Spirits of the Earth

Tags to @Rhi-Rhi !

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"I have good news for you, wolf."

This was the third time that Soren, as the nameless black wolf, had come back to the old mage Cain. He wasn't sure why he had started making these semi-regular pilgrimages. A guilty conscience, he supposed. As if somehow visiting the old man changed... something about what had happened with his student. Just the thought of her sent Soren's stomach churning. Pepper. The girl he had sold into slavery.

But none of this showed on the black wolf's countenance. The creature cocked his head, gazing with interest up at old mage with his keen golden eyes. Cain wasn't normally in a good mood, but there was a glint in the mage's eyes at the declaration.

Concentrating very hard, Soren directed one clear thought at the Cain. The mage had practiced this with him during his last two 'visits.' What?

"Pepper! I found her!" The wolf's hackles raised, body tense, but the mage continued, "Or rather, she found me! You only missed her by a week. But she's well enough; understandably shaken up. Sent her back up to Serendipity with an escort. Think she deserved it."

The news shocked Soren. And it changed everything. After that, Soren was driven by a newfound mission. He worked like he had never worked at all, and spent none of it. He worked like this for months, saving and scraping every penny. Okay, once or twice he slipped up, spent a bit of it on a drink or a woman, but the stomach-dropping guilt that followed sent him into a new frenzy of labor. He'd also gone back from time to time to Cain. Not that he really needed to be reminded just why he was working so hard, but, well, it didn't hurt to keep himself on track.

And once he'd saved up as much as he trusted himself to, Soren set off. Traveling through the Draconi forest and the forested riverlands of Serendipity had been easy enough. Even with the sizeable savings in tow. Traveling through the farmlands and dotted villages deeper in Serendipity had been a little trickier. No farmer was very happy to spot a wolf. And being in Arca... Well, Ketra made him nervous enough. But Arca was something else entirely. But he'd trooped forward, until he found himself where he was now: Pepper's mage college.

Soren never expected that Pepper would forgive him herself. He told himself that he'd just have to accept that. That he ought never try to see her again. But there was another way he could try to make amends with her. It was, of course, her debt. Soren had brought all of the sizeable sum he'd received for, well, Pepper's sale. And the accumulated savings he'd earned since that fateful day. Now he was paying it all against the young mage's debt at the college. It hadn't been easy to convince the bureaucrat of the college's treasury to accept the payment, but after turning on some of his charm, he'd managed.

With his 'good deed' done, Soren was now strolling the college campus in a bit of a daze. He should go. He'd done what he'd come to do. He knew that. So why was he still here? Walking through the college so conspicuously? He wouldn't admit it to himself, but deep down he knew the answer. Whether it was good for him, or for Pepper, or not... he wanted to see her.

Pepper had a day off that day--or as much of a day off as a student ever got. But between studying and errands, she got a little free time, and so she decided she would head outside to take her meal in the university gardens.

Life had mostly returned to normal, though she still occasionally got hell from her peers. Rumors had gotten started, and some were still floating around, though mostly they had died down because people grew bored, and moved onto the next bit of juicy gossip. It still stung, though, and it had still impacted her reputation--not that hers had ever been good. She'd been lower than low on the social hierarchy before she'd come to the university, and there were some among the mages that liked to remind her that she was only here because she'd gotten lucky.

Now whore had been tacked onto her reputation because, as the rumors went, she'd been running off on amorous adventures with a stranger in Adela, and then she'd gotten sold into slavery. And you just know what happened to slave women, right?

As if that whole experience hadn't been nightmarish enough. As if the betrayal hadn't already hurt, and hurt deeply. And to add that insult to injury, to spread rumors that what she'd been afraid of happening had happened, and that it was somehow her fault, it just made her angry. It had been the source of a number of recent fights--fights that had gotten physical.

But today was rather peaceful, and with her light lunch in hand, carried in a little sack, she had just about made it to the hall leading out--

When she turned a corner and came face-to-bloody-face with him.

It took her a moment to recognize him. Or rather, took her a moment to recognize that it wasn't some sort of twisted dream. She came to an abrupt stop, sack clutched to her chest, and stared at him with wide eyes for several long seconds, lips parted, gut twisting, and heart beating a staccato rhythm--first with hope, because she remembered how he'd made her feel before everything went bad, and then with panic.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't be.

But it was, he was here--what the hell was he doing here?! Had he been looking for her? Had he found out about her escape and wanted to take her back? Her pulse quickened, a trapped thing fluttering in her chest, and she took a step back, then another, and then she pulled her arm back and threw her lunch at his head with all her strength.

"Get the fuck away from me!" she yelled and spun on her heel, ready to run.

If Pepper was surprised at Soren's sudden appearance, Soren was nearly as much so. Or at least, it seemed so, because when she nearly ran into him, the normally confident man jumped clean into the air. (Of course, he had known she would be here somewhere, and she couldn't have guessed he'd be anywhere to be seen!) Once he was back on his feet, Soren simply returned Pepper's startled stare, his gold-brown eyes wide. His mouth hung half-open, not saying the words that weren't coming to him. He'd wanted to see her, but from a distance! Right? Or had he secretly hoped for a confrontation? Harbored some small hope of forgiveness?

Bam! Pepper's lunch smacked directly into his face. He hadn't even seen it coming. It hit him full on, then dropped to the ground. He stood there, frozen with his stunned expression unchanged, for a moment or two while Pepper yelled at him. But when she turned to run, Soren snapped out of his reverie and sprung after her.

In one deft movement, Soren caught up with Pepper and, an arm around her waist, caught her.

"No, wait!" he argued, his voice not nearly as loud as Pepper's scream. Nor as confident. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Let go!" Pepper yelled, and immediately took to struggling, her hat falling off her head as she twisted in his grip. "Let go, ya bastard!"

She stomped at the toe of his boot with her heel and and swung an elbow at his gut, but her blows weren't as hard as they could have been--because somewhere along the way, her yelling had turned to sobbing.

This was not going well.

If Soren was hoping for an easy reconciliation, he obviously wasn't going to get one.

Not sure what exactly he was doing or why, he gritted his teeth and bore the blows and stomps from Pepper, holding on tight to her. It wasn't so difficult physically; he was definitely stronger than Pepper. It was a bit harder mentally. Normally, when faced with an awkward confrontation, well, Soren's natural instinct was to not. Accountability for his mistakes was not something Soren usually took on. Why face a problem when you could run from it?

Yet here he was. And he had come here. On his own. And after making his gesture of good will, or whatever he'd thought he was doing with her debts, he'd stayed. He'd stayed in hopes of having this very meeting. And now that he had it?

Pepper's struggles slowed as her shouts turned to sobs. That, nearly, did set Soren running. Sobs. But instead he just turned Pepper to face him, holding firmly onto her shoulders and trying to make eye contact and trying to keep his expression one of worried calm, rather than just worried.

"I just want to talk to you."

Soren turned her to face him, but Pepper avoided his eyes. She didn't want to look at him. Didn't want to see him. Didn't need that reminder of how stupid she was to wander off with him, just because he was handsome and made her feel special.

What a load of bullshit.

"Talk? Ya wanna talk? Fuck you!" Pepper managed to get out through her tears, her throat tight with repressed sobs. He held her by the shoulders, and she shoved at his chest, hard, to try to break his grip. "Yer words ain't worth shit! Ya sold me! I trusted ya and ya lied and ya sold me! To slavers! Like I wasn't worth nothin'! Ya know what they did to me?!"

She wiped at her face, which was red from her crying, and looked everywhere but at him as the tears kept falling despite her efforts to blink them back. Fuck, fuck, she hated that she was crying, why did she have to cry? It made her feel pathetic and weak, because she was angry, and she wanted him to know it!

He didn't need to see how goddamned hurt she was.

"How much ya get for me, huh? How much was I worth?"

This was why Soren didn't normally stick around. In the face of actually being held accountable for his actions, he had no idea what to do. Seeing her like this, hurt and crying and embarrassed and angry, well, it just made him... uncomfortable.

Slam! He was even more uncomfortable when her hard shove nearly knocked the wind out of him. That was almost easier to take, though, than her teary eyes and the emotion all over her face. He held onto her, though, not sure what he should really do. Soren was a man without a plan.

But even as he  felt awkward and guilty and generally awful-about-this-all, he couldn't help but silently correct her. "Like I wasn't worth nothin'!" Well, of course, he thought, if she hadn't been worth anything, he never would have been tempted to sell her at all.

Ugh. What was wrong with him? How could he even think that? Especially now! He was, it seemed, in every situation, a Grade A Schmuck.

But he didn't have long to dwell on that before her next question hit him across the face. His frown deepened. No. He didn't know 'what they had done' to her. The thought made him feel, simultaneously, queazy and protective. The irony of this, when he'd been the one to put her in harm's way, was not lost on him. What a schmuck.

Soren bore the brunt of Pepper's comments in worried silence. Finally, when she spat at him asking what price he'd gotten for her, he grimaced a little.

"I didn't keep any of it," he said lamely.

Pepper laughed, short and bitter. "Of course ya didn't keep it. 'Cause ya spent it. Get anything good?"

"No, I mean, that's not what I meant, I," Soren was floundering. If he could control his shifting, there was a good chance he would turn into a wolf now and quite literally turn tail and run. The confident and self-assured Soren that Pepper had met in the woods was nowhere in sight. If anything, he now looked desperate.

"I mean, I didn't keep it at all. I gave it to Cain." Soren almost said 'fuckin' Cain,' but thought this might not be the right time to revive the joke.

Pepper stared at Soren a moment, and knew he was telling the truth. Cain had mentioned a black wolf that had come to help look for her, and she'd known what it meant, but she'd said nothing. Just acted like she didn't know what was up. And the truth was, she didn't know what was up, because she didn't understand why Soren would sell her, and then want to help find her. Why he'd sell her, and then give the money to Cain.

And she sure as hell wasn't ready to let Soren off the hook.

"Okay," she said, wiping away more tears and giving him the flattest look she could muster in that state. "Why? Compensation?"

"What?"

If Pepper's strong reaction to seeing him had surprised him - and deep down, it hadn't - the fact that she'd calmed down even a little bit now surprised him much more, and it showed.

"Compensation for what?" It wasn't really a question, though he wasn't sure what he could have expected compensation from Cain for. As though the old mage had been in on the deal.

Why wasn't there some lie he could tell? Something to just make this easy. But no, he hadn't come all this way to tell a lie. Looking a little sheepish, guilty, and worried, he answered, "So we- so he could pay your... To get you from..." He was having trouble actually saying 'price' or 'slavers' or anything else that alluded too directly to the reality of what he'd done. He was practically squirming. Instead he finished, "So he could get you back."

