Night in Lunetta

[rebirth]

What was there of the moon hung lazily the autumn sky, the clouds floated along like drift wood across a dark ocean with a gentle breeze. The trees swayed in the night, raining their assorted golden leaves upon a chilled forest floor. It was as though the earth were yawning just before a long rest and Ran'Cris was its soul witness.

Flexing his paws in the loose chilled earth beneath him, he felt truly in tune with the Zyabeth forest around him. He was a long way from home; he found himself in the western Zyabeth forest not too far from the first foot hills into the rugged Stroikara Mountains. Tonight he was on the hunt for a rumored artifact that was said to allow any who possessed it access to the elements. Such a powerful artifact could not be left to be discovered by one with foul intent.

The item would prove useful and may prove to be of some value to the Wizards of Temarra. And anything that proved valuable to the wizards proved to be coin in the pocket to the seller. The wizards were constantly on a quest for knowledge and power. It was also a well known fact that the wizards would pay large sums for anything would give them an edge over their competition.

To Ran'Cris the whole lot of them seemed to be children squabbling for a higher place among their peers. There was none of that among werewolf society in the wild, the strongest ruled, period. The weaker knew their places and if the alpha was weak he was unseated. All of the wizards were just looking for that one quick way to elevate themselves above the rest. Ran supposed though, in a magickal community there had to be some sort of power structure, though he was not versed well on it. He seldom ran into witches and wizards. It was a shame their society wouldn't learn something from werewolves. He had never personally faced off with the alpha of his pack. Then again, he had no desire to. He loved his brother dearly and he didn't want the responsibility. Besides, the alpha was stuck with the pack. Where as with his position he got a great deal of freedom.

Lightening crashed to the west over the mountains and large billowing storm clouds were stretching out their fingers threatening to blot out the starry sky. He knew could be safely within the walls of Lunetta in a couple of hours if the weather turned for the worse. But he would rather die than be in the presence of those weak cowards.

Though it had been sometime since he had been there. And the she-wolves that could be found their were certainly of a different breed, they were simply exquisite. And on occasion, the pampered she-wolf, warranted reason enough to venture in among the city walls.

Perhaps the females he would find there would be exactly what he needed tonight. After all he had been searching for quite sometime and he could use a rest in an inns bed. It was a decent change once in a while from the cold earth. besides, once could never tell, he might find his mate there. Though he doubted the tame she wolves he would find there would last more than a week in his native Forsaken Lands. That was the trouble when it came to choosing a mate, if you picked one from a clan in the Forsaken Lands, she would be strong, and soon you would be staying to watch the pups while she went to hunt. Ran didn't like the sounds of that.

For a good while he lay there debating whether to stay or go. As the icy rain began to fall he made up his mind; his place of rest tonight would be the city.

Running, he departed through the trees, his large silver form crashed through the underbrush at tremendous speeds. He hadn't a care in the world and he ran as such. His breath came easily and his legs powered him on. Over creeks, hills, he lepta over fallen trees and plowed through bushes. It felt as though nothing could stop him tonight. He was a wolf on a mission.

Miles passed under his large paws and muscular legs, and as he ran time passed around him. Dripping, Ran'Cris stopped atop a large hill over looking the plains. The rain had stopped and the night was clear once more. But his coat was still sopping wet, it wouldn't dry quickly in the cool night air. Below him the plains carried on and there, nestled within a slight valley was the city of Lunetta. Standing tall and shining in the night like a beacon. Some day he swore to himself, he would tear it to the ground.

He continued on at a trot as he made his approach, the Night gardens would greet him at the gates. On his way into the gardens he let out a quiet whine as he watched a woman guide a foreign friend through the garden. He made his way past the night lilies and the orchids and decided to lay down to rest near the lilies until he dried off. Looking around he saw a couple people in the Gardens: the woman showing her foreign friend around, an old male werewolf enjoying the night and what appeared to be a very small werewolf female with black hair standing near a fountain gazing at it thoughtfully.

