The night before had been exhausting. Every shift was a draining experience, but this time the ache in his bones dug a little deeper; his eyelids drooped a little heavier. The lycan felt like he had a boulder strapped to his back as he trudged back to his makeshift camp, following the landmarks he’d scouted out the day before. His feet dragged as he passed what remained of a bandit camp’s crumbling walls, the spike walls ablaze with the light of the rising sun. He had intended to reach the location of his next job by midday, but if he was going to get any sort of rest it would more likely be late in the evening by the time he arrived.

It was foolish to have sent Ojuk off to do as he pleased. Certainly the local farmers mistrusted wargs, and understandably so. More often than not they were the cause of terrible livestock damages–in fact, Ojuk may be partially responsible by now. But damn if Olvar wouldn’t like a ride to camp about now. Occasional traces of the beast’s scent marked the area, but they were stale. Calling endlessly would give away his location to any other nearby parties, and his mount was likely to ignore him anyway if the sound of a threat didn't accompany the call.

So he walked. And walked. And walked, endlessly.

By the time Olvar reached the little hollow in the hills where his gear had been stashed, his bare feet were sore and aching from every sharp pebble and unseen thorn he’d trudged over. Every other breath was a mumbled curse. He barely bothered to dress himself, pulling on trousers and tunic alone before laying down to rest his head on his armor. A few hours of sleep was all he needed. Then he could be on his way. “Just a few hours,” he mumbled to himself, then pulled a blanket over his head and closed his weary eyes.

Gemma moved about the plains with a peaked interest. “You aren’t going to find it,” Gaea crossed her arms.

“I’m going to find it. I’ve never lost an animal yet!” She exclaimed as she started to sniff about. Both girls had their long blonde tresses down with white lilies behind their ears. Each twin was wearing a dress of light blue and yellow. The dresses were inverted as to tell the twins apart. “Two hundred years and I’m not going to fail to find a puppy now!” She started to look through bushes.

Gaea sighed a bit and held a grimace on her face as she tracked behind her twin sister. “Some puppies bite sister.” She was trying to make her sister understand the dangers of tracking down a random animal but alas nothing was going on.

“This one won’t.” Gemma got the scent trail and was on the move in a furious way in one direction. Gaea took a giant sigh as she grabbed a stick. She was going probably going to need this. “I HAVE FOUND YOU PUPPY.” She pounced over a huge bush and landed on a sleeping man. Her pink eyes got huge as she was close to his face. “You’re not a puppy.”

“No dumbass… That’s a werewolf.” Gaea said enthusiastically as she poked the man with the stick.

Gemma made a sad face as she leaned over him in a straddled position and took hold of his ears feeling them. “He smells like a dog. I really thought he was one…”

Gaea took a deep sigh and had a smirk. “What was that about you never being wrong about an animal?”

Gemma blushed a bit and pulled on Olvar’s ears as she looked up at her sister. “I AM NEVER WRONG. He smelled like a dog and I found him. He’s at least part puppy.”

Gaea held an amused look as she poked at Olvar. “Hey, bite my sister on the tit or something… So she gets off of you. We need to leave…”

There was a bright blush on Gemma’s face. “Not… my breasts Gaea… That’s evil.” She moved her hands to her bust. “I really don’t like that when men do that.” Gaea laughed hard a bit as she poked at the man again. “Please don’t bite me Mr. Puppy.” Gemma looked down at Olvar shyly. “You haven’t seen a man wandering around here have you? Our sister told us she sent someone to escort us.” Gemma finally lowered her hands and poked Olvar in the face.

Years of living on the road had trained Olvar’s senses for survival. He paid more attention to when the air changed, indicating an incoming storm; he noticed disturbances in the terrain, potentially alerting him to another party in the area; he was woken by sounds more easily, voices, for example. But it didn’t take years on the road for someone to be woken by a shout only a few feet away. His eyes blinked open just in time to see a small figure, not standing over him, but instead leaping onto his chest. His reaction was immediate, albeit somewhat panicked.

One arm rose to guard himself while his other hand shot out to the hilt of his nearest blade. His forearm braced against the stranger’s collarbone as his fingers stretched to the grip of his seax knife, pulling it closer. Furious hazel eyes fixed on his attacker’s face, and… gave him pause. A girl? Olvar turned his gaze to the side. Two girls. “How do you know what I am?” he growled, still at the ready for combat. The pair were odd to say the least, but he saw no weapons on their persons aside from a stick that poked at his arm. He abandoned his seax knife to the grass, though only to pull one of the first girl’s hands from his ear with a frown. “Stop that!”

