Journey on Wolf Paw Mountain

[Christoph]

The irregular rhythm of two pairs of feet trudging softly over twigs, stones, and dried pine needles floated gently through the crisp forest air. The pair, one young man with wavy brown hair and light skin, wearing a white chef coat under a heavy grey cloak, and his friend, trekked between the ancient pines that covered the rounded mountainside like a great marauding hoard. Distant winds whistled a chord through unseen treetops, augmented by a eerie, high-pitched howl, as the great orange orb slowly sank and was consumed by the mountain's silhouette.

The temperature dropped considerably with the setting of the sun, leaving Chris huddling his cloak, trying to preserve his warmth the journey. He sighed and turned to his companion.

"Right, why, again, are we all the way out here?"

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather stood beside Chris, the chill air catching her golden hair, as it flowed out over her chest, from inside the hood of her robe. She wore a long heavy green robe over her ordinary tunic and pant/skirt. In colder evenings, it kept her warm. She turned to Chris and smiled, blinking rapidly so as to show slight frustration as she inhaled deeply.

"We're here on a quest you convinced me to go on, because some bloke at your pub was rambling in a drunken stupor about a wolf ten times too large, made out of silver blades for hair, ice for eyes and a fiery tongue. Whose young wander a godsforsaken forest and attack the farms along the forest's borders. I personally believed your story to be cockamaimey cowpies until I read about the Silvermane wolf of the north, and after you read the story yourself, because I translated it for you, you insisted we come up here, find out for ourselves, and then claim the animal's pelt for whatever prize is being offered by the local mayors and farmers..."

All of this she managed in a single breath, exhaling the last bit of breath through her nostrils with a huff. She still smiled, but her eyes glimmered with a keen edge of hostility.

"If it weren't for your ability to decently cook and season any kind of meat we can bring in, or make use of plants i find to make food, I'd say so far, this venture is a waste of our time... If I'd come across some new kind of mushroom or plant I could experiment with for potions, or medicine, this might be worth the trip just on that. We better find this wolf, and not be on a fruitless wild goose chase, or so help me, I'll tell every woman in town you've got some kind of intimate disease. If they ask how I know. I'll tell them you confessed it to me after I watched a hired escort flee from your tent!"

[Christoph]

"Yes, because I'm widely known to be the type who purchases favors from hired escorts," sighed Christopher with an obvious air of sarcasm, though he still faced forward. "Besides, I told you before I convinced you to come along that we may not find it. And I can't help that we haven't stumbled upon any helpful herbs yet." He finally looked over at her and almost cringed at the hostility on her face.

"Oh, come on," he almost pleaded as they walked along up a gradual but steady slope. A thin layer of snow began to appear under their feet as they went. "There's still hope for getting this wolf AND for finding some herbs or mushrooms." Chris stopped as they reached a small clearing and looked around, examining the terrain, looking up to the heavens, and making some crude calculations.

"We should reach the base of the mountain before midnight. If we don't find this wolf, we can make camp and try again tomorrow. It's going to get colder as we get higher up it's slope, so we won't be able to wander for very long unless we have a decent shelter." He started off again. Before they left the clearing, he took one last glance at the sky. No calculations were being made this time, however; he simply gazed up at the thin layer of clouds covering the sky like a sheet of the fairest silk over countless tiny candles lighting one by one.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather looked around, turning her hostility to more useful purposes.

"Well, it's not a new herb, but I see some wintergreen growing nearby... not much for healing, but it could come in handy if you smear some chewed leaves over a sprained ankle..." She immediately strode over to the small shrub growing by a grove of trees. "And if you don't need it for medicine, it's also pleasant to chew... but it tends to perk up your appetite," she told Chris, "so, it's best to have food on hand."

She opened a small green pouch on her belt that she sometimes used for herb collection. She took off a few branches from the bush, whispering something to the plant that Chris couldn't hear. Then put the leaves and branch pieces into the pouch, keeping them together neatly in one lower corner.

"Alright then, well we found an herb, but I can purchase a plant for a few copper pieces back home at the market, and grow wintergreen if I need it..." She seemed somewhat less hostile now, and smiled for a split second before trotting off the way they'd come, patting Chris on the back before puahing on.

[Christoph]

"Then, of course, there's the matter of actually killing this thing when we find it," said Chris, picking up his pace to catch up with Heather. He pointed to the gear on his back. "I mean, all I have are my knives, my sword, and this long pointy stick. If this thing is as big as those townsfolk said, killing it isn't going to be a simple task."

"I considered the prospect of setting a trap. Unfortunately, I don't know how large this thing is going to be and I'm not very good with knots yet." He exhaled wearily as they hiked along. Perhaps if he was able to use a crossbow, things would be easier. Unfortunately, it seemed that they would have to make due with their substandard equipment.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Well, Chris, if this thing is as big as the drunks at your tavern claim, and as viscious and lethal... then consider this. We may find corpses of people who came better prepared than we did, armed better, and probably trained better. I think the reports are exaggerated. A good swing from your pan ought to knock out even the fiercest wolf, and if your pans don't whollop him, my staff may just do it for you." She considered a dead root she'd stumped her foot on. Considering whether to leave it or perhaps take it with, as it could serve for fire-wood.

"Look." She said, bending over to cut the root with her serrated dagger. She kept it on her leg, beneath her clothing, but had her ways of getting it out and putting it back. "When we find her, if she doesn't immediately kill, maim, eat or capture us for her young, we'll formulate a plan. But she's probably just an old grey wolf, about to die, and those beasts get ferocious when they sense the end nearing.

"And it's going to be too dark if we hike another two hours. We should start gathering enough wood for tonight, and then press on until we need to set camp." She picked up the eight-inch long segment of twisted root, shaking snow and dirt off it. She picked up another branch nearby that had recently died.

"If we wait, we'll be gathering wood in the dark, and won't be able to see it as well..."

[Christoph]

"Assuming this wolf is female, anyway," replied Chris with a chuckle. He grabbed a few peices of dry wood that would be good for starting a fire. "We can hope that it is. If it's male, it will more likely not to be found alone. Especially if it's the alpha of it's pack, which would be quite possible. I'm not keen on fighting an entire wolf pack. If it's female, we may get lucky and spot her near the den while the rest of the pack is away." At least, he hoped that his assertions were correct; he was usually only good at pretending to be an expert.

"Anyway, we can make camp once we find a spot with some decent shelter from this cursed wind." He paused and glanced around as they walked along. The further they went, the more uncomfortable he became. The feeling of being watched was always unpleasant, no matter how cliche. "Not to mention some place that's not out in the open. I'd rather not get found by whatever predators are lurking in this forest while we sleep."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Well, shelter from the wind I can understand, but your need to be sheltered from your paranoia is a bit difficult for me to accomodate. If you're so worried about being snuck up on, I'll lend you some of my alertness potion. I have two. If you drink half of one, you can stay up for a few hours longer and if you don't see any real threat, when the potion wears off, you can go to sleep." Pausing, she threw in an afterthought.

"But..." She got up in his face, not smiling or sneering but calmly informing him, "I swear, if you use waste anything more than that without a real danger nearby you can see, is approaching and waking me up first, I'll slip you a potion of male enfeeblement on your wedding night to whatever abhorson's daughter you marry off to." Turning from him, she picked up another wooden stick. She wandered off to find more.

[Christoph]

“You have an odd way of making your point,” replied Chris, raising an eyebrow. He winced as a gust of bitter gust swept into him, but forced a smug grin. “Besides, I know that jealousy would be the only reason that you would try to harm me on my wedding night.” He chuckled in jest, but was careful to stay outside of her smacking range.

“Anyway, just because I’d like to sleep someplace a little more secure and hidden doesn’t mean I’m paranoid. I’m not asking for a fortified castle to sleep in. Some place where we wouldn’t be obviously visible would be nice, though.” He paused when yet another blast of wind came and added, “And did I mention a place to get out of this wind.”

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Well, how about that cluster of trees over there?" She pointed to a spot about thirty yards away. "I know it's not an hour's walking from here to there, but we only have about an hour of true sunlight, and I think we're going to get snowed on soon, so we might as well make camp. Right?" She picked up another twig.

"And the only thing I'd be jealous about is how quickly your wife would fall asleep." She grinned at him visciously.

