The Halfling and the Exile

Status
Not open for further replies.
The ease with which she smacked his weapon away was worrying to an almost panic-worthy level, but he couldn't find it in himself to put forth that sort of effort. As he'd gotten weaker, she'd gotten stronger, and the sting of where she'd smacked across his wrist was just as distracting as the forlorn thought that his knife was gone. He would find it later, but in the moment with his head fuzzy it felt like a loss. At the very least, he could be glad that she could still heal like vampires could, even if that wasn't fully what she was. Part of him still wondered if he'd been right in deciding she was half of both, a monstrosity that shouldn't have been able to live so long and look so normal. And yet, here she was.

He had to put both hands on the ground when she let him go, black creeping in around the edges of his vision as a nauseating wave of dizziness passed over him. When she pulled the coat into his lap, he put a hand over it instinctively, and curling his fingers into the thick fabric of it was grounding somehow. With slow, shaky motions, he put one arm through the sleeve, and fumbled for far too long to get the other sleeve around, then finally pulled the garment closed around him, the collar tucked loosely around his neck. If life were a cartoon, he thought, there would be birds flying circles around his head.

Foolishly, he tried to stand to go after his knife, and even though he did so slowly and carefully he managed only a couple of steps before the planet tilted at sharp angles and he fell flat on his ass. Defeated, he flopped over onto his back and groaned at the nausea that earned him, then just blinked dazedly up at the sky and tried to think. He would survive for now, and when he had some more strength and balance back he would pick himself up and go back to the pack, find himself something to eat to regain the rest of his strength.

". . . I hope you know how much you owe me. . ." Isaac mumbled groggily, and didn't expect an answer as he waited for the world to stop spinning so strangely.
 
Niari huffed quietly in response to Isaac's fall. It was terribly amusing to watch him stumble around like a drunk, but it also made her feel a bit guilty. She was the reason he was so weak. Watching him totter and collapse was a bit like watching a pup figure out walking. Weeble, wobble. She sighed and got up, slowly padding over to him as he laid down. After examining him briefly for injury, she laid next to him to lend him some of the warmth of her fur. He was right, after all.

She owed him.

After a few minutes, she realized that eating would make him feel better. Hunting would do her good. She sat back up and took off into the forest, enjoying the thrill of the run. Isaac was not left alone for long. He was defenseless and she was not cruel. It took her a mere ten minutes to return with a small deer, which she dragged over close to where she had been sitting before. There. He could shift and eat when he was ready. For now, she went back over to his side and laid there, her head perched on his chest as her eyes stared at him with open curiosity.

[I can't stop laughing at the mental image this produces for me]
 
((Haha it's like cats when they bring gifts. "I brought you food, useless human. Go on, eat it." XD))

Isaac made a faint, protesting sound when she came over to inspect him, waving a hand at her without enough will to actually do anything about it. Her warmth was welcome, though, lying on the cold ground, and for a little while he let himself close his eyes and just rest. He was okay here. She'd fed already and she was sated and there was no one else around. It was all right to lie there with his underbelly exposed and not worry. At the very least, he had a feeling she would defend her meal, should any wolf or bear or other creature show up.

When she left, he flopped a hand at her and made a sort of good-riddens noise, like he thought she wasn't coming back. He was too tired to think of standing, though, and went through periods of light dozing and just watching the sky while she was away. Truthfully he hadn't really expected her to come back. And when she did he didn't expect her to be dragging back a kill. Was he a helpless pup now? A crippled wolf that needed to be brought helpless prey like the little ones? For now, he supposed he would have to admit he was.

"All right, all right," He mumbled irritably, flopping a hand at her muzzle both to pat at her and to get her away. "Ge' off." He shifted onto a side when the weight of her head was gone, and brought his legs up to push off his shoes and socks, then got carefully to his knees. It was simple enough to get his jacket and shirt off after that, and he folded them neatly to set them atop his shoes when he was done. Getting to his feet was much harder, but he'd had some rest and it wasn't impossible to stand long enough to get the rest of his clothes off. He nearly fell, more than once, but once he'd managed it he could get back to his knees again.

