User blog:MockingJester/Rebirth

The river bed gathers all in a bountiful harvest of life...



A gray morning welcomed me as I walk outside the plains. Winds danced on the plain grass, common, bland. Simplicity has its beauty, though.



Carrying an unloaded bow on my back alongside a few arrows, I venture out to the local stream with thoughts of gorging myself with water. Some to drink immediately, the rest, to carry back home in cooking purposes, such is today 'water day'.



With me, empty transparent containers, large enough for me to carry under my armpits. Two more trips would suffice to see me sated for the month with three more waiting home.



My relatively short travel sees me meet with a few other critters rushing to lap at the river bed. A somewhat strange place, I must admit. This spot I tend to is site to a sort of truce between the various animals. Predators and prey converge on this place with no other needs than to fill their bellies with the precious liquid.



<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I make no exception to this peace, feeling the encompassing aura of this place, a beautiful river of pristine blue flowing from the north to uncharted lands. A litter of flowers adorns its sides as well as the whole of the passage.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The peace permeating it is a deeply soothing one. One I wished not to disturb, the reason behind my parting with bow and arrows at the edge as a token of appreciation. I rest assured of my demanding, yet humble task, knowing no predator would be tempted at any attack. I could be as close to a stray feline and feel no true threat to my life.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Walking up the small hills this fateful day was to be different. As I walked to meet my standard spot, was greeted to a few critters somewhat unnerved. Many of them acting as if a confrontation occurred.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"In this place? That can't--" I was breathless, the containers flopping from my armpits. My feet bring me back to my bow and arrow before going back in great haste, instinctively guided by their startled stares to a direction. This unspoken rule I've come to respect, I make an exception. Anything spouting the critters this vehemently is likely to be hostile.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My sprint sees me quickly ascend the hill to then descent from it with a grizzly sight: white fur slumbered near the waters. A wolf. Its body is entirely motionless, limp, unresponsive to the cooling liquid splattering its nostrils.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Walking closer, the details clarified. A trickle of blood on its snow fur. It's hind paw bent backward. Its overall difficulty of breathing. Injured.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A snow fur wolf injured near the river bank. I expected it to have come from elsewhere. Crossing the river proved me right as closing in, the glimmer of crimson stains a path of grass sulked by its globular weight.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The wolf came from somewhere else for it did not look like it was assailing any creature nearby. With my foot leaving the drench of water, I kneel near it, making sure that it can see me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It does, daring to drag its head upward in a gesture of joined gaze. I look deep in its azure eyes. Benign, calm even with its injuries crippling it in place. Yet its whimpering betrays its stoic stature.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What did this to you...?" I whisper, thinking it all too weak to give me an answer. It looks to my eyes, seemingly catching the words of inquiry, to then turn to the back where its trail of blood spouts from. The same place where animals are screaming toward. Something laid here.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Something intent on making itself known, stepping forth from the entrance of the forest. The land of lost wanderers. A place who have seen many walking in seeking treasure or adventures with none returning. A dangerous realm where the appearance of supernatural beasts is much more common than the plains.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And one of those now appeared from the darkness of the trees, slumbering and salivating from its jaw. The broken wolf growls at it as I knit an arrow to the string of my bow.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The creature's physiology is in the likeness of a bear, yet, its stomach seemed to be caved in, revealing a disturbing set of jagged ribs, somewhat soft looking as well. Its head bears no fur, no flesh, only bones. It stares back at the sulked wolf with two crimson eyes shining in the gray of the sky and hunger in its growl.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Immediately, an arrow comes piercing its left paw, forcing a pained scream out of it. I know the risk of facing off with a marrow eating bear, but I could not avoid this. Glancing at the wolf gave me a feeling of peace and perhaps something more...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It was as is I gazed into its soul and it, my own. A gentle creature I could not allow to let die by a marrow eater. The same who now charges at me with the glare of vengeance. I string and shoot yet another arrow.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The metallic glint of the tip filters through the sky, looking to strike the great beast in its skull. Alas, my expectations fall short as the arrow harmlessly bounces off it, making a mockery of my assumption at the frailty of its skull.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My third attempt is interrupted as I roll sideways under the threat of lacerating claws plunging through the grass and soil with a bear roar assailing my eardrums. A blood-drenched rumble echoing its anger.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The critters once present in this place have long fled, threatened by this marrow eater bear. I am surprised to see one so close, drifting so far from this hostile land.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My thoughts are no more wayward than I am, forced to duck under yet another swipe. The grass bends and bucks under my sliding weight. This form brings me two fleeting advantages as a quick distance and a shooting opportunity.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My hands move swiftly, notching my charming third time. This third shot instead goes elsewhere. Around its solidified head, the tip of the arrow dives to the fat of its neck. A second roar full of pain paints the atmosphere. At this, it lifts itself on the hind legs, a manner of acclimating to the emergence of its punctured neck. Not enough, it still gives me the foresight to its anatomy. Its stomach is much duller than I would have thought, a potential weak spot to aim for.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Anger permeates its glare, now wholly committed to killing I who dared to shed blood from it. I know not to allow it to connect a single swipe on me, seeing its claws well sharpened.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My honed experience manifests as it always did, giving flight to my feet to dance around the creature's attempting swipes, an arrow prompted to the string of my bow, stretched to its maximal. My gaze lies underneath, waiting for it to placate a decisive strike.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The thought to accelerate its false sense of security comes to mind as I make a feint, sliding across the plain as if my footing is lost to an error, seeking to lure it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It works, the malevolent grin on its twisted skeleton visage explicit in compliance to my demise. The hardened claws rose with the intent on puncturing my flesh in its slag use.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It would never get the chance...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Arrow after arrow, I empty my quiver of lacerating tips straight for the spot, witness to the wounds immediately acting upon it with shock impulses of pain. Enough so that its momentum is ruined, its body all too overwhelmed with the heavy loss of blood from its ribcage. Even the seeming supernatural appearance cannot hope to deter the inevitable loss it would suffer should the urge to inflict vengeance on me rises.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It turns tail and flees, though not before I see it try to break off the lacerating arrows embedded in its stomach in a panic, the act proving to be a slow path to death as now the tips make themselves harder to remove, maintaining the slower bleeding. Was I to hunt it further, then my trail would end at its remains.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The creature fended off, I turn to the snow fur wolf, barely awake, still reeling from its injuries. I place my bow aside the empty quiver before reaching for its least wounded side underneath. The weight of its hide is made well evident on my shoulders still fueled by the rush of adrenaline flowing nevertheless. This moment is not to be wasted, as I doubt I'd have my mundane strength would allow a hurried carriage.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The sprint back home is tenuous. My containers of water left behind this gravitas I'm found in. Though, the wolf, long before its slumber catches up to it, sends me a grateful glance...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Day 1

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Over a flight of sheets I lay the wolf. Tiny red circles drip behind it, the last of my worries. The carpet and floor can wait.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I run back, looking to get some medical appliances on which I use to patch it up. Of course, the first part is almost the most annoyingly painful. A piece of cloth, sterile and soaked in alcohol in hand, I take a solemn glance at it, making sure the humid piece is bare in its sight "See this? I'm going to clean up your wounds before closing it. But, it's going to hurt a bit, alright? Can you bear with me?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I can hear its whimper, well into the realm of understanding of my words. Poor little fella, measuring the prospect of additional pain it has to endure still over its present wounds. Its glare returns to me, a look of resigned stoicism. The fur on its injured areas buckles, in apprehension.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Slowly, I approach the soaked napkin to press on the blood-coated areas. Its howl is instant, galvanized by a fresh impulse of pain and laced in whimpers. My whisper seems to calm it down a bit "It's alright, the cleaning is surprisingly short..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Feeble whimpers continue still as I toil away, washing the dried up blood while simultaneously taking the potential infection away as it never was a presence, to begin with. Save for the wound, its fur shines like a freshly grown patch.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Glad that's over with..." My pungent hand discards the napkin, going for a silky band of aid. Laps around the wolf to seal up the wound, the minutes spent to leave them hanging until it closes. No one would want to keep old bandages wrapped up days after they no longer needed it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Next step: a bath. One can only wonder how long it has been wondering the more dangerous land of the lost, and the house is already coming down with the stench of withered trees.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Aw, damn..." My mind stretches back to the containers I forgot back in the spring. A mistake with the cost of plenty of runs back and forth, double the path I'm so eased into. The first three, filling my containers to a man's size to bring them back, to then spend in filling the bathing cauldron on which the wolf leaps, seemingly with enthusiasm. Good thing it's not a cat.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Soap and brush, the sprinkle of its fur come first, though it continuously shakes its head like bath time was already over long before I could sprinkle a hint of bubbly soap "Hey now, we're not even started. Simmer down".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It whimpers slightly, allowing me once more to douse the warm water over its head and nose, the azure irises shut-in protection. The scrubbing is a surprisingly effortless task. Well, as effortless as washing down a wounded wolf is. It seems soothed by this pedicure care I'm bringing to its fur, however, the wounds are still somewhat sensible, halting this wash to a crawling halt.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It does give in, though, making this wash a successful one. "Ok, now you can--" I barely utter a sentence that the wolf already jumps out of the cauldron, making little of its wounds and shakes as if its life depends on it. My backstep thanks me for the foresight to trust it, putting me far from the splash zone.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Going back inside, I bring out a fresh towel to lay on the floor. I think it could use a little independence. And apparently, so does the wolf, prone to quickly rub itself on the towel for further drying, all the while I drain the cauldron and clean it before then going back to make another series of three runs to fill my containers...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...and yet another three more run to fill my main container, all too heavy and cumbersome to carry with me, instead filled my those I can bear. The day is an extra slug of effort burning through my limbs and lungs...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Tiredness assails my bones and muscles, reeling from this morning spanned to evening. The crawling walk I take as I carry the last container back home, filled with pure transparent liquid is not an isolated one.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The wolf gazes at me, still sitting at the porch of my home. Hmm, I seem to have forgotten to close the door, the frame flapping against the docile winds playing it to their whim. It rises as I approach, looking to inspect me as to see whether it truly is I, with a softening gaze on the recognition of my facial features. Almost as if it sought to guard my benign mistake.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Placing the container at my side by the porch's chair, I slumber down to it, the wooden panels creaking under the weight of an exhausted man. The wolf looks back to me, slumbered on the panel as well, our glances sharing the same concentration of tiredness in different outputs.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Slowly, the sky clears up with a late attempt as the last shred of the sun makes way to the encroaching darkness. With it, comes the departure of the wolf. I certainly did expect it to leave at one point. Even then...worry assails me...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It looks back at me, already sturdier than I gave it credit for. A grateful glance. The last thing I see as it wanders back far from home. It was...goodbye.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Or so I thought...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Day 2

