MARGOT
A small grunt left Margot as she landed outside of her house, looking back up at her smiling brother at the window as he gave her a thumbs up. Margot reciprocated the gesture, leaving her other hand against her waist, occupied with gripping the folded note tightly in her hands.
However, Margot could see the worry laced within his gaze as well.
The grip only tightened.
A clawed hand tugged on the daisy bracelet around her arm as she took in a deep breath. She would need to be quick if she were to go unnoticed. Particularly by her mom.
She wasn't supposed to leave the house unsupervised, especially with the shaky relations of being newcomers, and with the controversy of her mother's recent actions still wavering around the community. But assured in her mother's preoccupation, the young wolf took in one more extended breath and stepped forward towards her goal.
The house just by the end of the road, next to the main office building. She just had to cross the street and cut through a few fences and backyards and she'd be there. It wouldn't take long if she hurried.
"No problem..." Margot whispered to herself, psyching herself up.
It was rather early in the morning and the sun had just begun to make way above the horizon. Dark enough for normal sights to find trouble in spotting the details, but light enough to still risk being spotted. So Margot dashed towards the nearest structure, a circular brick structure that housed in an overgrown flower which rose well above her height. She stopped behind it, looking out to still find no one in sight.
With half the distance cleared, she dived towards the side of the first home and rested her back against it's outer wall, letting out a deep exhale.
"Maybe I'm being overly dramatic...maybe I should just go and knock...no...no, this is the best way. I don't want to..." Margot shook her head and continued behind the row of houses, doing her best to not intrude anyone's attention and getting closer to Wolf's house with every step until...
Margot peeked her head cautiously through the back window of the house she was looking for. Just by luck, there they were, all sitting in discussion at the dinner table. It was Wolf and her friends. The weird human with the pink hair had said something inaudible, and Wolf laughed in response.
She had laughed.
Wolf's joyful face seemed...so foreign to Margot. She hadn't seen her laugh since before she...
"F-focus..." Margot reminded herself.
She needed a way in.
As quietly as possible, Margot had jumped for the second floor ledge and climbed on it's roof. She found the second story window only to find the blinds closed. She checked the one next to it and found a small gap in the blinds. It was in the corner of the room that she spotted...
Margot's spine shivered at the sight of the temporarily discarded gray wolf skin pelt that was left underneath the bed. A glimpse at who it could have been had Wolf not been so merciful. Taking in a deep breath, she tore her eyes away and spotted Wolf's deathstalker staff in the corner.
"Definitely her room." Margot said to herself. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small knife and went to work on the window, trying not to break the locking mechanic that held it closed shut. With a resounding click, it was free to lift. And that the young wolf did, climbing inside and unfurling the paper she held onto so tightly.
Her eyes automatically went back over her writing, as if what she said just wasn't enough...that maybe there was something left to change.
Dear, Jolene Wolf
I'm sorry for everything. Sorry for all the pain I-
Margot's ears perked up at a sudden sound, but it was much too late to properly react.
The turning of the knob was swift and before Margot could even turn away, she was staring into the eyes of her former friend.
Wolf's eyes went from surprised to laced with anger and instinctive action within milliseconds. The human dived for her deathstalker staff and had it swinging at the wolf's head, but luckily for Margot, she was swift to react.
Margot ducked under the pointed end while stepping back from the second swing, but what Margot didn't see was the leg sweep Wolf performed too fast for her to evade.
Before she knew it, Margot choked for air with Wolf's foot on her throat and the toxic end of the staff just above her. Margot tried in vain to get free.
"What the hell are you doing in my room? Didn't I make it clear I didn't want you pulling anything? Didn't your so called mother warn you about messing around with me? Was it not clear en-"
"I wanted to- ack! - give you this!" Margot desperately tried to clarify through the pressure on her neck. She waved the note in her free hand frantically "I wanted to apologize! I just couldn't-"
Wolf took her foot off of her and drew in closer.
"You couldn't what? Tell me yourself? Couldn't just knock?"
By this time Kipo and the rest of the gang had just approached from the hallway and through the door.
Kipo "Wolf, why are you screaming to yourself up here? I wasn't finished with the whole mega bunny bit! There was this extremely cute little baby one that I passed by and WOAH WHY IS THE WOLF KID HERE?"
"Yeah, that wolf kid is DEFINITELY NOT supposed to be here. Like, at all." Dave added in. "Can she teleport or something?"
Wolf spoke, not once blinking or losing eye contact with the wolf.
"She was just leaving."
Margot, shuffled away from the deathstalker's tip and held the note to her once-best friend.
"Please, Wolf I only wanted to give you this! I only wanted to apologi-"
Without a second thought, Wolf snatched the folded letter from Margot's hand and eyed it deeply...before looking back at her and holding it in front of her.
