Wolfborne (closed)

Joel didn't answer for a moment and instead pulled out his prey's liver and weighed it properly in one hand before he turned to Dakota and tossed the raw organ to the Alpha. Dakota sprang from his lie down and closed his jaws around the organ that didn't have a chance to fall to the snow. While Dakota munched on the Alpha's treat, Joel returned to carving the meat and setting what would be cooked into a pot already filled with water. He must have done that after they'd caught the buck he'd brought back.

"All fine," he muttered as he worked, making sure to take only what he and Shaeem would eat before he rose and kicked the remainder of the buck toward the hungry pack, who quickly sprang onto the prey with Aiyana ahead of everyone else, growling and defending her own share as an Alpha. "Aiyana sprained leg, but it will heal with rest." Joel returned to his seat and hoisted the pot over the fire before he sat back and closed his eyes. He appeared tired and even Dakota seemed a little tired as he gave a quiet yawn and rested his head onto Joel's leg. They definitely felt like one, despite them being two different creatures. Both predators, both strong.

Shaeem kept hearing the pack eating. Apparently, Dakota had a treat the other ones couldn't touch. She started asking herself, like if it was rational: what about that time she was covered in blood? Didn't any of them wanted to kill her and rip her apart? She mimicked to look away, squeezing her small hands on her legs, before she sighed. Probably not, since she was still alive... She shook her head a little and turned to Dragonheart as he was starting to talk back. All fine. Really? What about if she really was disturbing him and all of them? Shaeem faked to look down to her leg and sighed after a moment.

"Thank you, dear Dragonheart. For treating me other than a simple ghost..."

"No ghosts here," Joel stated with a wave of his hand, stirring the meat in the pot of now boiling water with the same wooden spoon as before. "Just girl who needs help. Pack takes care of their own." He raised a hand and gently poked the wolf charm necklace he'd given her a while ago, the wood settling into her skin to remind her that it was there before his finger pulled away and he returned to checking the meat every so often before finally tossing in some herbs and spices. After giving the pot a final stir, Joel pulled away and rested the spoon away from Dakota's muzzle on his leg and rested, his muscles all relaxed.

"Thank you, young pup, for not screaming 'Savage' when first we met." He sounded sincere in the way that he said it, like he'd been called that before.

Shaeem looked slightly confused when he first started talking. She was no ghost… She sometimes did forget that. After a moment, she felt the pendent he had given her pressing against her chest as she was pretending to look down at it. She kept still before she took the jewel in her fine hand, raising her blind look back to him. She sure was surprised, but also touched and emotive about it. Pack takes care of their own. She said no words for several seconds, softly squeezing the jewel in her had. Shaeem stayed immobile before she raised her eyebrows. How could she even think of yelling at him that he was a Savage? How could she even do that with real intention to hurt him? He was the only one there to save her that first night they met. And again, when she had been thrown down the cliff. She moved no muscle before she smiled softly, pretending to look at him.

“I don’t want to scream at you, whatever you think I could scream at you. You are my friend, you saved… You saved my life. Several times”

She quickly ran her hand in her hair, head down. After a moment, Shaeem softly shook her head. Was she the young pup? She wanted to. She wanted to be part of the pack, too. If only she could stay with them and never bother to come back to the Guild…

Dragonheart sat up to stir the stew again while the pack tore into the deer he'd kicked their way. Dakota soon rose from his spot to join in the feasting, joining Aiyana with his own snarls as he defended what was his. It was then that Joel told her that many who laid eyes on him always screamed 'Savage', for that was all that they could see. "Whitefaces always call my People Savages, for they not see beyond skin color. They not look within, like wolf."

