One Of You
Farkas closed his eyes, inhaling the heady scent of damp earth and decomposing leaves. He could hear the Frostmoon wolves halt at either side of him, no doubt taking in the landscape before them. They stood at a cliff's edge, overlooking Lake Ilinalta's smooth and glassy surface. The moon's half smile reflected largely in the middle of the dark waters. Fish could be seen breaching the surface, their reentry splashing drops of liquid light like diamonds into the air.
The clay-red she-wolf yipped with excitement, and began bounding down the path to the lake. Normally, Farkas would love to play on the lake shore, but with Brynn's recent close call, he found his adventure-lust oddly absent. He nosed a fresh set of game tracks and growled. The sleek, ginger and white wolf, Majni, pricked his ears and howled. It was decided, they would hunt. The red she-wolf returned, looking only slightly disappointed.
Being in Farkas's territory, the Frostmoon pack honorably let Farkas take the lead. Their quarry for the night was an elk, his impressive antlers reaching sharply toward the stars. It took no time at all for the five wolves to surround the animal, closing in with swift precision. Majni's lithe form darted in, taking the elk by the throat and ending the hunt as quickly as it had started. Hungry as Farkas might be, he did not partake while the other wolves proceeded to devour their prey. He didn't doubt that he would be welcome, but found himself too preoccupied listening for Brynn's footfalls in the dark. It would be very like the huntress to shoulder that crossbow of hers and try tackling the entire pack of wolves on singlehandedly.
The rest of the night was spent in a similar fashion; Farkas desperately leading the pack further from the lake in hopes that Brynn would sleep through the Frostmoon pack's impromptu visit. By the time the wolves had all returned to his camp and reverted forms, Farkas was thoroughly exhausted. Vilkas would have to wait for news of the visitors, Farkas was dead on his feet. Majni had decided that his pack would stay at Farkas's camp, so Farkas bid them all goodnight and dropped into his tent without bothering with nightclothes.
The sound of a familiar voice roused him from his slumber. "Not one of you? I could give a bloody skeever's arse who you are, where is Fergus?" Farkas bolted from the tent, once again completely nude.
"I'm warning you, mutton chop.", a female voice replied, doing nothing to hide the obvious contempt dripping from her words. "You had better leave."
"Brynn?", Farkas called, skirting the campfire in his hurry to ease the situation. Hjordis stood at the edge of his camp, blocking Brynn's entry. The huntress had her chest puffed in obvious fury, eyes narrowed into slits above flushed cheeks. She turned her scowl on Farkas, then raised her brows in surprise.
"Again with the aversion to breeches, Fergus?", her exasperation evident as she wagged a finger at him.
Hjordis looked disapprovingly from Farkas to Brynn, a nasty snarl of disgust on her face. "You associate with this?"
Farkas furrowed his brows. "Course I do. Why wouldn't I?"
Hjordis let out a snort of derision and stalked of toward where the rest of her pack were gathered around the cook-pot. Farkas watched her go with a mixture of unease and confusion, what did she find wrong with Brynn?
"Fergus!", Brynn half whispered. He turned to face the huntress, watching as she met his eyes with a bit more focus than was necessary. "Quite the following you have, man."
"Following? Oh the p...", Farkas cleared his throat, he had almost said 'pack'. "People. Just some uh... comrades visiting from afar."
"Comrades." Brynn snorted. "They come all this way to pore over your private bits?"
"No, they...", come to think of it, Majni never said why they were here. "There's no need to worry about it."
Brynn's eyes shot daggers at him. She opened her mouth to most likely interrogate him further, but Farkas interrupted her. "Still sore at me about the hunting trip?"
The huntress puffed up, holding her head high. "You're damned right, I am."
Farkas nodded once. "Then, what brings you to me this morning?" Brynn's opened mouth gaped for a brief moment before she recovered.
"Heard voices up here, came to make certain bandits weren't ransacking your camp.", she grumbled.
Farkas glanced at the crossbow strapped to her back, and felt a smirk grace his lips. He cocked his head. "Worried for me?"
Brynn frowned at him. "As if! I came to rub your silly nose in the mess." She turned on her heel and stomped back down the path toward the lake. Farkas watched the honey hair swaying with her pace.
"My pack has little dealings with humans. Their lives, their view of us..." said Majni, who had come to stand beside Farkas. The pack leader sighed. "They don't fit in our world."
Humans didn't fit? Was Majni suggesting that he never never talked to other people? Never spent time at a tavern and laughed with the locals? But why? Farkas was about to ask the man, but Majni clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen blood-brother, we need your help. One of our own was captured near here, we mean to track him down and bring him home."