Of all the women he’d ever met, none had ever been so lacking in their sense of space. Or personal boundaries for that matter, he thought to himself as he caught the stick with a glare. Tightening his fist was all it took to snap the end. “She will get off of me regardless if she knows what’s good for her,” the lycan warned. Immediately he knew that his mentor would disapprove of his attitude, but what other response would be appropriate? He would pay good coin to see Simon stuck in such a position.

“I haven’t seen anyone else since I arrived in this endless bloody plain,” he grumbled, sitting up to unbalance the girl straddling him. “If you need an escort I suggest you find someone with a minimal sense of personal space, to match your… Your sister?” A low-hanging dread settled into the shifter’s gut. “She isn’t… Is your sister called Basselina?” Olvar was not religious. He never had been. But in that moment, he prayed silently to whatever god that may be listening, begging for a negative answer. Escorting these two? He’d never survive.

Gemma was startled lightly. “Geeze Gaea… I think you are right. I think this Puppy bites.” She pouted at Olvar softly. “You smell like a puppy… It isn’t that hard to figure out what you are.” She gently poked him once again once he pulled her hands from his ears.

“Good luck with that. In two hundred years Gemma has never learned what’s good for her. I’ve been trying to teach her but she jumps on the first man who smells like a puppy.” Gemma stuck her tongue out. Soon Gemma fell back as he sat up. She was in an odd position as she stared up at Gaea.

“Aye, that would be our younger sister. She is a six-foot-tall muscular redhead… Scary probably offered a lot of coin for you to do this?” Gaea put her hands on her hips as she dropped her broken stick.

There was a low squeal that left Gemma’s lips as she flung herself up onto Olvar’s neck. “Mr. Puppy is going to be our new escort!” She rubbed her cheek against his happily.

Gaea had a look of dread towards Olvar. “I’m going to pray for you.” She put her hands together and bowed to Olvar. “Gemma I am sure that this man has a name. You can’t just call him Puppy.” Gemma stared at her sister before she squealed more and rubbed her face on Olvar’s. “Sorry… She is… Special.”

“I am excited! It has been a long time since we’ve had another traveling companion!” Gemma smiled up at Olvar. “My name is Gemma and this is my sister Gaea. We’re Basselina’s older sisters. We’re on our way to collect crystal flowers from Vada and then we need to travel back down to Adeluna to sell them.”

Gaea grabbed her sister and pulled her off Olvar. "She is obsessive with touching people new. I apologize for how intrusive she is." It was like she was holding a puppy by the skin of their neck as Gemma gave a smile towards Olvar.

Scary was putting it mildly. Olvar had a difficult time believing that the woman who had hired him was the younger sibling of one who acted so childishly bubbly. But the coin was indeed good, and he would rarely pass up an offer to pad his pockets. He hadn’t expected escort work like this though. “I’ll know to ask for more next time,” he grumbled, bracing an arm behind him to stand, but Gemma knocked him over again when she flung herself at him for the second time in a two minute span. The lycan made an annoyed sound just short of a growl as she rubbed her cheek against his. A forearm between them was used in an attempt to regain some space. “I’ll need it,” he told Gaea.

“My name is Olvar Tyresus,” he informed the twins, once again pushing Gemma back enough that he could breathe. Boundaries needed to be established, and quickly. “I will protect you to Vada, then back to Adeluna, but if I’m going to do that you need to get off of me.” Gemma was lucky he wasn’t a dog as she’d hoped. She’d have been bitten right from the start.

“I caught on to that, believe it or not,” the lycan told Gaea. Now free, he stood and shook the grass out of his hair. His attention went once more to the sisters. Next time he would ask for more coin. Olvar looked to the skies, guessing by the sun that he’d gotten maybe four hours of sleep. A few was what he’d wanted, and a few was what he got. He sighed. Fine. “We’ll start north in a few minutes,” he told them, then went about gathering his gear. His armor he stashed, not wanting to overheat in the sun while they trekked across the plains. His overcoat was loose enough to allow air beneath it, as well as conceal the weapons at his back and hip. He pulled it on.

