On the paradise world of Glisten Falls, Lauf Redclaw sat on a beach with the water of a crystal clear lagoon washing up in front of him. Over the course of his life so many things happened. He had lost many people precious to him and gained new people precious to him. He had fought across all sorts of worlds and amazing wonders of this galaxy. He had faced things a madman could not dream up in their worst nightmare and been driven to incredible extremes of stress to survive. But he had survived and now for possibly the first ever time in his life, he could catch his breath. Leaning back in the sand, he closed his eyes and let the wind gently blow across his long braided beard. His hair was still blazing red, but the ends of both his beard and hair had become grey and every year saw the colour creep closer to his head. It was one of the signs that Lauf was no longer a Bloodclaw. He was becoming a true Grey Hunter. For now, those thoughts were not important. He simply let the gentle breeze lull him to a peaceful sleep.
He had no idea how long he lay on the beach, but after what felt like an instant after he had closed his eyes, Lauf felt something hot and rough fall on his face and beard. Twitching his cheek to try and get whatever was on his face off, Lauf kept his eyes closed. He hoped he got the rough stuff off but he suddenly felt more falling on his face. Grumbling how he hoped someone wasn't putting something on him because otherwise they were dead he sat up and rubbed his face. Pulling his hand back after rubbing whatever was on his cheeks and in his beard he looked at his palm. Sparkling grains of sand shown in his hand as he realized someone had kicked sand in his face. Squeezing his hand into a fist he looked around to figure out who it was he was going to mash into a pulp,
"Wakey wakey big brother!" Lauf turned and looked at one of his pack-mates, Ella 'white-hands'. The young girl was a Fenrisian native like him. She had light blonde hair which hung down to the middle of her ears in a simple cut that framed her face. Her sapphire blue eyes stood out in her pale white skin. She was the smallest of their pack, almost two feet shorter than Lauf. She normally wore a special suit of power armour that was similar to the armour the Sisters of battle wore, but with the colours of the Space Wolves. Right now she wore a light blue bikini swimsuit with their pack's symbol of a black lighting claw reaching up on a white moon on the left triangle covering of her swimsuit. The perfect design for their pack the 'night-claws'.
When they were off fighting for the Imperium, Ella was the pack's healer, always carrying her satchel of healing supplies, mainly for the other members of their pack. Lauf's Space Marine physiology healed most of the wounds he suffered before any medical attention was really needed. Along with her satchel, Ella was always carrying the frost-sword that Lauf used to carry during his time as a Lone Wolf. The teenage girl had to wield the sword with both hands due to its size and weight. Since she took the sword, it had earned the name 'Witch-slayer'. Right now that was not the issue as Ella rested her hands on her hips looked at Lauf with a small smirk,
"You promised you would come play with us." She came closer to pull him up off the sand. Gripping his large hand with her small, delicate ones she pulled. Ella's dainty frame always hid her true strength that was capable of lifting a fully grown man over her shoulder and carry him some way. Lauf did not argue as Ella pulled him up and out of the sand. He felt sand fall out of the bottom of the dark blue swimtrunks the pack had got for him. It had the symbol of the Space Wolf chapter on its right leg and fitted the large man perfectly. Lauf did not get a chance to admire the view for long when Ella continued to pull on his arm, making him follow her along the beach. As they walked, Lauf looked around the lagoon.
After their latest victories against the enemies of the Imperium, Great Wolf Logan Grimnar had ordered all 12 Great Companies to go to Glisten Falls for some R&R. Ignoring the demands of countless Imperial bureaucrats as was so often the method of the Great Wolf, the entire Space Wolf chapter, every thrall capable of being brought and even the dreadnoughts had been brought to the world. Once the chapter had arrived, they had taken the planet over without much argument. Now the Wolves were enjoying their time at the world's more wealthy patrons' expense.
On a rocky pier that jutted out into the lagoon, the Great Wolf and the Wolf Lords were taking part in a contest to see who could make the biggest splash. The judge for the contest was the Wolf Priest Ulrik the Slayer, who was lounging on a large chair wearing a pair of grey swim-trunks and a white towel, the same colour as his great mane across his back. So far the biggest splash was a toss-up between Logan Grimnar and Wolf Lord Bjorn Stormwolf. The other Wolf Lords were watching the two having either a debate or a fist-fight it was difficult to tell the difference.
