. Whatever he was, she had best take care. There was no knowing what he was capable of and without Jerec to protect her, Ariel was on her own to defend herself.
The problem was that she was in an open field with no weapon and an aggressor who could easily outrun her. Neither fight nor flight would save her in this given moment. She would be forced to wait for the opportune moment, the moment of distraction that would set her free. Ariel prayed though that it would not mean harm to her wolf. She could not believe that he was coming back for her. It was for the creature. It had to be. Their master had hurt and humiliated Jerec and now the wolf was going to make him pay.
The young woman startled as a flask was offered towards. She had missed much of what the man before had been ranting about while she had been caught in thoughts of Jerec. With a snarl, her hand shot out to knock it away. "I won't drink your foul poison!" Ariel hissed, her shoulders hunching up to her ears in a defensive stance. "The wolf comes for your blood and you just stand there. You're a fool! A fool whose blood will bathe this earth in red."
"Listen here you, insolent little welp," Corvus growled after she'd knocked his flask away. He threw it to the ground and stood over her, a dark tower of demonic flesh as he grabbed her hard by the shoulders, claws digging into her skin there as his face bored down on hers. There was no humor in his eyes as they burned in the sudden need to put her in her proper place. "I don't make promises I can't keep. And your mouth has gone on long enough. I'd like to see just how smart you talk while I'm slowly peeling the flesh from that pretty little face of yours."
He reached a hand up and caressed her cheek at first but not shortly after that did he dig his claws into the flesh just in the crook of her jawline directly below her ear, as if her face were a mask and he were just about to rip it off. And he would have too had not something stirred from behind him. The only thing that stilled his hand from disfiguring her completely was the growling he heard. And his expression changed to a soft smile as he turned around to face the crippled werewolf that grizzled his auburn fur in sheer rage.
He only smiled and kept one hand hooked on Owlet's arm as he yanked her like a ragdoll. "Looking for this?" he asked smugly.
Jerec only let his fangs salivate in hunger as he crept closer and was looking at both of them like an easy meal...but he tried to recollect the familiarity he felt for the tiny huntress. Her skinny form seemed familiar enough.
And when he lunged forth, he used his nearest claw to bat Owlet aside as he took Corvus to the ground.
His gentle touch upon her cheek was far more frightening than his threatening words. But, the fact that he had begun to seemingly follow through with his threat struck true fear in Ariel's heart. Like a deer entranced by the hunter's firelight, she froze in place, not daring to move for fear of enduring further harm at the cruel hand of this inhuman creature.
From over the man's shoulder she had seen the auburn fur reflecting in the firelight moments before the deep rumbling from within the werewolf's chest had let Jerec's presence known. At least, Ariel hoped it was Jerec. It certainly looked like him but then she had never seen the beast look quite so...wild.
It startled Ariel to come to this realization. No matter how much she looked up to Jerec or how much she claimed to be of the wild the beast in front of her bristling and growling in fury was wild. She was just a human pretending to be and for the first time in a very long time the little wild child who called herself 'Owlet' was frightened by the very thing she aspired to be.
Like a doll she was tossed aside, sent rolling in the cool grass away from the now brawling pair. But, in a flash Ariel was on her feet once more, wide eyes watching in awe and fear as the two creatures fought with each other. The animal instinct in her demanded that she run and save herself. Neither could harm her while the other occupied them. She would be able to get enough of a head start to possibly make it out alive before the victor had risen.
Yet, that tiny yet blossoming warmth within her chest demanded she stay at least long enough to give her only friend the upper hand. She had nearly smothered that warmth until a glint of cold metal reflecting the flickering flames of their fire caught her attention.
With one eye trained on the brawling pair and the other on the flask, the little huntress dove for the container, reveling at the feeling of its smooth coolness in the palm of her hand. She was back on her feet in no time, yanking up a thick flaming branch from the fire as she went.
It was a stupid idea and now that Ariel had both of the pieces she was not quite sure if she should follow through with it. She remembered watching some of the other entertainers in the circus and how one of them would breathe fire much to the crowds' delight. It was not something she had ever thought she would need to do let alone want to do again. Escaping from that hell had been bad enough. But, this was not for her. It was for Jerec and with that thought in mind, Ariel widened her stance, a look of pure determination hardening her face.
First she took a sip and swallowed for courage before taking a deep draw of the flask and holding the bitter drink in her mouth. She could feel how it tickled her nose as she fought to remember not to inhale when she spat it out. Once, twice, thrice Ariel swung the flaming stick in her hand in circle at her side before letting the spray go over the fire. A flaming ball of fire was sent towards the squabbling pair.
Not stopping to see the damage she may have caused, Ariel took off running, stick dropped in the grass as she took off on bare and faltering feet. 'Please stay safe Jerec,' she silently prayed, hoping that he had been fast enough to escape the majority of her flames. It was a gamble that a single wrong move on the parts of the combatants could have gotten the wrong adversary injured or killed. But, there was no time for her to look when either of them could use the distraction to break away and chase her down.
Jerec clawed at the creature that had taken the little huntress away from him, and it couldn't have been sooner as even he in his bestial senses knew he was about to skin Owlet alive. And would have taken every joy in hearing her scream because of it. He snapped his jaws down at Corvus who lay underneath Jerec's powerful furry body and held him at bay with surprising strength. But even injured Jerec proved to be a vicious opponent and he snapped his jaws around Corvus' forearm that pressed against his chest, making the vampiric creature scream out in rage.
He managed to throw Jerec off of him and his own form too began to change. The leathery wings billowed out from his back, like a limp two-piece cloak, the bone having been torn away long ago. His claws grew longer and his body grew broader, muscles tightening and expanding as he seemed at least three inchest taller than he normally was. Even his face turned more demonic, his eyes deep and burrowed into his head as they glowed a greenish yellow in the reflecting firelight. His wounds seemed superficial then as he bared his fangs at Jerec.
Jerec growled and slashed heavy broad claws down across his face, counting it with another blow the opposite way. With sheer aggression, he lunged forth to drop the creature to the ground, but Corvus opposed his momentum and used it spin him around and drop the werewolf down to the grass, dirt and dust billowing up around them with the force of the landing. Jerec howled and cried out when Corvus sunk his teeth down into the thick fur of his shoulder, tearing at flesh there. And it just so happened to be the same shoulder he had dislocated and had been snapped back into place only moments ago.
His beast-mind fluxed and turned red with rage. His vision was languid almost seeing everything in moments of anticipation. From his place on the ground he saw the small girl he had swatted away like a small fly. She held something beautiful in her hands, glowing, powerful, furious - fire! Jerec's eyes widened just moments before she let the fire blaze from her mouth like a fire-eater from some human circus troupe.
It was really a sight to behold and there was no real time to react when Jerec tried to roll out from underneath Corvus' powerful hold. But it was too late and suddenly they were both engulfed in flames. Though Corvus had recieved the brunt of it, a great deal still fell over onto the werewolf. Corvus felt the fire spray against his flesh and the shock of it sent him reeling to the side, howling like a tortured soul as the fire took to his clothes and his flesh. He rolled away, allowing Jerec to stand up. But fur was just as flammable as flesh - if not moreso and Jerec too howled in pain, as the flame burned his arm and shoulder, his right chest and even some of the hair on his face, burning it away.
The werewolf batted it away as best he could and didn't stay to watch Corvus try to put it out. He was smoking and smouldering and even more pissed than he was before and this time that little hunter with hardly any meat on her bones would make a perfect midnight snack and Jerec went vaulting down the hill, tracking her scent with expert direction.
Ariel crashed through the trees, uncaring about the path she left behind her. Now was not a time for stealth but for escape. She ran and ran, heart beating like a drum in her chest and breath coming in icy gasps until her human ears caught sounds of something following in pursuit.
The huntress feared looking back to see what sounded like a very large object barreling towards her. Instead she did her best to pick up her pace, ignoring the stones that dug into her feet and the thorns that tore into her exposed flesh.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end while blood coursed down her shoulder and chest, coating her in its crimson stickiness. Warily, she risked a glance behind her to see if she could catch sight of her pursuer but in that brief moment was unable to catch sight of him.
Also within that moment her ankle caught in a root, sending her sprawling. A sharp jolt of pain burned her mouth as her chin struck the ground causing her teeth to once more clamp down on her tongue.
Ariel could not tell if it was her mind playing tricks on her or the actual events taking place but as she scrambled to regain footing she could swear that she could hear the creature stalking her, bearing down on her with each breath.
She had to get up. She had to get moving. She could not get caught again. She could not die like this. She just had to be a bit stronger. Perhaps if she got far enough ahead she could afford to waste the time being a sitting duck in order to climb a tree to safety.
But even as she thought of this, Ariel knew it was an unlikely outcome. The huntress could barely get on her feet again even with the hard-pumping adrenaline fueling her every move.
Jerec had caught the scent with ease. He could smell her very breath in her wake as she ran like startled deer, swiftly through the trees. His claws dug into the dirt, kicking it up as he ran on all fours, back hunched over, limbs powerful as they propelled him forth. His breath was ragged and his fur burnt away in many places, bleeding even, dropping onto the grass, the dirt, the brambles and stones in his wake.
Before he knew it he could see her shape moving through the trees. His vision flexed and honed in on her, stretching the images of trees as they zoomed in, almost quite literally. And her breath was so haggard that he could hear her very heart coursing blood through her body. The temptation was too great, his fangs salivated at the thought of tasting her blood, of tearing through the soft flesh down to the very meat and marrow of her bones. She was so small and wouldn't provide much of a meal, perhaps too quick.
No...he couldn't eat her. Why? She was important in some way. Even in his bestial mind knew that he hadn't been fighting for a meal, he was to punish the creature that had tried to kill him. He slashed him good and open and left him bleeding and burning and now he was chasing this poor skinny creature through the trees because she had...saved him...? Burned him!
Oh, maybe he wouldn't eat her but he would taste her blood anyway! She fell and at that moment Jerec pouneced, mid-air as she tried to get up. Jerec snarled and threw his body down on her and bit down on her arm, sinking his teeth into her flesh as he tossed he around like a ragdoll. It was enough force to make it hurt, but not enough to break it off. He growled, over powered her.
Her blood, the taste. His tongue lapped at it. It was so strong and something about it was familiar and eventually his snarling softened and his bite loosened and he pulled his fangs away, even his fierce yellowed eyes softening. In fact, he dropped his head and nuzzled against her face and pushed hard against her body to get her to throw herself on his back.
The other creature no doubt survived the flames at he had, though he'd gotten the brunt of it. And would be after them with a vengeance.
Regaining her footing was useless as the moment she was up she was knocked back down again. The very breath was stolen from her lungs from the impact of the raging beast. Searing pain surged through her arm and Ariel opened her mouth in a silent scream. Her eyes instantly filled with tears and her body shook with pain and fear.
"Jerec," she rasped, mournfully. "Please, don't do this."
She wept to realize that the monster masquerading as a man was right. He had said she had no control over Jerec and that the man she thought she knew would be lost in the wolf. She really was a foolish child and nothing more.
But, what was Jerec doing now? "Are you....nuzzling me? Jerec! Quit it, dog-breath!" the wild-woman growled as she was pushed about. "We have to get out of here not laze about," she continued, misunderstanding his attentions.
"Come on, wolfie!" Ariel urged, tugging on a forelimb. She worried that he was too injured to carry her as he had done in some of their earlier scrapes.
It didn't take long for Jerec to quickly grow irritated by her serious ineptitude. He growled and whined both at the same time as he turned his head inward and blew his breath deliberately in her face. He crawled off of her and grabbed gently bit at her arm, pulling her up and grabbing her by the waist with his hand and launched her violently up into the air.
He positioned himself just underneath her trajectory (or so he hoped) in order for her to land square on his back. He growled at her to hold on or he'd eat her arms off before bolting off into the woods. A terrifying howl struck the air and lightning flashing across the stars, igniting their flares and making Jerec's hair stand straight up with static electricity. Owlet might even suffer an aftershock because of it.
His heart was racing a thousand miles a minute, and he could only hope his tired, worn limbs could do just the same. The howl of the man that now chased them lingered on the back of his mind, and he could hear through crashing trees and breaking brambles, the man was on the move. He could feel the itch of claws and black wings prodding at his neck.
Ariel coughed, shaking her head in disgust thanks to Jerec's intentional huffing in her face. "Dog-breath!" Much like a ragdoll she was tugged to her feet moments before being shot up into the air.
Eyes bugged out in shock, she screeched in surprise, cursing Jerec to kingdom come. "This is no time for fooling around! You idiot!" A groan escaped her as she landed with a thud on his back, her hands instinctively gripping his fur tightly as if he would try to launch her off again.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Her words though were drowned out by an inhuman howl that sent her hands to her ears and every hair on her neck and arms standing on end. Ariel laid flat on Jerec's back her arms firmly wrapped around him. "Go, go, go!"
Her face buried in the singed fur as tears slid down her face in fear and concern. One part of her was incredibly happy that he had returned for her not once but twice. Another feared that it would e all for nothing and still a third part was furious that he was such a fool as to keep saving a little human girl such as herself. However, his continuous attempts to nom on her were most disconcerting.
Ariel decided she would have to have a long conversation with him about it that is, if they made it out alive.
["Continuous attempts to nom on her" = tasty snack for later!]
Weariness was setting deep into his bones, as Jerec ran faster. The singed fur smoked and the flesh underneath broke and bled. He didn't want to cry, however, he couldn't afford that humiliation - especially not in front of Owlet. She relied on him, depended on him to survive this moment and if there was anything he was good at, it was surviving.
The monster in the guise of a man tore through the wilds, his own claws digging deep into the ground as he gave chase, clawing trees, tearing bark, seeing through reddened vision as everything became just slightly more illuminated by his rage. Corvus felt the embers of that rage stoking and flickering into the very strength of his hands. His flesh was scorched and burned, bleeding badly, and purple smoke from fire lingering off of his wounds.
Jerec tore through the trees, feeling their pursuer gaining on them with alarming speed. He growled in a curse before rounding a hill, climbing higher and higher through the dirt, soil, and underbrush, weaving between trees toward the sound of roaring water ahead of them. Corvus was not far behind and to show it, he launched fireballs, collapsing the trees in front of them. Jerec sailed up into the air, leaping up and over the flaming trunks as their dry leaves quickly took to flame. The ledge of the waterfall was just before them, a rushing river off to the left and a deadly cliff side just beside it.
The waters roared as Jerec ran for it, Corvus leaping over the flame and charging his hands full of violet flame. Jerec lingered toward the edge of the waterfall, just beside the river, caught between their enemy and the high waterfall whose steam fell into sightless dark.
She cried out and clung tighter as the trees ahead of them collapsed to try and cut off Jerec's path. Her palms were sweating and every muscle in her body ached from tension and her fierce grip. Ariel could only image the pain and ache the mutt was feeling.
The monster was hot on their trail, emerging behind them as a specter would in a child's nightmare. Except this was far worse than any nightmare, Ariel could ever remember happening and there was no waking from it ever. This was reality and now she and Jerec had to try and escape it too.
"Jerec, the waterfall!" she shouted, remembering something from her youth. While she did not right know what the false-man truly was, she had heard tales back when she still lived with humans. Some of them matched a description of the creature and in one of them, the way to stop it from following was to cross moving water for it could not follow.
"Jump! You have to trust me!"
Corvus crept closer to Jerec as the werewolf was driven closer and closer to the edge. He growled at them with a singed face, everything burning and smoking still. But Jerec wasn't going to waste anymore time, even as fear was crawling its way back into his heart. He felt his back foot creep off the ledge and his head looked over his shoulder when he remembered Owlet still clinging to his back.
Jerec looked at the water fall, and as soon as she spoke he did jump, leaping away from the beast-man and vaulting over the river, or as far as he could go. But his leap wasn't quite far enough as he landed just beside a rock jutting from the water, a few yards from the other shore. Jerec's claws dug into the stone, trying to hold on as his lower half was being dragged by the violent current of the river.
The jolt of his impact nearly knocked her clean off his back and she had to struggle with all her might to regain her old. Ariel would not be surprised to learn that she tugged a few handfuls of his fur in the process. Hopefully he would not be too mad later when their lives were no longer in danger and the damage could be fully accessed.
Seeing that he was struggling in the water and they were being dragged down, Ariel scuttled up his body like a monkey up a tree onto the stone embankment. She braced her feet against the rock as best as she could and pulled with all her might at his forearms in hopes of dragging him to shore.
"Come on mutt, I don't want to die smelling wet dog. Get your furry behind up here!"
If only he could curse her ear off in his wolfish form. Jerec's claws dug into the wet stone but his hands were having trouble gripping on it and the current was pulling him further and further away. He placed his feet on the rock and pushed himself up, slipping every time. Eventually he was able to shuffle his belly up onto the stone and crawled up beside her, shaking and shivering from the water.
Jerec wrapped his arms around her and licked her face affectionately before pushing her to make the jump across to the bank, which wasn't that far, and he followed soon after her
"Yeah, yeah I know you're grateful. When this is over though I demand a real thank you kiss, Slobberer." It did not take much of his pushing to send her on her way. She knew what had to be done and with little effort she made the necessary jump, glad to see that Jerec was able to fall as well given his sorry state.
Worriedly, Ariel looked back to the distant shore, hoping to see the demon kept at bay. For once in her life she prayed that fairy-tales were true and they had succeeded. She was so very tired of running. It needed to end. Maybe they would never be free of running from the creature. But, borrowed time was better than no time.
One hand reached out to touch Jerec's shoulder for reassurance. Although, Ariel could not say for sure whether it was for him or for her. She was not even sure that really mattered right now. But, Jerec had come back for her. Bloodied and beaten, burned and broken, he still was looking out for her. In that moment, she thought she might love him.
"Did we make it?"
Through the darkness, Jerec could faintly see the glitter of the moonlight on the water and the fading glow of violet flame disappearing from the other side. Jerec gave a momentary chuff of relief and sighed, crawling up the shore of the river and pulling Owlet to climb onto his back once more to run as far from the bank as possible. They might have been safe for now, but Jerec never took anything for granted, least of all a moment of peace.
Once they were well enough away, Jerec felt his strength begin to leave him and he slumped down, just underneath the base of a small natural ridge, exhausted and the fur leaving his body. He now lay there vulnerable and naked, and bleeding from the open burns.
She gladly crawled back up his body to cling tightly to him while they raced further and further away from the shore. Her face nuzzled into the fur of his shoulder as she allowed herself to finally feel a sense of relief with a touch of victory. They were free, for now at least.
At last they came to a stop and she felt his body change back into his own beneath hers. Taking care to not injure him any further, Ariel slid off his body to sit in front of him. "Poor mutt," she lamented affectionately, taking in the damage that had been dealt him, some of which she herself had caused.
Ariel brushed a bit of hair back behind his hair with delicate fingers that moved to run down his cheek to his jaw. There was remorse and sorrow in her touch as she wished she could make it all go away. Scooping up a bit of mud she began to tenderly rub it onto some of his wounds, knowing that while it might sting it would help stop the bleeding.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to come back for me," Ariel explained as if that was a valid excuse.
Jerec winced at her touch, though not because it was her. He peered at her from the corner of his eye and furrowed his brows at her. The irritation at her icebrain lingered for a moment but he didn't have the energy to stay angry for long. He instead just let her soothe the mud over his wounds. But soon his eyes shot open at another realization. He was shaking and he didn't know why and he glanced over to Owlet before turning his gaze away to stare at the trees.
He knew it was fear, that it still lingered in his heart and he shamed himself for it. "I-I thought you would die surely," he croaked, swallowing hard on a dry throat. "I-I....I don't mind the wounds...those will heal...but...I was so scared, Owl... Scared about what he'd do to you. I've been so scared in my life..."
Ariel was shocked to hear what he was saying. She could not believe that this strong creature who had saved her time and again from scraps of trouble would be scared and of all things, her death. So many things came to mind in that moment to say and yet she could not bring herself to say any of them. As her heart soared and ached with the knowledge, she still recognized the sacrifice it took for him to admit that and she would not have him suffer his pride any more for her sake.
"Shh," she hummed, pressing a gentle finger to his lips. "Don't strain yourself." In silence she quickly wrapped up what she was doing before wrapping her arms around him as best as she could in a warm embrace. Her head rested against his, her chin over his shoulder as she nuzzled as gently and carefully as she could against him. Ariel feared causing him more pain, yet she wished to bring him comfort as well as seek some of her own.
She could not tell him how she felt, she was not even sure she understood it herself. The adrenaline leaving her, left her weary in mind, body, and soul. But, of all the people she could end up with in the end, Ariel was most glad that it was Jerec. She could not imagine it any other way.
"I-I can't," Jerec stammered, his eyes looking out to the woods, his heart racing in his throat. He gently pushed away, though failing to do so as his muscles felt like butter and his were no stronger than jelly. He managed to sit up and looked at Owlet with softened eyes when he was secure in that moment - at least enough to know the beast chasing them would have to find another way around. He traced his hands across her cheeks for a moment in a moment of humanity.
But suddenly his eyes narrowed and he scowled at her, removing his hands and leaning back from her. "You set me on fire!" he growled at her.
She sat up with him, arms reached out nervously to steady him, should he need it. She was glad he did not though. Ariel did not fancy puncturing his fragile pride anymore tonight if she could help it. Instead, she found her own eyes soften and half-close in response to his tender touch. The moment was perfect.
That is, it was perfect up until he decided to open his bloody mouth. Ariel's eyes flashed open and fire danced within their icy depths as she glared her companion down. "Your own damn fault for getting in the way furball!" she raged back. "And you bit me! Mind explaining that?!"
"I didn't bite you," Jerec snapped angrily. "It's called mouthing! And it's perfectly safe. Unlike - I don't know - FIRE!!" Jerec wished he had the energy to slap her silly for her idiocy, but he knew he would only hurt himself in the process and then where would they be. He huffed and turned his head back to the river to make sure there was nothing there still.
"And what were you thinking, anyway! Fire is a human thing," Jerec continued to growl. He narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you were more of a beast than me! You should know better! You could have killed me and then where would we be! I should eat your for your stupidity!"
Ariel bristled angrily and had she been a true owl her feathers would have puffed up in agitation. She hated having her human qualities pointed out to her. "So I used a weakness as a strength! Get over yourself! At least I'm not the one that came running back like a pup with his tail between his legs to save someone," she shot back cruelly.
She felt raw, as if his words had stripped her to the bone. Her words preyed upon his fears, digging into his admitted weaknesses and dragging them out into the light in retaliation. Ariel felt sick the moment she had said it too. Yet, despite her guilt, she continued onwards. Digging her grave deeper with every word.
Struggling to her feet she spat at him. "I don't know why I bother helping you, you only hurt me in the end. I wish I had died. Painfully. Gruesomely. Just so you would suffer. I hate you!" she railed, tears in her eyes as she tried to move past him.
"I'm responsible for you!" Jerec called back. He grunted with effort to stand, leaning heavily against the tree nearest him when she pushed him away. Jerec reached out an arm and prodded at her shoulder just before she moved away. "Why else would I go back? Is a mother bear not responsible for her young, her cubs? Is it so wrong? Even animals care sometimes, Owl!"
He winced and nursed at his wounds, holding his sore sides and licking at his shoulder, bending his head awkwardly before turning to her again. "Well, go on then and walk away. I won't stop you! I only saved your life countless times. You don't need me anyway!" His words were filled with spite and venom, but also pain and he hoped against hope that she would turn back around.
Pivoting on her heal, Ariel howled with anger. "How dare you! You are not my mother. You are not my father. You are most certainly not my mate! You have no right to claim responsibility over me. I am no child! You of all people should know that after what we did."
Her body flushed scarlet with her wounded pride. Her hands balled into tiny fists as her small form vibrated with her rage. "You're lucky I don't just, just ARGG!" Her foot stomped petulantly as she resisted swinging a fist at his face.
"Just remember when you lay here dying that it was you that started this. You refuse to let anyone care for you, ridicule the weak humanity in others while failing to see your own shortcomings. I laid down my life to save yours against my better judgement only to have you come back for me and I have gotten nothing but grief for it. If you didn't want me then you should have left me to die, responsibility be damned!"
She just stood there, out of breath, chest heaving and body shaking like a leaf, glaring him down through misty eyes. She did not know what to say. While the fire of her rage spewed caustically at him, her own black guilt ate away at her stomach, making her want to retch. Ariel was a fool and she knew it. The one good thing to ever walk into her life was being ripped apart before her eyes. But, the demon that did it was not the foul beast of before, it was her own selfish human tongue.
Jerec felt the lashing like the bite of a slaver's whip. Unlike the whip however the wounds laid deep inside and he stared at her for only a moment longer before turning his eyes away. He aadn't the strenght to look at her, not after what she said because he knew she was right.
"Ariel," he said quietly, deliberately using her human name. "I couldn't help it, I guess. You're right. I was weak. But even wolves have family. And they will fight with each other and for each other to protect the pack. But you're right. We're not family. And I've wasted all this time with you for nothing... I guess I just wasted you're time too. I won't begrudge you from leaving, if that's your aim. I just want you to know that I cared - if it's any consolation. I still do."
She visibly flinched and lowered her gaze at the sound of her human name. It's utterance told her loud and clear how deeply she had wounded her companion. The floodgates were broken and she wept to hear such words. No matter what she tried she could not stop the tears, although Ariel tried her best to silence them. She did not want to give the werewolf anymore ammo to fire her way than she had to.
"How can you care?" she asked brokenly, her voice cracking beneath her tears. "I'm everything you hate. I'm weak and stupid and human. I cause more trouble than I'm worth and bite the hand that feeds me. What am I even to you? Another meal? A pup that needs looking after? A burden? Or am I just a waste of time?"
Angrily, Ariel brushed away her tears, sickened by her own disgusting behavior that may have driven him away from her forever. "You can't just come into my lonely, pathetic life, turn it upside-down, and then expect me not to worry about you when you're hurt or miss you when you're gone. I don't know what you want Jerec. You let me treat your wounds and then you push me away and growl. You tell me that you care for me while insulting me. Which is it? Am I repulsive or desirable? Am I hated or," the final word lodged in her throat like a great big bullfrog refusing to abandon his log.
"Just tell me," she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her middle. "Tell me to stay or to go. I just can't keep doing this. I don't want to do this."
He couldn't believe it. He was falling prey to the very emotions that he scorned and spurned. He couldn't even bear to look at her lest she see the humiliationa apparent on his face. And that only made his eyes burn even hotter. But he couldn't stay that way for long for her own sobs forced him to face her.
"No!" he growled and pushed himself up from the tree, stumbling towards her. He refused to feel pathetic. And yet he couldn't help but throw his arm up around her shoulders and bury his face in her neck. "Don't go. You're my friend... My companion. How can you say you are nothing to me when we've been through so much together already? We both have much to amend for...and we both make each other hurt because we don't know how to deal with how we feel. I am wolf. But I know no matter how I try, I am still just a man."
Ariel stilled with shock to have him initiate their touching. Her sobs ceased and even her breath was halted as she feared it to be unreal. But, when her lungs demanded air she gasped and found her own head burying against his and her arms holding him tightly, wounds be damned.
In a soft voice, she questioned him, fearful and hopeful of his answers. "Can man and wolf coexist Jerec? Can such a thing be one? Is it possible to live our lives accepting both halves of who we are? The woman and the wild? The wolf and the man? I'm so tired of being alone," she admitted, feeling a tear slide down her chin to his neck.
"I'm afraid of it now. Jerec I need to know, can we still be "us" once this is all over?" Ariel pulled herself away form him gently so that she could like him in the eye. "Can we still be friends? Companions?"
'More?' her heart questioned further, beating fast and heavy against her breastbone. Yet, she dared not asked. It was too much hoping. Too many times in her youth, she had been rejected. She did not think she could bear his rejection on top of it all, not after all they had been through, the good and the bad.
All of her questions coursed through his mind at lightning speed and he thought to the days when he roamed free in the wild, without persecution or fear of men and their blades and traps. His eees wavered with that emotion, that even now afrer everything, he might never return to that. And yet there was an inkling feeling that despite that freedom, it was an empty beauty. He'd lost the substance of his life. That substance only realized now that Owlet came stumbling into his life.
