The Wolf Phantom

by Kyandi-Akatensei

In battle, the weak are killed and the strong survive. Survival was the only thing on the mind of the one called the Wolf Phantom. When survival brings Arslan and his friends into the territroy of this lone wolf, Arslan sets out to befriend this beast and finds out some surprising facts of this phantom's past. Daryun/OC

1. Not As It Seems

Summary: In battle, the weak are killed and the strong survive. Survival was the only thing on the mind of the one called the Wolf Phantom. When survival brings Arslan and his friends into the territory of this lone wolf, Arslan sets out to befriend this beast and finds out some surprising facts of this phantom's past.

Kyandi: Hello everyone! For those of you who don't know me, I am Kyandi Akatensei. You'll find me branched out among a few different anime/manga titles, but mostly in Prince of Tennis. I do try to branch out though. Hence why I'm here! Usually I like to do character interactions before and after a chapter, but I decided this time, not to introduce my OC before they appear in the story. So I'm all you're going to get for now. Sorry to disappoint. But please, enjoy and review. I welcome, no love, reviews. Praise makes me giddy, constructive criticism is welcomed, but flaming can be left out. Please and thank you! I do not own Heroic Legend of Arslan.

Chapter 1 Not What It Seems

From childhood, many lessons are learned. Some are re-taught throughout life. Some with force, some with gentle touch. Arslan knew this. Such lessons like a pot just removed from the fire, is hot to the touch, or it is best to check a crowded market street before simply running across it. Common sense lessons that all children learn from the time they can walk. But there was one lesson all children are taught, that rarely ever sticks.

Not everything is as it seems.

Arslan tried his hardest to remember this lesson. Especially now a days when he found himself constantly questioning people and things around him. Lately his life had taken on an aspect of surprises, twists, and turns. And survival. Survival had become the first thing on his mind when he woke up and the last thing on his mind when he went to sleep.

It was survival that drove him into the mountain side forest where he and his group of companions now found themselves.

Originally they had been trying to avoid this area. Many of the villagers in the villages on the way had warned them that the forest on that part of the mountain was the home territory of a warrior simply called the Wolf Phantom. The villagers had described the Wolf Phantom as being a creature that traveled with wolves as companions, slaughtering all who dared to step foot in his forest. They said he hid among the forest covered mountain side and attacked without a seconds notice, his face hidden by a wolf skin cloak.

But with Lusitanian soldiers so close on their tails, they didn't have much of a choice.

So far, Arslan and his group hadn't seen hide or hair of this so called warrior. But every snapping twig and animal darting by, had many of them on edge. There was no telling where or when this warrior would show himself.

"Rather persistent, are they not?" Narsus asked, peering through the trees, farther down the trail they had just made their way up.

Soliders were still following them, getting close only to be forced back by Farangis and Gieve with their bows. Arslan turned his eyes to the lower part of the trail, watching as the first of the soldiers appeared on their tails.

"We should keep moving, your highness." Narsus told him.

Arslan nodded, turning his horse to follow him further down the path. They were in the very heart of the Wolf Phantom's home now, deeper than any villager ever dared to go since the warrior had moved into the area long ago. None of them would risk the wrath of the mysterious man by moving too close to his home. Arslan and his friends didn't have a choice but to risk it.

Elam, who had been scouting ahead, appeared out of the trees than.

"A smaller force of soldiers are heading this way from the opposite end of the trail, my lord." he told Narsus.

Narsus made an annoyed noise, his brain running a fast pace to try and figure out a plan. Either way they would have to face the soldiers. They would have to push forward, take on the smaller force head first, force their way through. It was the only thing they could do at this point. They thought they were in for another fight that could leave them hurt or worse. But rounding the bend of the trail, they could hear the screams of dying men ahead. Clearing the bend they found out way.

A ring of dead Lusitanian soldiers lay on the ground, more soldiers, alive and fearful, were just beyond them. In the middle of the ring...was a cloaked figure. The cloak was made with the full body pelt of a very large, stark white wolf.

Arslan had heard that the wolves in the area grew to be two, sometimes three times, the size of a normal wolf. The one that made up the figure's cloak was huge, it's head making the hood of the cloak that hid all but the bottom half of the person's face. All Arslan could see was a mouth made of full lips, pressed into a neutral line, and a somewhat stubborn chin.

This would have to be the warrior known as the Wolf Phantom.

In his left hand, the person gripped the staff of a long, pole weapon capped with a heavy iron cap at one end and eighteen inches worth of a half leaf shaped, steel blade on the other. The pole, itself, was steel etched with the rampant forms of wolves and was six feet in length. No sword, no blade, would be able to cut through that weapon unless swung with impressive force, and it was good to behead a man, but it would be heavy to wield. Only a person who had been raised wielding the weapon would be able to use it.

Or someone with a massive amount of strength. Even then, without proper training, a person wouldn't know how to use the weapon properly. Only one country, a country that had fallen to Pars long ago, had ever had warriors capable of wielding the weapon to its full potential.

