The Bridge to Sanctuary [Closed]

[Juno]

Vivien startled slightly to know she'd been caught even though she had been looking so openly. After a few silent moments of hesitation she finally climbed to her feet and moved to sit in the chair with her legs crossed. It was a welcome comfort after staying outside for such a long time, and she took a few moments to just enjoy and let her body relax into its plush softness.

She wasn't entirely certain what she should call him that would make her feel best. She'd only been acting out of habit with him so far, but that didn't mean things had to be that way. "I can try calling you Wolfram," she offered. "It's just very different for me. All of this is."

Where should she even begin? "You don't have to think about me. You said so yourself I need to learn to support myself. I think you were right. There's enough here for me to survive on my own. And I don't share kills well anyway," she lied, fearing making additional work for him with her presence. Maybe their earlier awkwardness over the doe would be enough to convince him of that.

[Zero]

Wolfram's lips twitched just slightly at the corners, not really forming into a smile, but it was close as he watched her finally settle into the chair. He had been starting to worry that she wouldn't feel comfortable enough to relax a little around him. It wasn't good to be too tense all the time. Especially if they were going to be neighbors.

"Wolfram works for me, Vivien." Being called by some respectful title just felt odd and not quite right. He didn't feel like he'd done anything to earn being called alpha by anyone. "And it's all very different for me too. We'll figure it out together until we're both comfortable with our arrangement."

That might take a while, but he was starting to feel like they were getting on the right track. A little bit. What she had to say certainly drove home the point for Wolfram that they had a good ways to go. "I do have to think about you, though. This is my territory and you're on it. I feel a little responsible for you now. What would it say about me if you weren't taken care of to some extent? I mean, yeah, you really should learn to support yourself in case you have to be on your own again, but for now you're not on your own. Not completely."

Wolfram sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. It would certainly be easier to just say that Vivien had to fend for herself, but if he was ever going to have other wolves here besides her then he needed to learn how to be responsible for other wolves. It was an alpha's job to take care of his pack, right?

"And trust me, I got the whole not good at sharing kills thing earlier. I didn't think I was going to be able to get you to eat at first. Er...why did you lick me? I mean, what were you really trying to do?" Wolfram still hadn't figured out what that had been about.

[Juno]

His encouragement was definitely very kind, but she couldn't help but feel he simply didn't understand what he was getting himself into with her. It felt good to hear that she might not be entirely on her own on his land after all, but how long that might last she didn't know. The last thing she wanted to be was just another obligation on his shoulders.

"Trying to do? I was only trying to say-" Had he really not understood her at all? "I was trying to thank you for sharing," she continued softly, adjusting her position in the chair to hug her legs and lean back a bit. Perhaps he would understand if she explained.

"Nobody ever lets me choose like that. There have always been a lot of wolves ahead of me for food...rights. Nobody ever shared, so it meant a lot that you did. Even though I'm just a stranger to you." She shrugged, uncertain if she was truly conveying herself properly. It was a complicated thing but in her life if she hadn't caught something herself she'd eaten when others were finished and not alongside them.

[Zero]

Wolfram didn't really feel any less confused by that explanation. Well, he guessed he understood why she would want to thank him. He just wasn't sure why she had licked him to thank him. Just a byproduct of very limited communication options while they were wolves, he supposed.

The more little tidbits that he heard about her life before coming to his territory, the more Wolfram wondered just what life was like among other wolves. It sounded pretty harsh to him. Nobody had ever shared with her? Why not? Her disability making her ostracized didn't really occur to him. There had never been a wolf with an impairment in his family, but even if there was he was pretty sure they would have still been taken care of by the family.

"Why wouldn't I share? There was plenty for both of us. So I shared it with you." To Wolfram it just made sense to share a kill of that size. Sure if he'd caught a rabbit he probably wouldn't have brought it to her for them to split, but it was a whole deer. No wolf needed a whole deer all to himself.

[Juno]

His refreshingly simple outlook gave her pause. Had she truly found somewhere where such a notion existed? Vivien decided that things had probably been very, very different in his pack, in his family, for him to hold onto that.

"Well, it's kind of you to share so thank you. I suppose it just feels strange to me to share in the spoils of someone else's work that I couldn't help with." Vivien was of the opinion that if she didn't have a chance at catching something for herself she had no business partaking in it as if she had. It was just the way she had lived before him. Why would he not be greedy if he had the chance?