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My sleep is disturbed. The sky is nascent, clear, unlike the day before. Sunrays pierce the windows to my bedroom, welcoming me to a sunny morning. However, this is not the source that wakes me from a decreasingly deep slumber.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Scratches. From down the stairs. Behind the door. For at least a good ten minutes, the time I typically use for morning relief, no less, with the expectation of another hunter, or perhaps a soldier of a platoon about to march in the land of lost wanderers.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"You're back?" My surprise, total. The wolf I mended to, the culprit to the scars on my door. Its azure eyes flare with increased intensity as the battered door moves out of its way. The tail twitches and waggles in conjunction with no illusion of its demeanor in spite of the still sitting it takes in.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, what do you know..." Taking a step outside, I see the bandages. Gone. With no wound to cover up. Normally, this should be a cause for concern, seeing as this wolf looks to dwell from beyond the land of lost wanderers with such regenerative capabilities. Any sane individual would be wary at increasingly looks like a werewolf sitting at his porch.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And so would I...assuming I was blind to the happy demeanor it projects, a token of appreciation. That and its impromptu run from my porch. The soft paws underneath make way around the thin legion of grass populating the domain I have set home upon, only stopping a few paws away to look back in an expecting manner.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Looking to guide me somewhere?" My words come back with a decisive bark in my way. Curiosity brings me to my bow and arrows that I quickly fasten on myself to follow the wolf. The trip is a short one. An opposite direction from the riverbed where a fallen boar lays.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A particularly large one, at that. Slowly and carefully, I approach the beast, unsure of whether it was dead or simply slumbering. Its glazed eyes bring me the visual of its passing. Its throat seems crushed with a bit of blood flowing from the holes. Otherwise, the creature is wholly intact. An excessively clean kill. The bite must have shocked the thing strong enough to make it the only strike required.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Looking to show off the veracity of your healing? Well, I admit, I'm impressed..." I look to the wolf sitting close by, watching me examine its kill, looking proud of it. Of my reaction. I turn back "...however, I would not think you'd come back just a show of prowess. Much less with a large game like this".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It wanders close, looking intently at my hands. Its nose pokes at the nearest of the two hovering over the deceased boar "You want to share it? You don't need to offer a hand like that. It's yours, is it not?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It howls, teeming the tip with insistence. I honestly didn't think it would return in gratitude, but, here we are. With cord, I bind it to a knot and pull it back home. Looking to cement its appreciation, the wolf goes back to push, butting its head in a fierce add to the overall effort, making the trip back a welcomed short one.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The next hour is spent meticulously cutting it apart, with every piece soon to serve a purpose. The least I can do for the creature that will nourish me for the next days and the one who bore the burden of hunting it. Kind of makes me wonder whether it would return such favor to other less conservative hunters.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sprinkled with salt as to save the bulk of the meat, I now sit at what is the more pleasurable moment: cooking. Smoke erupts from the front of my house, a spitroast assembled hastily. Two large pieces. One for me. One for my 'guest' sitting by the chair, slumbered in a near-sleep state, waiting with hunger. Glaring with hunger at the meat grilling and steaming.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Its eyes are mesmerized, I can see it, close to the fire. Questions dwelling within the twin azure, relentlessly fed in a growing curiosity-fueling smoke of a roast. Heat and its effect on the impending dish.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Hungry, are we? Well, it'll soon be ready..." I speak in a teasing manner stiffing laughter at its howling expense. Its innards furnace fully awaken, ready and willing to digest the salivating piece rotating in front of it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I finally pull the piece out, larger than the one designed to myself. With a little bit of sauce, I lay it on a plate, to then lay that in front of the wolf.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Its carnivorous instincts immediately goad it to a first bite. The lacerating row of teeth makes quick work of the initial munching. Its eyes flare up in heightened hunger for the generous plate I offered it, begging for a second bite.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Grilled meat is a first for you, huh? Well, if you come holler once in a while, I can cook you up some more..." Never did I think the wolf would come to heed those words so vehemently...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Day 10

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I've been getting more of its visits, often bringing a fallen animal with joy in its canine features, waiting for me to refine its catch. In exchange, the snow-fur wolf often took upon itself to accompany me during my gatherings, hunts or odd jobs I would take here and here by passing travelers. Mostly from armies, however, with the coin to appreciate my knowledge of the land...save for the land of the lost.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This particular day, as I trekked to the border of safety, a haunting visage came back. A marrow eater. Another bear in supernatural lineage with the hunger for the flesh of man. My senses spotted it as it honed in on me, with no delusion of a warning shot, even as I cleared from the entrance to dangerous territory.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unfortunately for me, it was nothing if not persistent, as most of its kind usually kept to the deadwood of the land. Did it ever meet the injured and dying one, I wonder. Vengeance on its mind?

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unfortunately for it, however, I was not alone. Pulling the arrow tail to the string of my bow, the wolf leaps from the woods, having taken to scout further. Vengeance on ITS mind? Very likely, noting by the staunch glare it gives the bear.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Before anything, the marrow eater turns from me, looking to the wolf as a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. A twisted shape on its maw, a grin. And sure enough, the duel between predators is short.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">For it...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Belief comes to me thinking the wolf to be caught in stealth or otherwise incapacitated when the previous marrow eater had it by death's door. For this encounter is as short as I presume the fallen boar was. Nowhere near as powerful as the bear, the lone wolf instead makes use of its agility as a spring to the easily overwhelmed marrow eater's throat in the second of regret over its confidence. Powerful, yet slow and cumbersome swipes, leading to its quick exhaustion brought about by the wolf's dance in its radius. Deliberately close, yet inches far enough with the gaps never to be compensated by the bear, who soon falls dead.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With its death, a welcome from another while the wolf has long fled back to the land of the lost "Good grace, you managed to bring one down".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, I wasn't alone on this one..." I turn to a lightly armored man looking like a scout of sorts. Steel adorns his chest, the majority of his armor. His helmet is replaced by a more comfortable hat enveloping the ponytail hair he bears over it, colored in the same wash his plate is. Boots and gloves forgo the same metallic design of the previously mentioned plate, going for hard-boiled leather.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Still, this creature is trouble those passing by in these woods" The ruffling sac he carries detach to his smooth glove, handing it to me in a carefree fashion "You've done a serviceable deed. I've been instructed to hand over a bounty for those who can rid us of the beast".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I feel the hefty stack of coin fall to the palm of my hand...doubled "What?" A second bag falls over the previous, doubled in its weight. Looking down, I see two lovely bags bursting with gilded coin "That's two sacs..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Indeed. Other scouts have spotted another of these abominations littered with arrows in a cave, long-deceased. Judging by you being the closest individual present with a bow and arrow, I assume you're responsible for its death".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Huh, so it did die. Well, yes, I did confront a previous one. I didn't think it would bleed out to death".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well then, I'm happy to let you know that the nearby kingdom is willing to offer you two hundred gold coins for each of these monstrosities you'll slay". The scout ruffles out a folded piece of paper, depicting the drooling creature slumbered under my boot "Damn things piling up too many casualties in these places which are already dangerous enough as they are".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yea, I can imagine..." I extend my other hand, ready to welcome the stylized depiction of the marrow eater bear "I'll see what I can do. Hopefully, you can stumble where they reproduce".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Where it so easy, hunter. Word is that a dark art practitioner is mashing these deep in the land teeming with monsters. They aren't exactly natural, even for supernatural beast standard. Now, if you excuse me, there is much I have have to scout and report back. Hopefully, we'll see each other soon enough. Do remember to avoid getting swiped by it. It can tear through a heavy plate with little to no effort".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Which I don't even have. Don't worry about me". He turns from me, a large pouch revealed to his back His silhouette disappears through the bramble.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">At the same time, the wolf's shape approaches, its tail wagging. My knee scorches the withered leaves under its weight as it closes in, near enough for me to depict a sense of pride in its eyes "Ohh, you like what the man said, huh? Well, then, what do you say? Do you want to go hunt these things with me?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It howls in a deep agreement, brushing its nose against the thin paper of the marrow eater's depiction before grunting in hostility. Seems like it hates them too. A common quality it shares with the passing army, judging by the man's words.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, alright then. Might as well start our day in the same spot, what do you think?" Since the wolf was to be my trusty companion, I thought it appropriate to begin the schematics for a small home at home. A place for it to claim as its own. The large plains behind my domain don't serve much in other ways than training dummies and what-not.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Hearing of this makes its tail wag in spite of its stoic demeanor. I nod "Very well. Until then, you get access to my home. Now..." I turn to the density of the shallow wood, with an apprehension of going deeper. My worries, nestled far as I feel its nose brushing on the tip of my finger, reassuring me that we now cover each other.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A step further in, we cross to the depth of the land of the lost wanderers. My footsteps follow without deviation the wolf's, as it seems to know the place. A pattern I would come to understand...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day one

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The breath to my lungs has no time to bathe in, giving me short-lived air. My feet burn with their endless sprint. My back, enfeebled by my trusted companion. I make a hurry home, hoping that I may tend to it...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Minutes prior, we wandered the land of lost wanderers, invested in culling the of the unfortunate casualties brought about by the marrow eater catching a wanderer or soldier at their weakest. Our tracking and exterminating techniques, refined with time and repetition, to make on one or many.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This evening promised to be an uneventful as the days before. Time and time, we put death to the creatures. Even their ambushes prove futile, their weaknesses, known. A lack of guile. A lack of patience. Vanity of strength blinding their judgment. Goaded by the wolf to be pierced with lacerating arrows no their underbellies...assuming it didn't aim for their necks.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">However, this evening saw us robbed of our current quarry. It was fleeting, injured and sneering back at the snow wolf. At me. Cursing the two of us in its unintelligible grunts.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And then...a light. A pillar of incandescent light, far from here. Far, yet close, its radiance, blinding all near and remote in the sudden birth of the shine. Seeping its might to the heavens like a flock of birds, then, beyond it. Close to the cosmos before it breaks like the forming branches to a tree. Branches dancing upward for but seconds before the weight of their existence brings them down. Down everywhere.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Countless spheres rise in the distance under the plantation of the bent beam, now taking likeness to roots of a tree over its branches, painting the skies in their imposing shades of purple. And one strikes near.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This one, like the others in time, spread forth a tide of pure power. It wails and mourns like a creature of the seas with everything it touches. Almost sentient. The distant trees touched by its energetic wave take on a rapture of lightning-like static traveling back and forth across their bulks, glowing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I do not know what fate awaits those trees, nor the soil it travels through. However, the marrow eating bear is consumed. Utterly. Displaced and distorted as if it was but an artificial construct brought about by foul magic. A horrific creation.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A horrid fate awaiting the two of us, should we remain touched by its crackling tide. "Run" My shout sets it sprinting from the oncoming tide with me not far behind. The blinding power swells and glides ever closer. Closer...to me...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My foot, the first casualty. Or it would, only, the sweeping tide passes over it with no immediate nor later decomposition of my person. Almost as if I was no intended target of it. However, my companion had turned, glazed in worried eyes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No! Don't look back! Run--" The returned to my side despite my order. Its turn to meet me made it too late to run, swept by the tide. Crackling energy rushes through it, causing a panicked yelp from the wolf. Paralyzed, it falls to the soil, unable to move. With no time wasted, I take it on my bad, looking to sprint home. So far from home...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The house had undergone few changes to accommodate my companion, the biggest ones being the small shelter for a dog and an extra passage through the door should it seek something from me. My foot smashes the lock open with me sprinting straight to the basement where it sometimes stays.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">In a circle of sheets, I lay it, running back with a few bowls of water and meals. "Don't move. I'll place those for you..." My hand pushes one of each in front of the wolf, looking to soothe its sudden paralysis, its head looking to the bowl, to sheepishly munch on the contents.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I move near it, wool of sheets on my shoulders. Silence fills the room, save for the betrayal of this crackling energy dancing and writhing across its pure fur. y eyes line on it eating bowl after bowl as nothing more than a source of comfort, sometimes stopping quickly to muster the will to look my way.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, don't you worry about me, friend..." My hand comes close, brushing against the fur on its head, purchasing a whimper out of it. One laced in relief, though the worry that takes space over the now empty bowls brings it close to the dreamland, shedding hope for this...strangeness to end. As do I, unsure of what effect it was to have on it. Seeing the marrow eating bear disintegrate so easily, I fear...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day two

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It...was a girl. A female wolf. I...I don't know what to say. The morning came to speak of my sleeping position, unable to keep upright stance as a vigil. I ended up laying on the floor, with weight on my chest, my back against the floor.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I expected a wolf, shed from this unknown touch. Instead, hands and paws mixed into one. Soft snoring breathes close to my chest, punctuated with an excess impressibility of two touches in twin places. One next to the other.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My sheet still wrapped around me, I lift its surface. The surprise is total as I see the figure of a woman. A caramel fondness compliments her hair, unkempt and short, yet elegant and radiant, a style deliberate.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Marroon lips slowly part and close with every breath she takes, a tiny black spot sighted at her left side, alongside what looks like paws shaped to be like a human's hands.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Eh?" With a brash movement, I pull the wool away. The wolf was no longer present--no. The wolf had turned to this woman. A woman that is human as she is a wolf. Her ears twitch at the top, laced in a pure white shade. As are her paws and legs.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her warmth shimmers through my entire body, tickling its senses. A...erotic tickling. She was nude!

