"Hey Kel, that last kill was sweet, I knew I was right to recruit you" said the leader, boasting about his skills, as usual. He was tall, really tall and I think that was the only basis they thought about when they made him leader, as everything else about him was mediocre except his really ugly face.

Of course, he didn't really want me that much, but no one in their right mind would have said no to a new recruit. Especially ones as tiny as this one. I had met them on a road to the town, and my options were pretty clear: join them or kill them. I wasn't excited to do the later, as I was fresh from a fight with a buffoon. 

"Not that good if you ask me..." said Bern the other member

I kept silent, as I did most of the time wondering why in the world I hadn't killed him already. Guess I just didn't get a chance.

"Well, we better head into the forest soon, it's getting dark" said Rust with his deep voice. Sometimes I feel like he's the only one here who doesn't think with their genitals. Such a shame he ended up here, with the company of men like the leader and Bern who was somehow even dumber than leader.

We had just killed a merchant sent by the aristocrats and stole his wears. He wasn't one of the important ones, as those were practically surrounded by dozens of armed ex-soldiers, but he was still a merchant, and merchants carry food.

So we went deep into the forest, away from the bandits. At least the ones that roam near the villages. You could feel everyone's excitement to eat tonight, even Rust, who rarely looked like he was feeling anything most of the time.

After a couple of hours, we found something quite strange. It was a wolf. Wolves weren't common here. But that wasn't what surprised us, it was looking sharply at a kid's corpse that couldn't have been older than 10. It just sat there not even noticing us.

It was big, with really dark fur covered in blood. It was injured too, I realized. Not a deadly wound, but one that definitely hurt. I crouched, still looking at it curiously, wondering what was the story behind this.

 Except that dumbass Bern decided the wolf was weak enough for him to take it singlehandedly. Which of course, was wrong, like almost everything Bern did.

"NO YOU BASTARD" I yelled, raising my voice for the first time since I joined them.  He flinched, giving the wolf a chance to lunge at him. He swung a heavy blow instead of dodging or blocking being the idiot he is. He missed of course, a mistake which cost him his head.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Finally! 

The only regret I felt was that I wasn't the one cutting his head off. I still felt immense pleasure though, and like this wolf a bit more. Rust stayed put, certainly realising, like me, that it wanted nothing more than to leave.

Leader though, apparently didn't posses enough intelligence (shocker) to notice that. He ran away, thinking he was sacrificing us to save his hide. He also dropped his merchant's bag.

Well this is just my lucky day isn't it? Bern dead and food just for me. And, well, Rust of course. I definitely owed that wolf.

It gazed at us both with a threatening look on its face, daring us to make a move. When it Finally decided we weren't going to, it left swiftly.

Well, that was that

I picked up the bag, and leaned on a tree, sitting briskly. I didn't have enough bread to satisfy all of us, I realized. Must've been a really poor merchant, huh.

I took out a loaf, handing it to Rust, who was now resting beside me.

And that was the best night I had in months, eating actual food, staring up at the sky beside Rust with Bern's body laying across us.

I wonder who that kid was

Finishing my meal, I stood up to examine his body. He was small, really small. That was one of the rare times I felt pity. He had a broken wooden stick in his hand. Looked like he had a nice struggle with it, which brings me back to why it was staring at his instead of eating his whole body. Then I noticed, there was a little axe beside him.

Nice weapon

It was sturdy, but with nice workmanship, but a slightly worn out edge.

Time to sleep then, I thought, picking up my blanket and resting on a tree's side.

I kept sharpening the axe till I fell asleep, glad that tomorrow I wouldn't have to hear another one of Bern's stupid remarks or leader's complaints.