ONE- The Company of Wolves
When you wander through the forest at the edge of the city,
Where the fog rolls thick and the breeze whispers forlornly.
And the moon is obscured, even on its brightest nights,
Hear the lonely wolf howl at the state of the world,
Work hard to ignore the sounds of monsters about.
When you wander through the forest at the edge of the city,
Where the Queen's darkest secret, lies always in wait.
And no light will shine here, natural or man made,
Hear the rustle and the slither,
Try to run, run, away.
Maka Albarn, both late and new to true womanhood, was considered both admirably fearless and entirely unmarriageable in her village. She was a wild young thing, all gangly limbs and straw hair stubbornly styled like a child's. She had been educated and often spoke out of turn. Her figure was slight, breasts underdeveloped and hips slim. Though not a conventional beauty, she was not considered unattractive and might have made herself a reasonable match… If not for the forest.
Like good stories always do, it started with a curse.
"Fuck!", Maka hissed quietly as she tripped over her father's boots on her way out the door.
She hesitated in silence, listening intently for any signs that he was waking. When she didn't hear any, she slowly lifted the latch on their door and slipped outside, shutting it carefully behind her. She peeked around the corners of the house for any signs of her nosy and occasionally criminal neighbours before scurrying down the path and out the gate.
Maka pulled her cloak tighter around herself to guard against the morning fog as she trecked towards the forest once again. On her arm was a basket containing everything she'd need for a quiet day of solitude; bread, hard cheese and an apple, a waterskin, the book she was currently reading and of course, her heavy hunting knife. She may have been bold, but she wasn't stupid. That knife had already saved her more times than she'd care to admit. The forest may be her sanctuary, but it wasn't without its dangers. She hummed under her breath, a melancholy tune she had learned from her mother as a child, and breathed deep the smell of the damp and the woods. She had been making this trip for almost as long as she could remember. Other folks were afraid of the forest, the way true light never seemed to reach the ground, the phantom creaks of the wood and the unexplainable animal sounds. None of that had bothered Maka in years. Ever since her friend Black*Star had dared her to enter back when their mothers were still alive, she had never freed herself from its call. She knew the hidden groves and clearings where the sun fell dappled and bright to the ground, all of the trees, old, dying and dead and she knew that almost every animal hidden in the undergrowth was more afraid of her than she was of it. She no longer felt even the slightest twinge of fear, only anticipation and a desire not to be interrupted and caught before she could lose herself inside the woods.
She entered quiet as a wraith and she wove through the underbrush without a thought of her direction. Her path was instinctive by now. There was hardly a corner of the woods she hadn't explored at least once. Even the dangerous ones had been met by her curiosity, though some of those places she had vowed to never return. She wandered deeper than usual, scouting for a rare spot where the rising sun would penetrate the thick canopy of trees and trickle down to the ground. She entered the glade by crawling through a narrow tunnel in a patch of thorny bracken. The thorns tugged at her cloak, but it was made of good, thick material and she knew it would be fine. She tumbled out the other end with a triumphant smile and allowed herself a quiet laugh at her success. Light splayed through the dense greenery, dappling the ground like fairy lights. She strode towards a larger patch of sun and a tree wide enough to lean her back against, already reaching for her book and itching to get stuck into the next chapter.
Then she heard the slither.
In one fluid movement Maka pulled the knife out and dropped the basket, spinning around to face whatever creature lurked in her perfect reading place. Maka gasped and tightened the grip on her knife. She had fought off wild beasts, sentient plants and the occasional goblin, but what was rising up before her was something she had never expected to see. Now towering above her, arched back and ready to strike was a wyrm as white as fresh fallen snow. The serpentine dragon's nostrils flared and its eyes were narrow red slits, almost hidden under droopy lids. It surveyed her calculatingly, not quite ready to strike. Maka gulped and took a few shallow breaths.
"I don't suppose you'd consider not killing me." her voice was squeaky, but she held her ground.
The wyrm blinked once and its mouth curled up into a semblance of a smile to reveal rows of presumably razor sharp, pointed teeth.
"I'm pretty dangerous you know, might be a good idea to start running." a voice, deep and gravelly like that of a man only just waking up rolled from the wyrm's mouth. It was a surprisingly pleasant voice for a monster.
Unsure how to proceed, Maka gathered what remained of her courage and addressed the beast once more,
"Is that a yes then?"
The wyrm lowered its head towards her and Maka stood transfixed, vaguely aware that if she was to kill the beast now would be her best opportunity.
"Why aren't you afraid?" it, he, she supposed based on that voice, asked.
"I'm terrified." she admitted barely louder than a whisper.
"Then why haven't you tried to kill me yet?" he tilted his head to the side, gesturing towards her knife.
"I could ask the same of you."
The wyrm blinked in surprise and recoiled slightly.
"You're mouthy, you know that?"
Maka hmphed, "You're just a big snake, you know that?"
The wyrm's nostrils flared.
"I am not!"
"I've read all about you. Giant snake with rows of sharp fangs instead of just two, red eyes and pale flesh, no legs or wings. Technically a type of dragon. You're a wyrm which is really, except for the teeth, a big snake."
He growled and bared his teeth at her, invading her personal space again. Maka fell back against the tree in surprise and dropped her knife to catch herself. The wyrm's eyes darted to her fallen knife and back to her.
"I am more than a big snake." the twist to his mouth almost resembled a human pout.
"Prove it."
Maka held his eerily red gaze and made no attempt to retrieve her knife. The wyrm stared back at her just as intently, before leaning back and curling in on himself comfortably. It reminded her of how a human might sit cross legged on the ground. She let herself slouch down against the tree, not so much to mirror the wyrm's actions as to sit before her legs gave out entirely and she fell.
"You can run now. I won't chase you." somehow he managed to sound even more gruff than he had initially.
"I'm not running anywhere."
He quirked a scaled eyebrow at her.
"It's not every day I meet a wyrm, especially so far south." she put on a brave face and nonchalant tone, but honestly Maka wasn't sure she could run if she tried. Her legs still shook beneath her.
The wyrm chuckled, an almost catlike purr from deep in his chest.
"You're crazy. Who are you?"
Maka glared at him and he bobbed his head sheepishly. At least she thought it was sheepishly, it was hard to tell on snake anatomy.
"My name is Maka Albarn."
The wyrm bowed his head to her, the movement so similar to how a gentleman would begin a dance. It seemed out of place on his body, out in the forest.
"You can call me Soul Eater."
The name was overly dramatic even for an overgrown lizard and it seemed rather rich of him to be calling her crazy when he went around introducing himself like that, but for once Maka held her tongue. She extended her hand, leaving it hanging in the air between them. Soul Eater watched her almost warily for a moment before slowly moving his head so that her hand rested on top of it. Maka splayed her fingers over his smooth scales and wondered at how he was so warm in such a cool and dark place. Beneath her fingers Soul Eater opened his red eyes and met her gaze. A kind of understanding passed between them then and when Maka pulled her hand away and smiled warily at the beast, he smiled back.