Author's Note: It's been quite a long time since I last released a chapter for this story (or anything at all for that matter)! I was planning on releasing this sometime during my winter break, but I was busier than I had expected and I never really got to finishing the story. However, in a spur of energy, I decided to finish up two of my in-progress chapters this week, in order to not have any loose ends for the start of my Spring Semester.

I've still not got a clear path for this story, since the new prologue and chapter 1 covers almost all of my previous story, but I have a general idea on how I should take it. For this story, I think I'm going to use fan submitted ideas and material more often, in order to change up my style of writing. So, if you have any ideas on how the a certain part of the story should progress, I'd love to hear it! Who knows? Maybe I'll end up using it for my next chapter!

Anyways, that concludes my updates for this story. I hope that you'll enjoy Chapter One of the new and improved Spice and Wolf After Story! Please remember to review or shoot me a PM if you have the time!

And, as always, thanks for reading!

Until Next Time!

~TabiNoTochuu


Spice and Wolf: The After Story V2

Chapter 1 - Wolf and a New Beginning

I felt the body against my own begin to stir as morning approached. As the first rays of the sun reached over the trees, I yawned and got ready to get up. Though we had already moved far away from the riots in Renos, there was no possibility that this area we were in was safe. It was best to keep moving and to get to the next town as soon as possible.

I crawled up, carefully making sure not to wake the sleeping girl besides me. I groaned as my joints creaked and protested in the brisk morning air. I walked over to the campfire we had made last night and used a stick to poke around in the ashes until I found the last embers of the fire. Using small twigs and dried leaves nearby, I carefully built up the fire again and fed it thicker, younger sticks in order to keep it going. I took one of the small pots we had managed to bring with us and placed it next to the fire, filling it halfway with water. Using some of the dried meat we had left, as well as some salt and herbs I found growing nearby, I created a sort of stew that at least had some taste.

While the stew was finishing, I heard a yawn from behind me, and turned to see Horo stretching herself on the makeshift bed. "Good morning. Have you fully woken up yet?"

She blinked blearily at me, and it was obvious that though her body was awake, her mind wasn't really ready to get up yet. I stifled a laugh at her expression and motioned for her to come over to the fire. "Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."

She yawned again and made her way over to the campfire and plopped down next to me. I handed her a bowl of the stew and a biscuit and began to eat. After a few bites of food, it seemed that her sleepiness went away completely, as she began to eagerly devour the stew, pausing only to take a bite of the biscuit every now and then.

(Scene break)

After breakfast, we sat in front of the nearly extinguished fire. "Lawrence... Where are we going to go now? We can't stay here forever, and it would be unsafe to go back the way we came."

I reached toward the sack not far away and pulled out a map of the surrounding area from inside its depths. I unfolded it and studied it for a few moments before I stared out at the surrounding landscape. "Well... according to this map, there should be town a few days north from here. It should be far enough away that the uprising in Renos shouldn't affect it. Also, it would be a good place for us to find a way to make enough money in order to continue our journey north."

"..." She fell silent for a moment at my words, before she scooted a little closer to me. "Lawrence... About what you just said... are you still going to accompany me back to Yoitsu? If you do, there isn't a guarantee that you will come back. The winters are harsh, and danger is everywhere."

I sat there silently for a few moments before I carefully answered her. "... Horo, even I do not know what will happen in the future. However, I want to stay with you as long as possible."

Her face turned slightly red at my words, but she smiled nonetheless. "I'm happy you want that..."

With that kind of feeling, we packed up our gear and left for the next town.

-oOo-oOo-oOo-

I used my hand to shade my eyes and looked out into the distance. From what I could see, there was a decently sized town up ahead, possibly somewhere that we could get some cheap supplies before we headed out again. With Renos still relatively close behind us, I was uneasy about staying in a town for too long. Besides, our money was dangerously low, and it would take nearly all of it just to feed us on the way to Yoitsu.

"Horo, can you see that village over there?"

She squinted in the direction I was pointing and nodded. "Are we going to stay there tonight? My legs are tired from all this walking, and I would like to sleep in a real bed tonight."

I winced at that comment. There was no way, with our budget, that we could rent a room. Perhaps if we skipped a few meals, but even then, that would be stretching it thin. "Horo... you know that we don't have too much money. I don't think that we can afford to stay in a hotel, no matter how cheap it is. My plan was to buy some basic supplies and then head out again."

