Shudders

Chapter 48 - The Decision

    When she left, (Y/N) expected Miri to leave as well. Instead, he motioned for her to follow him. "Come on."

"To where?" Her tone was a bit aggressive.

"I'm sure you don't want to stay cooped up in here. Come on." He turned to leave, knowing she'll follow him. (Y/N) sighed and scooted off the table, grabbing her bag and following the scavenger out. When they reached outside, she tossed her hood over her head and zipped up her parka. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

     She narrowed her eyes at him but followed anyways.

    The two walked silently but (Y/N) didn't mind, she was too curious about her surroundings and the people around her. Despite the world being how it is, this small community managed to make the island so lively but hidden. As they walked, she started to see tiny white specks floating down from the sky. Her eyes bounced from one to another, confused. Was it raining again? But it didn't look like rain.

    One fell in front of her and she moved back quickly while her eyes followed it in the air. Miri saw her move and stopped to watch her stare curiously at the falling white speck. "What's wrong?"

    A speck landed on her sleeve and she got the chance to look at it up close before it melted into the fabric. It had a very intricate design even with its small size. If it's coming from the sky and it melted once it landed, was it snow? She looked up at the sky and saw the cloudy weather, no blue sky shown or any sun. "Is it snowing?"

"Yea? It's supposed to around this time." Did she not know what snow was? Well, she is from underground and this is probably her first time seeing it. He can understand her curious reaction towards it.

    The snow started to pick up more and more as the minutes passed until they fell in larger clumps than before. (Y/N) smiled when a group of kids was running around trying to catch the flakes with their tongues. When Miri wasn't looking, she tried doing the same and got frustrated when she couldn't catch any. She didn't notice him stop at a gate and turn to her, catching her with her tongue in the air like a child. "What are you doing?"

    She yanked her tongue back in her mouth and blushed, trying to act natural. "Nothing, why?"

    She blushed even more when he chuckled instead of finding her actions weird. "We're almost there."

    She looked at the gate sign before going to catch up with him. It read, 'The Den. Keep children away' and it leads off into a small forest. There was an old broken road that they were following that was being eaten away by nature. The deeper they got, (Y/N) started to hear barking and growling that reminded her of the night before. The feeling of having teeth in her arm and being dragged across gravel. "Are you... taking me to the wolves?" She sounded nervous when she asked, lightly grabbing her injury.

    Miri nodded, he didn't seem concerned unlike her. "Yea. Someone would like to apologize to you."

"Uh- who?"

    They approached another gate and he pushed it open, revealing an area of the forest that kept a group of wolves. (Y/N)'s eyes widened at the many wolves that occupied the area. Some were resting, some were play fighting, and others were busy with trainers off towards the side. Miri brought his fingers to his mouth and did a whistle she remembers hearing and a second later, a dark wolf pop her head out and started walking towards the scavenger. It was the wolf that injured her arm. (Y/N) started backing away but Miri held her hand, keeping her from escaping. "Hazel won't attack you, don't worry."

"But she did the first time!"

"But she won't now." He bent down to pet the wolf's head when she reached the two. Miri pulled (Y/N)'s hand closer to the wolf and Hazel started sniffing her. He let go and stepped back while the girl was panicking on the inside. "Just let her get your scent. That's how she'll recognize you."