With a sigh and a few anxious adjustments she moved to change the subject. Perhaps it would be easier to live near each other if she understood him a little better. "You said you were a blacksmith." She had a vague idea of what that was but she'd never seen one at work before.

"What does that...mean exactly? You make things, right?" Well it was as good a guess as any for a craft, but the forge outside his home had seemed such a strange place to her. She'd seen the various works stacked around the shop but the process was foreign to her.

[Zero]

Everyone relied on someone else's work and spoils sometimes. Children did it all the time with. They couldn't contribute constructively yet, but were cared for just the same. You got injured or sick at times, but that didn't mean you should no longer have the things you needed.

Wolfram wouldn't have understood the way her previous pack dealt with her. Yes, Vivien obviously had a minor physical defect, but it didn't seem crippling. She insisted she could hunt for herself, which to him meant she could contribute to a group hunt, and even if she couldn't, not every wolf was a strong hunter.

He was lost in thought for a few moments as he pondered over how surprised and grateful his new neighbor was for his sharing.

"Yeah. I make things out of metal. Mostly tools and horseshoes around here, but from outside I get orders for weapons and armor often enough. Locally I mostly get paid in trades, but the orders that get shipped out give me a little bit of coin. Blacksmiths are pretty important for humans, we're well-regarded and not rich, but definitely not poor." Wolfram might have been reclusive of his human neighbors, but they regarded him with respect. Especially after the outlaw incident.

In fact, he could have had his pick of the young women to take for a wife. If it weren't for his extreme reluctance to deal with the humans his socialization problems would have been non-existent.

[Juno]

Making things for trade of some sort was an easy enough thing for her to follow. She'd watched others do it but she still wasn't sure how he did what he did. She wondered if she might be able to watch him work from the woods sometime to see for herself before bothering him with more questions about the whys and hows of it. Surely he wouldn't want to talk much if it consumed his days.

Not rich but not poor seemed a good explanation judging by his home, though. Glancing around again now that she was a little more settled she took in the sights of a few things she'd missed when she'd first entered his home.

"Do you like doing that, then? What got you into it? Well, if you don't mind telling me." She furrowed her brow a bit in thought, realizing something else as she brought her attention back to him on the couch. "What is this place called? Not your home, but...the human town."

[Zero]

The small dwelling was well-built and sturdy, but lacked very much in decor. There were a couple throw pillows on the couch and chair, and there was a small ivory carving of a wolf on the mantle, but aside from those and the furniture, it was fairly barren inside Wolfram's home.

"You're in Anville. When I chanced across this place and they needed someone with my skills it seemed kind of, I don't know, like I was meant to be here." Wolfram sighed and shook his head, thinking that sounded kind of dumb. "I do like being a blacksmith. It's hard work, but satisfying to be able to make things that are useful to others. I started learning from a blacksmith when I was very young. Spent a long time as his apprentice before leaving home. My family thought it was a good idea to learn a marketable trade so that I could blend into a human town for a while if I needed to. They were right."

He shrugged his shoulders. Things had worked out so far. Sure, he'd been alone all this time, but at least he was established in his territory and surviving on his own without needing help. Companionship would come in time - or had come. At least for now.

[Juno]

Finally having a name to call the place was good. At least it made it feel more real. Vivien didn't know what it was like to contribute to any community outside of a pack. Even there she'd only ever done what she was told to do instead of what she liked or was happy with. He seemed content with his life, though, and that was what mattered. The last thing she needed was a new leader that was as disgruntled as her last.

"Well that's nice. Seems to have served you well," she admired, genuinely surprised he managed to get by on his own for so long and still seem like a normal wolf. Well, mostly normal.

Being so newly introduced Vivien wasn't sure of what else to ask him without bombarding him with questions about the mundane things in life or what little he might have known about the humans nearby. It didn't really seem the time to her, though, already being quite dark. Instead of asking anything more of him or offering anything about herself she moved to stand.

"Well thank you for inviting me in, but I don't want to take up too much of your time. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of each other while I'm here." She smiled gratefully and held out her hand to him in an offer of a handshake.

