Chapter 2: The Lost Fox
In what felt like a few short hours, the sun slowly rose over the land, causing the Wulgs to flee as fast as they appeared the previous night, their snarls and chuckling fading into the distance.
Kayla who awoke to the sudden silence, with just the slight sound of the howling wind it seemed safe to look around.
She looked over at Gwenn who was still asleep, then looked at the record player and saw it was turned off as it's nightly humming had stopped, she stood up from where she was laying, silently approaching Gwenn and glancing over his arm.
Kayla very gently crouched, soothed her fingers across the now bloody bandages on his arm that needed changing. She frighteningly moved her hand away when he winced slightly, she knew he was still in a lot of pain as a Wulgs bite must've hurt a lot and most likely had a hard time falling asleep during the night as he honestly did look exhausted.
Changing his bandages now would probably wake him, and she didn't want to do that so she decided to wait a little longer before taking action into changing his bandages into fresh one's.
She carefully wandered down the hall, seeing the dead Wulg, a reminder from the previous night to be much more careful, opening the door to one of the old motel rooms to find evidence of someone who used to sleep in that room, despite the evidence not being recent, she still entered and started to search around in hopes of finding something remotely useful.
Upon searching and entering a room, a small dusty box sitting in the closet caught Kayla's attention, peaking her curiosity she walked over, carefully lifting the box and dragging it out, hoping it wasn't some sort of trap.
After a closer inspection it seemed to be a safe non trapped box, she tried to open to see what was inside only to find a dusty black vinyl disc.
Kayla expressed a confused expression at the disc unsure of what to do with it, "what would this be used for..." She asked herself then an idea hit her, she then scampered back to the main lobby and placed the disc on the old record player.
She looked over and Gwenn who was still asleep and contemplating whether to turn on the player or not, seeing daylight being wasted, she shrugged and turned on the record player.
Kayla then got startled at the music after turning on the player, quickly turning it off and looking over at Gwenn to see if that woke him.
She let out a soft sigh of relief, a distant roar of what seemed like a motor outside along with the sound of an explosion caught her attention, causing her to look out one of the windows to see a very odd looking buggy vehicle outside and red smoke almost like signal flares above the buggy.
The vehicles were approaching fast, seeming like they were searching for something or someone, Kayla hid under the window she was looking through when the two buggys stopped in front of the truck stop and a group of four men wearing gas masks with what seemed to be animal designs on them, started to look around.
Unsure of what to do, wanting to wake up Gwenn, but knew her chances were better if she stayed quiet, she then heard the men talking to each other.
"I still don't get why the boss sends guys like us out here to collect crappy parts, when we could be enjoying the feast of food we raided from that farm town." The man in the wolf mask says to the others, annoyed with the task.
"Because idiot, in case you forgot, those farmers had very shitty traps, wrecked a few of the cars though. Boss wasn't too keen on that, heh wondered what he was going to do with them." The hyena masked man replied.
"Shut it both of you, if we come back without some viable engine replacements the boss is gonna put us on Wulg look out duty! And I do not want to be Wulg food, so move it!" The snake masked man yelled at the other three men before separating off to search the area.
One of the men looked at all the wolf tracks around the area, "Huh... They seemed to be more concentrated around here, you think some poor dumbass got munched!?" The wolf mask yelled out.
"More than likely, let's hurry before we become the next meal for them!" the snake masked one replied back, unaware they are all currently being watched by Kayla, thinking its safe to move she tried to tip toe over to Gwenn, and tried to wake him, whispering in a worried tone, "wake up, someone is out there, they might get inside soon", after whispering to him, she started to shake him.
"Wake up wake up wake up!" She whispered a bit louder this time into his ear only to see his head slump over and him snoring away now that he managed to pass out deeper, most likely because the pain with his arm had ceased.
Kayla now both worried and annoyed, looks back towards the window then back to him then the window then him once more, "Sorry for this..." She whispered as she reeled her arm back, she then slapped him across his snoozing face, quickly covering his mouth hoping he didn't alert the people outside to their presence after he immediately snapped awake and almost shouted angrily and surprisingly.
Seeing him look pissed at her, she in response holds a finger to her lips then holds up four fingers then pointed to the window. Gwenn instantly picked up on what she was referring too when he heard the voices as she removed her hand from his mouth.
Now both Kayla and Gwenn were listening to the people outside, "Screw this, this place is useless, there aren't any spare parts anywhere!" One of the men yelled out, "Yeah this is pointless let's move on." Another yelled back in response, "Hey maybe there is some inside the stop?" The third man asked, stupidly. "You damn little… look you really think there are ENGINES inside the hotel!?.." He said in response to that stupid question.