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Eh?!" The realization hits hard. A nude woman sleeping under the sheets with me. My movement is instant and erratic. My brain, seconds later from catching up.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">More than enough for the wolf woman to wake from her slumber, her pristine irises blinking once...or twice "Huh...?" Half-open, they stare back at me. Curiosity...to happiness.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend is awake!" Her arms spread open as her mood does, quickly clasping around my neck in a fierce hug. My senses are unnaturally dulled by the soft brush of her fur making end's meet in a seamless blend of her arms.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Wait for a moment--" My voice, collapsed by the surprise of her nostrils rubbing gently against my nose. Enough momentum in its repeated motion left and right to draw my attention, double by her closed eyes slowly re-opening to shower me in a welcoming embrace.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her breath, so close. Tickling with a strong aroma, one dipped in spice. it invites me, tempts me for a profound taste, filled with a promise of a stronger flavor. One I could never hope to resist should I give into it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My trembling hands plant on her shoulders, mustering a great amount of willpower to avoid debasing myself "Yes, yes, I'm awake--and you need a pair of cloths".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Uhh?" She recoils from me, sitting in a perfectly docile manner, her hands joined amid her knees with a tail subtly wagging behind. Once again, my senses are assailed by her mere presence in a visual provocation. By the peerless skin adorning her, to her voluptuous chest squeezed between her arms. Her eyes, washing me with warm trust, as her smile does, dancing in curiosity.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes, clothes" I turn from the sight of her, unable to endure much more with a tug to my fabric of hard-boiled leather "Clothes. Things people wear. Like this--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I feel a tug, not of my own. Her clawed hands, gently on the sleeve of my coat, fixated on the textile. Once more, the curiosity reflects on her eyes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">They shape to a set gaze "Ohh...ok!" Her eyes turn to the closest thing in hand among this tide of wool and sheets. A cohort of ripping dances to her claws reaping straight into what she considers the most solid of sheets present with no ear to my shock "Hey, hey, hey! Hold on! I can get you some clothes!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My words prove futile with how quickly she dispatches the piece, wrapping it around her waist and chest. A meager cover-up to her intimate parts, that, unfortunately, highlights her feminity acutely. The very least had been fulfilled, with all said.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Clothes, friend!" She spins, the ragged pieces of improvised cloth wearing well on her. Beautifully, if I say so myself, especially considering its previous life. A proper set of cloth could well bring her to higher merit. Perhaps is it the hopeful look she sends my way, waiting for an opinion.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My long stare, in spite of itself, had already worked out my opinion, one she caught on with another, much warmer embrace, filled with recognition and gratitude. One seeing me stretch my own hands behind her waist in a spur of the moment, looking to reflect this amicable demeanor. Perhaps, more than that...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Still "I'm getting you some proper clothes at one point..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day three

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The werewolf, Tanya, as she would come to identify herself as, even before this metamorphosis, leans in. Her eyes shine in amazement at the countless kitchen tools as I ready up for breakfast. The luster draws her in, coated in a steel coat polished and cared for. One of her hands dives in the drawer, pulling out twins of different use from it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend?" My salad chopping session halts with me looking back at her carrying a spoon and fork, a question in mind as to what she holds.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My hand moves from the large plastic knife to meet the spoon steelware "This is a spoon".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Spoon...?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes. Spoon. For drinking what we call soup".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Soup?" Her eyes wince down in more questions.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Flavored water with fun little things inside. Peas, spices, meat".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh" A sharp sense comes to her with the extended understanding of a dish she's yet to discover. Straight ears and eyes, she comes to think to know everything a spoon can offer, only to feel the fork move slightly against the pressure of my finger.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"And this is a fork".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Fork..." Tanya lines her stare to the three-pointed tool.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes. For solid food. Remember the spicy bowls I gave you before?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her ears abruptly take a straightened stance with the memory of meat sprinkled with spicy herbs in a fine rust shade, as well as the discernible wind is nascent from her strongly wagging tail, dancing in elegance despite its chaotic sweep.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, you use this..." Once again, her attention is drawn to the pressure I put on the steel fork "...to eat the 'spicy goodness'".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But, I can eat with hands". Her stare turns to an inquiry, wholly ignorant of their purposes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, most don't really like being a messy eater. And with those, you get to savor your meal much more. Since they offer but a modest bite, you'd usually be focused on the piece over getting as much as you can".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh! Ok, I will use fork then!" She grins in full canine teeth, led by two sharper fangs, brimming in extended knowledge.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My eyebrow rises and falls, tempting me to return to my shopping session. The salad was at its wits' end, almost utterly cut down. However...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A tug on my sleeve prompts me to turn again, meeting Tanya with a larger curved spoon, a ladle in hand. Her fluffy ears lower, disputing the thought lingering in her face to 'burden' me with yet another utensil even though she already did so.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The pout in her face further stretches this regret, thinking it to be but a benign inquiry. At the same time, her curiosity pushes her forward, intrigued by its hollow shape, taking a likeness to a regular spoon with thrice the length and depth it can carry.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Carrying out my mundane task takes a backseat to the satiation of her wonder to every little thing taking space in the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, she becomes a fast learner in the culinary corner, absorbing all crumble of information I feed her, to the werewolf's pace.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The marvel shines brightly in her ocean irises...though with any answer I give to her, Tanya, not content enough to word her gratitude, simply assaults me in near-unavoidable hugs, the unnatural coziness of her fur on arms looking to disarm my will in their embrace. This, compounded by the morphed canine jousting the tip of her nose against mine with a smile behind it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Once again, heat rushes over my body, drawn by her persistent close-contact seeker "Tanya, please...you keep doing this, we won't have the time for breakfast, nor the time to satisfy this boundless curiosity".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her ears flap down again, driven by a pout of her lips accompanied with puffed up cheeks. I do see a sliver of comprehension in her eyes...and hunger in her stomach. The grumbling comes to my aid, further installing this renewed restraint in her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Rising from the floor where I laid besieged, my task resumes, the lettuce and vegetable butchered by plastic...with Tanya's chin cupped on my shoulder, watching every movement my palms and fingers take. No act is lost on her, the solid gaze fueled with the recompense of a meal waiting.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Again, I feel her entire being rubbed on myself, at least at a lesser degree. An issue for another...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The night falls with no noticeable event. Tanya spent the majority of her time watching the ingredients lying inert in the kitchen. Which is to say, idling around as I am. Until nightfall...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her form approaches the main room, looking to curl up and doze away the dark. I feel the docile pulse of the bed sinking and floating in the rhythm of her decelerated breathing. Asleep and unaware, she lets herself welcomed to a dream to her and her alone.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The perfect time for me to approach with an extra sheet to place over Tanya, ever forgetful of one, considering her meager attire...made of ripped silk...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day four

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Today, I go hunting. Well, after Tanya decided to wake me with her cheek. Its pore rubs to my own, making no sudden pull from my dream, somehow.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Uhh..." Shaking away from what I first thought to be my sheet, my gaze is welcomed with a werewolf retaliatory stare, fully shaken to awareness.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend is awake!" Once again, I am besieged by a hug to my neck following a ringing voice of exacerbated joy.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The actual layer of sheet still covers me, thankfully "Yes, yes, I'm awake, don't worry". Her warmth covets me in spite of this surprise tackle, returned in equal measure with my hands around her waist, separated by a layer of silk.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She moves from me straight to the floor, sitting and waiting as I slip my feet to slippers. She knows of my intent via my focused pace which speaks.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">But first, the restroom. Wandering inside for my morning routine, I hear Tanya's soft prints stop at the entrance, kneeling in a vigilant stance, like a watchdog. To be fair, she did have the same demeanor the few times her thoughts allowed her to move inside the house.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Wandering out of it to spot a second of her frowning glare set to the surroundings, seeking anything that might come asking for trouble, gives me the stark difference of then and now. A visage not present before, one that illuminates her feature in relief upon seeing me step out.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Then, she'd rise, hands behind her with a slight wag of her tail. Like this, she follows me to the cabinet where I shelf several arrows and bow on my back. The sensation of a predator's gaze widening in anticipation grows on the hair of my back.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Of course, Tanya makes sure to mask it under a docile smile, her eyes hidden under a cowl of darkness as I turn to make my way to the exit door of my cabinet. She's excited, that much is obvious. Maybe to try this new shape of hers.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This simmered excitement bursts out of the door. Tanya leaps out of the porch on all four, embroiled in a rushed sprint in a forest I couldn't properly recognize.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She disappears in-between the bulk of trees gray in nature. Their color, a contrast to the grass that surrounds them, yet no longer prone to make a galvanizing contradiction to the brighter land. Their branches teem with rose leaves more akin to flowers one would see floating at the surface of a watercourse. The yellow sprouts at the middle of the bloomed bulbs give a nice mix to their overall pink manifestations.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The grass that often stopped at the edge to the land of the lost had no more qualms about populating its gloomier brother, brightening the place with verdant emerald shades across the now extended plains.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I walk into them, witness to a rain of petals. They were already shedding their previous parts to allow brighter sums to bloom. The road we once passed through to these wood, I recollect and pace, seeing benign footprints belonging to Tanya.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Quickly, a ruffle comes from afar. Stirred animals who took to this revamped forest. A confrontation. One I'm sure she's part of. I take to my bow and arrow, to sprint deeper in--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">--or, Tanya comes running back lifting a large boar overhead. Deceased from where I stand.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend, friend! Look, prey!" The predator glint in her eye is gone, replaced with this sense of fulfillment that often permeated her facial features with every kill, more so on the marrow eaters.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Wow, I didn't think you'd be able to carry it back as well--wait, where are you going?" The Werewolf runs past me, going straight for the place she calls home, somehow pacing faster than I can despite the heavyweight dangling in her uplifting arms.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A loud thud echoes to the court cut by my fences. The training area, now decorated with a deceased boar, waiting to be processed. All the while Tanya comes reaching for my hands occupied by bow and arrow.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her processing speed is...astonishing, to say the least. Shafted on my back, the two instruments clank with enthusiasm behind the sprint she pulls me to "Hold on, hold on, where are we going?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Excitement clouds her thoughts, dragging me along through brambles and whatnot. Now, ordinarily, these would be somewhat painful, as I experienced last year with hundreds of scratches. Accumulate those, and you get a few days fighting the rot trying to infest your wounds and whatnot. Instead, the worst I get is maybe some bits sliding off my hard-boiled leather like it's on ice. Yep.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Anyway, Tanya brings me to a secluded land, with the blossoming trees surrounding a pond deep in the forest of lost wanderers. Deep. As in 'I really shouldn't be here' kind of deep. But, to be fair, it was beautiful. It is beautiful. Lots of critters present, lapping at the waters.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Here, friend! Here!" Again, that monstrous strength of hers drags me to the edge of the river. I look at her, seemingly well versed in this place. Almost as if she was here before. Well, before she decided to live home.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Most of the day is spent sharing a spot near the pond. An oasis in the desert, without the sand, the palm trees and excruciating heat...and a werewolf leaning on my shoulder, gently admiring the place. Her tail wags quite passively. It is literally like a dog dozing the day.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With the night arriving, Tanya falls asleep, still clinging to my shoulder, giving me the arduous task to bring her back home. Not that I'm complaining. I mean, last times that happened, she was either injured or heavily sedated by this weird tide. Now, I get to watch a woman close sleeping the whole trip--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...that sounded a bit creepy.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day ten