"An Alhirian glaive." Daryun said in awe.

"Does that mean the Wolf Phantom is Alhirian?" Arslan asked.

"That can't be. Any remaining Alhirians vanished into surrounding countries, or are slaves. They wouldn't have access to such a well maintained glaive." Elam replied.

As they watched, the remaining soldiers surged forward, intending to overwhelm the cloaked man. The first man lost his head with one lethal twist and swing of the glaive. The mysterious warrior moved with a graceful intent, wielding his glaive with the ease of long practice. Twirling, slicing, ducking and slicing again, never ceasing movement, always in a constant dance of lethal blade.

Several more men met the same fate as their comrades. Though the men had numbers, the phantom obviously had speed and skill. Archers notched their arrows, letting them fly. A twirl of the glaive, cut most down, leaving the phantom to dodge the rest. With the man's speed, it was an easy enough feat. The archers were too far back, their range too great, for the arrows to offer the kind of speed to make them hard to dodge.

The man closed that distance, taking a running start for the cliff they were perched on. Using the speed of the forward movement, he was able to run a few steps up the cliff face, before digging his blade into the rock to rocket himself the rest of the way into the air. He came down on the archers' heads, swinging. Each archer was cut down, leaving only a hand full of men below, alive. The Wolf Phantom didn't bother with picking his way down from the cliff, just merely jumped, landing on the rump of a man's horse, right behind him.

The suddenly gain of a passenger and the death of its rider, sent the horse into a frenzy. The cloaked warrior rode out the horse's bucking, taking advantage of the horse's flailing hooves to observe his enemy. When the horse bucked again, the warrior launched himself from its back, slicing down two more foes. A few more slices left the enemy's numbers at zero. Horses with no riders left, took off running down the path.

It was then that Narsus and Daryun noticed that though bodies littered the trail, a path just big enough for two horses to pass abreast, was cleared straight down the center of the trail. They would still be able to ride on, but the Wolf Phantom stood right in their way. He stood, turning to fix eyes lost inside the hood, on them. Blood dripped from the blade of his weapon, but not a drop of it splattered the starkness of his cloak. With a turn on his heel, he started their way, the sun glinting menacingly off his blood soaked blade, that left a trail of his enemy's blood behind him.

Daryun and Narsus went on alert, shifting to guard Arslan when the warrior broke into a dead run, moving swiftly towards them. His blade swung out...only to dig into the ground, carrying the warrior up and over their heads. He landed briefly behind Elam, on his horse, before launching himself past Farangis and Gieve...and straight into an oncoming force of more Lusitanian soldiers. The first man was spear straight through the throat, his horse rearing in fear. This helped launch the Wolf Phantom at his next enemy.

Surprised by the sudden attack of an enemy they had never seen, the soldiers scrambled to try to pull themselves back together. The warrior took advantage of that moment of confusion and shock to dispatch as many soldiers as he could. He landed on the ground just as the archers pulled themselves together.

"Watch out!" Arslan yelled.

The warrior's head snapped up as the archers let their arrows fly at too close a range for him to dodge. Instead of dodging, the warrior reached up, unclasping his cloak, whipping it off and out to catch the oncoming arrows saving himself.

Or...herself.

Surprise froze the men in their place as length upon length of fiery red-orange hair spilled out from beneath the cloak. The sheer length of the hair would fall to the bearer's knees. A black ribbon tied it off three-fourths of the way down. Chin length bangs flew in the way of eyes that rivaled the brightest flames as she whipped around to face the men.

The Wolf Phantom was a woman.

Her sheer beauty was a rival with Farangis and even Arslan's own mother. She had a pure, almost innocent beauty to her face, with high cheek bones, full, pink lips, a small nose, and those beautiful, doe-eyed eyes. She didn't look to be but a few years older than Arslan. Her bangs fell in around her face, strands curling to cup the smooth planes of her face. Her long eyelashes and arched eyebrows, were lost among the bangs, their color matching the hair and making them blend in. She was a little above average height for a woman, standing at five foot, seven, was lean and muscled, generously curved, and had a lethal grace that seemed to bleed from her pores.

She had clothed that body in skin tight, grey pants that vanished into thigh-high, black boots. Over that she wore a tunic-like, halter style top with a diamond cut-out just over her collar bones that exposed just enough cleavage to make men's mouth water. It fell to her knees with slits that rode the length of both sides, up to her ribs. Fingerless, black gloves stretched half way up her biceps, silver bands clasped around her arms where they ended. A crystal whistle hung around her neck, a thin silver band wrapped around her head to vanish under her bangs, and she wore silver and sapphire earrings hanging from both earlobes.