And then she ripped it in two.
Margot watched as the letter drifted onto the floor in halves. Her heart dropped lower than it already was.
"If you don't have the heart to face me, then I don't have the mind to read it. Leave." Wolf punctuated her seriousness with the twirling of her staff, the pointed end threatening to come swinging again. "Now."
Margot held back the tears. She nodded in understanding. She picked up both halves of the note. She backed up, never losing contact with Wolf. She climbed back out of the window, and then she closed it. She climbed back down and slowly began her deflated walk back to her own house. But she took the front. She didn't try to hide herself anymore.
She watched nothing but what was in front of her as she made her way back from which she came, even as the eyes on her began to grow.
She threw a small pebble up at her room window and her brother Jack responded soon after. He lowered the knotted rope of bed sheets down to her and Margot climbed back up through the window.
"So...how'd it go?" Jack asked as the rest of her brothers awaited an answer.
All they got was a wordless plop back onto her bed and the pulling of sheet covers over her head.
The two halves of the apology letter were still clenched tightly in her paw.
KNOX
Knox felt an indescribable wrenching feeling in the pit of his stomach as he sat amongst his group. Cecilia was seated right next to him, and for reasons he didn't want to come conclusions to, couldn't bear to lay eyes on her. Maybe it was the earlier incident with her and Devland. Maybe it was his past trauma dealing with mute wolves. Maybe it was the uncertainty in letting her take his sword and do that Shaun guy in. Maybe it was-
"Firstly...I want to address you, Cecilia."
Knox finally brought purpose into looking at the mother wolf and her expression of deep worry wasn't hidden very well.
"Is it because of what the kid did to me?" Cecilia asked, squeezing a hand in her other. "Or rather, why she did it to me..." she clarified in more of a reflective tone than a question.
Interlocking her fingers, Mudiwa rested her elbows on the table. The stare she gave the wolf was serious.
"I need you to keep your distance away from Wolf and her group. Until things settle down and she finds it in her to make some kind of peace. I've seen your commitment and contributions to this place and you've yet to disappoint, so please don't get it twisted. I trust you. But I hope you understand."
The mute wolf's eyes drifted from Mudiwa slightly as she nodded in agreement.
"I understand."
"Okay...now let's start with a plan on untangling the rest of this mess, shall we?"
Mudiwa rubbed her forehead before collecting herself again. The severity of the situation hadn't truly dawned on her until now.
"So we have to welcome the newcomers to the community, decide on what to ultimately do with Devland and then plan out a strategy for meeting with Scarlemange...and all before tomorrow. This should be fun."
Mudiwa took her eyes off the group as she reached into a nearby cupboard.
"Anybody want one?" Mudiwa offered, a smile cutting through her clear exhaustion as she pulled out the door drawer that revealed multiple shot glasses.
Kara lowered the hand Lute raised in response and he gave out a disappointing expression.
"Sorry, this ride is for kids over the age of 21." Kara jested goodheartedly, rising to meet Mudiwa with the offer.
"Thank the gods I'm not a kid." Piercer added, joining in for a shot.
But Knox didn't respond. His eyes absentmindedly store at the glasses filling with red wine.
A necklace of sharp teeth of an unknown origin was worn around it's neck
Knox clenched his eyes tight in an attempt to suppress his thoughts. He wouldn't go back...no, those days were long gone. It wasn't possible.
The bone necklace of teeth that it wore around it's neck that still sent chills down the human's spine
It was a coincidence.
Nothing more-
"Hey...Knox?"
The hand that rested on the human's shoulder jolted him back to the present as his eyes darted to meet it's owner. Cecilia looked him over with a worried look dressed with a smile.
"You feeling alright? You look like you've seen the future, ha ha..."
But Cecilia saw what was in Knox's eyes.
Her façade of a smile morphed into a frown that held her true expression. She gripped his hand with one of her own, re-affirming her earlier smile. What she saw was the reminiscence of fear.
A fear of her.
"Alright...now, let's get together our plans on welcoming the newcomers first. This should be the easiest. Then we discuss Scarlemange." Mudiwa clarified, tapping her fingernails on her desk.
JAMACK
The sun had gone way and the night had taken it's place once more.
Jamack saw it through the window as he finished speaking on a tale he half-regretted letting out of his mouth.
"No way. Ha, you're telling me you got duped into letting Kipo and Wolf go by them bargaining a stain removal spray to get a stain off your necktie? Bwahahahaah!"
Amy, Brad and Puck all did their best to hold in their chuckles as Amy covered her face with a hand.
"See, this is why I don't get sensitive with people. What's the point of sharing sensitive topics if all you get are laughs? It was one of my best ties!" the former Mod Frog motioned a hand down his newly acquired tie of a navy blue that replaced his cut and discarded one. He would've favored a traditional black again, but eh, it's all they had.