With a yawn he plopped down on the grass under the midnight roses and laid his head on his paws. Gazing around the Gardens this felt much better than running. At least at the moment, he enjoyed relaxing once in a while. After a while of resting he began to grow anxious, he could never sit still for very long. He began pacing the paths. He could have changed into his human form, but it felt like a lie. The scents of the flowers were relaxing, he had to give the city that much. A howl came from the distance and Ran'Cris listened. It was a male and his mate was with pups. Ran'Cris responded along with many others wishing him congratulations. This must happen frequently here being there were so many werewolves. His pack was small eighty members, a pregnancy always meant two or three more pups and was celebrated. But for the past couple years not a single pregnancy. The pack needed new blood. Some day he would bring back a mate yet he hadn't found one thus far.

Ran'Cris rounded the bend and found himself on the outskirts of the gardens, a small fountain bubbled here. The shapes off two handsome wolves baying at the moon rose from the top of the fountain and from each of the wolves mouths spouted water that cascaded into the pool beneath. He never did understand how they managed to make water do that. But that was the last thing he wanted to think about, he shivered, he was still drenched and the night was cool.

He would have to make his muscles move if he wanted to dry off but they seemed drained. So he shook off again, a little more water flying from his fur. He didn't see many werewolves here out of their human forms. He shook his head, it sickened him. Wolves were what they were, if he could find a like minded soul he would be happy.

[fel]

Felicia stretched in her bed and wrapped her hands around the sheets before rolling over pulling the sheets back over her head. She had been trying for hours now to sleep, but the scar along her back was aching from the rain and it was making it almost impossible for her to fall asleep. She lay still for a few more moments trying to drift off but after a while she gave up. No use fighting something that just wasn't going to happen. The one time she had come closest to sleep she was woken up by a distant howl. She was glad to hear of the pregnancy, but the timing of the announcement couldn't have been worse since it was followed by several other howls. Kicking the sheets off her with a slight growl she sat on the edge of her bed with one hand tangle in her light brown hair.

Letting her hand drop she pulled the large shirt she slept in over her head and let it drop to the ground. Rising from her bed she walked over to the window that looked onto the street. There were nights where she just couldn't sleep. And she knew that was almost no point in trying. She found that running often helped her sleep and she intended to take a brisk jog around the town. There was not telling how long these midnight runs of hers lasted. Sometimes just an hour and sometimes she wasn't back until the following morning. It all depending.

Flipping the latch on the window she pushed the panels of glass out. There wasn't much of a moon in the sky, but she could see just fine. There was hardly anyone in the streets and no one would notice the bare girl climbing out of her window. As soon as her bare feet hit the street she crouched down and her body contorted until she had made the full shift to her wolf form.

She shook her head a bit and started off at a slow trot towards the main gate. By most standard she was a little small for a werewolf. Her wolf body was trim ans sleek and not built for strength. Most of the females built like here went to be healers or found a mate at a young age and settled down. She didn't mind too much, she didn't really want to be any larger than she was. her body was designed and built for speed and she rather liked it that way.

He gait lengthened as she sped up. She was nearing the gardens now close tot he gate. Soon she would be out of the city and she could really let loose. Before she could reach them however and strange scent caught her attention. She had grown up in this town and she there wasn't anyone here she didn't know but this scent wasn't familiar to her.

As she reached the gardens she slowed her pace and noticed where the strange scent was coming from. A large silver wolf with green eyes. He was soaking wet and her blue-green eyes narrowed slightly. He was larger than her, by quiet a bit, but she had never backed down from someone because of any size difference. Her shoulders arched up slightly and she issued a low growl that clearly conveyed her intentions. She wanted to know who he was.

Details could be figured out later.

[rebirth]

Ran'Cris had spotted the young she wolf as she darted around the corner. This wolf was rather petite. Looked nearly scrawny, but as she approached, he noticed the way she moved. Long lean muscles, this one was a runner. She didn't appear to be as soft as the vast majority of wolves he had met in this city, and she was certainly no coward.
As she approached her head lowered and a low growl emanated from her throat. Being a sentinel he had used that very growl many times when running across lone werewolves. She wanted to know why he was here. She was a brave one, he was nearly twice her size.
Now, he wasn't one to be rude to a woman, but he decided to see how far he could push this. It might be fun. Ran stretched and yawned, laying down on the grass. Looking at her he cocked his head as though he heard something interesting but not enough to warrant his attention. He then proceeded to lay his head on his paws and close his eyes. His ears were straining, he would not be caught off guard if she struck, though he doubted she would

[fel]

Her eyes followed his movements as he stretched and made himself comfortable, hardly paying her any notice. Her temper started to flare. There were few things that could really get to her and one of the main things was being ignored. She was used to getting this kind of treatment from the larger wolves in Lunetta, but all of them had grown to respect her for other reasons. The fact that this strange wolf was now ignoring her as if she merited no more attention than a pup angered her.