She was beautiful. Truly so. A beauty with coloring not of Pars. Even her honey and cream skin looked untouched and beautiful. The men facing her were shocked, entranced...and didn't see the blade of the glaive until she took the heads of four more men. She slashed quickly through the men, fighting deeper into their ranks, her movements never stopping. This brought her face to face with their leader as he tried to back away from her and fell on his butt. She didn't pause, didn't hesitate for a second, which could have gotten her killed.

She took his head.

Outraged, the remaining men turned on her. The young woman simply dropped to one knee...leaving an opening for a large silver-white she-wolf. The creature was easily twice the size of a normal wolf, her fur the same silver-white color of the full moon, her eyes only shades darker. She took down two men threatening the human woman, teeth bared in a snarl.

The young woman came to her feet, the crystal whistle caught between her lips. She blew the whistle, but no sound came out of it. No sooner had she released the whistle, she kicked back into motion, moving in sync with the she-wolf. Growling announced the arrival of two more wolves, both male and bigger than the she-wolf. They appeared on the cliffs above the Lusitanian soldiers, their fangs bared in snarls.

One was solid, midnight black save for a single stripe of steel grey that went from the tip of his nose, over his head and down his back to the tip of his tail. The other was solid steel grey and bore a large scar over his milky right eye, another scar parting the fur on his left shoulder. Both shared the same silver eyes as the she-wolf.

With these two joining the fight, it was won quickly.

Narsus sent Elam ahead to check the way. The girl knelt next to a man that had died more from fright than from the claw marks marring his chest into a bloody mess. His lifeless eyes stared straight up at the sky. The girl reached out, easing his eyes closed. She left her hand over his eyes and bowed her head as if she was offering a prayer. She remained still, head bowed, her wolves even joining her to bow their heads, the she-wolf carrying the girl's arrow riddled cloak.

Finally she stood, clapping her hands together and bowing to the men before her. It was an Alhirian custom for sure. For the dead, be they friend or foe, they would first pray for the dead, then clap their hands together to symbolize the end being finished, and bow to show the dead spirit was free to move on. It was a way to honor the dead, for all, no matter who or what they were in life, were to be honored in death.

Especially warriors.

The girl turned to the she-wolf, taking the cloak from her. Shifting the cloak in her hands, she snapped the shaft of each arrow, pulling it free of the cloak as she walked. Gieve and Narsus stepped away when one of the male wolves bared his fangs at them for being too close to the girl. The girl walked right past them, pulling the last of the arrows free. She stopped when she reached the men she had fought first, and drove the blade of her glaive into the ground. She fixed the cloak back around her shoulders before sliding the glaive back into a holster strapped to her back.

That done, she repeated the honoring-the-dead process. Elam returned in that time, skirting around the praying girl to return to Narsus.

"There's more soldiers coming up the trails from both ends. They will block us off soon." Elam told Narsus.

Narsus thought this information over, his eyes darting from the trails to the girl as she clapped her hands and bowed. Her praying done, she turned to look at them. Arslan jolted when her eyes landed squarely on him. She stared at him for a moment before inclining her head towards the opening she had left in the trail. With that, she turned on her heel and took off down the trail, the wolves bounding off ahead of her. Fifteen yards down the trail, she stopped and turned to look at them, waiting.

"I think she wants us to follow her." Arslan remarked, looking up at Narsus and Daryun for their opinion.

"She did help us, hasn't done anything to us when she could of." Elam said.

Narsus and Daryun looked at each other. At this point, trusting her might be the only way they made it out of there alive. She had helped them when she could have attacked them just as easily as she attacked the other men.

"It is your choice, your highness." Narsus said, looking down at Arslan.

Arslan stared at the girl as she waited patiently. He couldn't sense anything malicious from the girl, nothing that suggested she would be a danger to them. Her yellow-orange eyes didn't show anything that could be harmful to him or his friends. She just seemed to be honestly trying to help them.

"Let us go." he said, taking his horse's reins in his hands to follow the girl.

The others followed. When they started moving, the girl turned and continued her walking. She lead the way down the trail, the wolves taking turns coming back to her. They would bark and growl at her and the girl would nod as if she understood the wolves, before they would take off again. Not too far down the trail, the girl turned and walked straight between two trees, where she should have run right into the stone wall of the cliffs behind them. Instead she passed right through a screen of moss and vanished beyond.

When the others stepped through the screen, they found themselves in a short tunnel that lead to a larger forest. Here, the branches above were so densely packed, it made the world under them dark. The girl continued to lead the way, picking her way through the trees. Finally she turned, vanishing among a screen of high, over grown bushes. Daryun and Narsus pushed the bushes aside, clearing the way for the others. They found themselves in a cavern tunnel then. Up ahead there was a spark before a torch blazed to life in the hand of the girl. She tucked her flint back into a pouch on her belt and continued on.

The cavern turned into a tunnel with several more tunnels branching off. She never once faltered as she turned and followed more tunnels, deeper still. In the last stretch of tunnel, they lost sight of the girl completely. When finally they came out in open air, they found themselves in a small, bowl shaped valley. Rock walls rose sharply in a ring around them. Tucked against the far rock wall, hidden by trees, was a small house that looked like it extended right into the rock wall behind it.