Despite his supplies being relatively minimal, carrying the additional weight of his armor had proved to tire him out after only a few hours in the past, a problem which he solved with a bit of outside help. From his bag he produced a horn, cut and carved with intricate designs of wolves running from one end to the other. When blown, it produced a note, long and low, with a rasp almost akin to the baying of a twisted hound. By the time Olvar had stashed the horn again, a similar sound drifted back over the hills in reply. “Come on then.” He started up the hill, pleasantly surprised by how close Ojuk had stayed.

It was only a few minutes before the warg arrived, loping across the hills to meet his alpha. The lycan squared his shoulders, stepping between the beast and his charges with careful attention to keeping Gemma back. “Be nice,” he instructed the animal firmly as it jerked to a halt a few yards away. Ojuk’s hackles had bristled at the sight of strangers, relaxing only at his master’s command. He subdued a growl. With claws like talons kneading the ground, he stepped closer, sniffing curiously at the twins, peering at them from beneath the great scar spanning his forehead as Olvar secured his armor to the saddle.

For a moment there was a dark glimmer in Gaea’s eyes. “Don’t let her bubbly nature fool you though.” Gemma looked up at her sister as she was finally off of Olvar. It was more of a warning but Gaea put her sister down and dusted off Gemma’s dress.

The two sisters talked in whispers as Olvar did his thing. They followed him rather obediently but not too far from him. Be nice. Gemma immediately looked around Olvar’s body to see the warg. Her eyes got really big. It didn’t matter if it was a little puppy or big puppy. Actually puppy or dangerous warg.

“Don’t do it, Gemma,” Gaea warned finally loud enough for Olvar to hear after several minutes of being silent. Ojuk was coming closer to Gemma as well. “Don’t do it, GEMMA,” Gaea warned yet again as Gemma cautiously went towards the warg.

When Gemma finally held her hand out to the warg Ojuk seemed to spazz in her presence. “WHO IS A GOOD BOY?!” Gemma squealed as the warg was all over her and she was rubbing his belly. Gaea let out a low groan.

“This is an animal of war… and you’ve turned it into a giant dog.” This was clearly what Gaea had been warning Gemma not to do. “Why did my sister have to be gifted with a nice pleasant scent?” She rubbed her head and watched as Ojuk licked on her sister who was giggling.

“Hey sis?” Gemma looked up at Gaea with Ojuk practically on her lap on the ground. “Why are we going to do for supplies? We have none. We have forage until we hit the rainforest but what then?”

Gaea thought for a few moments. “We need to find Corydalis. She will have supplies and I can also make medicine we’re going to need for the trip. Knowing you… You’ll fall down a bunch and I’ll need salve to treat it. Not to mention we should keep extra salve on us just in case for Olvar and the warg as well. With the slavers about in these parts we can’t just stop and do as we please so growing the necessary plants isn’t an optimal choice for us. We’ll actually have to ask for them from Corydalis. Once more, the slavers have an active path all the way up to Vada so the chances of us getting ambushed in the rainforest is a good one. We should let Olvar do the fighting and only protect ourselves. It would be disastrous if we tried to fight especially in a heavily earthen place like this.”

Gemma tilted her head and looked sad for a moment before she rubbed Ojuk’s belly more. “Sounds good. Olvar we’re going to need to go into the northernmost part of the rainforest… That’s a few days travel from here. From there we’re going to have to make sure not to startle the tribe in the rainforest. So if we get a bunch of spears pointed at us… We just ask for Corydalis we don’t fight them. The trip into where Corydalis is in the rainforest is about a day’s trip by itself. Not to mention her ability to get the supplies we need is… well it might take some time. We can use it to wash up and prepare for the next leg of the journey.” Her voice had changed from bubbly to serious as they spoke. “The herbal plants we need should be common in Corydalis’s village so Gaea can make medicine. That’s why we have chosen Corydalis over our other sister Daphne. Daphne is in the southern part of Laeto but she doesn’t have the herbs in as much of an abundance.”

Olvar’s attention was pulled from securing his armor only by Gaea’s warning. Hazel eyes landed on Gemma only to skip quickly to his warg. “Ojuk…” The beast was as stiff as a board, staring at intently at the twin as she approached. It wouldn’t be unexpected to see him grab her extended hand in his maw. “Ojuk, hold!” he commanded, but his words went unheeded. The hulking canine sniffed deeply at her scent, standing tensely until she cried out a praise. In an instant he had dropped into an uncharacteristic play bow. His short tail waved behind him, and he let out an ear-ringing bellow at Gemma.

