Chapter Six (An Accord)

The sound that came from the grass was a sound that the Rangers knew but one that neither Harry nor Padfoot were familiar with. Harry had tried to gnaw on his bindings with the end result being a sore mouth as the rope cut his gums. His eyes went wide when he saw the large tusked pig break through making a sound that hurt his ears. He had naturally tried to clap his hands over his ears the task made impossible by the rope that bound him. Padfoot was snarling while the Rangers had both draw their bows and had knocked an arrow each. An arrow found its way to one of the boar's eyes but didn't burrow far enough to enter it's brain to kill it. The animal squealed in rage and ran to attack causing the Rangers to dodge aside while the second arrow lodged into the boar's shoulder. As Padfoot leapt at the creature nearly as large as Harry was tall, the boy called out the wolf's name in a mixture of fear and desperation. He'd only seen Padfoot that viscous when they were attacked by those mountain creatures.

Harry could only watch helplessly as Padfoot rushed the boar then would back off when it tried to gore him with a tusk and then attack again. He glanced to the Rangers who were aiming arrows at the boar and would release when they thought Padfoot was clear of their shots. The wolf would distract the boar trying to take a bite from its rump dragging it before having to release due to the way the boar was able to swing its head. The arrows seemed to only anger the boar and about as effect as the blow darts had been against the goblins. Nathor appeared to have figured that out as he dropped his bow and instead drew his sword.

Redoubling his efforts on his bonds, Harry growled in frustrated anger that he didn't have his knife. He had lost it when they had encountered the mountain creatures. It was just as well since he was sure that the men wouldn't have allowed him to have it. His wrists hurt from where the bindings had bit into his skin irritating it in his struggle to free himself. Then, he let out a sound of satisfaction when he heard the snap of the rope and felt them release from his wrists. He didn't care how it had happened and gave it no thought as he lurched to his feet. Gaze zeroing in on the others he glanced around and felt his mouth turn upwards as he shot a glance at the rangers assuring that they were too busy to pay him any attention. Harry scrambled to an arrow that had only grazed the boar and with that in hand snatched up the discarded bow that Thandir had foolishly tossed aside. The younger man had decided to copy his captain's approach to handle the pig. It appeared to work however as Nathor drove the blade deep into and through the boar's neck into the ground with the help of Padfoot.

Out of relief that his friend was alright, Harry's body naturally relaxed before he brought the newly acquired weapon up not trusting the boar to be faking them out. He'd seen that once when he'd been hunting with Padfoot. The animal had saved the last of its strength on one final attempt to flee. As the two men were frowning at the apparently dead animal, Harry swallowed the want to call out to Padfoot, not wanting the men's attention drawn to him. That didn't stop the boy from stepping closer and making sure to keep an ear towards their conversation.

"Diseased?" Thandir said in a questioning voice that caught the Harry's attention. The boy frowned in brief confusion as he quickly deduced the man was speaking of the boar.

The other didn't comment but was inspecting the animal while Harry forgot that he shouldn't speak was very curious and worried. "What kind of sickness makes an animal attack people?"

"The kind that can transfer to your warg if it tries to eat any of it," Nathor commented as he eyed said creature. You didn't have to be skilled in the language of canines to see that Padfoot was eyeing the dead animal with hunger as his tongue licked his maw.

Eyes going wide, Harry's attention immediately went to his friend as guilt warred in him as he made for the wolf. "Padfoot, maybe you shouldn't eat it."

Padfoot actually snarled at the boy causing the two men's grips to tighten on their swords as they warily eyed the creatures. The shock of his friend acting thusly towards him had Harry's eyes go wide before something in him had him glare right and growl right back at the wolf before speaking. "I know you're hungry! If you eat that," a vicious jab towards the dead boar with the bow had the wolf tracking the movement. "You might end up getting really sick. You might end up trying to attack and eat me, then you'll be alone. Or do you want to eat that thing, get sick and leave me alone? Is that what you want?"