Hands and knees was the best position to shift, in his experience, and he felt more stable once he was on four paws instead. Shaking out mottled grey fur, he walked carefully over to the fallen deer and started at the soft underbelly. Once he'd had a good meal he would be better off. He could thank her for the meal later.
 
Niari huffed at him when he batted her away, but she sat up to allow him room. She cocked an ear at him, watching with avid interest as he stripped down. It was always interesting to watch somebody else shift. Perhaps she was just nosy. She kept her eyes on him as he went over to the deer, making sure he could walk before she relaxed. He was eating. Good. She stretched and laid down, still watching him. It was like babysitting a pup, but not as adorable. She would have laughed at the thought, but she kept it to herself. He probably would not find it amusing. Her mood was so high now that she was finally full, but she had to find the ground again sometime.

She knew they would be going back home. Her mother would not be pleased that she had run off with the newcomer. She would come to all the worst sorts of conclusions, and then.. Wait. Was that so bad? If she allowed her mother to think that she was interested in Isaac, then she would not investigate the real issue. As long as he kept his mouth shut, her mother would simply scold her for going after somebody who wasn't a trusted member of the pack, then she'd let it go.

Problem solved.

Now to decide whether to tell Isaac beforehand or not..
 
Isaac ate until he was mostly full, though not painfully so. He needed energy, not to make himself lethargic. His muzzle bloody, he walked carefully over to the stream afterwards to stick his face in the water and wash up. When he was as clean as he could get he walked back over to his clothes and sat down nearby, looking at them like he was considering changing back. He looked at the she-wolf a few times, licked his muzzle, then finally just gave himself a shake and stood up to shift back.

It took a minute of sitting around in the nude before he was finally stable enough to start putting on his clothes again, but he didn't pay it much attention. He existed as a creature that spent half its time in fur, and only clothed itself when in human form. He'd seen enough bare human skin that nudity wasn't really an issue, only the relative chill in the air when he no longer had fur. Even if it were warm, his scars were still fresh enough that he held on to the desire to hide them.

". . . Thanks for the deer." He said finally as he pulled his pants on, then kneeled again to get his shirt. Somehow, he felt a little more secure once he had the weight of his jacket around his shoulders.

After he'd gotten his shoes on, he walked quietly over to look for where his knife had gone, and once he'd found it and brushed off the dirt and plants it had landed in he stuck it back in a pocket. "I'm heading back." He said after a short silence, glancing back at the she-wolf and wondering if she would follow or stay away. "You shouldn't need to feed again for a few days yet. Maybe longer." He didn't know how being only half vampire worked.
 
Niari watched Isaac shift back and considered following suit. True, she had no clothing, but she also could not speak to him this way unless she barged into his mind. Her mother told her that was rude. Not all Werewolves had the ability, and nobody appreciated being spoken to that way when they didn't expect it. Still, she wasn't sure that she wanted to walk around the forest naked. Not with those traps laying around. If a hunter was in the woods checking on the traps, they'd spot her. She saw nothing wrong with a naked stroll, but the men in the city were different. The thought made her cringe. Best to stay as she was for now.

She stood and glanced at him as he thanked her. Dipping her head in a slight nod, she turned to scan the trees. Nothing unusual. Satisfied, she flicked an ear at him as he spoke to her of feeding. Eugh. She didn't want to have to think about that. What was she supposed to do next time? Corner him somewhere and hope that nobody else in the pack noticed? She doubted he would willingly give his blood to her again, not after almost draining him this time.

