*Puff*Puff*Puff*Puff*
Having finished another round for the morning, the thin wćlf could barely take a rest before a light jab elbowed his side.
“Roasted chestnuts! Crunchy peanuts! Yummy yummy, rumbly tummy!”
The enthusiastic holler of his brother made him roll his eyes, hard. Just last week, when their nest was told to help out with a fundraising campaign, the eldest of his trio was the first to scoff at such a notion. Now however, it was no exaggeration to say that his shout could completely fit in with those from these halls, where shouting is as common as breathing.
“Smashed walnuts! Squishy pine nuts! Come and buy some, help our Bright fund!”
Nuts and rocks changed hands at a rapid pace, and it was not long before a good chunk of their wares were vanquished by hungry maws. Unfortunately, this did nothing to sate his brother’s own craving, given how he still hungrily eyed the many durocs fetchers and wanderers kept throwing around.
After some hesitation, the thin wćlf decided to remind his sibling of their real task.
“Uhm… Letti, aren’t we supposed to… you know…?”
He motioned towards their youngest brother.
Who was spinning the special package on his nose…
The pup could only blink at such a sight. Sometimes, he truly envied how carefree this boy could be, especially when all three of them knew what nastiness lied hidden beneath that wooden box.
In fact, he could just imagine the horror bursting forth right here and now, based on the swirling sound that promised nothing but stress and regrets…
Swiftly taking the box away, the boy proceeded to ignore the whimpers of a sad pup and looked at his elder brother with pleading eyes. Having received a huff for an answer, however, he decided to get a bit more creative instead.
“If we can’t finish this, big sis Isa won’t let us keep our part of the earnings, you know~?”
The carrot worked wonders, for his sibling soon put the nutty endeavor on hold. After all, failing their real task would definitely spoil the sellings they had made throughout this entire week, just like the evil hiding inside the box he held.
That, and also because of the sick, nasty stick that awaited them in case of failure…
The thought of being on the receiving end of such horror, even if only for a while, made the boy scrunch up his nose in complete and utter disgust. There was no telling what mark such a torment would leave in its wake, and he certainly didn’t want to find out.
Thus, the thin wćlf urged the group forward, looking for any sign of their supposed target. Time was ticking, and it was best that they used it wisely.
- - -
By noon, the three had combed through several shouting halls. From the one they were told to check on first towards those that bordered it, no place was left unsearched, no corner was left undisturbed. Yet, despite such swift progress, their prey was still nowhere in sight…
As more of their fellow baby birds started returning to the nest, having sold enough nuts for the day, a hint of frustration began to appear on the trio’s face.
‘What if she was wrong?’
‘What if he has already left the city?’
Before the eldest of them could voice such thoughts to his siblings, or suggest that they bail with whatever earnings they could get their hands on, his youngest brother suddenly spoke up.
“Smell of scared wćlf. Really scared wćlf. Upstairs. Over there!”
Such words immediately eased whatever doubts the eldest had. With an early spring in his step, the little wćlf forged ahead of his own siblings, eager to confirm and conclude their taxing hunt.
“Hey! Where you kits going?”
Hearing this, the pup could not help but silently click his tongue in annoyance. Due to the “nutty campaign”, most wanderers and fetchers had become accustomed to the presence of younglings at the shouting halls. Thus, the boy had hoped that their sneaky attempt up the stairs could have gone unnoticed.
How neat and tidy it would be. Unfortunately, reality was often disappointing, for one final challenge now stood in their way.
“You three, lost? Shouting hall, over there. Shouldn’t go up living quarters. Big brothers, scary sisters, might chomp more than foods you carry, hear? Come, big brother can lead you back!”
‘Of course it has to be a taʊr. Of rutting course…’ The little wćlf no longer bothered to hide his irritation. After all, he was certain that the hulking wanderer wouldn’t even be able to tell such a subtle tact. At the same time, the gears inside his mind began to spin, plotting a way to overcome the mountainous obstacle that blocked their path.
