Chapter 5: When The Killing’s Done

Sierra was freaking out. She was lying down on her back next to the prisoner's cage with her hooves spread out like a starfish. As per the instructions of that scary wolf, she hadn't spoken a word since the demand for surrender was made. All around her she could hear such terrible noises. But she didn't dare look away from the underside of the sparse canopy. Then the small fire that had previously been the goat’s only source of light was suddenly quenched by a wave of liquid that had washed over the area. Drenching her fur and making her cough as it went down her nose. Now she was lying in the dark. Her back slowly sinking into the newly formed mud as her eyes struggled to see anything other than the slightest twinkle of starlight barely reaching her from between the leaves. The kids in the cage next to her were huddled up with their eyes pressed shut. She could hear them crying and struggling to choke down the noise. They were terrified.

A sickening sound of bones twisting too far and flesh splitting apart was accompanied by the sounds of monstrous growling and the rapid shifting of weight. Sierra closed her eyes and could barely tell the difference. The wolves had said not to speak, but she was getting overwhelmed by the horrible sounds. She wanted to go deaf again. Even if it meant she had to listen to that wolf be gloatingly cruel, it would still be better than listening to the haunting screams and snapping of teeth. The little goat reached a breaking point. And so, despite being told to stay quiet, she started humming a quiet melody. It was just the toon of a very simple lullaby she knew. Anything to drown out the fighting. She didn't hum any louder than the kids sobbing, as she was afraid of drawing any attention to herself. But she was loud enough for the kids to hear her. Their crying dimmed a little as they were given something comforting to focus on. Sierra was trying to comfort herself and dissociate from what was happening around her. But it seemed as if her making noise had drawn some unwanted attention.

A paw was placed on Sierra’s belly, something sharp was pushed against her neck, and a quivering hate filled voice whispered into her ear. “I can't say I enjoy the company you've brought me. Snitch.”. What? She nearly said it out loud but the knife threatened her not to make a sound. The voice hissed. “Get up… quietly. I'm leaving and you're coming with me.”

Sierra slowly flipped over as directed by the little white rabbit who was staying low to the ground. She was made to get up and started walking backwards. Away from the camp, away from the fighting. Neither of them could see all that well in the dark. And the wolves were surely going to notice soon. “Wh-” Sierra began, but the crazed white rabbit hushed her with a tug on her neck fur. The last of the screams died out as they backed away slowly into the dark. Deep voices exchanged words as the sound of chewing could be heard. Then there was a rustling and the sound of movement. Sierra jumped as the rabbit yelled in a familiar gruff voice. “Stay back!” Le’bo’my called out to something in the dark. “Let me go or the pokeskull gets it!”

The little goat’s mind raced as she tried and failed to peer into the darkness. She thought she could see… a shape? It stopped and regarded them as Le’bo’my continued to shuffle them both backwards. It was happening again. The crafty rabbit bandit was using the same hostage trick that she had used to capture Madam Rosary and steal her mask. It didn't matter how strong the wolves were. She was going to get away purely because she was bloodthirsty enough to force them to-

“So what?” A silky feminine voice purred. It was that same gloating voice that spoke through that weird silence. “We'll get your meat either way. So why should we care?”

“What?” Sierra and Le’bo’my both said in unified shock and horror. Then Sierra felt the knife press harder against her neck as the bandit desperately tried to bargain with them. “But-? You can't just… Are you really going to let your own informant die over one measly rabbit? You already have the rest of my crew. Isn't that enough for you monsters!?”

“It's not just about the meat.” A calm male voice interjected. “Allowing you to live would be a violation of our duty to uphold the law.”

“Besides.” The condescending female cut back in. Almost as if she was trying to keep the other wolf from saying something. Or maybe she just wanted to be the first to explain the glaring flaw in the rabbit's plan. “The goat isn't even with us. Seriously, I've never seen her before in my life.”

