Sweet Revenge (Newly Revised!)

12. October 2016

Hugo coughed up blood for the third time that night. He cleared his throat and lapped up some water. His head was pounding, and he could not control his fever. He had already spent five years looking for Narima without even a glimmer of hope. He had searched through all the werewolf territories in Noram asking anyone that he could if they had seen her. He traveled through all the other beast territories asking them as well, although some were not so helpful.

"Get out of my land before I tear you apart!" A giant grizzly werebear had shouted at him.

"I just want to ask if you've seen a werewolf come through here." Hugo was desperately trying to avoid his large claws.

"The only dog I've seen in years is you! Now leave!"

The foxes were not much help either. All they wanted was to keep their existence a secret and Hugo walking around looking for them would ruin everything.

Hugo coughed up more blood and his throat became scratchy. His whole body hurt, and he could not get it to move.

"I'll never find Narima like this..." Hugo groaned to himself.

"You'll never find her if you're dead, now hold still!"

Hugo rolled his eyes towards the leopard that had fished him out of the water. How had Hugo gotten to her, he could not remember.

All that he could remember was his mind running as fast as he was. The dark thoughts of him never seeing Narima again, never being close to her... He was determined to look for Narima until the end of the world if that was what it took. But then, he could not feel the ground under him, his mind went black.

The leopard had told him she watched him fall into a freezing river, crashing through the still thin ice. She followed him above ground and managed to get him out before being dragged down further off the mountain.

He owed his life to her. Had it not been for Aileen, he would have drowned and never see Narima again.

"You have a lot of broken bones and a serious amount of internal bleeding." Aileen looked him over carefully. Her thin, slender fingers grazed over Hugo's body and string-like magic poured out of them. "This should stitch up your insides."

Hugo could feel a prickling sensation traveling up and around his organs. He looked over at her and saw her green eyes concentrated on her magic. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a tight braid and her face was covered in tribal markings. Hugo sighed and ended up coughing again. He groaned against the pain and winced as Aileen pushed him down again.

"I said hold still!" She growled. "You want to get better, don't you?"

"Why are you even helping me?" Hugo growled. "You're a feline..."

"And you're a canine. You're point being?" Aileen hissed. "Just because our ancestors didn't like each other doesn't mean we can't help each other. Not that I could give a shit about what my ancestors or yours would think. But I could go without the wet dog smell."

She finally pulled her hands away admiring her work.

"That should be it." She placed her hands on her curvy hips. "All you need is rest and you'll be set to go."

Hugo pulled himself up slowly testing his joints and muscles. They were achy and sore but not paralyzed. He sprang forward and shifted into his wolf form. His bones broke and reformed. His fur sprouted from all over his body and he looked at the leopard. He growled a thank you and headed for the door.