Poor Dragonheart... Shaeem thought, her hands gently resting on her own lap. She pretended to look away. Wasn't she white too? Dragonheart didn't seem to consider her as so. She finally smiled a little. "I guess blind eyes are better to look at what's really important" She kept silent for a moment before she nodded. "Sane eyes can judge and pretend to see the bad things in others. I guess that's something I'm happy I can't experiment"

"You're more wolf than what can be seen," Joel said with a small nod, finding the stew needed a bit longer over the fire. "You see within, like wolf." He remained silent for a time before he finished the stew and began to pour it into the bowls and handed one off to Shaeem. "Pack will welcome you, if you decide to stay. Will welcome you even if you decide to remain within walls of Whiteface encampments. Once wolf, always wolf."

Joel didn't know what to say next, so he remained quiet and simply poured himself a bowl of stew before he took a drink from it and chewed on the venison that made its way into his mouth. If she decided not to live with them in the wilds, he and the pack would always protect her and come to her aid the second she needed them. That was what being in a pack meant: Taking care of their own.

Shaeem kept listening to him before she felt him handing her a bowl. She took it after a minute, nodding softly. More a wolf than a human... she felt her heart warm a little, before she, again, felt emotive, nodding. He was seeing her handicap as something more. More than a tool, more than a problem, simply more. She mimicked to look down and tried to say something, but she felt like she was about to cry, even a little. She really felt good, with him, with the whole pack.

She took the bowl to her lips and started eating a little, looking like she was staring away. Shaeem really started to fell like she wanted to stay with them until she'd be more than a ghost. Being with them was like being alive. Really alive, like being part of something important. Not only someone to use again and again until she was dead, once and for all.

The pack finished their feast on the deer carcass that had been brought back from the Moon Hunt and were either reestablishing their pack bond or play-fighting. The playful snarls and growls from the younger members of the pack rose into the air, the noise soft enough to allow the other sounds of the wilds to come to the den. Dakota had once again taken up his place at Joel's side and for a moment, he was silent.

Then the wolf rose to his paws, ears flicking back against his skull while his lips peeled away from his canines. Something was stirring his aura and Joel even rose from where he sat, an arm tensing at his side. The soft schklink of his hidden blade sliding out of hiding filled the air quietly while the pack all gathered at Dakota's warning growl. Joel's head came up and he made to sniff the air like a wolf would before he slipped quietly forward through the throng of wolves to the edge where Aiyana and Dakota now stood alongside him.

A man was running toward them. Not many knew the location of the den. From the smell of this intruder, he seemed to be from the same place as Shaeem was: Whiteface territory. Joel remained silent as the wolves continued to warn the intruder to keep his distance from their home. "Dragonheart?" The Native American young man dipped his head ever so slightly, the ears of his hood seeming to prick forward at hearing his name, though he said nothing. "I'm sorry to disturb you. But I was told to come find you."
"Why?" he growled, snarling like one of the wolves and making this man flinch. "Whiteface men of Freedom not usually seek me out. Too scared of my pack."

"Aye, that's true," said the man with a nod, his gaze casting to the wolves. "But the Assassins who took you in to finish your training need your help. Redcloaks, Templars, have come into their city and have killed a couple of the brothers and sisters there." Joel turned away from the man, holding out a hand to him to wave it off.
"Not pack's problem," he stated coldly. He sounded as though he'd had a falling out at one point with the Assassins who had completed his training.
"Surely you can't turn away those who finished your Assassin's training." When the man stepped closer, Dakota acted and so did Joel.

Both man and wolf sprang forward and while the wolf hung back, Joel grabbed a fistful of the man's shirt and had his face so close that their noses almost brushed. A snarl like a wolf was etched onto his face, twisting his human features. "Red clad Whitefaces not pack's problem!" He snarled quietly. "Pack only takes care of our own. Whiteface Freedom fighters not pack." The man didn't say anything and just stared into the young man's face for a moment before he nodded and Joel released him.
"Alright, Dragonheart. But know that they will never forgive you for not coming to their aid."
"Not my problem." Joel stated coldly, watching as the intruder left the den.