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Well, that does it. I'm bringing her to town for some clothes. Last days were logistical nightmares for me. It's bad enough that Tanya prefers me to wash her up when the time comes, pulling on my sleeves with a few. Of course, being her 'master'...I don't even know where that came from, I oblige. With reservations. A lot of them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Back then, it would have been fine. Now, however...well...washing a woman in the nude has never been my strength. It doesn't help that Tanya can't be bothered to see why. Anyway, her ears, her cheeks, her armpits, everything, I scrub, all while she beckons a smile on her face. Uncomfortably close, no less. But, I manage.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The problem, however, is when she dislodges the bath cauldron, spraying all that dirty water around, including me. At least that means no need for a towel. And improvised cloth too. The meager she went for slid off, once again revealing her splendid shape. I would stare deep in the complexity molded to human likeness, starve in another touch, even filtered by the soapy bubble. And probably even further.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Luckily, being continuously hugged by someone like her builds quite the resistance. Unfortunately, that does little for her clothes still sliding. Her eyes become somewhat watery, looking at me with the stare of a dog that made an oopsie. Hmm, seems she value my judgment.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Don't worry, you're fine". The sheet she ripped out to make her cloth is unsurprisingly unable to contend with someone just out of the shower "I'll lend you some of mine and we'll be going to town for proper sets, alright--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her arms come again to assail my neck in an embrace. Unprepared, my fall is precipitated by her weight collapsing on me, though that could also be attributed to the huge grin of relief she shoots at me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The walk to the city is a short one. Or, it would be, only, my clothes were a bit too large for Tanya's ample body. Later would come telling me that it was just 'too restrictive' to her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ok...so, you're not the only one that changed then". Walking to the city of sleepy hollows, my vision is afflicted with individuals bearing extra. Extra what? Well, horns, hooves, fur, anything and everything that shouldn't be on a man or woman...well, woman. Surprisingly, no men seem to be carrying an animalistic attribute.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Right now, they seem just as curious and observant as Tanya, with some looking already to adapt to their new shapes. My companion's eyes burst in jubilation. Happy to see others like her, experiencing the same.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I let her take the time to be mesmerized. Living in semi-isolation can be trying at times. Maybe she'll go talk to another morphed one. Or perhaps take a closer look at the city, or maybe...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...promptly returns to me, pointing at the women affiliated with beast attributes "Friend! Look! Others!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I can't but be impressed, however small, at her sense of wonder. To be fair, I am also bewildered by the occupancy of others like her. Animals took on to be as human as they can, save for their extra appendages. It is comforting to know that it likely means Tanya isn't alone in this. One day, maybe I could track a pack of siblings...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...this thought is snatched out of mind. Standing here to daydream certainly isn't going to do much. I bring her to the attire store and tell her anything goes. I even go through the length of showing her the dressing room to try anything on.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">As expected, I go to sit on the nearest bench for but a second before Tanya comes rushing in among others, clutching my hand and pulling me in "No, look, I can't be here". She's not aware of the different rooms for men and women. Or she just didn't care, showing me two similar pair of clothing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">One of them with little in the way of sleeves. Short-pants. VERY short pants. The top lined up in laces at the front, keeping her bust in place. This one takes from the leather of animals to make a soft-hard surface.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The second one is a different variant of the first. Black in the stead of brown. Sleeves reaching her wrists. Pants reaching down to her ankles. A beautiful glistening surface of darker leather, breathing a simple reflection of whatever light is present.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Both of them, I can see fit on Tanya. Weird as the sets she prefers offer no top that covers her stomach. It must feel restraining on her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She gets very excited at the prospect of wearing them, to which I tell her to get them if she wants. Of course, it's not enough for her. Locking the door to the test booth, she pleads once more, hands in front of her lips. A mirror wouldn't be enough for Tanya to decide, she wants further input from me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Fine, but I'm turning every time you undress". She nods with a case of curiosity at this statement and gets changed. Stuck in a cabin within a few feet of an undressing wolf lady looking to see how well she fits in a pair of new clothes. That certainly isn't how I envisioned this day outdoor.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This inconvenience makes little impact as I watch Tanya's new clothes wear so perfectly on her. Flawless. Peerless. Watching her sway around, looking at herself through her eyes and mirror is akin to a dancing wolf in the glittering moonlight. Enthralling, especially from so close, too.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This trance of mine snaps as only now, I realize she's been looking back at me, my forgetting of why I'm here caught up with me. Judging by how jubilous she is, I'm thinking she saw right on my face how well she wears it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With this excitement, Tanya puts on another fold. And another. One by one, for minutes, growing more happy with the decision taken on which to grab.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This sortie does end up costing me a bit of gold. Not that it mattered, as the generous amount I've made hunting those marrow eaters and her happiness at the sight of new wears largely compensated this moderate dent on my somewhat shallow pouch. Most of the gold made, I've hidden home.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day twenty

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Tanya is already getting accustomed to kitchen work and life as a human in general, but especially kitchen work. Always ready and running to watch he cook anything, her soft chin always resting on my shoulder. Even indirectly, I feel the amazement of her expression with almost every move I make.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Gradually, I start letting her have a handle on things, wanting her to feel a true sense of applying what she learns. With me close by to watch her and correct anything she may misstep on.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A rapid learner, her dishes always come out bountiful. An approval I give her as her tail wags enthusiastically with every bite I take, taken back by how well she did.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"He-he, friend teaches me well~ Her voice teems with gratitude. Her cheeks greet me with a heartfelt appreciation. Gratitude and appreciation soon giving way to a need to hug me, which she does. Just like how she used to rub her head close to a hand before...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day twenty-two

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Today, I left Tanya to try her hand making whatever her heart desires. She picked up on culinary acts. Enough time and she'll outdo me in this part. Heh.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">In the meantime, I go about the formerly forest of lost wanderers, looking to get to that scout I've periodically met from time to time. The guy who hands me my pay.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well met, hunter" His casual greeting, returned with my own "Same here".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I suppose it's about this lack of that foul creature the army ran about time to time".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Pretty much. Can't see any of them anymore".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">As he told me before, they were the product of some deranged madman looking to make the perfect mash of creatures around. Well, that incandescent beam that struck the place a year ago didn't seem keen on keeping them here. I can tell by how it got rid of the one we were confronting.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It's as before those horrid things. Aw well, back to hunting for valuable resources then. Well, that, and the last he gives me counting every last one, plus, bonus for really scrubbing deep in the ex-land of lost wanderers for these things. Again, I am amazed at how quickly Tanya used to strike them down with how many we went through the days.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Speaking of which, the latter runs back to me as the scout departed, excitement in her eyes. She wants to show me something new she came up with...how did she track me this deep in the forest?

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day thirty

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Tanya became quite the chef around the kitchen. Seeing the place garnished with so many exotic condiments tells me much. And...well, watching her making so much with her eyes dipped in curiosity fills my heart with contentment. I could easily mistake her for a woman with a delicate culinary touch as a gift when the hunt truly calls to her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She's...truly someone to behold. I wonder whether she sometimes feels alone. Perhaps I should track down another fellow like her...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day fifty

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Ok...I don't know whether Tanya can read minds or something. That statement I dropped a few days ago seemed to have gotten to her in some way. Small things, but noticeable. For one, calling me more often in her favorite spot in the house. Even with her progress in cooking, things still elude her, such as the amount of salt to pour on certain dishes. Hard to say no to a pair of puppy eyes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This alone wouldn't be such a problem, except when I yield to her, she'd freeze in place until some close contact, ever unsure of where I went with explanations. Having to cuddle her on her back is not a position I'm too comfortable with for obvious reasons. Reasons I swear I feel like she sometimes picks up on "F-friend?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Like this moment, my hand personally guiding hers. Only, the other one blatantly decided that her waist was a good place to lay on. Not only lay on but slightly press as well, giving me an array of sensations from her body. Her smooth skin dancing alongside the fold of her clothes, blurring their presence as to directly tempt my own. At least before she called out to me. I moved away, feeling she knew how to do it now.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Then, there is her daily bath. Having learned from my initial scrubbing and cleaning, Tanya had become self-sufficient to this human basis of cleaning herself. Which meant she could get herself as dirty as she wanted. Tracking preys, running deep int he forest or any overall dirtying activities she'd want.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">However, recently, I've been poked in the back with a fidgeting finger more times than I can recall, to turn to a subtly pleading canine for a cleansing. Well, as subtly as watery puppy eyes after going through what I can only call a mud swamp. Mud spots everywhere, even in places I didn't think they stick.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">In the water, her azure eyes watch without fault the movement of hands carefully peeling off the stains from her face. Good thing her skin isn't as bronzed as the dirt, otherwise...well, I challenge anyone to try peeling off something they can barely see on a woman's hum...' intimate' parts.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Parts my gaze would linger...at. Split-seconds spent throwing glancing looks at her soap-coated chest, forgetful of her gaze moving her body "Uhh?" My gaze drifts from her, again, feeling as I was caught in some way.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And even after I've dried her, Tanya soon enough comes back with a comb for her tail sitting on my lap as I sit on a sofa nearby. Her back firmly planted on my torso, her puppy eyes shower me anew, giving way to a triumphant grin behind my heavy sigh of concession "Alright, alright, give it here".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Now, this one isn't all that uncommon. Even before that purple tide, she loved the attention of one delicately combing her fur. In this case, me. And I enjoyed such simple moment tending to my companion to a river of stars rising from the depths of the heavens.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unfortunately, the past times didn't have a woman sitting on my lap eagerly waiting for me to treat her to this little past time. Her tail laid on her lap, Tanya joins her furry hands at the middle, twinkling a gentle smile back to me while the comb laced in-between my fingers makes her discordant hair flowing in harmony.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Amid this little moment, my actions become defiant to my thoughts. An arm roped around her waist, deprived of any cloth sheltering it. Subtly caressing it, relishing in the touch of wool across my fingers. My eyes weren't so much on her tail anymore, given to my muscle memory acting entirely on its own.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend..." Her delicate voice calls to me again, intermixed amid innocence and...something else. Her visage is blemished in a dim crimson, hidden under her bronze complexity. Turned to face my own, Tanya's eyes convey an attentive expression, unsure of what I was doing, waiting to see.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">So close to her, my second join in, acting on its own. Her face closes up to me, parted, wondering. Her lips, near, glistening, utterly ignorant to this growing tension trying to goad me to taste them. They creep closer, or rather, I draw near them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her breathing remains placid, not picking up to my intention, with mere inches separating us. Something drew in closer still, a thirst I never really thought about. My swallowing is anxious, pondering her reaction was I to go through with this...nascent desire with a cut at every inch. So close to...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ok, I think that's enough" My head moves backward, startling Tanya from this docile stance she's taken.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, ok..." Her ears flap down as she moves from me. Her pace is slightly sluggish, just enough for me to notice. Hmm...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day sixty