"Hey! You never know, people have been hiding things in strange places lately, see if we look and find some, I told you so-", then a soft sudden sneeze cut through their conversation and they all quiet down.
"Did you hear that? Any of you sneeze?" One of them asked the group, "Wasn't any of us..." Their attention was then towards the truck stop.
"I think we got some stragglers hiding away, hey lets get them, if we can't find engines and parts, the boss would then like some new cattle!" One says, causing the rest to chuckle as they approach the lobby.
"Come out come out wherever you are! We promise we won't hurt you...much." One of the scavengers said as he peeked into the lobby trying to see if anybody was in view before going inside, he quickly saw the exhausted camp fire. "Yeah! Someone was definitely here! Spread out and find them!" The one at the window called out, as he turned his back he got pulled in through the window by Gwenn.
Gwenn in a single motion, using the momentum of pulling the scavenger into the lobby to throw him towards the wall with a strong force despite his injury. Kayla was honestly surprised how well Gwenn was ignoring his injury and still even used that arm, leaving her somewhat worried.
Kayla in a slight state of shock from what she witnessed had instantly questioned him, "Is...is he dead?" She asked in a hushed tone. She was not fond of violence and once more it was happening, though she was a quick learner and had picked up on the fact these men were clearly bad to begin with.
Gwenn in response to her question only glanced at her with an eye raised "No, merely unconscious. But you need to hide somewhere out of sight.", Kayla was reluctant with the feeling of being bossed around, though she agreed and scampered away behind the bar.
Both her and Gwenn had quickly picked up their supplies and stuffing them back into the bag in order to quickly retreat and hide, also due to Gwenn pushing her to do so, not knowing why he seemed to be in a rush, clearly wanting to avoid these people noticing him or her.
Kayla glanced at the bag that she was now apparently found in carrying, she immediately noticed a weapon, a gun in fact by the looks of it. Now that she thought about it, she did see Gwenn carrying it on his shoulder where it rested when he first encountered her, though despite the temptation to use it for defense, she did not.
"I got nothing over here, what about you guys?" One of the remaining scavengers called out. "Nothing over this way, check towards the hotel, more than likely hiding in a room?" One replied back, "I don't see any tracks on the road so they might be on foot!" Yelled out the one near the vehicles, "Hey I heard two voices? There should have been three, Where did that snake go? I swear if he ran off, anyone see where he last was?" The wolf masked scavenger yelled annoyingly.
"Next to the lobby, I think?" Replied the hyena masked one "I'll go check it out." he said after, "Hey wait up i'll check with you!" said a man with a jackal mask following behind the hyena masked scavenger away from the road and towards the lobby only to discover the snake masked scavenger unconscious "Crap! Whoever is here they got the snake!" The hyena called out.
"Well don't just stand there! Get the flares!" The wolf yelled out, unaware of the door he had his back towards, Gwenn who was on the other side of that door, swung open the door and quickly pulling the wolf scavenger inside and into a choke hold, knowing the clock is now ticking because of the possible reinforcements if that flare is launched, Gwenn only choking him enough until he fell unconscious.
The jackal witnessing the wolf being pulled into the door, rushed to the door "Hey I saw that, I'm going to kick your ass, you mother f-" he wasn't able to finish his insult, Gwenn immediately punching him in the jaw the second he appeared in front of the door, knocking him out with one punch and pulled him in to hide him, while the hyena sprinted to the buggy, he looked back realizing he is now alone, and became fearful "H..hey who ever is in there, we were just kidding..." he chuckled nervously and looked pale to see he wasn't close to the buggy at all. "L-look.. Those guys.. Those guys were assholes, just let me go, i'll just say we got ambushed by a pack of zoms.."
Kayla hearing the hyena beg, peeked out from the bar and looked only popping the top of her head slightly over the window near the bar.
The remaining scavenger spotted Kayla's hair and shouted "Who's that!, show yourself!" He said in a trembling tone, Kayla quickly ducked despite being partially seen and thought for a second, and figured it might be somewhat safe, she stood up and the hyena went from sounding fearful to now chuckling "Wait.. Did these Dumbasses really get beat by a little girl?!" He starts to laugh.
Kayla then looked annoyed at the fact she was being laughed at for being height challenged, her look of annoyance turned into a surprised look, as if she saw someone behind the hyena, his chuckle stopped when he saw her face "what?" He said as he felt someone poke his shoulder causing him to turn on reaction and froze and almost seem to go completely pale seeing gwenn in front of him and started to stutter " A..A..Ace?!" He blurted out before backing away and fainting from fear and shock.