She hesitated, then started trotting along next to him as he went. If he collapsed, she would be there for him to lean on. It was only fair, considering what he had done for her. She owed him. What would he ask in return..? She pondered the thought, watching the trees pass by as they went. It was a quiet journey, but not long enough. As soon as they got to the edge of the clearing, she realized something was wrong. She stopped, staying in the shadows as she gazed toward home. Several people were clustered around the fire, and there were a bunch sitting to the side in their Wolf forms. That did not bother her. What did bother her was the faint sounds of Tomas yelling about Vampires and Halflings.

She slowly backed away from the sight. If Isaac went there and confirmed Tomas' ravings.. She was finished.
 
When she started to follow, he didn't pay her much mind, just let her walk alongside him. He knew she was staying with him on purpose, as his walking pace was a slow one, taking care to watch how his steps fell and keep himself from getting dizzy again. He was getting gradually better now, with nourishment slowly working its way into his system again and assisting his blood count in rising. Still, he put a hand on almost every tree he passed on the way, and once when he stumbled used her solid body for support, a hand on the space between her shoulders to keep from just pitching forward onto his face.

He couldn't hear quite as much as she did when they reached the clearing of her home, but the slight commotion and the way she backed up was telling. Something was wrong. Perhaps the injured he-wolf had told their story, had told the others what Isaac didn't really feel the need to share anymore. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good, and he needed to know if anyone believed the other wolf.

"Stay out of sight." Isaac cautioned, glancing back at the she-wolf that moved away from him, and nodded towards the people and the fire. "I'll go investigate." He didn't often come to join them at the fire, but he could make it seem as if he was just trying to be more sociable for the night.

Hands resting loosely in his jacket pockets, Isaac started walking carefully towards the others, glad that he'd grown more steady on his feet during the walk back and didn't wobble on his way there. ". . . is something wrong?" He asked when he'd reached them, voice soft and concerned, worried about the commotion but also hesitant to join if this was a pack concern that he wasn't really a part of. "He's all right, isn't he?" It was clear that the he-wolf he'd freed before had gotten medical attention and was sharing some sort of 'nonsense'. Isaac just needed to know what it was.
 
The group gathered around the fire looked up when Isaac joined them, but most paid him no heed. It was obvious they were in the middle of an argument. One of the more vocal males in the group was suggesting that a hunting party form up and go out to scour the forest. Another was quickly cutting him off at every turn, pointing out that they had no order to do so and he didn't want to lose his head for going out when they had been instructed not to.

"Tomas is fine, physically speaking," one of the women said to Isaac, a frown on her lips. She was about two inches taller than Niari, with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. "He's all bandaged up now, but we can't calm him down. He's in there yelling about Halflings, of all things. Claims his sister is one. Of course it's nonsense. We'd have noticed by now. But everybody's getting antsy about it because nobody has seen her in hours," she explained, shrugging. "Probably out hunting. I don't see why everybody's so upset.."

"Because Halflings are nothing short of demons," one of the men hissed, listening in to their conversation and glaring at the woman. "If Niari is a Halfling, she's best off dead! We don't need some mutated garbage in our pack! Halflings are dangerous! Her mind is twisted and it's only a matter of time before she snaps and kills somebody off! I'm not risking the pack for one girl!"

They continued to bicker, voices raising enough that Niari was shifting uncomfortably in the woods. She couldn't go back there. Not now. She walked off slowly, finding a small den nearby and curling up in it. Isaac wouldn't come back. He couldn't, not with everybody watching him now. She was simply alone.

Tomas' cries were fading to silence. Soon after, the Alpha appeared in the doorway. She frowned at the commotion, crossing her arms until she had the attention of all.

"Is there something you want to say?" she asked pointedly, staring at one of the men who had been loudly calling for Niari's slaughter. He swallowed and looked away. Nobody was saying a word. She waited, then moved down the stairs and approached Isaac. "You were with my son. He claims that Niari was there and that she attacked him. Is this true?"
 