I had to turn away from the glare she threw in my direction. "Isn't there some way that we can make more money? As a merchant, I'm sure that you can come up with some way to obtain funds for us in some way or another."

As we neared the town, my disappointment and frustration grew. From what I could see, the town seemed extremely poor. The buildings were constructed from cheap wood and more than one plank had been nailed incorrectly, giving the entire town a lopsided look. I began to worry that we might not even be able to buy the basic supplies that we required, let alone the other small things that we wanted. At the very least, a clean bed for the night was completely out of the question.

I walked up to the nearest townsperson I could find, an elderly man dressed in what could pass as rags, and asked for directions to the marketplace, and, after a meaningful glance from Horo, where the cleanest inn was. "Horo... In this case, it's not only because we don't have enough money that I ask that we don't stay here. I would be surprised if this town had an actual inn that we could stay at, from the looks of it."

She glanced at me and smiled mysteriously. "Lawrence, one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The cover may not be pretty, but its contents may just surprise you." Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of the street. "How about we make a bet? If the inn we go to has clean beds, good food, and decent wine, and is affordable, we get to stay there. However, if the inn is too shabby, then I will leave with you without complaint."

"Quite a convenient bet for you." I grumbled. "In either situation, you would benefit in some way or another."

Horo smiled innocently and held out her hand. "Well? Will you take this bet?"

I sighed in defeat and grasped her hand. "Alright, you win. If this inn we go to is adequate and affordable, then I promise that we can stay there. But only for one night. Our money won't last us much longer if we stay any longer than that."

I should have known that something was off when she gave me a broad grin and let go of my hand. Never did the thought that she might have known something else about the town that I didn't strike me until we were right outside the door of the inn. And by that time, it was already far too late. I looked up at the sign that hung over the entrance. "The... Drunken Frog... Not the most appealing of names for an inn... Are you sure that you want to go in? It's not my fault if you regret it."

Without any hesitation, she nodded enthusiastically. I sighed and pushed open the oaken doors and stepped into a room very unlike what I had expected. The main lobby of the inn was gleaming clean, with barely a speck of dust anywhere to be found. Though the outside was constructed out of cheap wood, the furniture and decorations inside were all crafted from precious wood and various metals. "W-W-What is this?"

At the sound of my voice, a man appeared behind the counter and gave us a slight bow. "Welcome to the Drunken Frog. How long will you be staying?"

From behind me came Horo's voice as she stepped forward. "We are not sure at the moment. It could be just a couple of days, or it could be more than a few weeks. We're refugees, you see. There was a sort of rebellion in a village a week's walk from here. We barely managed to escape with our lives."

The man's face softened at the supposed tale of our misfortunes. "Ah... I see. Am I right in assuming that you have little money due to your hurried departure?" After seeing a nod from Horo, he sighed and looked pained. "I suppose... that I could let you stay for a day or two for free... But any more than that and I would lose money."

I stared at Horo in astonishment. She had somehow managed to talk this man into letting us stay for free! "However. I ask that you wash the sheets yourselves and tidy up after yourselves. I will not have my employees clean a room for two free-loaders. Also, I'm going to have to charge you if you wish to eat. I don't want to be taking money from you two when you so desperately need it, but business is business."

Horo nodded and bowed her head respectfully. "We understand and we give you our deepest thanks for allowing us to rest here."

The innkeeper seemed rather flustered as he fumbled below the counter until he pulled out a key. "This is the key to your room. It's on the third floor, furthest down to the right."

-oOo-oOo-oOo-

I stopped Horo once we were out of earshot. "H-How were you able to convince him to let us stay for free?"

She grinned and poked me in the chest. "That's something you'll learn as you'll grow older. You can't stay as thickheaded as you are normally for much longer if you wish to get ahead in the world. I've been alive for a long time, and this is something I picked early on in my life."

I took the key from her as we approached the door to our room. As I unlocked the door, I turned to her and sighed with a smile on my face. "In that case, you definitely need to teach me some of the tricks you've learned."

As I flung open the door, my words faltered as I surveyed the contents of the room. It seemed like a pretty normal room, until my eyes fell on the bed. "W-What... W-Why is there only one bed?"

For a moment, even Horo seemed at a loss for words. "The innkeeper must have made a mistake. Go down and ask him if we could have a different room."