The girl was sitting on a rock ledge not from the cavern opening, her eyes fixed on the sky above and the torch wedged between two boulders. She had led them to somewhere safe, to wait out the Lusitanian soldiers now swarming the area. Arslan took a step towards her.

"Thank you. For your help." he told her.

The girl turned her eyes to him. Did she even understand him? Did she speak the same language? Did she even speak at all? The girl pushed herself off the ledge, landing on her feet in front of him. Her head tilted to the side.

"You are the one they call the Wolf Phantom?" Arslan asked.

The girl's head nodded down than up, once. At least she understood him. This gave Arslan a little hope.

"Are you against the Lusitanians? Is that why you helped us?" Arslan asked.

Another simple nod.

"Than will you join us?" Arslan asked.

The girl's eyes narrowed slightly, her head tilting in confusion.

"Will you take my offer?" Arslan asked, taking another step towards her.

"Why?"

The girl's voice was low, soft, accented with a lulling accent that wasn't native to Pars. She could speak. That made Arslan feel less awkward when faced with her.

"Why?" Arslan repeated.

"Why would you ask such a thing of one such as I?" she asked.

Arslan wasn't sure how to answer that question.

"You do not know me, do not even know my name. And I can give you several reasons why you would be better suited forgetting I exist instead of asking such a thing. And the first would be that for all you know...I could be an enemy too." she added.

"You could be, but I don't believe you are. An enemy would not have brought us back to her home." he said.

"Perhaps not. And just what is it you have to do that would require you to ask me such a thing?" she asked.

Arslan explained to her everything that had happened, from the battle that had left him and Daryun on the run, to the events that had brought them to Narsus and Elam and that had brought Farangis and Gieve to them. He told her what they were fighting for and his wishes for the kingdom should he be made king. The girl listened intently, her eyes never leaving his face as wind whipped her hair about her. When he finally finished, silence stretched as she digested the information. Finally she blinked slowly.

"So you have just escaped the clutches of a traitor, and now look to free your country from the invading forces he helped bring in? A just cause for sure, kingling. I could still give you reasons why I would not be ideal for your cause." she replied.

"You can?" he asked.

"I can. I may be skilled with my glaive, a weapon I have trained with since I could walk, but my swordsmanship skills are sorely lacking. A child just learning to use a sword would be better than I. I am awkward when it comes to human interaction. I fair fine with two, perhaps three others, but anything larger than that...I am horribly uneasy. For the last eight or nine years, my only companion has been the wolves I run with. The wolves I travel with at all times. I do not think or act like a normal human, I do not understand the first thing about anything outside of survival, and I do not see the world as you do. I am not a creature of court or even large companies. I fail to see what use you could possibly find in one such as I. Surely I would hurt your cause."

The others listened from behind Arslan, watching the girl's impassive, expressionless face as she waited for an answer. The girl seemed earnest in finding no value in herself in an army setting as she stared into Arslan's eyes. The boy stared back, sensing that his next words would be what decided her next move, be it good or bad. He couldn't sense any evil intent from the girl, and neither could Narsus or Daryun for that matter. She really just wanted to know his answer. Was curious what use he could make of a person like her, who would not thrive in a large army.

"It is because you don't think the same and because of your skill with such a difficult weapon to master." Arslan said.

The girl, thoroughly shocked, blinked back at him. Confusion blanketed her features, making her appear cute rather then beautiful.

"You say you do not think like normal people, meaning you would see things differently, come up with different ideas than any general on the battlefield. I saw you fight. You trust your instincts, and you see the world in a way I cannot hope to. I need your insight, your instincts, and that sense of justice and compassion you showed when you prayed over those men who were your enemies." Arslan told her.

The girl stared at him, remaining quiet. Looking at her, they couldn't tell a single thought that ran through her head. For a long moment she did just that, stared at him. Then she half turned, whistling.

"Lunarwind." she called.

The white-silver she-wolf appeared then, hopping down the cliffs. She paused at the girl's side and she jerked her head towards Arslan in a silent order. The she-wolf turned then, approaching Arslan with a stalking walk that made her look like she was about to eat the boy alive. Arslan stared at the wolf, fear and shock coursing through him.

"Your highness!"

The others started forward to save the prince when the two male wolves jumped down the cliffs, landing between them and Arslan, growling to keep them in place. The girl just stood there, her hands on her hips as the she-wolf reached Arslan, circling him as she sniffed at him. She came to a stop in front of Arslan, head butting him in the chest, knocking the prince off his feet so he landed on his butt. He looked up as the she-wolf leaned down, silver eyes meeting his blue as if the beast was trying to stare into Arslan's very soul.

