In ages long passed, great and powerful beings came to Earth. They had among them men with strength that could rival the thunder, speed to match the lightning, and wisdom more ancient and sage than the stars. While they were among the Humans, they fought to protect us. They battled giants, creatures of ice that invaded our world, and dragons, serpents of fire that devoured our people.
The most dangerous thing that they ever faced, however, were the Wolves. This story is about one of those Wolves. A young Wolf who knew little of the history of her kin, and who had wandered from her homeland of Yoitsu. After many years apart from her kind, though she was worshiped by the Humans, she wished to return home. This is her return, and this is what happened when she met another Wolf for the first time in many centuries.
This is the last tale on record of Holo, The Wise Wolf.
A light snow fell to the ground through a canopy of forest, making a thin blanket of white on an old path. The soft snow crunched quietly under the wheels of a small wooden cart. A single horse pulled the cart with it's reins held firmly in the small hands of a frail-looking young woman. She wore a thick jacket over a dress, as well as a hood covering her head. The fine brush of a Wolf's tail was wrapped around her waist.
Beside the woman, a young man slept quietly. He also had on a jacket, with a coat over it, and some thick pants. They had made sure to get warm clothes at the last town where they had stopped. She glanced his direction every minute or so, making sure he wasn't tipping off the cart.
One such instance, she was watching him for only a moment but it caused her to miss a root sticking up out of the snow. The cart jostled as it ran over the root, causing her to accidentally let go of the reins. The horse jerked forward, knocking her off the cart and waking the man.
He yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Looking around, he finally found his travel companion on the ground beside the cart. He laughed. "You must have been really hungry to try hunting snow."
She glared up at him and spat out her mouthful of snow. She unwrapped the tail from around her and used it to gently brush the rest of the white powder from her clothes. "You should know better than to make fun of me, Lawrence."
He nodded, unable to hide a smile. "A wise and vengeful Wolf. Yes, I know." He looked around at the forest they were traveling through. "How long did I sleep?"
She released the tail, which then flowed freely behind her, and crossed her arms. "A year."
He shook his head. "Seriously, Holo. How long?"
Holo jumped up beside him and sat down, handing him the reins. "Almost three hours. It's my turn to sleep now, and you can't wake me up for at least twice as long as you slept."
He just shrugged. "I'll be fine. I can go six hours easily."
Her tail wrapped around her waist again and she pulled her hood tightly over her head. "Good. You know better than to disturb me when I'm sleeping, so don't."
Lawrence laughed at this, but Holo ignored him and drifted off to sleep. They traveled in silence for an hour or so before Holo began to stir. She opened her eyes and glanced around from under her hood before reaching up and pulling the hood down. The ears of a Wolf, her ears, perked up and twitched as if listening for something.
Lawrence caught the signal and stopped the cart quietly. He waited a moment before asking. "What do you hear?"
Holo was silent, still listening intently. Then suddenly, she answered. "A Wolf. It's nearby, but I don't think it's following us. 'Tis strange... it sounds familiar."
He arched an eyebrow. "Old friend, perhaps?"
She climbed into the back of the cart and stood up. "Perhaps, but I don't think I'm home yet, so it seems unlikely."
He shrugged. "It has been a while, hasn't it? Maybe the place has changed some."
She frowned at that. "I regret that you may be right, but I should be able to recognize something. If nothing else, there should be more Wolves. I only sense the one."
"Could the rest be hiding?"
She shook her head. "Even if they were, I should be able to smell them at least. If they're anywhere near, then they're sleeping and they're too far away for me to hear them snoring. Some Wolves snore pretty loudly, you know."
He held back a laugh. "I wouldn't know anything about that."
Holo snorted, glaring down at him. "In all the time we've spent traveling together, I thought you would have learned that..." She jumped down beside him and stared him down. "...we Wolves know sarcasm when we hear it."
He waved his hands in defense. "Wait a minute, that's not what I-"
"I do not snore!" She practically yelled in his face. "And before you say anything else, I don't lose my temper either."
"That I did know."
After a short pause, Holo shook her head. "You are toying with me, Lawrence. Now is not the... time..."
Holo's ears twitched excitedly. There was a sound, and a scent to accompany it. She glanced around, trying to spot the source. She knew there was a group of Humans approaching, but it bothered her to be unsure of the direction they were approaching from.
She noticed that Lawrence was watching her, so she pulled her hood up to cover her ears. "A group of men are approaching rather fast. I believe they are on the path, but I cannot be certain."
He gave her an odd look. "When you say men, do you mean...?" He decided to let her finish for him.
She sat down stiffly and bowed her head, pretending to be sleeping. "I mean they march like soldiers but talk like drunkards."
He grimaced. "That does not sound too good for us. We had best get off the path."
Holo shook her head. "I say it would be better for us to keep moving than to try and hide."
"And if they're mercenaries?" He looked to her for an answer, but she shrugged. He sighed. "Holo, if they're mercenaries, or worse, they're barbarians, then I'd be in serious danger."
She glanced over to him briefly, then went back to pretending to sleep. "Just you, not I? Why is your concern not for me?"
"Well, because I honestly don't know what would actually be dangerous for you." He waited a moment for her response, but when she said nothing he started to wonder if his words had hurt her. He nudged her playfully. "Hey, look, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."
Under her hood, Holo smiled. "It would be better if you didn't need to, but tis good to know."