Pepper stared at him again, unbelieving.

"Well, he didn't get me back," she snapped, and felt tears welling up in her eyes again, despite her attempts to hold them at bay. She jerked away from him and took two steps back, wanting some distance.

"I got sold like a fuckin' cow. D'ya got any idea of what that's like? Wakin' up 'cause you've been netted like some animal? Findin' out the person you trusted sold ya out and tied yer goddamned leg, just to be extra sure ya couldn't run? Gettin' taken to that...to that place, with all those other girls, who...who..."

Her throat tightened, but she pushed past it. "Ya got any idea how humiliatin' it is, gettin' stripped down and checked out like a horse, front of all those men? While they...while they look at ya, and say things...like..."

She drew a shaky breath, but her words came out in a choked rush as she relived it, the tears falling freely again. She hadn't told anyone all the details, or all her fears. But she told him now, because how fucking dare he think a little money was going to fix this.

"Like the only reason they ain't gonna fuckin' rape ya' is 'cause virgins sell? Then gettin' bid on! Seein' how much people think yer worth! Hopin' and prayin' ya won't go to some sick bastard. And then...and then when the slaves got free, and they murdered them all--fuckin' murdered them, cut 'em all down right there--"

She cut off with a hitched breath and wiped at her face, though her shoulders shook with fresh sobs. "Fuck you."

Soren winced. No, he definitely hadn't known what Pepper had been through. And hearing it now shed a light of reality on what he'd done - what he had done to her - that he'd been trying very hard over the past several months to keep fuzzy. Soren didn't want to know in detail what Pepper had been through. What she had felt. He just wanted it to be like, okay, she had been in a tricky situation, but then she'd been freed! It had all worked out just fine in the end! And then Pepper could hear about how Soren had actually felt really bad about it all and had even alerted her mentor and tried to save her. And then it would all be all right, right?

Wrong.

Soren might not want to know the details, the reality of it, but he tried to listen to it now. Without just glossing over the uncomfortable truth of what she was saying. He tried to picture her there, alone, surrounded by those men; men he didn't even like being around! He could all too easily imagine what they would have said. How they would have laughed and gestured. He hadn't made himself think about it before, but of course he had known what kind of men they had been. What kind of men they almost always were.

And he had liked her! Genuinely! Would it really have been that bad to just admit his lie to her then, or... even just to change it! Had he really thought at the time that since he felt bad about it, the action had been less despicable?

Soren honestly didn't know.

And now she was crying again. He had to stop himself from putting a comforting arm around her. That, he was sure, was the wrong move. But the new bout of tears snapped Soren out of the miserable parade of images of Pepper and the slavers going through his head. And suddenly he noticed: All the shouting and crying had not gone unnoticed. At the end of the garden path, two or three voyeuristic strangers had gathered, whispering amongst themselves.

Soren shot them a dark, but bewildered look. Again a feeling of protectiveness firing up in him towards this girl. Then, very tentatively, he put a hand on Pepper's shoulder, taking care to otherwise keep himself as far away from her as he could. He didn't want to seem... oh, he didn't know.

"I'm really... I don't know what to say, Pepper," he said quietly, awkwardly, as he tried to gently steer her away from the main path and towards a small, and much more secluded, garden enclave. Where all those Nosy Nancys couldn't just gape and watch. "Can we, er, -" he didn't manage to finish, trying to guide Pepper away, throwing another dark/bewildered glance at the onlookers.

Pepper flinched at Soren's touch and jerked away from him, about ready to snap at him not to touch her--but movement just beyond him caught her attention, and she saw what Soren had seen: a small gathering of onlookers. Great. Just bloody fantastic. They had an audience. She hoped to Kia they hadn't been there long enough to hear all the sordid details.

Turning her back to them, she sniffled and wiped at her runny nose with the back of her hand. "Yeah, fine," she mumbled, and headed toward the garden he'd started to guide her toward.

Part of her wondered why she was doing this. Why she was given the traitor the time of day. She should just leave. Get away from him. Because being around him hurt, hurt in a raw way she hadn't expected--because she'd believed he was her friend, because he'd made her feel special in a way no one else had, because she'd...she'd opened herself up to him and had fun with him and...

Cain had said a wolf had come to him, helped him look for her, brought him the scrolls and money.

And she'd desperately wanted to believe that maybe, maybe it had all been a mistake. That maybe he hadn't actually sold her out, that maybe the slavers had lied about that when they'd told her he'd betrayed her. But Soren himself had confirmed it now--he'd admitted he'd taken payment for her, because he'd admitted he hadn't spent what they'd given him.

Then why? Why all this? Why help Cain? Why come here now?

Outside, Pepper came to a fountain and took a seat at the edge. She leaned her arms on her knees and looked up at Soren with red eyes."Okay," she said, wiping at her eyes again. "Talk. Why'd ya do it."

Soren removed his hand from Pepper's shoulder as soon as they were away from the onlookers. Once they were walking, he crossed his arms, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

Talk.

He had said he'd just walked to talk, hadn't he? Soren guessed that was a lie. Was it? Soren wasn't even sure any more. He guessed he did want to talk, but he wanted it to be more of a him-apologizing-and-her-forgiving-him-hugs-all-around-no-more-guilty-conscience sort of 'talk.' It didn't seem like he was going to do that.

But her question was one he'd been asking himself. Over. And over. And over.

Why had he done it?

"I..." He should make something up. A sick cousin who would die without a lot of money for an expensive healing operation. Or a sister who needed to be bought OUT of slavery, and he needed the cash to get her. No, not a sister, a niece! A child would sound MUCH better, but... "I don't know," he answered instead, wincing as he said it. After a moment, he added, his voice cringing, "I've been asking myself that a lot, actually..."

Soren glanced back over his shoulder. No one, at least, seemed to have followed them. And now they turned a corner in the high, shrub-lined garden path. Just as well. As long as they were walking, they weren't physically fighting. Pepper could really pack a hit! And it seemed like this path went on for awhile. Just as well. What Soren hadn't figured out yet was that they hadn't just turned down a secluded garden path: they were about to get lost in the famously intricate Mage College Maze.

"Ya don't know," Pepper repeated flatly, though her voice was stuffy and nasally. She stared at him hard.

"So ya just...what? Backstabbed me fer giggles? Is that it?"

"What? No!" Soren answered quickly, throwing his hands up defensively. "It wasn't like that! I mean, I didn't..."

But what did Soren mean. It wasn't for laughs, that was for sure. He'd hated it even while he was doing it. Then why had he done it?

"I mean," Soren rubbed the back of his neck, cringing with discomfort. "I mean... It wasn't fun," he finally said, voice dropping into seriousness. "But I, I don't always make the right decision. And, I don't know, I had just done a job for this slaver - a different job!" he interjected quickly, too quickly and too defensively. "Not, like, a slaver job! But, when you were so... so rash following me into the forest and threatening me if I took the scrolls, well, it occurred to me if the scrolls weren't worth anything..."

Soren cringed. It was even worse saying all of this out loud than he'd imagined. He hadn't even ever really said it to himself. Without him really realizing it, they turned another corner, the hedges narrowing and the space between Soren and Pepper getting tighter.

"I didn't really want to do it, but.... I guess I don't always do.... I mean..." This was going horribly. Soren could hear how ridiculous he sounded. Ridiculous at the best. He let out a half sigh, half groan. "I don't know. I don't know what I was doing. I'm not very good at doing the right thing. And I really liked you. I... I don't know."

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest as she walked, her head down and shoulders hunched. She didn't know why she was giving Soren the time of day. Well, okay. So she knew. She was talking to him because she'd been hopeful. Hopeful that maybe...ugh, it was ridiculous, but she'd been hopeful that maybe he had some tragic, sympathetic story about how he'd been forced to do it or something. Like he needed money for his parents who were dying or...or something. It wasn't like it would make selling her out better, but at least it would be a valid reason? An...understandable reason? Kind of? She just wanted answers, wanted to know why, to make sense of it all in her head.

To make sense of her own strange, jumbled mess of emotions, and the things she'd felt when Cain had revealed that a black wolf had come to help him, right after her kidnapping.

But as she listened, she only felt more tense, more hurt.

He didn't even have a real reason.

Fresh tears welled up in her eyes, and she wiped them stubbornly away. "So I was just some...some decision, huh?" she asked, turning her head away from him to stare at one of the leafy walls. "I weren't even a person to ya. I was just a choice ya could make. A thing. Didja even think one second 'bout my feelin's? Gee, great to know I'm as easy to sell off as some fuckin' parchment!"

Turning to look at him, she came to a stop. "I liked ya! I'd never think of doin' somethin'...somethin' like that to anyone I liked. Not even to someone I disliked! How could ya even say ya liked me?"

"No, no you weren't 'just some decision,'" Soren argued, frowning deeply, his whole body cringing. He meant what he said, but he heard how flimsy it sounded. What could he say, anyway, in the face of his actions? And, oh no, tears were welling up in her eyes again. Soren had no idea what to do. "Look, you weren't a decision, Pepper. I made a decision. A bad one. One I regret... a lot. And I'm not saying that changes anything, or makes it better, or that you should forgive me or anything, I just -"

Soren groaned, cringed, mussing his hair with both hands in an unconscious tick. And suddenly they were at a dead end. He sighed, then stopped their walk, looking Pepper in the face. Or at least trying his hardest to. Soren still looked painfully uncomfortable. 'You were always Pepper. And I treated you worse than I've probably ever treated anyone. I don't have an excuse, and I won't try to make one. I'm just, not very good." At first it seemed like Soren was maybe going to say 'good at something', but he left the sentence there, and that's what he'd meant. Soren had accepted it about himself a long time ago. Ever since his brother's death. He wasn't good. And he didn't expect good things from himself. In that moment, he didn't stop to wonder if that, maybe, was his problem.

"Look, I didn't come here to get any kind of forgiveness from you, and I don't expect to to give me any. I just wanted to see you were okay, I didn't mean to actually see you, I -"

But Soren suddenly cut himself short. Because around the corner of the garden hedge, the sound of hasty footsteps came. And the sound of an argument. And something about it made the hair on the back of Soren's neck prickle.

"You'll get your payment, Shadow, when you give me results!" hissed a first voice. It was the voice of an older woman, with an educated lilt. "Before then, you can expect nothing!"