There was a pause as Lo’bo’my tried to parse whether or not the wolves were bluffing. It would have been easier for her if she had more than just sound and an indistinct shape in the darkness to go by. “Fine! If you don't care about her then I'll just-” Le’bo’my made a move. She shoved Sierra forward and used her as a springboard to bounce backwards.

The tiny goat stumbled into the mud, then she lifted her head and shouted. “Stop her! She stole my friend's mask!” No one answered her. Instead she saw dark shapes move, felt the rush of air as something big ran past either side of her, and then heard the sounds of paws striking earth. Then, after an endless tense silence. Sierra heard a scream followed by a sickening crunch.

Less than twelve minutes after it started, the fighting was finally over.

##########

Hawl licked some of the blood off of his lips as he looked around and surveyed the battle grounds. “Is that all of them?”

Reea panted as she scanned the area. “I think that's it. If we did miss any of them then they would be long gone by now.” She said, without the bravado that was in her voice throughout the fight.

Hawl nodded as he let himself wind down and relax a bit. The injury in his neck had stopped bleeding. But as he tilted his head back it threatened to open back up. He sighed and asked Reea. “Could you get this knife out of my flank please?”

Reea smirked at the opportunity to be flirty. Until she looked at the weapon in question and the more responsible side of her took precedence. “Oh snakes. That looks bad. You just left that in there?” She walked up and gently pulled the crude iron knife out. The injury started to bleed again so she licked it to clean it off and stop the bleeding.

“Um… Excuse me.” A timid voice called out. “Did you get the mask?” The little goat was peering into the darkness. Unable to see in the same way that the wolves could.

Hawl broke away from the injury cleaning to search through the bag of the white rabbit who started all this. The bag was too small for his fat snout to fit inside, so he tipped it over and poured out its contents. A bunch of knives of all shapes and materials, a pawful of copper rods, a neatly tied bundle of silver loops, a few dried rabbit snacks, and a strip of red silk that smelled of rat and roses. Hawl very gently lifted it with his teeth and walked it over to the goat. She was a timid little thing for her species. Her fur was cream with brown spots, and she had a pink ribbon tied around her left horn in a delicate looking bow pattern that was made to resemble a flower of some kind.

The goat was squinting into the darkness, trying to strain her ears forward to hear if anyone was there. She nearly jumped into the air when Hawl asked her “Is this what you were looking for?”

“Oh umm… maybe? Is it a red mask with roses embroidered into it?” She blindly rooted around the grass looking for it.

“Mhm.” Hawl confirmed. “Was worn by a rat?”

“That's it! Thank you!” The little goat beamed before her voice took on a more desperate note. “It belongs to my friend. Madam Rosary. Those evil rabbits kidnapped her!”

Hawl sighed. It sounded like this job was about to get more complicated. He turned his head to address his fellow hunter. “Hey Reea. This might take a while. Could you go help Mauor set up the butcher's tent? We need to gather the bodies and get them processed as soon as possible.”

“On it.” Reea agreed before limping off.

Hawl turned back to the goat who had only just now found the mask and put it away in her small travel bag. “Let's start from the beginning. Who are you? And what are you doing all the way out here?”

The little goat beamed in his general direction. “Oh! My name is Sierra. I'm a wanderer on a journey of self discovery. I was traveling with a friend of mine. Madam Rosary, adventurer extraordinaire. Maybe you've heard of her?”

“I have not.” Hawl admitted flatly.

Sierra's hopeful smile faltered for just a second. “Anyway. She heard about the predation notice on the Lensway Bandits and decided she would round them up and bring them to justice. So of course I had to come along too, I am her sidekick after all.”

Hawl groaned internally. A vigilante then? “You do realize that predation is illegal without a license to hunt, right? Why is a rat out here poaching anyway? I know they can eat meat too, but they don't need to.”

Sierra tilted her head and faced generally towards him in confusion, as her voice took on a more defensive quality. “What makes you think she doesn't have a license to hunt? Is that a wolf only thing?”