He squeezed her tighter and faced her with a grim expression. "You seek answers that I can't know myself. I struggle day to day to satisfy the beast in me. I let it control me, we were one...once. But you bring out my humanity. And it sickened me...and it scares me still. But I don't want to be scared anymore. I can't say that tomorrow will be any easier than today. I can't say if we won't one day be parted. But if I can help it, I'll stay by you. You're my family now. You're my pack. Is that enough? For now at least?"
"I won't ask about tomorrow then. I'll take each day as it comes and be content with what we are given. I cannot promise not to leave anymore than you can. But, I promise to do my best as a packmember to protect our family and tat which we call ours."
Despite her shining eyes, Ariel stood tall and proud with a watery smile upon her lips. What Jerec offered her was more than she had ever had. It was all that she had ever dreamed of and desired and now it was hers. She had a pack, she had a family. Odd and small, it was perfect to her nonetheless.
"Thank you, Jerec," she warmly stated, hugging him tightly in appreciation. "Thank you, my wild wolf." Ariel kisses the corner of his mouth in her excitement and happiness before she had a chance to calm herself. Yet, she did not regret it for a moment. She had a refuge and his name was Jerec.
Jerec smiled at her words and could have creed at their sincerity. In all the years he was convinced he didn't need a pack, that he didn't need anyone but himself, he'd never realized what he'd been missing. He'd never been one to live for tomorrow, always worried about the future. The beast did not give much to others than his person, than the present. But at least now he would have Owlet.
He squeaked when she hugged him. Pain making him tear up and he whimpered at her embrace. "Let's get of here. Find some place safe to rest. my woudds are killing." He winced visibly and his legs felt like jelly underneath him, not able to support him much longer.
She winced apologetically, realizing just how much she must be hurting him with her crushing grip. "I think you better sit down before you fall down Jerec. Setting you on fire wasn't ideal for traveling long distances."
Despite what she said, Ariel still moved to help support the larger werewolf as best as she could. "Know any nearby caves or mystical disappearing cabins? I really don't think right now is a good time to teach you to connect with your inner squirrel," she giggled wearily.
Jerec winced again, hesitant to put more weight on her at first but at least shewwas much stronger than he was at the moment. "I don't think there are too many places in the wild where that beast can find us," he said. "But we'll have to take what chances we can get. Come, help me up this hill. I'll try and sniff something out."
And no sooner did they ascend the hill did Jerec's nose detect the moist scent of wet soil and stone parted from the earth. It smelled faintly musky and he supposed it was a better sign than the scent of fresh passage. Jerec dropped to his knees in the long grass and crawled through it, trying to find the hole and when he did, he nearly fell in headfirst. He caught himself on a root and called back up to Ariel. "It's a barrow of some sort! I think we can hide here for now. It's quite a drop however."
Once they reached the top Ariel had to resist the urge to comment on Jerec's desire to crawl around on the ground like a babe. She knew that much of his injury had been her fault and therefore she had no right to laugh.
"Careful!" she cried, rushing up to where he had nearly brained himself. "You sure you'll be able to get back out of there though," she questioned skeptically, staring down into the hole. I don't look forward to the whole being buried alive idea right now." Ariel knelt down at its edge leaning forward to look nervously downwards. It really did look like a long way down.
Jerec shifted himself so that he was a little deeper inside and peered through the dark. The slope went down and curved out to some rocks. "I don't know," he replied. "But we won't know unless we try. Unless you have a better idea. Just slide right behind me!" Without further delay he let got of the root and let the darkness take him.
Jerec grunted and rolled to a halt at the bottom, hitting the stones at the bottom enough to scrape his arms. When he found he was relaitively okay he called back for Owlet to follow him. "Just watch out for the rocks!"
"Just slide right behind me into the hole with no end. No worries, it's only a several thousand hundred something drop into the abyss of the unknown more commonly referred to as death," she ranted under her breath while swinging her legs into the hole and staring apprehensively into it.
Hearing something snap in the wooded area behind her, Ariel gave up resisting and threw herself feet-first into the hole. She really did not want to stick around long enough to find out if that vile creature had figured out how to cross the waterfall and was on to them now.
She hit the bottom with a hard thud, not expecting the bottomless pit to be quite so short in a drop. With an ungraceful flop, the wild woman crashed into Jerec with a resounding smack. "Sorry," came her muffled response from against him. "Hey, we made it! Would you look at that," she sarcastically continued.
He'd just gotten to his feet when she came crashing down into him, knocking him down back into the dirt and making his ears ring when it collided with the ground. "If didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to kill me slowly but surely," Jerec said hotly. But he wrapped his arms around Owlet nonetheless and gave her a noogie on her head.
Ariel rolled her eyes in the dark, secretly relishing being pulled close against his body. It felt safe almost, secure if she could believe it to be practically squashed up against the body of an injured werewolf.
"If I had my way it wouldn't be slowly, believe me," she quipped back while trying to squirm away from the noogie. "Jerec!" came her high-pitched whine. "You're going to tangle it!" Grousing, Ariel freed her hands so that she could try to smooth the bird's nest of pale locks into some semblance of order.
If she had actually taken the time to reflect on the action though she would have noted just how strange it was for her to care about her appearance behind the necessity of camouflage and her attempts at a more bestial resemblance.
Jerec let go of her and pulled away, setting his ass down on the soil and giving her a funny look. "I thought you liked it all tangled and filled with knots! I'd strangle myself with my hair if it was ever that long. I wouldn't stand it!" Jerec gave her a smug grin and ruffled his fingers through his own hair.
[Super short! Off to work now!]
She glared, knowing that his observation was true but also not wishing to admit it. Ariel smacked her hand out towards him even as she knew it would fall short. "That doesn't mean I want you making it into a rat's nest on the first go! Besides," the little huntress continued, scooting to sit next to him.
"You're one to talk with your matted fur and annoying tail. You have more hair than me!" While Ariel tried to cover her mouth to hide the giggle that was forming on her lips, it was no use and it quickly came bubbling forth as she darted glances to him.
Jerec frowned at her, clearly unamused and he curled his legs and arms against him as he glared up at her. "Well, you certainly weren't complaining when that matted fur was saving you from a blood thirsty savage demon thing!?" he growled at her with hot, glowering eyes. As she laughed, he felt his blood begin to boil further, but it was more out of embarrassment than anger.
"What the hell's so funny!?" he huffed.
Her gaze softened as the laughter quieted and a small smile tugged the corners of her mouth. "That is very true, Jerec. I never did thank you for that, did I?" Ariel was unaffected by his foul mood, taking it as his usual grumpiness with her presence.
"And nothing's funny mutt, don't go getting your tail in a knot," the huntress sighed. She could not admit to him that realizing she liked him made tail and all made her laugh. Nor could she inform him that she mentally referred to him as "His furriness." She already knew it would only be a matter of time before that one slipped and she would never hear the end of it. Better to hold onto that one as long as she could.
Shewwas right to pay no attention to his mood, for it would soon pass and Jerec, in all his exhaustion leaned back against the dirt wall of their temporary sanctuary. And he said no words to his companion as he closed his eyes and let himself drift off to a much needed sleep. His mind encased in darkness and he could hear the sounds of men shouting and baying to each other, hunters of flesh and of wolf. Hunters of him. But the dream would not cease and Jerec began to breathe hard in his sleep.
Ariel kept her silence in the dark, letting her companion sleep as she too closed her eyes to rest in a semi-awake state-of-being. She saw nothing but darkness and heard nothing but the sound of nature's nightlife filtering down into the hole. It was the new sound of Jerec's increased breathing that caused her to open her eyes and stare blindingly in the darkness towards him.
Unwillingly to awaken him because of all of the trauma they had both been through and his need for sleep, she chose to instead cautiously reach out to place a hand atop his own. The huntress hoped that her presence and the feel of something real would help to settle him so that he could sleep peacefully.
"It's alright Jerec," she whispered so softly she could barely hear herself. "I'll take care of you now."
Somehow, sometime after she had touched his hand, Jerec's heavy, frantic breathing subsided, and he had moved in his sleep, crawling closer to Ariel, to his little owl, and spooned behind her, his arm draped over one side and his topmost leg draping over her hip, virtually caging her against him. Jerec slept soundly by her side and his grip tightened around her, pulling her possessively against him.
It did not bother her that he latched onto her. In fact, more than anything it made her feel safe. Ariel scooted back so that her back pressed even closer to him. His warmth and presence lulled her into a true sleep where she dreamed of a future of them together, of nights similar to this where they slept beneath the stars and no fears or crazed hunters tailing close behind them. It was peaceful there in her dreams. Yet, at the edge of every dream was a growing darkness of foreboding saying that it would not last.
Jerec molded his body to hers as she was sleeping, his wounds throbbing and taking their toll on him as they tried to heal. He found his arm squeezing her in a moment of distress and when his eyes shot open, he was nearly crushing her to death.
Jerec got up abruptly and felt the hackles on the back of his neck standing on end. "Owlet," he whispered to her, taking her by the wrist. "We've got to get moving."
Ariel dreamed of a great big snake that was trying to squeeze the life out of her. Tighter and tighter it squeezed until she was sure her ribs would crack and her lungs shrivel from the pressure. She awoke gasping for air only to find it was no dream and that Jerec was smothering.
Panicked, she attempted to claw at his arms to get him to release her and was relieved the moment he abandoned her to rise. With a whoosh she took a great big gulp of air, trying to catch her breath.
When he called her by name, Ariel's head immediately snapped to attention. His hand about her wrist was warm but his voice sounded strained. She understood that there was no time for questions. She trusted him now and would follow where he said to go.
"I'll go first," she informed him, stepping closer to reach for the hole above them that they had slid down from. "Give me a hand up?" Already Ariel was reaching for roots above them to help pull herself up but she was still a smidge too short to reach them on her own.
"N-no," Jerec was quick to rectify, "Not up there. Through here. We don't know how deep these tunnels go. But it's better than open ground at the moment. I can feel a draft coming through here. It's worth investigating, than betting acught by that creature once again." Jerec took Ariel by the hand and took her along with him into the unknown. Jerec sniffed the air, following his nose and he caught the smell of water flowing through these caves. Water and blood. He didn't know what lurked downed in these barrow, but he would rather face that than the creature that hunted them.
"Oh," she said flatly, letting her hands fall to her sides. She felt stupid for not thinking to try and travel deeper within the burrow. Holding his hand tightly, Ariel pressed herself close to his back, making sure to keep up with him. For what it was worth, she trusted him.
Every so often she would cast a backward glance to ensure they were not being followed all the while feeling clammy ghost hands seemed to trace up and down her arms and backs. Try as she may she could not ignore the sense of foreboding that was growing on her.
'Are we making a mistake? Are we headed for a dead-end? Is the burrow even really abandoned? Will the creature that made it be coming back? Had it ever left?' Worriedly she chanced a glance up at Jerec. Ariel doubted his body could take much more abuse. He had already been through so much. They both had. 'If only we could get away from all this. Disappear. Live normal lives.'
Ahead a sound of something heavy dragged across stone ricocheted off the walls and to where they stood. It seemed they were not quite so alone as they hoped. "Jerec?" she tried to ask calmly. "What lives in here?"
Jerec could not promise that these tunnels would lead to the salvation they sought. He didn't know if these burrowed halls wouldn't lead to a death trap and the creature that hunted them simply waited on the other side. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and his eyes darted through the shadows as they crawled onward through the muck and dirt. Though he could see through the darkness in clearer vision than he might even in day, Jerec's vision told him little about what resided in here.
He looked behind him at Owlet and then back in front. He sniffed the dirt, dense damp soil that smelled of fresh water and he inhaled again. "Something dirty," he growled. "Big...smelly, with claws bigger than mine. Rats." Jerec knew that smell better and had forgotten who really made these tunnels. The deeper they dug, the more pungent it became.
Jerec crawled through as quickly as he could, but the tunnel eventually came to three converging paths and he did not know which one to take. But they did not have time to decide and he quickly moved down the middle path, braving the smell and the thickening darkness.
Ariel looked at him incredulously. "Rats?! Since when do rats grow big enough to have claws bigger than yours?" She frowned and bit her tongue, choosing to pick up her pace rather than run at the mouth. If they could stay away from the creatures ahead as well as the one behind and make it to anywhere but here, then she would be grateful.
When they reached the converging paths, the wild woman found herself pausing to glance at the other two tunnels. There was nothing that she could see to differentiate any of them from each other. Even she could smell the foul stench permeating the air now and her own fear scent joining the mix.
Shame filled her as she scuttled to catch up to her companion. Ariel had no right to be afraid when she had Jerec with her. She should be trusting his judgement and yet she doubted. "Jerec? What chance do you think we'll manage to avoid all of this for once?" Part of her was joking while part of her truly wondered. Would they finally get a break? In the darkness she never noticed how the ground was starting to slope downward.
He had been feeling pretty confident right up until she opened her mouth and Jerec gave a sigh that made him pause a little. "There are things of all shapes and sizes, Owlet. Things bigger than even me. I ain't sayin the rats will be bigger than me, but their claws are large and they'll likely do some pretty nasty damage." He pressed on through the darkness even at her growing doubt. And his growing anxiety.
"I-I don't know. Maybe none...maybe all of it if we're careful," he stepped forward and suddenly feel forward feeling nothing underneath him. He yelped and his arms shot out toward Owlet, grabbing on to anything that might hold him steady. But he was too heavy and tumbled down below, taking her with him.
She had not meant to but the moment her feet left the ground, Ariel screamed. The woman had been reaching forward to place her hand on Jerec's back to offer them both comfort when he had latched onto her and dragged her further into the darkness.
They rolled head over heels as they fell, bumping into each and walls as they went until they came to a sudden painful stop. Ariel heard a sickening crunch as they landed and for one paralyzing moment thought she had broken a bone. Yet, when no radiating pain made itself known other than her newly acquired cuts and bruises, she decided it was not her.
While she hoped the same was true of Jerec and made to move to find him in the dark, secondary crunches reached her ears as she shifted in place. In confusion, she reached down to feel what they landed on and touched what felt like smooth stones. At least that is if stones were smooth and cylindrical and when broken had sharp edges.
Ariel gasped with understanding. They were sitting in a pile of bones. Her breath stuttering as it exited her chest, she frantically reached for her companion. "Are you hurt? Can you see? We need to get out of here," she whispered breathlessly. Looking up she could see a faint amount of light from the tunnel they had fallen down but there was no way they would be climbing back up it as it was far too high to reach.
Jerec seemed to be less than graceful when it came to sticking the landing. Though he could see better in the dark than Ariel could, he didn't have eyes on the back of his head and the tumble down to the pit below made him dizzy and he lost all sense of balance. He landed with a crunch on the sharp bones and the naked werewolf felt his right buttcheek pierced by a sharp rib-bone. He plucked it from his bum and rubbed his ass before grumbling nonsensical words.
Jerec searched around him and finally found the tiny hands that belonged to Ariel. "Bones. Tree balls...these rats must be bigger than I imagined. Or maybe people got lost in the tunnels same as we and were eaten alive. Well, one thing for sure we can't come out the way we came in," he hissed and took her hand in his. He saw the tunnel of bones opened up into a taller chamber and the sound of squeaking became louder and louder, almost like a chattering.
"The tunnel gets bigger, but I just don't hope whatever's inside it, isn't bigger too," he whispered, mostly to himself, but it came out aloud. He immediately clasped a hand over his mouth when they came to a cross tunnel and the sound of scratching immediately followed the squeaking and in the darkness he saw the massive shape of a rat at least two-thirds the size of a man. And with that, his other hand released, Ariel's and went to cover her mouth instead.
Ariel shuddered against him but shook her head. "It's not bigger," she tried to tell him confidently even though she knew they both did not believe it. The squeaking they heard perturbed her though. Rats sounded like rats no matter their size and even the wild woman recognized what sounded like more than one voice.
A cold sweat broke out across her skin and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as they hurried forward, deeper into the darkness. The huntress cursed her humanity that denied her the privileged of a wild predator's night vision. She felt like she was jumping at every noise and shadow, and in the dark there were many of both.
Her head shot back slightly as Jerec's hand suddenly covered her mouth but she otherwise tried to keep quiet, trusting for once that he knew something she did not. Ariel hardly dared to breathe as her eyes darted, searching for something she could not see.
Unbeknownst to her the beast had rather poor eyesight and had as of that moment not caught sight of them. It was however sniffing at the air quite aggressively for the scent of fresh meat that stood within a few short jumps away from it.
The rat was getting closer and closer to Jerec and Ariel's position and moving backwards would only make them run back into the bones. But it seemed almost as if they had no choice as the rat kept advancing. It was huge and as it came forth, Jerec leaned back and lost his balance, shooting out an arm and crunching a bone he landed on.
The rat suddenly stopped and gave a sudden shriek before charging forward, lunging at Ariel, as Jerec was leaning off to the side.
Her head instantly snapped to the side to look towards Jerec, fearing that something had gotten him. She never saw the beast coming the other way straight for her. Ariel had but a heartbeat to take a deep breath to ask if her friend was alright before it was knocked back out her and she was on the ground.
A searing pain sliced into the back of her shoulder as her chin slammed into the compact earth. She could not even scream in pain as the beast breathed down her neck and clawed at her back and sides. Ariel scrambled to grab something, anything to get it off her as her violent thrashing was doing nothing to move it off her thin frame.
In what seemed like an eternity, her fingers finally clasped around a piece of shattered bone fragment. The huntress wasted no time in swinging her uninjured arm behind her in an attempt to try and stab something vital of the beast. The first few swipes either missed or served to infuriate it further as she heard a crunch and more pain bloomed on her left side, making her feel nauseous and dizzy. On her fifth attempt, Ariel was rewarded with an inhuman squeal of pain and the beast let go, trying to retreat from her makeshift bone blade while alerting others of its kind to its distress. Weakly, she scuttled to her feet, trying to place her back against a wall while praying she was not backing right into the creature instead.
Jerec was helpless to help her as coming in from behind might only cause it to attack Owlet all that much more savagely. But it quickly turned out that she didn't need him after all. The force of the violence, sent Jerec momentarily reeling to one side of the burrow as he watched helplessly as Ariel took a piece of bone to the side of the giant rat.
After the squeal and retreat, she had bumped into Jerec's form and he immediately grabbed her and her wrist that held her sharpened bone. "It's me!" he was sure to say, as she could see as well as he could in the inky darkness. His heart was beating wildly and his eyes darted toward the avenue of retreat, no doubt would be the avenue of an ambush if they didn't get out of that particular tunnel. Jerec grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, scrambling through the opposing tunnel and feeling as if the walls were quickly closing in on them.
Jerec knew she was hurt, bleeding even and the rats would only close in on their scent. It must have been quite painful to be moved so quickly and Jerec, at last, stopped to observe his companion. The tunnels were going wider and he could at least sit up on his knees without his head scraping the top too much. "Here, climb onto my back," he said. It'll be faster than dragging you," he said and coaxed her to put her arms around his neck and hoist her onto his back as he scurried through all fours through the burrow.
The smell was nigh unbearable, and the fear was kicking in. He could feel the blood of Ariel's wounds dripping down onto his flesh and a different kind of fear was making his blood burn, and his mind dance in a kind of anger. The fear that he might lose his companion. He grit his teeth and crawled faster, but it just didn't seem faster enough.
Suddenly Jerec cried out when he felt teeth, or something equally sharp suddenly dig into the meat of his calf. He had passed a cross-tunnel without realizing it and the squealings were loud enough to disorient him all around. Jerec stopped and kicked it off, or tried to at any rate. He fell flat on his belly and motioned for Ariel to move if she could. "Go on! Crawl! Go without me!" he growled at her.
If it had not been for Jerec's words and his quick actions he surely would have been impaled by her impromptu blade as Ariel was already preparing to swing the moment she collided with warm flesh. As painful as it was to be yanked along, she kept her silence. The last thing her friend needed to deal with was a whining woman when their very lives were in danger.
Ariel was grateful though when he offered to carry and quickly though it pained her, scurried up onto his back. Her good arm clasped tightly around his front as her other was firmly tucked between them in order to not jostle it too much. She felt like it was on fire and was not even aware of the way she was bleeding all over the place, giving those that did not already know where they were a fresh scent-trail to follow.
Their traveling was short-lived though. Jerec's attack sent them sprawling and he was pushing her away soon after, demanding she run, flee, leave him behind again. Ariel felt so torn. The last time she had obeyed him the monster that had chased them into this hellish den had nearly destroyed him. The time before that she had disobeyed and gotten them both captured and made into slaves.
With only seconds to decide, the huntress found herself torn. She could blindly run ahead, bouncing off walls and risk not only getting lost but getting killed, or she could stay and try to help him defend them both. 'I don't want to die alone,' she thought, frightened and shocked by her own revelation.
"Come find me Jerec. You hear me? Don't you dare leave me to die," she ordered before obeying him. She slipped as she fist started to crawl, kicking some rocks out behind her as she went. Some of the rats broke off to find her while most pounced on the opportunity to attack the felled man with more meat than bones upon his frame.
Ariel did not know what she was doing though as she clutched the bone knife tightly in her one fist and pressed her injured shoulder tight against the tunnel wall for both protection and direction. But she prayed this would not be the last time she saw the werewolf. Her stomach sank with guilt and regret at having abandoned him even if it was what he told her to do.
It had been an instinctive order, it was the only way Jerec knew to get Ariel out of immediate danger - but whether or not he had made the right decision had remained to be seen. The last thing either of them needed was her flailing in the dark without any sense to her, possibly hurting her, himself, or the rats. There were too many factors to consider to allow her to stay and Jerec would have throttled her if she did and hurt herself worse than the state she was currently in.
Jerec could see the hordes of rats in the dark and they were quickly scurrying up the tunnel behind him, crawling over each other. The bites were horrid and Jerec screamed and only just managed a yelp in answer to Ariel as she darted into the darkness. He didn't now if he could kill them all as he barely had room enough to kneel, but further more he had no clothes, or means of physical protection against the savage scratches and bites that were difficult to evade in such narrow corridors.
Jerec felt his rage burning his veins and he twisted around, brandishing his claws, his fangs and tore at the rats. Their teeth, while no match for his, were still greater in number than he as he slashed at them. Their squealing was deafening and within the redness of his sight, he howled and grew increasingly frustrated as he piled their bodies on one another. The mess before him served as a wall as he abruptly turned and quickly crawled away though his legs were bleeding and brought him a great deal of pain. The rats behind him crawled over the top of the bodies of their brethren and scurried after him.
Jerec needed something that would keep them permanently at bay, but there was nothing insight and they knew these tunnels better than he could traverse them. He looked up and saw loose dirt falling a little from the vibration of the all activity underground. His leg abruptly shot upward and kicked the dirt, clawing at it furiously until more dirt began to pile up. He knew the risk of a cave in, but it was the only option that came to mind to prevent the rats from gaining on him further. Dirt piled up quickly and nearly blanketed him had it not been for him crawling back on Ariel's pursuit.
Jerec's heart beat like a war drum and his pulse made him pant in short quick breaths. He was beginning to feel lightheaded, as if the tunnels were closing in on him. I have to find her... Ariel! his mind rang out, but his eyes grew wild and darted back and forth between a split in the right and left tunnel. He sniffed the cold dirt air, but felt dazed by it. He dove for the right tunnel, hoping he was on the right track. "Ar...ARIEL!" He howled as he suddenly collapsed onto his belly, his sight turning to black.
While Jerec had gone right, Ariel had gone left letting her injured shoulder guide her through the tunnels, rats hot on her heels. She quickly began to slow and was pounced upon from behind as the beasts converged on her.
A single strike with her knife injured one but shattered the weapon into tiny fragments that bit at her hand though not nearly as painfully as the creatures that clawed her back and bit her wherever they could.
There were only three of them that had managed to follow but it was still three too many in the dark and close tunnels. The injured one hung back while the other two cornered her and bashed her about between them as if playing with her was an amusement. Ariel wished she had Jerec's strength or his claws as her own bitten nails did nothing against the rats' thick hides.
She managed to get her arms around the neck of one of them as it fell on her and though it dug its teeth into her first injury she squeezed with all her might until it moved no more. Yet, there was not time to catch her breath as the other two immediately pounced on her. Ariel punched as hard as she could wherever she could, wincing at the slices her hands received from knocking into teeth and claws as she fought blindly.
Ariel could not say how much time passed as she beat into her hands until she thought they would break. It was only when she stopped that she realized one had run off and the other was dead. Her whole body shook with fear and adrenaline. She dragged herself away until she could move no further, collapsing into a shivering ball upon the cavern floor. Distantly Ariel though she may have heard her name but she brushed it off as her mind playing tricks on her as she heard it echo over and over inside her mind.
He didn't know how long it had been until he had awaken. But by then the blood had dried on his legs and hands and his muscles were sore and aching everywhere. He opened his eyes to the blurred yellow of highlighted darkness. His lungs hurt to breath and he was shivering. But suddenly he jerked awake, at the gradual realization of where he was and how he came to be there. At first he thought he was in his grave, dug deep within the ground with no way out but death.
Jerec turned and abruptly sat up, only to hit his head again and proceed to go unconscious for another thirty minutes or so.
His head was throbbing when he came too, and he whimpered a little. Sick of feeling sad, pathetic and in a great deal of pain, the memory of the rats came rushing at him. He leaned up in the dark, this time feeling for the ceiling and gently touching the dirt that had been excavated there. He pressed against it, using it for support until he turned around in the tunnels, crawling on his belly as he suddenly remembered Ariel.
"Owl!" he called out, crawling like a snake through the soil. "....AAAAARRRIIIEEEEELLL!"
The sound of her name, startled her awake. Ariel did not know when she had fallen asleep but for a disorientating moment she was afraid she had gone blind. A heartbeat later of pain had her remembering mighty fast where she was and that she was completely alone.
She jumped to her feet in seconds, nearly knocking herself out in her thoughtlessness before Ariel was shouting back, praying that it would be friend and not foe that found her in the dark. "Jerec!" she cried out, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Jerec where are you?! Are you hurt?"
Over and over she called for the wolf, afraid to get lost further by moving. Yet she was even more terrified that he needed her and was too injured to move from where the rats had left him.
He did need her. Jerec's body had grown numb from the cold and now throbbing from the pain that wrapped all around him. He fought back the tears, fought back the anger at himself for being so pathetic and weak. He knew that hs tears could not save him, however and he trembled with every movement. He would not die here. He waa determined not to die here! In the darkness, in weakness.
Jerec was too weak to call out to Owlet again and he could hear a faint echo and unknown distance away. Jerec crawled forth on his belly, whimpering with every movement. He didn't know long it was, but every effort made his muscles want to fall right off of his bones. Jerec struggled harder even more than when the creature was chasing after them. That had been the closest he'd ever been toward the fear of death, but this... This was all too real.
Finally his shoulder bumped into something that felt like legs and he gave a shriek of fear, shielding his head immediately, unable to look up at it.
She finally had given up on calling when she received no response. Trying to decide what to do, Ariel paced back and forth, hunched over in the low tunnels. On the one hand, she needed to get out of here. One the other, she could not bring herself to leave without Jerec. If she stayed he had a chance of finding her. If she moved she had a chance of finding him. If she stayed she had a chance of waiting forever and finally being eaten by the rats. If she left she had a chance of becoming lost forever.
Kicking out in anger and frustration, Ariel tripped on a warm fleshy obstruction in front of her and went tumbling head over heels. The huntress grunted as she hit the ground already grappling for something to attack with when her hand came into contact with bare flesh.
She froze, hoping against hopes she was not making a costly mistake by not attacking. "Jerec? Is that you?"
[Yeah, Ariel, fall on the wounded man L_L]
Jerec yelped and loudly when Ariel landed on him. He whimpered and whined like a kicked dog, the pain finally taking its toll. He turned his head to peer at her off to the side where she had fallen and he carefully removed his face from the brace of his arms. "A...A.....ARIEL!" Jerec barked and crawled toward her. His arms flung around her in desperation, clutching his head against her chest and he quietly began to sob.
