—Marcy, are you sure this is a good idea? —Joining the unmistakable click of shoes on the ground, a restless voice was heard through a frigid wind that measuredly dragged the fallen leaves from the trees.
It was a cold and immense night, the stars and the moon shone like frost lights in the very darkness of the firmament, watching as two hooded figures entered a rocky forest covered with mountains, following an uneven and steep path through the vegetation. They talked quietly, walking at a slow pace, keeping track of their next job.
—Of course it's a good idea! —one of the hooded ones, Marcy, answered putting away the map that she had been reading for a large part of the journey, turning her gaze towards her companion—Have my plans ever failed?
—Well... not at the moment... —admitted her companion with a slight gesture of doubt, she walked along the front, lighting the way with a torch in her right hand—It's just that... this seems a lot to me more dangerous than the other times...
—Puff please Anne, I did my research, the Mountain Trolls are not very active at night, their eyes are very small, so it is difficult for them to see in the dark, plus they need to sleep a lot if they want to keep their fat for the approaching winter and...
—I know, I know —Anne interrupted her partner before she began to ramble; don't get her wrong, the ramblings were one of the many things she liked about Marcy, she could listen to her for hours, but this was not the place nor the time for that—But we are not talking about a single Troll, we are going to attack the lair of five, Five! Have you seen the size of those things? They are as big as these trees!
—Are you afraid of trolls?
—Me?! Of... —Anne was about to shout offended, but she stopped instantly, looked in various directions, and as there were no eyes on the coast after a tired sigh, she continued—Of course not —she repeated this time in a very low tone—One alone is not a problem, a group of them is something else.
—That's why we're going at night, Anne —Marcy emphasized her idea, remembering her original plan for the umpteenth time—Besides, I brought these babies with me for a reason —she emphasized the word "Babies" taking out of her bags a round object with a wick in the center, her eyes shone with emotion—One for each Troll.
—Bombs! —Anne almost drops the torch in shock—Now I feel less safe with that in your hands… Where did you get them?
—Sasha —she answered as put the explosive away—She found them on our last job.
—The lair of those thieves? I thought there was nothing but garbage there.
—Sasha is good at finding things —Marcy added with a shrug.
—Speaking of her... —Anne quickly looked around again, then focused her eyes on Marcy—Where is she? I didn't see her when we left the inn.
—She went ahead "She was entrusted to a reconnaissance mission " —Marcy answered hardening her words as if she were a commander giving orders to her subordinates, meanwhile, Anne looked at her with an amused face.
—Seriously? —Anne ask in a very soft tone, stopping her steps for a moment, walking slowly towards her partner—Was it because of the mission? —she clung to Marcy, moving her eyebrows seductively—Or did you do it to have some "alone time " with me?
—W-what? —Marcy's composure was quickly lost—Of course not! —her cheeks reddened to the surface as her hands moved erratically—I... I... this is because... because she's good at... and I... no... you, her...
—Hahaha Calm down Mar-Mar, I was just kidding —Anne laughed out loud, patting Marcy on the back, while giving her back control of her personal space.
—Don't make jokes like that, Anne… —Marcy muttered with a frown, panting nervously—At least not while we're on a mission…
—What?... —The woman's eyes widened as she blushed strongly, But, before Anne could say anything about it, her words were interrupted by a strong movement among the group of trees. To her right, little by little the logs began to fall like domino pieces. Instinct taking control of Anne's actions, she flung her torch and dove backwards beside Marcy, getting out of the way of a heavy object that sliced through the ground they were standing on.
—That was close...
—What the hell is that?! —amid the smoke of cut earth, a creature about three meters tall crossed the threshold of split trunks and destroyed undergrowth. Its skin was dark and scaly, with small pointed ears, black eyes, and a row of fangs protruding from its mouth; an indecipherable leather loincloth covered from his waist to his knees, and in his left hand he carried a blunt, rusty great sword—Didn't you say trolls don't go out at night?! —Anne exclaimed throwing her hood back, revealing her messy brown hair, getting into a combat stance as she unsheathed her sword; the monster roared closer to her.
—He's not a troll! It's an Ogre! —Marcy rolled onto her back, getting to her feet as she drew her hand crossbow.
—And what is the difference?! —The beast slashed forward, cutting through the air and more trees around it. Anne narrowly dodged it, sliding across the ground to the creature's feet.
—Well for starters Ogres are less hairy! —Marcy aimed directly at the creature's head, firing right into the center of its forehead, but rather than burying itself in flesh and bone, it shattered into small shards, but it did serve to stun it—His skin is flakier and tougher than a Troll's! They are smarter! And if you have noticed, they can see very well in the dark!
—It was a rhetorical question! —Thanks to the distraction of Marcy's shot, before the creature could react, Anne made a side cut on the Ogre's left leg and used the momentum provided by the attack to get behind his back—Also, for me everyone are equal!
—That was very racist, Anne! —Marcy fired another shot.
—Do you think that matters now?! —With the monster still dazed and now afflicted with burning pain, the brown-haired woman wasted no time, burying the point of her sword into the Ogre's side, she exerted more force than necessary, and half a blade pierced the flesh, blood and noises of agony flooded her—Yuck! Gross!
—Watch out! —but there was no time to trust, believing that victory was already hers, Anne had no time to dodge a blow from the free hand of the beast, her grip on her weapon was lost and she was thrown hard against the trees that were still stood—Anne! —Marcy fired her crossbow once more, hitting the open wound on the Ogre's leg, the damage sent caused the creature to fall to its knees, the black-haired woman took advantage of her opportunity and ran to help her partner—Are you OK?!
—Yes, I'm fine... —Anne complained, forcing a half smile—You know I'm very resistant, I just need a few seconds... —Marcy turned a deaf ear, checking her companion for any type of injury or fracture.