[Christoph]

“Well, the only reason she’d fall asleep is because she’d be so tired afterwards,” Chris retorted, with a grin full of exaggerated smugness. “And of that, you should be jealous.” He highly doubted this, of course. They had been very good friends since they were children, but there was nothing to suggest that their relationship was anything but platonic. It was probably why they felt comfortable joking about topics that many others would deem “inappropriate.”

“Right, what’s say we hurry to those trees,” he suggested, picking up his pace even though he was now tracking through snow several inches deep. He collected one last branch of firewood before the first large, fluffy snowflakes danced their way down to the forest floor. The amount of snow falling began to increase, making visibility suffer. “Let’s see if we can’t get there before it vanishes.”

At least the wind had slowed down -- wait... no it hadn't.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather was already ahead of him. And huddled under the trees where they thought to make camp. These trees were bare, but even their branches provided some cover, as they were so numerous.

"Hurry up and pull out that huge canvas from your sack." She said to Chris. "I'll get the kindling going if you set up the shelter overhead. Make sure to tie ropes to the trees for support and angle the canopy away from the fire, so the smoke can escape..." She began digging away snow with her hands, so she could start their little fire on actual grass or dirt.

[Christoph]

"Yes, yes, I know," sighed Chris, climbing a few feet up the first tree and securing a section of the rope to a branch. "I mean, how many times have we done this sort of thing? Well... without the icy wind, snow, and killer wolves, that is." He continued on, tying the heavy canvas tarp to three of the four trees that surrounded their future fire. Once done with those, he stood and stared at the fourth and final tree that he would need to climb, as though he could make it shrink by looking at it hard enough.

It was a tall, formidable Oak covered with coarse, wet bark. Its trunk was wider than Chris could get his arms around and the lowest branch was well out of arm's reach. Well, standing here won't get this tarp up... He took a deep, defiant breath and tried to shimmy up the Oak's trunk. This attempt failed decisively and resulted in Chris falling back down and landing on shaky feet.

After pondering his situation for a few second, a seemingly obvious solution came to him. Taking the remaining corner of the tarp, he walked over to one of the adjacent trees and began to climb. With the aid of luck and some clumsy acrobatics, Chris made his way up the tree and over to the Oak by climbing across one of the branches until he could reach the one destined to support the tarp. A lucky toss put the looped rope around the branch... just as a loud cracking sound pierced the frigid air, followed swifty by another until the branch that Christopher was using for support gave way. He plummeted to the ground and into a pile of snow shoulder first and landed in the snow with a muffled thud.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Looking over where he'd fallen, it took a second for Heather to register what had happened. She rushed over, grabbing her pack and leaving the kindling unlit in the fire pit.

"Chris! Are you alright?" She dropped onto her knees at his side, a long trail groove leading out from her legs as she slid sideways a few feet. Opening her bag she pulled out a healing potion, afraid of the worst...

"Gods and demons, Knighton! Are you hurt?" She asked, uncorking the potion in case he'd broken anything or didn't answer quickly.

[Christoph]

"Just... my pride," Chris grumbled after a moment, his face still mostly in the snow. "And... well, maybe some bones and organs, but I'm fine." He struggled for several seconds, but didn't make much progress in crawling out of the snow.

"I don't think I broke anything. But could you give me a hand? I'm a little stuck." He squirmed a little more, but only succeeded in sinking even deeper. Next time, he thought to himself, I'll just ask for help BEFORE I try dangling from a tree and falling.

"And I've realized something," Chris added, his ironic tone returning even though he could barely feel his face. "Snow is cold." He face was too numb to laugh, though. He simply stretched out his hand, hoping that she'd grab it and yank him out of the results of his own foolishness.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed. With this warm breeze, I thought it was summertime..." She stood, straddling his ankles and leaning forward to grab his hand before yanking hard up, trying to lift him.

[Christoph]

"That's what I thought too..." A grunt followed, and Chris returned to his feet with Heather's help. He cracked his neck and back painfully. "Thanks... ow... I think I'm okay. Let's get this fire going." Chris began talking stiff steps toward the pile of wood.

Snow covered him from head to toe, but he too cold to brush it off. He was beginning to wish that he hadn't come up with the crazy idea for this exhibition. On the bright side, at least the tarp was up. Besides, there was no going back now. As he walked by the Oak, he glared at it and gave it a swift kick. (Most definitely hurting his foot more than he hurt the tree)

"Stupid tree..."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather walked over to the fire, and watching Chris kick the tree, she muttered under her breath.

"Stupid man."

Reaching into a robe pocket, she produced her flint and steel once more, holding it close to the shreds of kindling as she struck the flint. Rapidly striking the rock, she knocked enough sparks into the kindling to get a small flame on one leaf of kindling, then it spread, a little pillar of fire, then as the heat spred, more kindling caught until a six-inch wide circle of fire had been created. The heat radiated out, catching the sticks over the kindling and she grinned at her success.

"Come on, frosty, get over here and thaw out!" She indicated the spot next to her. As the fire grew to consume the larger sticks, she placed one of the few larger pieces of wood they'd found on one side of the fire. Another few sticks over the fire and on top of the small log would help make the log burn a little easier.

"In a bit, this is going to be hot enough and ready for you to cook over it, so we better get some of the rations ready. Just enough for both of us to sleep without growling bellies..." She said. She didn't want to waste food by using up all their rations too early. "And perhaps you should cook up some of the fish rations we brought along... My cat needs to eat too..."

[Christoph]

Chris trudged over and plopped himself down next to the growing fire, sighing softly as it's warmth gradually soaked into him. Most of his companion's words didn't even register at first. He was cold and it was making him weary. He closed his eyes and held his hands out, as though he could suck the heat into him by sheer desire.

"Yeah... I'll dig some food out in a minute," he replied absently. Then, a shock of realization hit and his eyes snapped open. "Heather. Please tell me that you didn't bring your cat along."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

As if to answer him, a parchment colored furball jumped out of her backpack. The cat barely sunk half an inch into the snow, despite seeming large by its fur. He looked over with his large eyes at Chris, then hopped into Heather's lap.

"Yes. I brought Paper along. He's good at sniffing out herbs and he's as good as a guard dog, if something or someone is sneaking up at night." She seemed slightly indignant that Chris would even feign to object to the cat's presence.

"That's why I had you pack an extra couple of salt fish, if you fail to recall... Wrapped in leaves I found can preserve meat for an extra week or two... so we can get to some form of civilised area before it goes bad..." She stroked the cat affectionately.

"And dust off that snow. You'll get sick!" She reached over, aiming to slap some of the snow off his shoulders.

[Christoph]

"I guess it's all right," sighed Chris, letting her brush snow off his shoulder while he got the rest that he could reach. He was still cold and numb. "I don't mind Paper so long as he's in the mood to be nice to me." Chris reached over slowly, offering a scratch behind the ear. "Hey there Paper."

Chris and Heather's cat went back a few years, from when Paper was a mere kitten. Within the first ten minutes of meeting Chris, the kitten both hissed, scratched, purred, and licked him, though not in that order. From then on, Chris never knew whether the strangely colored cat was going to bite him or purr and demand to be picked up whenever they saw eachother.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

The cat closed its eyes purring as if he knew his next meal depended on kissing butt. Hopping out of Heather's lap into Chris', the cat managed not to touch a flake of snow, and, standing on its hind legs, supporting itself with front paws on Chris' chest, the cat nuzzled its forehead into his neck, purring.

"Seems he's in a good mood, then." Heather pronounced, smiling, she poked the fire with a stick, provoking some sparks to rise up, a puff of black smoke, and moving some of the burning wood closer to the log. "Now let's see what we can do about this fire..." She looked around. Spotting a nearby dead birch tree, she got up and went over to it, using her dagger to skin foot-long strips of bark, and coiled each one around her left arm. When she had a dozen of these strips, she came back to the fire, sat down, and began tearing them down their length into inch-wide strips, then cutting those in half.

"Ok..." She added four or five of these strips and put a section of birch wood over the fire from the dead tree. "This should help you warm up..."

[Christoph]

"That, or he's just sucking up to me because he knows that I'm the cook," Chris replied with chuckle, petting the cat. "At least he's warm." He scratched and pet the cat, enjoying the fact that he was actually being friendly, as Heather gathered up some pieces of Birch bark and wood.