Kayla, who is now confused, walked out towards Gwenn, "Ace? Why did he call you that?" She asked, still confused. Gwenn was just as confused, but that confused expression quickly faded into a serious one after her question, as if feeling disturbed by the name, clearly telling her it was a meaning of something unpleasant.
Gwenn had tossed her something that he quickly grabbed from one of his pouches on his belt, she quickly caught it and glanced down at what it was. "A glove?" She questioned once more, he was clearly avoiding her previous question.
"Put that on your right hand, and hide your necklace under your shirt and scarf." He said, turning around and walking towards the vehicle these scavengers had arrived in, digging through it for items.
Kayla had a very confused look on her face as she followed him with her eyes, only to also glance down at the man who fell unconscious just from the sight of Gwenn, he was clearly hiding something, though she wasn't going to push him for answers on that name.
Gwenn walked in front of her, placing down a pair of black slightly torn jeans and a pair of white sneakers on top in her arms as she held the glove in hand. "Why do you think I made you hide?" He began, only leaving her with a much more confused look on her face.
He only sighed slightly, his small stern look told her he was seemingly upset a bit because of her being seen by the one scavenger. "People on the surface don't take fondly of people from Arkawa…" He said, answering her confusion. "I thought they were just rumors, but it seems those rumors were true. A man was exiled from Arkawa several years ago, found by one of the clans and immediately killed, all because he was from Arkawa. Unless you wanna go around saying and showing you're from Arkawa and wanting to be killed because of it and never finding your way back home, then feel free to not change." He added.
He was being serious, and he was clearly annoyed, most likely because of that name he was called earlier. He walked away from her and headed back to the Lobby, most likely to gather some remaining supplies and search the scavengers. Kayla glanced down at the clothing in her arms with a subtly sad look, she knew he was only trying to help her, but it was also a warning that she beared Arkawa's symbols on her that she did not want to remove. Again, she was left with yet another choice.
Gwenn kicked an old boarded up door that he came across when hiding out from the scavengers earlier, figuring or hoping there was at least some valuable stuff inside. It was well hidden to be exact, he would've by passed it himself if he wasn't staying put in one spot and glanced over at it.
He quickly had a somewhat surprised look once he cleared the door and noticed what was all possibly inside the small room. Though he ignored it for a minute as he glanced over his shoulder at one of the unconscious scavengers.
Kayla walked into the lobby, glancing around for Gwenn as she still had his bag with the gun attached to it. She noticed him sitting in a far end near a hall and room on a small bench that was surprisingly still intact, slightly slumped over and wings also slumped down a bit.
She moved over to him, standing and facing him now in front as she stared down at him with a slight saddened expression. He was changing his own bandages on his arm, he had some fresh ones that he was holding with his mouth as he glanced up at her confusingly for a second only to see it change into a small gentle look, noticing she had chosen to change and hide her necklace.
Kayla had totally forgotten about changing his bandages into fresh ones earlier this morning, she was too focused and occupied on those scavengers who were now in the Lobby and tied up tightly in a small circle, which she figured Gwenn had done while she was making her choice, Though the one scavenger outside he left alone.
Kayla crouched down beside him, letting the bag on her back slip off onto the ground, gently placing her hand on his injured arm as he followed her with his eyes down with a small look of confusion.
She looks up at him with a small reassuring smile and starts to finish unwrapping the bandages off of his arm and checks if the bites have closed before prepping the new bandages for him that he took out of his mouth and were now in hand as he allowed her to change them.
"Seems to be healing perfectly, good thing too..." She began, "I want to prove my innocence, find a way back to Arkawa, but I don't know how to do that…" Kayla added, grabbing the fresh bandages from his hand and beginning to place those over the injury.
She stopped midway and looked up at him, he had a somewhat confused expression, though he knew from the beginning and had clearly predicted she wanted to return home, which is what he meant by some goal driving her through instinct.
Kayla knew based on the one day experience so far, it was a kill or be killed situation and based on what he told her so far. "Will you help me, Gwenn? You're the only one I can trust." She asked him with a small saddened and anxious look hoping he would. Gwenn was by far the only one who had helped her, though he was the only one she had encountered since she arrived, so he found her.