She took two steps forward and lowered herself closer to the ground. Her dark ears flattened back against her head and she gave a low bark followed by a growl showing just the corners of her teeth. Reiterating her previous request as well as a warning. She wasn't too concerned about starting a fight, if she gave a shout the wolves nearby would be to her aid within minutes. If she didn't get a response this time she was now close enough to easily pounce on him, despite her size, she is a clever fighter and was rather confident that she could fend him off waiting for help to arrive.

[rebirth]

If a wolf could laugh he was, gales of human laughter were reverberating around inside his skull and that same light feeling bounced around his gut. It was infuriating that he couldn't let the laughter out, that was the one thing he hated when in his canine form. He couldn't laugh, and the mirth he was feeling now was most assuredly going to drive him insane. He may as well tell her why he had come, technically he had. He had came here to sleep, but he knew she was bound to have seen it more as a taunting gesture. Which it was, but it was also his answer.

The large silver wolf slowly rose and sat back upon his haunches. Now in the northern lands his size was not common, but it wasn't unheard of and even being so large he wasn't much bigger than the other members of his pack. But sitting here he realized just how big he was, it was almost rediculous, he nearly felt self conscious.

Ran'Cris looked at the younger she-wolf, she had pretty eyes, big like his own.

He tilted his head to the left then a quarter tilt to the right, a common sign that roughly translated to he means no harm.

[fel]

Felicia didn't move an inch as the larger wolf slowly rose to sit. She hadn't realized how much bigger he was than her until he sat up. Silently hoping this wouldn't come to blows she searched his movements as he looked over at her and tilted his head. Her posture perked up a bit and the slight snarl fell from her lips as she realized he meant no harm. Her dark ears tilted forward before drooping to the side with a irritated sniff. She was obviously annoyed he hadn't just told her that to begin with. Rogue werewolves stopped in Lunetta from time to time but most of them took on a human form once they entered the city and everyone once in a while they got werewolves from other packs, though not as often.

Now that she knew he meant no harm though she intended to continue her run. Turning from the strange wolf she started to make her away again towards the main gate. She hadn't gotten very far when the rain suddenly started up again. It was cold and Felicia shook her head to get some of the water off but it didn't help much.

Felicia was actually a very kind person. Thinking back she realized that the wolf she had met before might not have a place to stay. She couldn't think of much other reason why he would have been wandering around in the gardens. The rain was cold and she wasn't too motivated to go running now so with a small sniff, a wolf's equivalent to a sigh, she trotted back over to where he was. Giving a soft whine to get his attention she motioned with her head for him to follow her before continuing to trot up the street back to where her apartment was.

[rebirth]

When the she wolf left he felt himself strangely disapointed, she truly was a pretty little thing. Thunder crashed and the sky split open and as the rain pelted him, he shivered, not this again. He much prefered the snow, it didn't cling to him as the rain did now his shaggy fur was a hindrance, He could head to the inn but he had left his money in the forsaken lands, he didn't expect to be in Lunetta.

So defeated Ran hunkered down beneath a bench, he couldn't use his dignitary status to get a free room, he wasn't on a political assignment. He whined softly as he noticed the she-wolf approach, he eyed her suspiciously as she motioned for him to follow. What was she on about, slowly Ran edged from the bushes and stood to follow her. If she turned on him, he wasn't too worried. Though he doubted it, he did wonder what she was up to.

[fel]

She looked back briefly to see if he was following her. His figure wasn't hard to make out even in the rain. Her first idea was to lead him to the Inn, but as she though about it again, he didn't seem to have anything on him, not money or clothes, so an Inn wouldn't do, her place was just up the road though. He had said he meant no harm and she would hold him to his word. Besides, her land lord was right above her if she had any trouble from him.