"Ah yes, that's much better," he said, finally beginning to feel warm as Heather helped the fire grow into something to be proud of. "It looks about right to cook on now." He handed Paper back over to Heather and stood to gather up some of the food he'd brought.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather smiled, setting paper back in her lap.

"He's nice when you're nice, Paper. Remember that." She scritched behind his ear, causing the cat to purr quietly as he sat on her lap.

"Meow." He looked off into the distance the way they'd come, the snow was swirling in horizontal whorls now, and visibility was dropping.

"Crap. It's a blizzard... Alright, while you cook, I'll hang the extra tarps so we have some sideways protection." She stood, setting out a fur for Paper to lie on, its fur side up. The blanket was large, and she spread it out to one side of the fire, then began hanging up the other cloth tarps for siding to their little shelter. She threw rope up over each tied corner and lifted the corner of each tarp with it, staking the ends of the rope through the other ends of the tarp and the ground. This took her some time, and when she finished with the last side, she left a top corner unfastened, so smoke could escape, and she looked over to see if Chris was done cooking.

[Christoph]

"It's almost ready," announced Chris to answer Heather's silent question. All of the rations had been mostly prepared ahead of time for convenience. It was simply a matter of cooking what they were going to eat at any giving time. This was easy with his skills once the fire was large and warm enough, with some hot coals to work with. "Did you bring those wooden plates?"

Christopher shook his heavy iron skillet around over the fire a bit and stirred its contents. The smell of meat, cooked vegetables, and rice was soon floated around their tiny encampment. It wasn't anything amazing, but it was the best that he could do with limited equipment. He smiled and tossed a piece of the fish to Paper.

"Eat up."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

The cat pounced up into the air, catching the fish in his mouth, and landing, holding most of it in place with his front paws while he bit and chewed bits off it. He kept eating for some time, while Heather came over and pulled out the wooden plates. She also pulled out spoons, as those would be sufficient for almost any meal.

"Anything else?" She asked, handing over a plate and a spoon.

[Christoph]

"Nope, I think we're good." Chris took the plate and spoon, setting it down evenly on the snow. Then, he removed his metal pan from it's place over the fire and dextrously scooped half of its contents onto his plate, almost filling it, and dished out the rest onto Heather's plate. "Well, it doesn't look like much, but at least it smells good." His brown eyes darted over to Paper, who certainly seemed to be enjoying his dinner.

He placed his skillet into the snow to cool off, making sure to clean it out with a rag before he picked up his plate and spoon. Remembering his manners, Chris sat and waited for Heather to start eating first.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather dug in with no pretense to proper dining etiquette, and stopped a second later.

"Good food, good meat. Good gods let's eat!" Having succinctly offered up the irreverent blessing with a mouthful of food, she munched on more of it, closing her eyes when she wasn't scooping up the next mouthful...

[Christoph]

"That would have almost been charming were it not so painfully cliche," Chris commented with a raised eyebrow. He paused for a moment and looked at her, before performing his own disappearing act on the contents of his plate without another word.

Normally, the chef would have taken time to enjoy and savor the food. Considering the circumstances, though, he decided that it really wasn't worth it. The wind was still harsh, even in their improvised shelter, and was gradually taking it's toll on Chris. He wanted nothing more than to finish eating and crawl into a blanket and never come out.

"Have I ever mentioned just how much I hate snow?"

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather quickly glared at him.

"Don't you dare start bawling about the snow. This was your idea. I was skeptical, you convinced me to come along. I obliged. If you keep complaining, I'm dragging your keister all the way back home." She gave him a meaningful stare before wiping her plate with some snow and a rag. Bagging her plate, she took his once he was finished, and wiped it clean.

On one side of her bag was her bedroll.

"It's too cold to sleep tonight in our bedrolls separately. I suggest we sleep in the same roll. But I'm sleeping behind you... And you better not pull anything." She didn't glare now, but her voice was definite in tone.

[Christoph]

"Oh come now, Heather," Chris replied lightly, indifferent to her veangeful tone. "What's the point of going off on some crazy adventure if one can't complain about the situation that they put themselves in?" He cleaned his own plate and put it back in Heather's pack. Paper had finished eating as well. Chris gave the cat a friendly ear scratch to determine if the his furry aquaintence's good feelings still existed now that the worry of getting fed no longer existed.

"Anyway, you're probably right about the whole 'body heat, thermodynamics, not-wanting-to-die' thing," he agreed. A laugh came from his lips. "Also, I would like to point out that you would be the one more capable of pulling anything questionable on the other."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Only in your worst nightmares would I touch anything on your body that I can pull. And I can assure you I'd make it a nightmare. So, you don't have to worry about me pulling anything..." She grinned, a viscious malice in her eyes, then it vanished and she seemed slightly playful.

"Well, come on then. Let's get the bedrolls spread out..." She became a bit business-like.

[Christoph]

"That sounds a bit violent," Chris replied, giving her an awkward stare. He turned back to Paper, petting the cat's head beseechingly. "You wouldn't let her cut off anything that's not supposed to be unattached, would you?" His eyes returned to Heather as he noticed her demeanor change to a more serious one.

"All right," replied Chris, softly, tilting his head quizzically. He trudged the few feet over to his own bedroll and brought it over to Heather to see what layout she had in mind.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Unrolling her own bedroll, Heather spread it out, then opened his on top of hers, and splayed them out. Setting her boots and coat on the mat she'd spread out for Paper to sleep on. She indicated he do the same. Stepping onto the bedroll, Heather dusted off a corner that had some snow on it. She sat on the bedrolls, and made room for him to lie down.

Chris stepped over onto the bedroll, sitting next to Heather. They both lay down and Heather pulled one end of the bedrolls over them both, folding the cloths over, and pulled him back towards her. She reached over and put a log over the fire, to make sure they'd have warmth through the night.

She snuggled Chris' back and held him close, knowing their heat would keep them both alive.

[Christoph]

That minor bit of bunnying was approved

Chris did his best not to feel awkward about their position. Well, it really wasn't exceedingly difficult because he was too cold and tired to think about anything other than sleep. She was warm, to he couldn't complain. Between her and the fire, feeling was finally beginning to return to his body.

He truly was exhausted. Even his natural danger sense (otherwise known as paranoia) wasn't functional. If it were, he would have detected something lurking outside of their camp in the earliest hours of the morning, before sunrise. The presence circled the camp silently, but did not move closer. A pair of intelligent yellow eyes peered at the sleeping figures, watching and observing... scrutinizing.

And Christopher was still none the wiser, sleeping contentedly next to Heather.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather's eyes flipped open when to the sight of her cat's large glassy eyes staring her in the face. He was standing on top of her, on her left shoulder. She tilted her head to better see the cat, and he meowed in her face. He then turned to face the opening of their tent and hissed, to which she quickly sat off, Paper scrambling to stay on her shoulder, and she winced as he climbed on top of her shoulder.

Paper hates snow, and tries to avoid it at every possible occasion. Seeing out into the pre-dawn gloom, Heather found two great yellow eyes and a silvery aura in the shape of a wolf, staring right at her...

"Knighton. Up!" She hissed, kicking him gently to get his attention. "Get up!" She said louder this time.

Looking back up, she could still see the eyes, yellow and unblinking. She felt an eerie presence in those eyes, but couldn't figure it out. The silvery aura had faded to a feint outline in the starlit night. Some time a few hours ago, it seemed the snow had let up and the skies opened. The moonlight was too dim for what she'd seen around the wolf, and now that it was gone, she blinked repeatedly, trying to figure out what had just happened.

As a cloud shifted, and the moon shone on the wolf's back, she caught a full glimpse of its sillhouette before everything darkened again. Leaving their campsite fire as the only source of light.

Looking back down, she kicked again, a bit harder, "UP!" She hissed.

[Christoph]

Chris groaned predictably and squirmed next to her. After a few moments of mumbling, he opened his eyes and rolled over, only to find her sitting up and looking out to their camp's perimeter.

"Huh...What's going on?" Chris asked brushing his tangled mess of brown hair out of his face and trying to find what Heather was looking at. When he didn't spot anything right away he gave her an annoyed glare. "It's too early for this. The sun isn’t even up ye--" He cut himself off when he sensed movement. It took a second for his eyes to focus in on the outline of a large, four-legged animal. It was a wolf, and a large one at that.

