Fate's Imprint

The First Quest

The following morning Armaan Raichand woke up with a headache. He wondered if wolves ever got headaches and then he reminded himself about his last night's conversation with Veer and chided himself for even thinking of headaches. He didn't know what this would bring. A wolf imprinting on a shape shifting serpent. And that too Sheshnaagin herself. He had heard of wolves imprinting on humans. He himself was a living example. He let out huffs of breaths that came out in slow whistles. He sat in the dining area alone, head inbetween his hands as he looked at the cup of coffee infront of him. He scowled at the coffee. It was a habit inculcated into him by Eisha who had enough of his temper tantrums and put him on a "Coffee Every Morning" diet to calm his nerves down. The scroll lay next to him on the table. He was joined by Eisha and Prathna. Prathna had dressed up in one of Eisha's dresses and looked fresh. A change from her usual serpent clothes, he mused. The only people missing were Veer and Shaan. Shaan was Veer's best friend and one of the most trustworthy members of the pack. Even Armaan trusted him with everything. Where were these two mischief mongers ??

"Good Morning. Are we waiting for someone ?"

"Umm yes. Veer and Shaan ?"

"Who is Shaan ?"

"Shaan is one of the most trustworthy members of the pack. Veer and him are mostly together. Best friends. More like brothers" He added the last but with a tinge of irritation in his voice. "I wonder why they are late"

"And we are here" came a voice from behind as the two friends came in covered in sweat. Armaan scrunched his nose.

"You stink !!"

"Oh forgive me Your Pinocchio Highness. I shall douse myself in a flower basket before I present myself before you !" Veer shot back giving him a dirty look.

"Where were the both of you ?"

"Alpha. We were on the training grounds. With some of our new members. You never know when what might happen"

"And hence Shaan and I went down and had a small session of training with them. I have to say, there is a lot of room for improvement. But they are okay. So Bhratashree. Slept well yesterday ?"

Veer asked his older brother smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Armaan scowled back at his younger sibling, again reminded of their last night's conversation about his imprinting. If wolves could faint, he would have fallen on the ground at that instant. There also were no books that would tell him about this special case of imprinting.

"Thanks for asking Veer" he scowled at him earning an angelic smile in return from him.

"So what do you think we should do, Armaan ?"

"The first thing we need to do is look. What I mean by "Look" is to observe. Grasp.  Search. We do have the first clue of the treasure. But we need to get the second one. Only when we put all the pieces together we will be able to make the map."

"What do you suggest we do then ?"

"I am teaming you and Veer up together"

Both Prathna and Veer looked at Armaan to see a sign of any joke but Armaan was adamantly serious. The man himself couldn't believe his own words. He was putting the world's most dangerous troublemaker with the Sheshnaagin. He was sure to give that any mishap from Veer's side and Sheshnaagin would easily swipe him with her tail sending him straight into the Pacific Ocean. But he also needed time to plan on how to get to the second part of the clue. To know what their enemies were planning. Surely whatever lay inside the Abyss of Glory was something very important and valuable. And also the conversation with Veer after he came to know about his imprinitng was lingering on his mind. This seemed like the option for now.