Amy cleared the build up of coming tears from her eyes as she put out both hands in de-escalation.
"No, no! We're laughing with you, pal. Promise. it's just...I'm glad you went from that to where we are now. Seriously, we owe you so much for what you did to get us out of that crazy mandrill's cross-hairs...even if it was a selfish motivation at first."
"Gee, thanks." Jamack muttered in a lowered tone, shifting his sights at his shoes. "I should finish tidying up. The head lady in charge wants to introduce us to the crowd, so I might as well look my best."
"Oh, you mean Mudiwa?" Brad clarified. "Seems like a nice gal. I really don't sense any bad intentions form anyone here...besides that loony human guy they sent away. But he doesn't count!"
Meanwhile Puck was looking Jamack up and down.
"Look your best? You barely have a crease on you!"
"Eh, still not enough." The mute frog arose from the kitchen stool and made way for the restroom door. "Meet you all outside. Promise I'll be quick."
Splash.
Jamack needed to hurry. He was holding them up.
Splash.
Another splash of water impacted his green face as he gathered himself.
And the slight creaking of something opening to his side.
Jamack already knew who it was before the cold steel of a knife was pressed against his throat.
"Amanda..." the knife pressed closer in response to the name. "When I told her that I'd stay by her side to see the justice of your friend's death served...I meant it. The entirety. I'm...truly sorry for the damage my former boss caused you. But I can't stop you from hurting me. I won't."
Stillness followed.
Then the knife retracted from Jamack's neck.
"Don't make me regret my mercy...don't make me regret believing you." the unmistakable voice of Kara told him.
As the window to the bathroom shut quietly, Jamack continued his attention at himself.
Jamack's eyes never left the mirror, and the stare he had through his own reflection.
Eyes that held clear indication that he was no longer the same frog that had left his old faction.
He pulled his long look away from the mirror and turned to join his new house mates outside.
KIPO
Kipo stood on the elevated stage of the community get-together made in response to their arrival. The crowd of humans and mutes alike all awaited her coming words within their seats.
It was all so...like what she had dreamed of.
Kipo began to speak as her friends stood beside her.
"I'm so glad to suddenly be apart of this community. We all are. It's a symbol of everything I've pictured for us. A symbol I wish to see spread more than in just one community. Hopefully the world itself will learn to trust one other again."
It was all so kind. All so beautiful.
"So," Kipo continued. "For how ever long we choose to stay here...we're extremely grateful for you all choosing to take us in. Again, I speak for us all when I say...thank you!"
Clapping and warm cheering ensued. Kipo nodded at Wolf and Benson's smiles. Felt the gleeful dance Mandu did. The uncalled for bowing that Dave initiated in response to the attention.
But Kipo knew the truth. The reality. That despite her genuine, cheery speech...this couldn't last for them very long. They had to find her father. They had to stop Scarlemange.
I was all so close, yet so fleeting.
WOLF
Wolf couldn't sleep.
Nothing new on occasion...but recent events made it a true obstacle.
With everything that had happened, it was all to much to fully register. The recent welcoming of her group didn't help quell things like she'd hoped it would.
From nearly losing Kipo to Scarlemange, to the weird group of cloaked mute wolves to finding a safe haven again, to finding out that...
Wolf clenched her teeth at the though of her.
Not Margot. Not Margot's siblings.
Just her.
She still couldn't believe it.
That such a monster could possibly change. That she would be within the same walls as her. She avoided her presence entirely at the welcoming party. Wolf couldn't even mention her name. She wouldn't. She didn't deserve a common label. Not for her. Cause that would give it agency again. Something to plague her mind once again. And she wanted to forget her as much as she possibly could.
Wolf knew she couldn't escape it forever.
But for now, if she could just close her eyes and...
*clack*
Wolf's eyes shot back open. She froze in place, unsure of what to make of the sudden noise.
*clack*
It came from the window.
Wolf immediately rose out of bed and went for the folding knife at her bedside table. Opening the blinds, the kid immediately rolled her eyes at the rather unwelcome sight of Margot, obnoxiously waving her hands up and down.
Opening the window, Wolf glared at the wolf below her.
"What?" she harshly whispered.
"Please...let me up. I'm ready to say what I have to say...I have to do this, Wolf." Margot's eyes that she was on the borderline of breaking down.
After a long look, Wolf left the window wordlessly. It was an excruciatingly long handful of seconds before Wolf returned with a knotted rope of bed sheets to lower down for the wolf.
Gripping the makeshift rope, Margot hastily pulled herself up and eventually through the window, stumbling over onto the wooden floorboard in her rush.