"Heather... do you think that's the one?" He didn't look at her, instead keeping his eyes locked on their before-sunrise visitor. His heart was already pounding and his throat closing up as the anxiety began to kick in.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"I don't think she's the one..." Heather said quietly, anticipation heavy in her voice. "I know she's the one..." She realized neither of them had a bow and arrow at that moment... "Kind of caught us with our pants down, if you will... We're unarmed and not dressed..." She kept her eyes on those golden orbs in the distance.

The cat hissed again, and she heard in the distance the sound of a low, predatory growl. "She's going to attack." Heather whispered excitedly. "Grab your frying pan! I'll use my staff!" She reached over to her backpack and picked up the staff, stepping into her boots as she did so...

[Christoph]

Chris didn't think to debate her assertion. The wolf wasn't moving closer yet for some reason. He was at a loss as to why that was. Whatever the case was, it was allowing he and Heather a chance to prepare -- a chance that he was not going to pass up. He jumped up to slip his boots and coat on, and was immediately greeted by the harsh cold. In a near instant, they were both dressed. Chris grabbed his pan from by the fireplace.

The wolf was moving closer at last. It would take a few purposeful steps toward the camp, pause, sniff the air, and then continue. The thought occurred to Chris that they might have been more than one lurking about. He dismissed this though, because he was certain that Paper would have been hissing in the other directions as well were there more wolves.

Chris had no sooner paused to wonder what the silver wolf was waiting for than did it suddenly sprint towards them, carrying itself on powerful legs while baring its teeth viciously.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Being further towards the tent's opening, Heather was first in the wolf's way, and she immediately backed up into the tent, avoiding the fire, and keeping her staff pointed at the wolf. She was beside Chris now, hoping they'd be able to knock it down together. It growled and barked as it ran in, and her cat jumped off her into her backpack in one swift movement.

"Together then?" She said, raising her staff up for a quick downward strike.

[Christoph]

"Right," agreed Chris as their foe charged toward them. He steadied his feet and readied his 'weapon.' It was truly a magnificent beast: a massive, muscular frame, standing as tall as Christopher's chest, sharp, white teeth, a bestial snarl, and a silvery grey coat of thick fur. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

Clenching his teeth, Chris took a wide swing with his pan at the wolf's head, coordinating with Heather's staff strike. The wolf was too fast and strong for both of them, though, and simply plowed through, ignoring the staff hitting its flank. The sheer force knocked Chris to the ground.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather was knocked back several feet by the beast's massive bulk as the giant wolf bowled her over. She hit her head on the ground, and passed out in the snow. The wolf turned to attack her, but her cat, Paper, leapt up on top of her, his hair rising into the air on end, and his tail sticking up like a flagpole, he hissed loudly, jaw dropping and eyes practically closing, then as the giant wolf came closer, he slapped the wolf with a front paw, bloodying the silver wolf's nose.

[Christoph]

The wolf let out a deep growl and was just about to lunge at Heather, indifferent to the cat, when Chris scrambled to his feet and grabbed the beast's tail. It stopped and whirled around to face its tail grabber. With one solid sweep of its head, the wolf sent Chris sprawling backwards, barely keeping his balance.

Chris plucked his improvised spear (more accurately, his long pointy stick) off the snowy ground next to his pack. He jabbed at his furry, toothy opponent desperately, fighting the urge to close his eyes in fear. Before he could really find any purchase with his weapon, he felt it yanked from his grasp as the wolf grabbed it in its jaws and pulled it away.

Clinging to his one last chance, Christopher withdrew another two steps and pulled his dueling sword from his pack, and pointed it at the wolf, assuming his normal sword fighting stance. The wolf stopped for a moment, and Chris swore that it raised an eyebrow at him. He blinked and stepped forward and thrust his sword at the beast. The wolf acted too quickly, though, and lunged at Chris before he could react. And then everything went black.


Chris woke up a minute later to find the huge wolf sitting with its front paws on his chest. Amazingly, he was alive, though he couldn't breathe easily. Where was Heather? Maybe the wolf ate her first! He struggled in vain to free himself.

"You certainly have spirit," said a soft female voice. It sounded almost as if the wolf was talking to him, but that was impossible. Yet, the voice continued. "But you need to learn that creatures of the wild cannot be fought as you would fight another man." Yes, the wolf WAS talking to him... and it--she was critiquing his fighting style.

"What... what is going on?"

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather stirred. She heard a voice. Female. She didn't catch what it said, but she rolled her head to the side, seeing the wolf sitting at Chris' side, with her front paws on her chest.

"What... what is going on?" Chris asked. And the wolf chuckled, baring her teeth and squinting her eyes, a female laugh.

"You should never assume that the world is as you believe it is." She said, licking his face. "A spirit of the wild is not always just an unthinking beast." She looked over at Heather. "Ah... you're awake now. I've been waiting for someone like you to come along..." The wolf spirit lifted her paws, one-by-one, off Chris. Paper was still on Heather's chest. The wolf tilted its head sideways at Heather's cat.

"Is he going to play fair?" The wolf asked.

"Are you going to eat us?" Heather asked. She was dazed, and could barely keep conscious now her body was growing cold. But she knew what to ask... Somewhat.

[Christoph]

"Eat you?" asked the wolf in near disbelief. "Good heavens no, child. Most of the time, I simply scare off would-be hunters. I've only killed a a small number of those who've come out here to track me down, and I never eat them. That's quite barbaric!" Meanwhile, Chris had gotten up again and walked cautiously over to Heather with his spare wool blanket. He wrapped her in the blanket and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, but I'm getting off track," the wolf continued, sitting in front of the fire. "That's why I came here: to scare you off. Unfortunately, your cat seemed to know that I there. It's good to see that domesticated animals haven't lost all of their instincts." The she-wolf laughed. "But then you saw me, girl. You saw my fay aura, didn't you?

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather tilted her head sideways, scrunching her eyebrows.

"Saw your... fey... Ooooh..!" She staggered with her memory, leafing through thousands of books in her mind and coming to the sudden realization... "I get it..." She said quietly and quite to herself, then turned to the wolf. "Yes. I saw you... but... I don't understand how I could see auras. I have no formal training in magic..." She looked perplexed, her eyes showing intent thought, and indeed she was drawing more books to the fore of her mind, discarding pages that didn't seem relevant, while keeping others in mind if they did... She wasn't getting an exact picture because her memory wasn't idetic, but she could piece enough together to suddenly lapse out of it and blink a few times, smiling at the wolf.

"You're the guardian of these woods. You, or at least others like you, stretch back well over an age into the past. You yourself can't be too young, and I'd hazard a guess your magical abilities are much more than going cloaked through the night." Her smile widened, as if she'd just graduated with honors from some class or test.

"And I'd assume the reason you haven't left to try to scare us again or let us leave is that you have some plan for us. As the only survivors of your attacks seem to either be those who fled in terror or were confronted by you and given a quest..." Her face paled slightly, and she looked deep into the wolve's eyes. "I hope this isn't some do-or-die quest..." She said meekly.

[Christoph]

The wolf spirit titled her head and laughed again.

"So is that what forest spirits do these days?" the fay asked. She paused for a moment and looked up; dawn was still a couple hours away. "Well... maybe they could do it..."

"Maybe we could do what?" Chris asked, shifting nervously. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of being sent on a mystery quest by a fairy wolf.

"Well, there's another forest spirit who can be found at the very top of this mountain, but only after great blizzards such as the one that just passed," the fay explained. "She is far older and wider than I, and can take on a number of forms. But... perhaps with your determination, Chris, and your unique perception, Heather, you could find this ancient spirit."

"What happens once we find her?" inquired the chef. If a wolf could shrug, then the fay before them came as close as possible.

"I don't know... I've never sent someone on a quest before."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"I... wow." Heather blinked. "You mean, I practically gave you the idea to send us to meet this spirit?" She looked at her boots... "I just know what the books say... I can read almost any language and have worked in a library all my life... I didn't realize it could all just be for fancy and amusement..." Looking up at the wolf, her eyes seemed placid and she halfheartedly laughed. "And here, I thought we were going to be sent on some extrordinary epic adventure to save the forest from some band of loggers, or stop a rampaging beast from killing other creatures in the forest... Something to help out. Not just be a nuissance to every spirit we come by..." Her cat meowed at her. Paper jumped up her leg, and she picked him up, holding him in one arm, while he wiggled around do climb onto her shoulder.