Chest heaving with emotion because Harry really didn't want to be left alone without his companion. It caused something in him to feel as if it would crack. He knew that if Padfoot left him, he would be more than hurt. His glare lessened as Padfoot whined before approaching him slowly with lowered tail and head, his furry features clearly showing that the thought of either one of them alone again caused him sadness. He licked the boy's face and Harry's posture went from tense to relaxed with that gesture. It was habit to wipe the saliva off his face with the back of his hand as he mock glared at the wolf who was now showing signs of being happy once more.

The smile that was about to break onto Harry's face didn't last as he was brought back to reality when Padfoot's ears swiveled towards the sound of the approaching ranger. Glancing over to him, the boy frowned and tightened his hold on the weapon when the man gave it a pointed look. "I'd like that back now."

"No."

The answer took the man by surprise but not his captain if the expression on his face was anything to go by. He stayed quiet though and just observed while Thandir smirked at him condescendingly. "What do you think you'll accomplish? You can't even pull that to a full draw."

That was likely true but Harry wasn't going to give in without a fight. "I can pull it far enough for it to pierce you."

"Is that a threat?"

"A fact. And Padfoot would be able to get your captain before you could do anything."

"And is that what you are planning on doing?" Nathor spoke up, his voice not reflecting anything at all aside from curiosity.

"If it comes to it."

"That would mean breaking your word."

"I'm not a liar!" Harry declared hotly and even Pafoot gave a light growl at the men for causing the boy upset. "I promised that we wouldn't harm you as long as you didn't harm us. And that I wouldn't ask or have Padfoot attack you while on the trail. I've kept my promise! You've been breaking yours though."

"How so?"

"Padfoot needs to eat more than scraps. He needs to hunt!" It seemed a waste to let the boar's carcass rot without allowing his friend to eat, but if what the men said was true, he couldn't allow him to eat it! And if these men could just see that neither Harry nor Padfoot meant harm, perhaps they would start to believe them. Maybe they would allow them to go free.

It seemed like Thandir wanted to scoff but his captain eyed the two speculatively before his hand left the handle of his sword to instead point his finger at the boy. "You swear that the warg will only be gone long enough to hunt. It will come back to you immediately after and won't attack us at any point?"

"He'll only attack if you harm me or cause me to be harmed," Harry agreed.

After a long look, the captain nodded and the boy who gave a wordless nod of his own and turned his attention to Padfoot. The wolf would let him know if either of the men tried anything while his back was turned. "You heard the man, Pafoot. Make sure you get enough and maybe find us a route away from here?"

Padfoot nudged him with his head causing a brief smile to flutter on the boy's face before it was hidden as Harry buried his face into the thick fur. "Be safe and come back to me. Don't leave me alone."

Harry laughed when he felt the whine before he pushed away and Padfoot after giving him another lick to the face, loped off. The boy knew he should keep an eye on the men, but he couldn't look away as his friend disappeared from sight. Turning his head he reflexively stiffened seeing the two men near where the strands of rope were that had once bound him. He was suspicious that they hadn't demanded the bow back, but supposed they still didn't consider him much of a threat. Even with the bow, he only had the one arrow which meant one shot.

Padfoot hadn't wanted to leave him boy, but he had been telling the truth; he needed to eat more than the handful of jerked meat or the occasional rabbit. While the stag meat had been partially filling, he'd not eaten the whole thing as he wanted because he had to provide for his boy. If he starved or became weak, he wouldn't be able to protect him. It had been hard for him to forgo his instincts to eat his kill when the boy had interfered. It had surprised him that he would growl at Harry like that, but at the same time, the boy should know better than to disregard food that was there for the taking. While he hadn't smelt anything wrong with the creature, if it distressed his boy that much, he wouldn't eat it. It had grieved him to think of losing his boy or leaving him alone.