"Payment," came the sound of a second voice. Or was it a voice? It had a hollow, windy sound to it and was certainly not human. Something about it sent a chill down Soren's spine.

The voices were getting closer, about to turn the corner to the path Soren and Pepper were on. Acting on an impulse, Soren spotted a sidepath and grabbed Pepper, making sure to clasp a hand over her mouth, and dragged her down the side path. It turned out to be the entrance to a small 'room' in the edge, perhaps four feet squared, with a small fountain in the center. Soren pulled them both out of the entrance way, hidden behind the wall, just in time before the voices turned the corner.

"I brought you the Secrets," the hollow voice said, now so close that it made the hair on the back of Soren's neck stand up. It felt as though the air were actually chilling around them. Or around it. "Now you must give me payment."

"You're being too hasty!" the woman's voice snarled. "Your 'secrets' have done nothing for me! Until they unveil themselves, you will receive no payment!"

Pepper had been ready to lay right back into Soren, because at the very least, his flailing and retreating was satisfying. She wanted him to hurt for hurting her! But hushed voices, and Soren's hand over her mouth, cut her off, and before she knew it, she was being pulled aside and down another path.

Indignant, she flailed and grabbed at Soren's hand to try to pry it off, wondering what the hell had gotten into him that he thought he could touch her like that--but then she froze, hands still on Soren's. Because it was then that she actually listened to something beyond her own burning anger and focused on those voices, and what they were saying.

That hollow voice sent a cold shiver racing down her spine. Secrets...? What? Payment? And the woman's answering voice...

Pepper didn't recognize the inhuman one, but she definitely recognized the woman. Squirming a little, she pulled Soren's hand down just enough to free her mouth.

"It's Mistress Tareena," she whispered, green eyes wide. That name wouldn't mean anything to Soren, but it meant a lot to Pepper. Mistress Tareena was a terror of a woman. Noble born, intelligent, and magically gifted, she had always acted with obvious bias toward the other noble-born students--and with disdain toward the ones, like Pepper, who had come from low class backgrounds. The ones who were "lucky" to be there, which implied she felt they didn't deserve to be there.

She and Pepper had clashed from day one.

"Always knew there was somethin' shady 'bout that bitch." She hadn't, but now her dislike felt vindicated.

"We had an agreement. It's no fault of mine you cannot use what I gave you," the hollow voice hissed, making Pepper go cold and silent. "Blood for Secrets. That was our agreement. You have your Secrets. Where is my blood?"

"You'll have it soon enough! But I need more time!" came the woman's answering voice. "This is a delicate matter. There are eyes everywhere. I can't just snatch a student straight from the halls!" Pepper went tense and gripped Soren's hand tighter. "There is planning involved and--"

"You had plenty of time to plan," the voice cut in. "And I've had plenty of time to lose my patience. You have your Secrets. Now I'll have my blood."

The scream was gut-wrenching, and then it was wet and gurgling.

Soren might not know anything about this Mistress Tareena, or what a wretch she might be, but he did know that Pepper needed to shut up. He reclasped his hand over her mouth after her last comment and gave her a sharp little nudge to say be quiet! His actions might at first seem stern or controlling, but the truth of it was that Soren was afraid. There was something about that voice - or everything about that voice - that he did not like. It felt like cold fingers reaching down the nape of his neck and instinctively he felt that they wanted nothing to do with it.

Now was not the time for Pepper's big mouth!

Soren nearly didn't breath and his grip on Pepper stayed firm throughout the altercation going on just beyond the hedge. And then it... concluded. With the gurgling choking scream of who he could only assume was Mistress Tareena. Soren's grip on Pepper tightened considerably, not daring to breath or move while the shadow creature was still on the other side of the hedge.

Through the hedge, they could just make out the form of the hollow-voiced creature stoop over what must be Mistress Tareena's body. A sickening, bubbling, suckling sound followed. The creature, Soren realized sickly, must be draining the body of its blood. It felt like it went on for ages, until the creature finally rose again. They could hear what sounded like the shadow creature sniffing the air, its obscured head scanning the area.

And just when Soren was convinced they were undetected, it stopped. Suddenly. And its shadowed head froze on the exact spot through the bushes where Soren and Pepper were.

It had 'seen' them. If such a creature could see.

When Soren covered Pepper's mouth again, Pepper didn't protest.

Because if he hadn't, she probably would have screamed.

Instead, she only let out a frightened, breathy whimper. She had been so angry with Soren, so hurt, hated him, but in that moment she forgot she hated him. She pressed back against him for protection and clutched at his arm, fingers digging in hard, not to pull his hand away, but to have something to cling to. Because...oh Kia...had Tareena just...had it just...

Had it killed her?

Had she really promised a student for him to murder?

And then the sucking, the horrible wet slurping. Pepper's fingers dig in harder, and thankfully she was a habitual nail-biter or she would have gouged his arm. She had whimpered before, but now she found herself holding her breath until she got dizzy--or maybe that was just raw horror--and then--

And then the thing saw them.

Pepper jerked backwards into Soren, stepping on his foot in the process, and squirmed in his tight grip because oh shit, oh shit, it saw them! They had to go NOW or it was gonna suck on them, too! Especially her! She was a student!

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

That was all Soren could think at that moment. At the moment where the creature on the other side of the hedge had seen them. It wasn't until he felt Pepper's nails digging into his arm that Soren realized that maybe he should do something... because in that moment he would love to have a magical hero come save them. He didn't want to have to do it!

Plus... how?

They were in a nook surrounded on three sides by the hedge and the only way out was through the opening that led to the terrifying creature. The only other thing in the little nook was a pedestal topped by a heavy urn. Thinking quickly - or perhaps not thinking half as much as he should have done - Soren let go of Pepper and grabbed the urn. Hefting it up, he threw it with all his strength through the hedge at the creature. As soon as it left his hands - before it even hit - he darted forward and grabbed Pepper. Throwing her half over his shoulder so he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not she was on board, or quick enough, or whatever else might go wrong, Soren ran through the opening in the few moments the creature was distracted. He sprinted as fast as he'd ever ran, taking the first turn in the garden. He heard a rasping shriek behind them, so he just ran down the next turn without looking back. Then the next. And next.

What kind of garden was this?!

Oh well, the more distance, twists, and turns  he could put between them, the better!  But Soren was getting disoriented and Pepper was getting heavy. So he risked stopping to plop her unceremoniously back down onto the ground and looked at her breathlessly. "Where are we?"

Pepper clung to Soren as he carried her through the maze, twisting her body just enough so she could lift up and watch behind them. Surely that thing would be hot on their trail! But with the number of turns Soren was taking, she could see nothing but the hedges behind them, though she could still hear the thing's angry shrieking--and that was even worse.

Because now there was no telling where it was.

Soon, Soren came to a stop and put her down, and Pepper almost crumpled when her shaky legs threatened to buckle. She grabbed onto Soren's arm instead, and didn't even care, at the moment, that she was clinging to him.

"How should I know?" Pepper whispered back, waving her free hand in an all-encompassing gesture. "This place is a maze! And huge! I ain't never gone this deep in, fuck no. I don't like mazes."

Shuddering, she rubbed her arms as though cold. "Ain't ya never heard the story 'bout the monster in the maze? Kia's twat, this is exactly why I don't like mazes! I just never reckoned it was true! Fuck me, I shoulda been payin' attention where we was goin', now we're gonna die! We shouldn't've come in here."

She rubbed at her face, looking around at the space they were in. They'd come to a place where multiple paths converged. Any one could take them deeper in, or lead them to safety. Each one of them looked predatory to Pepper, who hated spaces that had no clear exit, and who was still in the habit of seeking out all the exits of any room she entered.

A maze?

Soren stared at the several diverging paths that led from the point where they stood.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CvWexQ5P48M/VCCPUJ2TVGI/AAAAAAAACwM/_cEb8dWVmzM/w708-h161-no/IMG_0463.JPG)
[photo credit: me, Sanssouci Palace, Germany]

A maze. Of course it was a maze! Each path was identical to the other. And, Soren looked behind himself, identical to the path they had come down. Who knew what led to safety and what led to death and danger. And a maze at a mage college? Soren could only guess what tricks and traps lay within it.

How had he not realized they were in a maze!?

Soren looked, wide-eyed, between the varying paths. The fear of the creature hadn't left him yet. And it was a fear so primal that it didn't even occur to him to be ashamed of it or try to hide it. "Was that thing the 'monster?'" he asked her in a hurried whisper, a bit lamely. Who cared what it was? Except, of course, if it wasn't, it meant there was another monster in here somewhere...

Or maybe that was just a story?

The hair on the back of Soren's neck stood straight up. Another shriek came from the creature. And it was getting closer! So Soren grabbed Pepper's hand and, choosing a path at random, ran!

Before Pepper could answer, Soren grabbed her hand and ran, and she ran with him, eyes wide with terror and scarcely able to breathe past the tightness in her throat. Even though Soren was taller, she kept even with him, even if she had to take several steps to his every one.

"I dunno! I dunno if there's monsters here! Or if that's it!" she panted, her words just above a frantic whisper. "Would they keep things that'd eat students and teachers?!"

They went around another bend, and two more paths opened up. Behind them, another shriek--closer. Whatever it was, it was gaining--or at least gave the illusion it was, because due to the nature of mazes it could be near them, but separated by many walls. Pepper trembled, eyes darting about wildly. "Soren, yer a wolf! Can't ya turn into a wolf and kill it?!"

“I don’t think a wolf could kill that thing,” Soren answered as they ran, keeping a steel grip on Pepper’s hand. “And I’m not that kind of wolf. I can’t make myself change.”

Would a wolf have a better chance facing off against that thing than a man? If it wanted students, maybe there was something specific about ‘people.’ Maybe if Soren could change… What if he had a reason, and he tried really, really hard. Could he do it? But Soren didn’t even know what ‘try’ meant in this case. He had no idea what mechanism turned him from man to wolf.

But, then, he didn’t know how a thought in his head moved his hand, either. He just… moved it. Could he just turn into a wolf?

Another shriek.

There was no telling how close it was to them through the maze, but from a bird’s eye view it must be pretty close. And it sounded like it was directly behind them. Pulling hard on Pepper’s hand, Soren took a sudden, last-minute left turn in the maze. He didn’t know what direction they were going anymore, but maybe if they changed direction, they’d put some more distance between them. Or the creature would follow them the wrong way! Doing his best to keep some sense of their bearing, Soren took as many turns as he could while still putting the most distance possible between them and the last place they’d heard the shrill cry. As they ran, the paths started to become narrower, the trees darker, taller, more gnarled, and dangerously thorny. The thorny trees continued to narrow until Soren finally had to push Pepper in front of him so they could run single file.

