A/N - hey guys...this one is a shortie too but I needed to introduce these two new characters...
Talon had dumped the mutilated body at the being of the path which seemed to be the most well used thoroughfare leading into her land.
She left it as a warning.
It was a fate that would meet all future intruders.
With a full belly, sourced from outside her woods she began to walk homewards. She mentally sighed, confused at her previous actions. Not at disposing of the man...but of her reaction to the girl.
She had no idea why she had left her alive, she lived on the very outskirts of her forest, she was a viable threat....yet...for some reason Talon had hesitated in killing her against a rather hefty internal allotment voting for that choice.
She pondered the question as she padded silently through the woods.
Why didn't she kill her?
Talon decided that there were a few factors that may have contributed to the girl's current alive and well condition. One; the fact that Talon had felt her enter the woods a few days before only to quickly retreat, meaning she meant no harm.
Two; Her immediate submissive postural response to Talon.
Three; that she was not physically whole, and the one that confused Talon the most, four; that she reminded her of someone.
Of who? Talon didn't know. She was unsure of whether she could contribute that to the girl's looks or her mannerisms or the feeling that the girl had chosen to live in isolation due to an event that made her quite shy...or maybe vulnerable.
Talon didn't really go much for vulnerability but for someone reason...she felt something for this girl's plight. However, the fact remained that Talon would not sacrifice a leaf in her forest based on whims, if the girl ran she would hunt her down remorselessly...if she remained steadfast, keeping to herself...Talon would allow her to live.
Talon decided to watch this area and the girl closely. This path and the way she came in to her forest from the sea, were the only two ways in to her woods that were of relative ease to humans. She needed to set up the area to better combat intruders.
**
Alliyah bit her lip as she gazed down at her hastily packed belongings; the fear dowsing her body with hot rivulets of sticky sweat was causing her hand to tremble so much that she couldn't fasten the latch on her suitcase.
As soon as the wolf left with its catch firmly caught between those huge glittering teeth, Alliyah had sprinted in side pulling down her old suitcases from many years ago. Throwing her most treasured belonging into them with no thought to neatness she knew she needed to take a step back, let this irrational fear disperse from her blood stream.
She flopped on the lounge and focussed on her diaphragm as she breathed in and out. The last thing she needed was to go that place in her mind that was once her safe haven, because there was a real chance that she may never leave there...or wake to find herself weak from malnourishment. But beyond those reasons she remembered the promise she made to herself...to him...that she would never leave her conscious mind again.
For him...she would do anything.
She clenched her good fist; she would be strong for him. She waited until she had calmed down enough to wipe away the tears flowing from her eye away. What if she did run?
Instinct told her bluntly that she would be hunted down.
But what if she stayed, would there be a chance to live as she had?
