“How far?”
“A half mile, give or take.”
Kael paused, prismatic blue and purple eyes gleaming in indecision. Finally, she spoke. “We should circle around.”
A low rumble was the first reply she got, followed by a rough, deep voice. “Mmmm. Too risky. There are tremors near that location that may or may not be young.”
“Alright.”
The entire exchange was silent, spoken between the mind of man – or woman - and beast as they sat motionless in the darkness. They were four miles north of the settlement and surrounded by dense vegetation, the beginnings of a vast forest that none had yet dared traverse in its entirety. There was too much danger involved – the forest was too thick, too dark - especially at night. The darkness wasn't as big of a problem as the trickness, which made it difficult for the wolves to move easily. Many thought the pair crouching in that darkness in that forest to be crazy. Of course, they also thought them to be guilty of many a positive trait. Insanity was just one of them.
They were alone in more ways than one. Alone in that black silence they were one of a kind – Lieutenant Kael Iceywnd, female Seer, paired with Ember, an Alpha male wolf. The opposite gender human-wolf pairing had been nearly unheard of among Alphas before that pair’s existence, and was still regarded with both respect and confusion – according to the ‘rules’, Alpha male wolves were supposed to pair with male humans, and female Alphas with females. Kael and Ember were an anomaly. Kael ‘made the situation worse’ so to speak by the fact that she was a Seer, which in and of itself was a rare enough occurrence. Her – their – situation was certainly unique, but they made the most of it. Kael and Ember were excellent on the battlefield, good leaders in and out of combat. Even so, their special situation made relating to some of their subordinates a little difficult.
Eh. Everything had a downside somewhere.
Kael yawned almost silently, moving some of her long white hair out of her face. Her hair was a shock against her tan skin, and would have been even more of a shock against her rusty red wolf if he didn’t have white patches on his feet and otherwise. Blech – that was irrelevant. Perhaps they should head back now….Ember’s mind indicated that the quarry was moving away now instead of t’wards them. Breeding was soon, or so they assumed…the monster must have sensed a mate in the other direction. Good. Move along, scum. Move along.
“I think we should leave too.”
Kael smiled and nodded, moving easily with Ember as he lifted and turned. They moved together in a way that was second nature, almost involuntary – such was the bond between wolf and human. Even if they were an anomaly, at least the mechanics were still the same.
Hopefully the monsters would not turn back around. If they did..well, half a mile was still plenty of time to mobilize. Besides, Kael was sleepy.
“A half mile, give or take.”
Kael paused, prismatic blue and purple eyes gleaming in indecision. Finally, she spoke. “We should circle around.”
A low rumble was the first reply she got, followed by a rough, deep voice. “Mmmm. Too risky. There are tremors near that location that may or may not be young.”
“Alright.”
The entire exchange was silent, spoken between the mind of man – or woman - and beast as they sat motionless in the darkness. They were four miles north of the settlement and surrounded by dense vegetation, the beginnings of a vast forest that none had yet dared traverse in its entirety. There was too much danger involved – the forest was too thick, too dark - especially at night. The darkness wasn't as big of a problem as the trickness, which made it difficult for the wolves to move easily. Many thought the pair crouching in that darkness in that forest to be crazy. Of course, they also thought them to be guilty of many a positive trait. Insanity was just one of them.
They were alone in more ways than one. Alone in that black silence they were one of a kind – Lieutenant Kael Iceywnd, female Seer, paired with Ember, an Alpha male wolf. The opposite gender human-wolf pairing had been nearly unheard of among Alphas before that pair’s existence, and was still regarded with both respect and confusion – according to the ‘rules’, Alpha male wolves were supposed to pair with male humans, and female Alphas with females. Kael and Ember were an anomaly. Kael ‘made the situation worse’ so to speak by the fact that she was a Seer, which in and of itself was a rare enough occurrence. Her – their – situation was certainly unique, but they made the most of it. Kael and Ember were excellent on the battlefield, good leaders in and out of combat. Even so, their special situation made relating to some of their subordinates a little difficult.
Eh. Everything had a downside somewhere.
Kael yawned almost silently, moving some of her long white hair out of her face. Her hair was a shock against her tan skin, and would have been even more of a shock against her rusty red wolf if he didn’t have white patches on his feet and otherwise. Blech – that was irrelevant. Perhaps they should head back now….Ember’s mind indicated that the quarry was moving away now instead of t’wards them. Breeding was soon, or so they assumed…the monster must have sensed a mate in the other direction. Good. Move along, scum. Move along.
“I think we should leave too.”
Kael smiled and nodded, moving easily with Ember as he lifted and turned. They moved together in a way that was second nature, almost involuntary – such was the bond between wolf and human. Even if they were an anomaly, at least the mechanics were still the same.
Hopefully the monsters would not turn back around. If they did..well, half a mile was still plenty of time to mobilize. Besides, Kael was sleepy.