Ariel clutched just as tightly to Jerec as he did to her. It broke her heart to hear him sobbing and yet she did not stop him. He always was the strong one, always saving her from her fool messes, always, always, always.
Her head rested gently atop his as she placed small kisses to it, ignoring the filth and blood, though she prayed it was more the beasts' than his. One hand tried to gently comb through his hair while the other lightly ran down his back. Ariel wished to be soothing but she also wanted to know just how badly he had been injured. She doubted he would tell her if she asked.
"I'm here," she whispered, "I'm here, love."
Jerec whimpered in her embrace and her touch was the only soothing thing within the roughness of dirt and soil. Her words were strange to him, so soothing, so human. And he didn't seem to mind so much. Jerec turned his head up to her, where he felt breath seeping from. Her face was so close to his and his hand drifted up toward her cheek, cupping it in a dirty palm. He leaned up and rested his head on her shoulders.
"I am...tired of this," he managed to whisper. "I don't want to be chased anymore. I was rest. Real rest. Don't you?"
"I know," she whispered leaning into his touch. "I want nothing more than for this all to be over, to finally sleep and really sleep, to not hurt and to heal. And I'm sure you want to not be saving me from every damn situation that comes our way."
Ariel laughed quietly. She felt horrible for Jerec because when she reflected on it, her joke was not really a joke. The huntress really had led the wolf from one mess to the next and had a battle-scar at nearly every event to prove it.
"It should be close to daylight by now, I'm sure we can find our ways out of these tunnels and then we'll find somewhere safe to stay. How does that sound? Somewhere where we can get you cleaned up and taken care of."
Jerec gave her a soft, pained laugh at her joke and he nestled his head in further against her. "It's not your fault... Okay, sometimes it's your fault. But not always. I don't have to save you. But...I want to," he admitted and felt his pain subside a little, at least with the comfort of another. At the mention of finding someplace safe, he nodded against her and moved from her body, albeit reluctantly.
Jerec whimpered a little, at the holes in his legs and bit back tears as he moved once again. "I think I felt a draft coming from down this tunnel. Maybe it's a way out."
She held him a bit tighter for a moment before letting him go as he pulled away. It made her heart beat an extra beat to hear him say such things but it was not a feeling she could act on at the moment. They both were badly hurt and had more pressing matters at hand than such a declaration.
"Drafts and light are good. I'll take whatever we can get if it means getting out of this hellhole. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a rat the same after this," she admitted, even as she moved to offer him support.
If Ariel knew anything, she suspected that Jerec was not about to admit just how bad off he was. The huntress swore though to help him in any way she could in return for all that he did for her. She was far into this wolf's debt, yet she would not have it any other way.
[Could anyone look at a rat the same way after all that? xD]
he didn't know how long he went on crawling through the cold, the dirt and muck. But slowly but surely, he could feel air flowing through the tunnel and when he saw the blinding light of day. His voice cracked as he gave a cry of joy. He moved toward the hole and saw above the sun, the sky, the clouds. He felt tears sting his eyes and he tried to stand. His muscles hurt from the bites and he grimaced as he leaned against the side of it.
It was just a foot or so higher than his head and he motioned her to climb up first. "C'mon! We've made it! We're almost out of here!"
Ariel's hands shot out to steady him as best as she could. With light filtering down from the hole above, she could already see the beginnings of all he had suffered recently. It broke her heart to see dried and drying blood mixed with grime that caked his form.
She hurried to obey though without question. The moment she cleared the surface, she let her head fall back as she took a deep breath in of the fresh air, reveling at the feel of warm sunlight upon her skin.
"Come on, Jerec. Sunlight'll do you some good," she laughed, feeling almost hysterical in her joy and relief.
As tired as he was, Jerec would manage as much strength as he could to make the climb. He fell down onto the soft grass beside them and laid upon his back, staring up at the sunlight sky with eyes sore from pain and tears. He gave a cry of happiness and reached out for Ariel beside him. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see sunlight. Where I am a child of the moon, the sun too will bring me solace," he found himself saying on a parched throat.
He looked more words for wear than she, though she had been savagely attacked as he had. His wounds, thankfully, no longer bled, but they would have to be tended to and that was an unpleasantness Jerec saved for a later date. He just wanted to sleep then, relax until nightfall before they would move again. Oh how his body ached, everything sore and drained. He could sleep for -
"Well, well, I thought I'd find you two little morsels here. And fresh from the ground I see. Well, it's only a matter of time before you under up there one way or another," Corvus smirked as he appeared from underneath the shadow of a tree. He appeared more mortal than he had previously and looked at the both of them with a blazing fury. "I've been there and done that. Let me tell you, the grave is not all it's chocked up to be."
Her hand readily fell into his as she collapsed comfortably into the cool grass, not caring how it tickled the backs of her knees and the center of her back. For the briefest of moments, she felt perfectly at piece. Then a voice she had hoped never to hear again, rang out from behind her.
Ariel flinched, struggling to her feet to turn and face, the demon of the night. She was given pause though as she was shocked to see that he was not quite as he remembered. Somehow in the daylight he seemed far more human than she recalled. The huntress wondered if her memory was mistaken and she had in her fear, hallucinated some of the night's events. Regardless of the truth though, she did not wish to find out.
Angry that this monster had hurt Jerec. Angry that he had imprisoned them both. Angry he had used her. Angry that he had driven them into a rat's nest to be eaten alive, and angry still that he had appeared just as they escaped, Ariel found herself racing towards him at full tilt. She had not planned her actions through, simply letting hatred guide her but all Ariel knew was that she wanted to kick the man where it would hurt the most until he could not breathe anymore and then she would keep on kicking.
Jerec had managed to lean up on his elbows and peered up at the beast that had hounded them. He was too tired to stand, but there was no small measure of alarm within him. He knew that if he were attacked now, he could not defend himself. Both of them would surely die. As it were, he yelped when Ariel stood at last and charged at the man with what strength she could muster.
Corvus seemed almost amused by the notion and casually leaned back against the tree as he watched the tiny hunter take her fury out on him. Or try to at any rate. The creature stood straighter and soon found her growing increasingly annoying and he grabbed her suddenly by the hair and held her at arm's length, no matter how she protested.
"I'll kill you slower so you can watch your friend burn! His soul will be mine and you'll just be a tasty bonus!" he growled. He snarled at her and grabbed her arm with his other hand and exposed her neck and took his mouth to her shoulder and bit hard, drinking heartily to induce her into a stupor.
"NO! STOP! I'LL GO! JUST DON'T HURT HER!" Jerec howled uselessly on the ground in an impotent rage.
Fortunately Corvus did not drink much and took his mouth away from her and snarled at the broken man before him. He gave him a sinister grin and kept his grip on Ariel's arm. "But she will go too. I'll need a snack for the journey. Heaven forbid we miss the changing of seasons," he huffed. Turning to the little huntress, he shook her once more. "You put up a fight and I'll skin your friend and turn him into a coat."
Being held at arm's length only made Ariel angrier and fight harder to hurt the creature. It was to no use though, he was stronger and beyond her range. She was not about to land a strike no matter how much she struggled.
Ariel had not meant to, but she screamed in pain at being bitten. If it was possible, she found it to be even more intense than when the rats were swarming against her and trying to eat her alive. Like a rabbit caught in the trap, she went still under his hands, whimpering in protest to the pain.
She wanted to scream to Jerec not to listen, to run, to let her die. But Ariel was selfish and wanted to live. She wanted the pain to end and if that meant Jerec's submission then she would accept it for her own survival no matter how guilty it made her feel. Meekly she nodded her own submission to the creature, remaining still, for fear of ending up with a snapped neck in a matter of seconds.
At the back of her mind though raced a single question. 'What is so important about the seasons?'
"Now there's a good little mouse," Corvus grinned at Ariel. Stalking toward Jerec, he dragged the little huntress off with him and reached down to pluck Jerec pathetically on the back of his neck, dragging him along since he could not stand and the creature would not let him stand. Like a pup, Jerec was pulled by that powerful grip, having no strength to protest and knowing full well what lay in store for the both of them.
"You know, I went through great lengths to find the perfect vessels. And it was unfortunate that the two of you had the opportunity to run from me. I hope you both enjoyed your freedom while it lasted, worms, because you're mine now," he spat savagely, referring more to Jerec than he was to Ariel. "Do you think you could run forever!? Pissants like you don't deserve to live! Living in the trees and this forsaken forest to live as some beast...like you could ever be an animal. Oh, don't think I didn't smell the wolf blood in you. What a waste, that such gifts were given to you and you squander them to live in the woods when you could have mortals kneeling at your feet. A waste of power, a waste of life, and a poor choice in companions. No matter, now.
"I will so rectify the both of you."
Jerec lay limp within his grasp, and he watched the ground pass underneath him. He couldn't bear even to look at Ariel who resided in Corvus' opposing grip. He felt tears begin to form within his eyes, recalling the memories of his mother, his father, Isak. They lived life away from civilization, from people, in the darkness, and yet in the light. He was both man and animal and he could not find one world to which be completely apart of. Perhaps it was best to let himself die like his mother, like his father, and like his brother.
And a lone tear slithered down his cheekbone and dropped to the ground.
"Better to live free than confined and caged like everyone else. He isn't wasting his gift," she told the creature defensively, "he's living instead of watching it pass him by. Can you say the same?"
It disturbed her to see Jerec so docile. However, she did understand. They had both been through hell and back in a matter of weeks that already felt like years. She did not want to give up though. They had been so close to freedom and then not. Ariel felt angry and disappointed with herself. All she had wanted to do was protect Jerec, and now her human weakness reared its ugly head again for all to see.
She had no plans, no hope of rescue, no way to miraculously save the day. The huntress decided, what she needed was information. Given her captor's passion for hearing his own voice, Ariel thought it best to try and keep him talking. There was always a chance she might learn something useful. However, first things first.
"What does rectify even mean? Or vessel for that matter?"
Corvus scowled at the little huntress and her investigative questions. What did she want to know anyway? He reckoned she might say just about anything to save her hide and the meager soul of her foolish companion. He was bloodied and pathetic and could no longer put up a fight. It was a shame they couldn't put that further to the test. Corvus would have liked to see his mettle one last time before killing him.
"What does it matter?" he said at last. "You're going to die soon anyway. Might as well cherish your final moments in silence. For that is just how I like it before tearing apart a fresh kill. Though...hmm fresh might not be the words I'd use to describe you. You smell like a rat's ass. I reckon that's just exactly where you came from."
Ariel snorted and shook her head before muttering, "it was the other end actually." That idea was flop but that did not mean she was going to give up quite so easily. She was a fighter to the end and if this was truly her end then she was going to give a fight to be remembered, but she was going to be smart about it. No more rushing in stupidly headfirst and ending up with Jerec saving her.
"You know I don't see why I need to spend my last moments in silence though if it both annoys you and isn't your soon-in-coming death. And for the record," she growled craning her head to look up at him. "I'm fresher than you, your frou-frou-ness."
While Ariel quipped and snarked, endangering both herself and her companion, a fourth shadow trailed much further behind the trio unbeknownst to the young woman and possibly the others. The cloaked man had been tracking since before the ambush where he had lost the trail before picking it up again hours later. His prize was Corvus but the other two could prove useful in their own respects. If they got in his way though he had no qualms about turning them into collateral damage. He had hunted the vampire for too long to be hindered by a pair of filthy mongrels.
Corvus growled in anger as the tiny huntress persisted in wagging her jaw. He would not give her the satisfaction of a response and would let her talk away as she pleased. Night would soon come and the ritual would commence just before the evening hour. He had to find the proper summit, where the blood-red moon would expose itself to the world and only during that time, in the turning of the seasons could he sap that worthless soul from that even more worthless werewolf and even the little huntress.
Jerec was suddenly dropped on the ground in the center of a stone circle that he hadn't realized he'd been dragged into it and weakly poked his head up. He watched as Corvus was muttering something to himself, something that sounded as if it were in a foreign tongue, or a language lost to time. He peered to Ariel and hated that he looked so pathetic in front of her. He couldn't fight, he wasn't strong enough, but she could run, she could escape and his eyes implored her to do so, though he couldn't find the strength to say the words for it.
"Don't even think about it! You run and I'll gut you right in front of your hound. And make him eat your remains," Corvus growled, suddenly turning on the two of them as if he could see them behind his back. "Evening calls. You best say your farewells while you have the chance." He gave them both a wicked smile before the sky began to darken and the moon began to rise before the edge of the trees.
The wind suddenly began to pick up and Jerec could feel the ground grow too hot to feel. He immediately jumped up, and felt as if he were sitting on hot coals. Jerec yelped and writhed on the ground as Corvus stood at the center of the circle and suddenly cast violet flames form his hands that scorched at Jerec's back. Fire sprang up from the edge of the circle of stones, trapping them all within.
Jerec was intense pain as he felt as if his soul was separating from his body, tearing through him just as the fire danced along his skin. Corvus appeared more monstrous as he had done before, gargantuan, and demonic. He turned around and laughed at the sound of Jerec's agony. His mouth uttered ancient words and the violet flames seemed to reverse their course, pulling from Jerec an essence seen only as the blurred heat over a hearth.
The energy turned blue in color and absorbed into his body. Corvus felt as if a knife was digging through him and he grit his fanged teeth as his own soul was contending with the energy, letting it settle into his mortal body. He had to split from it, make room before entering into that mortal vessel once more.
Jerec's eyes burned in rage in his anguish, his own reaction to pain, his only survival instinct. Jerec turned on his back, feeling his life draining from him and despite it, he fought to move to his knees. The effort was greater than he could muster. His vision doubled, he saw red and he seethed in his anger, trying to crawl toward Corvus as he saw what looked like a wraith exiting from his body. Just then there was a whistling in the air and everything seemed to happen all at once. An arrow flew into his mark, striking into Corvus's heart just as his spirit seemed to break from his body. A piercing shriek filled the air, one of surprise, fear and sudden helplessness.
It was then that Jerec leapt upon Corvus's body and tore into him, savagely clawing at him in his moment of weakness. Corvus screamed, and with the ritual broken, Jerec felt his strength return to him. He dug his claws into his throat just his soul entered back into his bleeding vessel, and the hunter burst from the trees. Jerec saw the fourth person and wasn't going to waste any time finding who it was. He rolled off of Corvus' body and crawled to his feet, stumbling along the way, falling and trying to get away to the other side, calling for Ariel to follow him.
[Sorry, kinda got carried away here! Hope it isn't too long.]
Ariel sneered yet the moment she was free it was not away she went but closer. She reached for Jerec, thinking only of him. The huntress watched in horror as he began to writhe in pain as their captor chanted gibberish to her ears. She herself screamed at the sight of the violet flames that danced across Jerec's skin.
Over and over she called his name, tears racing each other down her cheeks as she found herself helpless once more. Her own hands tried to soothe him and yet she found she could not physically stomach the action. Every time she tried, Ariel felt weak and sick as if her body had been sent spinning and everything had shifted into the ends of her limbs, leaving her lightheaded.
She did not have long to contemplate the sensation as an arrow seemed to materialize out of nowhere and struck true. Everything from that point happened so quickly, she hardly had enough time to get back to her own tired feet before a new stranger was barreling past her and Jerec was taking off.
The huntress made to follow when a voice stopped her. As the man crouched over the body of the monster, driving the arrow in deeper, he quickly informed her of the location of a nearby river. She did not understand nor waste anymore time to try as she raced to catch up with Jerec. Whether the stranger was friend or foe was not for her to decide. Right now her duty was to her friend and what he needed was her care.
"Jerec!" she called, urging him to follow her. Hopefully the stranger had been right. It could have been a trap but if it was not then they both could get cleaned up and cover their tracks. "This way!"
He would not die. He refused to die that day. His beyond was beyond all limits. Even his anger, that which had always helped him survive, was beginning to burn out. He was panting hard, his lungs and throat felt cold and stung through so much that it hurt to breathe. "Ar-Ariel!" he croaked, falling onto his belly as he turned to look at her. He got up again, stumbling every step to catch up with her in her indicated direction.
She waited for him to catch up before taking his hand to lead him by. His strength was failing him but she hoped that she could get him to somewhere safe before he collapsed and she was forced to drag him. With a great deal of relief the sound of moving water made itself known not too soon or perhaps not soon enough for her.
Ariel dragged Jerec the final steps encouraging him with every movement, her eyes searching along the riverbanks for any signs of foul play. When none readily appeared she dropped down at the edge, her hand still tightly clasping Jerec's.
"Don't drown on me okay, mutt. I need you. And I need you to help me help you, can you do that? I know you're tired and hurt. But, I can help if you let me."
Jerec was just about to fall into the water when Ariel took the moment to vheck if the coast was clear. When it was, he nodded vigorously and whimpered before scampering toward the river's edge and throwing himself into the water like a dead body, letting himself partly hand onto shore to keep himself from drifting off. The water was icy, but it sprang him to life and he drank from the stream with great vigor.
Ariel knelt in front of the werewolf at the bank's edge, keeping an eye on him to make sure he did not suddenly let go and drift off in the current. While he drank she reached into river and cupped cool water in her hands to pour over his head and shoulders. As gently as she could, the huntress worked at washing away the dried blood and dirt that coated his form.
Her fingers combed through his grimy hair, searching for any serious gashes or contusions. He was a patchwork quilt of injuries old and new. It broke Ariel's heart to know of her part in it. While she wanted nothing more than to just cling to him, the niggling thought that the hunter would return and she did not exactly want to be there for it.
"It's alright now Jerec. It's over. We'll get you cleaned up and rested and then...then we'll do whatever you want. Does that sound alright? Can you hang on just a little bit longer for me? Please?"
Jerec had only realized her presence for the time and he blinked at her through half-lidded eyes. He nodded vigorously at her request. He felt his eyes burn red with tears, hot they were and he held back a sob. He just reached for Owlet and put his arms around her shoulder, caking her in cold water and mud with his embrace.
He couldn't find any words to say, for his throat was parched and his eyes seemed distant, like a lost child. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this..."
She readily embraced him back, ignoring how if it had been any other day she would have been shying away from being so close to being dunked headfirst into an icy river bath. "Can't drag the one who races ahead." A teasing smile played across lips that she pressed against his brow. "I love you, Jerec."
"How touching," a voice snarked from behind her, causing her to flinch violently as Ariel tried to both shield Jerec and view the intruder. "What did you two nitwits think you were doing going up against Corvus anyway?"
[O: She said the "L" word!]
Everything seemed to happen so quickly. Jerec was in half a daze, perfectly ready to collapse on the spot. He had heard the word resonate in his ears and he blinked at her then at the sudden intruder that was upon them. Instantly, Jerec bared his teeth at the hunter, but even he knew it was a bark more than a bite.
"We...wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to kill us...both of us... Is he...is he dead?" Jerec said in a parched hoarse voice.
"No," the hunter said resolutely. "Arrows can't keep a creature like him down. I don't know what he is. But he fended me off and ran off into the woods. But I'll catch him soon enough. But you still didn't explain what you were doing with him."
"Like he said, that creature was trying to kill us. What more explanation do you need?" Ariel snapped back. It angered her to hear that the monster was still alive and had the potential to hurt her and Jerec more, but it infuriated her to be questioned by the human when she had done nothing wrong but be dragged from one hazard to the next.
Glaring up at the man from her hunkered down position, the huntress could not help but run at the mouth again. "If you're so keen on catchin' him, maybe you should be worryin' more about him and less about us."
"I was wondering if you two might know where he would be off to!" the hunter growled and brandished ths crossbow at Ariel. Jerec shook his head violently.
"We-we don't," he croaked. "We were sold to him as slaves...He wanted to kill us to...to do something in that ritual... He told us nothing more." Jerec positioned himself before Ariel and the beast, as bloodied cold and pathetic as he was.
The hunter's eyes were resolute as he gazed at Jerec's that despite his weakness, he knew he would fight to protect the annoying huntress with her big mouth. "You should check that mouth of hers. It's going to get her into trouble one day."
"Story of my goddamn miserable life," Jerec growled, glaring still at the hunter. "Go away... Leave us. We know nothing more that could help you."
Ariel wrapped her arms protectively around Jerec's, grumpy that he had even in his injured state moved to protect her. Her lips curled back in a sneer moments before she cried out in shock. "Hey! That was uncalled for mutt!" the huntress groused, her arms falling away to cross over her chest in disapproval.
The stranger had been inclined to ignore the pair and had just turned to leave when her name for Jerec registered. Very slowly, he turned on his heel to face the pair. "You know, that is the second time she's called you a mutt and I doubt it is as innocuous as you sharing different ethnic backgrounds. No, Corvus wouldn't have wanted you unless he thought you were useful, strong even."
He stalked closer, his eyes gleaming with a light of their own. "Yes I do believe you still can be of some help to me, yet."
"You really do have a big mouth," Jerec groaned and gave Ariel a sidelong glance. But his expression had been tired and haggard as he turned back to the hunter. "We're not helping you. There's nothing more to offer, and I'm too tired to care. If you're a hunter of any renown, then you know better than to let your prey get away."
"How about I shoot you in your bloody heart right now?" the hunter growled, raising his bow and aiming for his chest.
"That just made you my best friend," Jerec said unmovingly.
The man stared at Jerec for several moments before bursting out in laughter and raising his crossbow. "You know, I can offer you shelter, food, clothes, you still sure you can't help? You're both in pretty bad shape, wouldn't want your little princess catching cold now would you? Or worse yet getting picked off by predators, would be horrible. You're in no state to protect her."
"I can take care of myself," Ariel spat. "Shove off, we're fine! Go back where you came from or after that thing for all I care!"
"And what shall I do when I catch up to him again? He won't be as careless now that he knows I'm coming, girly. At least with your mutt I would have some assistance and possibly a means to kill him. Although I don't know why I bother," the hunter shot back, beginning to pace. "He'll die anyway if he doesn't receive proper care." The hunter's chin jutted in Jerec's direction as he spoke
"Like we'd go back with you after what he did to us! We don't need your help!"
"Why? Got a little plan for yourselves? Somewhere to go? Because I assure you there won't be any others like me for a hundred miles let alone ten that would be willing and able to help the likes of you!"
Jerec was getting impatient with the mortal man and he lunged forward as if to strike him and the hunter stepped back before he could. "Get out of here or you're going to be my next meal!" Jerec growled, showing his teeth. "I'm sure a day in the wild won't kill me. But I'm certain it just might kill you! Now begone from us you filthy bastard!"
Taking the hint, the hunter scatter with only a single backward glance. From where she sat, Ariel could not help but giggle. "Well you sure sent him packing with his tail between his legs. Now you mister better get back into the water here so I can work on making sure you don't die on me. I wasn't done with you."
Jerec was utterly drained. Making it back to the banks of the river was more than a chore and he cast one glance back toward where the hunter left them. "Maybe we should have at least accepted the food," Jerec mused. He sighed exhaustedly, dropping his head between his knees. "And you! You had to go opening your big mouth. He woulda just gone away if you didn't call me mutt."
"Well you were the one who brilliantly ran him off," Ariel quipped. The woman rolled her eyes as she scooted off the bank and into the water, hissing at its iciness. She positioned herself carefully by Jerec's legs, making sure she was secure before working on washing away grime and blood away from them.
"Like I was supposed to know that he would catch onto a nickname like it was a lifeline," was her sarcastic response. "If you ask me he was lookin' for a reason to stay."
"Only because he was staring at your bosoms," Jerec snickered as she cleaned the grim along his legs. He grumbled nonsensical things to himself and picked at a scab on his elbow like a twelve year old. "Ouch."
Ariel pinched the back of his calf, scolding him to stop picking and sit still before regarding what he said. "Right because he's never seen udders before. There is absolutely nothing interesting about my a woman's chest Jerec."
Having finished cleaning what she could reach, she quickly pulled herself back up onto the back and flopped down on her stomach, too cold and tired to want to do anything else. "I hate water," came her grumbled complaint.
["I hate water." Lol! The story of this entire thread XD]
Jerec looked at Ariel and then to the creek. Another look between them again and he sat further down by the creek's edge before reaching into the water and splashing some up into Owlet's smelly hair. And soon he was scrubbing her hair and scalp. "You stink!" he growled.
A nonsensical howl burst from the huntress' lips as she fought to escape. "Lemme go! Mutt! Swear on your grave I'll maul you for this! QUIT IT!" From side to side she wriggled about on the bank, intent on being free of his clutches.
Yet she tired in no time. Ariel was pouting and scowling with arms crossed in disgust. "Don't know how you can even smell past your own stench anyway."
"Oh hush," he growled. "You whine like a little pup, I swear! Ugh...this gunk ain't coming out. What did you dip your head in, mortar? I'll look for some bricks to scrape it out of your hair, just you wait a second." Jerec gave her triumphant smirk and doused her head in water until the dirt and grime started to loosen.
"You know, maybe you ought to take your smell to market. More women should smell like the outdoors. It'd certainly drive their men wild," he laughed. "Maybe....maybe living in civilization wouldn't be so bad y'know..."
She flailed her arms at being dunked and came up shivering and sputtering like a drowned rat. "If you really believed it you wouldn't be trying to drown it out of me," Ariel griped. "I doubt they'd let someone like me near 'em anyway. Never wanted me before. Not gonna start now."
Her last words were spoken in a far less bitter tone than she was accustomed to speaking when it came to talk concerning humans and their settlements. There was a longing in Ariel that sought companionship, a heartbroken child that suffered within that remembered cruel rejection and abandonment.
"Why would anyone want to live alone in a crowd? At least here it's easy to forget..."
Jerec sat down beside the bank and kicked the water idly. He looked down at his reflection and watched it ripple and fade away as the water ran. He scooped up a handful of it and he doused his head with it and scrubbed it through his hair. "I suppose living alone in the forest makes you easier to remember. You don't forget the wolf and his tagalong companion running around living like animals."
He picked up a rock and let his hand run along it's smooth edges. "Maybe...I want to disappear in a crowd. I never have before. It would be something new. Something different."
Ariel snorted at his talk of wolf and companion yet inside she felt numb. It was seeming to her that the end of their journey together was coming to an end. Jerec wanted a new life. He wanted to live in a world of humans while she had no place among her own kind. She did not feel she could explain that to him and assumed when he spoke of trying something new he meant on his own. The huntress could already see in her mind him settling down, finding a woman who was dainty and sweet that would admire his battle scars. That woman was not her.
"Then why don't you?" Ariel kept her voice low and soft, fearing that if she spoke any louder she might give away the turmoil she felt inside. "I'm sure if you cleaned up a bit, they'd welcome you in with open arms. They'd like someone like you."
Jerec visibly winced at her tone. He frowned and cut kicked the river like a child again. "By myself?" he asked. "Well, I guess so then. I guess you wouldn't go anyway, like you said, the wild is your home. It's my home too, but I....I tire of being hunted. I tire of being chased and hounded like wild prey. I want peace...I want...to live for once. Maybe there's really more to life than just running around between trees."
Ariel nodded. "Sounds...nice. Too good to be true." She shrugged, curling into a ball where she sat, her knees tucked under her chin. "Maybe that's just me though. Guess it's different when you've never had it. I did once, you know."
She took in a deep shuddering breath, licking her lips as her mind went back to a time buried deep within her memory. "I was human once. Lived with people. Thought I loved 'em. Didn't matter. Didn't love me. It's funny," she laughed, her voice sounding like dried leaves underfoot. "I don't remember their faces. Not any of them. I remember the anger. The voices...the pain...but I don't remember what they looked like. Why is that, do you think?"
Jerec peered at her solemnly and moved down beside her, sitting down on the bank. "But I care about you," he said, finding himself admit it. "That's why I want you to go with me. I'm not those other people. I don't want to go alone... I mean...I've never done it before. I don't know what to expect." He sighed and played with the dirt.
"I don't know why pushed away all their faces and only kept the meanness. Maybe that's all you want to remember... The bad stuff? Don't you want any good stuff?"
"You...you want me to...to go with you?" Her head shot to the side to look up at him as if to discern the truth of his statement. "Why? Think I would make a good guide or something? I was just an...an owlet then," she told him with a wry chuckle. "There never was any good then. Why would there be now? I always get you in trouble. I'm a walking disaster Jerec.
