Airek gave up on the wolf when he sensed he was being hunted. He turned his head toward the nearby village, then turned back to the wolf. "I'll be back for you." he told the wolf, staring at his eyes. He carved a small slit on the wolf's back, to mark it, then he put hand over it and cast some dark
magecraft, making sure the wound would not heal. He got up. The wolf hadn't moved in some time. He heard talking, and without hesitating, he jumped away into the shadows, waiting to see his intruders.
Luko felt almost
immediate relief when the demon tailless had gone, but a
persistent pain was jolting through him, the blood trickling lightly from his back. Whining, he turned his head and tried to lick the wound, but it was useless. It was times like this when he regretted becoming a lone wolf, but it was far too late to go back now. Standing, shakily, he peered through the trees and saw nothing. He gave a long,
mournful howl to the forest, asking it to help him.
Airek stayed in his hiding spot some ways away from the wolf. It howled a shaky, cub-like howl. He wanted to see what the hunters looked like, so he waited patiently. He saw a figure jogging toward the wolf. He needed to be closer. Quietly,
Airek moved toward another bush, closer to the hunters. He was afraid of them catching his demon scent, so he didn't dare get too close.
He finally saw the one that jogged up the hill. He'd seen what he needed to, so he ran off. That hunter would be his next target. He laughed to himself.
This job won't be hard at all, he thought.
The demon feeling was gone now, but
Jakar had seen someone run through the trees a moment before. As he and
Asmeen drew closer, a wolf and boy came into view. The wolf had a deep gash in it's back and was howling sadly.
The boy must be one of the New-Land people, thought
Jakar. He approached the boy, beckoning to
Asmeen.
"Greetings, we come from the Hot Red Land." he said, holding out his browned hand.
Asmeen jumped high in her traditional tribe's greeting. She looked to
Jakar and then the cold-land boy. She then added her own statement to
Jakar's, "May your blood run true. We come, not of ill-design, but instead in open of the situation." The first part was the Lion tribe's official greeting and the last was her own part- very formal from nervousness. She extended her own black-as-night skinned hand to the foreigner as
Jakar had done.
Cyrun had followed
Sayth to the wolf, he was sad, but she didn't show she knew. Shortly after they had arrived, a girl and a boy stepped out and she hid behind a tree–out of view but in earshot. After signalling to
Sayth that she was there, with there sparrow signal–adding a low dip in the middle that a sparrow normally never does–she waited, hoping the strangers hadn't noticed the change in tune. The strangers said they were from the hot red land, she'd never met anyone from there before.
Sayth looked curiously at the dark skinned people, he knew
Cyrun was there, he had heard their signal, but he wisely resisted acknowledging her presence with the strangers watching him. He took both the brown boy and girls hand and clasped each one in turn then, letting go, made the sign of friendship.
"I'm
Sayth, Lynx Clan," he knelt down to tend to the wolf's wound, letting it sniff his hand before touching it. "You look very cold, do you want to come to the clan meet to get some suitable clothes," he smiled, then beckoned at
Cyrun to come, they seemed friendly.
"Very much so!"
Asmeen exclaimed, forgetting herself. She cringed
remembering that these people with the intelligent-looking beast might not be safe. She stepped behind
Jakar, embarrassed at not respectfully waiting for his answer. In her tribe, the children waited for the adults to make decisions.
Sayth smiled, but I seemed that the younger one wouldn't do anything until the older dark-skin had made a decision. He didn't want to offend anyone but he didn't think they should wait.
"It may not be the way in your clans, but here we try to get moving as soon as possible," then he laughed to let them know he was making a joke, "And try to avoid evil laughs at all costs. Shall we go, it's north so it will get colder before it gets warmer."
He called to
Cyrun, "Are you coming?" then stroked the wolf.