[Zero]

"It's been a good trade for me." Not only because it had allowed him to make a living for himself in a human town, but also because he really did like the craft. It was a labor intensive skill and with all the strength and endurance of a wolf, well it certainly helped Wolfram feel physically satisfied instead of restless from a day to day basis. As long as he went running and hunting as a wolf every few days to keep that part of himself soothed and content.

When Vivien stood up, so did he. It seemed like the right thing to do. Not that Wolfram really had any clue what was the right or wrong thing to do. So far he seemed to be doing a lot more wrong than right.

"Thanks for coming to talk with me. I feel like we understand each other just a little better." He took her offered hand and gave it a firm shake, feeling slightly awkward about the whole thing still. "I'm sure we'll be seeing enough of each other. You can stop by here whenever you want. If the sun's out I'll probably be in the forge. Just let me know if you need anything or need help. I'll see what I can do."

[Juno]

It certainly was a nice offer, but Vivien figured she was going to try to manage on her own as much as possible. Still, she nodded and did her best to look appreciative anyway. Wouldn't do to upset her new neighbor by rejecting his help outright.

"Thank you. I'll just...see myself out, then?" But she was already on her way to the door. It didn't exactly bother her to be inside, but there was something about it being his home and not her own that made her want to return to the relative safety of the place she'd more or less claimed for herself.

[Zero]

"Yeah, ah, good night Vivien." Wolfram managed as he sort of followed her to the door, still feeling unsure of just what to do. She was the first person to really come into his home as a guest, so he didn't really know how one usually said farewell to a guest. Since it was late he figured saying good night was fine. As for the following her, well he hoped he didn't seem like he was hurrying her out.

Once the door was closed Wolfram was going straight to bed. Tomorrow he was really hoping to go back to life as usual. Up before dawn and the forge in full operation by sunrise.

[Juno]

Retreating to the woods had left her feeling a little more comfortable, and it was nice to at least have things settled between them.

Vivien spent most of the next day getting better acquainted with the rest of the territory. Testing the borders, she wandered back to Wolfram's land whenever she strayed too far. She was pleasantly surprised to find it was a good deal larger than she'd originally guessed. Within it there was also a great variety of wild flowers and plants, a great relief to a wolf whose only trained skills lied in creating things from them.

She was hesitant to take too much from the natural supply, though, and quickly discovered in her wanderings that many of the gardens on the outskirts of the town contained some of the same plants she was searching for. It was only natural, then, that she welcomed herself to them despite the flimsy little barriers surrounding them.

Over several days Vivien amassed a small collection of herbs, flowers, and roots that cycled in various stages of drying and storage in her new home. If she was going to be of any use to the town she had to start somewhere!

It was on one of these visits to take from the gardens of Anville that she was finally met with some opposition. Many rumors about town had guessed that the sudden disturbance was due to some hungry animal from the forest. While that wasn't entirely untrue none of them would have suspected their culprit to be a werewolf.

Vivien was an unknown, only seen in passing. Nobody had really talked to her before so she'd just assumed they all knew about her presence and hadn't minded it. It was for this reason she was surprised when a small group of people, all neighbors, approached her one evening as she left the last garden on her journey to town, her pack freshly filled with the haul of yet another of her expeditions.

They spoke of "stealing" from and "ruining" their gardens but she didn't understand their unhappiness. Her explanation of her way of "helping" wasn't exactly satisfactory. Nobody wanted to hear how she might aid them when it involved taking from them without permission.

"I can return it all to you," she offered, assuming that would resolve the issue well enough despite most of it no longer being fresh, but the women among them only scoffed at that. They wanted a little more retribution than that.

[Zero]

It was kind of surprising to Wolfram that the little she-wolf had been right. He hardly noticed her presence at all. Sure, he was aware she was out there, but it was a stray thought in the back of his mind as things went almost immediately back to normal. Knowing that having another wolf in his territory didn't mean that his comfortable, if lonely, existence didn't have to change much was a great relief to him.

Although part of him felt a little disappointment each night when there had been no sign of Vivien. Sure, he had been pretty clear about her not getting in his way, but part of him still wished that she would come speak with him again. Even if it was only for a few minutes. Wolfram reminded himself that she didn't have to check in with him.

When he couldn't take not knowing what she was up to and how she was faring in her new home, Wolfram closed up the forge early and wandered towards the woods where he'd seen her settle down that first day.