She had towels he could at least dry off, but she wasn't going to have any clothing that would fit him if he wanted to shift to his human form. Well, a blanket would just have to do.

As she neared her apartment she could see that the window was still open slightly but mostly closed. Turning to him she motioned with her head for him to stay out here. There was no way he was going to make it through the window. Lifting up on her hind-legs she rested her fore paws against the wall and with her snout moved the panels of glass so the window was wide open. Stepping back down, stratified that she would make it through, she took a step back before launching herself through the window.

Her wet coat was dripping on her floor and she stared, irritated, down at the small puddle forming behind her. Closing her eyes she focused on her human form, feeling her joints shift and her muscles contort as she made the shift. She opened her eyes and rose from where she was on her hands and knees before making her way towards the bathroom. Snatching a towel from the rack she made short work of drying herself off before draping the towel over her head. Her hair was still wet but it would dry shortly. As she moved back through her room she grabbed the sleep shirt she had removed earlier and pulled it over her head. Her hand reached up to resettle the towel on her messy hair and she moved over to the door of her apartment. She flipped the locks and opened the door, motioning to the larger wolf to come in.

[rebirth]

As the she wolf left him for the window he shivered. This must be her home, why she would bring him here baffled him but if she would let him stay for even a little while to dry off he would be more than appreciative. Though all in all assistance from her in the least was something he didn't expect. He was growing tired of this rain.

As he stood there he heard her moving around inside the apartment, he heard the door latch click and the door swung open. The woman who stood there was pretty, small, but pretty. Even in his wolf form he came up well past her waist. She motioned for him to enter and he backed out into the rain where he shook violently, water flying from him in every direction it appeared to be raining up for a moment. The shaking did little to remove the water from his coat but after shaking he walked quickly into the house.

He looked about, the small apartment unsure of where he was to go.

[fel]

She watched him shake most of the water off of himself with an amused smile and shut the door as he walked inside. Her apartment wasn't very large but she didn't mind since she wasn't in here much to begin with so it was never an issue. It had two separate rooms. They one they were in now was the on she used the most. Her bed rested against the far wall, the sheets still disheveled from where she had kicked them off before. Past the bed was a second room with a kitchen and some comfortable chairs and table.

Inching past him she disappeared for a moment back inside her bathroom to emerge with another towel. "Here, dry off" she said before motioning to the bathroom. "You're welcome to it, if you want any privacy." she wasn't sure if he was going to want to shift or not but deciding it best to let him know it was there.

[rebirth]

Ran'Cris let out a bark, she would still understand it. Thankyou, he cocked his head to the side and lolled his tongue before taking the towel in his mouth and heading into the bathroom. A few moments later a whine could be heard that slowly turned into a low agonized human moan.

Ran stood, he was in his human form now. He had let himself slip that time, even after over a hundred years of the transformation, it still hurt him every time. It was the same with his brothers in the pack as well. The Cris clan hadn't had a daughter in over six hundred years.

AS he dried himself off he pulled a long sliver that had embedded itself in his paw a while back out of his palm. Doing that hurt as a human hurt immesurably more than it would as a wolf, but sadly wolves lacked the manual dexterity for such feats.

Now nudity in the werewolf society was a cultural norm, but it was still odd being naked in the human form around others who were not pack mates. He felt so bare like this. His body was well toned and muscular and he knew it came from the hours of running as a wolf, he had barely of ounce of fat on him.

Wrapping the towel around his waist he tied it off and ruffled his hair, shaking more water from it dangling in his face. Ran'Cris slid open then door to the hall and slid out. He looked at the ceiling and swore silently, if he had to transform in here he wouldn't even fit.

Stretching, Ran'Cris scanned the room for his host.

[fel]

Felicia smiled faintly at the wolf as he thanked her before running off into her bathroom.

She moved towards her kitchen and was getting herself a glass of water when she heard a whine followed by a moan. Slightly concerned she leaned around the corner her slender eyebrows narrowed in confusion. The door to the bathroom was still shut and she didn't want to intrude despite her curiosity.