Hawl shrank back a little. Though his voice retained that cold professionalism he was known for. “No.Technically any animal can acquire a hunting license. But it's very rare for any animal that isn't predatory by nature.”

Sierra nodded to herself. “I see. In that case she must be one of the few rats who do own a license to hunt. Since I know for a fact that Madam Rosary would never break the law.”

Hawl gave the little goat a flat look that she couldn't see. Though his voice remained perfectly neutral. “I see. And where is this Madam Rosary now? I don't smell her in the cage with the others.”

“Two of the rabbits took her away last morning. She should have been able to break free by now, but they tied her up.” Sierra was practically dancing in place as she nervously explained. ”I overheard them talking about a place called Randevu Location Six where they plan to meet up. I don't know where it is exactly. But I heard one of them mention something about the kingdom of antlers.”

“The kingdom of antlers?” Hawl repeated quizzically. “Why would a gang of rabbits be headed all the way out there? It's miles away. And the stag king is no more lenient towards crime than the burrows. If anything the deer are more dedicated to enforcing law and order. So why…?”

“Hey Hawl.” Reea called out. “You might want to come get a whiff of this.”

“Coming.” Hawl called back before turning to Sierra. “Wait there for a moment. I'll be back soon.” Then he started walking to Reea. The flood waters he had summoned had almost completely dried up at this point. Without him focusing on his Telling the conjured water tended to evaporate unnaturally fast. Hawl walked past the cage with the hostages. They were terrified and crying. A pinch in his heart let him know that the thrill had left him. “Don't worry. You're safe now.” Hawl awkwardly tried to reassure them as he passed by. It didn't really do much to help. But he honestly wasn't expecting it to. Hawl was a wolf, and he literally just slaughtered several animals in front of them. He knew how scary he was.

Reea was standing over something as she waited for Hawl to arrive. She looked focused. But whatever it was, it didn't seem to be all that urgent. So Hawl decided to take a quick detour to check on Wouf.

The impression of city streets in the dead of winter had faded away. And with it, that visage of hunger was gone as well. Wouf still looked hungry as he lazily stripped raw meat off the bones of one of his kills and gobbled it down with a blissful expression. He no longer had that emaciated look to him. As you could once again see the fat and flesh which padded his bones. Also, the many cuts, bruises, and injuries that he had taken on during the fight were, well… They were not entirely gone. But they were mended. It almost looked like he had just spent a few weeks resting and recovering from the fight even though it had only been a few minutes.

“Are you feeling better?” Hawl asked, though the answer was clearly written on his face.

Wouf swallowed and licked his lips. “Yeah. I'm good. Sorry for ignoring your orders earlier. I was… distracted.”

Hawl nodded understandingly then moved on. It wasn't unusual for hunters to eat their prey raw like that. The ability to access fresh meat was one of the main draws of becoming a hunter for a lot of wolves. Technically, the empire held claim to all of the corpses that they acquired. But it was culturally acceptable for hunters to eat some of the plunder. Just so long as they reported what they took and paid for it after the fact. “What is it you wanted to show me?” Hawl asked as he stopped in front of Reea.

The she-wolf lowered her voice and flicked her head towards a black furred shape. “You smell that? That one over there is still breathing.”

“Is it?” Hawl sniffed, then blinked in surprise. “I don't think any of the blood is his. Did he faint?”

Reea shook her head. “I don't think so. He's showing his belly. I think we actually got one to surrender after all. What do you want to do with him?”

Hawl frowned. “That depends. Did he surrender when he was instructed to do so? Or did he participate in the fight and then give up after he realized they were losing?”

Reea bristled a little. “Don't ask me. You're the one who flooded the area and smudged up all the scent trails.”

“Understandable.” Hawl said dryly before raising his voice to make sure the rabbit could hear. “In that case we will just have to play it safe and assume he surrendered when he was supposed to.”