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Well...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It happened. Either the force of convenience decided to play out...or some stars aligned somewhere in the heavens. I feel like some god thought it'd be funny to have things move here. Whichever it is...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">From morning to evening, Tanya stuck by me, insisting on aiding me on everything I did. I accepted, out of wanting her to learn bits she maybe didn't manage so well, like, conserving every game we hunted.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">For the last days, my thoughts did begin to bend around her. How sweet she was overall. Her demeanor slowly sculpting to be that of a true woman.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Not just that, but, everything. Her mannerism, her curiosity, her easy approach. I was opening up to her with every plea she still has for the most basic of things, no longer bothering me as much, instead, building up to be enjoyable.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Yea, imagine that. Looking for an excuse to welcome a warm embrace from her without looking like some weirdo. Especially with us living in isolation. All because I was falling in love.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I don't know if the year prior piled up on that, but, here it is. I was falling for her. All of her. And, she felt it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I don't know how I could explain it. Her attempts at getting closer, more intimate through the days felt deliberate, calculated. Like some devious aura whispered into her ears.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A whisper leading me to this precarious moment, sitting at the porch under a river of stars. Darkness brightly lit by countless pure crosses burning in defiance.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Sitting here by myself as she slept inside. Or, at least, I assumed she was. That assumption burned away with the soft sensation of a chin resting over my head. A little tease she loves doing when sneaking up on me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Alright, alright, you can come to sleep here. There's a chair--" The flash of white eludes me, the weight of her head resting on my torso felt long before I realized Tanya preferred resting close to me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Feeling her stomach waver over mine gave me thrills. My thoughts turned to her face, lifted slightly, just enough to lead me on to her features...and the soft-looking lips parted in a second.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her body is completely relaxed, even as two of my fingers reached for her chin, gently lifting it close. My heartbeat with the fervent yearning that too often returned to the corners of its innards. The warmth instantly dissipated, yielding it to a frozen state of horror by her azure eyes flashed open "Friend?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh--!! Hum...sorry, I thought you had something on your face..." A blatant lie. I knew she went for a cauldron bath this evening. She knew it as well.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But, friend. I already..." her words stop, giving way to her rapid shift of position. Her buxom now laid over my torso, compounded by her arms well-rested by its side, seemingly looking to ask something with no word spilling from her glistening lips.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A brilliant pair concealing the lacerating teeth and fangs. They whisper in wordless parting, waiting in their suspended animation. Goading me in how soft they looked. Teasing me with the presumption of their flavor. Pulling me in the promise of an oasis.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And Tanya, none the wiser, closing into me with a longing look "Friend..." Confusion keeps her bound from inches, unable to assert a sentence. Something peering from her expression of confusion. Yearning, but, apprehensive, anchored on her peerless face.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She picked up on my feelings, by a manner and repaid in kind. All this time, she felt the very same with no outlet to properly express them. All the pleas laid my way, a subterfuge to guide me to it, accumulated to the way she gazed at me time and time again.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I'm not surprised at that. I doubt wolves, in general, know anything about love. And, now I feel like some deviant taking advantage of a woman in that ignorance. Then again, this unseen touch seems keen on erasing that particular guilt.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Cupping her chin, I grab her attention, traveling to her fluffy ears straightening up. Her voice grows slightly anxious "Friend...~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My other hand grasps the elegant waist left stranded between her pants and top with little in the way of clothing. Slowly pulling it toward me as to bring her closer. Her body relaxes, as it did times before, throughout her first comb sessions. Just like those as well, I want to take it slow, be gentle.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her body anticipates what her mind is yet to venture into, letting itself pulled closer as to have no gap separating our respective torsos. Our breath intermingles at the center, inches away from connecting.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Finally giving in to this array of pleasurable senses traversing me, I gently cup her and pull her in. The mere brush of her lips sends a torrent of electricity all over my nerves. So, imagine when they truly connect. Taste and flavor. Softness and smoothness.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">All of it discharged onto me, clinging to my memory and body. Something easy to get addicted to. The initial burst of flavor and aroma acclimated to, I look back to Tanya. Her eyes widened in a snap, a surprise catching her wholly unprepared, cumulated in a gasp separating our lips.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Split between wanting more and understanding, the surprise returns to fool me as her ears flap down as well as her expression of a love-sworn woman asking for seconds. Her irises close down in a brace of affection, diving again to join in a second kiss, deeper, stronger, longer.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Time becomes irrelevant in this joined venture to uncharted emotions. Her arms stretch out to cup behind me, looking to further extend her yearning for more. Retaliating in a kindred showcase of affection, I join my own on her waist, preys to the wind of her tail wagging. Jubilous at the thought of having a way of expressing something I now feel she had over the time spent together. Before and...after this metamorphosis.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">For a second time, we move from the other, panting in starvation for air. Tanya is blessed with relief, the frowns on her feature naught but a bad memory.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend...~ Her nose comes close over a stare of blissful inquiry. Her joyful sense of wonder returns to the fold.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"When a man shows affection for a woman or vice versa and when the feeling is shared, this is what they do. They kiss".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Kiss...~ Her lips whisper it as a word carrying might.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes. It's an explicit way of saying 'I love you'". Her heart beats strongly in this delivery as if she implicitly knew their implication. Not wanting to leave this bit in ambiguity, I speak again, this time wielding this confession with greater certainty "Like I am saying right now...I love you, Tanya".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her face blushes in bright variants of red, overthrown by an even greater smile etching itself across her face. Clinging in her strongest hug yet, literally, the mere pressure of her arms pretty much sent shockwaves smashing the back and sides of my rocking chair, Tanya swarms me with an overwhelming amount of affection. By this point' I'm already used to this. That, and, well, anything less might have been disappointing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~I love you! I love you too, friend!~ Her tail wags as it never did before, threatening to fly off to the distance.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Before I can say anything, she approaches again, this time, the instigator for this kiss. The lack of surprise from this attempt at a sudden embrace doesn't dilute the warmth of our merging lips. Quite the contrary, my mind able to experience a much more clear display of her feelings: unfiltered and direct. Yet gentle and deliberate.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She moves again, mere inches in distance. Her expression is that of rapture and inquiry, hoping for this intimate display of a newly born affection to be repeated many times. An attribute becoming common with the humanized creatures walking the plains. I nod "Of course if you let me kiss you in exchange".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She nods...at least a few times, almost frantically unbelievably happy, as I am. It's only now that I realize how dark it is outside.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">That and, Tanya's yawning at this realization creeping up on her, a sleepy head resting on my shoulder, unwilling to move. And again, I find myself carrying her to bed. No more on my back, but in my arms, as she came to prefer over time.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day sixty-five

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The nights following the fateful day have provided with few shifts I never thought any man in solitude could ever think of seeking. Mornings, be they clear of gray, sunny or clouded, no matter the outside atmosphere, oversaw to my awakening. A clearer and deeper sleep, ushering to a graduate rise as opposed to awakening to a crackling thunder.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My first-morning sight is that of a slumbering Tanya snoring in my arms, softly snoring just barely under the sheets. Her ears sometimes flap up under the presumption of hearing noise from outer sources, seemingly tracking or hearing from meters away, to then fall once again.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her presence is a pillow capable of pulling even the worst of sleepless nights to a candid walk to dreamland and provide with the same devotion to a slow awakening.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Watching her sleep so blissfully tends to make me forget how closer we've become, often thinking of rubbing her cheek in a depthless touch quick to wake her. Well, quick is slightly overselling it. They blink a few times, pressing down on the wary grog of morning lingering on them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Then, a smile immediately reminding me to brace as she shifts through the covers to lay on me "Good morning, friend~ Her voice breathes affection that of a woman as well as the way she gazes back intermixed with the impatience of an overly energetic individual.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Good morning, my white-haired beauty". One of her paws clings to the hand I hold on her cheeks.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"So, what are we doing today, friend?~ She asks with excitement, already bursting with energy.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, I thought--" The serene atmosphere is broken by the intrusion of a knock on the front door. Tanya's blissful visage turns to a pouty canine.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Hmm? Who could..." How weird for someone to come knocking. Usually, travelers come here looking to make an easy wealth in the forest with a local map in mind, but little else. Wealthy people don't take to dangerous

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">places and the army have their scouts.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Well, theorizing won't do much, now, will it? I rise from the bed with Tanya running to the bathroom, eagerly waiting on me. The knocks continue but I've never been one to rush out my morning. Even less with a canine woman basking in a morning combing. Even with her metamorphosis, her fur still manages to find a way to entangle itself, unlike her hair.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Ten minutes later, we're both suited. Me, my typical hard-boiled leather used for outdoor hunting or general outdoor. Tanya decided to pick up her longer attire, the ones with sleeves and long pants. Judging by who happens behind the door, I think it was deliberate.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh? Good morning". The scout from before stands behind, waiting.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ahh, well met, hunter. I wasn't sure you were---" The lines behind his helmet widen lightly, interrupted by the pouting growl. Tanya didn't appreciate this unfortunate rush of maneuvers cutting the 'her' time in half. Usually, I'd be combing much more of her fur across her arms and tail especially.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Putting the pouting werewolf on my shoulder aside, he had another job to fulfill. Turns out, the men continuously marching to the more dangerous land to battle the creatures of before appreciated not having to deal with malevolent bears before even going after their main target.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">So, he wants us to go track this maniac's hideout. See whatever remained as the beasts had stopped sprinting out to the open. I honestly doubt someone like that would have survived whatever world-changing event the incandescent tide was, but, the promise of compensation is strong. That and a double-check that whatever spilled out of its abominable place is nevermore.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Leaving me with an approximate location, I turn to Tanya, looking much more relieved "So, you want to go on an expedition?" She nods, accentuating her short hair, close to unfastening it in disarray. Her demeanor is a bit odd. Be it by the quivering legs or a certain fluster on her face, Tanya feels...different. Can't put my finger on it, though my worry carries on "You sure? You look a little sick. Maybe--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her head shakes with vigor, contesting whatever idea I have "You sure about that?" Once again, she nods vigorously, taking my hand in hers in the trademark plea gestated on her face.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Alright, alright" I sigh, embraced by an appreciative hug. I suppose it's been a while since we went out on a journey...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day sixty-six

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">We venture out to the forest once prone to lose wanderers. Tanya takes to the back. Strange, considering that usually, she's miles ahead of me, darting at every rustling of branch, leaf or grass.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Again, I ask her whether she wants to put this venture back a few days. Again...she shakes her head "No, friend. Don't worry about me, it's just a small fever".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Fever? Alright, I'll give you something at the entrance...once we find it. We won't have to immediately go in". Her ears straighten up as her eyes do, both under the yield of her nods.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And there she goes, somehow taking renewed vigor while going on a hunched stance, her nose closer to the ground. Now, having a wolf around before that tide of purple flash stringing across, I was used to the idea of taking a bit of marrow eater's skin, or bones. Anything to help her get a strong smell of any that were once wandering.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I can't do that anymore, as every bit I've had dissipated with the bears. Fortunately for me, Tanya was accustomed to their stench, and while it was no joy to have her recollect it, it does help her track down a path deep in the forest of lost wanderers.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">We find it amid the evening, deep in the forest, where even the most daring of animals refuse to step in.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It's a door hidden in moss and vines rusted with metal. I can see the color of steel dull with time passed, a sign of its idle state. Tanya's expression turns to a frown, unknowing of what lies inside, the flash of her hands spurning claws, waiting to pounce on anything tempted to come running out as I carefully sprawl my arm on it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The sensation of rust afflicts my gloves, painting them in its brittle state. The door falters completely, opening with an uncomfortable grinding of metal.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Grrrr!" The sound is infernal to Tanya, growling with every inch opening. Her hands blot the ears twitching at the cacophony.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Sorry" I didn't mean to make an auditive assault on her like that. Luckily, it needed no more pushing. She stands, ready to pounce while I quickly move from its entrance, an arrow out and waiting.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Nothing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">We wait for minutes. Surely something would come running out with the discordant noise from the grind. But no, nothing.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Nothing, huh?" I say, unaware of my werewolf companion slowly approaching me, a face in longing for close contact.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her arms gently coil around, a whisper to my ear "Friend?" Seems the yearning to rest has once again taken to her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I simper whilst shelving my bow and arrow my back, feeling her anticipating breath washing down my neck. Before setting the fire, the medicine or anything, I turn, planting my hands on her delicate and sturdy waist, a kiss to calm her down.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">As ever, the warmth of her breath rushes from her lips, mixing with mine, tempting me to lose myself in it. No amount of embraces feels close to help me build any semblance of composure..not that I'm complaining.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her ears simmer down, washed in her increasingly preferred display of affection, the same as her eyes, moist and glimmering in the dying light's shine.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Making a small fire and grinding up the herbs for medicine is a quick enough task with another pair of hands. With the night prowling in the heavens, Tanya comes close with a yawn in her expression, laying her back on me. My arms go about seeking a place on her belly, an anchor to which she takes kindly to, joining her furry paws over then.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Or, her wrists. Air fills and slips from her lungs, quick and agitated. As if she was having a strenuous dream. Must be her fighting off that fever.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day sixty-seven

