WoLF: Tracked Down

It was time to go home now. Friedensfest was pretty fun, and Rhiaan enjoyed their time there, but they were getting overwhelmed, and Iarnvidia felt they were gone for too long - what if there was an emergency that required the Haat'Harae? According to Iarnvidia, Friedensfest happens every year, so they could always come back next year.

Rhiaan felt a chill run down their spine, the feeling of being watched setting in. They closed their mouth - they had that bad taste in their mouth again and a pounding headache - and glanced over to see two sets of eyes on them. Two wolves were giving them a death glare. Rhiaan was quickly made uncomfortable by this. They hadn't seen them prior, why were they looking at him like that? Rhiaan didn't want to find out of ask. He hastily followed Iarnvidia out, where they would walk for a while.

But... Rhiaan still felt uncomfortable after that staredown they had with the strangers. The sun was far below the horizon now, and the silence felt relieving now that his headache could go away. Though it was a bit too quiet for Rhiaan’s liking. The desert often had an assortment of creatures calling out into the night even in the dead of winter, but where there was snow there was a deafening silence. It unnerved Rhiaan, despite living away from the desert for quite some time with Clay and later Hudson, but maybe they grew used to the noise of the night.

The silence was more eerie after Rhiaan had locked eyes with the two strangers, though. They and Iarnvidia were just leaving the Friedensfest event, when Rhiaan glanced over and noticed two wolves staring at them. Like they knew them and they had done something bad. Rhiaan was terrified, were these wolves from their past life? Who were they, and what did they want? Rhiaan wasn’t sure if they were complete strangers that didn’t like them for some reason or if they are something more, just faces that Rhiaan could not remember since whatever accident had caused their memories to be lost. They were aware that they had a life before he woke up one day in the strange place, but not much more.

Rhiaan’s fur bristled at the thought of being some… problem wolf in the past. They really hope they weren’t some murderer before losing their memories. What would Iarnvidia think of them if they were?

And yet, one feeling remained. The feeling of a set of eyes or two locked onto them. Rhiaan ignored the passing feeling of being watched, but as that small suspicion became a full on gut feeling, Rhiaan gathered up the courage to look behind them.

There they were. Those wolves again.

“Mom…” Rhiaan said quietly to Iarnvidia. She heard, turning around with a look of concern. She planted herself in her spot and stood as tall as she could. The two figures stopped.

“Can I assist you?” Iarnvidia asked. The two wolves looked at each other, speaking to each other quietly, before charging at the two. Gracefully coordinated, the cream male tackled Iarnvidia to the ground, slamming her head into the snow with one paw while using the other to hold her body down. Iarnvidia squirmed but with her head pinned she was helpless. She cried, “What are you doing-”

“Making sure you don’t intervene.” the cream male said, growling, “Then afterwards you may join him.” The cream and grey female lunged at Rhiaan, who tried to run at first but once they noticed Iarnvidia, they realized

They had to fight.

Rhiaan turned around and latched their fangs onto their persuer’s muzzle, causing her to growl and try to shove Rhiaan away. Once she got free, the two of them tackled each other, growls and snarls and the sound of jaws clamping at air filled the air.

However, battling is not Rhiaan’s strong suit. Things were not looking good. Rhiaan growled when they dodged a bite from their attacker.

“What do you want from us!?” Rhiaan growled.

“To pay for what you’ve done!” the female spat, lunging at Rhiaan and successfully pinning them. Rhiaan tried to bite at the wolf’s leg but she simply forced their head down, exposing their neck.

It felt like everything slowed down for Rhiaan. They were dead today. This was it. Two strangers - that seemed to know who they were - were about to end their life. Rhiaan could see Iarnvidia helplessly struggle against the weight of their attacker’s partner.

Rhiaan felt teeth sink into their neck and they yelped, but the injury was brief. The wolf attempting to take their life shifted a bit and they let go, then they were forced off Rhiaan. Rhiaan gasped and scrambled to their feet, coughing. Their wound wasn’t as bad as it could have been but they would not be able to fight as well now. They looked around, and now there was a familiar petite black and white figure fighting the wolf that just about killed them.

Mani.

“Rhiaan! Help Iarnvidia - NOW!” Mani shouted. Rhiaan scrambled up and to the best of their ability they lunged at the cream figure, baring their fangs and trying to bite anywhere. Their jaws missed but the successfully bowled the figure down, freeing Iarnvidia. The wolf tried to overpower Rhiaan but they lunged again, jaws finally connecting to the wolf’s left eye and biting down. He recoiled back with a scream.

“Slim!” His comrade yelled, only to be slammed and blocked by Mani, growling. Iarnvidia snarled and lunged at the cream male ‘Slim’ when he was open. Rhiaan huffed, feeling disoriented.

Without his help, Iarnvidia wouldn’t be able to attack the male for long, as he quickly overpowered her again.

“Maybe you will die early!” He growled. Suddenly… he was bowled off of Iarnvidia by a flash of gold and white. Altaïr was here now too?? Iarnvidia got up to help Altaïr.

The fight did not last longer. With frustrated growls, Slim, now with a torn ear thanks to Altaïr, and his comrade bailed, running away. They certainly knew when to pick their battles.

Rhiaan sat down, huffing. They were still bleeding at the neck, and though not life threatening right now it seemed, it could potentially be. Iarnvidia, after examining them, knew this.

“Mani- Altaïr- Stay with him while I find something to stop his neck from bleeding, if we don’t treat it now he will die.” Iarnvidia said. Rhiaan felt a bit scared, but Mani and Altaïr were sitting near them.

“Aside from the possibly threatening neck wound, are you alright? Who were those wolves?” Mani asked.

