#But I'd already decided that Anneke deserved this.

[slusheeduck]

WIP Whenever

I was tagged by @falmerbrook! ...a while ago. I'm tagging @im-fairly-whitty, @sheepwithspecs, and @bzedan--if you want to do it, obvi.

I was hoping to have something for one of my fics started this week, but alas--too much work. Instead, I'll just do a lil thing from my original work:

He scrambled over the soft, slippery carpet of leaves beneath his feet, lungs burning as he gasped in cold breath after cold breath. The wolf was close on his heels, howling. Oh, god, it was calling more. He pushed himself over a fallen tree, nearly stumbling over it as he tried to heave himself forward one-handed. The box! He was still carrying the box!

He threw it aside, then sprinted in the opposite direction. But the wolf stayed close, and it was much more practiced in the art of the chase than he was. His calves burned, his lungs ached, and as he tried to push forward in one last burst of speed, his foot caught on the gnarled root of a tree, sending him crashing down to the forest floor. He rolled over as quickly as he could, just in time to see the wolf lunge at him.

As he braced himself for what would no doubt be a very painful death, something leaped over him, straddling his chest. He automatically heaved himself back through its—they, it was human (or something close)—through their legs, gaping as he caught sight of their fist plunging into the wolf’s open mouth. The wolf gagged, teeth clamping over the person’s arm, but they held their stance and pushed the wolf back. It gagged again, and as they drew their arm out of its mouth, it made a horrible hacking noise as it backed away. Finally, it opted to turn and run, still huffing out coughs as it went.

Cai stayed very still, breathing hard as he watched the wolf run off. Finally, he looked up at his savior. In the dark, he couldn’t make out more than the bulky shape of them, covered as they were with furs. They breathed hard, clouds puffing up over the hooded shape of their head, then they finally shook out their hand.

“Gods damn, that hurt more than I thought it would.�� They turned; their face was shielded by their hood and a thick scarf, but Cai could just see pale blue eyes narrowed at him. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to wander in the forest alone?”

“I…well, yes,” he said weakly.

“Oh, so you just decided to play tag with a wolf in the dark for fun, then?” The voice was decidedly feminine, with an odd accent he’d never heard before. His savior narrowed her eyes at him again, then rolled them before holding out her hand. “You’re from that town, aren’t you? Just like stadvolken, you never can manage outside of your cushy homes.”

Cai took her hand, legs shaking as she pulled him up to his feet. “I…yes. Thank you. I…I don’t know how to repay you,” he said, voice hoarse.

She looked over him for a moment, the sliver of her face clearly unimpressed. “Well, you didn’t piss yourself. Suppose that’s thanks enough.” She looked down at her bitten arm. “No broken skin on me, either.”

Cai looked down at her arm, then back up at her face. “You…oh my god, you punched a wolf in the mouth,” he finally said, eyes widening.

“I did. Stupid of me, actually, but I’m always weak for dramatics. Don’t do that, by the way.” She held her arm up for him to see. Thick padding covered her arm, and small bits of straw and wool poked out. “He’d’ve bitten your arm clean off.” She let out a little huff, then nodded. “You have a camp?”

“I…I did.”

“You’re not hopeless, then, that’s good. Come with me; I’ll get you to the inn.” She’d already started walking. He quickly loped to catch up with her, then stopped.

“Oh, the…hang on! I had a-a box. A wooden one, about this big?” He held up his hands in an approximate size. “I threw it during the chase, but it’s, uh, it’s important.”

Her pale eyebrows rose. “Not that important, clearly,” she said, though she started poking through the undergrowth with her boot.

“Well, it wouldn’t do me any good if I was that wolf’s dinner,” Cai said dryly. “But…I need to take it somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Merrhun?”

“Merrhun?” She whirled around staring at him. “That’s clear across the valley! You’re not gonna survive that—even without the spritvolken wandering around, you couldn’t get ten feet in the forest without a wolf trying to chomp you to pieces.” She waved a gloved hand. “Tell you what, from someone who actually knows her way round here, you’re better off heading back home.”

“I can’t. It’s…well, it’s a long story.” Cai, knelt down in the weeds, looked up at her. “Look. Thank you for saving me. I-I wish I could repay you, but you don’t have to hang around if you don’t want.” He let out a long sigh, giving a shrug. “I know what I’m doing is a long shot. That’s…well, that’s my burden to bear.”

He continued looking for the box, trying not to be too disappointed as he heard her start to walk away, footsteps fading. Well. Things could be worse than being alone again.

Before he could start feeling too badly about himself, though, something large and wooden was suddenly shoved in front of his nose.

“This your box?” the woman asked.

Cai let out a quick gasp, and he took the box gladly. “Oh, yes! Yes, it is, thank you!” He gave her a wide grin, and she waved a gloved hand.

“Oh, hush up, hush up,” she said. “No need to fall over yourself.” She set her hands on her hips. “Let’s find your camp and pack you up. I’ll get you to the Midforest Inn, and then we can talk about this mad plan of yours to get to Merrhun.” She held out her hand to help him up. “Name’s Anneke, by the way.”

“Anneke,” Cai repeated, then shook his head. “Oh! Oh, I’m Cai.”

Anneke nodded for him to follow her. “Then come on, Cai. It’s a bit of a walk, but let’s be honest: you won’t be sleeping after that anyway.”