Happy thanksgiving- to those who celebrate. I know I'm just barely in time with this one! I'm hoping to do a few more this weekend for the ones that weren't specific on holidays! Thanks for being patient with me! HUGS! This one is Sunny's request- hope it's okay!
Wolfen One Drabble 6
Threads
"Excuse me."
Startled out of her work, the woman looked up at the sound of the voice. She hadn't heard anyone enter her shop. She blinked at the young man in the doorway for a moment. He didn't look like a Southerner. His skin was golden and his hair was too dark. His clothes, she noted with a professional's appraisal, showed signs of wear, but not to the point of needing replacement or repair.
"Welcome," she said and summoned up a smile as she walked around the counter to greet him properly. "How can I help you? Are you looking for clothing, bedding or decorations?"
"I already tried there. They said they hadn't seen him. But I know he also planned to seek out a weaver- I'm hoping he came to you first- it would've been about two days ago. He's a hunter, still has his braid-"
She drew in her breath sharply, retreating back behind the counter. "He's not here." Damn it all, that was the wrong answer. The man advanced towards her, his eyes glinting strangely as they caught the light.
"Then where is he?"
"I don't know. Truly I don't. I never saw him."
The man tilted his head, eyes half closing for a moment. He turned and stalked away from her, towards the tapestries stacked by the wall. "You're lying. He was here-" His hands flipped through the stack of fabric, scattering them. She opened her mouth to protest, but a moment later he was standing before her, one of the tapestries in his hand. "He touched this one- you touched this one- where is he?"
How had he moved so fast?
She looked down at the brightly woven picture, trying to calm her heart, remembering that the mayor had always insisted that anyone looking for one of the hunters had to be misled. "He didn't-"
"Don't lie!" The eyes glaring into hers weren't human now. The voice was raspy, and his teeth... Her grandmother, sitting before the fire, telling stories...
All the better to eat you with my dear...
Suddenly, what the mayor wanted didn't seem so important. "He went after it. The beast there... it's in our woods. The mayor had me make that ages ago when we sent for heroes to try and kill it- it was supposed to be a story of the victory- but none of them ever came back. Now, the mayor sends any hunter that comes to town after it. Brings them here to show them the banner, promises them a rich reward-"
"But?" The growl sent shivers down her spine, made her knees weak with fear.
"But I think... we think... some of us... that he sends the hunters out to die. So that he can keep what they leave behind...he leaves out vital information... doesn't tell them about the web traps it makes, or its venom...makes it harder to hunt..."
"I see." The tapestry was tossed into her arms and the man - was he a man? - stalked towards the door.
"If you go- it will kill you too!" She said and faltered under the glare he turned her way.
"The only one who needs to be worried about dying is your mayor. I'm not afraid of bugs, no matter how big they are."
~*~
Heero waited until he could no longer see the village through the trees before slipping into wolf form. Damn Duo, what the hell had he been thinking? Leaving the town to hunt without him? To be sure, Heero had caught up to him faster than either of them had anticipated, but going out to fight such a beast on his own?
If the tapestry had portrayed the beast correctly, and if the woman hadn't been exaggerating, then it was going to be a challenge to take down. He pushed his way through the thick foliage, searching for Duo's scent. Seriously, he'd known Duo hadn't wanted to spend another winter in the chill of the North, but it seemed like everything in the South was overgrown. Spiders, trees, hair...
Stopping for a moment, he calmed himself and lifted his nose to scent the breeze. Duo must've gone this way- there had to be some trace of him. His partner- his lover- was out here and in danger.
There was a faint trace of a familiar scent, musky and warm, like a thread of gold twined into the green scent of the trees around him.
Duo.
He moved now, faster than before, intent on reaching his lover. The scent grew stronger as he moved; turning from a thread into a stronger line- and to be this strong Duo had to be alive. The realization soothed the worry that he hadn't even dared think about but then Duo's scent became mixed with something else, a dusty sticky scent that made Heero's nose wrinkle and his feet move faster still.
Duo's scent pulled him on, drawing him closer and closer, a willing fish caught on a line. He was close now, he had to be, and even as Duo's scent increased, so had that horrid sticky one.
Duo had better be okay when he got there...
~*~
Even from inside the shop, the sounds of distress in the middle of the town were audible. The weaver got up from her loom and headed towards the sounds, a small smile curving her lips.
She had decided against warning the mayor that the last hunter had a very irate and determined partner looking for him. If the man came back to town, well... the mayor deserved a little trouble. She just hoped that the man had managed to help his partner- because if the hunter had died she had a feeling the town wouldn't be safe to stay in for long.
There was a crowd in the square, all clustered around the mayor- and the hunter- she realized with a sigh of relief. His partner was not in sight, but there was a wagon- and in the bed of the wagon was a very large bundle of nets and ropes.
A large twitching bundle of ropes and nets. Oh....
"You were supposed to kill it! I'm not paying you for bringing it back alive!"
"Quite the contrary. Our deal was to capture the beast. Which I did."
"You can't prove it's in there!"
"I could free it-"
The crowd gasped and the mayor paled. "That isn't called for! You broke our deal!"
"Hardly. If anyone broke the deal you did. You weren't entirely honest about the creature's habits- and you said you wanted it back alive in order to put it on display."
The crowd began to mutter a little. They all knew what sort of deals the mayor liked to make with the hunters.
A flash of white made the weaver focus on the cart. There was a large white dog- no, a wolf! - sitting on the seat. For a moment, her eyes met the blue eyes of the wolf and she remembered other stories her grandmother had told her...
"Well then. If you aren't going to pay then I'll just release this bug back into the woods." As the hunter spoke, the spider in the cart managed to get a leg free, poking it up into the air and making the crowd gasp.
At that moment, the crowd decided the mayor needed to reconsider his position. The weaver listened, keeping her eyes on the hunter and his companion.
When she got back to her shop she was going to start a new tapestry. This was a story to be shared...
~*~
"I should've known they would try to weasel out of it." Duo shook his head as they drove out of the village, the back of their cart filled with supplies.
"It wasn't all of them. Just the mayor." Heero tugged on the end of Duo's braid. "Let's just move on and find someplace to winter up before Harvest Feast- or do you even do that here?"
"Of course we do! Why wouldn't we?"
"Well, it is nearly the end of fall and the days are still warm. No wonder you froze in the North. Had you ever even seen snow before you left the South?"
Duo rolled his eyes. "Sure, up in the mountains."
"I'm amazed you stayed there so long."
His partner nudged him with a shoulder and grinned. "Well, once I met you I had a furry coat and a bed warmer all in one. It's something I was thankful for every Harvest Feast."
"Well, here is plenty warm. So what are you going to be thankful for this year?"
"I'm sure I'll think of something..."
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