Daryun felt his heart beat speed up in fear for the prince. The girl even seemed tense as she watched the scene intently. The she-wolf, who the girl had called Lunarwind, continued to stare at Arslan, her muzzle coming closer and closer...until she licked him. Arslan gasped in surprise and couldn't help a small laugh when the she-wolf rubbed herself against him. To his surprise the girl relaxed then.

"Just as I thought. She likes you, kingling." the girl said.

Arslan looked up at her in questioning. The others were just as surprised as Arslan was that it had been a test and Arslan had passed. Though they were also surprised that she had the gull to address Arslan as "kingling".

"It was a test?" Arslan asked.

The girl nodded, waving a hand at the male wolves. The two wolves stopped their growling, though they didn't move just yet.

"Beast are remarkable judges of character, kingling. They are able to sense what lies in the very heart and soul of a person. Females are even more sketchy about others. Even with their own offspring which they only keep close for as long as it takes to nurse them. Past that they are very picky on who or what they let near. Lunarwind here is far more picky than the average female beast. I have not seen her like another person or animal aside from myself. She can even be hostile to her own littermates. It speaks highly of your character that she likes you enough to mark you as her own." the girl explained.

"She's marking me?" Arslan asked.

"She is rubbing her scent on you. It is a way to warn other animals that you are hers and should they approach you there will be a dire repercussions in their future." she explained.

The girl knelt next to the she-wolf, who leaned into her as the girl scratched behind her ears. The girl looked Arslan in the eyes and held out on her left hand.

"Since she claims you, believes well of you, and your answer pleases me, I have no reason to deny you, kingling. I do apologize for the test. I have learned to be leery of humans more than beasts." she said, Arslan's face lighting up with a smile.

Arslan took her hand, happy to have her on his side. Though this was probably the strangest meeting he had had with one of his companions yet.

"My name is Alair." the girl told him, pulling him to his feet.

"Alair?" Arslan asked.

Alair nodded. With a small whistle and a jerk of her head, the two male wolves backed off from Arslan's companions, approaching Alair and Arslan.

"The she-wolf is Lunarwind. These two fine fellows are Wolfsbane and Greyback, Lunarwind's brothers." Alair said, pointing to the she-wolf and then to the scarred wolf, and lastly to the wolf with the grey stripe down his back.

The two male wolves padded up to Arslan, sniffing him before accepting him with a wag of their tails. Lunarwind let them have their sniffs before she growled at them to back off. Both did so quickly, scrambling behind Alair.

"Be considerate of others, Lunarwind." Alair told the she-wolf who huffed in reply.

Arslan turned to his companions then, introducing them to Alair. Alair's eyes scanned over them as if taking each of them in before her eyes fixed solely on Arslan in an awkward silence. She had said she was uneasy with larger groups.

"Your enemies are great in number, kingling. They have been running rampant through these forests for some time now. I have heard them whispering of a great war to come and the prince they hunt." Alair said.

"Word of that has reached this far?" Arslan asked.

"And further, I fear. You are welcome to stay here as long as you have need. There are enough beds through-out the house to accommodate you all." Alair said, nodding towards the house. "No humans find the tunnel to these woods easily. Even if they do and manage to find the tunnels to this valley, none ever make it through the maze of tunnels and most certainly never make it past my wolves."

"Thank you, Alair." Arslan told her as she turned to pulled the torch free of the two boulders.

"No thanks needed, kingling. I am always more than ready to help one of such a great sense of justice and such a great need to protect his people." she told him.

"Don't you believe you are being rude to the future king of your country!" Narsus scolded.

Alair fixed Narsus with an intent stare, one eyebrow rocketing up. In the dying sunlight, her eyes blazed like flames, but that didn't hide the confused look in their fiery depths.

"My country? I am not Parsian." she replied before turning away and following after her wolves. "Lunarwind."

The she-wolf grabbed Arslan gently by the clothes and tugged him after her. Arslan stumbled at first, but followed, the others following after him. Wolfsbane and Greyback rejoined them, each carrying a pack in their jaws. They fell into step on either side of their mistress.

"You're Alhirian, right?" Arslan asked as they others followed after him.

Alair glanced back at him, her gaze unreadable in the flickering flames of the torch. The glance was quick, her attention turning forward once more. The air around her was quite clear...it was a no-zone topic.

"And why would you believe such a thing? Alhir fell seventeen years ago. For all you may believe of me, I am not very old." Alair said.

"The glaive is an Alhirian weapon. Something most Alhirians are taught to use from the time they learn to walk." Arslan replied.

"A few Parsians who live on the boarder lands of the land that use to make up the Alhirian kingdom, have learned to use the glaive in the past." Alair replied.

"The prayers you preformed over those soldiers was an Alhirian custom." Arslan retorted.

"More than just Alhirians have honored those customs, kingling. Parsians among them." came Alair's swift retort.

"Your name is Ancient Alhirian for "one blessed by wolves". Fitting considering your companions." Arslan countered.

Alair heaved a sigh then before half turning to glance back at Arslan.