She turned away from Chris and the wolf, sitting to face the fire. Finally, speaking after poking at it with a stick.

"I don't know why I ever believe those stories... they all sounded too amazing to be true..."

[Christoph]

"I'm sorry, dear child," said the wolf, nudging Heather's arm. "There have been greedy loggers and rampaging beasts that have threatened this forest in the past. But you see, I am the guardian spirit of this forest... so that kind of thing is my duty. I know this 'quest' that I'm sending you on doesn't sound like much, but let me explain a little more: it's all about finding the proper tribute for this mountain spirit and getting up the mountain in time."

"What do you mean?" asked Chris. The prospect of the wolf's quest had gotten a tiny bit more interesting.

"This ancient spirit can only be found before the second sunrise after a great blizzard," she explained. "If you can't find her before then, she'll vanish again. She's very aloof, even for a Fay."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather looked up at the fey wolf.

"I doubt she'll take animal or plant sacrifices..." She said slowly, gauging her thoughts on the wolf's reactions... "But, what can we bring to an aloof fey who only appears after a blizzard?" Pacing around the tent, Heather put another log on the fire, stoked it, then walked in a circle around the wolf and Chris.

"A prayer?" She thought out loud. "A song?" She drew an odd sign or two in the snow with her staff. Not even realizing it was a crude re-drawing of an image she'd seen in a book... She stared past the snow as her staff finished the image, and stood stock still scrunching her face in thought.

Finally, she looked up at Chris...

"Can you think of anything?" She asked, before catching his gaze, and looking back down at the image she'd drawn.

[Christoph]

Chris looked down to the illustration in the snow. He recognized it after a moment. It was from one of the countless archaic books that Heather had pestered him to read, even though she knew that he couldn't read ancient languages as she could. Heather's recreation didn't show much, but the original that Chris had seen depicted a weary traveller on the top of a mountain presenting... something to a spirit. He couldn't remember what, unfortunately. Even so, he came up with an idea.

"Well... if this spirit only appears after huge snow storms, then I'd wager that it hasn't seen anything but snow and ice for a long time," said Chris, pondering. "Maybe a good tribute would be something to remind this spirit of spring and life."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"Perhaps..." Heather looked at her shoddy drawing of a faded memory and only wished she could remember what the offering in the image was... "Well we're not going to get anywhere by sitting here and bleating like two sheep with a wolf in our midst." She stopped. "Sorry. Bad analogy..." She looked at the wolf, warily. "I think we should get moving and determine what to offer as tribute on our way..." She looked at Chris, hoping he was ready to pack up and leave...

[Christoph]

"Yeah, let's get moving," said Chris, nodding. He stood and began packing up their camp piece by piece. "It'll be dawn soon, which means we will only have another full day to reach the top of that mountain." The fey wolf stood and nodded at them.

"Good luck, both of you. And be careful... there are other creatures out there who are not as... civilized as I am. I hope your journey proves worth-while." She began to walk off, but stopped and turned to paper. "And you... keep them out of trouble."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Paper let out a short meow, and watched the wolf leave. Heather immediately packed up her bedroll and blanket, shaking the snow off the bedroll before actually rolling it up. Kicking snow on the fire as Chris was un-tying the knots holding the tent's roof up. Wasting no time, she donned her heavy winter robe and put Paper in her bag. The cat meowed at first and she shushed him.

"Hush. I'll let you out after we've been walking a while... Besides. You hate walking in snow." She stared her cat down and he stopped trying to get out of the bag.

"Alright." The cat seemed to be saying. "But only for a while... I can deal with the snow if some fairy dog can." She smirked, imagining her cat saying this. She patted him on the head and closed the bag's flap, but left it untied.

"You ready to go, Chris?" She asked when she'd folded up two of the tent's wall-canvases.

[Christoph]

"Almost..." Chris was dangling from tree branches again, trying to pull the final section of the rope off the branch of his nemesis: the Oak. He was significantly more successful in getting it down than he was putting it up, and he was soon back on the ground, looking humorously pleased with himself. "Christopher Knighton never gets beaten by dormant vegetation." With that, he folded it up and packed it away, along with everything else.

"All right, let's get moving," said Chris, re-attaching his sword and pointy stick to his pack.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

As they left the campsite, Heather marveled that there were no traces of the wolf. Not a single footprint. She breathed in the frigid air. "Do you think we'll make it?" She turned to Chris, then back to the mountain in the distance.

She looked around. The blizzard had dumped several inches of snow, and now they were trudging through ankle-high virgin powder. It was bright as the sun came up, reflecting off the white crystal desert. Dry and cold, with snow drifts like sand dunes. A whorl of wind and snow danced past, and she pulled up her scarf, covering her face from the sudden blast of cold.

The mountain was barely visible through the snowcaked trees, and Heather hoped the forest would protect them from the worst of the elements.

[Christoph]

"I certainly hope so," Chris replied, trekking briskly through the snow. "It would be most disappointing to have this whole trip be wasted." They had definitely covered considerable distance thus far; the pair reached the base of the mountain just as the morning sun's first beem of light began to shine over the the white, crystaline mountain. The air gradually calmed as well, as if the sun's warmth banished the wind as it ascended into the sky.

"We still have to think of what to give as tribute," Chris pointed out as they made their way up the great round mountain. "The fey wolf made it sound like this whole ordeel of finding this other spirit will have been wasted if we don't have a pleasing tribute."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather trekked behind Chris, letting his feet plough a path for her. She smiled as she remembered the smells of spring flowers and honey... hmm... Honey... She looked up as the thought entered her mind...

"We're talking a tribute that is reminiscent of spring?" She asked rhetorically. "I don't suppose mead can be given in offering to a spirit, can it?" She hadn't really thought about whether the spirit fey would be able to consume anything, but the more she thought, the more she liked the idea. A saucer or cup of mead for the fey and a cup for each of them. To commune and give company to a lonely spirit.

"Aloof or no, surely she occasionally gets lonely." Heather looked up at the bright morning sky. Light clouds with golden edges drifted lazily, like a hypnotic pattern. She smiled at the blue dome and lost herself in thought, not seeing the rock Chris had just stepped over. She tripped and fell on her knees, catching herself with her hands and paper leapt out of her bag with a loud hissing meow.

"Ow!" She grunted, tears welling in her eyes. She stopped breathing and grimaced as she rolled sideways to sit in the snow... Looking down, she didn't see blood at first... But the cold had merely slowed the blood near the surface, and she almost forgot the throbbing pain as she waited for the blood. As her knees bled through her clothes, she tried to stand, but Paper was hissing at something...

Up the slope, a wolf, this time not as large as the fey wolf, and a blueish grey color, growled down at them, lowering itself closer to the ground as it stalked forward, ready to launch into a charge. Heather stood, her left hand holding the staff as support and her right gripping her dagger tightly. She saw nothing special about this wolf except for the bloof on the fur around his mouth.

"Chris. Your sword might be a better choice for this one... I'm injured... Let me get in close first... I'll try to bait it..."

[Christoph]

"No, you're hurt," said Chris, stepping protectively in front of her, and untying his spear. "You'll get yourself killed. I may not be able to keep it away from you if you try to bait it." He crouched slightly and pointed his spear at the grey wolf. They made eye contact and the wolf began moving closer.

Come and get me, then, Chris thought, almost taunting the wolf with his mind and eyes. Its eyes were yellow, but not as bright as the fey wolf's were. It was smaller and not nearly as magnificent a creature. Instead of a thick coat and a full, muscular frame, it looked rather scraggly and underfed, with rips and joints showing.

"Heather, if you can, get ready to whack it with your staff just in case it gets by me."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"I can hardly stand, Chris... I have a dagger. If it tackles me, I can stab him through his jaw, or heart, or something... I can't whack him with my staff. I'll fall down." She growled, pushing at him with the fist she held the dagger in. "I have a healing potion. Only one. I need it for my legs. If he gets one or two good bites on me, the potion will stop the bleeding and save my life. But if you get hurt, I can't split the potion, or its effects won't work very well. Your death would only be prolonged, instead of stopped, and I wouldn't be able to carry you up to meet the Fey..." She pointed her dagger at his throat. "Don't argue with me! Just be ready to pull out the healing potion and pour it down my throat. And hope he doesn't rip mine out!"

