There was a harmony here that was at once refreshing and, for the first time in his life William knew without a doubt in his mind that he was home. Ares placed a massive paw on his shoulder. The gesture cemented what he had just been thinking. He knew that he had a lot to learn and he had to earn his way in this place but if this was the place where he had to prove himself than he would, without question or regret.
“This will be your home, you should get to know the people and wolves that live in it.”
William glanced away from the beautiful city and looked up at his teacher. Ares was looking out over the city and William’s eyes followed his teacher’s line of sight. There were several werewolves and humans out walking about from place to place. Some had stopped and were talking in the street. Once he would have thought it strange for a human to be talking to a seven-foot-tall werewolf. But here it seemed the most natural thing in the world. He saw a brown wolf streak down the street, moving at impossible speeds. William didn’t hear a sound as the wolf easily avoided the small amount of traffic in the street and disappeared around the corner of a building.
Ares patted William’s shoulder and he looked up toward the massive werewolf. “The day is yours, William. Do whatever you like. Visit whoever you wish.” William thought of Ansuya. And even as he did so he knew that he couldn’t possibly see her. “All our doors are open, anyone will answer any questions you might have.” Ares took a step back and looked William in the eye. “We are not perfect William, but there is a lot to learn here. I’m sure one day you may even find the voice to teach others as I am teaching you.” Ares stood up to his full height. “Have fun today, you’ve earned it.”
Ares walked down the ramp of the building away from his student. If William didn’t know any better, he would have said that his teacher strolled away, but werewolves don’t stroll, do they?
William stood there looking out over the city for a few minutes. He didn’t have the first clue about what he was going to do. For the first time in a long time, he had nothing to do. The thought struck him as odd somehow. After almost two years making his living in an unforgiving forest that didn’t care how tired he was, or how sore he was, or if he had just narrowly escaped death by getting swept under by some rapids, he always had to fish or hunt for his food and prepare for the next day or the day after that. He had been gainfully employed for his survival for something close to two years.
Even the city had been unforgiving to him. He had been tested, nearly drowned, beaten close to death, had to fight for his survival, quite literally more than once. In a lot of ways this place could be more dangerous than his forest ever thought of being. Still, this place was his home now and the people in it were his neighbors. He walked down the ramp of the building. If he didn’t have anything to do than maybe his feet would carry him to someplace interesting.
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He followed the path of the street. Moving along casually he glanced back and forth from side to side. He looked in the various rooms and buildings to either side of the street. It struck him as odd that all the building and rooms that weren’t bedrooms seemed to be missing that wall that faced the street. There were no barred windows, and everything was open to everyone.
He stopped in front of what looked like a dojo from a kung fu movie. Two women with long hair one was dark red the others was as black as Ansuya’s were fighting or sparring, it was tough to tell. They were throwing each other to the ground in a series of holds and escapes that was as violent as anything he had seen on TV or in person. William thought that he recognized one of the women. The one with red hair seemed very familiar to him but that illusion was shattered as she was thrown to the ground and her hair was removed from her face. She had sharp features and a prominent nose. William shook his head, no he had never seen her before, but for a moment he was reminded of someone he had known. Shaking his head, he turned away from the sparring match and continued to walk down the street.
Not far from the dojo, he saw an open weapons shop on the opposite side of the street. What caught his eyes was the gleaming guns and rifles that seemed to be hidden away behind where, what he guessed was, the proprietor of the store was working. William walked into the open store and saw that the man had a rather small stature. He was much shorter than William, standing only about five feet five inches tall. His shoulders were narrow, and he had the aura about him that a strong breeze could knock him off his feet. A pair of wire rimmed glasses rested precariously upon the man’s nose as he was bent over a work bench setting some piece of metal into a perfectly bored slot on another piece of metal. William didn’t really know anything about guns but even he could tell that the man knew exactly what he was doing.
“If you want to look, be my guest,” the man said without taking his eyes off of his work. “The rifles are off limits to pups like you, but feel free to peruse the handguns. Don’t touch the ammo, if you like your arms being attached to your torso.” William took a step back at the sure, strong voice coming from such a frail looking man.
“I’m William.”
“Yes, you’re the new pup that almost got himself killed yesterday.” The man still did not take his eyes off his work bench.
William was struck by the matter-of-fact way this man was talking about the attack that he had to endure the day prior. Who the hell does this guy think he is?
The man stood up from his work and took a step toward William. “I’m the guy that makes the guns that will keep you alive out there when push comes to shove.” William’s eyes flicked briefly to the safety of the street. He thought that maybe this was a bad time and that maybe he should have stayed outside. William tried to pull himself together and leveled a look at the smaller man. What he saw in his dark brown eyes was the same thing that he had seen in Ares’ eyes, the same thing he had seen in Huan Li’s eyes. The weight of life experience and power radiated from this man just as it did from every other being he had met in the city. This man might not look it but he was just as much an Enforcer as Ares was.
“I didn’t mean to offend you, sir. I was just looking around.”