Standing there she considered the situation. She wasn't entirely comfortable having a strange man stay here, but it would pick at her conscious if she kicked him back out into the rain. It was only one night after all and so far he had done nothing to make her think he had any ill intentions. Slowly sipping her water her hand reached up to idly rub the towel against her hair to dry it.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open she placed her cup back down on the counter and walked back over the other room. Her guest had shift from his wolf from and Felicia felt her eyes widen a bit at his appearance. She knew she had no clothing that would even come close to fitting someone of his height. Seeing how tall he was she realized that she had never considered the ceiling to be low until she saw how close it was to his head. Without really meaning too her blue-green eyes searched over his exposed body. She was used to see most of the males around Lunetta in either very little clothing or none at all so she was fairly familiar with the physic of the male body. Even so, looking at her guest she felt her face redden slightly, he was gorgeous.

It was then that she realized she was gawking and her face turned even redder. Pulling the towel down in the guise of drying her hair to cover her embarrassment. There was a small closet in her room which had extra blankets in it and she motioned to it with her hand. "There are extra blankets there, if you want. Obviously, i don't have any clothing that will fit." she pulled the towel down from her head and ran a hand through her partially dry light brown hair and fixed her eyes on his face to avoid looking elsewhere. "I'm Felicia, by the way."

[rebirth]

Ran'Cris smiled broadly, in any other circles this would be considered strange, being in the same room practically naked with a woman who's name you didn't even know until just then. Many would consider that to be quite lewd.

"Felicia, I must thank you for your hospitality. I have to be honest I didn't expect assistance from anyone, let alone you."

The tall human walked over to the closet she had specified and let the towel drop to the ground around him. A small draft was evident in the room and he knew he didn't dry off his back completely for as the draft hit it, he was chilled. He had completely forgot himself and had dropped the towel without considering if Felecia could see or not. He decided it didn't really matter anyway, it was only his backside after all. Every humanoid creature had one.

As he chose from a blanket he thought of the numerous scars that lined his body, tooth marks and claw marks and a puckered arrow wound or two along his back and one in his broad chest. He did feel vaguely self conscious, though he was good at his job. It didn't mean he couldn't be hurt and had been. The worst was the long crescent scar on his throat it was darkest. He had gotten that from being over confident while bringing down a chimera. He had nearly died from that one.

Slipping a blanket around him he decided this would never do. What he needed was pants. He knew where he was in the city, and an inn he frequented while here wasn't but up the street. In there safe boxes he kept a spare set of loose fitting cloth pants. He would take a quick run down there and pick them up. He'd be back here before she could blink anyway. There was no way he was going to spend the rest of the evening holding his pants up.

Ran'Cris began trembling, his body contorting he loud out a soft sigh as his ribs cracked and his bones rearranged themselves. As his wolven form emerged he whined softly and stretched. I really needed to get a hold on himself. But for some reason his transformations were hurting more than usual tonight, perhaps because he had spent so long in his wolven form as of late.

The large silver wolf stretched and darted out the door onto the street, running at top speed he rounded the corner of the building and darted down the street. The rain was falling but it didn't seem to be touching him. On the way to the inn he knocked over a couple werewolf soldiers heading into a bar and they shouted after him angrily. They sounded like squabbling pups. The thought of pups in strutting around like that brought a smile to his wolfish face as he darted into the Wolfs Claw Inn. The Inn keeper recognized him almost immediately throwing the keys to his lock box which he caught in his mouth.

Darting into the back room a couple moments later Ran'Cris emerged with a small package clenched in his jaws. He darted back out the door and headed down the street still sprinting. As he approached he looked something like a silver arrow head flying through the night.

Skidding around the corner he slid through a puddle sending small water droplets flying as his claws sought purchase on the slick stones. He paused a moment and shook what water had accumulated on the outer layer of his fur off before entering the door. He estimated he hadn't been gone but three or four minutes. He was fairly proud of his time.

He trotted across the apartment floor and back into the bedroom where he transformed again. Not moaning as loudly this time he made sure of it he slipped into his new pair of pants with only a slight sheen of rain water shimmering on his hair and marble back.