Isaac frowned a little as the woman spoke to him, nodding slightly to show he'd heard and understood but appearing a little perplexed. "I came across her with a fresh kill while I was wandering," He said, shrugging slightly like he wasn't quite sure how to help, or just didn't know why people were so panicked. "She was eating, so I didn't really stay to chat." He'd washed the scent of the deer off of himself, at least, enough that it wouldn't register as fresh if anyone happened to catch the smell of it on him. It would, at least, hopefully explain away the faint scent of her on his coat.

When the Alpha approached him, Isaac let a bit of nerves show but not much else. He kept his hands in his pockets like he didn't feel the need to defend himself, and only gave a little glance around because everyone's attention was on him now. "I . . . I don't want to call anyone a liar . . ." He said finally, quietly like he was trying to let as few people hear as possible. "But . . . if she was there, I didn't see her. It was just the two of us. I thought he howled because he didn't like being left alone with me."

Ah, he'd gone and done it now. Lied through his teeth in a situation that was only his word against the Alpha's son. But he'd gotten it into his head to help her before, and if it meant giving her an alibi and throwing suspicion off of her then he would do it. He knew being found out could cause him trouble, given this pack had no loyalties to him, and he accepted that as possible consequence. It was reasonable enough that the injured he-wolf had been afraid of being left injured and vulnerable with Isaac, the newcomer no one really trusted and who just happened to have a weapon.

After a short but weighted pause, Isaac shifted a little on his feet and glanced back at the forest, then looked at the Alpha again. "I could look for her?" He offered, unsurely since it wasn't really his place to assert himself, leaving the option for the Alpha to give him the order herself, turn it into just another menial task to show on the lowest wolf when no one else would want it. "I saw where her last kill was. . ." It wouldn't be hard to track her, even without light. He'd done it before.
 
The Alpha didn't respond at first. She simply watched Isaac for a long minute, her dark blue eyes focused on his. Finally, she turned away to face the rest of the pack.

"My son is resting. He was hysterical when found, likely scared and very hurt. Such was his terror that we had to put him to sleep with Killia Oils," she said, her expression serious as a few people murmured worriedly to each other. "He will be fine. It is my opinion and that of the Council members who have spoken to Tomas that he was simply scared. I do not believe that he truly saw Niari, or that she attacked him. Halflings are a fear of children and likely the first thing his mind thought of. I will hear no more of this issue," she added firmly. The pack dispersed and she took Isaac's arm.

"Walk with me," she invited in a tone that did not allow argument. She headed toward the area of the woods that he had emerged from. When they were far enough from the other members of the pack to speak without being overheard, she turned to him.

"I know the truth," she said simply. "Protect her."

With that, she turned and walked away, leaving him alone in the middle of the clearing as she went back toward the fire to enjoy the last moments of conversation before people began to head to bed.
 
It was a struggle, not looking away, and if he had been through any less than what it had taken to get him here Isaac may have looked away. Still, he had to struggle not to sigh in relief when the Alpha finally turned to her pack, some tension uncoiling in his chest upon knowing she would at least believe his side of the story. The way she looked at him, he suspected she was only doing it for Niari's sake. There was no reason for her to lend credit to an untrusted wolf without having her own motives.

And yet, when her hand curled around his arm and started to pull, he had to bite his tongue to keep from protesting. It sent a little spike of fear into his heart, like she knew he wasn't telling the truth and meant to punish him for it, but her grip didn't bruise him so he had to assume he was at least physically safe. When they stopped in the trees and she turned to him with hushed, heavy words, he couldn't speak. She left him, and he only watched her walk away with wide eyes, surprised at just how cleanly he'd gotten away with it all. Was this what his life had come to? How much would he give for one she-wolf he hardly even knew? No.

Those in her pack wouldn't risk all of their safety for one girl, but Isaac would risk his safety for the rest of her pack.

