Fighting back the rising urge to panic, I told myself to calm down. After all, everyone has a scent, and I could just follow my own to camp.
I was only a couple steps into this plan when I realized it wasn't the best.
My trail zig-zagged everywhere as the result of wandering around to pick various herbs. It could take me the other half of the night to get back, and I didn't even know how long I'd already been out.
Deciding to give it a shot, I became a wolf and trailed after the scents as quickly as I could. Eventually, it had to lead me somewhere.
Eventually.
Since I didn't know the land well, none of the landmarks stood out to me. I raced past blackened stumps, a waterfall, and a small stream where I'd taken a short break. Good thing there weren't any clouds blocking the moon, or I'd really be in the dark.
I heard rustling in the bushes and my ears pricked up. Getting to my paws, I growled to the trees, "Who's there? Come out!"
The thing hopped out of the underbrush and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was only a rabbit. If the others were here they'd laugh at how jumpy I was tonight.
Then it got real.
Behind me, two tough-looking Lupine emerged, masks over the lower half of their faces.
The first one, a fox, chuckled. "Looks like we got a feisty one today, huh, Sirius?"
The one named Sirius gave a barking laugh and shifted into a coyote, a wicked grin deforming the scar over his muzzle.
I tensed, sensing there was about to be a fight. Silently scolding myself for going so deep in the woods, I bared my teeth, a low growl in my throat, trying to sound intimidating.
It didn't work, no surprise. If anything, it made them even more excited.
"This little cub needs to learn to respect her elders, ey? We'll give you a lesson you'll never forget," The red fox said, and launched himself at me with a snarl.
I let out a laugh to cover up my fear, "Hah! You? Elder? You'd be lucky if you even live that long!"
Though he was strong, he was clumsy, and I sidestepped, sinking my fangs into his arm. While he was yelling in pain, I shifted into my human form and clubbed him on the head with the hilt of my knife.
Too easy.
He crumpled on the ground like a felled tree, moaning loudly.
One down, one to go.
I was turning around to face the coyote, Sirius when I felt a blow to the back of my legs. Pain shot up my spine, and my knees buckled.
The coyote didn't let me fall, though, he grabbed me by my throat and slammed me against a tree trunk.
I clawed at his fingers, struggling to breathe. Remembering my other knife, I inched my hand down to the sheath.
Grasping the hilt, I swiped up towards his face, but he saw it coming. He slapped me so hard my ears rang, and I dropped my last weapon.
Ouch, that hurt.
I couldn't even shift into a wolf now. The edges of my vision turned black, and I stopped moving to focus on breathing in and out.
Maybe this is it, I thought hazily, my mind fuzzy from lack of oxygen. I hope they'll at least send my body back to my brothers, my delusional head thought.
Yeah, right...
There was a streak of white across my line of sight and the pressure on my throat disappeared. I slid down, gasping on the cool grass.
I took in the blurry scene before me and heard the telltale sound of blades clashing. Sirius was trying to desperately defend himself, but he was no match for the arctic fox.
Shocked by the look of cold fury on Dakota's face, I stood unsteadily, clutching the trunk. I had to stop this. I wouldn't let Dakota kill the bandit, no matter what Sirius had done.
Dakota's dagger whistled through the air, and he disarmed the other fox with one smooth flick of his blade. Sirius stumbled back, falling to his knees, pleading as Dakota advanced.
"Please! I'll do anything! Don't kill me!" The bandit whimpered.
I placed a hand on Dakota's arm, stopping him as he raised his dagger to finish the red fox. He turned to me, concern and anger struggling across his face for dominance.
"Step back Melody."
He used my real name, not my nickname. That's how I knew he was serious about going through with it.
No. Don't.
I shook my head, making the world spin, but I held my ground. "No. The Dakota I know isn't like this. You don't want his blood on your hands."
Dakota looked down at the cowering form of Sirius. "They hurt you. They've been preying on people since they were exiled. Scum like him doesn't deserve to live." He spat.
When Dakota faced me, I caught Sirius' eye and mouthed "run" to him. He didn't need to be told twice and dashed off.
I blocked Dakota from going after him, arms spread, locking his gaze in mine. Barely refraining from saying please, I said once more. "Dakota, you have to stop this. Calm down, and let's go back to the camp."
Rage burned in his eyes, but I could see he was coming back to his senses.
Thank goodness.
Relaxing slightly, my head started throbbing even worse than before. Visibly swaying on my feet, I lifted a hand to my throat, wincing as I surveyed how bad the bruises were.
Dakota looked anxious as I sat, resting against a boulder and closing my eyes. It hurt to breathe, but at least I was alive.
"I hate to get you moving so soon, but we have to get to camp," Dakota said, helping me up and letting me lean on him for support.
We made it back before sunrise, and Dakota waved away everyone's questions as he made me go to bed. Since joining the Lupine, I'd gotten less sleep than ever, and it was taking its toll on me. My only hope was that it wouldn't be as bad when we got to the tribe's main camp.
Either that or suck it up and move on.
It seemed as if I'd only closed my eyes for a moment before Brooke was poking me awake.
Groggily helping to pack, I chose not to talk, as to not make my injuries worse. With a bit of spare time, I fashioned a bandage out of a thin strip of cloth and some medicinal herbs I'd picked up last night. I tied it around my neck. It would help heal my bruises later.
The faster the better, I thought, because all these stares were making my skin crawl. At least as a wolf, they couldn't see it anymore.
My first step into the plains and the grass was already as tall as shoulder height. And when you're a wolf or fox or coyote, it's easy to get lost. So everyone stuck even closer together than before.
Jerry saw the worry in my eyes and reassured me, "It's only one night on the plains. By tomorrow night, we'll be at the camp."
Tiny bubbles of excitement welled up inside me. Almost there. We were almost there.
Since we mostly traveled in silence, I had plenty of time to think about last night. Dakota was back to his usual calm-ish self, but I couldn't forget the wild look in his eyes. After coming to know him, I enjoyed hanging out with Dakota, but I didn't know what had come over him.
Come to think of it, I really didn't have any clue about his life in general. I knew his family was Avian but other than that, not much.
I recalled what Brooke had said to me. What was it? He'd been hurt 'not only on the outside.' Which part of him had been damaged on the inside? And who had done it?
These questions of mine had no answers. I made up my mind. I'm going to get those answers. If I can help Dakota, I'm all for it.
That night, everyone was tense and there were more on night watch than usual. I guess everyone was paranoid about attacks in the plains. At the very least the guards made us all feel safer.
After pitching the tents and setting up the fire, our group was also a little more on edge. Even Jerry kept glancing over his shoulder. Ray had volunteered for night watch, and the hunters were told to stay put, so Dakota was present.
Since there was to be no hunting that night, we were living off leftovers. Which, as you can guess, set Brooke off. She knew better than to ask Dakota to hunt since he'd get to it then get lost immediately, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
"I don't see how I could make a passable meal from this," she gestured to the remaining rations from the previous days, "If the head cook saw it, I'd be fired!"
Jerry chuckled. "Well then at least he's not here. Now can you hurry up so we can eat?"
Brooke muttered something under her breath but got to cooking. Knowing her, she was probably starving too.
Finishing our quick dinner, I looked up at the sky, recalling that night where Dakota and I had stargazed. He'd seemed so... I don't know. He had kept it together, not like yesterday.
I closed my eyes, the bright pattern of stars still visible in my mind.
(Side Note: I'll be publishing more since the break is over. Sorry for the time gap in posting. Later on, after I'm done catching up with typing chapters, it'll be roughly one chapter a week. Stay tuned!)