Oddly he could catch her trail heading into town. Well, he had told her she should learn to function in a human town. It still bothered him for some nagging reason, so he headed in that direction.

A small commotion told him it was a good idea that he had followed her scent here. Wolfram had an uneasy feeling in his gut as he approached the small mob that had confronted Vivien. Lots of angry faces didn't exactly bode well and he had to wonder what trouble the damn she-wolf had gotten herself into.

"What's going on" He asked, folding his arms across his chest and letting his flinty eyes move between Vivien and the crowd.

"We've got a thief is what's going on! Someone should send for guards to arrest this pilferer!" Wolfram glanced at the baker's wife, who had spoken.

"Yes, the guards know just how to deal with little rats like this." That was the tailor's wife.

"Clap her in irons and let her work off her crime under a whip." Wolfram winced, knowing that wasn't beyond the realm of possibilities. Criminals were often enough punished by slavery or indentured servitude.

[Juno]

Perking up at the sound of a familiar voice, Vivien's eyes found Wolfram easily enough above the shorter humans. There was no desperation upon her face, though, only a warmth of recognition. She was truly unaware of just how much trouble she was in.

Their biting remarks and insults seemed quite threatening but she certainly didn't know what it meant to be arrested, that definitely wasn't something practiced among her other packs before him. She'd seen whips before, though, and knew the sound they made was quite unsettling. She could only imagine how one might feel as a punishment.

"I don't think that would be very comfortable," she chuckled. Her easygoing smile only earned her pointed glares from the enraged humans, a wave of angry muttering rising up for it that she didn't understand. Vivien only blinked at them, a little uncertain about how to resolve it but troubled by the obvious unhappiness among the gathered crowd.

Reaching into her pack quickly she pulled out the evidence of her crimes. Presenting handfuls of all manner of little plant trimmings to the humans she gave her best apologetic smile and assumed they would just accept it despite how they'd flatly rejected to take back damaged goods already.

"But what about the rest?" they clamored. Never mind that none of them had any evidence against her unless they were willing to trek out to her forest home. Vivien was far too honest, though, and she nodded eagerly, glancing to the trees as if they would recognize that she couldn't keep everything she had on her person.

"I'm making things for you," she declared proudly. "I'll bring them back once they're finished, but- Not done yet." She gave a sheepish little shrug, her cheeks warming a bit for the sudden feeling of awkwardness. They weren't taking the plants, didn't even seem interested in them anymore with a woman to punish. Still, she kept her palms outstretched with hope that she might be able to soothe them with her offers.

[Zero]

Wolfram had to suppress a low growl at the clamoring of the townspeople. Vivien was in the wrong here, for certain, but he instinctively felt as if he should protect his own kind against the mobbing humans. Also he knew that she obviously didn't know better, he could tell just by her own behavior and the things she said.

Feeling the tension in the air and the hostility towards the she-wolf he shifted his feet and moved forward to not quite put himself between Vivien and the women, but the placement put him squarely on the she-wolf's side.

"Calling the guards isn't necessary here, we can resolve this ourselves. Nobody is being arrested today." Wolfram raised his hands in a placating and shushing gesture when it looked like there were about to be protests to his declaration about no arrest being made in regards to the thief. "Everyone go home and write down everything damaged or taken. I'll pay for all of it and make sure it doesn't happen again. I feel a little responsible here since I should have known that Vivien wouldn't know better."

How could a wolf raised in a communal pack environment just know all about humans and private property? He sighed and rubbed his face in agitation. The women were whispering conspiratorially among themselves now and eyeing Vivien and him differently.

"So you know this...woman." The baker's wife again.

"Ah, yes...she's a...friend. She'll be staying with me for...well indefinitely." Well he couldn't just say she was a stranger he met a few days ago and decided to let live in the woods outside of town. They'd have never been satisfied with that explanation.

"Fine. Since we respect you and you've done a lot for this town we'll let this go. This time. You teach that little thief to respect the law or else we will not let you buy her way out of trouble next time." The baker wagged a finger at him threateningly the whole time, but the assorted women finally turned away still whispering and arguing and glancing back at them.

"I thought I told you not to cause trouble." Wolfram growled softly as he fixed Vivien with an annoyed scowl.