Passing by a corner in the beach, Lauf looked further down the beach to see two packs of Bloodclaws playing their new favourite game. It involved taking an Inquisitor who had come to Glisten Falls to 'investigate' the Space Wolves' presence on the world, smearing him in mammoth grease and then trying to get the Inquisitor over into the other Bloodclaws' 'hearth-area' which was at the other end of a section of the beach. Right now a Bloodclaw pack from Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company and one from Sven Bloodhound's Great Company were competing to carry a terrified young puritan Inquisitor around the beach to get to their opponent's hearth-area. Lauf laughed when he watched one Bloodclaw grabbed the Inquisitor, only for the Inquisitor to shoot out of the man's hands and grabbed by an opposing Space Wolf's hands and carried towards their target. This was a popular game as now the Space Wolves had a choice of several Inquisitor 'balls' to play with. All of them had bruises and scrapes from the treatment by the young and energetic Bloodclaws, but none had been killed.
Ella pulled him further along the beach towards a volleyball net where he could see the other two members of their pack waiting. Facing towards them was Lauf's 'second in command' Ashe. A girl of Terran descent, Ashe is the second tallest member of their pack after Lauf, Ashe has white hair that is nearly the same colour as Ulrik the Slayer. Her hair was kept in a mix hime cut on the sidelocks while the very back was tied off in a long soft braid. The braid was tied off with a simple black bow that hung behind her back. Her light green eyes matched the emerald green bikini she wore to enjoy the beach. Her bikini had the symbol of Logan Grimnar's Great Company on the front of the panty section. The top section had the fleur-de-lis on the right cup and the outline of the Fang on the left. The fleur-de-lis on her bikini matched the small tattoo on her left cheek that included a fleur-de-lis and small bell. As the pack's no. 2, Ashe was a competent, cool minded young woman who helped Lauf make decisions and keep his focus on a battle whenever they got stuck in fights. She is also the one who keeps the other two members of their pack in check when their pack gets into the fighting. She always wore armour like Ella's but carried a master-crafted bolter, serving as the jack-of all trades of the pack.
Jumping up to knock the ball back to Ashe was the last member of their pack was Cassidy. Lauf chuckled as he thought about their heavy weapons expert. Cassie was their most gung-ho member of the pack and was often the one who had to be held back from rushing into un-winnable combat. That's not to say she was foolish. Lauf knew all his 'Valkyria' the Fenrisian word for warrior women were clever and deadly women. Right now the black-haired young woman spiked the ball Ashe volleyed up into the ground with a cheer. Her ponytail flew behind her as she moved some stray hairs from her bang out of her eyes. Not too long ago Cassie had a robotic left eye that was in the middle of the scar that ran down from her eyebrow to her mouth. That eye had been removed and replaced by Magos Biologis Malloc. Now her silver-brown eyes looked over at Ella and Lauf and waved happily.
She was wearing a one piece purple swimsuit. The one piece had cut-outs along the sides and up her stomach to just under her bust, showing as much skin as Ashe and Ella's swimsuits. Like the other girls she had a symbol related to the Space Wolves on her swimsuit. In her case, it was a Fenris wolf-head clutching a xeno-skull in its jaws. The purple colour contrasted with her pale white skin. It was similar to the other valkyria as Ella brought Lauf over to the volleyball field where Ashe and Cassie came over and hugged their 'big brother',
"Your beard's gotten greyer big brother." Cassie held the part of Lauf's beard that had greyed in her hand, running her fingers through the braided hair. Lauf smiled before extending his giant hand and ruffling her black hair,
"It just means I've grown wiser little wolfess." He explained. He had a nickname for each of the girls of his pack. Ashe was called little sister due to her calm and controlled behaviour. Ella was little pup because she is the youngest of the pack. And Cassie is little wolfess because of her urge to kill enemies, like a young wolf. Ashe stepped forward and put her arms around Lauf's waist. All three women stood barely at the bottom of Lauf's chest,
"Glad you came to play big brother." Ashe looked up with her green eyes into Lauf's golden-yellow eyes. She already had a small tan extending around her neck and her shoulders, very obvious against her white skin,
"So you and Ella versus me and Cassie." Ashe did not so much ask, as state who the teams would be as Lauf grinned, showing his canines to the three. The two Fenrisians versus the Terran and Chogoran. This would be fun,
"I knew you would say that little sister." Lauf stated as he walked under one side of the volleyball net with Ella right behind him. Getting into position by the back of the court, Lauf waited for the opening serve by Cassie. Glancing quickly at Ella he flashed her a wink before seeing Cassie send the ball over the net. He managed to volley it up and over to Ella. She set it up high as Ashe got ready to block Lauf's spike. The Space Wolf got in position, jumped up as high as he could to spike the ball. As his hand touched the ball he gently knocked to the side. The light hit surprised Ashe and Cassie as it flew to the side of Ashe's block. Cassie dives to stop the ball from hitting the sand while Lauf got ready for the return.