They fell into silence, waiting until they could see the approaching men. When they finally came into sight, Lawrence noted that there were about twenty of them. They had no horses, but almost half of them carried bows. If they made to chase the cart Lawrence could outrun them, but he knew he would be cut down by their arrows.
He tried his best to just pass them by, keeping a tight grip on the reins as they walked past. If he had to guess by their appearance, they were mercenaries. It was the better option of the two, but it was still risky. One or two of them looked at the cart, but they seemed content to keep to themselves.
When they had gotten past the mercenaries, Lawrence let out his breath. "That was tedious. Holo, I will never doubt your judgment again." He looked over to his companion, and she flashed a cute grin.
Under her hood, he saw Holo's ears twitch suddenly. She jumped up and turned around. "Lawrence, get us out of here!"
He did as she urged without asking. Only once the horse was pulling the cart as fast as it could did he chance a look behind. Two or three of the mercenaries were running in their wake, giving him hope that they would escape. Then horse riders came into view. They overtook the mercenaries and cut them down.
Lawrence urged the horse to go faster, while Holo jumped into the back of the cart. She searched around frantically. "Do you not carry any weapons?"
He glanced back at her. "Have you seen me with any weapons? Why didn't you hear them approaching before?"
The cart hit something solid under the snow, sending Holo falling onto her back. She sat up, seeing the riders closing in on them. "Those men were making too much noise. I didn't notice the horses until they started running. Is there nothing back here I can use to fend them off?"
Lawrence focused on the path in front of him, just shouting back to Holo. "Well, why don't you try throwing the apples at them?"
"Hell no!" She watched the closest rider until he was right behind the cart. He had a sword raised above his head, a battle cry coming from his mouth. She suddenly jumped at his horse's face, letting out a roaring growl.
The horse reared up, surprised by her sudden aggressive movement and frightened by the sound of a Wolf. The rider, equally surprised, fell from his mount. Holo smirked in triumph as the man and his horse fell behind them, only to be shocked when three other riders trampled the man in their pursuit of the cart.
"Lawrence, I got rid of one, but..." One of the riders stopped his horse and readied a bow. Holo ducked down into the cart. "Arrows! Get down!"
She never heard Lawrence respond, but she heard the arrows fly over her head. A moment later, she felt the cart beginning to turn. She got up and turned to the front. She was looking to see if Lawrence was hit, but all she saw was a tree branch.
The cart tipped over and fell to the side of the path, rolling down a hill and crashing into a tree. Along the way, Holo, Lawrence, and a bushel of apples spilled onto the ground. Quickly regaining her senses, Holo looked up to see Lawrence attempting to calm the horse and keep it from running away. The arrow, she saw, had hit the horse in its hindquarters.
Holo got up slowly, taking notice of the apples scattered all over the ground. Suddenly, the apple nearest to her was pierced by an arrow. She turned and looked up the hill at the three men on their horses. All of them were armed now with bows, aiming at her and Lawrence.
The first arrow flew past Lawrence, taking the horse in its neck. He watched it fall to the ground before turning to the men above them. The second arrow hit him in the chest. He fell to his knees, the sudden pain rushing through his body. He could barely hear Holo as she called to him, running to his side. A third arrow buried into Holo's back. She fell to the ground and stopped moving, her face in the snow.
Lawrence watched Holo, unable to move to her aide, waiting for her to move. The men got off their horses and made their way down to the smashed cart. One of them knelt down beside Holo and pulled the arrow out of her back. He looked up at the others.
"Idiots. Why would you just kill the girl? We could have had some fun first."
Lawrence was about to force his body up so he could fight back at these men, but he was beaten to it. Holo's hand was at the man's throat with lightning speed. She dug in, causing blood to spray out of his neck, then ripped his throat apart. She grabbed his sword and stood, pointing the weapon at the other two.
The men laughed at her, believing her to just be a young maiden waving a sword around. Their laughs caught in their throats when she pulled her hood down, revealing the pointed ears of a Wolf. She growled menacingly, and their faces showed that they were now taking her seriously.
Holo jumped forward, catching the closer of the two completely off guard and letting the sword split open his belly. The last man raised his sword just in time to keep her from plunging the point of her blade into his chest. She pulled back, then swung low. He defended, but she had not been aiming for his body. The tip o her sword hit the handle of his, catching his hand and slicing off a finger. He dropped his sword into the snow. Her next swing took off his head.
Before the body had even hit the ground, Holo dropped her sword and helped Lawrence lie down on his back. She looked at the arrow protruding from his chest. "This... this is not good. I don't know what to do."
Lawrence just looked around, his face the picture of shock. "Holo... you..."
She put her finger on his mouth. "Shush. I need to concentrate. You're badly wounded, and I don't know how to deal with it."
She tried to figure out how to pull the arrow out, but when she realized it was hurting him she stopped. She tried to stop his blood loss, but nothing seemed to be working. She tried everything she could think of, but slowly and surely, she was losing hope.
Her head bowed down, her hands covering her face. "I... I'm sorry. I don't know what to do..."
Minutes could have passed in silence before she felt the presence. She looked up, her senses tingling all over. Standing over her, smiling down with a kind face, was an older man with long hair draped over his shoulders. He seemed to think nothing of her ears, giving her the slightest bit of hope.
Holo was glad Lawrence had slipped out of consciousness. She would not have wanted him to see this. Holo, the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu, begged for help from the old man. She begged him to help Lawrence. If not save him, at least make his passing more comfortable.
The man placed his hand on Holo's head, between her ears. "I have been waiting for the both of you for many years. Do not worry. He will not die this day. I will ensure that."