[Juno]

Amazed that he seemed capable of placating the humans with words alone Vivien watched as they retreated. She understood by their body language that they were still quite annoyed but didn't see how what he'd "done" for the town made any difference in how they treated her.

She frowned thoughtfully, looking between the plants in her hands and the backs of the humans questioningly before she tucked them away into her pack again. Flinching at the bite in his tone, though, her eyes were snapping up to see that he looked tense and...angry?

She wondered if he'd burdened himself too terribly in making his offer to the humans, eyes softening in sadness and realization that she was causing trouble for him somehow with all of it. But why did he care about what the humans didn't like? She wasn't quite seeing how much potential real trouble she'd just been saved from.

Looking to her pack as if he might be able to see through it and know what she held inside of it, Vivien just shook her head and mumbled, "They were causing trouble. I just wanted to help them. Why would you...pay them? For plants?" She wrinkled her nose at that, casting a look to the gardens she'd just finished pilfering.

She truly didn't understand the etiquette of humans and property the way they saw things. To her, especially as a healer, the yield of the land was for everyone to take what was needed. She'd thought they might have been greedy wanting it all back like that and calling her a thief, but then they'd turned their noses up at what she'd offered! It was odd to her that they would even want plants before she'd done anything with them, but she was slowly determining for herself that humans were simply insufferable and difficult to please.

[Zero]

The things that Wolfram had done for the town was only taken into consideration for their treatment of her because he had spoken for her and claimed her as a friend. That and his offer to pay for the damages that she'd caused. Without that promise he doubted anything he said alone would have helped very much.

Steel-grey eyes were boring into Vivien as he listened to her speak, that scowl remaining firmly on his lips until finally he simply sighed and looked tired. He hated dealing too much with the humans if it wasn't just for business.

Wolfram supposed this could be considered business in a certain way, but bad business.

With a grunt he turned, taking her by the arm and pushing her back in the direction of home. "No, they were accusing you of stealing from them, and you were stealing from them. Did you seriously not even pause to think of why those gardens were surrounded by fences? Those plants you took belonged to them, they grew them, tended them, and planned to harvest them for their own use. Don't take anything from the town. Don't take anything even close to the damn town. Go into the woods to find things you need."

[Juno]

Vivien was truly bewildered by what he told her. That had certainly never been the way of her previous packs but she supposed it would be best to follow his rules for now. Not knowing what else to do with herself she simply obeyed his direction, moving along down the road as best as she could, not wanting to give him any more reason to be unhappy with her.

"I thought fences might be for keeping animals out," she admitted quietly, not thinking herself nor him as one directly at all. While careful to keep from whining she had to add her complaint, "The woods doesn't have everything I need or enough of anything wild. Well...at least not on your land. I don't know what might be beyond it, but that's why I came up here. To your town." She gave an exasperated sigh, understanding why she'd upset him but not really thinking it a valid reason.

"I'll do what I can with what I can find," she agreed obediently, hanging her head slightly as she thought on all of the things she'd planned that she probably could no longer do just with what grew on his land. Still, there was something still bothering her about what had just happened that had nothing to do with the damn plants or humans.

"I'll pay you back," she said gently, hoping that might soothe him a bit. It was obvious enough to her that he was a little off even though they were still barely more than acquaintances and she thought that was a reasonable guess as to why.

[Zero]

An exasperated sigh escaped Wolfram, as patient as he was trying to be with her. "It isn't my town. The only thing I own by law is the land the forge and my home are built on. The humans own their own houses and lands legally. Among humans you have to pay attention to human laws and rules." That was just common sense to him.

"If you needs things that don't grow wild you'll have to buy them from the humans. Actually, growing your own garden might be a good idea in general. You'll still have to get the seeds of the things you can't find wild from the humans, though." Yeah, a garden might be a good idea. Wolfram wasn't a gardener, herbalist, or anything remotely of the sort, but surely having ingredients on hand that you didn't have to forage would be an improvement, right?

Almost made him wish he could have his own mine for the coal and ore he needed in his smiting. Having to purchase those did eat into his profits, but he was doing well enough. He guessed thinking of his own mine was just being greedy.

"Sure you will." He grumbled softly. If Vivian didn't have a concept of money and trade, he wasn't sure how she expected she'd do that, but oh well. It wasn't as if the money was all that important to a wolf.