He had every chance to turn the tables in a negative way, lead her down ruin and the exile would only prove the king and her parents that she really most likely died, knowing that's what the intentions were of the kings to begin with. Gwenn has respectfully gained her trust in the span of just a day, mostly because of his choices and actions that had proven he once again had no intentions of harming her unlike these scavengers.
Gwenn only looked at her without saying anything, he had a gentle look in his eyes though an also somewhat frustrated one as if in between deciding because of something most likely on his mind holding him back from the accepting choice. He looked down slightly away from her and glanced around with his eyes, only then to let out a subtle sigh.
Kayla hated to admit it, but she needed him, needed his help and knowledge about the surface as he clearly understood it far better than she ever would considering she had just arrived from an entirely different world compared to him. She was only better at medical than survival and didn't know a thing about it, unlike him who helped her make it through the night.
"Fine…" He said as he returned his look at her with a subtle gentle smile, now that she actually got the chance and well, really realized it, he was actually charming, mostly because of his colors and the large wings. She has never seen a mutant like him before, let alone heard of one like himself, it left her curious though she wasn't going to ask as it might be in regards to the name he was called earlier that he avoided.
Kayla came to realization quickly, she glanced down at the clean bandages and then the bag beside her. How did he get clean bandages when they were in the bag, which she had and was outside, "Wait… how did you get these?" She questioned him, slightly raising the bandages from his arm to show what she was directing at.
Gwenn directed his attention away from her and stared at a general direction which she quickly followed, immediately having a surprised expression form onto her face. He had kicked down and found a boarded up small room, which had two small boxes full of supplies, one was full of some medical supplies while the other had some food which seemed to not be that old and was still somewhat good.
Kayla quickly glanced back at him as he slumped back down, still tired and exhausted most likely, she then glanced at the scavengers who were tied up and still unconscious, continuing to finish wrapping his arm.
"Who are they? And what's with the animal masks?" She asked, still staring at them, "Barbarians, and they seem to be better equipped than before...and the masks are meant to be intimidating." He responded quickly to her question, staying still to allow her to finish wrapping properly.
"I overheard them talking about a town I think was nearby they hit, maybe they need help?" She asks Gwenn, "Maybe they'll share some supplies in return?" Kayla suggested to him, "They can't be as bad as these guys right?" She glanced at the scavengers when she said that, Gwenn stared at her unsure how to break it to her.
He sighed, "Look, just keep that glove on and that necklace hidden and we should be fine, ok." He told Kayla, who has her attention to the scavengers, not realizing he was changing the subject slightly and avoiding an obvious question once again, "What's going to happen to them?" She asked Gwenn out of both slight worry and curiosity.
Gwenn glanced at her as he placed a small grip on his arm when she finished, her attention still focused on the unconscious scavengers. "Depends, if they send more scavengers out this way, they'll probably be punished badly by their boss, Or night comes and they might become wulg food.." Gwenn responded to Kayla with a serious tone.
The look Kayla gave in response was one of understanding, that the fate of those scavengers were grim either way. "Hey, we could probably take one of those buggys!" Kayla said to Gwenn, "Unless.. That's not a good idea?" She says after she starts to think.
"More than likely not, traveling on foot would be best." He said, glancing at the vehicles outside through the window. Vehicles would leave too much of a trail and trace, letting anyone be able to track them easier, let alone, those vehicles belonged to the Barbarians and were well known.
Gwenn despite always traveling on foot himself and using his wings to fly around still only stuck around certain areas, he's hardly left outside most regions. He was unsure of any knowledge of how to enter Arkawa, the only way in and out was with the magical crystals within the city that was controlled by that phony king. He let out an annoyed sigh that Kayla quickly noticed as she directed her attention back at him with a worried expression, she knew he was unhappy and most likely still upset, so she said nothing as she sat there on her knees almost like a puppy waiting for something.
Seemed the best way to get answers was through the quick spreading rumors, from the clans. Kayla wasn't just new to her surroundings and the surface, she was like a lost little fox, one that still needed it's parents' help, she knew Gwenn was her best hope at this moment and he was honestly the only one she could trust as of now.
Kayla grabbed the bag, dragging it in front of her and pushing it towards Gwenn, it originally belonged to him along with the gun and it was his choice once more, leaving him in charge. Gwenn, using his leg, pushed the bag back to her as he sat up slightly, "If i'm going to help you, you're going to have to learn how to handle things yourself when i'm not around." He began, pointing at the two small boxes in the small room in front of them.
"At least hold onto your gun… just in case…" She said anxiously a bit, worried about another attempted scavenger attack. Gwenn gave her a reassuring and gentle look, "I can cope without it, plus, it's meant for larger things." He added, directing her at the boxes once more.
