Of Cats and Wolves - teaser
by KatiKat
Flashes of light crisscrossed the night sky and thunder rolled down the
mountain where the village of the Wolf Clan lay. The rain fell down in heavy
drops and turned the narrow streets into rivers of mud. The storm raged,
hitting the stone houses with full force. But the people here were used to
weather like this and so they slept peacefully, unfazed by the battle of nature
forces outside their safe havens.
And in one of the houses, a small Wolf boy slept curled up on a large bed. His
father had left in the evening just before the storm started, smelling the
heavy rain in the air. He wanted to make sure their traps in the woods wouldnīt
get flushed out. The iron they used for them was a rare material here in the
mountains, and the traders came only twice a year and only in the summer
season. Now with the autumn hitting them full force and the winter nocking
slowly on the door, there would be no way to get new ones until the summer
started next year. And so he went and promised to come back before the first
morning light.
The boy wasnīt afraid for his father, for the man was strong and fast like all
the Wolf males in their best years were. But he still felt a little lonely in
the house, even with the fire burning cheerfully in the fireplace, lighting the
interior and making it feel like home. And so he crawled into his fatherīs big
bed and curled up on the blankets. He didnīt want to fall asleep. He was a big
boy after all, and big boys could wait for their fathers to come home. But in
the end, the warmth coming from the fireplace overran his determination and his
eyes closed. He slept. His body, half wolf, half human, rested.
His pointed wolf ears twitched, and his long silver tail wiggled unconsciously,
hitting the bed a couple of times with dull thumps. He picked up the sound of
his fatherīs steps on the street. When the door banged open as the wind tore
the handle out of his fatherīs hand, throwing it against the stone wall, the
boy was already awake, watching the big figure of his parent loom in the
doorway. He smiled, showing his sharp teeth and jumped from the bed, his bare
feet slapping against the cold stone. His father managed to close the door in
the end and shook a little, sending droplets of cold water in every direction.
The boy laughed and his father turned to him, at first scowling at the fact
that he was still awake, but then smiling gently at the upturned face that was
showing such delight at having him back.
"Put more wood on the fire," the man ordered. "Iīve found
something in the woods and we need to dry it off."
The boy complied without hesitation, his interest piqued. His father always
brought him delightful presents. He took two pieces of dry wood and pushed them
into the flames very carefully. He knew how burned flesh hurt, having learned
his lesson when he was just a small cub. Seeing the flames flare with new life,
he went back to his father who now sat at one of the chairs near the fire, his
black cloak still on, covering something that he was holding to his chest. He
gestured to his son to come closer.
"What is it, daddy?" the boy asked, whispering. He sniffed the air
and his ears twitched again. There was something alive under the cloak. He
didnīt recognize the scent so it couldnīt be some animal living around the
village. He was now wracked with curiosity.
His father smiled at his impatience, and very slowly pushed the cloak aside,
watching his sonīs face for his reaction. He wasnīt sure how his son would take
this small surprise.
The boy's eyes grew large and his mouth turned into an O. Under the cloak,
curled up against his fatherīs chest, a little boy was asleep. He couldnīt be
any older than he himself but where he was a Wolf with silver ears and long
silver tail the boy was... a little different. He had pointed ears sticking up
from his head too, but they were black and his tail was not bushy like his, but
narrow and sleek, with shiny short black hair covering it. He was holding his
fatherīs leather jerkin with sharp claws that were sticking out of the tips of
his fingers but when he twitched in his sleep, they appeared and disappeared
into the flesh again. The Wolf boy blinked, the ears standing straight up on
his head. He looked down at the sharp claws on his fingers, claws he couldnīt
retract the way the foreign boy did. Strange. He sniffed the air again. The
smell of the boy was really pleasant, but it had undertones of sickness in it.
The strange boy whimpered in his sleep, and tried to bury himself in his
fatherīs chest. The Wolf boy made a cooing sound and caressed the long chestnut
locks on the boy's head.
"Who is he?" the boy asked quietly, when their new guest settled down
again.
The man smiled, seeing his sonīs blue eyes fixed on the small bundle in his
arms. "I would say that he belongs to a Cat clan. I canīt say which one.
Maybe to the Wood Cats living on the other side of the mountain. I found him in
the woods, shivering, so I decided to take him home."
His son nodded seriously, and the man sighed in relief. The Cat clans and the
Wolf clans usually didnīt get along well with each other. But he couldnīt let
this cub die in the woods, and so he really hoped that his sonīs warm nature
would accept the stray, even though it came from a different clan. And he was
right.
"What will we do with him?" the boy asked, his hand still buried in
the silken chestnut strands. The color and texture fascinated him.
"We will help him get well, then find his clan and return him to his home."
The boy nodded and smiled when the cub in his fatherīs arms started to purr
loudly as he scratched his ear. "Can he sleep in my bed?"
"Of course."
The Wolf boy smiled happily, scratching one of the black ears again.
Some time later the man watched his son and the Cat cub curled up around each
other on the bed, fast asleep. He wasnīt afraid that his son could catch some
disease from the stray boy since the Wolf cubs were immune to sickness from the
moment they were born. Thatīs why their clan kept growing stronger with each
passing year where the Cat clans, where the people were more prone to falling
ill, slowly died out. He bent down and covered them both with a warm blanket.
He would have to fetch the healer and explain to the villagers that for the
time being, they had a Cat guest in their midst. But there was time for it
tomorrow. Now he needed sleep just like his cubs.
The End? TBC?