Shaeem rose up a little when she heard Dakota groaning. He seemed worrying about something. She was about to ask when Dragonheart jumped on his feet as she heard the common song of the hidden blade going out of its bracer. She jumped a little. “Dragonheart, what is going on?"

But as she had no answers, she just difficultly got up, hand on the wall of the Den to make sure she wouldn’t fall back. She frowned, trying to listen to everything that was going on before she dragged herself a bit closer to the Den’s outside. Footsteps. Was she really hearing footsteps? She pretended to look inside of the Den before she turned back to the outside. And after a moment, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand to make sure she wouldn’t scream and drag attention to herself. She had heard a human voice. She tried to get closer, still hidden in the darkness so no one could see her and smelled the air. Expect for Dragonheart’s aura, there was clearly another human aura next to him. Shaeem stepped back, shivering a little.

Then, she started paying attention to the human’s talking. He was asking Dragonheart’s help… as she rose up her blind eyes to him she waited, uncertain about what he was going to answer before she rose her eyebrows under her dark fringe. He had refused. He wasn’t going to bring military help to the one who had given him his Assassin training. Shaeem painfully closed her eyes, trembling even more. Dragonheart… she had no idea who she was supposed to support in that situation.

Again, she jumped when she felt Dragonheart’s aura violently switching to the one of a wolf. He was turning angry. She quickly shook his head. God, make him calm enough not to kill that poor man who came to ask for his help… trembling, she heard the curse the Assassin gave to Dragonheart: Assassins would remember what he answered to him. Dragonheart cared no more as the man ran away from them.

Shaeem stayed there, turning to Dragonheart. Her heart was beating faster than ever. What if he would have actually killed him? What if they would have entered a duel and Dragonheart was hurt? What if the Assassins did came back to kill him? She stepped back in the Den, two, three steps, before she fell down, moaning a little. She needed to ask him… she made her voice loud enough for Dragonheart to hear her. "Who is he? Who is that man?"

Joel turned back to where Shaeem was sitting near the wall of the den, near the entrance. The anger had faded from his aura and his features had returned to that of a human's while he and Dakota both crossed the grass to sit on beside the log that she'd been sitting for a while. "Freedom fighter," he answered with a grunt as he plopped down onto the ground, Dakota giving a small whimper as he too laid down beside the man, head in his lap. "Ask pack's aid in fight with red clad Whitefaces."

Joel was silent for a time before he took a breath as a bit of mixed emotions surfaced. At the forefront was anger and hidden deftly behind that....was sadness. "It's not pack's problem. Freedom fighter's not my pack. Not any more." Even in his voice was hidden sadness. What had happened? Why didn't he aid the Assassins? Why wouldn't he? There was obviously something deeper involved between this wolf man and the ones who had finished his training but if he was willing to say what that was, he obviously wasn't going to reveal it.

The girl followed him with her death gaze until he sat with Dakota. She stayed silence a moment. Freedom fighter. That's how he called the Assassins... but still, his only reason seemed to be that their fight wasn't the pack's problem. "Dragonheart, I..." she started, but she really had nothing to end up her sentence with. I think you are wrong? I think you are right? How could she even tell him something like that when she had no idea what was going on?

With no word, she nodded softly and pretended to look up at him. "Dragonheart, if you want me to go help them, I can. If you want me to stay here, I will. But please, don't let them hurt you and the pack... What if they come back and take revenge? What if they hurt you? I wouldn't stand it..."

Joel waved a hand down toward Shaeem's still healing leg and muttered something along the lines of "you're still hurt and the enemy would gladly take advantage of that" before he managed to give a quiet laugh that sounded....demonic. "Pack would rip throats before they laid hands on me," he said with something that sounded like glee. "Whitefaces too scared of pack to dare lay hands on me." It was true. Most of the Assassins were too terrified of the pack to even think about coming near the den and all were too terrified of the pack to even think about hurting him.