Soren didn’t know how long they had been running. But suddenly he realized that he hadn’t heard the creature for awhile. Had they finally put it behind them? Soren felt a rush of relief go through him. Even if it was an uncertain one. They idea that they even might be beyond the creature was enough for him for the moment.

But just as he was thinking that, Soren got tripped up on something and went sprawling forward. He took Pepper out with him and the two tumbled out of the narrow path into a large, stony, circular opening. Soren landed hard on top of Pepper. Once his head stopped spinning, he rolled off of her with a groan, kicking his leg against whatever was still caught around his ankle. That’s when he saw.

It was a ribcage.

That sent a jolt through Soren, and he looked around the opening with a new sense of urgency. The only living thing that grew here was the thorny trees, and even those looked unhealthy and stunted. At first, Soren though there were only two paths to the circular plaza: the small opening they had come through, but that looked like a rat hole compared to the large, stone archway across from it. What needed to get through something that size? But then when he looked back, the small opening they came through was gone! All that was there were the smooth, high rock walls enclosing the circular plaza and the thorny trees that  grew around them. And strewn around the walled in courtyard….

A litter of bones and skulls of the unfortunates who had found this place before them.

"Ow!" Pepper went down hard, tumbling with Soren, and soon came to a stop with him atop her. In any other circumstance, she might have blushed and gotten flustered--hurt, betrayed, and angry with him though she was, he hadn't stopped being attractive--but right then, she just squirmed and shoved at him so she could breathe. She felt sore and bruised from the fall, but was otherwise uninjured, and right then she was so scared she didn't even register the pain.

They couldn't fall! They had to get up and keep moving of that thing would fucking get them!

"Get up!" she panted, but Soren was already rolling over, and as soon as she could move she scrambled up onto her knees.

That was as far as she got before she froze, abruptly seeing what Soren was seeing.

"Ohhhh fuuuuuck," Pepper breathed, staring out at huge space around them--and the bone-littered ground. Bones. Human bones. She could tell at least some of them were human bones because she saw several human skulls scattered about, and she felt a sudden, hysterical laugh bubbling up in her chest. She held it in, just barely, and as she looked around the space and caught sight of the huge archway, a chill raced down her spine like nails dragged down her back. This couldn't be real.

And worse yet, Soren wasn't alone in noticing their entrance had vanished.

"Ohmygods. I was totally only kiddin' about the monster in the maze shit, that's just the shit of stories and legends and whatthefuck?!" She pressed closer to Soren and grabbed onto his arm, clutching it tight enough to leave a bruise. "Ohmygods. I always thought my teachers were jokin' when they threatened to toss us in the maze if we were bad. Oh fuck. We're so completely fucked. Get up! Get up, get up!"

Pushing herself to her feet, Pepper tugged on Soren's arm. "C'mon, we gotta go!"

And no sooner had she said it when the ground began to tremble, slow, spaced apart rumbles--like the steps of some massive creature headed toward them.

"Go where?" was Soren's only response as he stared, wide-eyed at the large arched opening opposite of them. The large, arched opening that was the only way out of the courtyard. Or, Soren suddenly thought, arena. But glancing up at the top of the stone walls revealed no revelers, no onlookers cheering for Soren and Pepper... for their deaths.

Thump. Thump.

The large, arched opening that seemed to be directly in the path of something large and heavy and headed their way! Go where indeed. An icy, airless feeling settled in Soren's stomach. For a moment it felt like time stopped, like he was in a dream, like he was just a figment in someone else's dream. That's how unreal this seemed. Being a figment of a dream seemed more likely! But then another thump rattled the pebbles on the ground around him and Soren snapped back to the present. Back to whatever 'reality' this was.

Fucking mage college!

He kicked the rib cage off his ankle and scrambled to his feet, grabbing Pepper and shoving her roughly behind him. Just in time for the creature's arrival.

The first thing Soren could think was that 'monster' was an understatement. The thing was a strange amalgamation of creatures: the hulking, humped body of a great bear; a sharp face with tattered ears and huge eyes that narrowed into a cruel, hawkish beak; scaled, raccoon-like hands with sharp, dangerous-looking claws; and a long, heavy tail like a lizard or an alligator. But the monster was easily twice the size of any of those creatures. It only just fit through the opening.

Soren backed away from it, pushing Pepper behind him as it went. Its yellow eyes scanned the stone courtyard, the nostrils just above its peak sniffing the air. Then it locked onto them.

Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Soren thought it as hard as he could. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf.

Thump!

The great beast took a slow, heavy, deliberate step towards them.

Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf.

Soren winced as the creature let out a loud, high-pitched cry. Nothing was happening. Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. You useless idiot, turn into a wolf! He hadn't realized that he'd been backing slowly away from the creature this whole time until he bumped into Pepper. He must have pushed her right into the stone wall.

"This would be a great time for a magic trick, Pepper."

Pepper had no good suggestions for where to go, only that they needed to get out of here! Somehow! She didn't care how, or about the logistics, they just did! But like Soren, she saw there was nowhere to go.

Except through the archway.

The archway, which was in the direction of that ominous, rhythmic thumping.

The archway, which was soon filled with a hulking beast.

It was like something straight out of a nightmare, only much, much worse, because this was real, and if they died here they wouldn't be snapping back awake. The only thing that would be snapping were their bones.

She felt a scream bubbling up in her throat, but clamped her teeth down and held it in, because it might have bad vision, it might not see them yet--and then that hope died when its bright eyes locked on them, and it let out that piercing, ear-splitting cry. It saw them, it saw them, it saw them, now it was gonna kill them, oh gods, oh--and there was the wall. Pepper's back hit it as Soren backed her up, and there was nowhere else to go. End of the line, literally!

"Magic tricks? Right, sure thing! Think he likes sleight of hand?!" she said, her voice high with fear. She clung to Soren's shirt, knuckles white from the force of her grip. "Oh! Ya mean somethin' actually fuckin' useful?! Well! Yer in luck, 'cause it looks like we both can't do jack squat when we actually need to!"

Just days ago, she'd turned a library to stone. An entire library, without even trying, when only trying to practice a different, minor spell that somehow went haywire. She hadn't known how to undo it, though, or even how she'd done it. It had just happened. Which was so not useful here! Everyone was always telling her she was full of potential and had power inside her and blah blah blah, but fat lot of good it was going to do now.

She tried anyway, because what else was there to do? Maybe she could do it. Maybe that was the trick, trying not to do it, trying to do something else and just letting it happen? She closed her eyes tight, blocking out the image of that beast slowly advancing, knowing it had them pinned and knowing it could take its time and savor the kill--ack, no, stop thinking about that! Trying to calm her pounding heart, she reached for her power, wherever it was, and tried.

Do something, do something, c'mon, work, dammit! Please, please work, please do something!

She reached for the earth, because she'd turned a library to stone, so maybe she could do something like that again! Maybe she could turn the beast to stone! Or like...like...cause a rocky avalanche! there was a lot of stone around them, maybe she could make the walls crumble! Maybe she could make an earthquake! Maybe earth was her deal! Maybe--

She felt it then, that sudden rush of power and warmth and light she always felt when she was doing something, and her heart raced anew, this time with excitement, because something was happening and maybe, just maybe, it would be the thing that saved their lives. Pepper opened her eyes.

A single flower broke through the surface of the bone-littered ground, right between the beast and the trapped Soren and Pepper, and tilted its bright red petals to the sky.

Pepper let out an anguished moan. "REALLY?!"

Soren stared at the little red flower that sprang up in the middle of the courtyard. In disbelief. Well, he found himself thinking, it was a very pretty flower. He'd have to tell Pepper that if they got out of this. He wasn't sure why he was thinking that... If they got out of this! Soren was snapped back to the very real reality when Pepper cried out, "Really!?" The beast had been temporarily distracted by the flower as well, but Pepper's voice rang through the courtyard and its head snapped back up at them. Oh shit.

Turn into a wolf. Turn into a wolf. Why couldn't he do it? Turn into a wolf! Turn. into. a wolf!

The beast was still for one moment, its yellow eyes focusing on them, its nostrils flaring. That's when Soren realized that if they died, if Pepper died, it would be his fault. She wouldn't be in this maze at all if he hadn't come. If he hadn't stayed in hopes of seeing her. Before he could reflect on this for too long, though, the beast reared and - with a screech - charged towards them.

Turn. Into. A Wo - !!!

In the same moment, the beast reached them, snapping its beach at them. And in that moment, Soren the man was replaced by Soren the wolf. He didn't have time to wonder if he had done it himself, or if it was just lucky timing. Without thinking, the wolf left at the beast, snapping and growling. The beast reared then lunged at the wolf. But Soren was quicker. Biting and lunging back at the beast, Soren moved to the side so that the beast would follow him as he bit its legs and neck. Away from Pepper. And away from the archway that was now the only escape.

And just in case she needed any convincing - which probably she wouldn't - Soren risked half a moment to turn and growl fiercely at Pepper. The message was clear: Get out of here! If Soren managed to escape after her, at least as a wolf he'd be able to track her.

A flower! A fucking flower! Of all things, why a flower! Tears of frustration welled in her eyes because oh fuck, oh no, she couldn't believe they were going to die because she'd summoned a flower when a beast was charging at them, ready to tear out their spines. She wanted to apologize to Soren for failing, but that would have taken precious seconds she needed to refocus and try again, because the beast was coming at them fast and maybe, just maybe, the gods would grant them a miracle.

The miracle didn't come to her in a rush of heat and magic, but rather it came when Soren changed. Right when the beast was on them, so close she could practically feel its teeth closing on her flesh--it didn't happen. No pain, no ripping and rending, but there was a lot of snarling and she cracked her eyes open and lowered her arms from around her head she gasped, because Soren was gone, and instead there was a wolf there, fighting with the beast.

Thanks, Kia, you're finally good for something!

With a panicked look his way, Pepper didn't need any encouragement to bolt.

She ran, fast as she could in her awkward robes, for the archway while the beast was distracted with the wolf, stumbling over bones and tattered clothing, the only remnants of the creature's victims. She practically threw herself through the archway, and was ready to go sprinting through the maze that opened up in front of her, but she froze and turned around.

Soren was still in there, still fighting with the creature.

And though he was putting up a good fight, he was still smaller than the massive thing.

All it would take was one swipe of its powerful paw.