She knew he was starting her with the main fact of having to gather supplies, stay resourceful, so she listened quickly letting out a small worried sigh and standing up, gathering up the bag in her arms. She knelt down in front of the boxes, scrounging around in them and checking what all there was within them, so far so good.
"We head to that nearest raided clan when you're done, seems to be the best way to find answers…" He said, his tone somewhat worriedly that Kayla picked up on. Something was bothering him and it clearly had something to do with these so-called clans.
Kayla looked at Gwenn, she went back to finish scrounging around, looking back up to see out in the distance what seemed like a faint sight of smoke, figuring that was the recently raided clan the scavengers were talking about, "Hey Gwenn..." she said trying to bring his attention to the smoke "It doesn't seem like that far of a walk, if we hurry we should be there before sunset, right?" she says, looking back towards him.
Gwenn glanced over where her attention was directed as she talked, he only let out another subtle sigh, an slightly annoyed one as if not wanting to go that Kayla didn't notice. "Yeah…" he said as he stood up.
"Gwenn, what exactly are these clans?" She questioned him, quickly finishing up and rushing over to him as he walked towards the exit, ready to leave, though he waited for her.
"Well besides the barbarians, who are the largest and strongest...odd to see them without the horses they used to have.. guess they found a reliable way to make fuel." He began, "Majority of them used to be a lot of criminals and scum that used to run rampant before the great collapse, and riddled through the land are a lot of smaller clans, they tend to come and go." He added, walking out the exit and outside as they took their leave.
"They either get absorbed into the numbers of the barbarians or get wiped out by them, the ones who were lucky enough not to meet either of those fates, have to give offerings up to them to keep the barbarians happy, but my guess for the one they raided.. They tried to rebel against their rule, which they were not prepared for retaliation." Gwenn said as he pointed slightly at the smoke in the distance.
"Horses?" She questioned, she's only heard of such animals twice in her life, a type of breed that was just as fast as a vehicle, or could at least keep up with one depending on the type of breed. But since the so-called, Great Collapse he quoted, he made it sound differently about these animals.
She sighed quietly to herself and looked up at the smoke in the distance, then back to the direction she had arrived in. 'Mom..dad.. I just hope things are ok back home' she thought quietly to herself with worry about the fate of the clinic and her parents as different scenarios ran through her mind of what would happen back home.
She remembered the times her parents had told her stories when she was younger, read to her at nights and only two out of the dozen of stories had the animals of those horses, said to be mythical and gentle creatures, though just like any animal, they of course needed to be treated properly to gain even their respect.
Gwenn glanced at her, immediately noticing the concerned expression on her face though it was subtle. He could already tell she was having rapid scenarios and thoughts overflowing in that small head of hers, as he noticed her look where she originally arrived. He only gave a small smile, stopping to let her gain up beside him as she was falling behind, steadily lowering himself, placing his hand on her head and making her hair a mess, just like your typical sibling that rascalled your hair for fun.
This surprised her but also upsetted her as she didn't have any kind of brush to brush her hair now that it was all over the place because of what he did and typically on purpose. It was meant to cheer her up and it did as he picked up his pace before she could perform anything, she realized this and in fact kinda enjoyed it as she never had someone to consider a friend or sibling, let alone family who would do such a thing.
Kayla has always relied on her parents, and has always preferred them over anyone else, that's why she never wanted to consider or make anyone her friend even if they did, though they never performed or done anything like what Gwenn just did, let alone help her from near death experiences.
"Barbarians used to have horses as a way of transport around here, and not just any normal horses, demon horses, powerful ones that never exhaust and would pull strong carriages." Gwenn began as he turned to face her, now a bit away from her as she had stopped from the action he previously performed.
"Though the leader of that clan, possesses the most powerful demon horse that is known out there in this now found dead world, named Orreth." Gwenn added. "Oooh, and is this Orreth as stubborn as you?" She mocked, with a small smirk on her face.
"Stubborn and fast." He mocked back, also giving a subtle smirk noticing she wasn't entirely pleased with what he did earlier as it was clearly still on her mind, using her hands to flatten her hair like it was before. "Well then… come here!" She shouted sarcastically and giggly as she ran towards him to try and catch him in order to attempt the same thing or close to it.
Gwenn only let out a chuckle as he turned and started running himself from her, both heading towards the smoke of the said clan that was raided, Kayla glanced at the smoke as she chased after him, leaving her curious and somewhat worried, hoping people were ok and not seriously hurt.