"I..." Ariel buried her face in her arms, shocked by her own insecurity. She was afraid. Afraid of losing Jerec and being left behind, afraid of going with him and being rejected, afraid of being wrong about running away and afraid of being right for doing so. Ariel was haunted by a past she had tried to run from and a future she was terrified of running towards. She felt as if she was stuck at a crossroads with no safe path in sight.
Jerec's frown was as deep as it could go. He didn't know what words he could sway to persuade her, if there were any. He was as afraid as she was, perhaps more so since he was venturing into something in which he had no experience. But she knew what she had gone through, what she had endured. Jerec suddenly put his arms around her, hugging her too him like a tiny plush owl, except skinnier and moodier, squishing her like a plush toy just the same.
She squeaked in surprise, her eyes nearly falling out of her head with shock. Before the huntress had a chance to even consider what and why she was doing it, her arms were thrown around Jerec as she hugged him back just as fiercely if not more so. Her grasp was desperate as if he was her last tie tethering her to the earth.
"Okay. I'll go." Ariel felt like a frog had lodged in her throat as she repeated, "I'll go."
Jerec hadn't expected her to answer positively, to give an answer to quickly. His eyes widened and he pulled his head back to look at her more clearly. Suddenly he lunged forward and kissed her fiercely, his face wet and covered in some dirt still, but he didn't care. He just clung to her and then buried his face into her shoulder. "If it doesn't work out, you know we can always just come back to the forests. But I have a feeling...a hope. It'll be great! We'll find a place to live like normal people..."
His face turned sour a little and his eyes seemed racked with guilt. "I know I used to look down on people like that," he murmured. "My father was no different. He was as normal as can be...and I swore I never wanted to be like him. But I guess we can't escape our parents."
Ariel kissed back just as passionately, uncaring of the muck that covered them both in places. Her fingers found purchase in his hair where she clung, holding him close to her even as he buried his face into her neck and shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek against his head, listening to what he had to stay closely.
"Maybe it's not about escaping but being something different, something more. It's time to stop pretending. Time to start being whatever we want to be wherever we want to be...together."
Jerec's face was touched with a smile, curling upward and a small light touched his eyes. "You know...the first time I kept you around. I was only doing it so that I could have a snack later. Even if you are a little bony," he muttered, giving her a wry grin. His head dropped a little and he blushed, looking boyish, young. "So...where do we start? When? I...I don't know if I'm read to just jump in it right away. Maybe we should follow the river a little, then go on a hunt before we head into the nearest town... You can show me how you hunt. You're of the wild too."
"Yeah I kind of figured that out," she laughed, "what with all the blood slurping and chewing going on. Still haven't thanked you for this by the by." Ariel raised her arm to show him the bite marks from his wolf form during their escape of the creature.
It surprised her to see him so shy looking though. Ariel was even more surprised that she found it cute. Rubbing his arms, the huntress found that she too was soon blushing, feeling her own brand of nervousness with his talk of showing him how she hunted.
"Rest sounds best right now. But food is always good. Prey tend to keep near the water so if we follow it like you said, shouldn't be too hard to find a morsel or two. Can't really promise though that I can hunt enough to feed your chicken-butt," she teased, slapping his thigh. "But I'll see what this Owlet can do."
"You know...I called you Ariel many times in the past. And you still haven't boxed my ears yet? Is it still okay?" he asked, leaning back on his arms now and sliding further up from the bank. After all they'd gone through, Jerec was starting to get tired, more than sleepy in fact.
"Tell me how you came up with Owlet," he said, finally reclining backwards and laying on his sore side, bruising starting to become evident along patches of his skin, and the bite wounds from the rats starting to scab over. He looked at her through lazy eyes, hoping to hear a story good enough to put him to sleep.
She shrugged and laid down facing him, taking his hand in her own between them. "Couldn't really thump an injured pup. Didn't seem fair. Suppose I have no choice though. You've already grown attached to the bloody name."
Ariel sighed, closing her eyes briefly, a faint smile touching her lips. "Owlet. Now that wasn't actually my doing. There was this...old man, I don't remember his name or who he was, he used to call me that, his little Owlet. Said I was always gettin' into trouble. He smelled like smoke and whiskey. It was right before the orphanage...or right after."
Her brows knit together as she struggled to keep the memories in order. "I don't quite remember. Seems a lifetime ago, a different person even. He was...nice I guess. He was the only one who didn't hurt me...until he did. Not much to tell really. Owlet's not one for telling stories."
Jerec blinked at Ariel tiredly. He folded his hands into his chest and looked at her with drooping eyes. But his interest remained. "He hurt you...? How?" Of course she didn't have to tell anymore of her tale that didn't need saying, but he realized then how little he really knew of the small huntress before him. But perhaps there were yet things he would never know, things that did not need to be said among them.
The same was done between his father and his mother. She had never told him her true heritage, her wolf's blood, and that it would pass from her to their sons. It was not until tragedy struck that the news was broken to him...and in turn broke him all the more. At the thought tears formed in Jerec's eyes a little, how it seemed that everything he loved, cared for, or yearned for, somehow ended up broken - oftimes beyond repair.
He only hoped Owlet would not end the same way.
"He made promises to me," Ariel whispered, her throat feeling parched. "He said he'd take care of me. He'd protect me, and he did. He made the pain stop. He made the sun come out and then." She found herself almost gasping for breath as she spoke, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she remembered.
Her eyes darted from side to side, lost in memories only she could see. "We were going to leave and live in a pretty house and have a dog and we were going to be together always. But that didn't happen. He left," her voice cracked and suddenly she was crying, "he left and he never came back. He just left me like all the rest. Bastard made me feel safe then threw me away! Who abandons a cub? Who?!"
Jerec's eyes opened, though he was tired, watching the tears fall down her cheeks. He didn't know what to say. Perhaps it was best that he didn't say anything. He reached forward and rubbed a tear away and frowned. "Good thing he's not around anymore. 'Cause he probably would have wanted a wolf for a pet. And wolves don't make good pets. They pee everywhere," he smirked at her.
For a moment she looked at him through tear-filled eyes in confusion before it hit her. Ariel laughed and hiccuped scooting closer to Jerec curl up against him. "You would know mutt," she whispered against his chest affectionately. "Get some rest and dream of fluffy rabbits for dinner." Gently, she hugged him thinking for the first time in a while that things might actually turn out alright.
Despite his exhaustion, Jerec slept fitfully and with many images running through his head. He tossed and turned on the dirt, for the soil was cold beside the riverbank and chills ran through him. Were it not for Owlet's presence at his side, he would have likely slipped into tumultuous nightmares. But his arms soon found her and wrapped around her, letting her body ground him to the peace of the earth.
Come morning's light Ariel was just waking from a dreamless sleep. It made her smile to realize she was being used as a living teddy bear and so she was careful to extricate herself from him without waking her wolf. When she was free of him at last, she pulled her hair to the side and leaned down to place a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"I'll be back soon," came her soft whisper. "Don't get into trouble without me, now." The huntress offered his sleeping form a fond smile while she removed her bone necklace and placed it around his wrist. "Until I return."
Quietly as she could, she backed away, disappearing from sight in search of food. Ariel did not make it far though before she tripped over a very familiar trap. For several long moments she stared incredulously at it before looking around in wonder. In a stuttering breath, she began to laugh to herself in realization.
The trap was her own set weeks, or was it months, ago in hopes of catching some rabbit for herself. Somehow between all their running they had gotten twisted about and ended up not far from her den beneath the waterfall.
Like a shot from a bow, Ariel raced through the forest with new hope snapping at her heels. She barreled into her old home, whooping for joy as she did so. Ariel wasted no time in snatching up a rucksack and filling it with provisions they could use. Food, clothes for Jerec, blankets, rolls of bandages, rope, everything she could think of and more was jammed into the bag and when it was full, the huntress grabbed a second one and began to pack it.
She slowed in her efforts as she ran out of things that she thought would be useful. Pausing to grab a fresh set of clothes and a bar of soap she had been saving at the back of a shelf, Ariel wandered back out to the waterfall. With pursed lips she placed her clothes on a rock and dived in, intent on getting clean. The huntress scrubbed her skin until she was cherry red and even then she kept on scrubbing. She was going to look good for Jerec if she had a say in it. Ariel was determined that if they were going to try and make a life for themselves then she was not going to bring him embarrassment and drag them both down.
Clean at last, clothes were carefully put on and she returned inside once more, taking care to brush her hair as best as she could into some semblance of orderly. Brush, soap and a mirror were all carefully wrapped before being added to the top of the second bag. Just as a precaution, Ariel added a second set of clothes as well before hosting the sacks onto her shoulders and heading back to Jerec in a hurry. She did not even pause to cast a glance at the home she was leaving behind.
Jerec's sleep was restful as it could be. Though before his eyes flashed images of the hunter, his father, and the monster that had pursued them through the trees. He felt a small sense of security in the feeling of Ariel he had at his side. But somehow that feeling melted away into dread and his brows came together fitfully and his hands gripped the empty dirt and patches of grass beside him.
"No...no! Leave me alone! NO! I'M NOT A MONSTER!" he suddenly shouted and awoke with a start. Panting left him shaking but for the moment, until he realized Ariel was gone. And all that as left in his hand was a small bone necklace. Suddenly he gasped and his heart fell down into his stomach, cold dread waiting there. "No...no, something's happened to her!"
He leapt to his feet and cracked his back, frantically sniffing the ground for any trace of her and bolting off through the bushes, in the opposite direction she was coming in.
Ariel entered the clearing only moments after her companion had darted off in a panic. The smile on her face froze as she realized though there was nothing there but the flattened grass and disturbed leaf litter where the pair had both slept. Her heart began to hammer as the sacks fell from her now clammy hands. Pale eyes darted about, searching for a wolfman just waiting to pop out from behind the trees to laugh at her fear.
Nothing happened. He was gone. He had left her; after everything, after her saying she would go with him, Jerec had up and left, abandoning her like all those that had come before him. Angered and heartbroken all in the same breath, Ariel let his name fall from her lips, first softly and then louder. "Jerec!" she cried, howling out her pain as she fell to her knees.
'Owlet knew better. Filthy humans!'
[Maybe I'm just a mean person, but this made me lol xD]
His heart was racing in his chest, and his hands dug into the ground as he pounded the dirt in desperation. He was in a panic, afraid, horrified at what might have happened to his companion. He was half tempted to yell out, but feared he would attract the attention of whatever had snatched her away.
"JEREC!"
He heard the cry and his heart suddenly stopped. His ears pressed into his head and he honed in on the sound. It had come from the other direction. He stopped short suddenly and turned on his heel. He rushed back to where the sound came from and flew through the bushes.
As he saw Ariel, he lunged for her, his arms wrapping around her and tackling her to the ground. "Thank goodness you're okay!" he said, leaning back and grabbing her by the arms, smudging her with dirt and sweat. "You scared me to death!"
She was neither relieved nor amused by the appearance of her deserter. Ariel beat her fists against his shoulders, uncaring of his injuries. "Get off me," she barked, yanking her arms away from him. "I hate you! How dare you take advantage of me like that! I trusted you, you filthy animal!"
Angrily, the huntress stood and tried to wipe away the dirt that had sullied her new clothes. Her hands beat at the clothes as she wanted to beat back her tears. Had she not told him only hours before how everyone had hurt her? How the only person she had dared trust had left her in the end? She thought he wanted her. Then he left her. Now he wanted to pretend it did not happen simply because she returned too soon? No! Ariel was stronger than that, she would not fall for those tricks.
"Was it not enough that I said I would go with you? That I changed myself to fit your perfect little dream?" Her hands swept out to motion at her form as she raged, refusing to back down. "I was willing to give up everything and even after I revealed my fear, this is how you repay me? By leaving?! Go to hell Jerec!"
"What!? OW! Stop!" Jerec stumbled backwards onto his behind and shielded his head from her. "What are you talking about!? I woke up and you were gone! How the hell was I supposed to know where you went? You scared me half to death, woman! I was terrified something happened to you. Fuck, Owlet, I went to go look for you!"
"A likely story," she snapped. The fire was dying in her though, leaving Ariel feeling remorseful. She had acted without thinking, granted, the huntress was not over being angry with Jerec. She still wanted to take a swing at his head with one of the heavier sacks.
For several moments she stared at him, completely distracted before bending to retrieve some clothes for him. "Stupid mutt! You were supposed to stay put, not go an ruin everything. Here," Ariel chucked the shirt and pants at him forcefully. "Put 'em on, can't concentrate with you like that."
'More like can't stay angry with the wolf, eh Owlet?'
"Can't believe you ruined my hair," the woman groused, running her fingers through it, trying to smooth down and frizzy ends as she let out several disgruntled huffs and heavy sighs.
Jerec frowned and muttered things to himself, looking at the strange clothes she threw at him. "What are these for?" he asked, looking at her quizzically. Clearly he had forgotten that they needed clothes to enter into any civilized location.
"And don't be mad at me! You're the one that just staggered off and left me here alone! You can't blame me for worrying," he grumbled some more and put his head through a pant leg.
Ariel blinked, caught off-guard by what she deemed to be childish antics. "Oh, honestly," came her growl as she yanked the pants off his head. Kneeling down in front of him she barked at him. "Feet go in pants, one foot per hole big hole up. Quit screwing around Jerec. And I didn't stagger. I wanted to surprise you. I even left my necklace to show I was coming back! I still want that back by the way."
Jerec threw the pants to the ground and took the necklace and threw it back to her. "Well, don't go just leaving things on the ground. You know men are dumb. All women know that. You shoulda woke me up and told me you'd be off to look for stuff," he grumbled. "And I woulda stayed put. And no, I'm not putting on any pants. So you'll just have to live with it! You've got dirt in your nose by the way."
"I didn't leave it on the ground! I wrapped it around your wrist! And maybe I didn't want you awake. Maybe I wanted to be able to have some time to think given I just decided to give up everything I have made for myself in order to return to a world I hated in the first place!"
Ariel grabbed the pants back up and threw them at him again. "Jerec put the Goddamn pants on! You want to live like a human then you damn well will dress like one! You wanted this not I, remember that."
Her hand swiped roughly across her face, tears finally falling despite her attempts to keep them at bay. "Wouldn't even be any dirt if you hadn't have touched me because you left!" She stomped off, rummaging some more in her pack all the while muttering to herself. "Take a lousy bath and the dumb bastard doesn't even notice. Fucker! Better off in the den. Had dignity at least."
Jerec peered at her, clearly unwilling to take any fault in this and he stared at the pants and shirt and the ripped buttons on three parts of it. He saw her clean clothes and hair and skin, only now noticing and gave her a forced smile, showing all of his teeth. "You look nice. But...these aren't my size. They're too small," he said. "And I don't wear clothes. Until we get to town that is. I like being naked. Unless you mean to say you hate my body that much."
'Too little, too late. Doesn't work like that wolfie!'
He received a dirty look for his pretty words moments before a bar of soap went flying at his head. "Well I don't! It's distracting and if you want to live like a human then you need to get used to it now. The least you could do is get cleaned up. Don't relish dealing with your stink if I don't have to."
The blow was enough to make Jerec fall back on the grassy bank and broke his skin, making him bleed from the side of his temple. He peered up at Ariel with dizzy eyes and touched the bar of soap, then the blood seeping down his head. "You had a bar of soap this whole time?" he asked. "And you fought me on getting cleaned up." He took the bar of soap and gripped it on one hand and carefully stood before striding over to the river bank and pausing before the water.
I really...really don't want to! he thought to himself and found himself just staring at the rushing water.
"Not the whole time. I...my den is not far from here. We somehow ended back to where we started."
'And further apart than ever before,' she thought morosely. 'Why are things going this way? I thought this is how he wanted me. You're a fool Owlet.'
"Found it on the back of a shelf," she told him, shrugging. "Not like I needed it when dirt did just fine against the bugs and the sun." Ariel looked up, wondering if he was even listening with the way he just stared at the water. Fresh blood ran down the side of his face and a sudden oiliness filled her belly making her want to be sick.
'I did that. Owlet hurt the wolf.'
She dropped what she was doing and approached him slowly, afraid of what she may have driven him to do. Her breath came in shuddering hiccups. Carefully, Ariel reached out to touch her hand to the back of his. "I'm sorry Jerec," her voiced cracked, the floodgates fully unleashed. "Owlet's sorry, so sorry...thought you left, never coming back. 'M so sorry...hurt you," she sobbed, covering her face with her hands.
Jerec blinked at her for a moment as she began to sob. His brows furrowed and he dropped his knees a little, observing her for a few seconds longer before awkwardly putt his arms around her and hugging her lightly. "Don't cry, you didn't know I would bleed from a bar of soap. It's okay... I-I just didn't know. I should paid more attention to your scent, where you'd gone off. I should followed the stink."
He smiled and rubbed her back. "There, there. You look nice. All cleaned up. People are gonna like you." He beamed innocently and hugged her again. "You didn't do anything wrong. Now there, don't you feel better. I guess this means I don't have to take a bath right?"
Her arms latched onto him, holding him tightly in an embrace as she cried against his neck, slowly calming. "Don't want people to like me," the huntress whispered against his skin. "Just wanted you to." It surprised her that she had admitted that aloud. She certainly had not meant to.
Ariel finally let Jerec go, moving to take a step back and look at him in disapproval as the last thing he said registered in her mind. "Jerec Mutt!" she cried out, realizing for the first time she did not even know his last name. The woman huffed and placed her hands on her hips in frustration as her lips pressed into a thin line.
"I did not just freeze my toes off getting cleaned up for nothing! You get cleaned up and you put on a pair of pants or so help me, I'll...I'll...I'll pelt you with more soap! And this time I won't feel sorry about it neither!"
Jerec jumped up in her sudden burst of anger and didn't say another two words about it. He grabbed the bar of soap and leapt into the waters He yelped at the cold water but sat down on a nearby rock and started to scrub. "Well, I you want me to put those pants on, I'll need some linens too! I'm not going to have my junk getting all hot and sticky!"
"Well it's better than me having to stare at it bouncing around all day long. And you better not miss any spots or you're going back in," she yelled back over her shoulder as she tried searching through her pack for what he was asking for. Ariel was sure she had grabbed some to use for bandages, it was just a matter of finding them.
'Probably on the bottom,' she huffed, wiggling her hand inside so that she did not have to pull everything out. Her hand brushed against something soft which she quickly pulled out, thinking she had found them when she realized it was something else entirely.
Ariel blinked in surprise to see her wolf pelt. She did not even remember packing it that morning or even seeing it for that matter. It must have been in the rucksack before she had started adding things to it. A small smile lit up her face as she remembered the times she had worn it before. She loved her wolf pelt as much as she loved her wolf.
The thought of Jerec though in conjunction with the pelt made her realize he might not take so kindly to her own the hide of one of his distant cousins. In a hurry she stuffed it back in to the bottom, hoping he had not seen it.
"You done yet?! I thought you wanted find civilization sometime this century," she called out to him, finally retrieving some linens that she tossed on top of his previously abandoned clothes. Ariel retrieved her abandoned necklace and put it on to distract herself from watching Jerec bathe.
Jerec had heard her rummaging but he paid her no heed. He was too busy moping while scrubbing himself clean in the water. He scrubbed his hands in the water first, bubbling up the soap and dousing it into his hair, scraping out as much gunk as he possibly could. The dirt was washed away and he kept quiet as he got his face, behind his ears, and started down along his neck. It wasn't easy washing, after not doing so for so long.
"No, I'm not done yet," he grumbled. "Just let me finish!" And he kept at it for a good ten minutes, deliberately ignoring her to give himself some privacy - at least mentally so - as he turned over to scrub his butt and legs and manbits. He even got inbetween his toes though he didn't really like that as much. His nails needed to be trimmed for they were jagged and had dirt underneath them. For the most part he cleaned underneath them too and when at last he was done, Jerec stood and shook the water off of him like wet dog.
He took the linens and wrapped them around his hips until he was sufficiently covered. Knotting them along his hips, he took the trousers and slipped into them, but was moping the whole time, grumbling to himself. "I look dumb," he moaned. "Like a skinny farmer's boy. I eat those for breakfast! Come to think. I didn't even have any breakfast!"
Ariel just shook her head for all his whining. Now she knew what she sounded like when she had protested to him. When he was done she practically tackled him with her speed to give him a hug. "You look as bad as I do so hush," she told him with her head against his chest. "And I hope you didn't eat without me because if I remember correctly you said you wanted me to show you how I hunt."
There was a smile on her lips as she stepped back from him. She was still feeling awkward in her clothes but, it made her feel better to have Jerec in the same state. Ariel was not alone and as much as that scared her it also thrilled her. She was not alone.
The hug nearly threw him off his feet, but he just blushed and prickled a little at the embrace. He relaxed when she gave him space and he offered her a sheepish smile in return. "I woulda hunted better if I was naked," he grumbled even more, pulling the shirt over his head. "You shoulda changed after the hunt! What if I get dirty?"
"Ah but you're not hunting," she told him. "Owlet is, just like she promised." There was pride in her features as she beamed up at him. At last Ariel could do something to prove herself as a viable companion. She could show herself as capable and intelligent without needing him to rescue her from every little disaster that came their way. Food, she could handle.
Taking him by the hand she gently tugged him towards the packs. "Now, what are you interested in eating? I do have some dried berries that are still good. There's fish in the river and there are other tasty animals further in the forests. I know where eggs in the trees are too."
Ariel giggled at the memory of one of their first meals together and accidentally dropping nuts on his head from having climbed up in a tree. "Whatever you want within reasons, Owlet shall find."
Jerec sat down by the packs and crossed his legs over the other and pulled one of the packs onto his lap. He gave her a grumpy glare and shrugged like a five-year-old. "Hunt me a bear. I want something I can sink my teeth into!" he grumbled some more.
Ariel frowned and flicked Jerec in the center of his forehead now that she could reach. "I said within reason you dolt. Do I look bear-sized to you or even remotely capable of killing one? Jerec what's wrong? Why are you acting like this? I thought this is what you wanted," she said hesitantly, crouching down beside him, a hand on his shoulder.
"Did I misunderstand?"
Jerec looked at her for a long time and gave her a small knowing smile. "I know. I know! And it is! I just didn't want to take a bath," he shrugged and shook his head. "I just, didn't know you had all this stuff hidden away in your den! I thought I was going to find clothes in town or something. I just like making you frustrated and giving you a hard time."
He beamed at her and patted her hand. "Some fish will be good. I'll try to lighten up. I promise."
"Doesn't want to take a bath, constantly bitches that I need one, such a hypocrite." She took up and ruffled his hair before bending at the waist to roll up her pant legs followed by her sleeves. "It's an old habit," Ariel admitted, focused intently on her task, "hoarding. The old man taught me."
The huntress walked barefoot back to the river, shivering as she put her feet into, wading deeper. "Think you can get a fire going? There's some flint in the pack...among other things."
"Yeah yeah!" he said, shaking his head and resorting back to his grumbling. He rummaged through the pack and shuffled things around and suddenly felt something soft. He made a face, pulling it up and into his lap. He sniffed it and suddenly jumped up. "What's this!?" he said, gripping it fiercely. "You killed.....you killed a wolf!?" His jaw dropped, horrified for the moment and he just stared at her with wide horrified eyes.
She had just managed to close her hands around a nice big, juicy fish when she heard Jerec's exclamation. Shocked by it, Ariel looked up, her hands reflexively lifting and accidentally tossing the fish straight up into the air.
Her own eyes were equally as wide as she stared back in her own brand of horror. "It was before you," she hurried to say, the plop of the fish landing in the water beside her causing her to flinch. "Jerec you have to believe me I didn't know. I was still a-a-a human fool then. I'd run away and it was winter, so cold. I was hunting for food, wolves followed, scared me. One came too close and I...Jerec I'm sorry, honest. I never did it again and I didn't waste anything I swear! Please, please..."
Ariel did not know what she was begging for. Her entire body shook with fear. Guilt and regret consumed her even as she felt her body warm. Sweat ran down her spine despite the cold of the waters that had numbed her legs. She did not know what to expect from Jerec but she knew what she feared. The huntress feared becoming the hunted.
Jerec was still for what seemed an eternity. He just clutched the large wolf pelt for the longest time before he looked down at it. He loosened his grip on it and carefully moved it around his shoulders, tying the back leg and the front leg in a loose knot, almost like a cape. How foolish of him to forget the kill or be killed view of the Wild. Mother Nature showed her love to those that could fight to survive. And he knew that the pelt of this wolf was just a consequence of that.
"Well, it's really warm. Good choice," he said with a resolute nod and petted the fur as if it were still alive. "I like it." He gave her a trying smile as he sat back down in the dirt again and went back to rummaging through the bag.
Ariel was hyperventilating by the time Jerec spoke. She stood there dumbly as he failed to react as expected, feeling fish nip at her numb toes without reaction. "So...you're not going to eat me?" she asked, her voice coming out in little squeaks.
"You're not um...keeping it are you?" The huntress waded closer to the water's edge, eyes nervously watching in case he made a sudden attempt to damage it. "It's....special." Ariel felt guilty for admitting but it was true. For someone who hated anything to do with humans, she clung to the possession of the wolf pelt with human sentimentalism.
"No, I'm not gonna eat it or you... Well, I mean if we were stuck in a cave in the dead of winter with nothing else to eat...logically one of us would have to go," Jerec stated plainly, but instead he pet the wolf pelt and shrugged comfortably into it. "I like it. I might hold onto it for a while. I hope you don't mind."
She sighed and shook her head. "Just don't drool on it dog-breath." Ignoring him now to get back back to the task of catching breakfast, Ariel waded back out, cursing the cold of the waters to herself and hoping that Jerec would get a move on on making up a fire.
A few failed attempts and she was finally able to toss two large and one small fish far enough onto land that they would not flop and wriggle their way back into the water as the first successful catch had, causing her to yell at Jerec for it. "Fire ready now?"
She had caught the fish remarkably quick and caused Jerec to frown at all the fish she had caught. "Um..no," he grumbled as he struck the flint and stone had had been busy trying to smack over a pile of twigs and dry leaves.
Smoke eventually took to it and it began to come up and Jerec leaned in to blow on it. It started to kindle and eventually lit up. "There!" He beamed but just then the fire went out.
"Excellent," the huntress praised, hoisting herself back out of the water and shivering as the cold hair brought gooseflesh to her wet and exposed arms and legs. She sat down just in time to see the flame go out. Her face screwed up tightly as she fought with herself not to laugh and it was with great effort and self-restraint that she succeeded.
Rubbing her arms to try and warm up, Ariel crawled onto her knees to kneel behind Jerec. She wrapped her arms around him, her hands coming to close around his as she silently directed him on how to light the flame. Cheek to cheek with him, she pushed against him to lean closer as she struck the flint causing large sparks that on the fifth try finally took. Ariel immediately dropped the tools and cupped her hands around the smoldering twigs.
"Breathe into it gently and then when it starts to grow grab one of the bigger sticks to help it along. This is always the hardest part," she commented, still leaning into him and marveling at how warm he felt against her.
Jerec instinctively bristled. Really, her hands were icy and she smelled like fish. He sneezed into the fire and suddenly it went out again. He blinked stupidly and blushed. "Sorry!"
Ariel groaned, her head thumping against the back of his shoulder. "You're hopeless," she teased, before moving to stand. "Go ahead and work on it some more. I'm going to work on cleaning the fish. She shook her head in disbelief.
'So much for trying to help I suppose.'
Jerec sneezed again and wiped his hands on his clean shirt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean too. The fish looks good though!" he said, beaming and trying to start the fire again. With more attention and focus, Jerec was able to get a fire going in another pile of leaves and slowly added more twigs to it until he added a larger log. It steadily grew and burned until smoke filled the air.
He poured more leaves on it and scooted back. "Theeeere! I'm not totally useless!"
"Never said you were," came her easy reply as she finished cleaning out the inside of the last fish. Ariel skewered it along with the other two onto a stick that she then moved to hold over the fire. "Thank you for your help," she told him quietly, blinking blearily as the winds changed and blew smoke into her eyes.