Turning he smiled seeking Felicia and found her, "My name, Is Ran'Cris, But you may call me Ran if it pleases you,"

He picked up the towel he had dropped earlier and closed the closet once more, he tossed her the towel.

"I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly, It had just occurred to me I had a fresh change of clothes not far from here. And I must apologize for my manors, I'm not accustomed to this situation. I am eternally grateful though," Ran made a small bow and smiled. The pants rode him low on his hips. They were truly only lounging pants, not to be worn out and were made of a soft cotton. His dark brown hair, slightly damp hung in his eyes, he shook it away and smiled once again.

[fel]

Felicia felt a smile crept across her face seeing him smile. "Felicia, I must thank you for your hospitality. I have to be honest I didn't expect assistance from anyone, let alone you." She nodded, accepting his thanks and moved to sit on the edge of her bed, tucking a slender leg underneath her.

Her hair was still damp and she started to run her hands through it idly. When dry her hair hug down between her shoulder blades while it was wet it hung well past her shoulder blades. As he made his way over to the closet she had indicated he had dropped the towel and Felicia's hands stopped, tangled in her hair. He had turned around and despite her embarrassment she didn't feel too shameful about looking over him since he couldn't see her doing it.

Her eyebrows narrowed a bit seeing all the scars he had on his body. Not too surprising really. She was built for fighting just the same as she was built for running and as such she didn't have as many scars to show for it, aside from the one long scar running down her back.

As he turned back around she shook her head a bit to clear her mind and resettled her eyes back on his face. He had just wrapped a blanket around himself but she could see his face twist as he seemed to assess his situation. As he began trembling she realized he was shifting. Her eyes narrowed slightly. She knew the situation was rather awkward for both of them, but he could have least told her his name. As the wolf emerged and stretched the glare didn't lift from her face as he darted out the door.

Letting out an exasperated sigh. She stood from her bed and walked over towards where the blanket was and picked it up. Not really knowing if her guest was going to return or not, she didn't think it made much sense to thank her for letting him dry off just to go out and get wet again, she left the door open, letting more a draft in than there had been before. Shivering slightly against the cold air on her bare legs she started to fold the blanket. She liked keep her apartment neat and tidy.

Hearing footsteps she looked up but didn't bother to turn around from where she stood with her back to the rest of the room. With a quick glance over her shoulder she could that the wolf was back and carrying a package. She ignored him for the moment but could hear his body shifting. She turned around to see that he had managed to find himself a pair of pants.

"My name, Is Ran'Cris, But you may call me Ran if it pleases you," She had just dropped the folded blanket on her bed in time to catch the towel he had thrown at her.

"I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly, It had just occurred to me I had a fresh change of clothes not far from here. And I must apologize for my manors, I'm not accustomed to this situation. I am eternally grateful though," She nodded her head towards him when he bowed. The pants, while they fit him, were someone ill fitting.

"Well that makes two of us." she muttered throwing the towel into a small basket in the kitchen "I don't usually make a habit of inviting strange men home." looking back over to him she sighed "but i kinda figured you didn't have much else to go"

Sitting back down on the edge of her bed she shivered again as a draft swept through the room. She wrapped one of the blankets on her bed over her legs and nodded to the open door behind him. "If you wouldn't mind please. I don;t expect we'll be having any other visitors."

Her eyes softened as her body heat began to warm her up, fighting off the chill. "So, out of curiosity were are you from. Are you a loner?" They didn't get many members from other packs out here, especially not just single members. Usually they came with other members from their pack.

[rebirth]

The tall man turned to her and smiled a wolfish grin after locking the door as he was asked. He made his way across the small apartment back to the bedroom and responded, "A loner I am not," Ran brought a palm to his face, "And my manors once again escape me. I gave an incomplete introduction, I promise you my formal manors are usually much more forth coming than they have been tonight. I am Ran'Cris, Sentinel, and High Sentinel, of the Frost-Fur Pack. I call the Forsaken Lands home."

The smile faded from his face being replaced by a more serious look, "Has something happened in the city that I should be aware of? I have never been accosted for loitering in the gardens before."

