Wandering Wolves

4. Ole'Toothy

Our hands were tied behind our backs then attached to a cage. Kate's sword was taken from her. Along with a few hidden knives that I didn't even know she had.

"What now, wolf?" I asked as they closed the cage. There were other cages as well with people in them. They looked more like tribesmen while Kate and I were completely different from the rest. Maybe these people live on this island.

"Hey" Kate tried to get the attention of the woman in the cage next to us. "Do you understand me?"

The woman nodded.

"Ok good. Um...what's with the cages? Why did they lock you up?"

The woman looked around before speaking. She gripped the bar of the cage with her hands, "They do not want us to take gold from them. They lock us in here and continue searching."

Kate and I learned that the woman's name is Hara. These pirates came here for a short rest and discovered some of her people hunting in the forest. The pirates then discovered some of the villagers carrying items and demanded they tell them where it was.

"Hold on, you said items? Not specifically gold." Kate asked.

"Yes, they are rocks. Rocks decorated with special paste we make from the fruit on this island. To the pirates it looks like gold so we set them around the island to keep them away from our village. Hoping they would just grab the gold and leave, not go further inland."

"Another way of saying fools gold." I leaned back against the bars. "Can't you just attack all these pirates with your supposed werewolf power?"

Kate sighed, "I could actually but protecting you and these villagers at the same time would be very difficult. Let's wait for me crew, once they notice that we didn't return they'll come searching for us."

"Then you'll go into werewolf attack and we'll be saved?"

"You do realize I can't just turn into a werewolf whenever I want to right?"

Can she? I still don't believe any of what the others told me. A man pushed aside one of his men and walked over to our cage. He ordered two of them to open the cage.

"Well well." Adorned with a gold tooth grin he took hold of Kate's face with one hand. "Good catch boys, this one is cute. I'll take this one over that villager there. You boys can have her now."

The two men that opened the cage went over to Hara's.

"You want me, you and your men don't touch her." Snarled Kate.

"Since when do you make the rules, darlin"

"I guess you don't want the full experience then. Anyone touches her or him, we're done, darlin." Kate mocked.

The gold tooth man laughed then shoved Kate hard into the bars of the cage.

"I like them feisty." He shoved her to the ground before existing the cage. "Don't touch that one for now, we'll deal with them both later."

His two men closed the cage then followed ole'toothy. I tried to untie myself from the rope.
"Kate! Kate...you alright?"

"Shh" she sat up and looked a little out of it. "My head hit that bar...I'm going to have to deal with this headache for a minute."

"A minute? Kate, you might have a concussion."

"You know how my arm was fine when you got on my ship? Well more then likely I don't have a concussion."

I looked at her confused for a bit, "Don't tell me this is a werewolf thing?"

"Super healing. Can't get sick either."

"That's insane."

"Yeah well unfortunately it doesn't get rid of every pain. Mental pain stays, like killing your family isn't something you just heal from." 

I paused "I'm still having a hard time believing all this. I mean I'm sure something happened to your family and well I'm sorry."

"Thanks...I mean that. For what it's worth not many people believe the story. Those wanted posters are all over the place so regardless if anyone believes I'm a werewolf or not they're still going to come after me for the bounty."

"So how long have you had that bounty?"

She kicked a rock in front of her, "Since I fled my village when I was ten."

"Ten? They placed a bounty on a ten year old?!"

"Yup, either I turn myself into the marines and be locked up for the rest of my life or I try to put an end to this damn curse by being a pirate."

"Why would being a pirate help end a curse?"

"By being a pirate I can travel around easier, I can break in to fortress' and what not. An odd twist of fate for the daughter of two of the worlds greatest marine generals."

"That explains why your name is so well known then. Death of two famous marines would spread pretty quickly and..." I just realized what I said. "Sorry..."

"It's fine." She leaned her head back against the bars. "What's done is done, I can't change the past but I can change the future by ending this curse."

We didn't say anything to each other after that. Death of parents at the age of ten and a bounty placed on her. She's been running all her life. I've been at home all my life just wondering where my parents went off to. I probably do have a bounty on my head by now but not nearly as high as hers. In the end though I really don't believe her story. A werewolf? That's not possible.