Heather's eyes watered. What had they gotten into? She looked up at the wolf, who was now prowling faster, seeing they weren't united. She stood in front of him, her staff-arm out wide to block Chris from going that way, and the ground was at a steep incline to the right. She bent forward, slightly, holding the dagger at her side.

"Put your spear over my shoulder, so when the wolf attacks, you can try to stab him in his face or back..." She said, speaking over her shoulder as the wolf closed past twenty yards, then turned her attentions to the now-charging wolf.

[Christoph]

"All right," said Chris, stepping back behind her. It was the last place that he wanted to be. She was injured; he should be protecting her. " I hope you know what you're doing."

The wolf didn't waste anymore time. It smelled it's first real meal in who knows how long, and it was moving in for the kill. Chris narrowed his eyes and glared in challenge. The wolf accepted and darted for them, vicious hunger in its eyes.

Chris bent his knees and braced himself. The wolf lunged at Heather. Chris closed his eyes and jabbed the spear forward with all the strength he could muster, hoping to slow the beast down before it fell upon his friend.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather brought her staff in a cross-swing and bashed the wolf's skull, the beast yelped, but continued its assault, snarling and biting for her throat. Grabbing the wolf with her now free hand, as she'd released the staff, willfully falling backwards, she tried to pull on the back of its neck, adrenaline kicking her heart and muscles into overdrive.

A gash across her neck burned as she registered his first bite. The second, lower, as the dog scraped his teeth along her chest. She brought the dagger in hard from the right, rivulets of blood spraying the snow as she struck home, once, twice, fighting for her life, screaming in pain and rage. She struggled up and met the wolf's eyes, still stabbing at it's chest, but to little effect. His front paws digging into her ribs while he lunged to bite her face.

She sacrificed her left arm's mobility, shoving it to the back of the wolf's mouth in a desperate attempt to stop it from biting, and brought her dagger in hard towards its head.

The fight was over, several other injuries across the dire wolf's back as Chris had continually stabbed it, but the killing blow was Heather's steel dagger. Eight inches in to the hilt. A single ribbon of blood trickled out around the edge of the dagger's hilt. The feral gleam in its eyes faded as its body slumped heavily on top of her.

Heather's left arm was still lodged in the wolf's mouth, her own blade having punctured between the bones in her forearm, and her right hand slowly fell from the grip of the blade, slumping into the blood-ruined snow.

Her head slumped back, golden hair splayed about in the snow, eyes rolling back into her head. The slope around her pristine and white against the gory red pool of blood spreading from her and the wolf.

[Christoph]

"Heather!" Chris grunted as he forced the dead wolf off of his companion. He looked down at her and a grim realization hit him. Cradling her head in his arm, Chris dug out the healing potion frantically. "Come on, Heather. Stay with me." He uncorked the potion and poured it slowly and carefully into her mouth; he wouldn't lose a drop. He only hoped that it wasn't too little, too late.

"Please be all right..." To help slow the bleeding, Chris tore off a piece of his cloak and pressed against the largest wound. It was his fault... if only he hadn't convinced her into going along with this crazy journey in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

A second, a minute, an hour. All could have been the same, and yet it didn't matter. Darkness enveloped her, and Heather slipped further from reality...

But... something touched her lips. Liquid. Warm. Gentle. Bitter and atrocious with a tangy aftertaste. Her throat involuntarily gulped the sticky substance down, and a warming sensation spread through her body. Tendrils of fire rippled through her skin, the most intense pain spreading through her wounded chest and neck.

Moments passed. What seemed like hours for both of them, as she lay still, not breathing, her heart so rapid Chris wouldn't have noticed a pulse. The burning spread. Liquid fire reached down into her legs, arms and up into her head. Her lungs expanded as if forced to inhale and she arched her back, letting out a bone chilling cry of pain.

She collapsed back onto the snow, the burning pain gone, and the ice-cold of the north returning. Her eyes slowly opened again, and she gasped as she realized she wasn't dead. Looking over at the dead wolf, she felt the knife still lodged in her arm. Sitting up, she reached over and yanked it out.

Using Chris' torn coatpiece, she wiped the blade clean, then looked down where her wounds had been.Her clothes were torn, but the skin was somewhat sealed. It would still take weeks to fully heal, but she would live from this.

"Next time..." She started to wrap her arm with the torn piece of cloth. "Do try to take the knife out of my arm before you pour the healing potion down my throat..." Facing away from him, she'd tried sounding stern, but when she turned to face Chris, Heather couldn't keep the smile or the tears away, and practically tackled him in a hug, crying into his shoulder.

[Christoph]

Chris could barely breathe as he waited for some kind of reaction from the potion. At first, it was as if nothing was going to happen. She grew cold and her breath slowly stopped. He could almost feel the life slipping away from her. And then, without warning it came rushing back to her and the next thing he knew, she pounced him, tears flowing into his shoulder. Chris fell back into the snow and wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," whispered Chris into her hair, squeezing her gently. He had all he could do to keep tears from forming in his own eyes. She was alive, but it was a close call; it was far closer than he ever wanted it to be. He didn't want to risk her life again. "Heather... you're hurt. We should just forget about this and go home. It's not worth dying for."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

She pulled back immediately, glistening streaks of ice on her chin and cheeks. She cranked out a hard slap from the right.

"You're not the one who almost died!" She glared at him, "And we didn't come all this way, I didn't almost die, just so you could chicken out and quit!" She tried standing, but almost fell over, steadying herself on the moutain's steep side. She picked up her staff, and backpack. "You can go ahead and turn around. Run home and cry, for all I care. But I'm not turning back after what I just went through."

"We should take the body with us... Might not be silver, but it should still fetch a few coins for the meat and pelt..." Bending over, she grabbed the dead wolf by his hind legs, Grunting as one hand steadied her on the staff while her other, injured arm gripped tight on the wolf's legs. Her chest burned, liquid numbness seeping from her injuries. She looked down to make sure she wasn't bleeding.

Seeing her scabs still closed, she looked back up the path, pulling the dead wolf behind her.

[Christoph]

Chris rubbed the side of his face that Heather had slapped and grinned broadly at the same time; she was definitely recovering quickly. If she was determined and able to keep going, then he would be with her. They'd already faced a blizzard, a magical wolf spirit, and a real wolf. Nothing else seemed to be much of a threat anymore.

Walking behind her, he took the wolf's front legs and lifted it up to help her carry it along. He didn't speak, but his actions conveyed more than words could. They were going to get to the top of that cursed mountain. They were going to find the illusive fey and win its favor. They would make it.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Hours passed quickly as they climbed to the peak of the mountain. When they reached the summit cap, the two travelers found a cavernous hole in the mountain. Ringed with a mouth of ice. Icicles stuck up from beneath larger ones on top, the edges of the caveformed into solid pillars of ice.

The mountain cap itself was another seventy five yards up and 300 over, roughly, and covered in several feet of ice, hard-packed snow and powder. It would be impossible for them to go higher with the gear they had, and there was a great risk of an avalanche with so much un-touched snow.

They had reached the highest point where travelers dared to climb on this mountain, and on this small plateau, no more than twenty yards across, they could set up camp in the shadow of the cave, with some protection from falling avalanches.

Once squarely in the center of the small cliff, Heather collapsed to her knees, this time falling more gently and hitting somewhat hard-packed snow instead of rocks. She set her backpack down and turned to sit down, looking up at Chris.

"Come on then." She said after a moment of them both catching their breaths. "Let's get a fire up before we freeze to death." And in seconds, her hands had scooped out a bowl-shaped pit in the snow. And she had pulled the kindling from her backpack, setting a flat piece of wood underneath, she spread the kindling and then stacked some twigs into a peak over that. She had the flint and steel out before long and struck with rapid fury, determined to have her fire.

"Burn!" She hissed. "Catch fire, dangit!" She slapped the rock horizontally on the steel so hard a large chunk chipped off of the flint, but with it flew dozens of golden sparks, each catching on the tinder and in seconds, a handful of flames had leapt to life. "Yes..." whispering, Heather's eyes gleamed with intense desire... Then in seconds, the kindling all caught and she was putting larger sticks over the fire.

