The bright rays of sun woke Fanv up from her deep slumber. She grumbled and tried to turn her head away from the bothersome light but soon gave up. She opened her jaws wide into a yawn and arched her back into a stretch. Her joints popped pleasantly as she unfolded herself and shook the morning dew out of her fur.

A smaller pile of fur whined a complaint when it realized its pillow wasn't going to lie back down. Fanv turned her head, prepared to see Pohc, Mikvel or even Sam but what met her gaze was a completely unfamiliar wolf. The wolf tilted its head as Fanv stared at it in confusion.

"Uh... Who? Why?..." A quick look around told her that she had awoken in an unfamiliar clearing. Too many unfamiliar things to wake up to...

"Where?"

The wolf just kept watching the Visvarg.

"Uhm... Do you talk? Hi-"

'Hi!' The wolf finally reacted by standing up and wagging its tail.

"So you do talk. Ok, erhm... Where am I? Who are you?"

The wolf gave her a questioning look.

'Den?'

Upon closer inspection, a small hole could be seen under one of the trees. A dug-out den, most likely the one the wolf is referring to.

"Yes, I see the den. But who's den? Where am I?"

The wolf looked to be in thought for a moment before responding.

'Our den.'

"No no, not MY den. I don't live here? What are you-?"

The wolf stretched and then bent its forelegs and wagged its tail in a playful manner.

'Play?'

"No, why would we-? Where am I? Hello? Are you listening?"

'Not play?...'

"Not play."

The wolf looked disappointed but didn't argue. Fanv began pacing around in the small clearing, sniffing at the ground and trying to remember how she got there. The wolf trotted after her, occasionally shaking her brown fur or scratching at an itch. Another wolf soon joined them from inside the den. This one was gray and just like the brown one crouched and asked 'play?'. Fanv declined and the gray one joined the brown one in following Fanv around the clearing.

Everything smelled of wolves. There was a deep musky scent that she couldn't identify in some places, mainly the middle of the clearing and inside the den. Curious, she followed the scent trail and soon ended up sniffing the brown wolf. It didn't protest, in fact, it seemed to enjoy it. Fanv only realized why when the wolf asked in a hopeful voice:

'Mate?'

Turning down an overly excited wolf who only knew a few simple words took some time and effort. Fanv grew even more flustered when the gray wolf started asking the same question too. After much 'arguing' the wolves finally gave up and let her continue her exploration of the clearing.

Her heart sank when a third wolf appeared from the bushes. Thankfully it didn't ask for playing or sex, instead, it shook the rabbit it held in its bloodied maw and offered Fanv its prey. At least she thought that was what it was doing when it simply dropped the rabbit at her feet and said 'food'. It didn't even wait for a reply before walking over to the den to laze around in the sunlight.

The rabbit was little more than a mouthful for Fanv but she thankfully ate it, for some reason she felt famished. More wolves made their way into the clearing, some carrying prey and one of them had an impressive stick that it had to protect from jealous packmates. Some slumped down to rest while others play-wrestled with each other. 

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Fanv started to feel out of place so she simply rose and trotted out of the clearing (after snatching another rabbit from a wolf that didn't seem to mind).

The munching Visvarg set a light pace as she explored the forest, trying to find something familiar. The forest denizens didn't help much, the one squirrel that didn't run from her chattered in outrage when she got too close to its tree and nothing responded when she called out with her telepathic voice.

Faint voices could be heard in the distance and following the sound soon led the Visvarg to the road in the small valley that separated Wyrmtail swamp and Feytale forest. Following the road to the south would lead her to Ogon. The voices she had been following turned out to be a small caravan. Mostly humans rode or walked along the carriages but a few elves and dwarves could be seen here and there as well.

Fanv considered transforming and walking up to the caravan but decided against it. She had no clothes and her rather strange features would definitely get her in trouble. Instead, she snuck ahead of the caravan and followed the road until she could see her old village up ahead. Entering the village was tempting, she could 'borrow' something from an unguarded clothesline and some people should recognize her face even though there were a couple too many eyes. 