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The morning sees me wake up with her azure eyes gazing up at me, a determined, but energic stare "Let's go! Let's go! Let's go, I'm ready!".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"That's good to hear". I place a hab on her forehead, quick to feel the temperature to be regular "Well, then, let us go".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ok!" She springs to her feet, closing to the opened door. Her pivot is a spry one, waiting earnestly on me, still on the verge of getting myself up.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My pace is a bit more composed than hers, an arrow slung to the bow. We venture in, the light of the sun slowly faltering to the shadows of the walls, an envoy of stairs leading ever more downward.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Torches become our source of light. Well, mine. Tanya's supernatural senses take over, a magnificent glint now dances on her irises in their color, darting in a line of light with every quick movement of the head.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The corridors lead to the main hall, occupied by rectangular frames with doors of heavy metal. It's unlikely I'd be able to push them aside like the first one. No, they seem reinforced, all too thick for a man to shove them. Probably the reason why they have levers beside them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Friend, this place doesn't smell good..." Tanya blots her nose, waiting to be adapted to the horrid stench of this place, the odor coming from one of the doors. I didn't get a good look yet but judging by the visible trail of green sweeping from it, I surmise this is where whoever lived here did their 'work'.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">First thing I do is pull a lever to the source. With reverberations, the door slowly closes into its frame, leaving but a small grill where one can observe. The majority of the odor falters and leaves itself to more oxygen. The drier kind, at least.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Instantly, Tanya feels better, perking up as I re-direct myself to the closest door before gunning to close the furthest. I prefer exploring them one at a time, what with the potential hidden traps.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Anyway, pulling the lever, dust fall in grain quantity from the top of the frame, slowly revealing the personal quarters of one individual "So, it is not a group of people then".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, he was alone, friend". Tanya asserts herself with certainty, somehow knowing of the individual who lived here, much more that he was a man.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I take a gander at her, curious about her confidence "How do you know? Did you meet him?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, but, I can still smell him. His imprint is all over the place". Once again, she shines in confidence. Well, she is a werewolf, her senses probably allow her this degree of accuracy.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well then, do you think he still is here?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Hmm..." Tanya takes to the room, sniffing and looking around. The dimly lighting torches seem to impart her no more than the lack of any. She turns back to me, her head shaking subtly "Hmm, hmm, no. No, he hasn't been here for a while".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Good. The last thing we need is a man creeping up the corner with the knowledge of his domain. Must have run from that tide or something.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I walk up to the torches, a pack of tinder and supply to bolster their light. The room reveals itself to me, as the first thing I see is a bed. A long unused one left unmade. The pillows are in disorder as the sheets. He must have left in a hurry.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I look around some more, seeing tome after tome litter the walls with one occupying a bench to the far right from the door, aided no longer by a snuffed candle. Lighting it, I see hand-written texts speaking of 'ingredients' to 'craft' creatures of supernatural origins, the most prominent of them, a thing called demonic essence. Huh...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Another book lies on the counter next to the bed, where Tanya is enthusiastically bouncing off. A journal, judging by the tiny lock beside it, left open "Hmm..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I take it and pass the pages to the latest one. It's writing is a bit more erratic compared to the rest. The first pages were of a frankly undeserved boasting of his creations. But the last pages...' Ahh! Ahh! Dreaded light! It interrupts my work! Is someone attacking?! Is a monster casting some spell?! I can't hope to know! But Ahh! It can't hit me down here! Haha--argh! The rattling this tide is bringing! I better check on the pen's door! Can't have it...'

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Aside from books and a bed left untouched, nothing more attracts my attention. Well, save for Tanya bouncing up the bed, rendering it in more disorderly than it already was.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I shoot her an amused look "Tanya, please stop, you don't know how dirty this bed can be".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, ok". She flips down, her hands behind her back, flashing a smile to me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Come on, we have other rooms to look over". I walk past the frame following her nod to the second door stated in front of it. Another level I need to pull.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This room, once lit, reveals traces of a kitchen. Well, as much a lightless kitchen can be. Pantries, cupboards, rusted utensils, anything and everything one could use, only, perished.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Shame, half the day is gone and I thought to use this place for quick eating". My voice trails with simple disappointment, knowing well it wouldn't be at its prime. Not much to expect from a mad man who made unnatural creatures.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Tanya takes to the tool and sink, searching for anything to use. A spoon she takes yield under her paw and snaps, falling with a clinking noise. Her ears do the same, disappointed all the more. Kitchen work attuned her to one's well-being, it appears.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Good thing he didn't happen to eat much, this place would have smelt worse than the room I just closed. Regardless, moving to the cupboards, I unravel plenty of cans filled with food. Dubious in their quality, however.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ok, I think we've seen enough for today". My voice calls my canine companion to the fold, standing in attention, walking behind me as I step out of the door "We're resting for the rest of the day. This odor is getting to me and I doubt you fare any better".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Huh-uh" She shakes her head, paws on her nose, unwilling to endure the stench anymore. She runs up the stairs, a flight to her feet.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Back to the top, the day had passed away to an advanced evening. I cook us something from the supplies brought in preparations. A regular piece for me, and a spicy one for Tanya, quick to start munching it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This day strand of the day is spent as such, with the night seeing my companion crawling to me with dreams in her eyes. And a hint of something else. Her cheeks are slightly red, persistent as her back faces me to sleep, my hands around her waist.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her breath is short, almost panting. Either her fever is returned in force or that place is taxing on her sense of smell.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, Day sixty-eight

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Once again, we venture to the depths, watchful of the dim-lighted rooms underneath. The first two on the right remain closed, places we already set foot in.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Instead, the third one. The foulest so far. Even looking from the edge of the stairs, I can see a sickly green seeping from the small barred window.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And Tanya. Just looking at this place seems to make her ache with the smell. It's already bad for me, so I can imagine how septic it must be for her "Hey, how about you stay around? Stand vigil".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Huuhh?" She looks back, clearly shocked at my proposal "Huh-uh! What if anything goes in here, friend?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, I figure you'd have an easier time here rather than inside". I point to her nose she blocks from the odor, much more pungent to her than me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I can tough it out, look!" Her march is resolute, defiant, even, straight for the lever, which she pulls.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"No, wait, hold on, I don't want you--" Too late. The door grinds and struggles against rust, opening us to another chorus of wincing ears.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Barely open, her white blur storms against the heavy metallic door, forcing herself in with a staunch will. "See?! It's fine, friend. I can...I can..." Enduring the stench is mighty impressive for her, but even I can feel her limit being tested in this den of rotten flesh.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The green miasma, it all spills from the dozen of vats lingering around, unkept for quite a while. Half-finished creatures lie dead within, swirling in whatever the green liquid is, barely contained by two opposite cylinders of metal keeping them fixated to their spots. Books are scattered all around, all of them opened up on a page about a bear. The marrow eating bear, no less.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The things that were being grown at the vats. Tanya looks at them while snarling through her teeth, her claws flushed out. She holds a grudge, I see, overpowering her disposition to the smell. I don't blame her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"It's alright, they're already dead". My hands lie on her shoulders, calling her back to calm "I honestly doubt smashing through the vats will do anything for the odor".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Looking at me briefly, she recedes. Barely. Her eyes remain fixated on the dead things rotting still as I now take to the surrounding. Pages of processing on dusted books. Potions lying on tables and counters. Evermore 'ingredients' related to the machination of these things.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It was enough. Even with an old grudge keeping her from acknowledging the stench, her limit was close to being reached, given away by her bobbling unable to snuff itself.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I think we've seen enough" I turn to the door, feeling her presence tailing closely behind. She had enough of this place as well. I let her pass behind, immediately running the stairs upward as I close it. One last door remains in this place with no more whereabouts of that man. At least, only one last room is to be searched through. One standing in the darkness even amidst the dimly lighted undergrounds.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Odd.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Going back up presents me with Tanya waiting impatiently for a bowl roasting in the small cauldron drifting on the fire. Her face is reddened, fiery, almost. That place must have exerted more from her than previously thought.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Just to make sure, I crunch up another medicine for possible fever, though her sleep is as sweaty as the previous nights, still bearing fiery heat on her cheeks. Perhaps I should think of seeing a professional...assuming I find one capable of examining a werewolf...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day sixty-nine

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My companion told me, as I approached the door to the last segment how uncomfortable it felt to her. The miasma surrounding the tiny gaps between the frame and the metal entrance. Yet, my mind was worried more about her current disposition despite her refusal to remain upstairs.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Imagine my alert once my step had triggered some hidden sneer. Tiny arrows flying through the walls. One of them, in spite of my effort to avoid them, had struck me by the hand. It became unresponsive following shorty by my arm like traveling extortion of heat.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Gripping to my feet, I could stand no longer, collapsing on the stairs down. My senses are here, fully alerted, caged in my stunned body like a prisoner. Tanya's shout is loud, vacant in the darkness of ominous glares.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Glares stringing from the furthest confines, approaching, salivating in countless hungry maws. They growl, shimmering the little light bouncing off their skull heads, shriveled in muscle mass. More marrow eaters. That light must have missed them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Great..." Moving my limbs is useless, still inhabited by the paralysis on that arrowhead. They approach still, looking like they haven't eaten in months. Some of them carry pieces of fabric stuck in their brittle teeth. Designs of clothing ripped apart.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Pieces of clothing. Stained in a deep brown. Mustering the utmost of my will, I just barely manage to place a hand on the floor, my sight now directed on a singular boot, long dried and torn "Great...I think I just figured out what happened to that lunatic..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Barely craning my head to the things going for me, the sight of snow and azure flies down before me. My gentle Tanya...what? Why did I--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"You stay away!!" She growls, yelling in her breath, accumulating as much of this unrepressed anger she can. Her eyes flash into focus, shrunk and wicked. Claws force themselves out of her paws, drenched in the same glint as her eyes.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">They growl back, a few raising their heads in defiance, unwilling to concede. She screams back, lunging at one of them with no warning "You stay far from my master!!!"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Wait...master? What? The thought is burned out by the display of elegance and carnage ensued before me. Her claws rip through the first one, spreading a glint of sparkle and withered blood to a nearby bear lunging at her, blinded by it's kind's lifeforce choking its sight.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Even with the shine traveling her claws, it never witnesses the lash snapping its neck backward with a sickening crunch, killing it on site.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Not spending a second to admire her kill as she did before, Tanya is immediately upon another, aiming at its neck, this time, with her monstrous strength. Another snap stuns the faltering group, a linger of self-preservation gliding their bloodshot eyes, reflected by Tanya's utter lack of mercy at the creatures that once tried to make on her life.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A lack of mercy that she brandishes over and over, murdering each time one more, disallowing them a step in my direction. Their roars fall silent as they do, snuffed out in a permanent sleep. Her movement dances amidst their bites and swipes. Charges and clobbers leave no impact either, merely sidestepped by a violent counteract.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Eventually, as they fall, their bodies dissipate to dust and ash, as if finally caught by the force that swept the land a long ago. The place is quiet, a chorus of withered particles spinning before even they dissipate further, gone. Extinct...forever.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Master!" The corner of my eye becomes the foreground, witnessing Tanya approaching behind a glint of light I didn't notice before. Reflective on her eyes. Reflective on her paws and legs, the pale blood choking the fur underneath.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I can barely answer her, the vilifying toxin making it hard to even speak "W...ho?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Master..." The angered glare seeping from her eyes is long gone, replaced with placid worry filling her lungs, quick to take hold of one of my arms, imprint me with the warmth of her touch while so eager to discard the coagulated blood still dripping from her limbs.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It stains the clothes on our back, more so than even the room from before. I know it afflicts her. I do not see it from my station on her shoulders, carried away like an injured man with no allowance to befall the ground.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The path she takes with great hurry is familiar. Spanning through by hours what would take a day or two, the snow lupine mirrors back our travel backward, sparing no excess bringing us home.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The door, still shackled with the common lock of metal, is violently kicked on the table, slow to fall in comparison to her sprint upward through the stairs to set me by the bed.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Luckily enough for me, some of the paralysis is wearing down on my face, enabling facial features once again "Tanya..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Master! You're alright!" Moving for me seems still to be out of reach. Something not as important for her as she coils her arms around me, trying not to get overwhelmed in the relief of hearing from me. Funnily enough, her touch is perfectly conveyed despite my nervous' slow return to my side. She was worried, greatly.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Not...quite...but...yes". I feel her trembling close, yet my arms refuse to yield. I can't comfort her "Tanya...it's going to be...alright. I just...need you to...make something for me...accelerate the passing of this...toxin..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Of course, master! Anything!" She stops, waiting on my word. The worse of the storm had passed. With it, her sense of urgency was swept, leaving her to calmly but excitedly follow my commands on the manufacture of herbs for this situation. Even from here, the wagging of her tail is returned to a non-stop swath...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day seventy-five