“Come, kits. No worries. Big brother is not scary!”
‘That’s it!’ A bright light seemed to go off inside the eldest’s head. After giving a subtle nudge to his silly siblings, the little wćlf then spoke up.
“But… but… Fellow wćlf is scared, up there!” He pointed one finger to his nose and another towards their destination. “One wćlf needs help, all wćlves will help! Can’t leave behind, can give scared wćlf some food, helps cheer him up!”
The excuse was a success, given how the wanderer now scratched his head with a torn look. After all, even if taʊrs and wćlves were both wylders, each still had their own customs and traditions that should always be respected. The tall taʊr knew that something like such should never be trampled upon, which had led to his current dilemma.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Seeing this, the three little hunters decided to go in for the kill.
“We will just take a quick peek! Real quick! Pleaseeeeee???”
Faced against the combined might of their purely pure eyes, it did not take long before the taʊr wavered and sighed. With a chuckle, the wanderer then ruffled their hair and said.
“You kits cause no trouble, hear?”
“Here, hear!”
As they waved goodbye to the gullible sheep, his younger brother quietly whispered to him.
“Uhm… Letti… I don’t remember us wćlves having that kind of tradition… In fact, I’m pretty certain that those from different packs are expected to stay out of each other’s hair instead…”
“Of course we do. I’m a wćlf, and I just made it the rut up. Easy, see?”
“...”
Ignoring the flipperghasted look thrown his way, the eldest continued to climb the last steps of stairs that separated them from their prize. Fortunately, any other wanderer or fetcher that still hadn’t left for lunch was either still tipsy from their hangover or too busy to stop them. ‘Soon…’ He thought, grinning wickedly. ‘Soooooon…’
- - -
As the three tip-toed towards a room nestled in a secluded corner, sounds of muffled, yet undoubtedly heated conversation could be heard. With a quiet look from his siblings, the youngest of their trio silently sniffed the scrap of cape that their mentor/tormentor had given beforehand. Then, with both eyes closed, he took another whiff at the room nearby.
“Calm down, Lunck. We just need to wait ‘til after noon. Once the all clear is given, we can-”
“Calm down? Calm down!? Are you kidding me!!? Have you seen what those brats were selling downstairs!? That she-devil is obviously toying with me!!! So don’t tell me to “calm down” or I will clam you the rut down!”
“Big sis Isa certainly whipped you good with that “nutty” stunt, though. Teehee~”
“That rutting does it!”
“Guys, please don’t fight!”
The noisy occupants made it difficult for the young wćlf to concentrate on his task. Of course, such distractions could not stop him from trying to figure out whether their target was hiding behind this room.
After all, both of his siblings were relying on him, and he would never let them down!
“Uhm… Let… You can stop now… We literally just heard big bro Lunck-”
“Shhh!”
The young wćlf shushed his sibling with a finger and continued to focus his will. Deep inside, the mind was starting to build up blurry images based on different smells wafting out of the room, allowing him to guess what was happening behind closed doors…
“Ow ow OW! Hey! I thought you wanted us to stop!?”
“Papa told me to never start a fight, but always finish one! And you already threw the first punch!!!”
“Wait! Not the chair! This room is rental! WAITTT!!!
*WHAM*
*SMASHHH*
“Hey! You four idiots next door! Keep it down!!! It’s not mating season yet, you know!”
“Sorry…”
*Crashhhhhh*
After a bit longer, the young wćlf finally opened both eyes with a grin. It was definitely the scent of their prey coming out of this room! He had done it!
“Found ‘im! He’s inside!”
“No shit, Shearlock.” His eldest brother said with an exasperated sigh. The pup scratched his head a bit at the strange compliment, though he quickly perked up upon seeing what his sibling had in hand. “Alright, time to finish this harebrained scheme of our most “benevolent” benefactor.”