Standing in the archway, bouncing anxiously from foot to foot, she cupped her hands around her mouth. "Soren! C'mon! Run!"

Shouting was a mistake.

Soren and the beast were on the opposite side now as Pepper and the archway, but when Pepper called out to Soren, it turned its ugly, beaked head in her direction. Its nostrils flared, and it turned its lumbering body back towards the archway. The wolf had just enough time to bound out in front of it before it charged. But the wolf was nimbler and faster, skidding to face the beast halfway across the square.

Who knew how much of the maze had large enough passages for the beast to move through. He wanted Pepper out of them and into something narrow, somewhere the beast couldn't follow, before he turned and ran from the courtyard. The beast reared up on its hind legs when it got to the snarling wolf blocking its path, landing heavily on its clawed hands, nearly crushing Soren. The wolf bit into the beast's leg, latching on until it shook him off, sending him skittering across the courtyard.

Once he was on his paws, the wolf spared only half a moment to turn his back to the beast and snarl viciously at Pepper, looking every bit the wild animal. But he didn't have time to force her out before the beast swiped its heavy paw under his exposed back legs, sending the wolf skittering again across the courtyard. The beast turned to the wolf, rounding on its prey.

This was Pepper's window to get the hell away.

Pepper should have run. She knew she should run, knew that's what Soren was trying to tell her (there was no mistaking what that vicious snarl meant), but she froze, hand against the wall, watching in transfixed horror.

Just run, she told herself. You don't owe him shit! He sold you off like your life was nothing, remember? Just go! If anything, this makes us square!

But she couldn't. She couldn't leave. She was an idiot, she was going to regret this, she just knew it, but she stayed where she was and desperately reached deep, reached for a magic better than...well...a flower, something, anything that would make that beast stop. As hurt and angry as she was with him, she still remembered how it had been before everything had gone bad.

And part of her desperately wanted to believe that Soren still existed.

Though Soren might not exist at all very soon.

C'mon, Pepper, make it stop! Do something, stop it, stop it, STOP IT! Stupid magic, work, dammit!

Soren was down again, and this time the beast would not be distracted. Soren was small, but he was fast and vicious and had proven himself an annoyance that needed to be dealt with now. It bounded to Soren and before he could get back up, one of its hand-like paws came down onto him hard, pressing him onto his side and pinning him to the ground. It roared, spraying thick strands of saliva, and raised its other paw, ready to strike the wolf dead.

"Soren!"

And that was when the flower grew.

Leafy vines burst from the ground and wrapped themselves around the beast's legs and neck, stilling its strike--not because they were even strong enough to restrain it, but because they took the thing off guard. The creature snarled and shook its head, breaking the vines, but more replaced the ones that broke, and soon the beast was distracted with trying to shake the annoying things off off as they wrapped around its muzzle and feet, roaring its rage.

Pepper had thrown away her window to escape.

Hopefully Soren wouldn't throw away his.

What was she doing? Why wasn't she running?!

Soren didn't have long to wonder just about Pepper, though. The wolf had picked himself half way up on his paws when the beast struck. This time too fast for the wolf. The force of the blow hit him hard, knocking the wind out of him. The beast's great claws pressed hard down on the wolf's rib cage. Soren was sure that he was going to be crushed right here. Right now.

The wolf's yellow eyes glanced up. To Pepper. Who was still standing there.

Good to know, he thought as he felt the distinct snap! of one of his ribs, that his death would achieve nothing.

The great creature pulled its head back, smattering Soren with saliva. The wolf braced himself, eyes shut, for his last moments. But they didn't come. He opened his golden eyes to see the vines quickly growing around the beast. It started snapping at them, making hissing sounds of annoyance. And when that didn't stop them, it raised its clawed hand from crushing Soren to swiping at the rapidly growing flowering vines.

Soren would not miss his window. The wolf scrambled to its paws as soon as the pressure was released and ran, limping a little and wheezing a bit, over to Pepper. Once he reached the girl, the wolf nipped her leg. Not hard enough to break the skin, but hard. He wanted her out of there. Then he wheeled around, hackles raised, to ensure that the beast wasn't right behind them.

It wasn't. Yet. The beast was still fighting with the vines, but seeing its prey escaping it, it began tearing through the vines back towards the stone entrance. But Soren wouldn't move until Pepper did.

Get up, Soren! Get up! Pepper had no time to marvel at what she'd done, and no time to figure out how she'd managed it, because all her energy was on willing Soren to get up an run! For one sickening moment, she thought maybe he was hurt too bad, that maybe he couldn't run--but then he got up.

He was obviously hurt, but he was alive, and well enough to nip her, hard enough that she yelped.

And this time, Pepper listened.

Turning away from the creature, she ran, looking behind her to see that Soren was following--and feeling her heart sink when she saw that the beast was breaking free and struggling toward them, roaring its rage.

"Aw, fuck me!" she cried, breathless, her throat tight with anxiety. Was it seriously going to chase them?! Gods! Were they like the only meal this thing had any chance of getting in the last few months or something?! She took a sharp turn to the left, had a brief thought of, Oh man, I hope we don't go running smack into that other thing!, and suddenly wanted to laugh hysterically at the idea.

Which, she actually started to do as she ran.

The wolf hesitated only half a second after Pepper took off to run after her. The beast was slowed down by the vines at first, but with Pepper fleeing, the magic was wearing off and it picked up speed, crashing through the wide archway and thundering after them.

Soren lagged behind Pepper a little. The leg the beast had swept out from underneath him just wasn't working as fast as the rest of them. But when he spotted a small stone archway to the left, he doubled his speed to catch up with Pepper. The archway was hardly big enough for either of them and definitely too small for the beast! So he sprinted forward, shepherding Pepper through the archway.

Once they were both through, they could hear the crashing of the beast as it tried to turn sharply to follow them. Soren made it all the way through just in time to avoid the snapping of its beak-like mouth. But that was all that fit through the archway. The beast struggled on the other side, but failed to get through.

The wolf stared at it, aching ribs heaving as he panted hard, for a moment before turning, pushing at Pepper with his muzzle. No point to stick around for it to get back up!

Only question... how should they get out of here? And without running into the other monster...

Pepper was doing more running than she'd done since she'd been snatched off the streets and taken to the mage college! And she was definitely feeling it as she huffed and puffed, driven on by Soren and by fear and desperation. She had to clutch at her side as they went, having gotten a stitch in it, and started to lag back with Soren.

Note to self, get out and run more!

Though she'd thought those days were behind her! Thanks, Soren!

Finally, though, she had to stop, and she slowed down and leaned against one of the walls, panting heavily and holding at her side. "I feel," she said between gasps, "that we're gonna end up runnin' 'round like headless chickens with no rhyme or reason. And I sure's fuck don't wanna run into that other guy. Yer a wolf now, Soren! Can ya like...use yer doggy senses and smell yer way out?"

She shot nervous glances back the way they came, because she could still hear the beast somewhere back there--and she hoped the stone walls could hold it.

Doggy senses! The wolf gave a growl at that remark. But it was half-hearted. Being told he had 'doggy senses' was really the least of Soren's troubles at the moment. Perhaps he did have doggy senses, truth be told, but he'd never been to Arca before, much less the mage college or this maze. Just what was he supposed to follow.

Well...

The wolf paused, sniffing the air. The maze had the heavy, plant-laden scent of a garden. But a city, a city smelled very different indeed. So he kept his nose on the wind and kept them moving through the maze at a fast, shuffling walk-run. Between Pepper's wheezing and his limping, they weren't likely to go much faster. And it was better to reserve their energy in case they had another run in. So he move them through the maze, making turns that he hoped weren't wrong. Getting further from one beast, and he hoped very much, not nearer to the other!

[[OOC: Feel free to have them run into another danger, or some nice/rejuvenating bit of garden, or back out of the maze.... as you like!]]

The maze, as it turned out, was fucking big.

They must have gone in awfully deep, because finding their way out wasn't an easy process, and even with Soren's nose pointing him toward the city-smell, well...maze's weren't a straight path through, but a winding one. And this was a mage college maze! Those probably had a few extra tricks up their sleeve.

It wasn't long before Pepper, who was not only scared at this point, but also tired and thirsty and frustrated, let out a low groan and raked her hands through her curly hair.

"I feel like we've come this way before," she said, and leaned against the wall again--this time not in exhaustion, but in defeat. This wasn't working. They needed to come up with a plan or something! Maybe start marking where they'd been. "I could swear I've seen that rock bef--AH!"

A stone in the wall suddenly sank in, and then the wall rotated and Pepper went tumbling into the room it opened.

Which, when she scrambled up onto her hands and knees...

Turned out to be a rather whimsical garden (http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/32719-Beautiful-Garden-Pond.jpg).

She stared at the swirling paths ahead of her that lead over the pond, and then looked back toward Soren.

This...didn't look like the sort of place that had anything that wanted to kill them...

Soren had to hurry behind Pepper to make sure she didn’t disappear behind the sinking wall without him! The wolf scurried beside the girl, stumbling into the strange, lush garden. For several seconds, the wolf simply stared with its large, golden eyes. There was something otherwordly about this place. It seemed, maybe, too nice.

The wolf startled as the stone wall that had rotated to let them in, swung closed again with a grating thunk. The way, now, was blocked. Well, it seemed this is where they were for now. The wolf looked curiously across the large expanse of water, cut with swirling and curling grass paths. On the other side, surely, there would be another way out.

Cautiously, he put one paw down on the winding grass path through the water. The way was dotted with little islands of serenity… bright blooming flowers and lush berries and mossy embankments that were begging to be napped on. And the further Soren padded across the path, the more drawn to them he felt. A sleepy peacefulness was creeping over him.

They were alone in here, surely? Would it be so bad to just lie down? Just for a minute. Just to catch their breath after the race from the beast. Beasts! Sure it was safe here.

Or just eat one berry?

"It's so nice in here," Pepper remarked as she followed after Soren, the terror of before...vanishing.  For the first time since she'd entered this labyrinth, she actually felt safe. Secure. Surely this had to be some sort of sanctuary, a paradise within a twisted garden.

As long as they were here, they were safe.

Stretching as she walked, she let out a low yawn and rubbed at her eyes. All that running around had really taken it out of her--and gods, seeing all that water around here, and those plump berries, it reminded her of just how thirsty she was. She stared at the berries as they drew closer to the little island they were on, her dry mouth starting to water at the thought.

She could really, really go for some of those.

She gave a sleepy glance around the place, just a quick, cursory look, before she decided they were safe. "I dunno about you, Soren," she said as she started to walk out onto the narrow path leading to the little island, "but I could use a little breather. Whatcha say we take a break, yeah?"

