To Walk With a Wolf
"I know you're there, wolf."
"How many times have I warned you, one of these times you're not going to come out of this forest alive, if at all."
"Every time I've come here."
"And yet you keep returning."
Alois shrugged, appearing completely carefree as he turned his back to the predator and continued on his way along the overgrown path.
"Walk with me, Claude."
The wolf emerged from the shadows in a show of silent obedience, sharp teeth briefly catching the moonlight as he heeded to the name Alois had given him upon their initial meeting.
"Do you remember the time we first met?" Alois asked the black wolf, seemingly unintimidated by the size and strength of the creature walking beside him.
"Of course." Claude replied, glancing over at the blond with golden eyes. "Don't you?"
"Of course I do." Alois said, waving a hand dismissively at Claude as he stepped around a thornbush that had grown onto the path. "It was the first time I'd ever come into the forest."
"Alone. In the middle of the night." Claude deadpanned. "And you decided approaching a wild wolf while he was eating was a good idea."
Alois stuck out his tongue at the wolf, revealing the still-healing wound Claude had inflicted on it that night.
"Why are you here?" Claude asked as they continued walking. "Why do you keep coming back, knowing I could kill you?"
"You will kill me." Alois corrected. "Yet, you're the closest thing to a friend I have."
Without a word, Claude suddenly turned away from the path they'd been walking on and headed down a hidden deer trail.
"Hey! Claude!" Alois said, thoughtlessly following the wolf. "Where are you going?"
Claude didn't respond, just quickened his pace until Alois was running along the trail, trying to keep the wolf's dark tail in sight.
"Claude!" Alois yelled when he lost sight of the creature's black fur. "Don't leave me!"
Pain shot up Alois' leg as he tripped over a stray tree root and crashed to the forest floor. He looked up, desperately searching for any sign of the mammal he'd been chasing, but instead he found himself alone in a starlit clearing with a large tree growing in the center.
Climbing unsteadily to his feet, Alois made his way over to the tree, leaning against it for support. As he slowly slide down the tree trunk to sit, he caught sight of movement among the treeline.
A lone wolf slowly emerged from the undergrowth and approached the tree Alois was leaning against.
It wasn't Claude.
The ash-gray wolf paused as his blue eyes settled on the blond boy resting at the base of the tree. An easy meal.
Alois didn't flinch as the wolf raised his hackles and bared his teeth. Icy blue eyes slid closed as the wolf leapt, snarling.
The menacing growl of the gray wolf abruptly turned into a high-pitched yelp as the jaws of another, darker, canine closed around his neck.
Alois only opened his eyes when the brief struggle between the two predators had ceased, leaving one the victor.
The familiar silhouette of the golden-eyed wolf loomed over him, the broken and bloodied body of the other mammal slowly dying a few feet away.
"Claude." Alois gasped, his teal eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "You're all I have, you know? You're the only one…"
"What a thing to say to a wolf."
A/N: This mess of a ficlet was created solely because I wanted to practice writing Alois, as I've never written him or Claude before, and need to in another fic. It was also originally meant to be a kind of Red Riding Hood AU thing, as why Claude is a wolf, but I dunno what happened in the writing process that made it… this. I'm not sure how accurate I was to their characters, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. :)
~Uni