“Awwww.” Reea complained. “Are you sure? We could always use more bodies and I'm not too happy about the idea of having to drag a live one all the way back to Westberrow with us.” The she-wolf nudged Hawl with a little grin. “We could always just kill him anyway. He was a member of the bandits after all, and it's not like anyone would know.”

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Hawl gave Reea a withering glare before walking up to the rabbit in question. His voice was soft yet mercilessly cold as he asked. “Hello. Am I correct in assuming that you are trying to surrender?”

There was a long long pause before the black tuxedo rabbit was able to choke out an answer. “y-y-Yes sir!”

Hawl nodded once. “Very well. You are hereby a prisoner of the wolven empire. So long as you do not try to escape or inflict bodily harm upon another animal, your predation notice will be temporarily suspended until we transfer custody of you to your nation of heritage. They can decide what to do with you after that.” The rabbit made a pathetic sound but didn't dare breathe a word of protest while a wolf was looming over him. Hawl was satisfied that he had done his duty and sat back a bit.

But when Reea realized that her coworker wasn't going to pressure the prisoner for more information, she stepped in with her teeth bared in a vicious grin. “Until then, you're ours. So unless you want to end up on the corpse pile like the rest of your buddies, then you had better start telling us what your gang is doing, kidnaping bird chicks and turtles.”

The rabbit cowered in fear but Hawl just raised an eyebrow at her. “Actually, we're not allowed to kill him. So long as he doesn't try to escape or hurt us, his predation notice is suspended. He could stay silent and we would have no way to make good on that threat without breaking interspecies law.“

Reea rolled her eyes and then growled. “Would you shut up? I know what the law says!” Then she sighed with annoyance as she admitted, ”I was only trying to scare him.”

Hawl stared blankly at her for a few seconds. “I see... Carry on then.”

The red wolf tisked with disappointment. “Can't exactly pick up where I left off now that you gave the game away.” Reea huffed, then she limped past Hawl while grumbling. “Why do I even bother? If you hate lying so much, then why don't you interrogate the little thug then? I'm going back to gathering bodies for Mauor to butcher.”

Hawl… sighed imperceptibly. “Very well then.”

The shivering rabbit seemed to be calming down a bit as he realized he might not be quite as doomed as he thought. “You… aren't going to kill me?”

Hawl approached and stood over the rabbit like a vast imposing storm cloud looming from above. His voice was neutral as always, so he tried to be careful with his word choice. “No. Not yet anyway. But even still, I advise that you cooperate with us regardless. Our job is to return you to the burrows so that you can be judged in a court of your own species. They will decide your fate.” He lowered his head and voice so that he was whispering in the rabbit's ear. “And if they decide they don't want you. Then they will give you to us as thanks for bringing you in.”

Was that sufficiently creepy? Hawl wondered. He was trying to be creepy, but he couldn't for the life of him modulate his tone properly. From his perspective, he was just awkwardly crouched over the little guy pointing out common knowledge in a hushed voice. But at the same time, he understood how nightmarish the situation would be if reversed. It felt wrong. Like he had accidentally played a magic trick without realizing it. Like he had lied to him by telling the truth. Part of him wanted to clear up the misunderstanding by reassuring the rabbit and explaining that he wasn't a bad animal. But that wasn't right either, was it? Hawl licked the blood off his teeth and reminded himself that he was a wolf. He was inherently dangerous and terrifying to most creatures. Though, it wasn't like the rabbit didn't deserve it. He had surely earned whatever he had coming to him.

“...oh… k?” The rabbit was frightened. But he had that dread filled expectant look on his face. Like he knew he was in deep deep trouble but still couldn't figure out how bad it was yet.

A little bit more then.

Not knowing what else to do. Hawl ruffled the tip of his snout under those black bunny ears and said in a hushed whisper. “By the way. What we say about you will have a large impact on your trial. Normally it's in our best interest to focus on your worst aspects. But I am willing to put in a good word for you so long as you answer our questions. Does that sound fair?”

The rabbit wanted to nod but was frozen stiff. Eventually he managed to squeeze out a timid, “…yes sir...”, past his buck teeth.