Cassie just manages to catch the ball with her hand and knocks it into the air for Ashe to hit it further. The awkward hit made it hard for Ashe to get a good hit to put the ball over. Her attempt to get the ball over only caused the ball to hit the net and fall down into the sand, scoring Ella and Lauf a point. The game continued back and forth until finally Ashe and Cassie scored the final point, winning the game. Ella panted a bit as she wiped some sweat off her forehead,
"That was a good match pup." A metallic voice called from the side of the court. Lauf turned and bowed with the girls to the venerable dreadnought Bjorn the Fell-Handed. The former first Great Wolf had found a tree capable of taking the weight of his mechanical body and he sat down to lean back on the tree. His legs were splayed out in front of him as he rested,
"Lord Bjorn." Said Lauf with a deep amount of respect. Cassie and Ella loved speaking with the dreadnoughts of the Space Wolves and hearing their tales. The dreadnought wheezed an acknowledgement of their bow,
"No need for that pup. Only the Wolf King and Emperor deserve such reverence." Bjorn replied as Lauf and the girls came up to look at the eye-slit of the dreadnought body where Bjorn's mortal body remained. The Great Wolf's choice to bring the dreadnoughts and the thralls had caused a bit of a stir, but any argument against it had been quickly silenced by a strike to the face. So now the honoured elders were enjoying some time awake and in peace.
Bjorn waved his hand slightly to let the four leave as Lauf's stomach emitted a deep and loud growl. A small blush erupted on his cheeks as he realized he was hungry even with his enhanced body. Ashe and Ella gave collective giggles while Cassie winked at Lauf. He huffed a little to get rid of his embarrassment before walking towards the huts further along the beach where several thralls were preparing the meat for the Space Wolf feast tonight. The smell of cooking meat brought growls from all the night claw pack's stomachs, making the girls blush after Lauf glanced back at them. Walking over to the large cook fires where the thralls were cooking, Lauf smiled at the assortment of food caught by the Grey Hunters. The veteran warriors of the Great Companies were competing with each other like the Bloodclaws and Wolf Lords to see who caught the most food with whatever they could use outside of their regular weapons. The Hunters' success was clear as the two thralls set a large boar-like creature on a spit and began to roast it while moving already cooked meat off onto the large plates around the fires.
Lauf walked over to the plates with the cooked food on it. He reached down and picked one plate up that was completely filled. Lifting it up, he carried it towards a cabin where Ella, Ashe and Cassie were already preparing a fire and readying a giant keg of Mjod they had collected from the thralls responsible for brewing the drink. Ella put the wood together in the pit in front of the cabin before getting it burning while the sun began to set. The fire began in earnest as the last light of the day disappeared over the horizon allowing the many stars to shine in the night's sky. Lauf set the tray down beside the fire and began handing meat and fish out to the three girls all sitting around the warm fire. After giving the food out, he sat down against a tree that grew between the fire-pit and the cabin the pack was resting inside. His chosen seat was between Ashe and Ella with a leg of goat in his hands that he started to eat. Tearing a chunk off the leg he looked from the fire to the three girls sitting next to him. All were happily eating and talking with each other. Ashe reached over and helped Ella adjust the knot at the top of her shoulders after the younger girl complained about the loose feel of her bikini. Cassie muttered a joke about how Ashe was mothering the blonde before ducking out of the way of a piece of meat that was thrown her way.
Lauf felt a chuckle escape his lips as he looked around him. These girls, misfits he had collected during his hunt as a means to help kill his nemesis and avenge his old pack had become more important than his dead brothers had ever been. Now here they were, the oddest pack in the entire Space Wolf chapter. On a paradise world normally reserved for the Imperium's spoiled nobility, enjoying some time that was not consumed with war and destruction. Sharing jokes and teasing each other about how much they fussed over their youngest member.
A sudden weight on either side of him drew Lauf's mind out of his philosophical thinking and to his hips. Lying asleep on his sides were Cassie on his left and Ella on his right. Both girls looked peaceful and content as they snuggled against his large frame. Lying across his legs he noticed that Ashe had fallen asleep as well. He could not help but smile at the three girls using him as a pillow. He adjusted himself ever so slightly so he could be comfortable. That action resulted in groans of disagreement from the three before he put his arms around Cassie and Ella, pulling them tighter against his body. Pushing the plate with the remaining food away with his free leg he watched as the fire continued burn while the stars above glowed like a thousand jewels. He liked this. A feeling he had never known. Rest…. And peace…. He was a warrior of the Imperium, loyally serving his lord and liege. But even a warrior could find comfort in a small period of peace and relaxation with those he loved.
With that pleasant thought in his mind, Lauf Redclaw, Grey Hunter and pack-master of the Night-claws closed his eyes and let sleep take him for the night. The last thing he remembered before his mind drifted off was the gentle crackle of the fire and soft snore of Ella and Cassie next to his head.
TO BE CONTINUED…..