"I am from no where important, kingling. I live in Pars now. That is all that matters." she told him.

By this point she had reached the base of the stairs leading up to the porch outside the front door of the house. She stuck the burning torch in a small barrel of water at the base of the stairs that led up to a front porch, putting it out. The wolves bounded ahead of her, up the steps to the front door. Wolfsbane reached up with one massive paw, triggering a latch that opened the front door for him. He vanished inside, his brother behind him. Alair was slower going up the steps, Lunarwind tugging Arslan after her and the others following.

Inside a low fire lit the spacious living room. Alair crossed to the fire, throwing more logs from a stack on it, stoking it into light, lighting the room easily. A large, low sitting table surrounded by sitting pillows sat on a raised section of floor, fabric of purples, reds, and blues hung from the walls, and plush rugs carpeted the floors. Halls branched off the back of the house. More than likely the rest of the house was built into the rock wall it was built against. The place had obviously been built for a large family, not just one girl and her wolves.

"Make yourselves at home." Alair told them as she collected the packs her wolves had been carrying.

The packs turned out to hold fresh killed meat. She had gone hunting and that was why she had been out when she had come across them and the Lusitania soldiers she had ended up fighting. She carried the packs through a doorway covered by blue curtains. Through the curtains, they caught sight of the kitchen beyond as she flicked them out of her way.

"I'll make you some dinner." Alair offered over her shoulder.

"Ah! Please allow me to help." Elam offered.

Alair stopped and turned to look at the boy, blinking in surprise at the offer. Her head tilted back as she considered the boy but finally she shook her head.

"No, thank you. I'm afraid it would simply be too strange having another in my kitchen when for so long it has been just me." she told him. "Just rest."

With that, Alair vanished beyond the curtain. Elam seemed to deflate some, but Narsus invited him to join him at the table and the boy did so. Gieve dropped to sit next to Farangis, his eyes ever moving through the room. Daryun was too busy studying the woven drapes on the walls and the colorful scenes they portrayed. There was clinking and the sound of a knife chopping away from the other side of the curtains for a while and then Alair reappeared with a tray in hand. She set two large jugs, one of water, the other of wine, on the table, placing out cups for them to use.

"Might I ask where you got these from?" Arslan asked, gesturing to the drapes Daryun was admiring.

Alair looked up at them, her eyes traveling from one to the other. She stood up straight as she studied them herself.

"I made them." she answered.

Shocked eyes turned to her as she braced the tray on her hip. Her expression betrayed nothing as she, herself, studied them. Daryun was surprised. She looked like a warrior, a hunter. He couldn't see her spending the amount of time it would take to make one of the drapes. But that went to show that nothing was as it seemed. A lesson that they were all having difficulty remembering.

"I was taught to do so from the moment I could stand, as was required of young ladies. It seems to be one of the few parts of my culture I have held on to. Aside from the companionship of wolves that is. My people saw wolves as a creature meant to be befriended, kept near. Not as a pet but as an equal." she added before turning to return to the kitchen.

She vanished into the kitchen, flicking the curtain aside with one hand. Wolfsbane bounded after her. Greyback was too busy sprawled out before the fire, his belly presented to the flames for warming. Lunarwind had laid down next to Arslan, allowing the boy to pet her fur.

"She's certainly a strange one." Gieve remarked.

Though they didn't say it, the others agreed.

"Abnormality is in the eye of the beholder." came Alair's voice from the kitchen.

The others jolted. Apparently her senses were better than a normal human's for she had heard Gieve clearly despite his low tone. They avoided saying anything else that could be considered offensive. When Alair returned she finally accepted Elam's offer to help, putting him to work helping her to set out the food. There was a rabbit meat and herb soup, fresh baked bread, fried boar meat, and other dishes. Once it was set out, Alair fed her wolves, though she claimed they fed themselves for the most part. Then she finally joined them.

"This is excellent, Alair." Arslan told her.

"I suppose. Food is food. One learns to cook edible food when there is no one else to do it for them." Alair replied.

At this Elam looked pointedly at Narsus who pretended not to see the look. Daryun smiled, chuckling to himself.

"But you don't go near villages usually? How do you obtain the food?" Elam asked.

"You would be surprised what edible plant life and other things you can find in a forest. Everything here is from the forest. I hunt my own meat, grow my own vegetables, and hunt for edible herbs and other plant life." Alair told him.

"You can find all of this in the forest?" Gieve asked.

Alair nodded, taking a bite of her food.

"It's not at all hard if you know what you are looking for." she replied once she had swallowed the bite.

"Interesting. And I thought you said you were uneasy with more than two or three people." Gieve added.

"I am uneasy. The fact that I have not looked any of you in the eye while speaking, when that is considered rude to wolves, is evidence enough of that."