Then a thought ran across his mind and the ears of his hood flicked back as though controlled by his mind. "If leg is better," he began slowly, turning his head to look up at the girl. "Then you can go give them aid if it is your wish. But it's not pack's problem. I will not put any of pack members in harm's way. Whitefaces have sticks that shoot fire. Kill many wolves not in my pack." Dakota backed up the fact that the Settlers had killed many wolves and that he himself wouldn't risk the lives of the pack just to aid those who had hurt Joel somehow.

Shaeem sighed softly. Dragonheart was right. If she still wasn't able to run, their enemies would surely take advantage of that, mostly when thinking about the fact that speed and agility were her principal weapons. She kept still for a moment, and as she was about to answer something, she shivered. Dragonheart's laugh was terrifying... and his affirmation right after was as well. But at least, she knew: The pack would defend themselves if something was to happen. She slightly nodded at him, her hands firmly closed on her cape.

After a few seconds, Dragonheart told her she could help the Assassins if her leg was better. Shaeem turned back to him. If she did so, she probably could save lives, but also maybe know a little more about the one that had trained her friend and made him feel that way. But as he talked about them killing wolves, even if they weren't part of the pack, she realised: it was true. White men were the one to do that. Softly, she reached her hand out of her cape and touched the man's arm in a soothing way. What could she even answer to that?

Joel didn't move when she touched his arm, nor did he shrug her away. Even Dakota seemed soothed by the girl's touch and gave a quiet whimper, his tongue flicking up to lick his nose. He didn't say anything for a while and instead turned toward Dakota, who instantly got into the man's lap and bumped his head against the young man's chin. That earned Joel's reaction. He put his hands in the wolf's fur and pressed his face into the warm fur with his eyes closed. They never seemed closer, the man and the wolf. Their auras blended together perfectly, so much so that it was hard to determine which one was which.

She slowly took off her hand after a moment and softly ran it through Dakota's fur after a moment she hesitated. She didn't wanted to leave them. She brought back her hand under her cape after a moment and softly nodded. "I'll do what will be right to do. I want to thank you the better I can for everything you did for me."

She was almost whispering, like a prayer, softly closing her blind eyes to take a deep breath. The whole pack was now like a family to her. More than the Assassin had ever. Since forever, her Master, as kind as he could be, had made everything to make Shaeem believe she was a ghost, a real dead being. Everyone considered her as a long dead girl. Everyone but Dragonheart's pack. They had considered her as one of them.

Joel didn't know what to say to her words and so simply remained silent, his face buried in Dakota's fur, the wolf's head on his shoulder. The wolf knew that this was the first actual human interaction that Joel had gotten in a long time. Possibly since Joel's mentor was killed. He himself had sworn that he'd surrender to the wolf, that he would never allow anyone to reconnect to his human nature and yet here he was, speaking with another human. A Whiteface, even! It had been a long time coming since he'd spoken with another human being and even longer since he spoke like one of the Whitefaces themselves. He knew as well as the pack did that him speaking as one of his own people was only a front to hide what he was really like.

He hadn't just learned the Assassin trade with his mentor, a Black Skin. He'd learned proper english and how to read and write. He learned how to be civil. But when his mentor was murdered by the Redcloaks, Joel reverted back to the wilderness from whence he'd come and now lived with wolves. To him, it was strange to know the things that the Whitefaces knew and to never put them into practice. He didn't want to. "Know that if girl decides to aid freedom fighters against Red clad Whitefaces," he began slowly, his voice sounding sad and slightly muffled by the wolf's fur. "Then Pack will protect you if you need it."

Shaeem kept listening to him while he was softly talking. His voice may had been muffled by Dakota's fur, she could still hear some... sadness in his voice. She stayed like that a moment before she softly reached for his arms, again, before she stopped. She kept still for a moment before she looked away, or at least pretended. Could she ask him? Dragonheart, why is your voice so sad, so soft? But she did not. She kept like that before she did just like if she was looking down.

