"Do you 'ear tha'?"

"Er..." I strain my ears. All I hear are birds and insects. Noticeably fewer insects than, say, two weeks ago. With the temperature decrease and the slight change in the tint of the leaves, there was no doubt that autumn was near. "I don't think so, no,"

"Huh," Sam huffed, ears perked curiously. "I could've sworn,"

I wonder if he could have heard the hunting party? It wasn't uncommon for us to howl after a successful kill.

It's those pesky instincts at play, once again, I think, telling us to call our pack to dinner. Of course, given that we are large enough to haul our kills back home, it is somewhat unnecessary.

"-lare,"

I blink. "Hmm?"

Sam rolls his eyes. "Lord. it's like you aren't even there sometimes, d'you know?"

If I could flush, I'm sure I would. Instead, my whiskers twitch erratically. Why is that, I wonder? "Sorry, I just get... Distracted,"

The mouse-furred wolf clicks his tongue. Did he physically do that, or did our illogical, reason-defying language do it? "I've never seen you zone out when you're talkin' to Darra,"

"Darra is an exception to many things. Do you remember how he used to speak?" I inquire. I briefly wonder if it's an on-topic question

Sam laughs and nods. "Yea', all formal and stiff-like?"

I incline my head. What happened there still baffled me. "The other day I heard him say, and I'm quoting here, 'Bad tree, be fucking better,'" I furrow my brow. "Still wondering what the context was there,"

The smaller wolf shrugs. "Why're you lookin' at me? 'ow would I know?"

"Worth a shot," I sigh.

I look around with a frown. The forest was quiet this morning, and there was still no sign of Wulfric.

The pack was split up at the moment.

Dean and Damon are exploring, to see if they can find anything interesting in the area. Last I'd checked, Dean had found an abandoned campsite and they had decided to strip it of anything useful. They'd found a length of climbing rope, some furs, and a hunting knife. Useful, I'm sure. What it's useful for is what I'm stuck on.

Darra and Alarra are hunting for our dinner. The hunting around here was good, as far as I could tell. I'm pretty much useless at taking down big game, so I'm rarely invited into the hunting party.

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Sam, Wulfric and I are supposed to be investigating the bridge. The only trouble with that is that Wulfric is running late. If he doesn't show up soon, we'll have to leave without him.

Just as I think that, Wulfric comes crashing through the bushes, panting.

"Sorry, sorry!" He gasps. "I got sidetracked,"

Sam looks entirely unimpressed. I simply shrug and begin the walk to the bridge, expecting the other two to follow. The sound of paw steps behind me tells me that they do.

###

I trot across the riverbank with consideration.

"How the hell did we miss this?" Wulfric asks.

"Fuckin' 'ell," Sam mutters, staring up at the bridge.

The bridge was not small. It stretched across the river, made of wood and metal. It was weathered but well-maintained, with thick stone pillars supporting the middle and metal beams holding it up from either side of the bank. By my estimation, the bridge was about eleven feet tall and spanned fifty feet across, bank to bank.

"Let's check it out," I suggest, moving closer.

I leap up onto the bridge, being careful to avoid smacking into the barrier. Looking at one end of the bridge, I see a dirt road, packed down by years of carts passing through. The bridge was wide and sturdy enough to support a horse-pulled cart, so that's probably what it was made for.

Given the state of the bridge (it had almost no rust, plant growth, or creaky boards) it can't have been long since someone last tended to it.

This means that we cant far from a settlement, most likely the place the woman and her brother had come from.

"Anything interesting down there?" I ask, although I doubt there is.

"I foun' some sort of plaque," Sam says.

I furrow my brow. "Well, what's it say?"

"Dunno, I can't read worth shit,"

I walk back down to the bank, cutting through the forest rather than risking personal injury jumping off of the bridge.

Once I get back to the bank, I see Sam and Wulfric staring at a boulder under the bridge.

I join them, reading the plaque for myself. "Lunara Van Darrin Memorial Bridge, constructed 1126,"

"That's, what? Thirty years ago?"

"Thirty-two," I correct automatically. "Tell you what, though," I look around for a second before narrowing in on what I was looking for. I walk over to it. "I recognize the name Van Darrin,"

Wulfric nods. "Yeah, they're some really old money noble family. Really old money, like, dragon-ages old. They supposedly used to be dragon riders when there were still, you know, actual dragons,"

I hum and point out the family crest engraved in one of the stone pillars. Two dragons coiled around the shield of arms, which contained dozens of dragon scales and a vertical stripe down the middle. Atop the shield rested a wreath of holly, and above that rested the serene face of a wolf. Unfortunately, the family motto was in ancient Elvish, which I do not speak.

Wulfric stares at it for a moment for nodding. "That's the Van Darrin crest alright. It's pretentious, but that's because they haven't changed the design in a thousand years,"

Sam furrowed his brows. "Do the Barron's 'ave a family crest?"

"We do, but it's a lot more simplistic. We only hold the title of Lord, after all,"

I frown. "Hold on a second, where does the Van Darrin family live?"

"In an estate near Saint Alexander's, I think. Why?"

"We're closer to Fernhold than we are to Saint Alexander's," I say.

Sam cocked his head. "What's your point?"

"Why have a memorial out here, in the middle of nowhere, where no one will see it?" I wonder out loud.

Wulfric shrugs. "The Van Darrin's are weird. Why they do anything is a mystery," looking around them, Wulfric amends: "They're known for being unknown. Having said that, it's public knowledge that they're rather fond of nature,"

I look at the plaque, then at the crest, and back again. I sigh, "Nothing more to be learned here," I decided, walking back into the forest. "Let's go tell Darra what we found,"