“Where is Randevu Location Six?”, was the first question which was immediately answered.

“It's a camp like this one. I can lead you to it if you want. It's got food and provisions and a hidden cache of money. We were supposed to meet up there but…” His eyes drifted towards the corpses. Though he couldn't really see them in the dark.

Hawl got the idea. “Why did you kidnap those animals?”

The rabbit shrugged. “Not right sure on the details, but apparently Le’bo’my was in contact with someone who was trying to buy kits. Wanted one of each species, she said.” Hawl felt a deep pit open up in his stomach as a possibility crossed his mind. But then the rabbit continued. “She also said to keep an eye out for animals with Tellings. Apparently they wanted them as well, and were willing to shell out pucks to get’m.”

That threw Hawl for a loop. Kidnaping kits and animals with Tellings? For what reason would someone be buying up both the weakest and strongest? Something wasn't lining up. “Who's Le’bo’my’s benefactor? Where were you taking those kits?”

The bunny winced. “I… I don't know! I don't think we've ever met them in person.”

Hawl glanced over to the cage. It looked like the goat, Sierra, had followed their crying voices and was now trying to comfort them. That's good. He thought, before returning his focus to the interrogation. “If you've never met this benefactor, then how do you know what he wants? Where were you taking the kits?”

“We were supposed to deliver them to a rookery in Pree called the Cousins Thank-You Note.” The rabbit blurted out. “One of the birds who works there is our contact. I don't know his name, but Le’bo’my called him ‘that yellow feathered creep.’ so I'm guessing he's yellow.”

“Okay, that's… something.” Hawl mused. Though he wasn't exactly satisfied. “Where is Pree?” He asked, and the rabbit practically stumbled over himself to answer. “It's a city in the Kingdom of Antlers. Just south of the Ivory Citadel.”

“But why travel such a distance?” Hawl inquired. “Why not capture animals closer to the buyer and skip the travel time?”

“We're rabbits.” He stated as if it explained everything. “Most of us live here. We've got families to go back to when this is all done. Only the crazies like Le’bo’my have actually traveled that far.”

Hawl sniffed the air curiously. The implication of that phrasing was to suggest that he might have an innocent family waiting for him to return. But the rabbit didn't have a family. Not as far as Hawl could tell anyway. Unless he hadn't been in contact with them for over a month, or he had used an expensive chemical soap to wash the scent out of his fur. Hawl nodded, though it was obviously wasted in the dark. “I see. And what about the rat? The one that the goat was traveling with?”

“I don't know about no goats, but…” The rabbit paused before thinking it was better if he didn't leave the wolf waiting. He tripped over himself trying to express the words before he had finished forming them in his head. “S-s-she showed up out of nowhere! She- Just- She walked into camp and told us that our days of crime were over. She had a- a crazy powerful telling! But Her, sorry, Her’rin got the drop on her and… Le’bo’my managed to ransom the… We got her and stole her mask and-”

Hawl was unimpressed. “Slow down. Tell me who has her and where they are taking her.”

The rabbit took a breath and swallowed hard. “They'll be taking her to Pree. Le'bo'my didn't want us to be traveling in the same group for fear of her somehow getting her mask back. Her’rin and Yu were the ones who took her. They were some of our toughest fighters. Real stiff furs if you know what I mean. They were part of Le’bo’my’s old gang. Not the kind of animals you would want to mess with. Well… not the kind of animals a rabbit would want to mess with.”

The sound of hooves shuffled in the dirt as Sierra cautiously followed their voices to participate in the discussion. “Well that might be true for you. But Madam Rosary is even tougher than anything you've got! Even while separated from her Telling.”

“Do you mind?” Hawl asked, slightly but imperceptibly annoyed.

“Hm? Are you talking to me?” Sierra blinked. “Sure, um… Take whatever you need I guess? The only thing of value I have is Rosary's mask. I've gotta get it back to her.”