Of course Ran'Cris knew his own kind to be Territorial, but once again he had never been asked why he was there before. Now he had seen other species have the question asked of them, but as for his own kind? Not that he had seen.

Ran crossed the small bedroom and took a seat on the floor not too far from Felecia. He sat with his legs crossed and looked up to her attentively. It was then that he truly noticed how sore his body was, He was still young. The aches and pains he felt tonight would be gone after a good days rest. He still had his mission to consider as well.

[fel]

"A loner I am not. And my manors once again escape me. I gave an incomplete introduction, I promise you my formal manors are usually much more forth coming than they have been tonight. I am Ran'Cris, Sentinel, and High Sentinel, of the Frost-Fur Pack. I call the Forsaken Lands home."

High sentinel. If he was part of her pack he definitely outranked her. She had never tried to rise above her status as a Scout and she knew her alpha would never allow her. She wasn't strong enough to stand as a sentinel. And she was perfectly ok with that.

"Has something happened in the city that I should be aware of? I have never been accosted for loitering in the gardens before." Seeing the smile fade from his lips she shook her head. "Nothing more than rumors. Rumors of more active Vampire activity. One of our other scouts nearly had a bad run in with a loner werewolf passing through the area. We've never had trouble with them before..." she watched as he lowered himself to the ground not to far from where she sat.

Her eyes narrowed a bit as she spoke "And besides, if you had answered me the first time I asked it wouldn't have been an issue. I didn't care that you were there, i just wanted to know for what purpose." her anger flared a bit remembering him ignoring her but it pasted quickly. "You're far from home. What brings you all the way out here, and alone." Even as a scout she usually ran alone, but would never do so as far away from her pack as he was.

[rebirth]

The werewolf smiled, "Well, to be honest I did answer you the first time you asked. I came here to rest, and I showed you why I came. Now I apologize if the way I told you rubbed off the wrong way but it was all in good fun."

Concern crossed his face though as he contemplated the increased vampire activity in the area. He doubted that the Vampires would be after the artifact he searched for, they wouldn't be interested in that. He doubted the frilly blood suckers even had time to take a break from their feeding to worry about monetary wealth so selling it was seemingly out of the question. But all the same, the increased vampire threat was something to be concerned with, and strangely lone wolves assailing scouts? To be sure something was going on here.

"The accounts of increased vampire activity are indeed strange," He said, "And the lone wolves... I've never heard of lone wolves attempting to begin conflict with a pack. They've enough problems of their own to contend with. The situation here seems to be vastly more pressing than the reason I have come this far south."

He paused for a moment to take in the she-wolf before him, her features were of angelic quality, he had met several Angelics before, and all he had met were the epitome of humanoid beauty. But what really drew him to this werewolf before him was not the human shell that sat before him. It was the wolf within, the way she moved was mesmerizing to him. He remembered it all to vividly, she had the stalk of a predator with the sway of a wolf seductress. He doubted she did it intentionally but all the same he found himself enamored by her.

"And to answer my question as to why I'm down this far alone. My brother, the Alpha to my pack, sent me to the western Zyabeth forest on a rumor that a powerful artifact was hidden there. This artifact would fetch a fair price at the hands of a wizard in Temarra. For it allows access to all the elements as though the being that holds it was born with an affinity to them,"

Quite suddenly exhaustion fell into his muscles, he realized he hadn't slept in nearly a week now. He was pushing his limits, and one of the puckered arrow head scars was a alight with an invisible fire, he winced audibly and doubled over forward with a grunt. This only happened when he grew too tired and his muscles began to spasm. But the pain was excruciating, mainly because the arrowhead still remained lodged in his shoulder. The Medicine woman couldn't remove it when he returned because it lie too close to a main artery. Sometimes he thought that lone arrow head was the reason it hurt so badly for him during his transformations.

Ran'Cris looked up to Felecia and muttered, "It's an old injury, I apologize if I frightened you."

[fel]

Her eyes narrowed but even so a faint blush crept along her cheeks. She was known for having a bit of a temper, and jumping to conclusions. It wasn't as bad as it had been in the past but regardless, she was a little embarrassed that she had let it get the best of her.

