Bound by a Blade (PauPat)

Chapter Eight - The Tribe of the Woodland

Pau hadn't slept at all that night. There was still a lot of time left before the sun rose, but the mercenary knew everyone else in camp was asleep by now. He slowly stood up and threw the thin blanket off of him, looking around for his trusty blade. Luckily, he found the weapon rather quickly, despite the darkness making it nearly impossible to see inside the tent.

Pau slowly exited his small shelter, the thinning snow making a small crunch beneath his feet. After making a quick check for witnesses, he made sure his sword was secure on his belt and raced off into the thick forest.

Small snowflakes began to litter the young man's hair as he set off on his search for danger. He didn't care how badly he got injured, so long as he got to make amends with his friend.

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Cold.

Shivering.

Thirsty.

The brown haired man fell to his knees, gasping from the shock the snow gave him.

Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?

After a few long moments of procrastination, Pau forced himself to get back up. His legs ached from how long he had been walking, and the piercing cold definitely wasn't helping with that. The mercenary hadn't predicted the extreme drop in temperature that would occur no less than an hour after he left the comfort of his tent.

Oh, how he longed to be in his tent, dreaming the night away.

Having grown up on the streets of a typically cold nation, he has definitely spent quite a few of his nights in weather this freezing, if not worse. The only difference was, now he didn't have a small, yet stubborn fire to warm his hands, or even the protection of city alley walls. He was fully exposed to the frigid air around him, with no protection other than the clothes on his back.

Closing his eyes gently, he was brought back to the last time he felt this freezing.

"Mama!"

"No! It's from-"

"Get away from me!"

He remembered, that night, looking at the place on his finger where his mother's ring had been, only to find that it was replaced by a sickly purple indent in his flesh.

Before he could cringe at the terrible memory, he heard a loud snap in the near distance. He immediately froze and held his breath, his shaking hand hovering over the handle of his sword. His childhood instincts came back to him, making it increasingly tempting to shout, "Who's there?"

Pau fought against his impulsive thoughts, biting the inside of his cheek.

The mercenary let out a yelp when he heard a loud bark behind him, turning around so fast that he fell backwards into the snow. Landing on his rear, he stared at the canine before him- a large gray wolf, with blood red eyes that glowed against the dark fur that covered its body.

Pau didn't dare move. Hell, he couldn't move as terror overwhelmed him. His eyes went wide as the creature began to circle him, baring its sharp yellow teeth. He winced as it let out another loud bark, right in his ear.