She sat cross-legged, chin in the palm of her hand as the other rested on her thigh while holding the stick over the flames. It was a matter of patience now and as her stomach rumbled, Ariel found she had little of it.
"Is there anything else you want to eat or will this be enough for you?"
"This will be enough," Jerec replied with a sigh. "Admittedly, I still would have enjoyed a bear though. I mean, you say you're incapable of it, but I just think you don't want to show off. You killed a wolf after all. A bear should be no problem." He smarted a little, eyes glittering in the fire and held a stick over the flames as it crackled and roasted the scales of the fish.
"If I had a big bear pelt, that could cover both of us. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with your pelt. It's really comfy."
The young woman smiled, a soft chuckle bubbling up from her throat as she looked over to him fondly. "The wolf was already old whereas I doubt I can find a worn out old bear small enough to hold still and be put out of his misery. Perhaps you can bring us back a bear though so we could share the pelt and both be warm."
She shivered again and drew her knees up to her chest to try and conserve body heat. "I'm glad you like my pelt but I would appreciate having it back at some point in the near future."
"Pfft! Good luck with that. Though if you really want another pelt, I could always try to kill a bear and die and then you could skin me. Then you could be warm. Sound plan to be sure," Jerec said curtly, but with a small grin playing on his lips. He smelled the pelt a made a small face. "You...you peed on this thing?" he said, making a face at her.
Her heart involuntarily clenched at the thought of him dead making Ariel wince. "I wish you wouldn't say things like that," she mumbled, turning the stick over in her hand to cook the other side. Out of curiosity she watched his behavior before rolling her eyes in exasperation.
"I did an equivalent of claiming it so don't you dare tell me Owlet has no claim upon it mutt. I'll fight you for it and I'll win," she growled. "And if you piss on it you can kiss breakfast goodbye."
"It smells," he grumbled and tore the thing from his neck. "Here you can have it back." He tossed it back to her and wiped his neck clean for the next few moments. "I wouldn't want your wolf pelt. I have my own pelt anyway. I think you forget I'm an actual werewolf sometimes, Owlet. I'm not just some child's squish thing. I'm a fearsome beast!"
She caught it easily and carefully maneuvered it about her shoulders without dropping the fish into the fire. "Owlet didn't forget." Her fingers carefully traced over the healing bite marks he had left behind on her last encounter with the beast.
"Don't have to worry Jerec, no one thinks you're soft and cuddly and sweet. You're just the big bad wolf from all those fables they tell little human children."
Jerec crossed his legs tightly. "Good!" he said with a curt nod and pulled his fish from the fire. He held it out in front of him and picked at it with his fingers. It was still very hot but he found a piece to pick off and munched at it. "I'm fearsome. I could eat you now if I wanted. I guess though...now that I think about it, it's going to be a lot harder to blend in with townspeople than just not being naked. I...might get sudden urges. It isn't so bad out here, I can do whatever I want. But there...I know there are certain things you can't do. Like just eat someone in the street. It's going to be more difficult than I thought."
"Guess that's why you got me. Aren't I suppose to teach you the ways of humans? Keep you out of trouble? Or am I just supposed to be another meal? A....plaything?" Ariel refused to look at him as she spoke. Her lone fish on a stick remained in the fire, crackling louder as it darkened to her liking.
"I kid about the eating you part," he said, half joking. "You're too bony anyway to be a satisfying meal. But no, you're not just any of those things. I want you to come because...because I want you as a companion. My friend. My only friend," he muttered, looking a little grim and staring listlessly into the fire.
The huntress nodded and smiled slightly. "An only friend for an only friend. Sounds about right. I...I guess it's nice not to be...alone all the time. I forgot that over the years. Even wolves have packs. Those that live alone are always sad and lonely even if they don't know why."
She shook her head, finally removing her food and carefully placing it on the grass to cool. "Jokes aside...you really want to do this?"
Jerec didn't answer her right away and just picked at his fish, eating small bites of it and looking thoughtful. "I never said I was lonely. I just like having you around is all," he said with a shrug. "It's not that need for companionship. It's the want of companionship. They are not always the same thing. But...I do. I...want to live like they do. Maybe not forever, maybe not even for a long time. But long enough to see what it's like. And you can help along the way if you really want." He looked at her at last and smiled. "I want you to come because you want to. Not because I asked you. But because it's something you really wanna do."
She shook her head and sighed. "Owlet was lonely," she pressed, "I was lonely. And," her voice trailed off as she looked at him, her fingers tugging nervously at the blades of grass tickling her shins.
"I want to come. I'm just...nevermind." Ariel quickly clammed back up, afraid to admit her fears. Instead she picked at her piece of fish, burning her fingers in the process but not caring as she popped the tasty morsels into her waiting mouth.
"You're just scared, I know," Jerec said, finishing her sentence. "It's okay to be scared. It keeps you alive. Alert. I know you have the most experience out of either of us. I trust you, Ariel. I plan to see this through. I hope you can stick by me." Jere cast her a glance and gave her a genuine smile. "Maybe we can find that bear pelt on the way."
Ariel nodded wordlessly. He knew. He understand. It was more than anyone had been able to of her in the longest of times. She wondered briefly if there had ever been anyone that ever had. Not even the old man had truly understand her. He had just wanted to mold her into something he would understand. Such was the human way of things.
"I intend to," came her firm response followed by a smile. "Just don't go intending to die on me okay? Had enough trouble out of you already!" she teased.
Jerec laughed. "I won't. At least not intentionally. I mean...you freaked when you thought I skedaddled." He didn't like entertaining the thought of his death. It was the way of things however. But he preferred to have that a ways off as possible.
"Better not. You wouldn't want to see me after you died-I suppose you wouldn't be able to though." Ariel sighed. "Well I guess that threat is useless. Just don't," she muttered, now eating her breakfast with a fervor.
Looking over at him from the top of her meal she seemed to remember something. "You want to leave once we've eaten?"
Jerec shook his head. "I'm in no hurry. I don't mind spending more time here in the forest. Who knows just how long it'll last," he muttered, eating his fish slowly. "Besides townies aren't going anywhere. In more ways than one."
Ariel laughed. "Thought you wanted to get this over with? Dragging your feet now? You said it yourself, we can always come back here. The Wild doesn't change all that much. It's up to you thought," she told him with a shrug. "You're in charge, scary as that sounds."
Jerec made a face at her, scowling a little bit. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Have ye little faith in my leadership?" He gave a crooked half-grin.
"Never my alpha," she replied innocently, eyes as wide as a doe's. "Would you think so poorly of little Owlet? She's done nothing but serve you and has sworn to follow you to the ends of the earth should you but ask it of her."
Despite her jesting there was truth in Ariel's words. He had to put ask her and she would be there in a heartbeat. She sinking faster than she even realized into a life where she could not live without him. While she had caught glimpses of that fact, the huntress still thought she had time to save herself. If she only knew the truth of her own heart.
Her words made him beam and he giggled as he munched on the rest of the fish. "I could use someone to show me to catch proper fish," he said and winked a little. "Just do go killing anymore wolves okay? They're not that scary once you get used to them."
She smiled back shyly, licking her fingers of the last of the fish oils before tossing the bones into the fire. "I know they're not now. They're actually rather beautiful. And as for catching fish, that's pretty easy. I'll show you that if you keep looking out for me, mutt." Ariel winked as she brushed her hands off before leaning back, her palms resting comfortably in the cool grass.
Jerec said nothing and just ate the last of his fish before following suit. He was satisfied for the moment and leaned back in the grass, his full stomach making him sleepy and he closed his eyes to do just that.
Ariel stared up at the sky, watching the light stream in from between the leaves, just enjoying the peacefulness that only the land could provide. She did not even notice that Jerec was preparing for a nap as she suddenly thought of a question that she was kicking herself for not asking sooner.
"How are you feeling? Are you healing?"
Jerec didn't answer however for he was already fast asleep. But the wounds that had been present on his form were all closed up and healing at a considerably faster rate.
She smiled to realize he was asleep again. Ariel could not bring herself to be mad, they had been through so much recently. It was a wonder they both had been able to be up and about so easily. With a sigh, she dragged herself back to her feet, cleaning up the camp about and rearranging their packs. They may have been having a peaceful moment now but that did not mean that it would remain. Ariel was determined to be safe rather than sorry when it came to this. If they could just grab their things and go they would have a better chance of survival than they had been over all the time they had been together up that moment.
When there was nothing left to do though, she found herself watching him once more. Exhaustion likewise tugged heavily at her, demanding she rest. Many sighs and huffs later Ariel finally conceded to her body's needs and curled up beside Jerec. She was asleep in seconds, the day passing her by as she slept through it.
Jerec felt a warm body beside his, still a little smelly, but at least she was not longer wet from the river. He instinctively turned to her and tucked her head underneath his chin, pulling his arms around her.
Ariel melted into Jerec's side easily. Her arm curled around his chest, hugging him close as she nuzzled her face into his neck, breathing in his scent as she fell into a deeper sleep. She was safe. Safe to sleep. Safe to dream. Safe to let it all go and just be.
The sound of rumbling thunder woke her hours later. Like a frightened rabbit she clung to Jerec tighter and buried her face against him as if not looking would make it go away. While they slept dark storm clouds had rolled in and with them, they were bringing rain.
Jerec blinked, feeling the first droplets of rain drop on his cheek and he jumped a little. "Ariel," he muttered, trying to fight the sleep still heavy in his eye. "We should go now. The rain's comin! Gonna ruin my new clothes! And then I'll have to be naked again."
That caused her to giggle and while she did sit up to start moving she kept as close to Jerec as she could the entire time. "Cave?" The raindrops could be heard off in the distance falling harder but quickly getting closer to where they were. Another clap of thunder sent Ariel straight into the man's side, half-clinging to him as she clutched one of the two packs close to her other side.
"I don't know where that is. Get up, lead the way," Jerec said, rubbing his eyes and shaking the sleep from them as more droplets dribbled onto his head. He sat up and helped Ariel to her feet, picking up the pack and tossing it over his shoulder.
She latched onto his hand tightly, refusing to let go even after he had helped her up. Another thunderclap and she was moving, tugging him sharply to the side as she tried to race through the trees like a startle squirrel. The pack slid from her shoulder, slowing her before she could throw it back up again and continue onward.
Each new rumbling of the sky with the additional flash of light made her flinch roughly. Ariel did not even think about what Jerec would think of it as they finally approached the waterfall with it's hidden den behind it.
"This way!" the huntress called as she tossed her pack inside before carefully side-walking so as to not get drenched by the rushing waters even as the raindrops began to fall harder and thicker overhead.
"I didn't know lightning made you so skittish. Well, the thunder more like," Jerec said with a knowing smirk as he threw the pack in beside her and stuck into the cave, only a little wet from the water and shaking off what drenched his hair. "That was close. Good thing you live so close. So, since this is your part of the forest, where do you think we should go from here? I mean, do we follow the river. People usually cling toward the river."
Ariel sat down at the furthest stone wall from the entrance, curling her legs close up to her chin as she sent a withering glance in his direction. She refused to otherwise acknowledge his jibes and instead turn her thoughts to his question.
"Depends where you want to go. There are people in all directions, just a matter of how many."
Jerec smiled and sat down across from her, looking at all the stuff that was still left over from the her collecting over the years, it seemed like. "I'd like to stay by the water I think. I think following the river would probably be the best bet. Perhaps I can find work at a lumber mill. I can wield an ax just fine. My father taught me before he broke mad."
"Lumber mill," she tilted her head to one side letting her ear rest on one shoulder as she looked at him. "Tree-cutting?" Ariel felt so naive asking and yet it was something she had forgotten over her short years among her own kind. There was so much she was sure she had forgotten, much more she had never learned. She could only hope Jerec would not think her as much of a fool as she felt.
"Why the water though? Worried about getting thirsty?" she teased, a fleeting smile gracing her lips.
Jerec shrugged. "It just seems easier," he muttered, fiddling with the locks on the pack as the rain came down outside the cave. "And I like water. If it came to a time where I had to change, then I could cross the water and not worry about people following me. And...you could show me how to fish," he answered and grinned a little at her.
Ariel sighed and shook her head. "Humans aren't like you Jerec. We," she hesitated to even admit to being human yet persisted in what she had started, "we don't have anywhere near that sense of smell. Unless you refused to bathe for months, you honestly would be fine. But yes, I'll teach you to fish if that's what you want. Anything else?"
"That's not what I meant," he said curtly. "I mean transform... I know if I live among people, it's going to be more difficult for me when it comes to the tides of the moon. I'll have to be discreet, very careful about that part. When I transform, don't worry if I just run off one night," he said. "I'll likely come back in the morning though."
"Oh," came her quiet reply as she flushed. "I didn't think of that." Ariel rested her chin against her knees, feeling incredibly stupid all over again. "Jerec," she asked hesitantly, afraid to look at him while she asked her next question. "What's it like...changing with the moon?"
Jerec didn't answer her for a long time. He turned his eyes thoughtfully to the shadows of her den, her cave, her haven, before the answers came to him. "Total exhilaration," he said simply put. "It's adrenaline, and pain, and anguish, and thrilling all at once. If the change is forced upon you, it can be especially strenuous. If you're not careful...you could lose yourself. And if that happens, then it only gets worse from there."
She listened carefully, intent on trying to understand, trying to learning something new about this man she trusted so deeply. Some of it made sense. Ariel had seen him turn before, she could imagine the pain that came with it along with the pleasure of truly being free. It was her own dream after all.
"Have you?" she asked so quietly she was not sure she had thought it or spoken it. "Have you lost yourself before? Is there any returning?"
Jerec nodded. "I have. When I first started to change. But with practice you can learn to control it. Or try to anyway. You can't ever really control something like that. It's apart of you, yet separate from you at the same time. Sometimes when I change, I'm in a blinding rage, and there's nothing I can't kill or fight or destroy if I wanted to...like when I put that monster in the fire and then you set me ablaze!" He smirked at her, his wounds having healed over from that incident. "But then I was able to keep from attacking you. Sometimes, if you can make your mind strong enough, you can subdue the...the animal inside."
Her stomach seemed to drop out as a glacier of guilt descended into its depths. She could not understand how he could sit there and smile at her, after remembering how she had caused him such pain and suffering.
"I do an awful lot of that don't I? Hurting you, getting you into trouble, almost getting you killed, almost killing you myself." The memories of the wolf fight resurfaced making her ill with the imagined sight of Jerec dying by her hand.
A lump formed in her throat that took several dry swallows to lessen before she could speak again. "You must be so very strong then Jerec. The animal lets me live when lesser men would not. I don't know how you can smile at it all. I've caused you so much pain."
Jerec shrugged, playing with the palms of his hands and gave another sheepish grin. "It wasn't all your fault. If I had wisened up and eaten you along time ago, I wouldn't have all these wounds." He gave her a playful smile and shrugged again. "I'm only as strong as my will to live," he added in a more serious note. "If I'm going to die, it's going to be because something stronger than me came along. I'm not invincible, Owlet. That much you should know. But I guess I've been fighting for my survival long enough, that I don't know much else."
"I suppose that means I just need to forever remain weaker than you and then no matter what happens because of me you won't die," she quipped back. His saying of her name made her eyes light up and her knees drop down comfortably as she relaxed. Ariel found she liked being called her nickname by him far better than the other one.
"Is that what living with humans is about? Living instead of surviving?"
"I wouldn't really know. The only human contact I've had was with my family, and it wasn't much of one. My father was away most of the year, and my mother took me and my brother to venture into the forest. She kept her secret from him for so long that I guess she took it for granted that we would never be discovered. She protected us well. But from the beginning, I was always in the forest. Like I said, I never really had much of a life. If that was one at all. My father...he took that away from me when I was much younger. But...I guess even that wasn't his fault," he spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper.
Ariel's face scrunched up in thought as she began to talk slowly and quietly. "I think it is a life. Your family loved you. Your mother fought to protect her children. Your father thought he protected his family when he hunted your kind. He did not know better. You had people that would die for you Jerec, people that did. There are many humans who cannot say the same."
'Humans like Owlet.'
"He loved you," she whispered. "He let fear drive him but your father loved you Jerec. I am sure of it."
Jerec didn't know it then but his eyes had been glistening over and he gasped a little as he felt a tear trail down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away and forced himself to smile to Owlet. He looked at her now, in her attempt at reassurance, to comfort him. Jerec slipped from his place opposite her and crawled over to her side, slowly weaving his arms around her, hugging her gently to him. "I never thanked you, y'know," he murmured. "You put up with me and all my awful mood swings. That's more than I could ever say about any other human I've known."
She easily melted into his side, wrapping her own arms around him. Her head came to rest comfortably over his heart where its steady beat soothed her own racing one from the raging storm just outside. He was calming and safe, two things Ariel had never experienced at one time and while it scared her, she could not help but crave it.
"Only payback for all the human stupidity you have to put up with from me I suppose," she murmured, pressing a soft, tentative kiss to his chest. "You're the only anything to put up with that. You're not so bad anyway furball." Ariel giggled at the new nickname while tilting her head back slightly to look up at him to see his expression.
Jerec chuckled despite himself and made a half amused hald soured face to her. "Furball? You've got a lot of nerve, Chew Toy!" he smirked at her and let his teeth playfully nibble on her cheek while he feigned a growl. "I know even I can't believe I'm admitting this, but you're not all bad. It wouldn't be fair to say it was all your fault. I don't always exercise good judgment. I mean we were running halfway across the forest with game hunters cahsing us and if I really considered it, I could have turned on them at any time and slaughtered the lot of them. We wouldn't o' been in this mess and I wouldn't still be aching and sore from giant rat bites."
Ariel laughed and squirmed but made no attempt to escape him completely as he teased her. She was soon puffing up with pride though to hear his following words. It was good to know she was not a complete disaster in his eyes nor the only one who had made mistakes. They certainly had come a long way together if not physically then internally.
"If you had I'm not sure we would be sitting here together like this. You're not exactly the warm and fuzzy type at full health you know. Not that I mind," she murmured, rubbing her head loving ly against him, "like you like this."
Jerec giggled. "Probably not. I'd likely be licking my fingers after eating you and had a full belly for at least a week," he smirked and turned his head in toward her neck, taking a deep breath and blowing rapsberries against her skin.
"Delicious," he beamed.
"No!" she squealed dancing about against him before eventually ending up in his lap. "Don't eat me! You won't like me I swear," she claimed even as her hands struck in an attempt to try and tickle his sides. "I'm too old to be tasty I swear!"
He winced a little at the sensation for his ribs were still sore. "Hey! I don't think that fish filled me up all the way!" he laughed and fought her hands away from his sides. At the same time, he ducked his head iin against her neck again and blew stronger raspberries.
The attack upon her neck left her breathless from laughter. Ariel quickly ceased her attack in an attempt to defend herself. "Oh no! Don't eat me! I'll get you more fish," she promised, pretending to try and get up as if to get them for him. "Please Mister Werewolf Sir, don't eat poor Owlet! She'll be good, she swears it!"
"Oh! You'l be going nowhere!" Jerec growled and yanked her back to him, holding her tightly into his arms as if she were a child's stuffed toy made to soothe and comfort. He hugged her until her skin had gone white. He reached for her sides and pinched along her ribs. "You're getting plump, Morsel."
She settled comfortably in his arms, catching her breath as he pressed her close. His pinch though sent her squirming once more. "No, no I'm not! All skin and bones, all skin and bones!" Ariel protested, trying to avoid anymore attacks by curling in around herself on his lap.
"I'll only make you sick if you eat me. Wouldn't want to give the wolf a bellyache now," the huntress cooed from her balled up position.
Jerec beamed and held her despite her squirms. She really was mostly skin and bone. So was he in light of their predicaments. They had had little time to eat let alone sleep. Thank gods she could fish! Jerec clamped his legs around her, limbs caging her like a vice as he leaned in and kissed her abruptly, smiling when he pulled away. "You're right. You're much too chewy. You'd just get stuck in my teeth."
Trapped and unable to move, Ariel had not been expecting the sudden kiss that subdued her just as easily as his limbs had. It took her a few moments to blink up at him in surprise before a wicked smile danced upon her lips.
"So you're just going to resort to tasting then? Tell me wolfboy do I need seasoning or will a second taste have to determine that?" She tried to lean forward to steal her own kiss, having liked the first so much.
Jerec met her halfway and met her lips with a decisive smack of his lips. "I think I might need once more," he muttered, going in for another and kissing her for a longer time than before, smelling her at such a close proximity. "You smell a little like dirt and fish and rain. It's a lot better than how you smelled when I first met you," he smirked.
"I think I'll just nibble on you from time to time. Is that okay?"
"Tastes and nibbles aren't so bad I suppose," she mused aloud, humming in pleasure. Her nose crinkled slightly at the memory but a roll of her eyes later and it was gone. "If you want to woo a girl you don't tell her she stinks, furball. Is it even really that bad? Or do you think you can muscle your way through the stench?"
Ariel buried her face in his neck, pressing little kisses there as she breathed in his own scent. Despite the addition of smelling clean, it was the same as always to her. Jerec smelled of what she termed the wild, a mix earth and male that she found intoxicating and comforting. In his arms, Ariel would always feel at home.
Small chills coursed though him, her face tickling against the collar of the shirt she had given him. "Who mentioned wooing?" he snorted. "Can't a man nibble on a woman without trying to woo her?" He giggled and let his lips play along her cheek and jaw, even tracing up to her ear and sinking his teeth into the skin atop her ear and playfully tugged like how a cub might pull on his sibling's ear.
"The fish is the only stinky part," he clarified with a smirk.
The huntress snorted and shook her head, gently and playfully tugging her ear back from him. "Well forgive me your majesty, Owlet will take care to thoroughly bathe after fishing before approaching his furriness."
She nipped his collarbone before soothing the bite with a gentle lick. "As for nibbling, I don't think human women take too kindly to it without the wooing bit. Just food for thought though."
He shivered again, smirking at her attention. "I believe you just bit me and didn't bother to woo me!" he grumbled, feigning irritation. "Is that all I am to you? A piece of meat?" His laughter betrayed him and he tried in vain to stifle his giggles. Jerec nibbled along her jaw, biting her chin lightly and playfully.
"Oh I'm sorry," the huntress mock-apologized, nosing his cheek lovingly. "I did not realize that you were a human woman in need of wooing Jerec. Please allow me to start over and care for you properly little miss!" Ariel chuckled, lipping his jawline as she found amusement in his playfulness.
"Men want to be wooed too!" he quipped and pulled his teeth on her lower lip. He grinned for a moment and leaned in to kiss her again, this time a little deeper, nipping on her lips a little and tilting his head in toward hers.
Ariel giggled and clung to him, her hands finding purchase in the hair at the nape of his neck as she kissed back softly. She worked her lips over his in a gentle massage that soothed the little nips her teeth would occasionally leave out of playful spite.
"Forgive me then Sir Fuzz, I will do better to ensure you are properly wooed in the future."
His heart beat quickened a bit. His eyes were lulled into a half-lidded glaze. The cage his limbs had made around her loosened considerably and his arms wrapped lightly around her instead. "Y'know, I do think you look really nice, even though you didn't have to go through all the trouble. We could stayed naked until we actually reached town. Now when we get there our clothes are gonna be all smelly!"
She blushed but refused to comment how it made her feel to hear the compliments. Ariel still suspected some ulterior motive hidden in his words like any other male that had uttered similar ones. Her body relaxed more comfortably against him though as she sighed in contentment.
"Quit whining, you said like a puppy. You need to wear clothes to get used to the feeling. It's character-building or something like that. When they get dirty you can wear fresh ones and learn how to wash the dirty ones just like every other human."
Jerec laughed. "I know! I know! I'm just trying to see how clever I can be," he said with a snarky grin. "And if I can distract you with kisses and touches and caresses." And he did each of those things as he said them, pulling her lips into his with a deepened kiss and hungry lips, letting his hands feel for her underneath the thin cloth of her shirt with one hand, then brushing his hands along her cheek with the other.
"Now why would you want to do a silly thing like that?" she asked feeling breathless from all his attention. His hands were rough but warm and felt good against her pebbling skin for his touches sent chills gallivanting up and down her spine.
Desiring to pay him back, it was not long before her own were slipping down the back of his shirt from above, massaging his shoulders and neck lovingly between gently raking her nails teasingly over his heated flesh. "Could have just asked nicely," she whispered into his ear, using her teeth to lightly tug on the lobe.
He shivered at her touch, and his lips continuing to dance along hers. He didn't know how much experience she had kissing, but she was better than he remembered. Not that he had nnything to brag about.
"I'm a wolf! When have I ever asked nicely?" he retorted, leaning down to kiss along her neck, all the while the shivers became more and more apparent along his body.
She snorted and growled softly deep within her throat, choosing to become more aggressive with her touches and nips. "You'll have to learn if you want to live with humans. Seems I need to train you pet. Maybe if you're good I'll scratch behind your ears and rub your belly. Would you like that? Make you feel all nice and loved mister wolf?"
He chuckled a little, though his breath hitched under her attention. "I'm a fearsome beast," he growled playfully, picking at her lips. "Not some pet you can coax with scratches and treats and belly rubs." His hands roamed beneath her shirt, feeling up along her belly and around to her back, letting his callused fingers ghost up her spine.
"Is that so? I guess I should cease my attentions then if they are of no use." So saying, Ariel pulled her hands from inside his shirt and moved them over her chest so that his roving hands go rise no higher beneath her tunic than her belly.
His touches felt so good to her though and she was easily pressing herself into his hands as her eyes fluttered closed in pleasure. "If such things do not work on more than pets then how does one tame a fearsome beast such as yourself?"
"Be creative! You'll think of something!" he said with half a whine. He turned his attention back to her neck and softly lapped his tongue there, tasting her skin that smelled freshly of soap and water and forest air. Jerec pushed her shirt up, or tried to at any rate.
"And what do you think you're doing," she asked, one brow raised in questioning as her eyes stared down at her rising shirt blocked by her still crossed arms. "Did we not just finish getting dressed? Is this not counter-productive?"
Ariel had resolved that if Jerec wanted her, he was going to have to work a bit harder for her. She did not have his strength and knew she could not bully him into doing what she wanted but she could play hard to get for a while, at least until his temper snapped and she was pinned against a wall again.
Jerec stuck his tongue out at her and blew more raspberries at her. "Yeah we did," he said with another half-whine. He momentarily ceased his efforts to get her to undress and just laid his head back against the cave wall. Cutting his eyes toward the water fall and the storm that thundered over them, he gave a gently smile.
"I haven't seen water come from the sky like that in months. I always loved the rain. We should go run around in it. We don't have to go in our clothes. I don't want them to get ruined! Then we can get dressed right after."
Ariel stared at him wide-eyed and nervous. "Run...around in it? But...well...if you want you can I guess," she sighed sadly, moving to get off his lap. "Just make sure to fold your clothes up nice so they don't get dirty or crinkly while you're out playing." The huntress wanted absolutely nothing to do with going outside while it still rained. It terrified her, not that she would admit that to Jerec.
Jerec sat up, frowning sadly at her. "I'm going off alone?" he murmured. "Well, if you're not going, then I'm not gonna go out there. It's not fun by myself," he added. Jerec gave a sigh and shrugged. "Why don't you wanna go outside?"
"For one I thought it would be better to do things inside," she sighed, resting beside him. "And," Ariel paused to cast wary eyes towards the cave's entrance. "I don't like rain Jerec. It...upsets Owlet. Ruffles the feathers," she quickly added in jest, hoping it would be enough to sate him and prevent him from further questions.
"Did you want to have fun here with me?"
Jerec shrugged nonchalantly. "It was just a thought," he said with a small sniff and he looked out longlingly to the rain. He didn't understand her fear, of what it was that made her skittish around rain. He frowned, but shrugged again and refrained from asking her anymore question regarding the matter. "Of course," he said with a smile. "what did you want to do? You've got lots of junk in this cave."
The huntress laugh and shook her head. "Not junk but yes, lots of possessions. If you wanted to go look you could," she told him, motioning with her head towards the shelves. "I don't mind, although I did like the idea of...um."