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Or, at least, I thought she calmed down. She did. Not completely. With the morning rising, I'd see an increased regain of my movement. Nothing close enough to allow me to hunt or do anything beyond eating or basic maneuvers.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And, Tanya. To say she was accommodating to me is an understatement. Wouldn't have blamed her if she decided to do her thing while I recovered. Hunting, cooking or just general outdoors. Said she could anytime she wanted. Kept shaking her head at every time while doing what I sought to do. Never lost an ounce of patience or understanding for a guy coming down with paralysis.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">That strangle illness she seems to be afflicted with isn't close to being demeaning in her resolution. Hmm, I seriously have to get her checked out one of these days.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Anyway, this morning saw a break in the monotony with steps echoing in the main segment of the home. A realization, a week after my emergency return home that we essentially didn't have a door.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unfortunately for the would-be intruder, Tanya heard the first wooden plank creaked under his boot. And bolted. Fast. The glint in her shimmering eye was a rather explicit denotation of what she had in store for one thinking this place devoid of anyone.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I plant my feet from the ground, still a bit wobbly from this morning's ingestion of herbs. My descent through the stairs is slow and methodical, the pace of an individual with no worry on his mind.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Voices, faint. Well, one voice and her growling. Reaching the last step, my first sight that of the door's remains polluting the kitchen. Unsurprising with me having eaten nothing for the last few days. Tanya didn't bother putting anything either, worry dancing in her thoughts.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">But, the present makes itself opaque, the voice of a familiar man radiating around "Hunter...I think I see why your companion seems so hostile right now".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The scout, Belarius, who informed me of his land's wish to see someone wander the place. His hands are in surrender by Tanya's unnerved poise, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Taking a step forward, her ear twitches, prompting her to back away, serving as a wedge between me and him. Trying to calm her down would be futile with my impediment as the catalyst.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">So I speak, slightly hunched behind her, a bulwark who right now, can't make allies from enemies. I tell what we saw down the basement. The man's quarters filled with absurd notes. The laboratory and that dreaded place deep under, where they will likely meet his remains and his fate. Filled with dozens of these things. Once.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Well, hunter, I see it was a bit troublesome--" His sentence is cut short by another growling, unwilling to accept this forced stay to bed for days as 'slightly troublesome'. That and the smell.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---pretty troublesome--" And, third growling from Tanya.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---very troublesome! Do not worry any longer, we are already looking and locking up the place just in case any passenger may inadvertently wander in. As compensation for this... very troublesome<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> journey, I was issued with enough gold for you to live comfortably for the utmost of ten years. Now, if you could..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">He slings a sizable bag from his back, faced with the challenge of trying to get one's pay through a werewolf in vigilance. A failure I already see coming, as any inch he attempts in my way is met with a threatening growl from my lupine companion glaring his every action.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Eventually, he gives up and simply leaves the bag on the table. His exiting pace is one with a slight hurry to it. I don't blame him. The marrow bears found out the permanent way how jaded a werewolf can get.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day eighty

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">That place. Feels like it never quite left me. The paralysis was long gone, giving me clean health, mostly thanks to Tanya who stuck by with herbal crafting. Her diligence and astute mind in spite of her usual energetic behavior had unsurprisingly made this unfortunate set od days bearable.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Not to mention her presence. A ray of sunshine shimmering in azure over the evanescent yellow, close by. Near me with attentive eyes, looking a bit more focused with a look of something in-between.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It speaks to me with indecipherable words, hidden to my ears, yet the feeling is strongly passed. It whispers of her form, so powerful, so toned. And...so feminine. The pristine abs coating her belly, the bouncing chest with which she bears in pride. It leers at me, tempting me...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And that was the problem. Temptation. I have a woman living by my side who, weeks before this moment, knew little of living indoors as a human with Wolfen attributes. A woman conscripted as a close one who a while ago didn't even know how to convey the most basic feelings of love.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Alas, my body seemed to be an advocate to the idea of pushing into her in spite of her apparent innocence to these more intimate manners. Every night came with Tanya crawling to bed to sleep, a seal of lips between us to send her dreaming.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Every second this happened, my body would impulsively sport a much-unwanted function. Tempted to fall to those hidden allures, to act upon them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">To wrestle them back to the confines of my mind, I decided to halt my hands form glancing so often around her, moving from contacts unneeded. Of course, this intangible feeling flirting with my mind screeches in protest, powerless to more than seconds.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Whenever Tanya comes to me with the need to be attended post-bath, gloves shackle my arms, close in range, but far from her touch.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With the yearning to assist in morning cooking, I place my voice as her guide.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And so on.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">All of them, hard bumps in the road to a definitive fix with Tanya standing as the culprit. She didn't take too well to these pre-emptive measures. Trying to cup her ears through some 'her' time meant rubber gloves torn asunder by her defiance bites. Using my voice as her only guide would assail me with no end of 'I don't understand'. And so on, doubling down in attempts for the closer interaction she came to cuddle in.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Especially during the nights where I went back to sleeping in my hunting gear. Meaning a lot of hard-boiled leather, sturdy enough to ward me from any exterior stimuli below a blade or blunt.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Unsurprisingly, this did little to please Tanya, who sported a glance of curiosity at her side "Master? Are you alright?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"I'm fine, I'm fine. I just feel a bit chilly. And, I'm not your master--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"But master!" Making little of my conjecture as always, she approaches, spreading her arms "I can warm us both with my fur! This thing looks uncomfortable when sleeping. I see it on your face. And the constant movement."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"It's fine, you need not waste your efforts. I just need to get used to it, it's all. And still not your master".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh..." A comprehensive smile adorns her face "...ok master!" She turns away from me, still referring to me as some superior. Still panting softly, combating some unknown illness. One I can't truly hope to cure without some outsource aid. A struggling concept added to this struggle of my own.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I want to as well, no mistake. But, I'm afraid I might do something reprehensible the longer I share in our bond...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day eighty one

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I...I didn't know how bottled up Tanya had been in this strange. As per the days before, the weeks, even, my lupine companion would tirelessly run the places we visit or home at indoor days. At night, tirelessly slugging left and right at her side, trying to catch some sleep. Well, shortly after I had to reiterate my reasoning for my attire enveloping me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">False in my mind, for sometimes, Tanya did press her body close to me. A piece of attire sundering her tentative allures. A frustrating edict to her, that much I can see, coupled with this fever-looking heat dancing in the traits of her face.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">However, tonight was the night to end this facade of all, punctuated by the glowing purity of the moon, closer than usual...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Taking precaution as a part of the daily ritual, I was slightly alarmed by the absence of leather platings form my wardrobe. Normally not a serious lack to see me sleep, this one happened to be the entirety of the lower half. The pants. Everything from the belt to the feet, gone.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Looking to the side, a fluffy tip rapidly slips with whispering giggles. The culprit ziplines away, goading me to a playful chase. And of course, I fall for it every single time, looking to avoid doing something reprehensible.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her footsteps downstairs are light, compounded by my own, all the way to the basement where she typically hides them.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Quick, she is, her step permeated in a dancing sprint, coveting my stolen ware as some shrine-worthy part. But, not quick enough. Not this time.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her graceful path is bewildered by my arms roping around her bare belly, destabilizing her balance to the floor with the hope to get my hands on the leggings briefly a shot away.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Got you! Now, give'em" I order, no stern voice from my throat as it is nothing more than play from her. From an initial standpoint, at least.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her short and unkempt air sways in the shacking of her head "Huh uhh!".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Tanya, give me my attire". Her back is on the floor, wiggling along her arms moving inches from my grasp. They cling to the undergarment that barricades me from any accidental touch during sleep.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Once again, she shakes in defiance, struggling to keep the sought after item from me. Our conflict gains in movement and exertion, neither willing to concede to the other. An unfortunate time for her to be so obstinate in her refusal.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Tanya, I'm serious". Every time, I launch an arm toward it, she casually brushes it to the other side, exerting more from me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Faint fevers become furious across my limbs, drawn-out by continuous movement. This in change, in the rows of struggle with my companion, shifts to a much less desired array of sentiments. Being so close to her, her lustrous warmth, in a defenseless position, no less, even for one like her. My mind began to...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Seriously, Tanya, I'm not playing. Hand me my garments". My efforts increase, trying to rise to her playful demeanor. To my dismay, her mood remains unflinching, this time, throwing them away in our joust.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It didn't matter. Not anymore. The string of this invisible force goading my senses since our deepening of bonding had once again surfaced from the confines of my mind, drawing me in from the momentum of desire laced with the on-the-spot frustration of continual defiance.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My breathing deepens, heralded by a change of stare in the glint of my eyes. One overridden by an instinct I've held away from myself and her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Pulled by the threads of repressed sentiments, my hand moves downward, cupping one of her breasts. Gently, but firmly.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The tingling sensation is a blissful reward on the surface of my palm, even hindered by the respective leather wrapped around it and the top affiliated on her.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">But not enough to alleviate it. It goads me further. So I move it, caressing it softly, panting through my teeth. The feelings I longed for, at the literal touch of a hand. A delicacy to my fingers, their teeth savoring every second sank in the jelly-like anatomy of Wolfen woman.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">One I only now realized gazed back. By then, I expected the staunch glare of a predator forced to an uncomfortable position, poised to lash back. Like the marrow eaters by the dozens, many thinking they had cornered her, only to be flipped with the contrary.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">In this instance, I knew I wouldn't win any struggle against her. Greater strength, heightened agility, sharper dexterity among things she had me beat. And the fact that I had neither my bow nor my arrows anywhere near me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">With this sudden and invasive gesture of mine, I was prepared for the consequences. I can see it. The violent reversal. The bone-crunching blows to my body. The kick shoving me from my position of strength over her. Her disappearing fur to the darkness of the night, with the look of scorn reflecting the light of the moon on her azure eye. I was willing to accept that these feelings of mine had me force myself on someone who trusted me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">But...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Master...~ A whimpering whisper flows from her lips. Her stare is not one bathed in the moonlight of a cornered predator. But that of a woman. A wolf yielding to submission.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her eyes are soft and moist, accompanying marroon lips quivering in the same state. No defensive behavior is present in her body. None.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What..." The single word I could utter. Unable to comprehend this refusal to act in self-defense over this reprehensive act of mine.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~Master....wanted to...mate...too~ She whispers in a vanquished position, unwilling to take any resistance to shelter herself, given to expect this from me, whispering in this revelation ~Since the kiss...I yearned...for my friend...to become my beloved master...but...master...kept away...with rubber...with leather...and distance...so...I...~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Hearing her reasoning sprawl things to perspectives, fitting puzzles long before she could draw them. All this time, she knew...All this time, her ploy to my gear at night...All this time, her raving pants in the dead of the night...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">All of this, nothing more than a canine's mating call. She wanted a deepening of our bond in the most direct of manners and went about it in the most indirect of ways. Playing as a dog would.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My wolf. My companion. My...Tanya. In this very moment, gave this long-repressed outlet of mine an outlet.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">...I had no more excuse. No wall to stand behind. No knot to hold me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I started thinking about this 'destructive' behavior. How she 'misbehaved'. How this revelation turned to a hungering desire to tame her the one way she pressed for all this time. She saw it in my face and whimpered with further anxiety. Not enough to underline the anticipation buzzing within.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I squeeze mildly, causing her body to rattle in a wave of sundering pleasure. Even with that, her arms remain far from her chest as well as her legs. A faint mewl seeps from between her lips, speaking from the bottom of her heart. She wants<span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"> to be tamed.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My thoughts become aligned with the desires I've long kept hidden, leering down at her like a predator looking at a meal. A wolf gazing at a cornered sheep.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And so...