It was true that she hadn't raised her eyes once, choosing to focus on her food. Now and then, she would pick a large chunk of meat from her stew and toss it over her shoulder. Greyback and Wolfsbane would take turns snatching the meat out of the air. Arslan didn't want her to be uncomfortable with the group since they would be together for a while yet.

"Alair, may I ask you something?" he asked.

"If you wish to, kingling." she replied.

"How did you come about having Lunarwind, Wolfsbane, and Greyback as your companions if they are so picky?" Arslan asked.

"Let me see...it was about nine years ago. I was but a pup myself when I stumbled into these woods. Their mother, a mighty she-wolf she was, took me in. Her name was Snowfall. She was the alpha female of her pack and even had sway over her alpha male, Shadowfang. With wolves the male rules, not the female, but Snowfall was not one to take orders from anyone." Alair said fondly. "A trait Lunarwind, and even myself, have gained."

Lunarwind huffed, wagging her tail once before dropping her head onto Arslan's thigh. Alair looked down at the wolf, reaching out to scratch behind the she-wolf's ears.

"She must have sensed something in me that she liked, to believe it safe enough to introduce me not only to her pack, but her pups." Alair remarked.

Alair sat her bowl aside. She picked up her glass of water, taking a drink before she continued with the story.

"I grew up along side many of her litters over the years, but it was Lunarwind and her brothers that took the most liking to me. It was Snowfall that killed the wolf whose pelt I wear. He was the alpha of a rival pack in these woods and had killed many of the pack." Alair explained.

All three wolves raised their heads, growling at the mention of the now deceased wolf who had long ago attacked their pack. Alair held up a hand and the three settled back down.

"His pack was bigger, had more fighters and they chewed through Shadowfang's numbers quickly. You see, kingling, wolves are not so different from humans in that aspect. Larger numbers commonly win. But what is strength without cunning? By the time Snowfall took down the alpha it was only Shadowfang, Snowfall, Lunarwind, Wolfsbane, Greyback, and I left. And Snowfall would not have done it if the alpha had not threaten my life for she saw me as her pup and you do not threaten a she-wolf's pups and live to tell the tale." Alair said, glancing at Arslan who was listening intently.

Lunarwind huffed, as if agreeing with Alair's statement. Arslan pat her head, the she-wolf laying her head back on his thigh.

"After what remain of that pack was driven off, both Shadowfang and Snowfall died of old age. I suppose Lunarwind and her brothers have appointed me their new alpha, because they have followed me since." Alair told him.

"So you were literally raised by wolves?" Gieve asked with a grimace on his face.

Alair's eyes turned to the man, sharp in their intensity.

"Is there an issue with that? Compared to my years among humans, my years among wolves was far more instructional. More...informative." Alair told him.

Gieve raised his hands in innocence, to show he had meant no harm in his comment.

"The wolf chain of command is much simpler to understand. You have your alpha who is never to be questioned, a beta who would become the next alpha should anything happen, an omega who is considered the scapegoat of the pack, the hunters and fighters who defend the pack and supply it with food, the elders who are considered the most wise, and the alpha female who is the only one allowed to bear the pack pups. She is not to be questioned by anyone aside from her alpha and mate." Alair replied.

"It sounds similar to humans is some ways." Arslan remarked.

"As I said, wolves are not so different from humans in some aspect. They are remarkably intelligent beast, wolves. It was why my people adored them so." Alair told him.

"And does that stand true for you too? The intelligence level, I mean." Narsus asked.

"I would not say that. I am still a pup in wolf standards. After all...I am only twenty-one."

Both Narsus and Daryun nearly choked on their drinks. They had thought her sixteen, maybe seventeen, only slightly older than Arslan, but she was only a handful of years younger than them. Alair didn't seem to register their reaction to the news of her age.

"Twenty-one!?" Narsus asked.

"Twenty-two in the matter of weeks. But age is but a number. True wisdom comes to those open to learning, not those older. A child sometimes is far wiser than someone who claims forty or fifty years to their name." Alair said. "Unless you wish for me to ask towards your age."

All conversation on her age stopped then, much to the girl's amusement. Alair continued to eat in silence, content to remain silent while they spoke among themselves. Arslan didn't want her to feel left out or excluded from the group. She was to be one of them after all.

"Alair, tell me, how did you know those men were in the forest? That we needed assistance?" Arslan asked, drawing attention to the girl once more.

"I could smell them." Alair replied, tapping her nose. "When one grows up in a pack of wolves, one learns to train all of her senses until they are as fine tuned as possible. My senses of smell, sight, and hearing are above average. My family has always had a connection to beasts. Mine is just stronger. So naturally, I smelled them as they entered the forest. I scented you as well, kingling. It was not hard to put two and two together."

"And you had heard of the soldiers terrorizing the villages around here and of their quest for the prince?" Elam asked.

