“Alright, try it once more!”
The wolf crouched down, tensed it muscles, then leapt forward while twisting in the air, doing a sort of barrel-roll jump. He landed solidly on his four paws, looking rather stunned at his success.
“Great job, Wind Dancer!” Nendara cried with glee, getting down on her knees to wrap her arms around her wolf friend’s furry neck. “That was so amazing! Imagine how you could use that in your next scuffle, huh?”
Not that there are many scuffles, admitted Wind Dancer, speaking to Nendara mind to mind. I’ve been trying to stay out of fights, as you requested.
“Aw, you’re such a good boy.” Nendara was touched. Her headstrong friend didn’t always like to take orders, so that fact that he was taking a mere request from her was special. She scratched behind his ears, his favorite place to be scratched, and his tail wagged enthusiastically to the amusement of the half-elf girl.
Will you show me the magic again? he asked suddenly, though his tail did not stop waving. The magic from the Raven man?
“You mean Numarr’s Midwinter Gift Exchange gift? Oh, sure!” Nendara shook her left wrist until a delicate charm bracelet slid down and out of her sleeve. A single charm jewel hung from it. “At first, I sort of thought Numarr’s gift to Dranari was better. I would’ve liked to have wings. But now I wouldn’t trade my gift for anything.” With a small spell word, the charm jewel activated, and suddenly, Nendara had a wolf’s tail.
Wind Dancer got up and walked around her a few times, examining the wondrous occurrence. Now you’re more wolf-like! Wind Dancer’s tail started wagging again. I am still not convinced that you are not actually wolf-born.
“And neither can the squirrels believe I’m not squirrel-born nor can the hawks believe I was not hatched from an egg,” giggled Nendara, waving her own wolf tail as enthusiastically as Wind Dancer’s. “But that’s just because of my Animal Magic. I am really just a two-legger. Half human, half elf, all two-legger.”
“Who are you talking to?” came a feminine voice.
“Who’s there?!” cried Nendara, startled, her wolf tail ceasing its wagging.
“I asked who you were talking to.” The voice came from the trees to Nendara’s right. She and Wind Dancer had been taking their weekly walk through the woods together when Nendara had gotten the idea to teach Wind Dancer that trick. They were far from any other human life, or at least, they should have been, as no roads or human-used paths crossed anywhere near this part of the forest. “It looks like you’re talking to the wolf,” continued the voice.
“And if I am?” asked Nendara defensively. She made to step protectively between the voice and Wind Dancer, who was sniffing the air for the scent of the intruder. “I was always taught not to talk to strangers though, so if you want a straight answer, you have to come out and meet me face to face.” A silence followed this declaration.
She’s downwind, snorted Wind Dancer. I can’t pinpoint her location.
“How convenient for her.’”
Indeed.
“How very interesting…” The speaker stepped out from behind the tree she’d been hiding behind. She wore a long red cape with the hood pulled over her head, shielding her face. What clothing Nendara could make out from under the cape was gray. Very cheerful thought Nendara.
“Well, hello there! I’m Nendara, and this is Wind Dancer.” Nendara waited for an answering introduction, but the stranger merely examined the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl and her wolf companion.
“You seem shorter than the others I’ve come across, although I see you have a wolf’s tail,” said the stranger.
“Oh, uh, yah, about that-”
“That’s a trait of a werewolf. For a human to possess such lupine limbs.”
“What?” Nendara looked down at Wind Dancer, who was growling slightly. Nendara looked back at the stranger, while simultaneously switching off the charm, causing the wolf tail to disappear. “I don’t know what you mean-”
“Have you ever turned into a wolf completely?”
“Uh… yeah, once. It was an accident though. I’m still learning how to-”
The cloaked hunter raised a hand and lowered her hood, revealing a beautiful face with long, red hair and emerald green eyes. “My name is Rosette Crimsontide,” She announced, as she aimed a crossbow at Nendara. “Know my name, monster, for it will be the last you hear!”
“Yikes!” shrieked Nendara as she leapt to avoid the arrow the stranger had shot at her. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned on her heel though when she heard Wind Dancer snarling viciously, getting ready to pounce. She leapt for her wolf friend, tackling him to the ground just in time. A bolt hit the ground right where the wolf had been standing. “Run, mutt!” Nendara yelled, shoving him in the direction of Deep Wood before dodging behind a tree for cover. Wind Dancer whined, but Nendara bore down on his will with every ounce of Animal Magic she possessed. “RUN!” Wind Dancer took off like a shot.
“Pity. Now I shall have to hunt your friend down after I’m through with you.” Rosette sounded merciless.