"We'll see at the moment my leg will get better"

She had no urge to leave the pack. She had no urge to come back to Boston and again, be treated as the ghost that she was. Would those men even accept her help? Everyone knew who she was, or at least had heard of her. They would recognize her and maybe try not to get involved with her. She sighed. The only one that had treated her like more wasn't even completely human himself. Dragonheart was a wolfman. Apparently, people like him would get her better than any other would...

(*May have been muffled by Dakota's fur, but she could still hear sadness in his voice.
*She stayed like that before she moved, casting her gaze onto the ground as though she could see it.
*We'll see the moment my leg gets better.
*Apparently, people like him would like her better than any other would)

Joel could only nod in acknowledgement and remained silent through the rest of the day until he couldn't stand to simply sit still. Instead, he rose to his feet and dislodged his wolf companion in the process. He needed something to do, or he felt he would surrender to the wolf right then and there. Clenching his fists, he marched to his bag and took out a carving knife and a small branch he'd picked up somewhere and began to whittle it, the sound of wood being slowly chipped and shaped filling the silence. He was making something.

Shaeem turned to him when he got up, She wasn't a talkative being, regardless if she was a ghost or not. She sure acted if she was one. Maybe because she was so used to it. But sure Dragonheart wasn't. She heard him walking and, after a moment, she hears the repetitive sound of woodcarving. She stayed still, her fine eyebrows raised under her dark fringe of fine black hair. She wanted to say something, to thank him for everything he had done so far but she stayed quiet.

He said nothing all the while he whittled away at the wood. Instead, every so often he would look up at one of the pack members to try and figure out what it was exactly he wanted to portray. Then his eyes fell upon one of the members of this pack that couldn't hunt and whom Dakota had given a portion of the kill to. "Adsila." The mother wolf rose stiffly to her paws and lumbered like a bear over to Joel's side. When she got to him, he petted her head for a moment before he ordered her to do something in his native tongue. She whimpered in understanding and stretched herself out as best as she could a little distance away, curled up like she would be when she had her puppies. And from there, his inspiration took flight. The wood immediately began to take the shape of a mother wolf with a pup.

Shaeem wasn't moving at all. Like that, she would have looked like a corpse. Or rather and more beautifully said, a porcelain doll, like those that would be found in rich and noble houses. She just needed to be paler. Her skin was a little bit tanned. It was understandable why her Master would force her to put talc power in her face to look like a ghost. After a moment, she couldn't stand it. Curious, she tried to move a little bit before trying to focus on his work, closing her blind eyes. Shaeem stood still a moment before she whispered:

"You are doing art. There's something artistic in what you're doing... I feel femininity, but... it doesn't seem to be coming from you."

Joel couldn't help but smile at Shaeem's comment before he examined the woodwork. He flicked off bits of wood before he added a few more details and stopped. He examined it again before he looked over to Adsila, the mother wolf. "Wolf pack gives inspiration when there's nothing to be done." He said simply, nodding to the mother and watching as she rose to her paws stiffly and made her way over to the girl. "Adsila." He sounded like he was introducing Shaeem to the she-wolf.

Shaeem rose the chin in curiosity, as if she was looking at the mother wolf. She kept still for a moment before she made a small reverence, lowering the head. “I am Shaeem” She said after a moment, feeling a shiver running down her spine. The she-wolf was quite close to her. Shaeem remembered everything her master had told her with a smile. Wolves are dangerous, they are savage and vile. But what if she was herself dangerous, savage and vile? Then that would be the last sign to show that she now was part of something closer to her heart than being the young ghost girl.

Adsila took a sniff at Shaeem's hands before she gave the girl a soft lick of her tongue. She had been accepted by not only the Alpha and his mate, but by a mother wolf as well. Joel couldn't believe it. Slowly but surely, his pack was accepting this stranger this...this Whiteface. Perhaps this was the spirits' way of telling him that perhaps he should accept her too. But why? She hadn't proved useful at all. Perhaps she would, he thought quietly to himself. Perhaps she would.