“... Letti, I still don’t think that this is a good idea. Maybe we should just knock and throw the box at big bro Lunck instead.”
“Ohhh sure. What a great idea.” The little wćlf scoffed. “Alerting our prey that he has most likely been found, by the three nutty sellers who actually knew him to boot!” Spreading both arms in a grand manner, he continued with his speech. “Certainly, this does not seem suspicious at all! How could one not stay and listen to what we have to say, instead of fleeing immediately into dog-knows-where?”
“... Well, ok, but maybe-”
“Oh hush! The moment we actually knock, big bro Lunck and all those inside that room would focus on our scent. We are lucky that our prey is too occupied to notice our approach. Best not change that.”
The eldest then put the wooden, smelly box into a boomstick before taking out some flint stones.
“Besides, she already promised to take responsibility, remember? Worst case scenario, we throw her under the cart, bail with any big we could get our hands on and live as wandering hermits in the woods. It’s foolproof!”
“... I can just tell how badly this would end. But fine, you won’t listen to me anyway. Let’s just get this over with…”
Soon, sounds of sparks could be heard as the rope attached to the canon got ignited. After positioning their boomstick directly in front of the door, all three brothers proceeded to flee towards a faraway corner and covered their nose as best as possible.
One was eager for what was to come, another paled at the possible consequences, while the last simply looked on with childish excitement. However, despite their contrasting thoughts, one thing was for certain…
“Everyone, STOP! Do you smell that? It feels like-”
*BOOM*
*CRASH*
… Horrid punishment in the form of a putrid, acidic stench rained its wrath upon the unsuspecting preys, filling their hideout with the smell of spoiled milk. Even this far away, the young wćlf still couldn’t help but wince as his nose caught some of the faint odor. With a gulp, the pup just had to wonder how bad it was for those hiding inside. Not fun, that was certain!
However, before the trio or any other occupant of the building could react, sounds of frantic movements followed by a smashed window already happened. Despite being caught off guard, the preys still managed to retain enough wits and fled at the first sight of danger, it seemed.
As the trio sneaked their way out of the shouting hall and into the street, a rotten, yet undeniably clear track presented itself before them. Rancid smell of moldy milk had mixed with the scent of some bєar, bὕnny, squʝrrel, and most importantly, an extremely scared wćlf.
All four were fleeing the city, and they were fleeing fast!
Even as passersby pinched their noses and took some distance from such a nasty horror, the siblings still pushed on. After all, the three had done their part, and now they wanted to see how this would end.
*BAM*
Out of the corner of their eyes, a figure on top of some distant building finally decided to make her move. As the huntress descended onto the street below, a hunt commenced, leaving behind dust and chaos in its wake.
*BAM*CRASH*WHAM*
Despite being too far away to witness said game of cat and mouse, the destroyed dirt roads, scattered carts and panicking passersby were more than enough to paint a vivid picture of what happened. Under the broad daylight, such a trail of destruction was made even clearer, causing the siblings to shudder at how brutal this was compared to the quiet chase that they once went through.
*Wham*
By the time they made it near the center of everyone’s attention, the hunt had already concluded.
A smelly bєar, bὕnny and squʝrrel had their legs tangled up by some bola, leaving them landing head-first on the ground. With a closer look, one could even see small stars dancing around them as their eyes slowly turned into small swirling circles.
Meanwhile, just some steps away, a stinky wćlf had fallen to the same state. Of course, there was a small difference in his case, namely the bὕnny sitting on top of him with an utterly smug look on her face.
Soon after, the huntress proceeded to tie up her quarries and dragged them away, undisturbed by the growing crowd of spectators nearby. As people began to talk, no doubt realizing that this was a pack leader discipling her flock, the trio could only look on in stunned amazement.
There were many thoughts running through their heads. However, if there was something that the three could all agree on, it would be to never, ever, EVER, make a bὕnny angry…
That, and also to expand upon their nutty business. It was very profitable, after all!