As his warg climbed practically into the half-nymph’s lap, covering her with slobber as he licked her face, Olvar could only stare. Questions died on his lips as quickly as they came, as if a question could even be heard over Ojuk’s excited wailing. Even as Gemma spoke to Gaea, Ojuk was pushing his muzzle under her arm for more attention. The woman had turned surprisingly serious, however, once again catching the shifter off guard.

It seems a necessary plan had already laid itself out before them, making Olvar’s job easier to predict, but much longer. Regardless, their next steps were clear: reach the northern stretch of the rainforest. Avoiding town was a safer idea for the twins, and something that the lycan had become quite familiar with, so alternative medicines would be the best option. He and Ojuk were also more than capable of hunting as they needed it, so food would hardly be a problem while they traveled. Quieter roads would offer less trouble as well. Everything seemed laid out. It was never that easy though.

“It sounds like Laeto is our next destination then. We should move out to make the most of the day. I’ll take care of anyone we happen to cross along the way.” He nudged Ojuk with the back of his hand, urging the warg to his feet. His mount rose, but would remain near Gemma, even as they traveled, sneaking licks and pushing his nose under her hands. It would be Olvar’s job to remain on alert. “Let’s go.”

Gemma seemed not bothered by all of the slobber. She smiled down at Ojuk. “You are so sweet Ojuk.” She pet him some more and kept him calm. Gemma was able to pay attention to Ojuk while they talked.

Soon they were on their way to the next great adventure. Gemma stayed with Ojuk who was being protective of her. She rubbed his head from time to time and looked out over the plains. It was a wide open area so it was easy to see anything nearby.

Gaea was standing a bit closer to Olvar but she wasn’t touching him. Her eyes were watching around them as well. She took a few deep breaths as she thought about things. “We haven’t been out in a field like this during the day in ages.” Gaea mused towards her sister.

“Not since we met our father. He is a bit of a grouch now that I think about it.”

“You would be a grouch too if you were the only male nymph for miles,” Gaea smirked a bit. Unfortunately for them, that meant there were a lot of children and so they weren’t talked to at all. It was such a glorious thought that she stopped watching where she was going. She moved over into some tall grass.

There was a sudden spring sound and Gaea howled in pain as she fell. A giant trap was ensnared around her leg and blood was going everywhere. She began to whimper. Gemma screamed and ran towards her sister. “GEMMA STOP!” Gaea snapped at her sister. “Stay out of the grass,” she whimpered as she tried to pull the trap out. “I can’t get the damn thing.” Gaea was in tears now form the pain as her hands slipped from all the blood.

“Olvar do something!” Gemma was being kept back by Ojuk now as her eyes were tearing up. “Please.”

The twins chatted as they walked, Olvar listening on and off as he kept an eye out. He noted worn tracks, days old at least, but nothing new traveling in either direction. The main trade roads were farther west, so the lack of traffic wasn’t surprising. He heard mention of the girls’ father, and thought briefly back to his own. It had been nearly a decade since he’d last seen him. The lycan’s heart ached for home, but there was no going back. Even if somehow he found a way back to his native land, the farm he’d grown up on was certainly sold or overgrown by now.

So enticing were his wandering thoughts that he barely noticed Gaea’s drifting course until it was too late. Even as he reached for her arm to pull her back to the path, the spring released, and the trap snapped shut. “Ojuk!” he snapped, and the warg, sensing the seriousness in his alpha’s voice, was quick to respond. He placed himself solidly in front of Gemma, blocking the other nymph off from the grasses.

Olvar took a knee beside Gaea, pushing the foliage off to one side so he could see. “Stop pulling, you’re going to hurt yourself,” he scolded lightly. Attempting to yank free would only result in torn flesh and a worse wound. The trap would have to be forced open.

Positioning himself to one side of the iron jaws, the lycan slid his fingers between the teeth. “Gemma, get the rag from Ojuk’s saddle,” he called, then lowered his voice to speak to Gaea. “Exhale.” With one foot he leaned onto the spring, pulling his hands apart as he did so. With a whine of protest, the trap squeaked open a few inches. With pressure relieved, the blood would begin to flow more freely, making his hands more likely to slip. The shifter gritted his teeth, giving one more strong pull against the jaws. “Leg out!” he ordered Gaea.