Maybe a nap, too, she thought as she settled down on her knees by the little berry plant.

Just a quick one couldn't hurt.

The longer they spent in the charming, whimsical garden, the more Soren felt his spirits buoyed and soon he was feeling relaxed, happy, and oddly light. What had then been doing all that running for, anyway?

So when Pepper stopped and changed direction from the main path to one of the spiraling little paths leading to a lush, green, berry-laden island, the wolf only stopped and blinked at her with sleepy, golden eyes.

She was right. Why not rest? They were tired, and it was safe in here. This must be the safest place in the world, he found himself thinking. He followed Pepper onto the little island, stopping to lap some of the clear, cool water, and rolled over in the dense, dewy grass.

What had they been so upset about earlier? He had the vaguest feeling that they had been arguing. But that didn't make sense. Who could argue when there was a place like this.

Pepper couldn't help but giggle as Soren rolled over in the grass like a dog and, following impulse, she reached out and gave his furry belly a good scratch. Their fight was a distant thing, so far from her mind it may as well have happened to someone else, and in the moment she forgot how strange it was to be stroking his belly!

Considering, you know, he was generally a man, and he was still the same person, man or wolf.

With a smile his way, she finally turned away and looked back to the plant, and the plump berries weighing it down, and began to pluck them until she had a good handful. She laid a little pile out for Soren, and then popped the remainder in her mouth and sighed with pleasure as the rich, sweet juice filled her mouth in an explosion of flavor. It was the best thing she'd tasted, ever, wetting her dry mouth and making her feel good and light all over

She knew she had to have more.

"Gods, these are good," Pepper said, her voice softer, sleepier, and her limbs feeling heavier despite the lightness in her head. But she couldn't be bothered to worry. It was so nice here, so peaceful.

Everything would be okay.

"Ya gotta try 'em, Soren."

But she had only plucked a couple more before the heavy sleepiness really took hold, and moments later she had slumped over onto her side in the grass, the berries rolling from her hand.

And in the distance, a horrible screech could be heard.

Pepper got just the right spot on his tummy, sending his back foot scratching at the air like crazy. In another mood, he would be deathly embarrassed by this. But now... why be embarrassed by anything? Obviously it didn't matter. Obviously he should have some of those berries!

The smallest of voices at the back of his head told the wolf, 'Don't eat those berries. You have to get out of this garden!' But Pepper's voice was so much more real and immediate.

"Ya gotta try 'em, Soren."

Well, who was he to argue? So the wolf rolled over back onto his belly, nosing at the berries for half a moment before eating them all in a few bites. They were the best. berries. ever. Maybe that should have served as a warning, but instead it only served to make Soren very, very, very sleepy. He rolled over again, resting his wolfy head on Pepper's stomach. He thought he might have heard a sound, far, far off, but he couldn't quite focus on it as he drifted off into a deep, lupine sleep.

During that sleep, however, he reverted to Soren the Man. But he didn't wake for the transition.


...And in the distance, a young couple who had sneaked into the mage to get in some snogging time met a grisly, unexpected end...

Pepper didn't know how long she slept. She wasn't even aware that she'd slept at all, until she was cracking her eyes open against the light of the bright, beautiful day. She groaned, draping an arm over her eyes to block it out and wave away a glittering butterfly that had been fluttering over her. Everything felt weird; her head felt too full and fuzzy, like it had been stuffed full of wool. Grass scratched at her other arm and poked through her robes, and there was a weird weight on her belly.

And a strange, tingling ache in her other arm.

Opening her eyes again and  lifting her head, the first thing she saw was...

A man.

Naked.

Laying on her.

Her face flushed red and she let out a gasp and a jolt before she realized it was just Soren, which...was better, but no less awkward, all things considered! She may have been angry with him (wow, why did it feel weird that she remembered that, as though she could forget?), but that didn't mean those feelings just magically went away--or that she was suddenly blind to the fact that, you know.

He had a cute ass.

"Soren!" she hissed, and started to reach around to shove at him, but her arm didn't work; it felt heavy and tingly, like it was asleep, and didn't want to move. So she used her other arm and gave him a push, and a few butterflies that had lighted on him scattered and hovered over him instead. "Soren, wake up!"

They must have gotten side-tracked, but they needed to get out of here! There was still a monster--two!--that could find them at any moment. The place was gorgeous, sure, but it wasn't safe! Waving away a few more butterflies, she looked at her arm to try to focus on getting it to work again--

And saw that a butterfly was resting on her hand, its wings shining and colorful, reflecting the spectrum. She tried to flick it off, but she couldn't feel her hand, and her fingers only twitched. "Ugh. What the fuck did I...?"

She trailed off, eyes widening. Because it was then, as she watched the pretty creature, that she saw what it was actually doing.

Its tongue was uncurled.

And was piercing her skin, the area around it red and irritated, and its beautiful coloration gradually began to grow a darker shade of red.

It was...drinking from her?

"Shit!" She slapped at it with her other hand, leaving behind a bead of blood, and it fluttered away, but there were more butterflies, more on Soren, more hovering around her, and it seemed their numbers were only growing as they came from gods knew where.

"Soren!" she shouted, and punched him in the shoulder, hard.

Soren was just so content.

When was the last time he'd slept so well? So pleasantly? Stretched out, the sun on his skin, his head resting on the warm stomach of a girl. The comforting rhythms of her breathing and her heart beat, the smell of the flowers wafting in the breeze.

Where he really was, who he was really with, and the very real dangers that still faced them were the last thing on his mind as he peacefully drifted through half-sleep. Except, something kept bothering him. He swatted sleepily at something that was pinching his arm and the pain went away. But then it was getting his leg. His chest. His...

Before Soren could swat anywhere else, he got a firm punch to the shoulder and jolted awake.

"Hey!" he blurted in alarm as he sat bolt upright. "What's-?!"

But then he saw Pepper. And then he saw the butterflies.

Butterflies?

Soren winced as another one of the beautiful, fluttering insects drove its tongue into his skin and swatted it hard, resulting in a smattering of blood and torn pieces of wing against his arm. Well, at least he'd killed it. But the act of aggression only sparked a reaction in kind from the butterflies! Suddenly, they went from feeding on Soren and Pepper at their leisure, to swarming them!

"What? Fuck!" Soren jumped to his feet, only then remembering the pain in his ankle and he stumbled across the beautiful garden straight into the mirrored waters. He landed with a loud splash, sending lillypads bobbing in his wake. Under other circumstances, it'd look quite funny! The butterflies swarmed around his head, but wouldn't go into the water. Well, he figured, at least it minimized what he had to protect!

"Pepper!" he called to her. "Get in the water!" Then he took a deep breath and plunged down again, getting some respite from the vile butterflies!

"W-what?! But I can't--!"

But the butterflies were really attacking her now, despite Pepper's efforts to keep them the hell away, and though she swatted away some, there were always far more ready to replace them--and the aggression only seemed to make them angrier. How were there so many? Were they multiplying?!

There was nothing for it. She had to jump in the water and just...

Well, hope she floated. Either that or get sucked dry for sure!

With a cry, hoping the water wasn't that deep, Pepper jumped in feet first and came back up sputtering when water shot up her nose, but the butterflies were waiting for her--and the water, though not deep for someone like Soren, was deep enough that when she touched the bottom, it went at least a foot over her head. She had to keep pushing up for air, and when her face broke the surface, the butterflies were there and waiting.

Soren gasped as he bobbed above the water to fill his lungs with air, then plunged below again. He saw, though, how Pepper was struggling and - without really thinking about it - grabbed her firmly around the waist to hold her up. His grip was slack enough that she could bob up for air, but strong enough that she wouldn't sink to the bottom. He didn't really think about the fact that he was, of course, naked.

Desperate to get more air without being bitten to death by the vampiric butterflies, Soren grabbed a large lily pad and plopped it loudly down on top of Pepper's head. Then he did the same for himself. It didn't provide 100% protection, but it mitigated the butterflies' attacks a little.

"Pepper," Soren spurted as he gasped for air, "how about some more magic? Maybe?"

Right then, Pepper didn't care that Soren was naked! She just cared that she was no longer semi-drowning! And when he finally put those lily pads atop their heads, it gave them a precious moment of sweet relief. She gasped for air and coughed out water, clutching onto him, and though a few of the awful insects slipped beneath the cover and managed to bite her face, it was something! She swatted at the creatures and dipped beneath the water when a few landed on her head, then came back up with a gulping gasp.

Just in time to hear Soren ask about magic.

Oh, right!

Pepper had been too panicked about drowning and rabid blood-sucking butterflies to think about that! Now she felt just a little stupid for forgetting. Clinging to Soren's arms, she nodded. "I'll try!" she said.

Maybe she could petrify the bugs as she had the library?

Worth a shot!

She focused again on the power she felt buzzing inside her, that strange power that felt so close yet inaccessible, and imagined with all her might what she wanted to happen. Turn to stone, turn to stone, turn to stone! All of you, turn to stone!

One of the awful things landed on Soren's ear, and she slapped at it without thinking. Turn to stone!

And it did.

And all around them, distinct plops filled the air as hundreds of butterflies fell into the water and sank like the stones they were.

Pepper was so delighted she didn't notice that they weren't the only turned turned stony.

So was Soren's ear.

Soren let out an audible sigh of relief when the damned butterflies finally stopped sucking their blood and fell like stones into the pond. Thankfully they were already under the lillypads, though! Getting one of those in the eye, he thought, sure would be a crappy addition to this maze of joys! In fact, he was so overcome with relief that he didn't even notice the one little thing that was off.

Instead, he hauled Pepper out of the water, pushing her up onto the plush grassy banks before clambering - ahem, naked - onto the grass himself.

"That," he declared with genuine and obvious relief, "was a good trick, Pepper!"

He picked up one of the stone butterflies, snarled at it (a bit wolfishly, if truth be told!) and flicked it disdainfully into the water. It was only then that he realized... Soren gave a dog-like shake of his head. Then, when that didn't dislodge the 'butterfly' he thought was stuck to his ear, he did it again.

"Gah, I think I have one stuck to my ear," he complained, and finally, he tried to swat the thing off. But he only yelped. "Ow!" Because it turned out that stone he tried to flick off was still very much attached to him. Because it was...

Soren's hand went up to his ear and he looked at Pepper in stunned disbelief. "Pepper, did you...?"

And for a moment, he forgot about what he had done to her. And how minor this was in comparison. All he could think of was what a stone ear would do to his dashing good looks!