Looking up at Chris, her facial expressions returned to a neutral curiosity. "Something wrong?"

[Christoph]

It had been an intense hike up the mountain, but they had made it to the very top as the circular moon gazed down at them through a barricade of dark clouds from high in the night sky like an all-seeing eye. Chris reflexively squinted when he looked up at it. A full moon... that was never a good thing. As cliche as it was, that was the way the world worked; if anything bad is going to happen, it waits for full moons for some stupid reason. That, or thunderstorms. Or maybe he was just paranoid, as usual. Yes, paranoia seemed to be the most logical theory.

Chris retrieved a pair of neatly folded wool blankets while Heather made the fire again. He was reminded that she seemed to like fire quite a bit... not that he didn't as well. And then she asked him if something was wrong. Chris considered the question.

"I'm not sure," he replied, handing her one of the blankets. "I'm just hoping that this spirit shows up. The fey wolf didn't tell us where, exactly to find it."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather looked up at the moon. She grinned despite the cold. A full moon. Good things always happened during a full moon. She pulled out a birch log from her bag, the only log she'd brought, and set it across the fire's side.

Huddling in her blanket, she started to hum a nondescript bunch of notes. Paper had finally ventured out of her pack, and was pawing through the thick, dense snow, sniffing for something, when he lifted his head and meowed gently at Heather. She remembered hunger as he did, and turned to Chris.

"Care to cook us up some food?" She wore a pleading face.

[Christoph]

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," agreed Chris. He dug his cooking utensils out of his pack while humming a harmony with Heather's notes. "Looks like beans and dried meat tonight." He broke off several pieces of ice, placed them in a small, deep pot made of black iron, and suspended the pot, now filled with ice, over the fire.

"I figured that there wasn't any sense in wasting the water we brought with us," he explained, waiting for ice to completely melt before dropping a handful of small, dark blue beans into the pot with them and putting a lid over the top. After several minutes, steam began to escape and hover around them. He looked over at the cat. "Oh, don't worry, Paper. I didn't forget you. There's still a couple pieces of fish left from last night." It was then that he heard a faint scratching and ruffling sound coming from the forest in front of them.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Paper meowed at the rustling noise, and it stopped... Heather glanced over, and thought she could hear wimpering...

"Hello?" She called out softly, craning her neck to see if she could see anything. A quiet fox whimper came back, and immediately perked up. "Little fox?" She tried speaking elven now, as she'd heard some animals responded better to it.

"We won't hurt you. Why don't you come and visit with us?" Not sure what else to say, she waited silently in the crackling firelight.

[Christoph]

The small grey creature crept out of the frozen brush timidly, it's eyes darting around. It was, indeed, a fox. As the small animal came cautiously closer, Chris noticed that it's fur was scraggly and it was very thin, it's bones even more visible than the wolf they'd slain. Even so, a thought crossed Christopher's mind, and he turned to Heather.

"Is there an aura?" he whispered. Heather looked at the fox for a moment and shook her head. Chris shrugged and returned his gaze to the fox. "Well, don't be shy. We're not going to hurt you. ...well, Paper might..." He chuckled softly.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

The cat turned his head at Chris and meowed loudly, hissing, causing the fox to give them pause. But the cat trudged over to the fox, faster than it could back up, and he nuzzled against the fox's face, a friendly gesture, and uncommon from Paper, but the fox nuzzled back, and if an animal could smile, the fox seemed to for the moment. Heather pulled out some of the cooked and dried fish meat from the other night.

"Here you go..." she held it in her open palm low to the ground. Paper looked at it, and didn't seem to get in a tiffy about it, which made Heather smile. She had hoped her cat would be feeling generous. The fox trotted over and sniffed the meat, its tail wagging slightly as it licked the meat and then bit a piece of it off, chewing hungrily and swallowing before going for a bigger bite of the fish.

They watched the fox chew with barely any teeth left, and Heather was glad the fish meat was soft and easily broken apart.

"Don't suppose you get much food in these parts..." she said, slightly saddened by the fox's scrawny state...

The fox licked her hand, getting every scrap of fish up and looked up at her with glossy silver eyes. Leaping into her lap, it nuzzled close, feeling her warmth. But the fox bolted off into the distance faster than she could believe possible when a loud nearby wolf howl echoed up into the night.

[Christoph]

"Uh oh..." said Chris, his eyes darting out into the woods. The first howl lingered in the hair and was joined by two more, creating an ominous chord above the icy forest. Following this war cry, three imposing forms slipped into visibility, lurking between the trees. "We seem to have company..." Christopher was already on his feet, his spear in his hands and his sword propped up against the edge of the cave opening.

"Heather... how bad are you injuries?" asked Chris. "I don't want you to get hurt if you aren't in the condition to fight."

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

"I'm well enough." She growled, fishing through her backpack.

"Here." She waited to catch his attention before tossing a vial of black liquid, veined with a yellow substance, towards his hands. "Drink the whole thing. Quickly. You'll be more suited to fight three wolves..." She picked up her staff.

"I'll do what I can to help you. Aim for the leader... we kill him, the other two will flee." Her voice quivered with fear, but she did her best to hide it. Was this a trial? She wondered, lifting her staff into a combat position, she prayed to her gods silently. Then the first wolf charged in.

[Christoph]

"Right." Chris drank the potion without question and choked it down. It was quite dreadful -- not that he expected anything else. It was slimy and acrid, with bits some salty tasting substances swirling through. He coughed harshly once the last drop was swallowed.

After about five seconds, he felt his heart rate increase and his muscles tighten. Searing pain coursed up and down his spine and his jaw locked. Then, the tension released all at once, causing Chris to burst out with a harsh, guttural cry. He straightened his posture and locked eyes in challenge with the first wolf; the beta. The hunter of the forest darted at Chris, but he braced himself and positioned his spear perfectly, and rammed the point into the wolf's shoulder.

"Quickly, hit its head!" Chris ordered, his voice uncharacteristically demanding.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather charged in right after Chris, swinging her staff down into the shoulder wound of the wolf, where Chris' spear had plunged not a moment before. She kicked the canine across its jaw, eliciting a yelp and a snarl. Pulling her leg back, she felt a bite on her ankle. Too slow! She told herself. Learn to kick faster She staggered back readying her staff again, the other two wolves slowly prowling around them snarled at her when she made eye contact.

"Chris! They're circling around behind us!" She shouted over her shoulder, as the largest one bounded over the fire, leaping through the air at her.

[Christoph]

Chris brought the pole section of his spear down heavily upon the smaller wolf's head, knocking to the ground. When it didn't get back up, or even move, he spun around and put himself in between the wolf and Heather. He powered forward with his legs, ramming the spear into the alpha wolf's chest and driving it backwards for a moment. The wolf squirmed and struggled, regaining the lost ground. Chris strained against it until he heard a terrible snapping sound and realized that his spear had broken and that the large, black furred alpha wolf was now lunging for him.

Chris dove to the side, narrowly evading the snarling jaws of the wolf and rolling to the mouth of the cave. He scrambled to his feet as the beast sped for him, snatching up his sword from the edge of the cave's mouth. The words of the fey wolf repeated themselves in his mind.

"You certainly have spirit, but you need to learn that creatures of the wild cannot be fought as you would fight another man." Chris crouched and retracted his sword as the wolf closed the gap. It lunged at him, its drooling jaws snapping viciously. It collided with Chris and they both fell to the ground, but the top of Christopher's sword was visible poking from the wolf's back.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather watched as Chris leapt in front of her. He moved fast enough she couldn't react in time to get close to the beast until the large alpha wolf was on top of him, and she swung her staff sideways, bashing its ribs right after Chris' sword went through.

The last few seconds of snarling, jumping and yelping, the wolf's last living actions, caught up in her head, several seconds after the wolf slumped over, with Chris sword lodged through its body. It had coughed out some blood, and seemed to realize its own death a few seconds after it had been caused.

Moving the body of the one wolf off Chris, she offered a hand to help him up.

As the last wolf scampered off with his tail between his legs, a new presence made itself known. A silver fox with a bright, multifaceted aura stepped from the bushes, the aura fading as it stepped into the firelight. The creature looked like the un-fed fox they'd seen before, but healthier, and it sat, wagging its tail side to side slowly, as it waited by the fire for Heather and Chris.