I groaned and made my way downstairs. I stopped in front of the counter and waited for the innkeeper to notice me. "Is there anything I can help you with, free-loader?"

My face reddened somewhat as I held up the key to our room. "Um... I think you may have given us the wrong key. There's only one bed in the room, and there are two of us."

The innkeeper gave me a grin that I didn't exactly feel comfortable with and gave me a strange-looking wink. "There's no mistake. You two are married, right? I felt like this would be better for both me and you. I save money by letting you two use a (cheaper) one-person room, and you two can enjoy some time together without having to worry about anything."

I was about to deny this, when a sudden thought popped into my head. "What makes you think that we're married?"

He grinned. "It's pretty obvious how close you two are with a single glance. And from watching how she acts around you -" Then he stopped. "Wait... So you two really aren't married?"

I denied it with a shake of my head. The innkeeper shook his head with a sigh. "In that case, I won't tell you what I was about to say. However, trust me when I say you two would be perfect together."

I turned away in exasperation and headed back to my room. I made my way to the third floor and down to the end of the hall. I stopped in front of my door and turned the key in the lock. After a bit of thought, I knocked with a bit hesitatingly. "Horo? I'm back..."

When there was no answer, I knocked again. "Horo? I'm coming in." With that, I slowly and carefully opened the door.

Upon entering the room, I found her fast asleep on the bed, sleeping more peacefully than I had seen her sleep for some time. I smiled to myself and carefully closed the door, being careful not to make any sounds. I walked over to the bed and slowly pulled the covers further up so that they covered her entire body.

At the touch of my hand against her face, her eyes slowly fluttered open. For a moment, our eyes met and we held each other's gaze for a few seconds. To my surprise, it was Horo who first averted her eyes. Her cheeks reddened slightly at the sight of me hovering over her protectively. "L-Lawrence... What did the innkeeper say?"

Now, it was my turn to be embarrassed. I scratched my head for a second before I responded. "A-Ah... Um... He said that he gave us this room because he t-thought that we were a m-m-married c-couple."

Her face flushed even redder at those words from me. She hesitated for a moment before she responded. "I... Um... Do we r-really look like a m-married couple to other people?"

I opened my mouth to respond, to tell her that the innkeeper was being overly 'welcoming' in order to try and weasel whatever money he could from us, that it wasn't how we really appeared to other people. But then, I hesitated. If I told her that, could I really convince her that it was the truth? Could I convince myself that it was the truth? In the end, I decided to say what I thought was right, and what I thought Horo wanted to hear. "... Honestly? I think that... to many people, we definitely would look like a married couple. The way we act around each other is much unlike how friends would normally act."

The room was silent for a long time as my words sank in. After a while, a terrible feeling began to grow in my stomach as the seeds of doubt began to grow. What if I said the wrong thing? What if I just created a rift between us that could never be healed? These were the types of thoughts that were racing through my head as I tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. Just then, a small voice came from the bed, nervous and trembling. "I-In that c-case... Why don't you t-t-treat me like your w-wife while we're here?"

My mind stopped dead and I felt as if electricity had coursed through my body. Seeing my hesitation, her face brightened a few shades of red and she seemed to shrink back into the bed. "... J-Just kidding."

I made up my mind in a split second after seeing the look on her face. I stepped forward and sat on the bed. After a moment's hesitation, I felt the bed shift as she sat up and moved to sit next to me. "I'm s-sorry that I made such a strange request of you. I guess that I'm just not feeling well from the journey. Don't think about what I've said to-"

I cut her off by pressing my lips firmly against hers. Her eyes widened and for a brief moment, she tried to push herself away from me. Then, as I continued to push forward, her body lost strength and fell back against the bed. "L-Lawrence?"

"I see how it is. If that's how you feel about me, then you should have told me."

Her face was unreadable for a few seconds before she placed her hands on my chest. Then, with a surprising burst of strength, she pushed me off of her and ran out the door. I sat there, stunned as I listened to the sound of her footsteps heading downstairs. Then, I came to my senses and flung open the door. Confused at her reaction, I ran downstairs, searching for Horo.

-oOo-oOo-oOo-

Around an hour later, with the help of the innkeeper and some villagers, I found Horo outside of the village, sitting underneath a tree on top of a hill. As I approached, her ears twitched from the sound of my footsteps, but she kept her gaze toward the distant mountains. She didn't complain when I sat down next to her, and for a while, we both stared into the distance in silence. After some time, she took a deep breath and turned to me. "I'm... I'm sorry for how I acted back at the inn."