As he spoke of the oddity of the vampire activity and lone wolves she nodded. It was indeed disturbing. She was being sent out later to try and see if she could find out if the Vampires were moving closer to Lunetta or if it was just coincidence that their business, whatever it was, moved them this close to the werewolf town. As just as she loved being out in the forest, she didn't relish the idea of the mission she was being sent on. In fact she rather dreaded it.

Hearing him speak about the artifact her eye brows narrowed and she looked down at her sheets as she thought. She had never heard of anything like that around here. And if such a thing existed, they would have found it by now. Being such, Lunetta must just be a resting point in his journey.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him double over and heard him grunt in pain. Her posture instantly straightened and her eyes searched his figure, obvious concern twisting in her features. "It's an old injury, I apologize if I frightened you."

Slowly she untangled herself from the bed sheet she had wrapped around herself and lowered herself to the ground in front of him. Reaching out she placed her hands gently on his shoulders. "Old injury." she murmured to herself thinking to her own "old injury" that caused her grief. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth chewing on it slightly, unsure of what to do. "Can I do anything, do you need to lie down" she asked softly, looking over at her bed. She wasn't sure what good it could do, she wasn't sure from which scar the pain was coming from. But sitting on the cold hard floor after traveling as far as he had certainly wasn't helping she was sure. She started to stand and tugged on his arm to get him to stand. "Come, lie down."

[rebirth]

Ran'Cris hissed loudly through clenched teeth and let out a guttural growl as the pain coursed through him.

"Unless you are a trained healer and can remove an embedded arrow head that has slid beneath a major artery then no,"

He didn't mean to sound harsh and he felt terrible for it but the pain was agonizing, only twice since receiving the wound had the pain flared up like this. Once being when a chimera slammed its tail into his back and scored a direct hit on it, and the other which was another direct hit, this time by a disgruntled pack mate.

Now the pain had flared up due to exhaustion before, but never like this. This felt worse than when he had first been shot. At least then he had adrenaline coursing through his veins to help stave off the pain. Now he had nothing.

When she offered him to lay down he didn't need to be offered twice. Slowly he stood and made his way over to the bed where he lay down face first to relieve the pressure on his back. The pain didn't subside, it felt like the arrow head was growing inside his shoulder. Like it was threatening to saw its way out of him, this wasn't his night.

[fel]

She nearly backed away hearing him hiss and growl at her. "Unless you are a trained healer and can remove an embedded arrow head that has slid beneath a major artery then no," Her eyes narrowed. Taking a deep breath she forced her temper down. If he was showing this much pain, she didn't want to think about how much he was actually in.

She moved out of his way as he rose and made his way over to the bed to lie down on his stomach. There were several scars all over his back, there was little she could do to actually figure out which one was causing him so much pain. She could have called for a healer, but she didn't think it would make that much of a difference. If there was any good chance of taking the arrowhead out it would have been done when he first received the wound. There was nothing a healer could do now and she was sure if he wanted one, he would have asked.

Walking over to the kitchen she lit her stove. Her hands were shaking a bit from the cold but she managed to get the coals started. As they warmed up she placed a pot with water in it over the coals and waited for it to heat up. She felt warmer standing next to the heating water and she held her hands out to warm them. She wasn't sure if this would work, but anytime she heard of old injuries acting up, a heated compress usually made the pain subside, if even just a little bit since the cold that sank into the muscles was usually what agitated the wound.

Looking over she noticed small bubbles beginning to rise she removed the water but let the coal simmering, hoping they might fend off the slight draft. She placed the steaming water on the ground by her bed and walked on the balls of her feet into her bathroom. She had several small towels and she grabbed one of the before moving back out towards her bedroom.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb him and dropped the cloth rag into the water. She let it soak in the heat before reaching down to gingerly move it around a bit. The water was a little hotter than she wanted and she winced a little as the heated water stung her hands. When she was satisfied she pulled the soaking rag from the water and proceeded to wring most of the water out. The cloth was still warm and she folded it up several times before turn to him. Her eyes once again scanned his back. In a soft voice she asked "Which one is it"

A faint blush had swept across her face. She felt sort of awkward, taking care of a person she hardly knew but her kind heart didn't want to do nothing as he suffered in pain.