"I'm sorry, Jolene! I mean Wolf! I'm sorry for what we did. What I did...we...we all are. Jack, Sebastian...everyone. I was too coward to say sorry in person because I didn't wan to end up hurting you more than I have already. I was protecting myself..."
Stepping up to Margot until she was nose to nose with her, she watched as Margot gulped but held her ground, her magenta eyes refusing to leave contact with hers.
Margot blinked and flinched as Wolf's arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a hug.
"I just want you to prove me wrong." Wolf admitted with a shaky voice. "I want you to prove to me that I'm just holding on to a past image of you and that you can really change. That you have changed in some way. In any way outside of for your own personal gain. That's all I want from you."
Margot wanted to say something. Anything that expressed her glee in Wolf's decision to give her some kind of chance. But nothing came out immediately. Her eyes began to water and soon, tears poured down her face as she returned the gesture.
"I will, Jolene." Margot promised. "I will. I won't lose you a second time."
CECILIA
It was as dead as night can be.
Cecilia's eyes left the window of her children's bedroom as they slowly trailed back towards the recently dug grave. After Knox and her went out to retrieve the cassette tape for Devland after he threatened to send her out of Lensvile, they had run into those strange wolves...and Cecilia saw the way Knox had reacted, despite his best efforts to hide it. She wanted to tread carefully on something that could be so personal, but she wanted answers all the same.
"Is it someone you know?"
Cecilia's heart leaped as she turned towards the short figure standing just behind the wooden gate door that separated the backyard.
Wolf.
Cecilia remained as still as an undisturbed puddle, her eyes following the human child as she grew closer the only registered movement.
It was only when Wolf sat next to her that her eyes averted to the spot of interest.
"It's my husband." Cecilia answered, a finger of hers twirling the edge of the still-loose dirt of the grave. The wolf eyed the pink sweater scarf hung on top of the wood plank that stuck up from the ground in front of it.
"I knew him. My condolences." Wolf darkly quipped, but her face held a serious expression.
"Why are you out here? I-I was just-"
Wolf cut her off.
"I want to know why."
At first, Cecilia frantically searched for what she meant. But it didn't take long to get it. The mother wolf tugged at the sleeve of her newly acquired black collard shirt. She contemplated her words before her lips finally parted.
"My mother had all kinds of books and articles from the old world that she'd rent out from our that she would read and at some point she became rather obsessed. If I could give her any credit, it would be for my love of reading. But...the things she taught me...the things she always pointed out..."
Wolf clenched her teeth underneath her unmoving lips as she watched the wolf mother's head dip.
"Topics about the history of wolf hunting by humans was a reoccurring theme." The wolf let out a long, drawn out sigh. The grave of her once-mate was all she could focus on. "Listen...Wolf. I've lived in an environment of many wolves...and we were all sold the same ideology. That humans aren't to be trusted. And I fell right into it. I became enamored with our High Alpha's promises of a future devoid of that kind of future repeating itself...even though in reality, I recognized soon after you escaped our cruel treatment of you that we were only repeating history ourselves."
A weak laugh escaped Cecilia.
"Funny isn't it? The human customs we follow despite our so-called hatred towards humans. My clothes...the pearl necklace...my way of talking...It's rather humorous thinking on it now."
Wolf and Cecilia's eyes met evenly for the first time in years.
An uncertain stillness crept over.
"Margot snuck out to see me." Wolf revealed.
Cecilia's eyes widened at the revelation. "She did what?"
Sighing, Wolf picked out a nearby flower with half-lidded eyes.
"Calm down, mother hen. She was trying to apologize. For betraying me. At least the second time she did it directly."
"Snuck out...twice?" Cecilia brought her hands to her face and rubbed them against her cheeks.
Wolf let out a sharp chortle, leaning back.
"Maybe...but you're getting better."
Cecilia was taken back from the comment.
"How in earth's name have I gotten..."
"Well, for one," Wolf began, looking up at the moon. We're here together alone with no one watching, and I don't want to skin you alive. That's a start. Let's keep it that way."
Cecilia felt a deep chill pass through her at the words. Her hand balled into a tightening fist.
"Jolene...I'm soo sorry. I wish I could've been the mother you always deserved. But there is no going back. So whatever I can ever hope to give now...I'll do anything to give it."
The mention of her birth name again revived something ancient in her past. Wolf's eyes went wide. Almost immediately, Wolf pushed her hands against the ground and soon she was back on her feet, facing away from the adult wolf.
"Tomorrow's a new day." Wolf began her way back through the wooden gate. "Guess we'll see what it holds for us."
And just before Wolf disappeared out of sight, Wolf paused to look back.
"And don't get mad with Margot. I'm sure you already understand. She's just doing what you wish you could've done."
Cecilia was all alone again, save for the grave of her husband Charles to keep her company.
A strange wave of peace.
Not freedom. But just...peace.