“Um I… I don't know. But they know me. They said I had to pay for ‘what I did’”

“That's really strange… have you met them beforehand? It seems really out of the blue to just attack someone like that…” Altaïr said.

“I saw them at Friedensfest…” Rhiaan said, “They were staring at me… and they didn’t look like they liked me as if i did something bad… I really hope I wasn't a bad wolf… i…” Rhiaan was terrified. He couldn’t articulate his words anymore, and whatever was coming out of their mouth at this point was heavily slurred.

“Hey, relax.” Mani said, “I know we have no way of knowing what you did before you came to us, since not even you remember, but i’m sure you’re fine. Sometimes… wolves can just be pure evil and kill for fun. Iarnvidia and I have witnessed such evils in our youth. Anyway, I think you should save your voice until Iarnvidia comes back with something to treat your wounds.”

Rhiaan nodded. Mani turned to Altaïr, dipping his head.

“Fair Night, Altaïr. Aren’t you on pilgrimage, Altaïr?” Mani asked.

“May better, Mani. I was returning home, as I’ve found my answers and feel like I’ve fulfilled my pilgrimage.” Altaïr said, “I guess it was pure luck I was nearby. I heard the fighting from a distance, so I decided to walk over to de-escalate it… though I started running when I heard you shout.”

Iarnvidia returned with some assorted herbs used to treat wounds. She began to apply them to Rhiaan to at least stop the bleeding.

“Alright, since your wound is in a weird spot I need you to try and keep your head as still as possible while we travel. We will be staying somewhere safe and making sure those wolves do not follow us back to our pack. I saw a nearby creek so we will walk in that to hide our tracks, scent and physical.” Iarnvidia said, “Fair night to you Mani and Altaïr. Altaïr, could you scout ahead to places to stay once we get to the creek?”

“I can do that, yes.” Altaïr said.

“I’ll stay by you and Rhiaan in case they come back.” Mani said. Iarnvidia nodded. Iarnvidia began to walk towards where the creek was, signaling the others to follow. Altaïr ran ahead to find the creek, and he would be found standing there when the rest caught up. From there, he scouted ahead while the others walked in the creek. Rhiaan’s paws were freezing, but it was better than getting murdered in their sleep by whoever those wolves were.

“Thank you for helping us, Mani.” Iarnvidia said quietly. “I gotta say the same to Altaïr too but he’s too far ahead. I’ll tell him when we find a place to stay.”

“It's no problem. I just happened to be nearby when you were leaving Friedensfest and I saw those two follow you and Rhiaan out shortly after. I admittedly spent a long time wondering if it was a coincidence or if it was something sinister but with the way Rhiaan reacted to them I eventually decided to follow. I’m glad I did.”

“Are you heading back to Friedensfest after this?” Iarnvidia asked.

“No. I feel I've spent long enough there. Aatana Shaanae needs me back soon anyway so i might as well travel with you in case those wolves come back or if other loners decide to jump you now that both you and Rhiaan are injured.”

After a while, Altaïr came back.

“I found a cave a little ways from the creek - it's visible up the hill. I made sure it wasn’t occupied.” He said. Iarnvidia nodded.

“Thank you, lets get there before Rhiaan’s neck freezes in place.” Iarnvidia chuckled. Rhiaan couldn’t help but smile - it did feel like their neck was freezing in place with how still they were keeping their head. The group followed Altaïr up to where the cave was, though remaining in the creek. Iarnvidia stopped Mani and Rhiaan before leaving the creek.

“I’ll need to treat the rest of your wounds first, otherwise the blood on the snow will lead something to us i feel. Just sit on the bank and i’ll wash any blood away before i head in. Altaïr should be fine since he just has a small cut and isn’t dripping blood everywhere.” Iarnvidia said. Rhiaan and Mani nodded, sitting patiently and letting Iarnvidia treat their wounds  with the herbs she brought with her from her collection. Here she checked to see if Rhiaan’s neck was still bleeding - gladly it wasn’t, but she put more treatments on it to prevent it from getting infected.

“Okay… that should do it.” Iarnvidia said.

“Mom… let me treat your wounds too.” Rhiaan said. Iarnvidia glanced at Rhiaan, then nodded.

“I suppose we still have enough of the herbs I collected…” Iarnvidia said. Plus, this was good practice for Rhiaan as he was a Haat’harae too. She let Rhiaan treat the wounds she had - which she didn’t have all that many since most of the time she was being held down. Rhiaan finished, picking up the remaining herbs.

“I think this should be enough for Altaïr… I'll go see him.” Rhiaan began to head up to the cave. Mani followed him.

“I’ll be up there soon.” She said. She spent some time splashing water onto the snow, watching the blood that had dripped down onto it wash away into the creek. She sighed shakily. Someone was after Rhiaan for some reason. Maybe she should ask someone to escort him from now on if he leaves the desert but that feels too overprotective. Iarnvidia never needed to employ any protective measures for her own pups… it just felt off that she would need to for Rhiaan.

But maybe it could only be temporary. Rhiaan was fond of Mani, she was sure Mani wouldn’t mind accompanying him sometimes. But that was up to him. Iarnvidia already made him do a lot for her, she felt… even though he offered to help her raise pups that weren’t his. But what if that was reluctance? Maybe now’s not the time to get worried about things that happened in the past.

She sighed, making sure one more time that all the blood on the snow was gone before she headed up to the cave. She reckoned that they would be staying here for about a day or two before moving on. It was starting to snow, so if the gods were on their side, their tracks to the cave would be filled in.

This would be a particularly long journey home. Hopefully Kantuta would understand if she ever asked.