[[Finally, a reply! Sorry for the long-long delay!]]

[No worries! <3333]

Pepper felt exhausted by the time Soren hauled her out of the water and onto the bank, and it took all of her remaining energy to stay seated upright instead of flopping over. She'd done two crazy "magic tricks" today so far--and that took a lot out of her, enough that aside from the shakiness in her limbs and heaviness of her muscles, she was beginning to feel a dull ache growing behind her eyes.

But once Soren pulled himself out, erm...

It was kind of easy to ignore the discomfort.

Because without a bunch of bloodsuckers attacking them, she could finally appreciate the fact that he was naked.

Pepper stared. Openly and unabashedly. She'd seen him naked before, of course, and she'd appreciated the sight then as well, but there was something about the addition of wet, glistening skin that made things all the more--AGH, STOP!

She jerked her eyes away. She was angry with him! He'd betrayed her and sold her and brought her into this damned maze! His pretty skin and pretty muscles and pretty face and eyes and...other stuff...wasn't going to change that! She glowered to herself and started to wring out her hair and clothes, pointedly not looking at him even though she really wanted to, even though some part of her wanted to make the argument that he had come back to check on her, that he had fought the beast and gotten really hurt to give her time to run...

And she was carrying on quite the internal argument when Soren started to complain about butterflies stuck to him. She cut a look his way, eyebrow arched--and then blanched.

She saw what the issue was a second before the truth hit her.

"...Oops."

Soren pawed at his ear a moment longer, his face a mask of disbelief. But, but, it was stone! His ear was stone! He had to stop and remind himself that his ear was not the most important thing right now. There were multiple monsters in here, possibly still looking for them!

It was then that he turned to Pepper to say as much when he realized what she was looking at. "Hey!" he complained, awkwardly trying to cross his legs but to little success. He even blushed. When did he become so awkward? Had he only been charming when he was pulling the wool over her eyes?

"Come on," he said in a normal voice again, "let's get out of here."

Soren pulled himself to his feet, but immediately regretted it. Swearing, he fell back to the ground. No longer hidden by fur, his leg looked bruised and swollen and... bad.

It was much easier to limp along with one bum leg when you had three good ones. One good one was trickier.

Pepper winced when he fell, too slow to help stop the fall, but she at least stepped closer and offered her hand out to help him back up. He didn't look good. When she was focusing on things other than his nudity, she could see that. He'd wounded himself for her sake, to buy her time--and gods, but had he been prepared to sacrifice himself for her, too? He couldn't have won against that beast.

Still, she had to avert her eyes off to the side to resist the urge to look at the rest of him. Wasn't her fault! He was just there! It was hard not to notice things!

"Er...I'm sorry," she mumbled awkwardly. "'Bout your ear. And, uh, your leg. There's healers at the college, though, so..."

Maybe she shouldn't be offering him help, after what he'd done to her. After what had almost happened to her. She wanted to hate him. She should hate him.

So why the fuck couldn't she?

"Don't worry about the ear," Soren told her between gritted teeth. "Doesn't seem like anyone'll notice until I get some clothes again anyway."

The joke was mostly just a means to distract him from the real problem. Soren hadn't accepted her help up yet. He wasn't sure he could stomach it yet. The possibility that the leg simply wouldn't support him with just one good leg wasn't something he wanted to confirm.

"Pepper," he finally said carefully, "I think you should go ahead of me. I'd just slow you down and, well, if anything is still looking for us, it'll be harder for it to follow two trails."

What would happen if it found either of them alone, though, wasn't something Soren wanted to think about. But Pepper had already shown that she had trouble running ahead when there was danger. She would, he was fairly certain, fair better without him.

Why couldn't he have just come, paid the university, then left? What was he thinking, staying to see her? This was, like everything, all his fault.

"What?" Pepper glowered at him as his meaning sank in. She huffed and put her hands on her hips, puffing herself up in an effort to look bigger and more foreboding. "Are ya fuckin' bonkers? I thought it's your leg's hurt, not your head! Lookit ya. Ya can't even stand."

Her eyes narrowed, her lips going tight and thin. "I ain't in the habit of throwin' my friends to the wolves."

Soren visibly winced at Pepper's last words. Well, he supposed he deserved that. But Soren wasn't going to back down on this one. He looked at her levelly, frowning.

"Pepper," he said firmly, darkly, and a little sadly, "I'm not your friend."

As if she should need any reminder. Whether or not he wanted to be, Soren certainly was not. Being a friend was something you did, not just something you called yourself. And it was certainly not something Soren had done for Pepper.

"Look," he continued, tone a bit more conciliatory, "I'd be beast-food for now if it weren't for you. You don't owe me anything more. You didn't even really owe me that. Okay? Just get out of here. I'll wait; once I'm a wolf again, I'll be able to get out, too." Hopefully. "Just... just go, Pepper."

Pepper blinked, but it was to blink back the tingling burn that warned of tears. Of course he wasn't her friend. Didn't mean the reminder didn't sting, or that some deep, broken part of her hadn't been hoping that maybe...

Maybe what? That he was just really sorry? As though that could make up for what he'd done? Selling her like meat to be bought, sold, beaten, raped? She'd been lucky and had escaped relatively unscathed through the miracle of his sister, but it had still been a nightmare, and it still haunted her dreams both waking and asleep.

What the fuck was wrong with her, that she wanted so badly to unearth some glaring evidence that he was really a good person, something so good it would balance out the betrayal?

She wiped at her eyes, confused and scared and angry all over again. "Fuck," she said thickly, shaking her head and taking a step away from him. "Whatever. Fine. You're right. Not like I fuckin' gave a shit, anyway."

And she turned her back to him and took off at a run, fast before he could see her tears.

Fuck. Soren hadn't wanted to see Pepper blink back tears. He hadn't wanted to hear that catch in her throat. He hadn't, of course, wanted to hurt her - more - at all. But it had done the trick; Pepper left. Leaving Soren with an even heavier feeling of guilt and disgust with himself. But she was gone. Now he'd just pray she got out safely. She'd at least have a better chance of it on her own... right?

Once she'd disappeared, Soren collapsed against the dewy grass, cursing as a stone butterfly jammed into his back. Now there was nothing to do... but wait. The rest of the day passed painfully slow, with nothing to focus on but his regrets and the pain in his leg. His life was such a mess. He was such a fucking mess. Bringing down anyone who touched him. What a schmuck.

It was nearly nightfall before - finally - his wish to turn into a wolf was granted. He was lucky, he knew; it could have taken days or even a week. Now that he had three good legs, Soren was able to slowly pull himself up to his paws and limp out of the beautiful, but deadly, garden. Dusk gave the maze an even spookier air, but by some miracle he found his way out. By then, the first evening stars were shining above in the sky and all that was left of the day was a purple glow on the horizon. All the better for Soren, who could slip through the city unnoticed as a wolf much easier under the shroud of night. Carefully, he slunk out of the university. But how could he really go? Without knowing what happened to Pepper? He knew he should get out of the city - and as soon as possible - but he just needed to see that she'd made it out. He'd just stay one more day. Hide in the bushes or something. Nevermind that wanting to see her was what had gotten them in all this trouble in the first place. So, changing his mind, the wolf turned in the street to head back to the university. It was a mistake.

In the forest, being injured was dangerous; it left one vulnerable to all sorts of terrifying predators. But in the city, there was an entirely different sort of predator. Soren had just made it back to the entrance to the university when he was spotted by a group of street urchins, mostly boys aged maybe 8 to 12. They spotted him and, at the same time, spotted a game. The first stone hit him hard on the head. He hadn't seen it coming. The next in the ribs. The wolf sputtered, stopped, tried to scurry away, but even if he moved better on his paws than on his feet, he still wasn't fast. It wasn't long before the children had him cornered in a little nook in the university wall. The wolf snarled and snapped, but he couldn't bite them - they were children! And, anyway, none of them got close enough. In addition to the stones, a few of the braver, older boys, would work in a team to distract him on one end while they other boy tied a stick or a bottle ot his tail by some string. It was all deeply humiliating, not to mention painful, like one big insult on top of the injury he'd already sustained. The wolf cowered in the corner, growling, but with his tail and ears down. He was just starting to wonder if the children were going to stone him to death when someone came, and the children scattered...

---

The next morning, outside of class, Arianne was holding court. A group of five or six clustered around her. "...yeah, it was terrible," she was saying to her rapt audience, "what those children were doing. It's like, they were the animals, you know?"

Everyone nodded. Oh, they knew.

"I couldn't believe it. I think they even broke its leg! This ruthless bunch of urchins, probably old friends of Pepper's," she added loudly when she saw Pepper arrive for class. The audience all looked and glared at Pepper as though she had been right there with the other urchins, the villains of Arianne's story. Well, they were her people. "And this wolf, oh my goddess, you can just tell it must be a familiar or something. You can see it in its eyes. So intelligent, so wise."

One of the girl's mouthed a 'wow.'

"I'm just so glad I was there to chase off those awful children. Who knows what they would have done to this beautiful creature." That was, of course, not entirely true. It was the university grounds keeper who'd chased off the urchins. But Arianne, returning from an opulent dinner with her father, had been there when it happened. And she was the one who whisked the wolf away! The grounds keeper was just going to let it go, even though it was clearly injured. It was Arianne who took the wolf back to her room, gave it food and water, and it was Arianne who was going to heal it! It was a great way to feel good about herself - she was, obviously, a selfless hero - but also to have a familiar! Not many mages had them, and it was very impressive. A great accessory.

"Wow, Arianne, you're so brave," one of the boys praised her.

"No no," she said with fake modesty, "it's what any civilized person would have done." Here again, she shot a meaningful look at Pepper, which was mirrored by her friends. "And the wolf, oh my goddess, it's so gentle. Like a lamb. I just, I feel a real connection with it. You know? Like I was meant to find it there."

Pepper didn't sleep well that night. She wasn't sure she got any sleep at all, and she hardly ate, either. Worry ate away at her, gnawing at her gut and twisting up her insides, and with that worry came anger that she was worried! He'd sold her! She shouldn't care what happened to him! He'd told her to leave, so she'd left, and that situation was out of her hands! Besides, she was sure he'd be fine, or she would have surely heard something to the contrary. Like maybe something about several bodies being found...?

