Author's Note: *cringes at how long it's been since the last update* Sorry... But I've had a lot of projects! I have one new one-shot coming out soon, and an update to Chaos Resolved on its way as well, so I actually have been working! (Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses, get on with the chapter already.)
Okay...
Chapter Eleven - Unsaid Words
Hope and Vanille returned to Caius' house, where their companions still remained. Yeul seemed to be doing a little better, though she was still curled in front of the fire like a sickly pup. Vanille stuck to Hope's side, eyes still red from crying. But Hope could feel a new strength from her.
"Are you okay?" Noel asked gently, genuinely concerned.
Vanille nodded and sniffled - just a little, "I'm okay." Hope grazed her comfortingly, and she twisted her fingers into the fur on his neck, "Um..." she turned to Caius, "If you could...what are we supposed to do?"
Caius turned his gaze to his...daughter, a fact that Hope still found hard to swallow, "I'm afraid I cannot intervene with that. You will have to break the curse on your own, otherwise the seal on Hope and Yeul may not lift."
Noel stood protectively in front of Yeul, his eyes betraying irritation, if not anger, "So that's it? You think you can just drop this on us and-"
"Noel...please..."
Even though only Hope could hear her words, Yeul's whimper let everyone know how she felt. Noel stopped his complaint, but even she remains of Hope's last meal could tell he was still furious.
Hope let out a low ruff of dismissal, which Noel understood as, "Back off, let's go." The hunter scooped up his loyal companion, who was still damp and weak from her fit. Without speaking, he simply left the house. Vanille hesitated before following, hoping that maybe she would get more answers. But a nudge from her ghost got her moving.
Outside, Noel stood frozen, Yeul resting limply in his arms. Vanille came up behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Noel, you and Yeul can stay with me."
He shook his head, "No, we couldn't..."
"I insist," she said, "Just one night won't hurt anything."
Noel gave in; after all, Hope thought to himself, who could resist those eyes?
Stop it.
On the way back to her house - between being stopped by nearly every villager and Vanille assuring them she had just been off visiting a friend - Hope thought she seemed rather tired. Her eyelids drooped a little and she repeatedly nearly tripped over snow, a problem she'd never had before. He stayed by her side, a little worried.
Vanille set up a place for Yeul by her fire, for which the smaller wolf was very grateful. Hope sat out of the way - as out of the way as he could in her small house - while she made up a bed for Noel. He unconsciously smelled the air as he watched, taking in all the scents that had quickly become familiar to him, the scents of Vanille's life.
"Hope..."
Eyes and ears flicked immediately to Yeul, who was looking up at him with eyes just as deep as her father's. Had she known the whole time? About him? About everything? One would think, but something told him the opposite.
Yeah?
"Would you...could you...stay with me?"
The poor thing was shivering; going back out in the cold had refrozen her damp fur. Yet he felt that she wanted his companionship less for warmth and more for a sense of safety - her meeting with Caius had really shaken her. She may have been one of his ancestors, but she was just a pup, really.
Of course I will.
Hope stepped over to her, avoiding knocking over any of Vanille's things. Lying down, he curled his large body around her significantly smaller one, determined to kill two birds with one stone and keep her warm as well as safe.
"I'm sorry..." she whispered, "I didn't know...I would've told you..." He reached over and gave her ear a gentle lick.
That's alright...
Soon, she slept, finally at peace.
The next morning, Hope awoke with Vanille's feet in his face, as she was stoking the fire in front of him. There was a bit of a hollow by his belly where Yeul used to be, and in his half-awake state, that fact momentarily frightened him. He tried to search for her, which only led him to thumping his tail against Vanille's table, rattling the dishes that were set stop it.
Vanille pivoted, startled, until she realized it was only him making the noise. With relief, she said, "You're awake. We didn't think you were going to wake up, it's nearly lunchtime now. Noel and Yeul left to gather supplies," she added knowingly, "They're due back soon."
Hope huffed in acknowledgement, and in relief. Of course, that made sense. Vanille went back to what she was doing, and he got up properly - without knocking anything over. He had a physical craving to go outside and hunt, but he sat. He wouldn't leave Vanille, not after that talk with Caius. Not ever. Whatever was going on, he had to protect her.
