Wolfheart

~Sickly Sweet Scent~ (11)

Time passed me by without a second glance, and soon the Sun hung well overhead, heating the forest to almost uncomfortably hot temperatures. I remained motionless in the place, which I had first lay down; without having moved but an inch.

Due to the afternoon warmth, I could soon begin to smell the pile of fruits as they heated under the glare of the Sun and were being slowly reduced to nothing but mush. The sickly sweet scent of the fruits was beginning to make me antsy, I had not realized just how famished I was becoming. Yet, I did not take my eyes away from the brush surrounding my person. Whoever this other being was, it was as patient as I was, and had remained unmoving from its hiding place ever since I had pinpointed its location.

My tail flopped from side-to-side lazily, and I caught myself occasionally allowing my eyelids to droop closed. The kind warmth of the Sun was beginning to lull me back into sleep, but I refused to fall into unconsciousness, not until I was sure I was safe. My nose twitched and I sneezed; coupling the scent of the warm fruit, there was a new sort of smell that I had not noticed before. It was something like the scent of wildflowers, but a lot gentler. Raising my head for the first time since I'd rested it upon my paws, I sniffed the air experimentally. The wildflower smell almost began to overtake that of the fruit, as if whomever it belonged to was approaching. This scent was something quite similar to that which had hung around Lanakila.

Out of curiosity, I huffed and convinced myself to get to my paws. Upon standing, I allowed my shape to slowly morph back into that of a human. I could still smell the wildflowers, and the scent was now imprinted in my mind; I would never forget it. A wolf never forgets a scent.

"Are you going to come out, or shall we do this all day?" I asked aloud, crossing my arms, eyes half-closed out of sheer drowsiness thanks to the coziness of the Sun's rays.

In response, there was a soft 'shhff' noise as something slid out and away from the underbrush. I glanced down, widening my eyes. It was a sheath for a blade, something very similar to that which housed Lanakila's sword. I lowered myself to a crouch, reaching out towards the new item. It was long, much longer than the sheath I had at my waist. It was a charming chestnut brown, lined around its edge by something that looked to be writing; though it very well may have been just designs carved by a very patient craftsmen.

"You are human, too?" I shook my head, taking up the sheath in my hands, falling back onto my behind so as to sit. "Two humans in the span of several days," I fingered the length of the sword sheath, fascinated by it. "I am not so alone as I had previously supposed."

A particularly strong snippet of the wildflower scent floated past my nose, bringing me to wrinkle my face up and sneeze again. Whomever it was must have moved once more, perhaps they wanted their sheath back.

I itched the end of my nose with the back of my hand before the secondary sneeze could make its way out. "Are you Hanon?" I inquired, the thought only just striking me.

The other being stilled, though I could not see them, I could just tell. "Come on out," I said, placing the sheath back onto the grass. "It is much warmer in the Sun, anyway. It must be cold within those shadows."

"You were badly injured, whatever inflicted those wounds upon you?" A young lady's voice chimed. Hers was lower than Lanakila's, and sounded more mature, in a sense.

I did not answer, hoping to evade her question.

"I healed them for you," she said, caution peppering her tone; as though she was now unsure whether or not that had been the wisest decision on her part.

"Thank you." I answered simply, at a loss for what else to say.

"You wear Lanakila's sword," she sounded very skeptical now, "how did you come by it?"

I staggered whilst coming up with a response. If this was, in fact, the Hanon that Lanakila had been calling to and they had been companions, how could I bring myself to tell her I killed the other young lady myself?

"I found it, lying on the ground." I lied outright, feeling terribly guilty about fabricating a reason.
"Where?"
"In this forest,"
There was a short, quick sigh that emanated from the bushes. The leaves and branches rustled slightly as the one named Hanon stepped into the light. She was taller than Lanakila, and slim but strong. In her right hand she clutched a lengthy, golden blade. I got to my feet yet again, finding myself to still be quite taller than she. Though Lanakila had only just reached my shoulder, Hanon nearly reached my nose.

"What is your name?" She did not really state it as a question, but rather, like a demand. She had a very stubborn aura, stubborn yet with an underlying layer of kindness. As she awaited a response, she tossed her head impatiently; allowing her very, very lengthy waves of brown hair to fly slightly. I met her striking green eyes and felt rather like shrinking away from her, she was much more dangerous than Lanakila had been, that I could say for sure.

"I cannot say." I finally answered her, unconsciously playing with the collar about my neck with the fingers of my right hand.

"You seem to know my name, so I ask that you tell me yours." The silver armour she wore shimmered in the sunlight as she bent over to pluck her sheath off the grass. She received no satisfactory response from me, instead all she heard was the creek rushing along playfully and the titter of a bird or two. "I apologize," I eventually said, guiltily. "I just... cannot share my name..." I looked down. Lanakila's passing, and my lie - though just forth-put - were both beginning to build a strong feeling up within the pit of my stomach.

Now it was my turn to hear no reply, I only took note that the scent of the wildflowers was beginning to diminish. I jerked my head back up, and realized Hanon had her back to me, and she was leaving. Confused, I called out to her impulsively, "where are you going?"

She stopped, hair waving slightly upon the gentle breeze that had picked up. She turned her head to look over her right shoulder at me, "to finish what we started."