It was dark, and as the pack forgot him and went to bed, Isaac began to walk. The night was chilled and he buttoned up his coat and kept his hands warm in his pockets, head down as he followed her pawprints and other signs she'd come through. It took him nearly half an hour to get on the right trail and finally follow it to a small space he wouldn't be going into in this form.

". . . Sleeping?" He called softly, scuffing the dirt a bit with his shoe to rouse her and then just taking a seat nearby. ". . . Your mother sends her regards." He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Well. She sent me, anyway."
 
After a minute, Niari came out of the den. She had not been sleeping, merely resting and listening to the forest around her. Isaac's presence had roused her, but it was his words that brought her out. She stretched and shook off the dirt in her fur, then quickly shifted into her Human form to more easily speak to him. Going from fur to bare skin was always unpleasant in her mind. It was like rejecting her natural state. Plus, it was colder. She sat by the den and curled her arms around herself.

"My mother sent you? So she knows," she murmured quietly. That was one suspicion confirmed. She should have expected that. Of course her mother would know. She would have had to mate with a Vampire to make this possible. If it had been rape, Niari would have known about it. The Vampire would have been disgraced by both sides. However, she had heard nothing about anything like that. Nobody ever mentioned that her father was not truly her father, meaning it had been kept a secret by her mother. But why? Did she truly love the Vampire, or was she somehow coerced into it? Werewolves were supposed to mate for life. She frowned sadly at the thought, wondering what Vampires did in their love lives. All she knew about them in that regard was how they would trick teenaged girls into thinking they were the sparkling lovey dovey Vamps, then turn them into personal blood bags. Was that her fate? Trick somebody into staying with her?

Maybe.

"Thank you for coming back. I didn't expect you to," she said after a moment, looking down at the dirt.
 
Isaac waited for her to emerge on her own, giving a faint sound in response to acknowledge her speaking, and tried not to look at her. He didn't want to see in full force the slump of her shoulders that he could detect at the very edge of his vision. She hadn't known what she was, at least not always. That sort of revelation had to be a difficult one, and one he really couldn't imagine. How did one react, thinking they were one thing and growing up to realize they were a monstrous mix of both? She wasn't as unstable as he would've expected, for her bloodlines or the emotional throwback of it all.

"Meanwhile, your pack thinks your brother went temporarily insane." He murmured softly, sitting forward enough to take off his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. "Only he and I were at the trap - you were out hunting at the time, and the deer you brought me was yours, understand?" No one would likely ask about any of it in specifics, but she needed to know what the story was just in case. "Act surprised when you find out he's hurt, all right?"

Sighing softly, Isaac laid back in the dirt and grass and leaves and looked up at the sky through the trees. ". . . We should go back soon. . . Everyone's going to bed. . ." She couldn't hide out here forever, but he wouldn't argue against a few more minutes. When she was ready, they would walk back and seperate to their respective beds. They were in this lie together now, whether they wanted it or not.
 
"Okay."

Niari stayed still once she had slid her arms through the jacket to hold it more tightly around her. She heard Isaac lay down but she didn't look over at him. Now she had no choice but to trust him entirely. If she hadn't been so weak... But she had. The matter was done with now. She had to get over it and simply accept it. Isaac was the only one who knew the complete truth. Tomas suspected and accused, but had gained no ground. His claims would be dismissed, particularly since her mother knew the truth as well and was apparently disinclined to act upon her knowledge. So. Niari was to rely on Isaac.

She looked over at him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he observed the stars and mentioned going back. Home. She wanted to crawl into bed and never come out, but that would speak to her guilt. He was right. She had to act surprised and brush this all off. Some of the pack may still be suspicious - Tomas was not some deranged fool. Injured or not, there would be a few in the pack who put weight in his claims.

"Let's go," she said after another minute, standing up and brushing herself off. She paused, then reached out a hand to him to help him up in case he was still feeling weak.
 