[Christoph]

With a grunt, Chris picked himself up out of the red and white snow and pulled his sword from the body of the alpha wolf. He looked down at himself and realized that he was covered in blood. It wasn’t terribly disgusting, though; he’d gotten worse on the occasions that he helped the butcher back in his home town.

It didn’t matter anyway. Being left messy and dirty after a victory doesn’t change the fact that one was still victorious. He smiled at the realization. They had defeated the wolves and came out of it alive. It was only after wiping the blood from his hands did Chris realize that the fox had returned. Heather was looking at it with an odd and strangely astonished look. Could it be that this fox was the fey after all? He glanced at his friend, who quickly nodded in response to his unasked question.

“Welcome back,” said Chris, his eyes returning to the fox. He wasn’t quite sure what else to say. The fey responded his the chef’s greeting by... giggling.

“You are both very kind,” said the fox. It’s voice was female and young, almost child-like.

[Tigurio_hatesHer]

Heather felt numb from the shock of being attacked again, but also glad she'd spared that battle potion for this... The fox by the fire told them they were very kind.

She looked around. The golden glow of the fire illuminated the ice-covered rockface of the cave, making the shadows seem to move within like ghosts. The snowcaked ground around the fire thinned nearer the heat, and some steam also rose from the base of the wood fire, as melted ice and snow trickled down towards the embers.

Looking back at the fox, heather noticed the creature as if for the first time, again, and smiled, remembering what the fox had said.

"Who would have thought a profiteering venture would turn into a spiritual experience?" She laughed quietly to herself, then addressed the fox. "A dire wolf, three wolves in a pack, and the thing that mattered was a scrap of fish." She smiled, shaking her head. "And you disguised yourself, I'd guess, to test us... We both almost got ourselves killed to prove our hospitability..." She laughed, exhausted. "Well I'm glad we don't disappoint."

[Christoph]

"Oh no, dear," said the giddy voice of the fox spirit. "Those wolves weren't a test from me. They came on their own; life can be funny that way." Chris was now sitting by the fire, across from the fey fox. The spirit glanced over at the fallen wolves.

"But, I think you deserve a little something for the trouble they caused..." The fox with the child-like voice trotted over to the pair of recently slain wolves and shook her head. "These two will surely fetch a good price on their own. But that one..." She glanced over at the slimmer, scraggly wolf that Heather and Chris had slain before. The fey raised her nose and a small dot of light appeared above it and flew into the third wolf. An amazing display of light followed. The dead wolf glowed brighter than any fire, casting light through the forest. Its intensity caused Chris to cover his eyes. When the light finally faded, the malnourished wolf was no more and in its place was the body of a massive, formidable wolf with silver fur.

"What... how..." Chris was dumbfounded. The fey fox, their camp guests, was already scampering off, circling around a white birch tree.

"Oh yes, feel free to peel some of the bark off this tree, I won't mind," said the fox randomly. With that, the illusive spirit giggling again and vanished into the forest before either Chris or Heather could question it further. The bloody chef gave Heather a confused look. When she didn't object, he stood and began peeling the bark carefully off of the birch's trunk It came off in two long, wide strips. The strange part, however, was the fact that the inside of the bark was covered in black writing.

"There's... writing on the bark," Chris pointed out to Heather. Her eyes lit up.

"They're arcane scrolls of some kind!" she exclaimed, rushing over to look at them. Her face fell for a moment, but perked back up. "I can't read the language... but between us, I'm sure we could translate them. After we bring these wolves back to the town and convince the people that we killed the 'Silver wolf.'" Chris smiled, even though he was gradually becoming aware of the injuries that Heather's combat potion had masked.

"Yes. Yes we can." The morning sun was slowly rising, shining over the snow-covered trees like a torch illuminating a great treasure chest.

[Atzar]

STORY

Continuity: 2 – Where did they come from? Or why were they on this journey, for that matter? I got very little background from either character. Also, there was no conclusion at all – it just ended extremely abruptly. Continuity is the when of the story, and I got a hazy picture at best of when this story took place in either character’s story.

Setting: 4 – This was very good at some parts, and very lacking at others. First, there was a lot of environment interaction here. That’s always good to see. Other than that, it would really help you guys to pay a little more attention to the details of your surroundings. The dire wolf just seemed to disappear until the very end of the story when you needed it as a prize. I would have liked you to mention at least once that this took place in Salvar. The fact that you left that out really stuck out to me. Also, it really seemed coincidental that this took place on a mountain. You mentioned that it was steep only once, and I never saw any weariness or difficulty from two straight days of nonstop climbing.

Pacing: 3 – First of all, try not to repeat parts of the previous post, like lines of dialogue. It really messes with the flow of the story. Also, there were times when the pace jumped around. The time of day, in particular, seemed to jump back and forth as it pleased, and the blizzard seemed to instantaneously dump six inches of snow on you and then just disappear. Remember, in the future, that time of day won’t jump from night to morning with just dinner and a battle with wolves. Battles like that usually take five minutes at most, so chances are it would have still been night when all was said and done. Also, bunnying isn’t a bad thing at all – frequently, it can really contribute to the rhythm of a story by making posts longer and more fluid. The fact that you guys went to such extremes to avoid bunnying is good – unapproved use of the other person’s character is against the rules – but the line all bunnying approved in this quest easily solves that problem for you.

CHARACTER

Dialogue: 5 – Pretty good. This, for the most part, was down-to-earth and realistic. I would suggest trying to put more personality in the words. The conversation, while pretty realistic, was a little generic and devoid of feeling. As you use your characters more and develop their personalities, this will solve itself. So just practice! ;)

Action: 4 – Seemed unrealistic at times. Again, I saw no difficulty or wear from climbing a mountain for two whole days. Also, adult wolves can weigh in excess of two-hundred pounds. Between you two, lifting such a bulk would be extremely difficult going up a mountain, especially since Heather was weary from injury. Other that that, this was pretty good.

Persona: 3 Eh, I really think you guys could have done better here. I got very little feel for either of your characters. Both of them lacked real emotion or thoughts. At times, you tried to tell me that one of them felt something, but the issue here is about context. Show me how they feel; don’t tell me. If somebody is angry, they don’t act like they normally do. They have malicious thoughts directed at the source of their anger, their dialogue is snappier than normal, they might ‘stalk’ up the mountain instead of merely climbing… it’s all in the words you use. This is really something that you have to practice to get right. So again… just practice!

WRITING STYLE

Mechanics: 4 – I saw a lot of run-on sentences, fragments, and missing words. Also, don’t use the ‘…’ quite so much. Once in awhile is okay, but definitely not multiple times in each post. Proofread each other’s posts in the future; that alone would make this score jump multiple points.

Technique: 4 – The only notable technique that I saw was the imagery/simile in the very last line. This score will climb as you guys progress and get more practice as writers. Things like similes, imagery, flashbacks/foreshadowing can really spice a thread up and make it that much more interesting to the reader.

Clarity: 5 – This was fairly clear. I generally knew what was happening. There were a few things that just popped out of nowhere, however, and took me by surprise. Heather’s potions, for example, and the cat. You should try to mention that these things are present in the first few posts, instead of right when you need them.



Wild Card: 5 – The scores weren’t particularly nice to you guys. Don’t look at this as a low score, but rather as a golden opportunity for improvement. Some small changes would really bump the score of a quest like this a lot, and I see a lot of potential in you two as writers. It’s like I said multiple times: PRACTICE! I’m looking forward to reading threads by you guys in the future.

Final Score: 39

Carrying three carcasses was too much for the two of them. Christopher and Heather decide to leave the lesser of their prizes behind, electing only to take their grand prize. Still, it fetched a very good price when they made it back to town…

Christoph gains 600 exp and 200 GP. He also gets one of the birch-bark scrolls. At the moment, they aren’t translated and have no use until they are deciphered.

Tigurio_hatesHer gains 600 exp and 200 GP. She also gets one of the birch-bark scrolls. At the moment, they aren’t translated and have no use until they are deciphered.

If you guys would rather keep the carcass instead of getting the gold for it, please tell me and I’ll have this changed. Thanks!

[Cyrus the virus]

EXP added!