Snuffling along the trail he was able to smell a lot of small game that wouldn't hold him but would have been a meal for his boy. That wasn't what he needed to hunt though. Putting on speed, the wolf ran faster than he ever had with Harry astride him not having to worry about the boy falling or losing his grip. For a time he lost himself in the freedom of unrestrained movement before the scent of another animal filled the air. Slowing then pausing, Padfoot followed the scent trail until he was low to the ground, crawling on his belly to keep from sight.

While he and Harry had been traveling they hadn't seen any evidence of people until they had encountered the men that first night. The place they had stopped for his boy to make the jerked meat had been in ruins and hadn't been lived in for a very long time so it had been safe to stay there. Here though, was the first dwellings and signs of civilization that Padfoot had seen. His keen eyes took in the homes and the scant people. His nose twitched as it smelled meat. Careful as could be he found the dwelling that smelled like it had lots of meat and hints of smoke. The wood and skin of the shack was easy enough to penetrate and soon he was making away with a sizable pig though nowhere near as large or as satisfying (he was sure it would have been very filling) as the boar he'd help take down with the men. Hearing shouts that sounded as if this was something they were used to but still just as angry and upset with had Padfoot making haste closer to the mountain to enjoy his spoils.

While he'd parted from his boy before in order to hunt for the both of them, he'd not been gone for longer then a few hours at most. Never had he been gone for a day let alone days. Yet, there wasn't any big game near where they were and both he and Harry wanted to be away from the men and their unknown plan for the two. If the men controlled the western side of the mountain range then they would have to cross it to the east side and hope that they weren't trading the frying pan for the fire.

After a few more rousted rabbits, Padfoot made for the mountains. Without having to worry about his boy he made greater progress but he was still just as cautious. It seemed that either the creatures had learned their lesson the first time or he wasn't as interesting without Harry along. Whichever the case, he was thankful to be left alone. There seemed to be a path but he would need to have Harry keep ahold of him if they were to traverse it. While he was able to keep his footing there were still places where rocks would shift and decide they would rather rest a bit further down the mountain then where they had started. Padfoot could sympathize as he'd rather not be on this mountain either! Soon enough he was descending on the other side and was happy to see that like the previous one, this one had a pool to drink from as well.

It was as he was drinking from it that he noticed something rather odd about it. It was as if he was staring at the sky which caused him a bit of vertigo until he was able to shake it off. He huffed at the thought that he was drinking the sky. He was sure that Harry would like this and have a laugh at the thought. With him in mind he scouted about and was happy to see that there were two forests they could choose from. Perhaps more of the Drughu were living in them. If there were it would please both himself and his boy greatly to encounter them. They would likely have to prove they meant no harm again, but at least this time Harry could speak their own language to assuage them.

After another successful hunt of a stag he'd caught and gorged on, the wolf was going to head back to the mountains when a noise on the wind stopped him. Curious about this possible new danger, Padfoot scented the air and was very confused. Finding a ridge he could climb, he found that he could see in the distance a group of people that were quite a bit away. Seeing their mounts his mouth salivated at the thought horse meat. One of those would be enough to satisfy his hunger with some left over for his boy. The wolf was about to leap down and figure out how to drive off one of the horses but paused. The group didn't seem to be rushed and if Padfoot was quick enough, he'd be able to retrieve his boy and return with him before the group reached the mountain. With that thought in mind, the wolf doubled his pace as he practically flew back to the mountain pass.

A.N. - The pool Padfoot drank from was Mirrormere so named because of the stars that were reflecting in it at night when Durin found it. If anyone has guessed or would like to know, this fic is taking place (or at least the beginning) around 2989-90ish of the Third Age. So about 47 years after the events of The Hobbit and about 29 years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings.

We are going through a heat wave where I am living with the temperature in the triple digits which will likely cause power outages due to over use of air conditioners and fans overpowering the generator grid. Heat also does nasty things to my laptop.