Ariel flushed darkly, not knowing how to say what she wanted. She had been enjoying herself with him and her own playfulness had brought it to a premature end. She desired to return to the game yet did not even know the name of what they played. Ariel had been far to young to know it when she had left the world for the wild life she led now.
"Rummaging through your collection?" Jerec raised a brow at her and scoffed a little. "I don't think I want to disturb such an immaculate collection. The dust has just barely settled. I think I'm content to just lay here. I don't mind sleeping off the rain."
"The dust is the collection mutt. Didn't you know that?" She poked him in the side grumpily moments before climbing back into his lap. "No sleeping you. You've done enough of that already. Sleep at night, live during the day. Those are the rules if you want to be human." Ariel poked him in the stomach one extra time to ensure her point was made.
Jerec was still quite sore all over so the very soft point of poking made him jerk and winced. "But sleep it good! Wolves are den animals you know. They like the dark." He yawned widely before closing his eyes and dropping his head to his chin.
She placed herself nose to nose with him while staring intently at his closed eyelids. "But Jerec," came her soft whisper. "I thought you wanted to be human not wolf. How can I teach you if you'd rather be a furball all day?"
"I know what it's like to be somewhat human," Jerec grumbled and searched her eyes for a moment. "I am half after all. I know I've been denying it but I am. I guess maybe I'm just nervous about the trip is all. I don't know how far the town would be. Or if they even would accept us. I've been just putting it behind me is all. Sleep might just make it go away."
His words made her smile. For once Ariel was not the one afraid. She had lived among people for a time and would most likely be more readily accepted than Jerec. He was half human and those that could not stand that would isolate him. It was not something she was going to let happen if she could help it though. She would protect him, just as he had always protected her.
"Aye I had forgotten you are half. I have grown to like the wolf but I believe it is time to meet the man." She leaned forward, gently brushing her lips against his before sitting back just enough to look at him. "Let me soothe your worries Jerec. Trust in me; I'll take care of you," she whispered lovingly, raising her hands to card through the hair along his temples. "Can you let me?"
Jerec's body shuddered at the contact of her lips, but his own curled into a soft smile, albeit a small one. He gave her a small nod. "I trust you," he said in just above a whisper.
"And I trust you," came her immediate whisper as she continued her gentle caresses. "Just close your eyes and enjoy. I promise not to hurt you," Ariel told him gently, massaging her hands over his scalp and back to his neck and shoulders. She peppered his face is sweet kisses, raining her unspoken love down upon him as she tried to put him as at ease as possible.
Jerec smiled at her drooped his head when she massaged his scalp, head and shoulders. He would have fallen asleep too had it not been for the kisses she laid on him. He blushed furiously. "Owlet. Can I assume your intentions are less than pure?" he chuckled.
Her fingers massaged his ears from top to bottom and up again as a relaxed chuckle reverberated within her throat. "That is for you to decide Jerec. Would you like them to be? This is about you right now."
Jerec laughed and shrugged his shoulders gently. "I'd just like to sleep," he murmured with a playful smile.
"Then lay down with me and close your eyes," she instructed. Ariel leaned up kissing his forehead before sliding off his lap and tugging him to lay against her. "Just want you to relax and feel good. No more nasty worries Jerec. Promise."
"What's gotten into you Owlet?" Jerec asked, leaning back onto the floor. "You're all cuddly and affectionate all of a sudden. I mean I know I was hurt and don't get me wrong, it's really nice! I like it. It seems so unusual to be coddled." He gave her a smile. "The last person that did that was my mother."
Ariel curled up tight against him, enjoying the comfort of his closeness and his warmth. "If you don't like it," she began calmly, not taking offense, "then say so. Just trying to enjoy being close with someone I care about. Considered it another lesson in being human if you wish Jerec."
With her face pressed against his chest and her arms around his back she mumbled quietly into his chest. "I feel safe when I'm with you like this."
Instinctively, Jerec's arms went around her and he rubbed his hands across his back. "No, no! I like it. I could get used to it," he said with a soft voice. "I like you like this. I like what we have. It's different...but I wouldn't have it any other way."
His hands resumed their explorations up her back, pushing her shirt up a little, feeling along her skin. "How...can you love me, Owl? I'm a mutt," he asked curiously.
She stilled at at his seemingly innocent question, realizing that she had been caught earlier when she had been sure he had not been paying attention to what she had been saying. Taking a deep breath, Ariel let it out slow, letting her thoughts slow from a jumbled mess to think of the proper thing to say.
Unconsciously her hands danced across his skin, lazily drawing symbols without meaning. "You are a mutt," the huntress finally told him. "But you're my mutt." Her gaze raised to catch his before stating it simply. "And I love you."
His breath hitched a little. He looked at her, though his eyes were solemn and he leaned forward to kiss her lips, pressing them deeper into her than before. He didn't know what to say. if there was anything too say. He just kissed her, long and genuinely.
Ariel accepted the kiss and returned it with all her love. Her hands held the back of his head, keeping him close to her as if fearing it was a nightmare and his pulling away would mean his disappearance. One day she hoped to hear those words fall from his lips in reference to her but she would not push.
Before the rat caves he had promised to try at whatever this was. She was going to steel herself and be patient, letting things come as they would no matter how difficult it would be for her. "I love you," Ariel gasped as she pulled back for air before pressing her lips once more to his hungrily.
Those words made of molten breath made a fire in his belly. If Jerec were a dragon, she'd be burned alive by his touch, by his very breath. He kissed her lightly at first until their oscillations became more ravenous and hungered. The words were on the tip of his tongue, for though he didn't know what they would mean if he said them, did not mean he cared for her any less. "Gods," he murmured, turning his lips inward against her neck, nursing there for a time, becoming lost to her touch, to her taste, the very essence of her.
She moaned in pleasure, letting her head fall back to give him more access to what he wanted. Her hands were not idle though as they roamed his clothed body before once more slipping beneath his tunic and racing up and down his spine in loving caresses.
It was a battle she was badly losing though as Ariel struggled to not lose herself to it all. Jerec had said he wanted to sleep and with his intoxicating presence so close, the last thing the huntress wanted at that moment was sleep.
"Jerec," she breathed as if reciting a prayer. "Pure intentions are quickly becoming less so." Her breath came in soft pants as she fought to quiet her beating heart. "In case you were wondering."
Jerec laughed against her skin and peered up at Owlet, staring down at her and beaming. His face was flush, as was his body and he leaned down to capture her lips into his own once more, kissing her hotly until he had to catch his breath once more. "You don't mind?" he whispered. "I mean, we're gonna get dirty again. My clothes already feel sticky."
"Damn the clothes," she barked suddenly. Her hands moved to tug insistently on his tunic while she growled in frustration. "Just don't go always thinking you can win like this." Ariel could not keep parted from him long though as she fumbled in her efforts to remove their clothing she found herself continually distracted by trying to kiss him. She hungered for his affections as they fueled her own.
Jerec laughed in her frustrations. It was thrilling to say the least, to see her so intent on their task at hand. He aided her in pulling the tunic she'd given him back over his head, and it wasn't long before they were both in the skin their parents gave them. "Who's says I was trying to win? This isn't about me. It's about both of us, isn't it? It wouldn't be good if just one of us wanted it," Jerec quipped before his arms went around her once more, and his lips trailed down her neck.
Sighs of pleasure bubbled from her lips as Ariel wiggled against him. But her words made her think and therefore whine in protest. The huntress did not care to understand who was winning and why anymore and she told him as much. "Want you," she moaned in his ear, pressing kisses to his skin whenever she could. "Think too much."
Jerec growled in both hunger and amusement at her words. "You're the one still talking," he grumbled, kissing back up to her lips and kissing her hard, biting her bottom lip and tugging on it.
Ariel grunted in response before kissing him back just as enthusiastically. Soon though she broke away to let her lips drag down his jaw, her teeth following just as easily. Hands danced upon warm skin. Fingers traced scars both old and new. It was as if she wanted to memorize him by feel alone so that later she could map him out just as easily.
"More. Please, more Jerec."
His groin achwwd with the eagerness of making love to her. They had only done it once before, but Jerec felt her body as if it were anew. His fingernails scraped across the skin of her shoulders, of her back as he positioned himself over her. "I think I love you, Owlet," he breathed in half-delirium.
She gasped in pleased surprise as her eyes flashed open, pupils nearly fully dilated in the dark. "I love you too," Ariel sighed as she shifted to accept his new stance over her. One hand raised to cup his cheek in the palm of her hand and she smiled up at him, her eyes filled with both love and lust.
Her body shivered at his touches, enjoying the sensations that flooded her body. This time felt entirely different to her, though she could not say from experience which was how it was supposed to be, if there really was even a right way. Jerec was her first and her only. As Ariel pulled him down for a kiss where she fought for dominance, she wondered if he would also be her last.
Whether she was first or last, did not factor into Jerec's consideration of Ariel. He had long forgone preparing for the future, to live in the moment, the now, in his present lust for life. He cared for Ariel, Owlet, whatever name she regarded herself. He did not find distinction between the two. They were one and the same and he cared for them both. Jerec's heart was not an easily comforted thing, nor was it easy for him to know love when he felt it.
Perhaps the words came from the spur of the moment, but they felt right when he said them. And he had no regrets in doing so. Jerec moved to feel Owlet's warmth, her matured womanhood that entranced and intoxicated him both at once, and let himself become lost in the hills and valleys of her body. He moved slowly and easily within her, busying himself with kissing her and loving her all he could.
Loved did not even begin to describe how Jerec made her feel. The rest of the world did not exist as far as Ariel was concerned when she was wrapped within his arms like this. They way he cared for her, kissed her, made love to her was nothing like she had ever experienced before. Even their last joining could not compare to the present. It was slow and sensual.
Ariel let her hands lazily trail along his body, touching every bit of him she could while searching for what he seemed to enjoy. Her only desire in that moment was to make him feel every bit as wanted and cherished as he made her feel. Both Jerec and the wild had taught her that the future is uncertain and while her human tendencies wanted something more concrete, she knew it was best to focus at least then on the now.
Jerec's breath had gone ragged, panting, and heavy. He was completely encapsulated with all that was her, wanting to please her, to feel her, to give her the care and love he knew she deserved. They'd been through much together, they could have died had it not been for the other. He found it easy to fall into her caresses, allowing himself to be vulnerable to her touches, and the pleasure she inspired in him. He made love to her not like an animal, but as the man he was.
He was lost in the now, in her touch, growing breathless, shivering to her sighs and moans. "Owl...I just realized something," he murmured in the midst of their activity. "We don't have any surnames. We'll probably need one."
Ariel blinked up at him uncomprehendingly before realizing what he was saying and wanting to bash his head in. "Now?" she panted, arching up against his body despite her disbelief. A name flitted through her mind though, dancing at the edges as she struggled to remember it through the fog of her growing sensation overload.
Gasping she softly called out the name from her past. "Sowa...Ariel Sowa...my name." Through veiled eyes the huntress tried to judge his reaction as she once more gave up another piece of herself to him she was sure she had locked deep inside herself. "Kiss me," came her breathless demand in the face of her own anxiety. What would be, would be.
Their bodies remained interlocked and Jerec had to keep himself from giggling at her sudden shock to have a question posed at her at a time like this. He snorted, amidst a grunt of pleasure, and then beamed down at her after she admitted her name. The way she said it, made it seem as if she were trying to eat pine cones for breakfast. But his smile remained cheek to cheek all the same.
"Sowa. Jerec Sowa," he murmured. "I like it." And the proceeded to lean down and kissed her.
Hearing his name paired with hers secretly thrilled her. Ariel enthusiastically kissed him back, holding him close to her as she playfully nipped his bottom like. "I like it too," she finally breathed once she came up for air.
Then in a growling voice she added, "now no more questions!" A louder than painful slap to the side of his thigh punctuated her point. "So...distracting. I love you, Jerec. I do."
"But you never even told me your favorite color?" Jerec groaned, loving to tease her even after the slap to his leg. "You always seem to have been the kinda girl that likes green or maybe even a burning orange, like a sunset." He smirked and kissed her once more, hungrily and eagerly, puling her legs up tighter around him.
Ariel groaned and rolled her eyes. "So romantic...although...oddly right." She wrapped her legs tighter around him as her nails dug into his back, leaving red streaks and moon-shaped dents in his skin.
"Are we really doing this now Jerec?" her voice coming out as a needy whine. She was torn between wanting to enjoy herself and accepting that he was trying to be open with her. "How can you even think straight? Am I not any good at this?"
"You're doing great...really, you have no idea. My eyes are about to see the inside of my skull," Jerec murmured. "I'm just trying to get under your skin. Is it working?" He smirked a her and rolled over so that she was above him now. "I was just kidding. Be good to your Jerec." He chuckled, smirked and sealed his lips to hers once more.
"Thought you already were under my skin." Ariel winked while settling into their new position. Her hands splayed across his chest as she touched him everywhere. Something he said though made her smile and she leaned down to kiss him. Before that though she whispered against his lips lovingly. "My Jerec."
Rocking against him, she continued, "your Ariel?"
There was not end to the kisses, nor the pleasure that rolled through him. They moved so naturally with one another, they fit perfectly without qualms or reservations or worry. Jerec grunted beneath her, his arms wrapped around her form. "You were always my Ariel," he said, smiling against her lips. "I cut my teeth on you."
Her laughter echoed through the cave as she let her head fall back in mirth. "Chewtoy," she giggled. "Of course, how could I forget?" She hummed and sighed at how he made her feel then smiled down at him knowingly. "All your fault, making me so forgetful."
Ariel tensed above him as her breathing got more ragged. "I like being yours. Only yours Jerec."
Jerec smiled, leaning his forehead against hers and feeling himself nearer toward the edge. "Who's else would you be?" he murmured against her. His arms wound their way around her and he hugged her tightly to him, almost possessively so, undulating his hips to feel her warmth. "I mean, I need something to nibble on from time to time." He chuckled a little and kissed along her neck.
"Nibble away then my wolf." She clung back just as tightly, wanting nothing more than to be where she was in his arms. "I'm not going anywhere." Her own hips circled slowly, grinding down against his in a way that made a series of half moans and squeaks spill from her lips. "Feel too good to try leaving. So don't you dare stop."
He didn't dare stop. He let their combined passion overwhelm him and soon he was moving faster beneath her until he couldn't take it anymore and thrust into exhaustion. He breathed hard underneath her, burying his face into her chest and listening to the rapid drum of her heart.
His increased efforts drove her to her own completion. In the heat of the moment Ariel bit Jerec's shoulder, muffling her cries of passion. She felt like every inch of her body was pulsing with the beat of her heart like a deep-pitched drum beating a soldier's march.
The huntress nuzzled her face against the top of his head, her fingers once more tangling in his mane of hair as her eyes closed lazily. "I love you Jerec," she whispered once more in his ears, offering tired kisses to his temple. "No matter what happens, I love you."
He needed some moment of reprieve, from the trembling their passion had left him in and he turned his head toward hers, lips brushing against hers, not quite kissing, but feeling her breath along his. "I know," he murmured. "But...would you still love me if I accidentally ate you?" And gave her a playful smirk before leaning his forehead against hers.
She smiled back, rubbing her nose against his sweetly. "You kind of already did pet. Forgotten so quickly?" Ariel stared deeply into his eyes, marveling at how beautiful the iron grey orbs appeared in contrast with his claret colored hair. "But yes, I would still love you even then. 'Fraid you're stuck with me mutt for however long I can hold onto you."
"I guess I'll just have to suffer," he laughed and kissed her softly once more. Jerec pushed himself off her for a minute to clean himself off and was just glad to be out of those clothes again. "We've got to take another bath now. But at least I'm naked." He snickered and looked around her stuff for a large pelt of some kind to cover them both.
"Oh joy," came her grumbled reply. Ariel rolled to her side and curled up in Jerec's absence wishing to keep warm now that her body had begun to cool and her sweat gave her a bit of a chill. "Jerec can you grab the bear skin to your left since you're up? And no I didn't kill that one. Just stole the pelt from some poacher."
"Yeah, but you probably still peed on it!" Jerec laughed and snatched the pelt from the side of all her crap and scampered back to her, laying down along her side and cloaking them both in the large soft skin. "I like this one a lot better than the wolf pelt. Much warmer. Do you think I could keep it?"
Ariel snorted yet refrained from commenting. She scooted back to press her back against his warm body the moment he returned though, enjoying the feeling of being close to him. "If you wished to. Although it could just as easily make a good blanket for our bed. Your choice though. Your," a yawn interrupted her before she could continue, "pelt."
"Then you'll just have to find another pelt to use as your bed. This is my pelt now. I'll probably use it as a cape or coat or sump'm," he murmured, leaning his head over hears and nuzzling her head underneath his chin. "Ariel...should I grow a beard?"
'Of course Owlet YOUR bed HIS bed. There isn't an OUR.' She flicked her thoughts away, not caring at that moment to worry and analyze them further. The pelt felt so warm and Jerec was being so sweet, it really did not matter to her much.
She did scrunch up her face though at his question, trying to understand how he got from pelts to beards. "If you want to you can...some humans do if that's what you're asking."
"I was just wondering if you'd like me more in a beard. I guess I grow some fur on my face, but not a whole lot. I'd have to be more werewolf all the time," he murmured. "Besides, I'd probably shed more if I had all that extra hair." He giggled and wrapped his arms around her waist. "About the pelt, I was just teasing you. You don't have to get all tense."
She huffed and puffed, protesting the notion that she had been at all concerned about the damn pelt. Secretly though she was glad and did visibly relax more into his embrace. "If you take on a beard it just gives me more reason to call you scruffy," she informed him with a giggle. The idea of calling him like a dog by that name made her laugh and laugh. Ariel patted her thigh and whistled. "Come here Scruffy! You wouldn't make a good pet Jerec. Probably pee all over the place on purpose."
"That's because wolves are not pet material. They'd pee on you when you slept just to show you who was really boss," he snickered and leaned in to nuzzle against her ear, even nibbling on it a little. "So, you never told me just how long you've been out here in the wilderness. "
Ariel snorted and shook her head. "You would!" The mention of her time in the wild made her fall silent though. Her eyes clouded with memory so that when she finally spoke it was in a quiet gravelly voice. "I...I don't know. I mean I told you about him but I ran and..." she trailed off and shrugged. "I never looked back...not until now at least."
She swallowed heavily but kept speaking even though it was not what he had asked. "I was always running. Even before then I, I was always trying to escape. I was always searching for something expecting it to be around the next corner and never seeming to find it. Then I gave up and ran away altogether."
Jerec had been listening, though he stared at the wall of her cave, feeling the listlessness of her voice. "Searching for love?" he murmured. "Affection. I guess I know what that's like. After my mother was killed...I didn't have anyone to love me anymore. My father...he was too filled with grief to remember he had another son who needed him. I don't think I loved him any less. I guess I just ran away like you."
"All I ever wanted was my parents to look at me. I wanted their approval. I wanted the orphanage's," Ariel choked on the frog in her throat and grunted before pushing herself to finish, practically spitting the word out as she did, "acceptance."
She shook her head slightly. "Or at least I thought I did. Seemed so much easier to forget and embrace this," her hand swept out in an arc. "It wasn't what Owlet expected, but she survived and that was enough for her."
Jerec watched her with a solemn purse of his lips before he reached across to her, leaning over her as he turned her head in one hand. He leaned in close until his lips were a breath away. The kiss was electric, drenched with the passion of his understanding. His lips melted into hers, discovering the hollows of her mouth anew as his arms wound their way around her. Even in the aftermath of their previous endeavor, Jerec was taken with her anew, feeling closer to her in her revelation. "But I accept you, I care for you," he murmured, breaking his explorative kiss for but a moment before stealing her lips from her once more.
She turned her head to look up at him in confusion. Ariel expected to meet ridicule for what she said and instead was treated to another soul-warming kiss. Just when she thought she had no more tears left to spend, fresh ones sprang up, kissing both their cheeks as they rolled down her face.
All her life she had been waiting for someone to say those words and within a heartbeat of knowing what she needed, Jerec had provided. And he had done it not to trick and beguile her but because within his eyes Ariel could see he really meant what he said.
Rolling slowly, Ariel adjusted herself so that she was facing her wolf and could kiss him better. One hand pressed against his chest while the other cupped his cheek. There were no words she dared speak for fear of upsetting the moment. Instead she returned his passion with her own of thanks. At last her search was at an end. She had gone to the wild to escape endless rejection and instead found the acceptance she had always wanted.
Jerec moaned lightly against her lips, breathless and feeling the tears rolling down her cheeks and nearly making a ball form in his own throat as he kissed her. He was breathless and his head was spinning as he turned his head the other way from hers, his lips pressing hungrily against hers, pulling them, biting them, making them become one with his, growing more aggressive as his need grew.
But he encouraged her own hunger, strove to stoke her fire, and the heat of the passion that burned between them. "Gods, I love you, Owl," he breathed, haggardly, dragging his lips down to her chest until his mouth had encapsulated the softness of her breasts.
It was unfair just how easily he could rekindle flames she was sure had been close to going out. She enjoyed his aggression though, finding it familiar and comforting as she met it with her own. Ariel roughly knotted her hands in his maroon locks, pressing him close to her breast as she arched up against him.
"I love you too Jerec," she whined, desiring more from him. "I trust you, accept you. Jerec," Ariel called, tugging on his hair to try and get him to look at her. "I need you," came her heartfelt admission. It was more than just stating that she needed him physically. She was telling him that she needed him in her life like she had never needed anything before. It seemed that when it came to Jerec he caused so many firsts in her life since she stopped living it, for only now that he was with her did Ariel come to see just how much she had come not only to depend on his companionship but on him as a person, as a man.
A soft moan escaped him from her admission. It was difficult for him to fathom what it was like to be needed, wanted in any way. Where all the people who had loved him in live had been taken from him, and the only person whose love he wanted more had rejected him, he felt at home in her arms. Perhaps it was harder for him to show it, and the ways he could show it were few.
But he guided her in the ways of his love, covering her with his powerful body and meeting her lip with greater fervor. He wanted to kiss every part of her, and there was no hesitation as his lips trailed down along her body, feeling the softness of her belly beneath his tongue. "I want you," he whispered. "I need you too.."
She sucked her stomach in tightly at the sensation of his lips and tongue caressing the skin there. It was an entirely new feeling for her and she leaned up on her elbows to stare down at him in shock. Ariel could not believe her ears. He had said he needed her too.
Looking down at him with the utmost love, she moved her hand to caress his face. "I want you too, Jerec. Only you," Ariel added in a whisper. "Teach me how to love you," she begged. "I want to show you how you make me feel."
He did instruct her, as best he could all the ways he knew to love, moving low enough between her legs to taste her womanhood, pulling her legs up onto his shoulders as he devoured her whole. Jerec knew no other way to teach her than to show her, to make her feel as loved physically as well as emotionally.
What Jerec did to her, the way he made her feel was not like anything she had ever experienced before. Ariel had not even known it was a possibility as he took her to new heights of pleasure, tearing down her walls and rebuilding them anew as he did so. He made her complete in ways she had not realized she had been feeling empty and broken before him.
A hoarse cry signaled her release after a slow build-up. By the time the huntress was done she was a quivering mess in Jerec's arms. Motions jerky from bone-numbing pleasure, Ariel reached for him still, begging for him to come closer so that she may wrap her arms around him. She wanted him, needed to feel him all around her, to know she was his to protect and to love. He had already given her so much that Ariel just wished to bask in it.
Jerec hovered over her in the aftermath of her pleasure and he wiped his mouth with the bear skin as he returned to nestle in beside her and gave a soft sigh as he did so. He wrapped her in the protective embrace that his arms made, cocooning her within the confines of the bearskin pelt. The waterfall sent cold gusts pressing through the cave and he buried her against his chest.
Ariel nuzzled into Jerec's chest, grateful for his warmth and that of the pelt against the chill the waterfall created. Her lips placed a gentle kiss to the skin in front of her before tilting her head up to look at him in admiration. She had not even known what he had done for her, to her was a possibility. Her heart had soared not only physically but emotionally. Jerec reminded her of the good things that came with being human and she wanted to hold on to that.
In what she hoped was a soothing manner, she rubbed her hand across his torso as she quietly thanked him. "Jerec," Ariel asked afterwards, her cheeks flushing with her nervousness, "is there a way to do what you did to you?" As she spoke her voice got progressively quieter until she was mumbling just barely above a whisper with her face buried against his chest.
Jerec had been laying back, basking in the warm afterglow of their lovemaking, softly sighing and closing his eyes. He enjoyed Ariel's warmth and it made him relax even further into the warmth of the bear skin they shared. He could hear the soft drumming of his heart in his ears pounding away in rhythm to her breath, his chest rising in falling, seemingly in tune with hers. He still had the taste of her on his tongue, sweet and strong, but he didn't mind.
He closed his eyes, enjoying her soothing touches until she quietly posed her question, and he blinked them open, peering down at her with furrowed brows. His smile grew a little coy and he blushed a little himself despite his own flushed flesh. "Um...there is," he whispered back. "But we don't have to do that..." He couldn't help himself, and the flushness that came over him at the prospect, but he wouldn't press it, and he wasn't sure he wanted to with most of this likely being new to her. He had done what he had done because it felt right in the moment. Though, the thought of her...was both thrilling and apprehensive at the same time. And his arms simply wrapped tighter around her, rubbing her arms lightly, and he closed his eyes again.
"Oh," she whispered, unsure if that meant he did not want her to or was just not interested. "Well...maybe someday..." her voice trailed off as she left the statement hanging, not wishing to pressure him even as she kicked herself for even asking.
She resolved to let the matter go as she once more relaxed beneath his soothing hands. "Guess this means you get to learn how to wash clothes today!" A tiny giggle echoed from her spot nestled against him. "That is if the rain ever stops."
"The rain will stop. I just like the way it sounds pattering against the stream," he smiled down at her, brushing a roughened hand against her face and pulled playfully on the skin of her cheeks. "Our clothes aren't dirty, are they? We peeled them off before having sex, they should only be a little smelly, but probably okay. Do you have any soap for clothes?"
He chuckled again before letting his hands explore he longer length of her body, tracing down her back idly, letting his eyes drift shut a little.
Ariel shrugged, letting her gaze drift over to the shelves around them. She had so many things, she would not be surprised to know she owned cloth soap. It was not exactly a commodity she had been hard after though with her disinterest in getting bathed.
"Wouldn't want your first impression in town to be a bad one," she finally mumbled, her own eyes closing as she let loose a mighty yawn and snuggled closer to him. She enjoyed the sound of the rain while nestled in his arms and had nearly dozed off when a rustling disturbed her.
Tensing, Ariel tried to listen for it again but heard nothing. Once more she relaxed only to hear it again. Her eyes flashed open and sure enough the sound was more prominent. There was the sound of something small scurrying and chattering about that made the huntress' heart beat fast in fear.
"Jerec? Jerec!" she hissed shaking his shoulder while looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "There's rats in the shelves. Please, please..." Ariel could not even finish her sentence as hysteria began to grip her. In her mind all she could hear were the gnashes of large teeth and the feel of heavy, furred bodies ramming into her sides.
He'd long since fallen asleep, drifting off peacefully in the aftermath of their pleasure and he did not hear any scurrying. However, he did feel Ariel's body sudden jerking motion made his eyes shoot open and he peered at her, and heard the scurrying for himself. His head shot up toward her junk.
"Wait, rats!?" he said, looking at her incredulously. "I'm not touching those things!"
"Jerec," she whimpered, clinging to him desperately. "Please! I can't! Not again! They won't be big. Not this close to the water but, but Jerec please! I'm scared!"
The rustling go louder as the creature moved along the wall and out of her line of sight. Ariel shook more, diving under the bear pelt so that it covered her head and tiny body.
Jerec grumbled something under his breath about wimps and birds and he climbed tiredly to his feet. His own heart was beating rapidly in truth and he scrambled out toward her junk. The scratching persisted between a chest of drawers and he suddenly lunged upon the wood and shoved it aside, crashing more things in the back, and he jumped up.