—Yes... you're fine, it still surprises me that you can resist so many blows with a...
—Marcy! —With a quick movement, Anne grabbed Marcy by the shoulders, dragging herself away from the path of the sword that cut through the tree they were leaning against—What is that thing?! My sword is buried in his back and he's still standing!
—The Ogres are very resistant… —the monster roared preparing another attack towards them, but, without anyone present noticing it, there was a movement in the rubble of the battle, and in the thick darkness of the night, quick, like lightning or light itself, a gigantic wolf lunged at the monster, tightening its jaws around its neck; there was a struggle, kicked up ground and gasps, but after a few seconds, followed by an unmistakable sound of something breaking, the Ogre's movements ceased. Anne and Marcy's gazes froze as their savior walked towards them. Up close, the wolf was even more massive, an imposing creature, with golden fur and deep brown eyes. It sniffed the air, its tail swaying to the sides, and before either of them could react, the wolf licked their faces, bathing them in its own saliva.
—Sasha! —They both said in unison, struggling to get the huge beast away from their faces.
—Yuck! God, you're disgusting... —the offended creature growled, in retaliation its licks became even more intense—Ok ok thanks for saving us! You're not gross, you're the best girlfriend in the world! Please stop it!... —Anne admitted exhausted giving in to her attempts to fight.
—We'll do whatever you want please! —The wolf stopped, staring at both girls considering their offer.
—Whatever I want? —she seemed to tell them with her eyes.
—Yes, whatever you want! —The wolf showed her sharp fangs simulating a victory smile, finally moving away from them.
—This is becoming a habit, if we continue like this, we'll lose what's left of our dignity sooner or later —Anne complained as she helped Marcy to her feet, the wolf rolled her eyes in response.
—You must admit she's pretty persuasive —Marcy commented, pulling out a towel to wipe herself off.
—Yes, well... —the brown-haired woman approached the Ogre's corpse, retrieving her sword from the motionless and lifeless body—That skill of yours always gets us into trouble.
—Don't mind her —Marcy gasped in false offense, clinging to Sasha's fluffy fur—You're a good girl! Who is a good girl? You are you... —She wanted to frantically stroke the hairs on the wolf neck, but the wolf let out a warning growl.
—You're going to lose your hand if you keep trying.
—Always fun to try —Marcy added with a wide smile, leaving the sulky wolf alone.
While her companions checked the damage from the previous battle, the figure of the wolf progressively shrank, leaving the appearance of a gigantic animal, to that of a beautiful woman with long golden hair. Being the first to notice, Anne quickly pulled a baggy set of clothes out of her backpack tossing it to Sasha who reluctantly caught it.
—If you took your saddlebags with you, you wouldn't have to wear those clothes.
—I forgot, okay? —Sasha snorted as she dressed—I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a wolf, not a damn horse, only horses carry saddlebags.
—Yeah, you're a wolf, but you can't wear a backpack when you transform, last time you lost all your gear because of it.
—Marcy got a crossbow for her doll. Why can't I have a giant backpack?
—Well, leather costs too much…and you look really cool when you wear saddlebags —the raven-haired woman chimed in, letting out a small giggle.
—Ugh I swear, next time I see a herd of deer, I'll get more than enough leather for my giant backpack.
—You said the same thing last week and started crying when one was willing to sacrifice herself for her calf —Anne scoffed, doing her best imitation of a weeping face.
—You would have stopped too if you had seen her face! I may be a werewolf, but I'm not a bloodthirsty monster!
—That's it, ladies! —Marcy intervened—As much as I like to see them argue, we have a more important matter to attend to right now, Sasha, Did you find the trolls' lair?
—Yes ma'am, they are a few steps below, in a cave camouflaged by a waterfall. I didn't think they were very smart to hide in a place like that —Sasha reported, pointing in the direction they should go.
—That's five right? The sign said there were five, but it's never too much to doubt their information —Marcy asked, writing down the information provided in her diary.
—Well, for our bad or good luck, yes, there are five.
—How much are they going to pay us for this? —Anne murmured with a hint of weariness and annoyance.
—One hundred gold coins a head —Marcy replied quickly without looking up from her notebook.
—Wow that would be five hundred gold coins in total? —Sasha whistled—What did those Trolls do? Attack merchants or something?
—Actually yes —Marcy stated closing her diary—They've been attacking the caravans for weeks.
—They must be pretty desperate to drop five hundred gold coins for a group of Trolls.
—Well, they're lucky we were just passing through—Anne turned to Marcy—Everything ready Mar-Mar?
—Ready, here —Marcy said, handing the bag of bombs to Sasha.
—Wow are you going to use them? I thought we were saving them for a special moment.
—This is a special moment. Come on ladies, we have work to do!
—At your service my lady —Anne and Sasha said at the same time, lovingly watching Marcy get excited.
—Be careful where you walk Marshmallow —and so the three women went further into the mountains, gradually getting lost in the vegetation until they could no longer be seen.
The next morning, the group of Trolls had disappeared and as the merchants made their way to the next town to sell their wares, they discovered that the great waterfall that stretched across the mountains to their village was now nothing more than a mound of brittle stone and stagnant water; the travelers who saved them from the beasts had already left as if to ask them something about it.
Well it's not as deep and complex as what I write on a regular basis, but it's okay to write something fun for a change. This Au doesn't have much of a plot in general... but it could be considered as an RPG world Au or something. Why is Sasha a werewolf? Well, because it was very cool xD I really liked this idea a lot so it is possible that I will write more about it in the future, maybe I will add a background or they are just typical adventures of an rpg, I don't know. Anyway I hope you liked this a lot, see you in another story.