She quickly discarded that idea when she spotted one of the guards that had chased her out of the village. As far as they knew Fanv was dead and if she wasn't then she was a horrible man-eating monster. Speaking of which, didn't she have a Title called [Man-eater]? Skills that could see other people's Titles and/or Skills were relatively rare among common folks but she could get unlucky. She wasn't the most social person during her time in the village, so even if someone did have an inspection Skill of some kind chances are that she hadn't heard about it.

Nope, getting caught was bad enough, her [Man-eater] Title would get her killed in an instant if it was ever discovered... With that choice settled the Visvarg quietly made her way deeper into the forest, leaving the slow caravan and distant village behind.

One of the travelers jumped a bit when he saw the bushes rustle out of the corner of his eye. He hurriedly jogged up to the front cart and shared his concerns with the red headed woman riding it.

"Madam Krystal! I saw something in the bushes-"

Krystal frowned and cut him off before he could come up with possible dangers that stalked the caravan.

"For the last time Geffery, We are not stopping to search the entire forest for possible threats. I don't care if you think you saw a dragon hiding in a birds nest. "

"Bu-but I really saw something this time."

"Bullshit. You see danger everywhere! We're already late enough as it is because of your paranoia!"

Geffery was known to be extremely paranoid and easy to set on edge, something that had put Krystal's caravan way behind schedule many times already. It's a forest damn it, not every snapping twig was a deadly beast yearning to feast on their flesh. It was probably just another squirrel. The persistent coward still insisted that they stopped the caravan and let the hired adventurers have a look around to make absolutely sure nothing was stalking them. Krystal would have none of it.

Johna chuckled as he walked a few meters behind the front cart. The thin blond man found the bickering pair rather entertaining, and since he got paid for each day he kept the caravan safe he didn't have any complaints about the paranoid man prolonging the journey. His companion threw him a knowing glance. 

"Shouldn't we stop them? Madam Krystal is working herself up  it seems."

"Nah, let it be Noa. We can practically see the village already so let Geffery have his fun."

The tall man known as Noa shook his bald head.

"How many times have they fought now? Shouldn't we do something about it? There is no need to let negative emotions taint the last bit of our journey."

"You make it sound like traveling from Pontro to Ogon is a year-long pilgrimage through barren wastelands. Although if mister Geffery over there had more say in things then maybe a year wouldn't be too far of a stretch... And by the way, their small fights keeps the others entertained."

"They keep you entertained you mean... Are you sure this is not a sign of your sadistic side lingering?"

Johna's carefree smile turned a bit more strained at that.

"It's midday already, the effects of the full moon last night is long gone by now..."

"And you drank your potion this morning?"

"Yeees. No need to keep nagging me about my potions. I would be set on fire the instant I set foot in the sunlight if I forgot it you know. You worry too much."

Noa sighed in relief. Despite his companion's carefree attitude, he did act serious enough when needed. Moonmadness was certainly something that one needed to be serious about. The moon only affected some races and to varying degrees. His usually kind and easygoing companion would turn sadistic and violent during that one time of the month but luckily enough for them, a sturdy rope and a gag were enough to keep him in place for one night. The hard part was keeping him hidden from the other travelers of the caravan while the madness lasted.

Noticing Noa's frown Johna quickly tried to cheer him up.

"I still appreciate that you look out for me you know. I would be long dead if not for my favorite monk!"

"Hehe, keeping all things in nature safe and balanced is a monk's way of life after all."

The merry caravan kept up their relatively slow pace for the rest of the way towards Ogon without any incident. Once there the exhausted travelers settled down in the one and only inn of the village and started trading stories and news with the locals.

A certain visvarg finally found her way home and were greeted by a worried half-elf and an ecstatic dungeon lady. All in all, it was a pretty peaceful day.