The scurrying thing at his feet ran in fear and hoped to dart out the cave in a long bunny leap, jumping clear over Owlet's head.
She flinched at the sounds, allowing her head to poke to ensure Jerec was alright. A moment later and she would have missed the fluffy white tail nearly dusting her nose as it cleared over her head. Ariel watched as it went before glancing over at Jerec internally embarrassed.
"Well there goes dinner," she said trying to be nonchalant about the whole situation.
Jerec was grinning. He couldn't believe he was grinning, but he was and he shook his head as he came back to Owlet and laughed at her and he both before laying back down. "You are so skittish. You would jump at the sound of the wind if it smacked your behind." He pulled the bear pelt over him and smirked at her still.
"So you're just going to let it go then? Guess you're not hungry." She quickly curled back up against him, nuzzling against his shoulder in thanks and apology before her own hysterical giggles joined his. "I didn't know wind could make a sound when it comes in contact with someone, but I'm not that bad mutt. Need I remind you, you were also nervous about it all."
"I wasn't going to get my ass bit because you were too skittish to do anything about it yourself," he grumbled playfully and leaned down to nibble on her ear. "Now hush up before I make you squeal again. Besides the bunny never hurt anyone. And I'm not that hungry."
Ariel laughed and shook her head. "Says he isn't hungry even has he gnaws on me. And for your information I do not squeal! When have I ever squealed? I'm not a piglet I'm an Owlet! Silly mutt," she was cut off from finishing her train of thought though as another yawn broke in and made her remember how tired she was. "Mm sleep now I thinks."
"You squeal... I made you squeal just fifteen minutes ago, I think," he said with a coy smile. But he kissed her brow regardless and simply chuckled the notion away before settling in beside her once more. He stared up at the ceiling for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep once more.
"Wolf howl," she groused quietly. Mere seconds later Ariel was fast asleep. Outside the storm finally began to calm, the pouring rain turning to a quiet misting as the waterfall provided a soothing lullaby for the weary pair who could at last enjoy an uninterrupted slumber without worry for those that might hunt them.
Jerec murmured softly in his sleep, nothing in particular but clung to Owlet that night. The rain continued to come down until the dawn and Jerec's eyes fluttered opened to the soft chirping of birds. The forest was quiet otherwise and he blinked and promptly sat up, wiping himself down with a spare cloth before reaching for the clothes she wanted him to wear.
She groaned at his loss, rolling onto her back and throwing a hand over her eyes to try and get back to sleep. "Too early," Ariel bemoaned, getting more and more irritated with the twittering birds outside before she finally flung away the cover and sat up.
"Hate morning."
Jerec laughed and knelt beside her again. He put one hand on either side of her head, leaning over her and shadowed the sun. "Well, the rain stopped. It's time to get going again, eh!"
Ariel pouted where she sat staring up at him. Leaning up, she gently pressed a kiss to his lips before batting her eyelashes at him. "Can't we just stay here? It's nice here. I thought you liked it."
Jerec leaned down on her and straddled her, sitting on her lightly. "I do! But we were waiting for the rain to stop and now it's done and now we can go to town! Besides, if we don't go, I'm going to rip off my clothes and run around naked and there'll be nothing you can do about it."
She stared hard at him for several long moments. "You're far too distracting naked," she finally declared with a defeated groan. "You really want to go to town though? Today?" Worry gnawed at her gut. The morning light had brought with it past fears. Ariel was not looking forward to her reintroduction to society.
"Well, you wanted me to wear them. If we're not going to town, I won't need them." He shrugged and pulled his tunic back off his head and fumbled with his trousers a bit before slipping them off his behind.
"Clothes!" she cried shielding her eyes and pushing at his shoulders. "Bath and then we can go you overexcited puppy. Gods you're quick to strip. Is it really that uncomfortable Jerec? You do realize there are sacrifices you'll have to make to live with them don't you?"
"Oh relax. I just figured that would get you up. I'll bathe. Give me the soap!" Jerec laughed at her prudish reaction and tossed his shirt at her face. "Why is my body so offensive to you?" he smirked. "It wasn't so offensive when we made love." Still the sarcasm remained, sticking his tongue out at her as he grabbed the soap and made for the waterfall outside the cave entrance.
A garbled grunt came out as the shirt tangled around her head. "Not offensive, distracting. I told you that. Makes me want to forget there are things we have to do," she told him honestly as she got to her feet and gathered up her clothes to follow him out. "Need to check your ears, Jerec. Seems you've got too much fur in them to ear anything useful."
"Well excuse me to not hearing you correctly," he sneered at her and gave her a tooth grin. "Maybe somebody should be more direct and to the point." But his sarcasm was short lived and he managed to get into the water without breaking his behind on the cold hard rocks.
He sat down and started to foam up the soap in his hands before scrubbing across his torso and chest, then up his neck and behind his ears.
Ariel was not deterred by his attitude, instead finding it endearing as she rushed him, coming to knock into his strong back. She wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, resting her cheek against his own slightly soapy one.
"How direct are we talking here mutt?"
"About as direct as a punch to the face, but just short of one," he answered without skipping a beat and slathering one soapy hand onto her cheek with a laugh. "You smell like a man. Who have you been fooling around with!?" He laughed loudly and kissed her clean cheek.
"Man?" she cried out in shock. "Wolf!" She giggled at his antics though and nuzzled his neck, giving him a squeeze before moving to sit beside him. "My wolf takes good care of me," Ariel declared with a confident nod of her head and a playful smile. "Do you know him?"
"Bah, a wolf. A wolf likely would make you smile that widely," he teased, grinning ear to ear as he washed his feet. "A regular might wouldn't have the patience or the energy. But I tell ya, you're a lucky girl to have the kind of lover you have, and wants to take care of you. And even if he won't say it, he knows he's lucky too."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye, the smile never leaving her lips as he spoke. "And why would he be lucky? Is he well taken care of by a little owl do you think? Wolves tend to be awful high maintenance. They're stubborn, pig-headed, and fierce. But, also passionate, protective, and loving, or at least mine is."
"Well, wolves aren't perfect. They follow their instincts, even the protective ones, and he might be inclined to sit on you once in a while if it will get you to listen. So it's good to make clear to your wolf what it is you want, and how you're going to go about it, communication, y'know. It's key."
"Wise words except, what if being sat on isn't really all that bad?" Ariel kicked her feet splashing them both with water. "And does everything have to be said plainly? I didn't think wolves talked all that much, you know."
"You can say as much with your eyes and body as you can with your lips and mouth," Jerec murmured with a smile. "But I guess it doesn't have to be exactly to the point."
Teasingly she batted her eyelashes at him before ruining it by sticking her tongue out at him. "Bathe mutt and quit distracting me." Ariel reached across him, trying to swipe his bar of soap. She found herself in a playful mood and lighter in heart than she had been in a long time. Her heart told her she had Jerec to thank for that and silently she did.
"No! Mine! Or....if you want, I could scrub your back and you can scrub mine," Jerec suggested with a playful smirk. His feet were relatively clean and he motioned for her to turn around and bend her back to him. "Cmon I won't scratch too hard. Not like you did to me."
"Aww did the sowft wittle puppy get hurt by the mean ol' owl's big talons?" she baby-talked while wiggling her fingers at him. Laughing, Ariel turned, pulling her hair to the side as she offered him her back. She could not stop herself from giggling at her antics, even knowing that she was likely to earn herself a dunking.
Oh it was more than a dunking Jerec had in mind for her. For now he bided his time as he scrubbed his hands along her back, snickering, and when his hands reached low enough, he jabbed them into her ribs, tickling her fiercely and with no mercy.
She arched backwards immediately, squealing loudly as she fought to escape. "Nooooooo, bad wolf! BAD WOLF! Down boy!" Ariel screamed and laughed, coming close several times to squirming right off the bank and into the water. "Jerec!"
But her protests fell on deaf ears as he dragged her into the shallow end of the water and continued to tickle her in a flurry of fingers. "Say I win! Say it!" he howled.
"Never!" she howled back, kicking her legs about and dousing them both heavily in sprays of water. Ariel was nearly completely out of breath from the tickling and was close to giving up entirely except she was having too much fun to want it to end. "Bad wolf! Obey!"
"Wolves don't obey! Dogs do!" Jerec howled as he continued to jab her sides with no mercy. "Say it! Say it or suffer!"
Her squeals quieted in volume as she ran out of air to scream with. "Mercy," Ariel wheezed, turning her head up to look up at him. She gasped out words between her laughter, already feeling her sides ache from all the flailing and laughing. "Mercy my wolf! You love me! Please!"
"IIII WIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" Jerec howled and stood up in the water, throwing his arms up into the air and giving a triumphant howl "Wroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"
And he flexed his arms like a warrior that won the greatest battle in history.
Ariel dropped from his arms like a rock, creating a big splash as she landed in the shallow water on her rear. She huffed as she caught her breath and rolled her eyes to see him doing his macho warrior dance.
"Congratulations. Now finish bathing oh powerful mutt. Your human demands it."
Jerec smirked at sat with her back to him and he grabbed the soap again. "My human?" he smirked from behind her. "So you own me now?"
"It's a joint ownership you see. Wolf owns me and I own him. Can you handle that?" she challenged, full of attitude. Ariel stood up straight, chin raised defiantly as if looking for another tussle.
Jerec leaned his shoulders forward but his head back. "Yeah! I do. So whatcha gonna do about it!?" and promplty stuck his tongue out at her.
She smirked toothily at him and slowly uncrossed her arms. "I thought you'd never ask." Ariel promptly slammed her arms into the water before shoving a wave of it at him, intent on getting him drenched and distracted so she could escape.
It did distract him. In fact it made him fall ass first into the water and he yowled at the coldness on his bum.
Ariel laughed, splashing her way through the water to the bank. She certainly had not been expected quite the reaction she got but she was not about to complain as she scooped up the abandoned bar of soap and ran for a nearby tree.
"Who's the tough warrior now, Furball?"
"Come back here! I need that!" Jerec howled and grew red-faced ran after her. "Hey! I mean it!"
"Say I win!" she shouted while running around behind the tree in search of a branch to swing up onto. Ariel clutched the bar close to her chest as she giggled and scurried to keep beyond Jerec's reach. "Say it!"
"NEVER!" He growled at her, despite his laughter and ran up the riverbank. But she had gotten quite a headstart on him and his foot collided with a large rock that sent him tumbling over headfirst into the dirt and there he laid.
The sound of his body colliding heavily with the earth gave Ariel pause. Her head popped out from behind the tree as she looked back at him. "You alright? That's twice now you've fallen, anymore and there might not be anything left of you."
She was wary to do more than take a step to the side of the tree to observe him. There was no way of knowing if his stillness in that moment was due to injury or simply a ploy to bring her running to his side. Ariel was not about to lose that easily.
Jerec just laid there, water splashing down at his feet.
"Seriously wolf," she called out now truly concerned. "This isn't funny!" Ariel approached him warily her lip caught between her teeth. "Jerec? Come on get up, you win."
"Bwahahaha!" he snickered and got up when she was close enough. "I win! That's right." He grinned at her and was ready to give chase.
Ariel glared before slowly beginning to back away once she realized the look he was giving her. "I knew it! You bastard! You just can't let anyone else have any fun can you?"
"Of course I can! You just make it a but too easy," Jerec said with a sneer. He slowly advanced until he was after her once more!
She bolted suddenly heading straight back for the water in hopes of out-moving him while knowing she never would be able to truly run from him. "A bit too easy for what? Being walked all over? Come on Jerec you win, why the chase?"
Jerec cackled maniacally. "I just want to see if you still have any fight left in you. Or flight," Jerec smirked at her and went slow enough to give her a chance of escape, not that she could exactly out run him.
"Much flight!" she giggled as she waded out further, knowing he would catch up soon enough. "Why are you looking for a fight though? Why is beating up a poor, defenseless owl so much fun?"
"I'd never beat you up. I'd just hold you tight until you run out of air and you realize you can't get away," Jerec said and made a lunge with one of his arms to grab at her feet.
Ariel froze as his words processed in her mind. "Wait, wha-" Her hesitation allowed Jerec to easily catch hold of one of her legs and effectively dunk her underwater in one swipe. She swallowed a mouthful of water as she went down and hoped that Jerec had not been serious about the making her run out of air part of his statement.
Jerec immediately knelt down beside her and pulled her into his arms, wrapping them tightly around her waist and holding her up against him, holding her above the water. "You know I don't mean it like that," he murmured, smiling at her and kissing her cheek. "We stink. We should finish bathing. And you never did wash my back."
"Well no you stink," she giggled, her eyes briefly closing in pleasure at his kiss. "But you're right, I did promise to wash your back for you and you certainly could use the help dog-breath." Despite her words, Ariel was smiling with she her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. "All done with the chase now or you still have more left in you before I clean you up?"
"I'm all done. And I'm shivering cold to on these waters!" Jerec laughed and kissed her again before letting her go. He found the soap on the bank and sat down so that she could sit behind him. "You're turn!"
With a giggle she scampered happily off to sit behind him. A lathering of her hands and then she rubbing clean-smelling soap along his back, rubbing vigorously at particularly stubborn spots of dirt. "Do you want to find a village today?" she asked quietly as her scrubbing turned to gentle caressing and massaging.
Jerec hummed pleasantly at the massaging on his taut back muscles. "Just keep getting that knot riight there," he murmured. "And we can find that village...yeah... Harder please. Just punch my back."
"Here?" she questioned, digging into the spot with the heel of her hand. Her eyes bugged out though to hear his request to punch him and she leaned to the side some to get a look at his face. "Seriously? Punch you? I don't want you turning around and biting me because I hurt you, Jerec. I'm only a part-time chew-toy you know."
"Well I don't expect you to hit very hard. You're just an little owlet after all," Jerec quipped. He gave her a smirk. "Y'know. Soft punches, gentle ones in repetiton! It feels quite good!"
Skeptical, Ariel reached out and lightly tapped her fist against Jerec's back as if expecting him to suddenly scream in pain and then tear her to pieces. "Well, if I thump you too hard don't say I didn't warn you!" Then with a deep breath she began kneed his back with rhythmic punches from both hands, taking caution not to tire herself out by using all of her strength while addressing the stubborn knot and the area around it.
"Like this?"
But this time, Jerec didn't respond to her and instead, let his eyes drift close as the muscles of his back tensed and relaxed in waves.
"I'll take that as a yes," she giggled, continuing to dig her fists into his back until her arms got tired. "You better get out of the water before you wrinkle on me Jerec. I don't fancy walking around with a raisin all day. If your back still hurts I can just as easily walk on it for you." The idea made her laugh into the back of her hand as she tried to stifle the sound.
"I thought you liked me wrinkly," he murmured with a small grin. He shivered when she was done at last and stretched. "All right then, I guess we're done. Too bad we can't hang out by a water fall all day. But then we'd never get to the village." He winked at her and dunked his head in the water and shook it off furiously.
Ariel snorted and shook her head as she scooted further up the bank so that she could get to her feet. While he rinsed off she busied herself with getting dressed again, though she kept a watchful eye out in case he decided to become rambunctious again and douse her with water or participate in some other form of tomfoolery.
"You know, we could always come back to the waterfall," she told him softly, shrugging into a tunic. "If things don't work out, or if they do. It'll still be here. It'll still be home in a way."
The sentence did catch him off guard for a moment as Jerec shuffled his clothes back on and grinned widely at her. "Or maybe we can keep it as a getaway, I mean for ourselves... I know maybe I have my hopes a little too high with this village thing, but I guess I just really think we can make it work. I want to at any rate. And I'm glad to see you're still with me even though you didn't want to. When you're ready to go, so am I."
"Aye. It can be our own private place to be when things get to be too much from time to time. You could even come here when it's your uh," she giggled softly, "time of month if you so chose." Ariel sighed heavily as she pulled her hair out from under her collar and then let her hands smack down onto her thighs.
She moved to stand beside him as she sighed again. "If you'll drag our packs back out of the cave then we can be on our way." Ariel refrained from commenting on how glad he was to have her with him. Inside she was a ball of nerves and wanted nothing more now than to delay and delay until they both forgot about it entirely. Now faced with coming so close to returning to everything she swore to forever forsake, Ariel felt scared and sick. If it were not for Jerec she would not even be considering it let alone going through with it.
Jerec happily dragged the heavy loads out of the cave and out onto the dry section of the bank. "How much junk you got in here?" he said, kicking one of them. He heard a clank and jumped. "Nevermind, forget I asked. Here." He picked one up and hoisted it over his shoulders.
"I'm ready now, Ariel. We shouldn't waste the day."
Her head snapped around at the sound of Jerec kicking the sack and her eyes narrowed dangerously into a pointed scowl. With a grumpy yank, the second rucksack was upon her own shoulders and she was brushing her way past her companion.
"Oh no, wouldn't want that," Ariel growled sarcastically.
They had all they needed for the journey to make it into the settlement for which they were headed. Jerec was eager, excited, more like the boy he'd once been, who was knew to the world of the Wild, that first encountered the very heartbeat of it. Jerec trailed hurriedly behind Ariel, though she did not seem to be in any particular kind of rush. Still, Jerec was nearly bouncing from one foot to the other, he could hardly contain himself.
"So,uh," he found himself asking,"Are we there yet?"
Icy eyes slid to the side to give Jerec a look of complete irritation and displeasure. "Does it look like we're there yet? Tell me mutt does it smell like we're that close yet? Because you cannot honestly tell me you are that childish Jerec!"
Jerec blinked at her, taken aback by her outburst and frowned deeply. "What's the matter? Is it something I said?" he murmured.
"Use your head Jerec!" Ariel sighed and stomped ahead, her fury more worry than actual anger. she knew it was not fair to take it out on the werewolf but she was just so frustrated. Every step forward they took was back towards something she had run from long ago. "Just, we'll be there when we get there. And we're almost there so relax."
Jerec stopped suddenly and reached for Ariel. He stepped toward her. "I...I know I'm asking a lot of you by...us going there, trying this out, but I...I just want something new. I want to try this...with you. I...I guess I'm more eager than I should be." He frowned, looking shamed and feeling it to.
She was moving towards him before she had even realized that her arms were about his waist. "I know. I do Jerec, I just...I'm scared and I don't like being scared. You're not too eager and you're allowed to be. I'm just a great big raincloud on something that should be...normal. I'm sorry. Just ignore me," Ariel told him with a shrug.
"It's really not far though. We'll be there soon. See that tree way over there? It's right beyond the bend that forks out over there. Should be there within the hour. Sooner if I stop dragging my feet."
"I know this is moving really fast for you. It's moving fast for me too. But you have more experience in all this. I guess, I was just an excited pup for us to get a move on. I should have taken it more into consideration the reasons you left that life behind. You were unwanted, and yet here you are again coming back into a world you thought you escaped," Jerec replied, hoping she knew he understand.
"In a way, I left it too. I know of family life, and love, and hate and pain. And loss too. I thought I put that behind me. But I guess you can't get away from your past. It's not like a predator. You can't just run away."
Ariel shook her head and snorted softly. "No you really can't. It's always there a half step behind to remind you of all your failures and all the pain. Don't worry about me pup," she jested with a wink. "I'll be alright. Just a bitter little human hiding from a child's memory. "
A pat on his back and her hands were sliding away from him though one tentatively slid down an arm to shyly take his in her own. She squeezed tightly before lifting her chin determinedly and giving him a tug forward. "We'll make it...somehow."
With her newfound determination, Jerec felt a warm feeling spreading through his stomach and he found himself smiling at her. Perhaps it was all for him, for he knew what she was truly giving up and it was not without great reluctance. She was sacrificing her freedom to come along with him and Jerec mulled over that thought for a moment.
He looked at her hand and squeezed it in his own before walking back along with her. "Thank you," he found himself whispering, though it came out as a whisper, barely above the breath of the wind.
She thought she heard him say something but shook it off as the wind and trod onwards. Eventually she could see the clearing that would lead out to the road and from there civilization. Still clinging to his hand, Ariel squeezed it tighter than ever while stepping out on onto the road, her eyes darting about suspiciously as if some evil foe was going to suddenly tear down the road after them.
"Hear anything?"
Jerec had the same initial hesitation she did and paused like an animal listening for a predator. His hearing was likely sharper than hers and he waited beside a bush, half-crouched, listening for a few long seconds. "Nope. Nothing," he said with a smile and was the first to step out onto the road.
The feeling of cobbled stone under his feet felt so foreign to him that he had trouble walking on it. The stones were sparse as the road was poorly maintained and the rest was largely dirt and caked mud along the side. He felt as if he were stepping into another world, literally, standing upright, like thousands of other travelers that came before him and the millions more that would follow after.
Jerec held his breath, peering up at the cut, carved path between the trees and his eyes glittered. He was hesitant, still, in a liquid fashion, swishing this way and that, but the first steps grew easier as he drew forward, pulling Arield along with him.
Her own first steps were dragging as if she was headed towards her own death sentence. Gradually though she gained confidence and moved to walk beside Jerec instead of being dragged along. Ariel pressed herself close into her campion's side as the town came into sight. She was determined to be strong for him. She was tired of being the helpless one in all their encounters.
"Now just don't do or say anything stupid. And don't go blabbing about what you are until we know what kind of people these are. Some don't give a rat's behind if you're purple even but there's always one that ruins it for the rest."
Jerec silently nodded, gasping a little. He held his breath.
"What if...someone asks me a question about being something strange?"
"They won't. Humans are blind and dumb. Only obvious things become noticeable to them and you're not going to be obvious now are you Jerec?"
"No, not if I can help it," Jerec said with a nod. "But...but what if I can't help it? What if...what if I change right in front of them!?"
Ariel blinked dumbly up at Jerec, not sure whether he was joking or being serious. "Does that happen spontaneously? Is that really a concern for today, mutt?"
Jerec shook his head. "You don't understand. Normally I can control it. I can transform when I desire to. But there are times, when the moon calls me, and I must change, or the fire burns in me, boiling my blood. It's a concern. Perhaps not a grew one right now but something I can't simply put away."
She sighed and shook her head, pausing to pat his shoulder and look at him sincerely. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it Jerec. The moon's call has passed for now hasn't it? You don't have to worry about that. And besides, whatever happens, you've got me. I've saved your furry ass too many times already to let some idiot humans set it on fire. We're in this together and therefore if you don't have any other concerns we really should be going no, shouldn't we?" Ariel gave his arm a tug forwards in hopes of coaxing them both onward despite their own personal reservations warring inside them.
Jerec knew he was complaining about nothing (well, certainly no immediate problem to say the least), and just trying to bide time from the moment they actually entered into civilization. He knew he was ready for it, and yet part of him still clung to the wild, and here he was standing on the precipice of humanity. What was he really afraid of? Leaving everything he knew behind, though he'd been raised with a family, people who loved him however briefly?
Jerec knew Ariel had given up as much as he did, perhaps moreso after having secluded herself for so long. She had been more reluctant than he, and here she was standing beside him. Despite her company, he was still afraid. But somehow he knew it to be okay.
"All right," he said at last, keeping his expression doubtful, but he'd move along with her anyway. "Onward then. I trust you." He smiled and proceeded down the road.
It had taken the pair less time than Ariel had been expecting to settle into a civilized life, though she was forever wary that something bad would happen and they would be driven out by an angry mob in the night.
Upon arriving, they had been able to barter some of the furs to rent a small cabin owned by the butcher's widow, whom Ariel spent many days assisting and looking after despite how much she hated it and longed for freedom. The hardest part about the whole arrangement though was that the woman had to wear clothes at all times and despite her best efforts to resist, the villagers kept trying to convince her to wear dresses, the seamstress even going so far as to make some for Ariel as a welcoming gift and leave them on the cabin's little porch.
Civilized life was, to say the least, boring.
But Jerec was content as could be, like a dog in water, or a cat in crème. It was hard to find the right terminology since everything was so out of place. He had lived in a placated setting before but he had been a child then and hadn't known anything else. But now, he had experience in the world at large and going back on everything he had stood against.
Did he ever have principles? The world was a wild place. Filled with the unexpected. And it was exactly that when he found the wrapped box on their doorstep and immediately proceeded to sniff through it.
Ariel dragged herself from her nest of blankets, grumbling to herself as she did many a morning that they were not as nice as her usual furs. Not immediately seeing Jerec, she began to search through the small cabin, checking both the kitchen and the open living room before finally locating him on the front porch.
"And what are you doing now?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes as she stepped outside, uncaring for her lack of proper clothing that left her legs bare and her hips only covered by the over-sized tunic she insisted on wearing for sleep.
Jerec leaned back, peering up at Owl with a curious light to his eyes. "Someone left this box. It smells of sugar and cookies and cotton. I think it's a piece of clothing," he said, shaking it again and bringing it inside. He gestured for her to follow him, and closed the door. He tore it open a bit savagely and threw the contain off to the side, unfurling the garment out for her to see.
Soon he was beaming. "It's a dress!" he laughed and threw it at her. "Try it on!"
She followed him inside, rolling her eyes as she went while watching him seemingly nonplussed. It was only when he tossed the package's contents at her that she squealed, dropping the dress as if it were a snake while backing away from him. "No! Absolutely not! Definitely not! Mutt! Don't even think about it!" Ariel watched him warily, for the excitement he had displayed was enough for her to know she was about to get herself into trouble very soon.
"What? Why?" he asked. He leaned over to pick up the plain garment and turned it over in his hands. "What's wrong with it?" he asked. He grinned at her and noted her posture, but he made no move to put it on her. Not yet anyway.
Her nose scrunched up in obvious distaste as Ariel sneered. "It's girly and so human." She groaned and shuddered at the idea of wearing a dress. Ariel kept her eyes trained on Jerec and the dress both as if afraid that at any moment he would try and trick her into wearing it. Every muscle in her body was tensed in preparation to run should he even attempt it though.
His grin turned sly and he turned the dress over a few times in his hands. "Well, if you're not going to wear it maybe I will!" he said with a laugh and pulled his own shirt up and over his head and threw the dress on his shoulders. It was tight, very tight!
He stuffed his arms through the sleeves and laughed, flattening the front over his chest. He was just about bursting at the seams!
Him putting the dress on was the last thing that Ariel expected. She stood up straight, no longer seeing a reason to be tensed now that he could not force her into it and simply stared in open-mouthed shock.
"It...suits you," she finally stated, trying but failing to mask a giggle. "Brings out the color of your eyes. You should wear it to work!"
Jerec puffed out the sleeves a little and spread out the ends over his legs. He was laughing hard, growing a bit red-faced as he did so. "What's so funny?" he snorted. "Don't I look dashing?"
"You look like a sausage," the young woman blurted out, finally failing altogether to keep her laughter at bay. "A little color to your complexion and I'm sure the drunkards at the tavern would be cat-calling after you for miles. Now wouldn't that be a sight!"
"I think after a few shots of whiskey I'd be rosied enough, wouldn't you agree?" he asked with a grin. He tried to sit down daintily, but the dress ripped along it's side. "Whoops!"
Ariel giggled more as she moved to stand beside him. "Careful there or you'll give 'em all a heartattack showing off your wares like that now lass. We wouldn't want that now. Least not before they've paid ya," she joked, winking at him patting him on the shoulder.
"Oh I'm not worried about them," he said with a chuckle and grabbed Ariel suddenly, pulling her into his lap. He laughed loudly and vlew raspberries into her neck. "I'd be more concerned that I might try to put this dress on YOU!"
She froze and gasped at suddenly being pinned upon his lap. The tickling sensation on her neck though soon had her squealing and squirming in earnest as she beat her small fists against his shoulders and back.
"NO! JEREC! You've already ruined it! Don't you dare try! I'll look hideous!"
"Then we can rip it up and throw it into the fireplace after," he said as he tried to keep hold of her wriggling form. "C'mon. The least you could do is try it on. Somebody obviously went out of their way to make this for you, assuming. You can't just wear that tunic for the rest of our stay."
"I thought you liked the tunic," she teased with a wink before resuming her efforts to escape. "Besides, I put that damn thing on and you'll go and find you like it and then I'll be stuck wearin' one forever. I prefer me trousers thank you!"