"I do, now and then, venture beyond the edges of the forest. Since coming to this area I find that to truly know what may come my way, I must do so. I hear things the villagers and those who pass through the area, say. I was out hunting when I caught the scents of those not native to this land. There is a difference in scent between them and those who grew up in the area. To find the scent of those who could be considered an enemy in the forest...instinct reins very heavily with me and mine had screamed at me to hunt and be rid of the threat." Alair replied.

Alair snagged another piece of meat from her stew and tossed it over her shoulder. Wolfsbane jumped up to snag it, Greyback growling since it had been his turn. Alair never even glanced up from her food.

"That being said, they were warriors and had families, I'm sure. The god, Mithra, one I have come to be fond of since arriving here, over-sees warriors. Offering a prayer for their souls was the least I could do after taking their lives." she added.

Despite how she acted, the way she talked, Alair was a compassionate, young woman, but one who understood that sometimes, to live you had to kill. For her though, the act of killing another was simpler to understand. If there was a just cause, she probably didn't question it. At least that was how Daryun saw it. Alair's eyes came up to meet his then, those sharp eyes burning into him. Daryun tensed under that gaze, those eyes flickering like flames.

"You are horribly easy to read, I hope you know." she told him, turning attention to Daryun. "I can see it in your eyes. You believe, for one such as I, that the act of taking another's life is easier."

Daryun tried to argue but she was right. He couldn't very well say that she was wrong. That would be a lie. Instead he shut his mouth and nodded his head once. Best to admit it. One of her wolves might bite him if he lied to her. Already the male wolves were eyeing him closely.

"In a way...you would be correct." Alair told him as she finished off the last of her food.

She started collecting the empty dishes, stacking them neatly on a tray, before rising to her feet. Wolfsbane and Greyback relaxed, both flopping down in front of the fire, though Wolfsbane watched Daryun with his one good eye.

"In the world of beasts, it is kill or be killed. The strong live while the weak die. It is all about survival. There are no politics, morals, religion, none of that. There is only the strong and those who fall to them. Such is the course of natural selection." Alair said.

She picked up another bowl, balancing it on a stack of them. Daryun glanced between her and Wolfsbane, the wolf eyeing him closely.

"I am not weak, but nor am I a beast either. Killing another who intends harm or death to me or those I care for and protect, is, in my opinion, unquestionable. Is some cases, it is easy for I do not think of it too closely. In others...well, I am human and I do have a beating heart that sometimes bleeds more than I wish for it to." Alair admitted.

Alair turned away from the table, the tray balanced between two hands. Greyback sat up, offering a whine as she passed. Alair scratched at his ears reassuringly as she passed, vanishing into the kitchen once more.

"Meaning?" Narsus asked, knowing she would hear him.

"Meaning that I do not tend to think too much of it when I believe the cause is just. People die all the time whether from war, famine, or disease. Such is the world we live in. I do not like being part of natural selection and it's due course, but sometimes it really is no different between the world of humans and the world of beasts and it is kill or be killed." Alair answered as she pushed the curtain aside and re-entered the room.

"So you mean that if it was a choice between his highness's life or that of a man fighting for his family..."

"I would kill the man to save the kingling for it is to him that I have laid my services." Alair said, filling in the blank Narsus left.

The answer pleased Narsus and Daryun, though Arslan didn't like the course the conversation was taking.

"How would your family feel to hear this kind of talk? Surely your parents would not wish for their daughter to be involved in the killing of others." Arslan said.

"I would not know. They died when I was but five, almost six, years of age." Alair replied, bending to stack more plates on the tray.

Eyes fixed on her, but Alair carried on without a slight hesitation. In the sixteen, almost seventeen years, she had probably come to terms with the loss of her parents. That she was dry eyed while speaking of their untimely deaths meant that she had long since shed the last of her tears for them.

If she ever had any tears to shed in the first place.

But then she looked up at Arslan and the sad looking look she gave him told him enough. She had shed every last tear she had in her body and could no longer shed anymore. She bowed her head to him and straightened up.

"But I can tell you that my parents, both my mother and father, had been warriors. If there is one thing I remember of them it was that they taught me from birth that if those you care for and protect are in danger, you find the reserves to do what you never thought you could do before. Where I came from, in my former home, those who would betray their country are scum, but those who would betray their friends and their vow of loyalty to them, are lower than scum. I like you and your spirit, kingling, very much so. For me, that is enough. You have my vow of loyalty if nothing else." she told Arslan.

Arslan smiled at her. Alair was a woman who knew what she wanted, who she wanted to ally herself with, and never doubted her instincts. A human woman on the outside, but a wolf at heart. She would run with whatever pack she chose and her wolves would follow her. For her, Arslan's group was her new pack.

If nothing else, she would fight to protect them.

END

Kyandi: That chapter turned out longer than I thought it would, but that is fine. And before anyone ask the question, Alhir is a fan made country.

Alair: What was that?

Kyandi: Nothing~!

Alair: I worry for you.

Kyandi: A lot of people do. Anyway, everyone please enjoy and review. I welcome all reviews.

Alair: We shall return soon.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!