“That's not what I…” Hawl trailed off, then shook his head. “You do realize I'm trying to interrogate this rabbit. Right?”

The little goat brightened. “Really? Sweet! Did he give you any leads on where they're taking my friend?”

Hawl sighed. “This is wolf business. As an outsider you're not entitled to know what we are-” At the same time the cowering rabbit had no issues recapping for her. “She is going to the kingdom of antlers to be bought by some shady creep who wants animals with Tellings.”

Sierra gasped. “Oh no, oh dear! What do they want from her? Are they going to eat her?! Is this a flesh trade thing? Are you a flesh trader?!”

The two prey animals exchanged looks of extreme discomfort at the mention of the darker, illegal, and immoral parallel to Hawl's profession. Hawl wasn't exactly thrilled either, but the flesh trade wasn't something which invoked the same visceral reaction in him. “Er…” The rabbit stammered. “Maybe? We didn't exactly ask why th-”

Sierra had heard enough. She stamped her hoof on the ground and turned in the direction she thought Hawl was sitting. “We have to go help her!”

Hawl tilted his head. “What do you mean we? You're just a wayward immigrant. A hunt like this is not the place for you.”

Reea entered the conversation, making the goat jump in surprise. “Well, technically the hunt is over. We killed most of the gang, rescued the hostages, and we even captured a prisoner. So if she wants to follow us back to Westberrow then I don't see why she shouldn't.”

A soft orange light flickered alive a few feet away as Wouf relit the fire. From the looks of it he was having trouble finding the keyhole for the cage and needed some extra light to see by. Sierra blinked as her ability to see suddenly improved. She shuddered in fear seeing the dim images of bloodsoaked predators come into view. But she held her ground surprisingly well. “Wait. What about the two that got away? What about my friend? You have to go after them.” She pleaded.

Reea gave her a little scoff. “Sorry miss, but we're not continuing our hunt over two measly rabbits and a rat.”

Sierra turned to Hawl like a rejected child asking their other parent for something and hoping for a different result. “Please?”

Hawl stared blankly at the frazzled goat as he thought it over for a few seconds. Then he exhaled and turned to Reea. “Could you muzzle this rabbit please? Might as well lock him in that cage too since we have it. Then join me outside the butcher's tent for a pack meeting.”

########

Hawl gathered up Wouf and Reea after they had both finished a few chores cleaning up the aftermath of the battle. They left Sierra to wait by the fire with the kits they had rescued. And Hawl made sure to keep and eye on her, the kits, and the thoroughly restrained rabbit that was lying helplessly in the cage.

The three wolves sat outside the small tent were Mauor was diligently working. Butchering was a grim business that all of them had partaken in at some point in their careers. Hawl was grateful that he didn't have to do that job this time around. Though if the tent had room for more than one wolf to work he would have done what he could to help out. “Are you sure you don't want us to take shifts?” Hawl asked. From behind the thin vale of the tent flap he could hear the sound of jaw shears cutting into sinew. He could also smell the stench of blood and bile as organs were removed.

After a few moments Mauor responded casually. “It's fine, I can handle it. I'm the only one who didn't get cut up in that fight, so I think I'll do all of the gut work if that's alright with you. No sense risking an infection when we are miles away from the nearest veterinarian. You know?”

Hawl looked down at his bloody neck with an annoyed huff. Then glanced at the others. “Wouf’s wounds have closed thanks to his Telling. He could help you if-”

“It's fine Hawl.” Wouf’s said with a dismissive flick of his tail. “If she says she's fine doing the dirty work then there's no reason to fuss.”

“Very well.” Hawl relented.

Then Mauor said. “If there is something you want to discuss, then I wouldn't mind talking about it while I work. I can hear you all just fine from here. Unless you would rather wait?”

“No no, that's fine.” Hawl allowed. “I just wanted to discuss what our next steps should be.”

