The snow fell in large, soft flakes, obscuring her vision from the view in front of her. The dark forest loomed ahead, giving off the horrid stench of death and decay. Her bright yellow jacket blew behind her slightly, dressed for rain, not snow, she padded farther down the fresh path, with only big, dog-like, paws tracked in the snow to lead her. She followed them, stepping into the inches of clean, untouched snow, slowly and carefully like a gazelle following a lion, she followed Tarren.
Before to long, there was more to follow then the paws in the white snow, where the ground should lay, drops of red scattered the ground around the tiny path, leading her to the beast. She had done this before, followed him, he was, indubitably, her best friend, her brother. She never knew when it would happen, but it always did on a Thursday. Maybe once or twice a month, she would come home from the village, the house torn apart, the baby left alone, Tarren gone. She always knew where to find him.
She carried the baby with her, on her back in the sling she had fashioned out of rope and a torn curtain. She listened to him softly gurgle in her ear, her favourite sound. He was not her brother, but she needed him, to keep her stable. She liked to have someone she was responsible for, someone who depended on her. She didn't know where he came from, but she bought him in the village, only a few days old, from a poor man, needed money for food, so he sold her his son, whom she named Faelan, little wolf.
The drops of red faded into the puddles, either her brother was in trouble, or he had gotten something big. She continued on the path, deeper into the forest. The snow fall seemed to cease, but it might have been the sheet of branches that shaded her head from the above moonlight. She chose not to think of what animal Terran was laying his teeth into, and focused on the task at hand, finding him and bringing him home.
Finally the path broke into a clearing, which catered to the smell of rotting flesh. She knew he would be hiding, so she wandered into the field of dead animals, calling his name. "Tarren? Tarren?" She said, her voice beginning a scared whisper, but soon gaining its normal power as she beckoned him into the clearing of bones and flesh. The torn animals seemed to give of a warmth, as though the blood was still running fresh, even though some of the corpses were graying with rotten age.
The brush moved, only slightly but she knew he was coming. She bent down, placing one knee in a rabbits stomach, and snapped her fingers. "Come here." She said sternly. "Now." His nose pushed out from the smallest bush, which she could now see was barely hiding his back. "Come." He did, slowly his body emerged, on four legs, and approached her. His fur was matted with blood and sweat, and his hind leg was torn open, likely from the fight with the bear she saw out of the corner of her eye.
She reached a hand up and stroked his head. "Come back." She whispered, like she had so many times. The baby gurgled again, distracting the wolf from her face. "Shhhh." She said, shushing Faelan, and stroked Tarren's head to get his attention once again. "Come back." She whispered again, holding his face. She felt his muscle twitch beneath her hand, she closed her eyes and waited. She didn' open her eyes until Faelan began to giggle, he always did.
"Sorry." The coarse, low voice she recognized as her brothers whispered. She opened her eyes to the boy standing before her. His green eyes more dog than human, his oddly shaped muscles, his legs a little short compared to his body, his eyebrow raised to an arc that she understood as an apology. "Lets go." She said, handing him a wad of clothing before turning from the smell of the clearing to let him change. When he was done, together, they left the forest, The girl, The wolf-boy, and the baby.
Sitting on the stool in the kitchen, she pushed Terran's head back into the steady water over the wash tub. His hair was matted down and needed to be washed badly. His face was gashed and bleeding badly, as she tried to wipe away a majority of the blood, he flinched. She opted not to bother the cut and simply covered it with a bandage and a few pieces of the tricky medical tape she kept in the first aid kit. She pushed a handful of shampoo through Terran's thick blond hair.
"I meant to leave the baby with Glorie." He said, closing his eyes, waiting for her to rinse the suds from his hair. "But you didn't." She answered, sighing, "You're lucky, he was sleeping." The water poured over his hair, just barely falling into his dark eyes. "I'm sorry." He said, for what must have been the hundredth time since they had left the clearing. "I know." She said, wrapping a small towel around Terran's head. He slipped down from the counter and went to change again, as his jeans were wet around the feet and his shoulders had been soaked by the falling snow.
She turned on the stool and watched the baby, playing with a small rattle, shaking it and giggling. She smiled. It seemed superficial taking him in, all she had wanted was someone to boss around, the way Terran had bossed her. But she had soon fallen in love with the little boy, cuddling him as he slept in her arms, watching him play, like she was now, and having someone to call her own, someone who needed her. She had only planned on letting Terran take over when she decided he wasn't fun anymore, like a doll thrown at a twelve year old, but it never happened.