He could feel her watching him while he lay still, but there was no point in stopping her. There had to be some sort of thought going on in her head, the hunger in her sated as it was. He had issues to work through of his own, namely the idea of what he'd gotten himself into in such a short amount of time. More or less, he had offered himself as a food source for an inexperienced halfling, one whose mother was Alpha and would do anything to protect her. That was his place now, he supposed. This new Alpha that could possibly end up being his had all but ordered him to continue helping her.

Somehow, it didn't feel necessary to tell Niari that part. Even if her mother hadn't ordered him, Isaac had decided on his own to help her.

"Hm?" The tired wolf looked at the hand offered to him, then sighed softly and accepted the help up, having to use her shoulder for balance once he was up and immediately got dizzy. Standing too quickly was a bad thing. He needed to go sleep all of this off. ". . . I'm fine. Let's go."

The walk was slow and quiet as before, but he didn't need the trees for balance and wasn't at risk of falling, and when they reached the pack's living space there was no one standing around conspiring against them. Isaac stopped near the edge where the forest met the clearing, and glanced sidelong at Niari. "I'll take that back now." He said, holding out a hand and not really looking at her. "It'll be troublesome trying to get it in the morning." No one would think anything of her walking home naked, and he wasn't a lecher, asking for it back just so he could look at her. He would wash his things in the morning so they wouldn't have her scent anymore.
 
The lack of conversation during the walk back was actually reassuring. Isaac obviously did not feel the need to fill the void with mindless chatter, which she appreciated highly. It gave her time to focus and thing. She mentally reviewed all that he had told her, so that she would remember her story. As they went, she also tried to decide if she should approach Tomas in the morning, or if she should simply allow him to go on ignoring her as he had been before. Neither option was pleasant. She did want to know for sure that he was alright, though. He had sounded absolutely terrified, and she knew the wound had been bad. There had been blood everywhere. She frowned at the thought, dismissing it with ease now that she was not starving.

"Hm?" she asked absently as Isaac stopped walking. She looked up and realized they were at the edge of the forest already. Nodding once, she slid his coat off and handed it to him.

"Thank you," she said once more, looking up at him with an uncertain expression before turning away. She walked across the clearing with an easy confidence that came from spending long years of her life without clothing on anyway. Once she got to her cabin, she paused to listen. Nothing. Everybody was asleep, which meant she would not be questioned just yet. She relaxed and walked inside, going to her bedroom and crawling into bed without bothering to dress. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.
 
"Goodnight." Isaac said softly as he took his coat back from her, and left her to walk back to her home.

The walk to his own place to sleep wasn't a long one, and the darkness and silence once he'd shut the door behind him were welcome. He thought he wouldn't sleep for hours, too many things on his mind, but the fatigue of the day took him over soon after he'd curled up under a blanket in bed. Everything was changing so quickly. He dreamt of being lost in the forest, and having only the trees for company until the ground gave way beneath his feet and plunged him into darkness.

Dark as it stayed in his shed, with no windows and only a few small cracks to let light in, Isaac didn't wake until it was well past first light. When he rose he gathered his clothes as he'd said he would, wrapped in the blanket he slept under, and set off to take them down to the river with him, a length of clothesline wrapped around one hand for later use. He would wash them while it was still cool, and as the sun rose further into the sky he would rest and let his things dry. At the very least, it gave him an excuse to be alone. He had a feeling he would have to deal with more than one confrontation in the coming days, from Niari or her mother or her brother. He would need his energy.

((Leaving for work in about 45 minutes so replies will stop then. I'll get you one on my lunch break but won't be home again until super late))
 
The next day, Niari woke at sunrise, as usual. She washed and dressed while managing to avoid seeing her mother. Once she had on a pair of comfortable jeans and a simple grey shirt, she tied her hair up and decided to skip hunting for breakfast. Instead, she munched on an apple while trying to decide if she should go see Tomas. As it turned out, she didn't have to make that decision. He ended up walking in to the kitchen while she was perched on the countertop.