Her night was fitful and restless as the horrors kept playing out in her mind, and she fought with herself. Should she tell someone? Tell someone about what she'd seen in the maze, and that a man was still lost in it? But if she did, oh, she would surely get in trouble. Big trouble. She wasn't supposed to go in that maze, and if she admitted to going with Soren? Gods. The rumors were already bad enough--courtesy of Arianne!--about how she'd run off to be a floozy with some guy in Adela and that's how she wound up in a bad way, getting sold and all. Served her right.

And if she spoke out about the murder...

No. No, she couldn't. That thing had already seen her. What if it was in here? No, nope, she knew better, living on the streets. You didn't talk about the bad things you saw. You spoke out, it put a target on your back and you'd be the next to go. You just kept your head down and your mouth shut and let everyone else handle it.

Needless to say, when she came shuffling into class that morning, she was exhausted and she looked it. Her curly hair was a fluffy, floppy mess, there were dark circles under her red-rimmed eyes, and her face was pale, her robes rumpled. Her eyelids dropped, barely held open. She saw that Arianne was being Arianne and had all the other kids all enraptured with some bullshit story or other, and she didn't pay her any mind at first--

Until she heard, "Probably old friends of Pepper's."

Huh?

Everyone glared at her, and Pepper's eyes widened. What the fuck? She turned quickly, hunched her shoulders, and dropped her book down onto her desk as she took a seat. Just ignore her. Just ignore her. Arianne was being Arianne, and she didn't want to get in trouble for punching her again--

Wait, wolf?!

Instantly interested, she sat up straighter in her seat and listened, her heart hammering. At first with the realization that he'd made it out, that he was okay--and the with fresh horror because Arianne had him, and with that realization came an irrational, stupid flood of jealousy and irritation, that Arianne was getting to tell this story when she'd known him first! And anger because, dammit, this was the guy that Arianne spread rumors about her over! And and!

Fuck, she couldn't listen to Arianne doing this. She was legitimately going to vomit if Arianne mentioned how gentle he was or what a special connection they had or how civilized and she was and whatever the fuck else! How could those kids stand it? How were they eating it up and not poking out their own eyeballs?

Pepper slapped her hands on her desk and rose abruptly to her feet. "I'm gonna barf," she announced, before turning and making a dash for the door, hoping to escape before a professor arrived.

She needed out of this room before her heart or head exploded, or both.

And she needed to find Soren.

Soren was in a bit of a situation. His story resembled a little the one Arianne had told. After the grounds keeper scared away the children, she had taken the wolf with her. But the wolf had had little say in the matter. Arianne's driver and guard had come and grabbed the wolf before he had any chance to flee. They had even muzzled him! And once they had delivered the wolf to the girl's quartets, they leashed it to a far corner of the room. Soren had never been treated so much like, well, a dog!

Good behavior on his part had removed the muzzle and even earned him dinner as well as a nice big velvet pillow to sleep on. If Soren had known who the girl was, perhaps he'd have hated her out of loyalty to Pepper. But as he saw it, she was being kind to him after a fashion. So he'd been kind with her. 'Gentle as a lamb.'

But none of that changed the fact that he needed to get out of here! It was all well and good to have a wolf leashed in your room with a nice big comfy velvet pillow to sleep on. But what about when that wolf turned into a naked man, tied to a velvet pillow by a collar around his neck?!

But the leash and collar were only problem one. If he got out of that, he'd still have the doorknob to contend with. The round doorknob. It had to be round. It couldn't have been one of the ones you pulled. Paws could pull a lever. They couldn't turn a knob!

He couldn't even hope to transform into a man. Soren the man couldn't walk. The best he could hope for was that she'd heal his leg before he turned and then let him go? It didn't really seem like his luck though.

How did he get himself into these situations?!

There were advantages to having been a thief years ago. Pepper found those instincts never really went away, when she'd spent the better part of her life living and planning like each day could be her last, like each person was a potential threat that needed assessing. When she'd lived on the streets, she'd mentally mapped her gang's small section of town, noting all the exits and entrances and escape routes she could take if she wound up in a bind.

Instinctively, she'd done the same thing when she arrived at the college. She'd spent a lot of time exploring (something she'd gotten in trouble for plenty, as sitting in a closed in room with only one door and a closed window had left her an anxiety-ridden mess those first months, and still made her twitchy), and she still quickly assessed any situation she walked into. She did it without even having to think about it.

That came in handy now, because it meant she knew exactly which room was Arianne's and the quickest route to get there, and all the places she could hide along the way if there were staff milling about. Bitch got her own room and everything, while most everyone else had to share. But, of course, she was special--though right now, Pepper was grateful for that.

It meant no one else would be in the room, except Soren--if that was indeed where Arianne had taken him. With no other leads, though, it seemed her safest bet.

Class would already be well into session by the time she reached the room, and no doubt there would be people asking questions and trying to track her down, though no one would really be worried because this was the sort of behavior they'd come to expect of her. She'd just get in trouble. Big whoop. Reaching the door after only having had to duck into a few broom closets along the journey, Pepper found it locked.

Which, again, no big deal. Pepper pulled a hair pin she'd stolen from another girl from a fold in her sleeve, checked around the corners to be sure no one was around, and then slipped it into the lock and began to maneuver it around.

Click! For a mage's college, this place was woefully insecure.

Opening the door quietly, Pepper peeked inside to make sure no one else was there--but all she saw was the wolf, chained up in a corner, sitting upon a velvet pillow.

It was...kind of funny, if it wasn't so sad.

"...I'm surprised she didn't put bows on your ears," Pepper said as she carefully shut the door behind her and slipped the pin back into the fabric of her sleeve. "Aren't ya lookin' all fancy."

Click. The wolf turned his head, ears perked, as the door was about to open. What if it was, like, the college dog-catcher or something? But no. Soren could not have been happier to see Pepper, of all people, appear when the door opened. And it showed. Much to his embarrassment, his tail was actually wagging. Once Soren realized, he tried to stop his tail from wagging, but only succeeded in slowing it a little. At her comment about ‘bows,’ the wolves ears went submissively back. Ha ha. Very funny.

But jokes aside, now that Pepper was here, they could go! The wolf’s golden eyes communicated this point as clearly as he could manage to Pepper. Then Soren-the-wolf clambered to his three good paws, keeping his bad leg off the ground as much as possible. He limped over to Pepper until, of course, he reached the end of the leash that had been designed to keep him on the fancy red velvet pillow.

The wolf strained at the leash, more for show than a real attempt to break loose (he’d already tried that), then again turned his eyes meaningfully to Pepper. Saying as clearly as he could in his wolfy body language, Please, please, get me out of this ridiculous situation!

Soren could think about all the wrongs he'd done her, dragging her into that maze, then chasing her away, later. After they'd gotten safely away!

Soren was awfully cute as a wolf. The soulful eyes, the wagging tail, the twitchy ears. He looked just as he had when she'd first met him, back when he'd stolen her scroll and set her on that fateful wild wolf chase. 

A little pang of nostalgia went through her at the thought, a small tug of sadness, but she shoved it away. Now wasn't the time, and they couldn't afford to linger. If she got caught in Arianne's room, she was so dead!

Crossing the room, she knelt beside him and examined his collar, then carefully unbuckled it. "Yer real lucky Arianne's got a big mouth. How awkward would it be if she came back and found ya all full-on man and naked? Pffft. I oughta leave ya here and let it be as payback fer ditchin' me." She snickered at the thought, imagining it in her head. "Be awful scandalous, but maybe Arianne'd be into that shit."

But she didn't leave him to such a fate, instead slipping the collar off his neck and letting it drop back to the ground. "Ya gonna be wolfy long? 'Cause like...should I steal ya some clothes, too, just in case? I dunno, be just as awkward if we're walkin' 'round the halls and suddenly naked man, y'know?"

Awkward! Very awkward! That's why they needed to get out of here! Soren did not want to end up chained and collared, naked sprawled across a velvet pillow, as a man when that girl returned! And when Pepper threatened to leave him there, his ears went back again, tail down between his legs, and he let out a little whine. Thankfully, though, it had been a bluff. She wouldn't have come here just to leave him, anyway... right? Instinctively, Soren pushed his nose into the palm of Pepper's hands as a sign of gratitude. Doggy gratitude.

Then he looked at her with his head cocked to the side, ears forward. Would he be a wolf long? He didn't know! But he didn't think any of Arianne's clothes would help him much anyway. Plus, now wasn't the time to worry about what he was going to wear! They needed to get out of here! The wolf looked around the room and finally limped over the the 'bed' that had been made up for him. In addition to the fancy pillow, Arianne had left him a fine cashmere blanket, 'just incase Wolfy got cold.' Soren picked up the blanket in his teeth and dragged it back over to Pepper with a look that clearly said, Good enough? Can we go now?

Then, as an after thought, the looked at her less urgently and more emploringly, ears back, eyes big, tail down but wagging. A look that even more clearly said, Please?

"Hm." Pepper took the blanket from Soren's mouth, then quickly rolled it up tightly. "Yeah, that'll work! Fuckin' hell, what's this even made of?" she added as she felt the fabric in awe. That was soft! Quite unlike the stiff, starchy sheets she was used to sleeping on here! "Maaaan. Fuckin' Arianne. Gives the dog a nice, pretty blanket and I get scratchy sheets. Hmph."

He didn't even need a blanket! He had fur!

Nobles.

But there was no more time to dawdle, and soon Pepper crossed back to the door and cautiously poked her head back out. Still empty. She just had to hold her luck held! She motioned for Soren to follow with a flick of her hand. "C'mon. We're gonna have to be real careful here. People will flip if there's just a wolf walkin' 'round. 'Specially since with Arianne's blabberin', they'll know the only one's supposed to have a wolf is her."

Slipping out the door, she reached back inside the room to lock it and waited for Soren to come out. "Try not to click so much with them nails, alright?"

[[Ooooops! I thought I'd replied to this ages ago!]]

The wolf watched Pepper, ears back, unimpressed, as she went on about the blanket. Yes, yes, it was silly to give a fancy blanket to a wolf, but they needed to get going! To get this point across, he gave her leg a firm nudge with his nose.

But soon enough, they were off and out of the little suite. Soren felt a physical wave of relief. But it was short-lived. They weren't out of the woods yet! He tried to follow Pepper's instructions, but it was hard not to 'click your nails' when you could only walk with a limp. All the same, he tried, slinking after Pepper with his ears back, tail down.

He felt like such an idiot! This is why he never went into cities. This was why he didn't try to do anything nice for people! Luck was on their side for a little longer, though, because they got out of Arianne's dorm without incident. Once they were out in the bright sunlight of the campus, Soren slunk behind some bushes, poking his head out to Pepper. What now?