---<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day eighty-one

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">As expected, a mere hour was left for us to sleep. The steam of our communion expended further than I thought it would. Between Tanya asking for 'one more' and my own mind relishing her entire being amid this love session, our respective privates part only now rest, exhausted.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Like the first day of her metamorphosis, Tanya now rests on me, sleeping soundly with no shred of cloth befitting her but the sheets that suffered our physical demonstration of affection. And neither I am, sharing bodily warmth slow to mount with the dawn.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A rigorous activity of this caliber should have made me all too tired to wake so soon, let alone lift the cover to watch her snooze. I guess our trepidatious trips to the dangerous land was sufficient enough to build me up.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her peaceful sleep does, however, end in a very gradual shift. An indescribable whisper seeping from her lips attuning to her opening irises, further kickstarted by a benign rubbing to her eyelids, seeking a steady foot in the waking world.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Then, she lifts her resting head toward me and the rest of her sleep demeanor is erased, fulfilled instead in a docile smile "Good morning, master~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Reaching for her cheek with a hand, I whisper back while softly caressing it, causing her responsive ear to flop upward in a humble fashion "Good morning, dear".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Though it moves as I sense her nude body slithering forward, somewhat hesitating midway close enough for our noses to touch at the middle. Which she does, gently rubbing her height olfactive senses against mine with faint breathing. Seems this night had replaced her rut by docile manner. That, or she always intended on conveying her feelings in this way.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Regardless, my hands encircle her waist, enabling her to rest without thought on me with no worry of her weight. Or anything else.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Master?" She whispers, her voice preparing itself for a request "Can...can we stay indoor? For today?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Of course. Honestly, I don't see myself going anywhere today". Speaking this fills her with glee. And, judging by how the day goes, I can see why.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Since our first night together, our disposition became closer than ever. This morning, breakfast became filled with excuses for me to approach her from behind, personally guiding her hands through complicated steps, holding her close.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Noon saw fit for us to eat at a leisure's pace on the patio, this time, with her sitting on my lap while eating furiously, stopping only to let me part any stain on her face. Shame she'd get another one so quickly.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Washing her in the evening also prompted Tanya to close my hand in hers with a faint smile on her lips. Words had no use in moments like this as I knew she wanted a closer company. The reason why I went in with my bathrobe, quickly discarding it to feel her ample chest lay on me while sunk in water. Her smirk, that much more denotable, if not for her nose rubbing on mine, fanning the flame of a sleepless night in each other's arms...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year one, day ninety

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">That was it. I decided. Walking from my domain back to the city with an excuse for supply, I leave Tanya back, a purse soon emptied in exchange for a silver ring embedded with a tiny blue gem within and a visibly grinning merchant. Judging by his branded finger of the kindred ornament, it wasn't the sum of coins that had stretched his lips so wide.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The precious thing rests in a black box, waiting to glimmer in the sun, febrile with excitement as I am in every step.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Rapidly, my march brings me back home. Back to her arms with a joyous tone "Welcome back, master!~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her cheek rubs on mine, quick to decypher the clenched fist around her waist. Curiosity afflicts her, darting her gaze on it's shineless black "Ohh, what is this? It's soft to the touch, but also hard".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, that's right, I never showed you boxes, before, right? Well..." I walk inside with Tanya close by, keeping eyes on the tiny compartment. Never leaving out of sight while sitting on the closest sofa, per my request. I take a knee in front, showcasing it in a more clear sighting. It's a pristine box, entirely black in touch and looks. The surface is soft as she said, being of velvet. However, pressing down around it, as of to break it spurns its solidity, a process I do not think the merchant had long ago. Must be the wool-bearing woman that occasionally strode by, affiliating the same band as he.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"This is a box, useful for carrying things". Her eyes glimmer in an ongoing interest.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, can it carry food as well? Like meat?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Of course. It can carry practically everything. Raw meat, vegetables, condiments, forks, and bands".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Her febrile thoughts stop at the last words "...what?"

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Ohh, I said forks and..." I open the tiny box, revealing a Mastercraft of a ring "...a wedding band".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"What..." Her words lose structure, at a loss. Honestly, that moment gave me pause as I'm fairly certain I hadn't taught her about marriage, expecting to speak of it. However, with how flustered she is, it feels like a basic concept had been ingrained within "...master, what you're implying..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Tears begin to fall from her eyes, far from the sad sort. Confusion begets a deeper jubilee not yet crystallized in her heart. I look to sort this tiny incident out, taking her hand in "A wedding band, for you. For my wife".

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~Wife...~

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">On the bursting point, I make my proposal "Tanya, you that have ever been on my side for better and for worse. Through highs and lows, will you--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~Yes!~ Her knees buckle against the wooden floor, almost denting it.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Hey, hold on, I'm not done--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~I don't care, master! My answer is yes! Yes! A hundred times yes!~ Without the time to let my words flow in confession, the lupine fiercely embraces me, giving even less of an opportunity to try again.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The disappointment is insignificant compared to the life-long gift wagging her tail in my arms, now completely and utterly gleeful. No longer just an acquaintance, nor a companion, this instance saw this woman become a wife. My wife. My beloved wife.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">However...trying to fit a delicate ring in hands made to hunt was a folly. Out of nowhere, Tanya had decided that a collar would bear the ring. She became the more magnificent to my eyes with this simple presence adorning her neck.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">And tonight, soft-spoken, she approached me as I moved about ready to sleep. Far from her mating cycle, I could see the yearning love in her gaze, longing to be made a woman again. I had no objection to this...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">---

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Year ten...

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">It's been a while since I've reached the age of forty. I was often told how this venerable age would bring about lesser physical conditions. I doubt that. Each year spanning saw me become stronger, faster, more agile, more dexterous. It was as if a perpetual blessing had come to nest over me.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">The years alongside my beloved saw a gradual change in irises. I never was the type of man to sport purple eyes. Yet, they persisted, branding themselves as a boon after the local doctor told me no discernible disease involved the pair.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A boon, for now, I could follow my wife as she danced in the depth of darkness in the night, sporting a vision as clear as her. Even its dark cloak could no longer hope to shelter any foolish animal from us.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">This increase in body performance, I can only attribute it to Tanya for becoming increasingly noticeable at her side. I swear, it's like our joined nights saw her share her boundless might with me. A boon I thank the sky every morning with her sleeping close.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Though this year, hunting had become less prevalent. Not that Belarius had no task for us. In fact, he had come near a few times. Being bound to a bear woman eased the understanding to him. "Of course, friend, you take good care of her, alright?" he said.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Walking back home in this gray sky, I expected to see Tanya sitting by the chair, her immense mobility decreased by the roundness she carries in her belly. Nine months in the making, I am still surprised by how human-like she is. How they all are.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Dread afflicts my vision as I step inside, witness to a slumbered chair. A broken bowl. A cold soup spilled on the floor. My instincts take over, heightened by the increase in strength with my rationality taking a backseat, dropping the merchandise I sought to place.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Tanya?" I run across the house, looking upward... "Darling?!" ...then downward at the main floor "Dear? Dear?!" Something bad must have happened. Dear Lord, I hope not!

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">My pace is frantic, gathering an arrow on my bow, ready to make acupunctures out of anyone who would of breaking and entering. My focus is nigh, my instincts, sharpened. I--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">--I hear a cry. Then, two. Two tiny cries somewhere close. High-pitched cries. And my body relaxes. I'm not sure why, then, it hits me. The basement!

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Taking the stairs, I descend, somehow so calm, far from the edge her disappearance armed me with. I became serene, feeling something inside of me filling with a certain joy. A joy I can't describe, one that can only be felt.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">At the last step, I see the place, dark with but a few lit candles. At the center, Tanya. My beloved. And the cries, they've stopped.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~Darling, come...say hi...~ A giggle flows, her ears flapped down, basking in relief. And I see it. The fur on her chest enveloped in two distinct sets of silk. And tiny hands.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"My children". She gave birth. She must have felt it coming and rushed to the basement. And...I wasn't here to help her. I--

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~It's alright, darling. Come, come. They want to meet their daddy~ Twins. She gave birth to twins. To think I doubt my paternal instincts when they whispered two hearts beating softly in my ear. Two little puppies.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I...approach her and kneel at her level. Her eyes shower our newborns the way only a mother could. I look down at them, as marroon as her. Were my eyes not as piercing in the dark, they'd be indiscernible to me. Yet, I see one of them yawning in her arms.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Little Lucia.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Slowly, my hands reach for the pup. The best of two worlds like her sister. Tanya unfastens her grip on her, allowing me to take her. She struggles a bit, detached from her mother.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"It's alright, it's alright..." I move her close to my heart and let her feel the beats. Her head shifts in slight discomfort, looking to feel the hand that holds her. A little whine seeps from her, a sound forever to echo in my mind. The yelp of a newborn recognizing her father.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">A tear falls from my eye as I feel her rest comfortably in my arms, sleeping, knowing that I am here as well. My hold turns to a hug "Welcome home, sweetheart..."

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I leave a finger gently poking her cheek, smirking at her small hands grasping it. Hands dipped in small patches of fur.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">I return her to her mother, setting my eyes on her sister. Mini Maria. The process is the same, briefly confused about the one holding her. To soon rest easy, recognizing the voice that whispered to them every night while still in their mother's belly. Though singing was not part of it, with Tanya having a more suited voice for that.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">She soon returns to her mother's arms as well with me closeby. Our foreheads connect in ways not unfamiliar, watching them sleep on her chest peacefully.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">~Darling, they're beautiful.~ She whispers, elegant in her knotted hair reaching her stomach. She looks like a mother now, a perfect fit.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">"Yes, they are". I think of what is to come with these two. A set of pieces I had mounted since the early stage of her pregnancy to offer us home in the city came to mind. The first piece finally fell, setting a domino effect. These two would want to meet other children of their age. This house we stand on would become a summer place to return to.

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">

<p style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre; white-space: pre-wrap; color: rgb(28, 30, 41); background: transparent; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt;">Everything was prepared and falling in place. All that was required at this point, was to watch them grow. Nurture them in the advent of this family. My family...