It took him a little longer than it should have to notice that she was avoiding him. She hadn't looked at him since he'd woken up, and was almost hugging the wall as she went about cooking. On the other side of the room.
It's because I'm really human, isn't it?
The thought came unbidden, but somehow he knew it was true. He nearly forgot sometimes, about his condition, that he had once been a boy. He remembered being a wolf more than he remembered being a man. But for Vanille, his second life was all she knew. She may have even felt a little betrayed by the information.
If I could have told you...
Outside, a dog - a real dog - barked, and e pivoted toward the sound out of habit. One thing he was unable to do was understand the language of his fellow canines, but he could read body language. So that's what he did. But this dog wasn't communicating with him, so he turned back around.
Vanille was looking at him.
Looking wasn't the right word...studying was more like it. She cast her gaze over him like she didn't know him. Which, he supposed, she didn't.
She almost hesitated. Then, "Did you have any brothers or sisters?"
He shook his head no in response, because that was the answer - although his mother had given birth to a stillborn little girl when he was eight. Her question didn't surprise him so much as the fact that she asked it in the first place. She had been avoiding him since those first few moments when he woke up, why now?
Then he saw that she was done cooking, she had no excuse to avoid him anymore.
"Me neither," she told him. From there, the questions poured from her mouth. Yes-or-no. Did he have any pets? Did he enjoy such-and-such activity? It was genuine, and it was nice. Hope had never shared so much about himself before, and he hadn't said a word. Maybe someday, she could tell her everything...
He did have to get creative when she finally asked, "How...how old were you?"
How old was I?
I was practically a baby, he wanted to say, a stupid kid who his behind his mother's skirt when something went wrong. I left home not because I wanted to, but because I was afraid of what my father would say, what he would do.
But he couldn't tell her that. So instead, he hit the floor with one of his massive paws, once for every year he lived before he was truly alive.
Vanille's eyes widened as he counted the final year, "Fourteen?" she whispered.
He nodded.
With hardly any time to absorb this, Vanille's shock was interrupted by the return of Noel and Yeul. The hunter was in a rather good mood, dropping his bag of freshly-bought supplies by the door with a smile on his face, "Hey, Vanille, we're back," he sniffed the air, "Lunch smells great."
She remembered herself with enough haste that Noel wouldn't suspect anything. Not that he would anyway, the man was practically walking on air. Hope was confused.
Um...what's with him?
Yeul took a seat beside him, radiating positive energy herself, "He's really glad that we - well - that I'm really human. He said he always knew I was special that he hasn't been talking to himself all these years," she let her eyes follow her companion, and Hope left something from her that she couldn't hide from him even if she tried. It seemed that Noel wasn't the only one happy about their arrangement.
As the day wore on, Vanille gradually warmed back up to Hope. She had just needed time to accept the truth of what he was - what he had been. He couldn't blame her of course, it took him months initially to come to terms with his current state. He wouldn't even hunt at first. He wasn't proud of it, but for the first few weeks, he stole food from people to survive. But he came to accept it, just as she did.
He lied partially under her table, resting his head comfortably on his paws. He watched Vanille as she tended the fire for the finale time that night. She was incredible, truly. The first to really accept him, even after learning the truth - which even he didn't fully know. Knowing he could understand her didn't turn her away, in fact, it may have been the reason she chose to open up to him in the first place. He was an intelligent animal who could understand her, yet not judge. At least out loud, not that he'd judged her in the slightest.
Hope had felt strangely connected to her since the moment they met. Perhaps it was due to some kind of fate, but it seemed more natural than that. She was just to kind, and gentle, and pretty...
When she finished her pre-bed routine, being careful not to wake the others - who were already asleep - she bid him goodnight with a smile. He caught a new light in her eyes, and that feeling he felt earlier from Yeul spread through his chest.
Again, sorry for the long wait for this. Hopefully it was worth it! Probably not though. I don't know when this will update again, but like I said, keep an eye out for other things! I seem to be repeating myself a lot, so I'll stop now.
Reviews are appreciated. :)
