Horses, Shinies, and Silly Things

[FennWenn]

Nodding agreeably, Fenn stuffed the last of the squishy bread into his mouth. The light from the fire was lively and comforting, even if the warmth wasn’t doing much for him. Jake was likeable, Fenn decided as he chomped on his delicious offerings, his ears pricked. Jake provided free food and stories. He passed a tidbit of salted meat to Daugi, who snapped up the treat happily. It was hard to imagine a life without the dumb mutt these days; whatever emptiness that was like, he imagined that it was probably what Jake was feeling without Gunner.

The rest of the evening passed in muted conversation after they concluded their meal. Using a smooth chunk of tree bark as a doodlepad for his frosty questions, Fenn inquired a bit about Jake’s past exploits as a thief. It was nice to have someone to trade stories with. Direwolves, for all their companionship, did about as much talking as Fenn himself. He learned that Jake was not currently very thief-y, but had made an exception for the mean merchant they were targeting tomorrow; he defeated demons more often than purloining pouches these days. A tale was spun, describing the first demon Jake had hunted. And that was how he got his magic portal powers!

And also he learned that Jake was indeed both elf and man. Hooray for discovery!

In turn, Fenn told Jake of the time he tried — and mostly failed — to steal from the hoard of an Ice Wyrm. Most of it was told in crude drawings, because it was a pretty long story, but Jake seemed to get the gist of it regardless. Either that, or he was just amused by the attempt. Eventually, the fire dimmed and the sky grew dark and heavy with stars. A yawn stretched unbidden over Fenn’s face, and his eyelids were heavy.

Jake smiled and ruffled his hair in a friendly if uncertain fashion. “You look tired, buddy. How about we hit the hay for now? We’ll need to be well-rested for tomorrow.”

The boy agreed wholeheartedly.

Jake ended up sleeping partially inside the tent and partially out the flaps. Fenn declined invitation to join him, instead curling comfortably up in the nook of a tree, Daugi sitting at the base of the trunk below.

~ § ~ § ~ § ~

The silky night passed over them, and morning came. The boy cheerfully ignored the sunlight as it shone into his shut eyes, his capricious sleeping habits demanding a late wake-up today. No such luck. “Hey Fenn! Today’s the day,” Jake called up to him. Groaning, Fenn slid into a comfortably batlike position, hanging off the branch by his feet to narrow his eyes at the wake-up call. Daugi was already bright-eyed and bushy tailed, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she waited for her “pup” to descend from his bed. “Are you ready for the heist?”

At the word heist, Fenn jolted to alertness and enthusiastically rubbed the sleep from his eyes, suddenly much more awake than the moment before. He was always ready for adventure!