Reea had a sour, suspicious look on her face. She suspected that something was coming which she wasn't going to like. “What's there to discuss? We did everything we were supposed to and more. Now we need to pack up this meat, drag it home, and get paid.”

Hawl confirmed her fears by sharing his thoughts. “True. But there are still a pair of criminals out there with a hostage. Shouldn't we try to apprehend them and bring them to justice? Technically speaking, we still have plenty of time left on our hunt.”

Reea couldn't believe what she was hearing. “No we don't!? That meat loses ten percent of its value every half day that passes. Even with the preserving rub. We need to get it home so that it can be properly dried and cured.”

She was explaining the obvious in an attempt to belittle him. Hawl did not react, though he did respond. “I was not suggesting that we leave it here. We could bring it home and then set back out, we could hire couriers to take it home while we continue the hunt, or we could split the pack. We have options available to us.”

Now Reea was well and truly flabbergasted. “Split the pack? You want to go chase your own tail then be my guest. But you're on your own. None of us are going to risk everything for- what exactly? Table scraps?”

Wouf was more gentle about it, but he seemed just as confused. Even a bit worried. “What's so important about these thugs? Why would we put the rest of the hunt in jeopardy over one hostage? It doesn't seem practical.”

“It may not be practical.” Hawl admitted. “But isn't it our job? We're hunters. We keep the peace and enforce interspecies law. Aren't we obligated to help? Or would you have us just harvest the meat and leave like common poachers?”

Reea winced. “Ouch. That comparison is a bit uncalled for.”

Wouf leaned in and lowered his voice. “Seriously man. Are you doing okay? I know you hate leaving loose ends. But you seem more… invested, than usual.”

Now Hawl was starting to get irritated. “I'm just wondering. What value are we supposed to add to the world if we cut the hunt short the moment it stops being profitable for us? If I was a prey animal, I'd feel pretty used if I saw wolves doing that.”

Wouf traced Hawl's eyes to the little goat girl. She couldn't hear their conversation from this distance, but she was watching them. Patiently waiting for the hunt to continue so that they could rescue her friend. Wouf sighed long and deep. Then he responded. “Okay, I see your point. Yeah, I guess that would kinda suck. But I'm sure I'd understand. Meat isn't just worth a lot of money, our species needs it to survive. So it's not like we're abandoning the hunt out of greed here.”

Reea rolled her eyes and groaned. “Why do we even care what the prey think of us anyway? We got what we wanted. Why shouldn't we wrap it up here? It's not like we even cheated or did anything illegal. We broke up the gang as requested, and we rescued most of the hostages. Which was an optional objective might I remind you. As far as I'm concerned, the job’s done.”

From behind the tent flap Hawl heard Mauor clear her throat. “I also hate leaving unfinished business. But you have to admit Reea has a point here. It's more efficient if we accept what we got and move on to the next project. The way I see it, we could go after these two rabbits and maybe save one hostage. Or we could go home early and start a new hunt on a new batch of ne'er-do-wells. Which could possibly prevent a lot more suffering before it happens.”

Reea and Wouf nodded along in agreement with Mauor’s logic. It seemed clear that Hawl was in the minority on this matter. Though some part of him cynically wondered if he might find more agreement if it was a wolf's life on the line instead of a rat’s. “You're right.” He sighed in defeat. Though his eyes remained fixed on Sierra. What would he say to her? What would this random stranger think of him?

She saw his eyes glowing in the dark. And when she realized that he was looking at her, she just smiled and gave him a head Bob of acknowledgement. On any other day, that would be enough. Hawl would feel crummy about it, but he would ultimately do what was best for his empire, for his career. But something was different this time. A tension had been building long before this moment. A thousand little hypocrisies that weren't worth challenging at the time, yet still lingered in his mind. A gnawing insecurity found its way past all of the logical barriers meant to invalidate it and keep it locked away. And Hawl made a snap decision that would ultimately change the course of his life forever.

“You all want to head home? That's fine…” Hawl said deceptively calm. “But while you are doing that, I am going to finish the hunt.”