I placed my hand on her head and smiled in relief. "It's alright. I'm not sure why you ran away so suddenly, but as long as you're safe, then I guess it doesn't really matter."

"It... doesn't matter... huh? I guess you really can't see it."

Her words were so quiet that I barely caught them. I caught the tone of bitter disappointment in her voice, but I decided not to comment on it for the time being. As the sun began to set, I stood up and held out my hand to her. "Come on, Horo. Let's go back."

"You can go back if you wish. I'd like to stay out here for a while longer. This scenery helps me relax and allows me to think clearly."

I sighed and bent down. "In that case, I'll stay here with you until you wish to leave. We should hurry though. The inn must be serving food soon, and it won't taste good unless you get it right after they make it."

I noticed her shoulders trembling and I reached out to touch her in concern. She violently slapped my hand away and stood up with anger in her eyes, but tears running down her face. "You don't understand, do you? I can't be with you right now... You don't... You can't possibly understand what I'm going through right now."

The anger slowly faded from her eyes, only to be replaced with disgust. "Look at me... Look at what kind of person I've become. I don't know when in our journey I became like this, nor do I know if this is a good thing or not." Her face reddened. "I... I made a mistake today in telling you how I feel about you. I had kept these feelings locked inside of me for so long, yet with one ill-placed comment from that stupid innkeeper, and I could hold them back no longer."

I tried to step forward and hug her, to gather her into my arms and tell her that it was okay, but my body would not react. She stepped forward and lightly brought her fist down on my chest as tears streamed for her eyes. "I'm not worthy of such thoughts..."

As the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the mountains, I finally gathered my courage. I took a step forward, then another; each step bringing me ever closer to the woman in front of me. After what seemed like an eternity, I slowly placed my arms around her and held her close. "... Horo... Why would you think this? If anything, it's me that isn't worthy of being with you."

"Why... Why are you always so kind to me? I'm not worthy of your compassion. There's no way that you could love me, especially if we have to part once we reach the forests of Yoitsu."

I could only stand there in guilty silence. There was no way I could completely abandon my dream. At the end of our journey, we will have to part. She did not belong in the world of humans, and I could not stay among the immortals of Yoitsu. I knew of my own mortality, and she knew of her own immortality. There was no way that we could stay together forever. However, I wanted our journey to be as long and as happy as possible before our inevitable parting.

"You are more than worthy of my feelings. I do not want us to part either, but if this is what fate has decided for us, then what can we do to oppose it? And... I don't think I've told you directly... but I do love you, Horo. And I will for as long as I live."

She slowly stood up and took my hand. "I'm happy... that you feel that way about me." She gave me a smile and began to walk back toward the village. "Let's go back, Lawrence."

-oOo-oOo-oOo-

As we neared the village, I noticed that there were many more lights than should have been present at a poor town like this. We entered the inn and asked the innkeeper what the commotion was. For a while he seemed not to understand what we meant before he responded. "Ah, that's right. I forgot. You're not from around here. Well... not many people know what this village really is, and those who do are all very rich and powerful. At night, our village turns into one of the world's most famous gambling resorts. We keep an outwards appearance of poverty to ensure thieves never raid us."

"A gambling resort?"

"Yes, sir. One of the world's finest. If you'd like, you could try your luck at the tables." He chuckled. "Maybe you'll make enough to pay me for the room."

Horo tugged on my sleeve and whispered in my ear. "Lawrence... can we go check it out? Maybe we can actually win something. We definitely need the money if we can get it."

"However... I don't think we can afford to lose what money we have left. And I'm also sure that these games are rigged. We can't take any chances..."

I took a step back when I saw the look on her face. If you make that sort of face... there's no way I could refuse... That's just plain unfair! "Alright, alright... But, I decide when we leave, so we can minimize our losses should we lose more than we win."

She smiled and slipped her hand in mine. "Thanks, Lawrence. Trust me on this. I have a really good feeling about tonight."

I sighed in defeat and allowed her to pull me toward one of the buildings the innkeeper pointed out. Why am I not surprised at how this turned out? But, as I glanced at her face, I couldn't help but smile. But, I guess this isn't so bad...


Chapter 1 - Wolf and a New Beginning