As soon as the twin was free, he released his grip, the iron clanging loudly as it snapped back together. With Ojuk keeping Gemma on the trail, Olvar was able to focus on getting Gaea out of the tall grasses and back to relative safety. “The rag, here.” He beckoned the other sister over. “Good. Now my canteen, next to my armor.” As he held pressure on the wound, he glanced over at his impromptu patient. “Focus on breathing. It helps.”

“Okay,” Gaea let out a long hiss as she stopped pulling. Gemma reached up and nervously pet Ojuk. Her eyes were glued to her twin sister. She could feel a numb pain in her own leg. She rubbed it out of habit but looked back down at Ojuk.

“I have an idea Ojuk,” she whispered to the warg.

Gaea nodded as Gemma’s attention snapped back to Olvar. “Right!” Gemma got all the things he needed and brought them over to him. Gaea let out a scream but obviously one she was trying to hold in as he pulled the trap off of her. Gaea pulled her leg out with her arms and took a giant breath as the trap snapped shut with a vengeance.

After Gemma had delivered all of the things and Gaea nodding to Olvar… The other twin went back to Ojuk. “I need you to do something. Release three short howls followed by two long ones. I know you might have a bit of trouble but… For me?” She kissed Ojuk’s snout.

Gaea was startled at Ojuk. “Gemma! What are you doing?” She yelled at her other twin who put her hand up to stop Gaea. Her finger was to her lips to order both Olvar and Gaea to be quiet as Ojuk finished. It wasn’t the best but in a few short seconds after Ojuk finished there were a few different responses. Some seemed relatively far away but there was one that was close.

Up on an approaching hill ran two wolves. A large black direwolf with a smaller more feminine white wolf by its side. After inspecting the group the white wolf shifted. The woman was lithe, nude, with long white hair. Her deep amber eyes were drilling into Olvar’s form but she made her way closer. “They are some of Angela’s!” She yelled up to the black wolf.

“Easy now. You were probably looking for Belle weren’t you?” Gemma nodded sadly. “Well… Her and Jayden are far off but I think that I have stuff that may be able to help.” The white she-wolf knelt down to look at the wound. “They’ve been putting these damn traps everywhere in the tall grass. They are built extra strong so people like us get stuck in them. Only someone very strong can get it open.” Her eyes moved back to Olvar. “Krys!” She yelled up to the black wolf who was watching from afar. “I need that bag of salve. My name is Liz, I’m a half Lycanthrope half Rosenite. My mother is Cathrine… So that makes us cousins my friends. The black wolf is my mate Krystopher. We hunt here in Bohar when we pass through.”

Gaea seemed relieved. “I was hoping for some medicine. I am glad you have some.”

Liz looked up and nodded. “It’s our last bit of it but you can’t leave something like this untreated.” The black wolf came closer and dropped the salve in Liz’s arms before nuzzling her softly. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be careful.” She kissed his nose and he padded off back on top of the hill to watch. She handed the salve to Olvar. “He is respecting you as one alpha to another. Not that it matters much I don’t buy the alpha bullshit anyways.” There was a bit of playfulness to Liz.

“Thank you, Liz. I’ll make sure to make you more,” Gaea said finally in a gasp of air.

Liz waved her hand in protest. “Don’t worry about it. I heal fast and so does Krystopher. If we get hurt we just blink our way through it. Though that is a nasty wound you won’t be walking on that leg any time soon.” Gaea nodded a bit. “Remember to stay out of the tall grass.” Liz got up and shifted back as she stretched and ran back up the hill. The two were gone after that.

“I knew we had werewolves in our family but I’ve never met them. We never go home much… Gemma, you knew?”

“I knew about Belle and Jayden. The black wolf smells like Jayden sorta… I wonder if he’s related.” Gemma waved her hand as she gave Olvar the canteen again to wash the wound. Once Gaea was treated and the wound was wrapped up Gaea stood up with the help of Olvar.

“I didn’t even notice I drifted. I’m sorry Olvar.” Gaea’s words were soft but she normally didn’t make mistakes like that. Had she been too lost in thought? "I don't know if I can walk on this." She let out a hiss as she tried to take a step and her leg started to give.