The Unwanted Wendigo [ManxMan]

Chapter Thirty-one: To Fail and Succeed

[AN: Wendigo-typical warnings - gore, graphic eating of humans, etc.]

~Chapter Thirty-one: To Fail and Succeed~

When I wake up, it is to a hand combing through my hair, which might normally be an interesting experience to explore further, but with the last thing I remember being the voice of a wendigo in my ear and his hand on my shoulder, there is nothing comforting about the contact. My first instinct is to attack the owner of the hand, as it can only mean bad things, but something - maybe it is the way that there is a distinct lack of bad smells or sharp nails scratching against my scalp - that I hold myself back from doing that. Instead, I wait long enough to gather my bearings before tensing up and, in one smooth push, roll away from the kind fingers and onto my feet. And then I open my eyes.

The snarl that had started to form on my lips quickly vanishes as I realize that the hands do not belong to the wendigo who has been dogging my every move - my name is Jackson, and you would do well to remember it - but rather to the Mer who I am slowly starting to appreciate more and more. And beyond him are a cluster of other Mer and a very familiar demon. All of them are staring at me, wary but unmoving, but it is Felix I choose to focus on, as he is the one who was letting me use his lap as a pillow.

"How are you feeling, Wendy?" Felix asks, though he does not move from where he is sitting. The hand he was sliding through my hair with has fallen into his lap, but he otherwise seems content to stay kneeling on the floor.

Where are we?

Hesitant to answer the king's question while I am still uncertain of why there is a carpet instead of a sandy beach beneath us, I start looking around the area - the room - to try to pinpoint our current location. However, there are no windows, no open doors, or anything else that might reveal how we got here or where we are. If we were back in the Mer city, we would either be at Valentin's place or the palace, so we are likely still on land since I do not recognize the room, and it smells only faintly of the ocean. Since no one seems overly concerned with guarding our location, though, as everyone in the party is present in the room, I can only assume we are somewhere they deemed safe.

A Mer safehouse or something?

"What happened?" I ask eventually, as though I want to know where we are, it is probably more important to understand how we got here first.

Doesn't matter where we are if a wendigo could still track us, after all.

If the fact that I ignored his question bothers him, Felix does not show it. Still, that does not stop him from answering my question with a question of his own, "How much do you remember?"

Though I could keep the ball rolling by asking another question to respond to his question, I am...not really in a joking mood at the moment. "Just tell me what happened after someone grabbed my shoulder," I request. It might not have been a complete answer, but if Felix suspects that I remember more than I am implying, he again holds his tongue.

"After the other wendigo grabbed your shoulder, he said something in your ear. We couldn't hear what, but..." Felix trails off, glancing at Atasah.

"So nice to see you again, Lancelot."

Taking the look to mean that the king wants him to jump in, Atasah steps forward and says, "But your expression fell flat, and when he released you, you didn't run. Instead, you took a step towards us, stopped, and then you, well, snarled before passing out."

I passed out, huh? That's kind of anti-climatic.

Though I should probably be surprised or even concerned - that wasn't what he ordered me to do - I am actually just kind of relieved, as it is not like I was actually all that excited to follow the orders of another wendigo...and I still do not even understand what it is Jackson seems to be able to do that would make me follow him in the first place.