"Maybe I just want you to put it on," Jerec chuckled, arms never relenting as he stood up and kissed at her neck and cheek in furious pecks. "So I can rip it off you!"
Ariel snorted and shook her head. "And what if I want to rip it off you first? Would you deny me that right?" She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms about the back of his neck to help hold herself up, having since given up on fleeing now that he was carrying her. Peeking over his shoulder she quipped, "who knew you actually had such a shapely rear. Seems I'm not the one that needs to wear dresses more often, mutt."
"What was that!? What!?" he laughed and proceeded to jam his fingers up and across her sides now that she was completely at his mercy.
"You heard me!" she panted between breaths of air while clinging tightly to him as if pressing closer would make her less of an easy target. "Mutt stop! Can't breathe! STOOOOOOP! THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO MAKE ME WEAR THE DRESS!"
"No, but it sure is fun to make you squeal!" he panted with a wicked grin. There was no end to the savagery his fingers could inflict and only when her voice reached a pitch only dogs could hear did he stop. And he stood over her, triumphant in his ripped dress.
Huffing and puffing like a dog after a run, Ariel buried her face into his neck, trying to muffle her sounds as she tried to relax after the side-splitting laughter he had instilled in her. "Done now?" she wheezed against him. "You look ridiculous." She groaned as she stared up at him, wondering if she could make a dash for it before he had a chance to shove her into it. "Do I have to put it on?"
Jerec put a hand over his mouth and shook his head. He removed it and just smiled at her for a moment. "But I think I'd like to take it off now," he said. "It's kind've itchy and it's already too ripped to salvage."
Perking up excitedly she reached to give it a tug. "Can I rip it? Please, please, please? Can I? Can I, can I, can I? Please Jerec?" Ariel batted her eyelashes up at him pleadingly, having learned it as a persuasive tactic from some of the other village girls. "I'll make it up to you later?" She tried promising weakly, having no idea how she would make it up to him but knowing he would probably make her regret it.
"It's you dress not mine. Have at it!" Jerec said with a shrug and smiled. "You can pull that sleeve and I'll get the other one. Or did you just want to ri the whole thing off me?"
She squealed with joy, already reaching for a better grip when she came to an important decision. "Together then. I wouldn't want you to miss all the fun. Ready?" Ariel was practically jumping with giddiness over such a small act of defiant destruction.
With a might tug the threads of the dress came loose and gradually Jerec was freed from it's confines. The sleeves were the easiest. And the sides had some difficulty and he laughed when it was her turn, feeling her fingers along his ribs.
Jerec sputtered and snorted, tearing the cloth a little easier. "I just hope whoever made this won't be mad we destroyed it," he said.
"They should have known better than to throw such a pretty thing into the wild, don't you think?" Ariel easily tore the fabric away from him yet her hands lingered along his sides as if to see if she could make him squirm in the same way he had only moments before.
"Well, I don't think they consider this town to be very - WIIILD!" Jerec suddenly yelped when her hands found his ribs and he squirmed underneath her touch. "OWL! You better quit! BAHAHA!" He couldn't stop laughing and his squirming had torn the dress to shreds, almost literally and he was back against the wall, trying to defend himself. "I-I... mean IT! HAAHAHA!"
Ariel smiled fiendishly up at Jerec, refusing to relent. "NEVER," she squealed. "You can't make me either, mutt!" The little huntress sprung at him, hoping he would instinctively catch her so that she could once more be in his arms and at a better height to see eye-to-eye with him.
[Lol. She HOPED he would catch her 8D]
Jerec's arms did spring around her, catching her just in time. He smiled up at her and brought his lips to her neck where he then blew loud raspberries there. "Payback!" he howled.
"NO!" she howled even as she sunk her fingers into his hair and yank back in hopes of keeping his mouth away from her neck. "Jerec," Ariel further whined. Her other hand sought to continue to tickle him but her squirming about was making it hard for her to truly focus on what she was doing. "Damn mutt slobber everywhere now! GROSS!"
"You like mutt slobber!" he cackled, snorting when she continued to run her hands along his side. He was out of breath and leaned back against the wall, laughing so loud, he thought he was going to pass out. "Okay! I give! I give!"
She cackled evilly before giving him a lick to the cheek. "There," Ariel stated smugly. "Now you have Owlet slobber and we're even." Her face hurt from laughing and smiling so much and as she came down from her euphoric high, she wrapped her arms around his neck while scrunching her nose up at him. "Why does everyone want to see me in a dress anyway?"
He snorted, recovering from his laughter. He as grinning from ear to ear and squeezed her to him, rugging her like a ragdoll. "Because civilized humans like to wear things over their bodies because it makes then feel better about themselves. And they think it makes then more attractive to other humans. I think you'd look nice. But you look nice in anything," he said and kissed her cheek like the wolf he was, tongue and all.
Ariel made a big show of wiping her cheek off with his tunic, yet there was obvious pleasure in her dancing eyes at his praise. "Yes well humans are such silly creatures anyway. Or at least the cultured ones are. Who in their right minds would wear a dress? It's impractical for anything worth doing, right?"
"Only when they're not worn right," he said and ripped the rest of the dress off of him. It came off into rags and pooled down around on the floor. He kicked it away with a bare foot and looked down at his trouser cuffs. "These are pretty odd too, don't you think. Pants I mean."
She looked at him skeptically. "Are you suggesting there's something wrong with the pants I salvaged for you, mutt? Are you wanting to tear something else now that the dress is ruined? Such a destructive wolf. What are we going to do with you?"
He laughed. "I never said I wanted to tear them up!" he said, grinning. "I only meant that after not wearing pants for so long, admittedly, it feels odd be wearing them." He tugged at the fabric and he made a face, but when he looked at her, his smile came back. "I like them. In a weird way, I like them. Though they're kinda itchy, don't you think?"
"Not going to even answer that. You're the one that wanted to be civilized. The Owlet will hear no complaints. None." Ariel squinted her eyes at Jerec as if daring him to try and complain to her about it. As much as he seemed to enjoy their new life, she still had reservations about ever becoming completely comfortable with it.
He didn't respond to that for a moment and instead kissed her. He smiled against her lips. "Thank you," he said at last. "For coming with me. Giving up the forest must've been hard for you, It was hard for me. I still dream of the forest..."
She smiled softly back against his lips, returning his kiss gently as she did so. "Wouldn't say it's been given up," Ariel hedged as she turned her head to rub their cheeks together before burying her face against his neck and shoulder. "And what is it that you dream?"
"Hm, each dream is different," he said, leaning his head against hers. "It always starts the same, I wake up in a thick blanket of fog. I can't see more than a few feet in front of me, and I hear the sounds other animals, as if they're distant, echoing, some close though they might be miles away. I get up and I'm wandering though that dense fog and somehow the forest doesn't feel like home. I feel terrified and lost.... Sometimes something's chasing me and I can never see what. Other times, I'm following someone else and they'e always just out of reach. I always wake up before I can make sense of it all."
Ariel pet his hair soothingly while listening to him recount the dreams. She did not voice how disconcerted the idea that the forest was no longer his home made her feel but she continued her uncharacteristically gentle efforts nevertheless.
"Perhaps the bit of tail you're af'er ain't for you to find, mutt. Per'aps she's too good for ya!" she cheekily challenged him with a raised brow and slightly sassy sway of her head.
"Then why would I dream such a thing? And dream it over and over?" Jerec asked gently, clearly puzzled. He leaned his head into her gentle touches, like a dog that enjoyed being pet by it's master. He tired of standing and moved through their small house into the sitting room, having a seat on the rug, sitting criss-cross. He looked up at Ariel. "How are you adjusting? Do you have any strange dreams that plague you in the night?"
She startled at his question, surprised that he would think to ask her and her face showed it. Her icy eyes widened as a series of indiscernible emotions flashed across her features before Ariel was able to hide her face with her chin resting tiredly upon his shoulder. "I dream," she admitted uneasily. "I remember."
"Dream of bad things?" he asked and it was his turn to run his fingers through her hair. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek, as she sleepily laid on his shoulder like a child.
Ariel huffed moodily, burying her face further into his neck as she nuzzled him and sighed. "Is there any other type of dream?" she murmured tensely. "Fire and metal and hate. We won't be able to stay here forever you know. Eventually we will be sent back again."
She sighed heavily again before giving him a quick bite to the shoulder. "Can I go with you this month? Isn't it almost time for your night out?"
That was an odd request. Jerec twitched his head at her at the question. "I don't know," came his reply . "That would be dangerous don't you think. I know that's kind've a dumb thing I know, considering all we've been through. I've never had someone else accompany me when it was my time of change..." But soon his expression of concern turned into a soft smile.
"I'd be happy if you came with me."
"You better be happy," she grumbled at him, moving back to give him a glare that held no heat. "Otherwise I'd kick your furry behind and drag you into the woods myself. No one keeps Owlet from the wild against her will. And don't you forget it, Mutt." Ariel offer Jerec a soft kiss to the cheek though that contradicted her defensive posturing, revealing her pleasure at his acceptance.
"Well don't go blaming me if you get scuffed up, or if I growl at you. Changing into a bloodthirsty beast ain't no picnic." His tone was grumbling, but he too couldn't be irritated for long. He smiled and nuzzled his head into Owlet like a dog.
Ariel snorted and shook her head. "You growl all the time. Not nothing new to me. It's what mutts do, right? Just don' go usin' me as your chew toy again and we'll be good." Smiling mischievously she added. "Otherwise you might find yourself a bit less hairy and more smokey if you know what I mean."
"What like this?" And he barred his teeth at her and promptly began to chew gently on her shoulder.
She had a second to squeal out a weak "no" before he was nibbling at her and Ariel was beating her fists lightly on his shoulders. "Jerec you useless mutt! This is why you're not to be trusted. Get off me slobberer! YICK!" Ariel squirmed and play-fought him but made no move to leave his lap even as she scowled and cursed his name.
"You shouldn't tempt fate," he laughed, ceasing at last. Jerec twitched at her fighting, snorting out a laugh. "Ow! My stomach hurts! You keep making me laugh!"
"Be thankful that's the only reason it hurts," she growled while trying to slide back off his lap. "I'm hungry. Feed me! My stomach demands meat. Lots and lots of meat!" Ariel rubbed her hands together as she recalled how good it was to have a constant supply of food without having to worry about when her next meal was. As much as she hated civilized life there were some perks to it even if she would not admit it aloud.
Jerec rubbed his head a little. "Oh you want meat huh?" He grumbled a little and got to his feet. "Well what do you d want me to do about it? Do we even have any money with which to purchase said meat?" Unless she meant for them to hunt it...in which case they would have to temporarily return to the wild. "Or did you want me to go and get it for you?"
They did have enough money quite literally squirreled away with the way Ariel kept things however she paused at the idea of him getting some. Hunting sounded wonderful to her. The chance to escape out into the woods and forget being civilized would be a welcome balm to the wire of tension that seemed to always hum along her spine.
"Only if you take me with you," she tried bargaining as if it had been his desire and not hers to feast upon fresh meat.
Jerec hadn't been serious, but at Owlett's sudden eagerness at the prospect of going on a hunt. He felt his palms itch, wishing for earth, and he twitched. "Oh and what would you want to hunt?" he asked.
Her eyes glinted with the prospect of a hunt. "Something big!" she declared readily, jumping at him with a playful growl as if he were her prey. Ariel was feeling somewhat fearful he would desire to capture a pair of rabbits and call it a day and hoped that bigger game would keep them out longer than a few short moments.
Jerec held his arms out to keep her at bay, just enough to keep her excitement partially contained. He smiled and nodded. "Something big then. How about a stag? A big heavy stag! And I can use you to carry the whole thing back home. Well, what are you waiting for!? Let's be gone, Owl Butt."
Not even his teasing banter could dampen her mood. Ariel smacked Jerec on the rear as she dashed out the door, hopping into a pair of trousers on her way without a true care as to how she looked. The villagers could whisper all they wanted about her. She was about to hunt for the first time in what felt like forever. Nothing was going to stop thrall singing within her very blood.
"Hurry up you oaf before I catch all the game before you," she boasted tauntingly.
When Jerec stepped outside, he stopped abruptly and felt that first blast of cold night air. It hit him like a blanket, wrapping all about his form in a cool embrace and he turned to Owlet in his brief wonderment. The few people that remained outside, he paid them no heed and followed his little owl through the trees.
Jerec took his own clothes when he was certain they were past the treeline and set them down beside a small set of raised gnarled roots, to serve as a place to find them again before falling down on all fours and bursting off through the dirt.
With a whoop of pleasure, Ariel was racing between the trees as fast as her legs would carry her. Her heart pounded against her ribcage with exhilaration and her throat burned from the fresh air raggedly being pulled into her lungs at such a pace, yet she could not be happier. It felt so much freer to return to her natural element. The only thing that would make it better would be a roll in the dirt and a fresh kill in hand. Hearing Jerec closing in behind her though she added a burst of speed as she taunted him for his slowness. The night was hers.
"You better run you little rascal!" Jerec howled as he transformed, while running on all fours.
He soon overcame Owlet and ducked low to put his head between her legs and throw her up onto his back. "Slow poke," he growled.
She squealed with childish delight as she scooted to slide back so that her knees could lock behind his forelegs and she could lean forward to secure herself along his back, her arms around his neck loosely. "Nice horsey," Ariel teased in his ear even as she buried her face against the soft fur of his scruff and allowed one hand to lovingly rub an ear.
Jerec stopped once they reached a rushing stream. They were not too far from the village they had made their home. But they were deep enough into the wood to hopefully keep prying eyes away from them. Jerec shook his ears for a moment, flicking away her scratching fingers for the moment, so that he could listen.
The air was silent, and nothing but the birds chirped. He gave Owlet a sniff and ducked his mouth into the water to drink, hoping to slow down his rapid fire heart.
And lo and behold down the rushing waters was a stag, also lowering its head for a drink. Jerec spotted it from the side of his vision, and didn't move.
Ariel ceased her efforts, allowing herself to simply curl around him and trust in his instincts. They had come a long way for her to be able to place so much faith and trust in him. Had she reflected on it she would have been shocked to learn just how much she relied on another now and how devastated she would be to lose him after everything they had been through.
When she likewise caught sight of the stag, she pressed herself even closer to his body, hoping to smother her human scent with that of the wolf. The huntress waited with coiled tenseness awaiting a signal from her companion to slide off or move. He was the alpha after all and she was to obey.
Jerec sniffed and shifted himself so that she could lower herself to the ground. He looked her in the eyes and directed them toward the bushes. To approach the stag quietly and distract it while he went around into the brush.
[Do you remember if Jerec could speak while shifted? Because I don't. xD I know he's my character but if you remember that consistency that'd be great thanks.]
She easily slid from his back to the ground. With a wordless nod, Ariel backed herself away into the bushes, careful to make as little noise as possible while she waited a few moments for Jerec to get in a position to flank the deer on the other side.
Once the huntress believed she had given the wolf enough time to get ready, she purposely rustled some of the leaves causing the stag to raise his head, ears twitching as he looked about attentively. Patiently, she kept in place, resisting the urge to spring forward as she had done in times when arrowheads had been scarce and she did not have the resources to make more. A second rustled sent the beast sprinting off in the direction opposite her and hopefully to where Jerec had motioned he would be. Nevertheless she was in quick pursuit, unwillingly to let him have all the fun without her.
Once in position, Jerec waited quietly through the brush, watching Ariel distract the beast. And when he saw it running, he moved then, pouncing forward. However, the stag was swift and upon seeing Jerec, quickly skirted around him. Jerec growled and bounded after the beast, throwing up dirt in his wake, as he wove between trees.
The stag anticipated its pathing well, shifting around a boulder and rushing uphill, fearful of those in pursuit.
Ariel followed as best as she could before taking to the trees where she was faster and more able to gain on the pair ahead of her. The thrill of the chase was singing in her blood, making her heart beat strongly within her chest as the wind whipped past her and through her hair. She had missed this feeling more than words could say. Jerec may have liked the settled life but she was 'Owlet' and the world of the wild would always be her home.
She put forth an extra burst of speed, swinging and leaping from tree to tree like a daring squirrel as her muscles burned with the effort in order to get her ahead of the stag. Unafraid, she allowed herself to fall and roll, landing in the stag's path, hoping to scare it back into the jaws of a certain wolf.
The will of the Wild would always draw within him, and feed the need of the hunt. Jerec leapt upon the animal that was his prey, only for the stag to rear up his hinds legs and smack the wolf that Jerec had become square in the face.
Jerec yelped, whirling back. The stag did not pause, and when it felt the weight of something small and wiry land on it, it bucked again and gave a sound of terror, running hard and long. Jerec rolled back onto all fours, ignoring the pain in his face as he tore across the ground once more.
She miscalculated her jump and was nearly sent flying when the beast suddenly beneath her instead of in front of her bucked and shrieked its terror. Ariel would be lying though if she did not take some glee in the fact that not only had she managed to remain seated, albeit barely, but that she also had a better chance of felling the stag now than Jerec. She could not wait to rub the fact that she was now a better hunter than him and that he had grown soft in his village life.
The woman clenched the beast's torso between her knees to remain seated while one arm looped around its neck and the other fumbled for her knife. If she could slit its throat, then the beast would not suffer and she would be even less likely to be sent careening into a tree in its death throes. Unfortunately for her though an unexpected jump forced her to bobble the knife, dropping it in the process moments before the stag was rearing once more in panic as the wolf closed in on them.
If Jerec had gotten soft he hadn't noticed. He was still as much a wolf as he'd gotten before, driven by instinct and when he saw them clear in the distance he sped onward. He was angry now, saw red as fierce as moonlight. With a bolt, he lunged and as the stag reared back on hind legs, Jerec let his claws finish the job, slashing at the underside of the stag's belly.
Gore spilled out onto the forest floor, and though Jerec had been blindly struck by powerful hooves, he was only dazed as the creature staggered and soon slumped to its side.
Ariel abandoned the stag, rolling onto the ground and out of Jerec's way so that his swipe would not cause her any accidental harm. She trusted him with her life but that did not mean that she wanted to tempt fate and make the work harder for him. The woman did not move far though as the moment she hit the ground she was back in motion, tailing deer and beast until the deer collapsed on the ground. In that moment she leaped forward, taking a firm grip of the head and putting the animal out of any last moments of suffering in as painless a means as she could manage.
Covered in blood and with twigs and leaves in her hair, she smiled over at the werewolf before throwing her head back to howl and crow to the sky in jubilation over their teamwork and their new meal. Ariel reveled in the adrenaline still flowing through her as much as she enjoyed being caked in dirt and a bit of the wild back in her system. Jerec could enjoy his four walls and a roof but she longed for the woods and the hunt. This would always be home to her and no one could take that from her forever.
As the stag laid dying, Jerec rolled and tumbled hard into the side of a tree. He was breathing hard, nostrils flaring as he witnessed his prey's final suffering. He watched it's life fade away, and he loomed over it. Blood soaked the ground, and light faded from the stag's eyes. Bending down, Jerec reached toward the neck and started to eat, pulling at the fur and flesh until meet met to teeth.
It did not matter if he housed himself within four walls and a roof. The wild was inside him, it was not something that could be hidden away in exchange for the quiet placation of guised civility. He paused, looking across to the small creature that finished the stag. The little owl that had followed him from the forest, to a jungle of a different kind.
Slowly the fur faded from his body, bone shrunk down to the sculpture of man. He watched her, that light in her eyes, and felt a pang then in his gut. And a burning guilt that he couldn't understand. Or one that he did not want to acknowledge.
He was silent for the time, looking at his hands in their blood-soaked reverie.
"I...am sorry, Owlet," was all he said.
Not understanding the realization that Jerec had come to, Ariel's smile on brightened at the use of her preferred name. Her chest puffed out with pride as she smirked at him with crossed arms. "As you should be. You're getting old furball," the little woman teased him playfully before hopping over the stag to stand in front of him. "I seem to remember you being a better hunter unless that was all a dream. Village life is making you all soft and squishy, innit?" She poked at his sides, uncaring of the grime and gore that covered them both.
Jerec gave a small shy smile, feeling her poke a side that had fattened a little since their domestication. "I am not. I still helped you kill it. And it's feasting for both of us." He smiled and cleaned his hands on the fur. "Maybe we should camp out tonight. We can stay on the other side of the creek. Nobody will see us. It'd be nice to...get back out again. I didn't realize I missed it so."
"Now he realizes," Ariel huffed, rolling her eyes as she threw her hands up in the air in mock-aggravation. "Not like been tryin' to tell ya for months or anythin'." She sighed happily though, enjoying the smell of fresh air far from the cloying stench of domesticity.
With a shooing motion of her hands she urged him, "well you can start work on this, get it all to the other side and ready for eating. Owlet's got some climbing to do." Ariel attempted to run for the nearest tree then to avoid helping and to especially avoid having to trudge through the water. Bathes were still one of her least favorite things.
Jerec did as she instructed. Hoisting the stag to the other side of the river while she readily avoided doing any of the hard work. She was a clever girl, if not quick on her feet.
The act of digging his hands into the meat and blood of a kill touched something primal deep within. He could feel the beast wanting nothing more than return to the wild. Thoughts crept into his mind as the meat spread out between his fingers. He didn't care if anyone was watching then. He let his teeth sink into the chunks, letting the blood seep into his mouth, and drip from his lips.
Quick as a bird she flew up the tree and out of sight to hop from branch to branch. Using the long bowing limbs of the massive trees she was able to cross the river without touching down until she was at last on the other side. Once there though, she was far from idle. Ariel began work on collecting brush and wood to make a fire for them a bit further in the treeline so that they could eat and rest in peace without being seen from the opposing bank.
She reveled in being able to feel cool, soft dirt against her skin and only managed to resist the urge to roll about it in with the knowledge that Jerec would most likely try to dump her in the water and keep her there until she was clean once more. An icy evening bath was the last thing she wanted, fire or no fire.
It may have been the last thing she wanted, but it was probably something they both needed. Once the stag was torn apart and prepared for feasting, taking what was more important and leaving the rest behind was difficult to do. Jerec had only bitten off a few pieces and once it was ready he began to smell the tendrils of smoke. Coming from across the river? Why?
"Owlett!" he called out. "Where are you?"
Hearing his voice had her snapping to attention before giggling and busying herself with stoking the tiny embers of her little campfire. "Follow your nose, mutt!" she called back to him. "You still remember how to use that don't ya?" Ariel giggled more while shaking her head. "Come on boy! I'll give you a treat, puppy!"
He came to where she'd made a fire - a big one at that! considering her size - and he gave her a haughty shake of his head. "Oh, look who did all the work while you were here dancing with smoke," he said with a tsk of his tongue and flung a piece of meat at her. "You can cook it then because you're not getting off that easily."
"Bah!" she hissed back grumpily, clinging tightly to her piece of meat. "Would you like me to chew it for you too, puppy? Can't even eat it raw anymore? What kind of wolf are ya?" Ariel taunted as she moved to stand toe to toe with him, a cocky jut of her chin lifted to challenge him. "Cook your own food Jerek. I made the fire."
He took a slab of meat an threw it at her head. "You cook it because I cut the whole thing up, and you didn't do anything but make a puny fire. Is it really too much to ask?" he said with a grumpy pout. He could so eat it raw. He just liked it cooked, it tasted good in it's own way.
"Besides I killed the damn thing too. So do it! Or I'll make you do it."
Ariel caught the meat and tossed it back at Jerec angrily. She was practically spitting in her mock-fury. "Puny? Puny! You call this beautiful monument to the gods puny!!!! How could you?!" She crossed her arms and shook her head. "I helped catch the deer too, you know. You weren't all on your own there, mutt."
"But I did most of the work! If you're not gonna help, then what good are you!?" Jerec hissed and caught the meat. Fine, he would just cook it all and eat it himself. He was used to doing things on his own anyway and he sat grumpily by the fire, sulking and turning the meat over in the fire on a stick.
She could not help herself as she begin to giggle. His grouchy demeanor was too much for her to stay mad at him even if she was faking it. "You know exactly what I'm good for. Keep up that attitude though and you won't be getting any," she shot back with knowing quirk of her brow and sway of her hips.
What....What was she doing?
Jerec was staring at her hips and her chest and even if he wanted to just sulk the whole time, he found her hard to ignore. He made a noise, and turned the meat again until it had a crispy outerlayer to it.
"I don't want any of what you're offering," he said bitterly. "But if you're hungry you can take a piece. Be careful, it's real hot.". Jerec cleared his throat and stood up, walking over to her, taking her by the hand and nudging her to sit.
Ariel hummed back in response knowing that while his words said one thing his actions said another. She easily allowed herself to be moved to sit though she probably did not end up where he had originally intended. The moment that he was comfortable, the young woman plopped herself down into his lap and wiggle herself into a comfortable position with her back against his chest and her head resting back against his shoulder. "Now this is much better, don't ya think?"
Jerec grunted the moment she made herself comfortable in his lap. And he quickly felt his irritation slip away into another noise he hadn't made in a long time. He laughed, cackling and giving a mock glare over her shoulder. "Hey! What are you doing?" he chuckled and snorted.
In his reverie he lost his balance and fell backwards toward the ground, and he laughed harder with her weight on top of him. Arms fell around her and found the ridges of her ribs where his fingers lightly jabbed and danced up and down her sides. That would show her!
It warmed her heart to hear his laughter but Ariel did not get to reminisce in it for long before he was forcing her own peals of joy out of her. "Jerec, stop! Stop!" she squealed and shouted as she tried to squirm her way out of his grasp and away from those tickling fingers. All she managed to do though was slide from one side to the other while always escaping one side to run into the other. He made her laugh until her sides her and she felt she could not breathe but finally, she felt free.
Jerec released her only when she squealed. And only because it was hilarious and he could barely breathe by the end of it. He snorted and rolled over onto his side, looking at her with a dopey grin. And all the while the smell of burnt meat ignited the air. Upon smelling it, Jerec cursed and threw himself upward.
"Shit!" he hissed and pulled the pieces of meat from the fire, and frowned at their charred remains. It was salvageable. "Whoops," he murmured and laid it propped up on a stone. "Sorry. But you'll still eat it right? I mean it's not that bad."
Jerec sat back down, criss-cross applesauce. "Hey, get back over here. I need you to taste test this meat. I promise to keep my hands to myself."
"Nu-uh," she declared with a shake of her head. "Don't trust you. You taste it." Despite her words though, Ariel was dancing in place and her eyes were alight with mischief and mirth. "I had the perfect seat and you just had to go and ruin it. If you promise to be a good chair I might come back though," she giggled.
He saw the mischief in her eyes, the mirth glowing there. How easy it would be to rob her of it, and how miserable he would be if he decided that would be the ideal course of action. Jerec was many things, cruel among them. But seeing Ariel upset because of him was starting to become a very low objective on his list of accomplishments.
In fact her invitation made him grin and he nodded in acquiescence. "Ok, I promise I will be a good chair. This meat will not taste itself, of course," he decided to answer. He pinched off a piece of it's burnt tenderness and shoved it into his mouth. Charcoal had a certain spice to it that he vaguely favored and beyond that he would rather dispose of it.
However since food didn't exactly become available around every bend, he kept chewing. Trying to make a good sport of it, and grinned goofily a her. "It's good. Try it!'
She squinted at him as if assessing him but her lips were upturned in a tale-tell grin she had more often than not the more company they spent together. A gentle breeze blew the scent of fire and meat into her face though and she breathed it in deep. Even though the meat was burnt, her stomach turned demanding a taste.
Playfully, she side-stepped closer to him as if one fast movement from him would send her scuttling back for the trees she adored climbing so much. Or at least the trees she had loved climbing before town-living had meant skirts and lady-like behavior that made such antics difficult.
Ariel ducked under his offering arm quickly and plopped herself in his lap like a proud owlet, chin raised with pride claiming its roost. His hand holding the meat was quickly dragged in close though so she could bite the morsel without having to touch it herself. With a mischievous giggle that clearly outed that she knew exactly what she was up to, she made extra sure to give his thumb a proper nip in the process of taking the food from him.
"Mm, ash-flavored," she teased. "My favorite!"