"Tomas.." she said softly, flinching at how startled and scared he seemed to be at her presence. "Can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk to you. I know what you are. Nobody believes me, but I know," he snapped, shaking his head and turning to leave.

"Wait, Tomas, please," Niari begged, hopping down quickly to follow him. "I just want to talk and make sure you're alright.."

Tomas turned and lifted a hand, slapping his sister across the face without pause. She could see the fear in his eyes and knew he did it out of a desperate feeling of self-preservation, but that did not take the sting out of the gesture. Not only had he hit hard enough to actually hurt, she was upset that he would do such a thing. They had been so close once. She frowned sadly and watched him go, knowing that she would never get him back.

A few minutes later, she emerged from the cabin with a book in hand. Nobody seemed delighted to see her, so she simply kept her silence and walked off to the woods to find a good place to read. It seemed she was more of an outsider than Isaac now.
 
Isaac put his clothes on the ground when he reached the river, going about stretching the line between two trees and making sure it was good and taut and would hold wet clothes when he was done. He stripped down to his underwear then and just hopped into the water to start washing things. In all reality he could have gone to someone's home, or made the trip into town to find a laundromat there as he'd done before, but with the shaky position he was in now he didn't feel like doing either thing. It was soothing, at least, standing in the cool water under the warm sun, and working with his own hands to clean his things. It wasn't the first time he'd ever done such a thing, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

His jacket went first since it was the thickest thing he owned, and when it was washed and free of Niari's scent he hung it up to dry, then went back to keep washing the rest. He kept a wary eye out, sure that no one would be out and about at this time of day and that if they did he would hear or see them before they got too close. Everyone ignored him or avoided him in this pack, for the most part, but he wasn't going to let his guard down and have some child try to play a prank on him.

For a while, he was glad enough to work quietly by himself and let himself get lost in the monotony of it, thinking that if the Alpha had any tasks for him she would have kept him from leaving first thing in the morning. But even as he settled into a rhythm of working he picked up the sounds of someone walking closer, and a minute or so later spotted Niari wandering through the trees, a book in hand.

"Good morning." He called, just loud enough so that she wouldn't be startled to see him, the noises he made somewhat masked by the sound of the water itself. ". . . If you're looking for a place to sit, the sun is best over there." He felt a bit self conscious, not so much for his mostly bare skin but for the newest scars that marked them. Trying to make her leave would've made her suspicious, though, he thought. And besides. She looked much too sad to shoo her away.
 
Niari wandered down paths at random, not paying much attention to where she was going until she heard a voice call out to her. Was that the water? She blinked and looked up, spotting Isaac. Oh. He was washing his clothing. A wise choice. She forced a bit of a smile for him in thanks of the suggestion, giving him a single nod before turning away and going over to the spot he had pointed out. In all fairness, it was a good spot. A big tree to lean against, plenty of sunshine, and soft grass to sit on.

She settled in and opened the book, getting three pages in before her mind started wandering back to Tomas. Her cheek no longer hurt, but her fingers could feel the heat of it. It'd likely bruise for an hour or so before fading away. How inconvenient. She would just stay out here until then, or longer. What rush did she have to get back? The looks she had gotten that morning were not hostile, but several were wary. It was the same look Isaac had given her the night before. No more full trust. She frowned and flipped pages absently just to watch them go by, stopping in the middle of the book.

It was a story she knew well. A girl, bitten by a Werewolf and forced through the Change, living on her own in the woods. Most of it was silly, but there were parts that Niari deeply cared for. The idea of being truly alone with no pack, feeling lost, and finding a pack in the end to take her in. It was a book that everybody in the pack had read at some time or another, but few read more than once. Niari could still see the little pencil drawing of a wolf she had done along the edge of the page. She snapped the book closed and set it aside, picking up a stick instead to draw in the dirt.

On one side, a wolf. The other, a Vampire. She gazed at both of them, trying to understand what that made her.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.