James starts off through the unfamiliar place in a random direction and I limp closely behind.
Everything is so new to me.
Obviously I had seen photos and been taught about this place, but being here was a whole new level.
There is green everywhere, and there are random splashes of colors. There were even remnants of super old structures.
I am in complete and utter awe.
After a while of quiet traveling and me cursing when I stumble, I finally ask James the question that had been on my mind.
"Where are we even going?"
He turns around and smiles at me.
"A friend's house."
"Out here?"
"Mhm."
"They live out here?"
"Yes. They are not super far away from here walking, and since it's around 08:00, we'll get there around the time he gets back from scouting."
"Oh... alright," I say quietly.
James laughs and holds a branch aside for me.
"He doesn't bite. Can't say the same for his companions," James says.
I narrow my eyes and continue after him.
Eventually he picks me up again when my leg decides to give out.
By that time we're only a few minutes off, and we hear what sounds like snarling from behind.
James sets me down and grips his blaster.
I pull the jagged shard with the engraving on it from my neck. We press our backs together and look out into the dappled foliage. Another snarl, two o'clock.
More than one.
Sounds big.
"What are they?"
"I think they're what he calls Dire Wolves."
"As in the huge mythical beasts that went wild after they were resurrected from extinction, brought back as genetically altered hybrids and killed their trainers 2415?"
"That'd be them," James said with an edge to his voice.
He grips his weapon tighter as more footfalls arrive, circling us.
"HOLD," a deep, loud voice echoes. I narrow my eyes trying to pin point it's origin. Behind me, where James was, I hear a stick crunch.
"James?"
"Oh! Hey, wasn't planning on seeing you here,"
James sats in a falsely surprised voice.
"Of course not," the deep voice responds.
The steps grow closer.
"Who's that?"
I turn, holding my jagged little scrap and glaring at the man in front of me.
I look up at his face as he steps out of the shadow of a huge oak. His familiarity hits me smack in the face.
"Ryker?"
"No way," he says and gets closer. One amber eye, one brown. Spunky roan hair and at least 6 foot. Decked out in a pair of black combat boots, cargo pants, a white tee, and a huge brown jacket.
"Alexi!"
He jogs over and picks me up, spinning me around. I laugh despite the ache in my leg, but wince when he sets me down.
"I haven't seen you since the plague broke out! Im... Woah! That was like... When I was 15!"
I smile up at my old neighbor and companion, hiding the pain from my leg. I had assumed he died the same day my parents did.
James jogs over, glances up at the two of us curiously, gets down, and checks the bandages.
Ryker's eyes widen when he sees my leg and he turns and whistles some weird pattern into the trees. A few of them shiver, and two massive wolves appear.
One is gray, brown, and white with protruding teeth, and the second one is slightly smaller, but all black with bright yellow eyes. That one's tail is a bit shorter that the larger one's.
I press back against James, and he helps me stand up. My eyes widen as I realize that there is a saddle on the larger wolf.
Ryker smiles at me and James as he points to the multi-colored wolf.
"This is my boy Remi," he pauses and then turns to the black wolf," this is my girl Shiva."
"And you guys look a little rough. Let me take you back to my lodge, and I'll see what I can do to solve your problems, my friends."
He gestured for me to mount Remi, and James scoops me up.
Crap.
~~~~~~~~~~
How about them apples? Dire wolves? CRAAAzzzzzzYYYYYYYYY! Anyway, I won't make it much more insane than those, and that's about it. Give me some feedback and ask questions! Thanks for reading!!!!♥️♥️