“You leave him out of this!” Nendara launched herself at Rosette, catching her a little by surprise. The two girls tussled in the leaves for a bit before Rosette threw Nendara off, firing a few more bolts from her cross-bow. Nendara leapt like a squirrel for the nearest tree, pulling herself up onto the lowest branch. The half-elf was hard pressed to jump from tree to tree, branch to branch to avoid Rosette’s fire, as the red-hooded huntress was quite an excellent shot.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding!”shouted Nendara down to the huntress once she was hidden by the leafy boughs nearer the tops of the trees. “I’m not a… whatever you called it… a ‘werewolf!’ I just have animal magic! I can shape shift into anything, really-”
“Don’t give me excuses, beast! It’s an undignified way for you to die!”
“Well excuuuse me,” muttered Nendara, as she reached her right hand out into the air by her side. It disappeared up to her elbow for a moment as she searched through her invisible ‘never-ending pocket’ before her hand reappeared with a strung bow and a quiver of arrows. Taking careful aim with one of the arrows, Nendara allowed the surrounding foliage to part ever so slightly so she could better see her target. However, the movement of the leaves was just what Rosette needed to find her quarry. Both girls shot simultaneously.
Nendara gasped in pain, biting back a scream, as the force of the bolt hitting her right shoulder sent her backwards until she hit the trunk of the tree. Rosette likewise let out a grunt of pain when Nendara’s arrow buried itself in her leg. She pulled it out carefully, wincing and fighting back tears, before ripping some fabric off her cloak to bind the wound, the red of her blood indistinguishable from the crimson red of her cloak.
Nendara, meanwhile, couldn’t move, she was still in shock. In the few minor battles she’d taken part in, she’d somehow managed to avoid serious injury. This injury was like nothing she’d ever received before, and it hurt like hell. Not to mention that she was pretty sure that she couldn’t feel her entire right arm, her stronger fighting arm, which meant she’d be in trouble in a hand-to-hand combat with this crazy stranger. She poked the crossbow bolt embedded in her skin and almost cried out. There was no way she’d be able to pull this thing out slowly. Biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut, she grabbed the bolt and pulled it out in a single motion, a cry of agony escaping her lips.
Rosette, just finishing the binding of her leg, looked up into the treetops at the sound. “If that was your reaction to getting shot, it was rather delayed.” Her remark was greeted by what could only have been a string of swear-words, although they were in a language Rosette had never heard before. The huntress grinned; she’d wounded her prey.
Suddenly, the two nearest trees reached out with their leafy branches for Rosette. She dodged them, but then she was grabbed from behind by another tree. Wrapped around the middle by thick vines, Rosette hung in the air, unable to move. She started reaching for her hidden dagger as Nendara landed squarely in front of her. As the half-elf slowly stood, Rosette saw a change in her quarry… a rather frightening change. For one thing, the dark brown-haired girl was growling like a bear, and when they looked each other in the eyes, Rosette’s widened to see her prey’s eyes had turned almost the same red color as her cloak. The wolf-girl also seemed to have developed fangs, which couldn’t be good news.
“Nobody,” began Nendara slowly, each word a menacing snarl, “threatens my friends, and nobody attacks me without proper cause without paying the consequences.” The vines around Rosette tightened, making it harder for her to breath. It was all the more important that she reach her dagger.
A dagger appeared in each of Nendara’s hands, having previously been hidden up her sleeves. As she advanced upon the red-cloaked girl, Rosette finally reached her dagger. It was an awkward twist for her, but she managed to cut through the critical vine just as Nendara made to swipe at her throat, dropping out of harm’s way. She pulled out her other dagger, and she and Nendara began to fight in earnest.
Nendara attacked with an animalistic fury, fueled by adrenaline to the point where she no longer noticed the pain she was in. Her strikes were fast and strong but left many openings. Rosette also noticed that the wolf-girl’s right arm seemed to have a harder time functioning and saw the blood pouring from the wound in the girl’s shoulder, but it was all she could do to avoid getting sliced at first. She also had the surrounding forest to worry about, because if this girl could tie her up with a vine, who knew what else she was capable of. Rosette finally found an opening, and struck out with her silver daggers, both coming away bloodied. Nendara roared like a mountain lion in her pain, almost stumbling into a tree as she pressed a hand to her side, two more crimson streaks to add to the hole in her shoulder. Her knees shaking in her pain and exhaustion, her animalistic rage was dying down. She could barely hold onto the dagger in her right hand as it was.
Rosette limped forward, circling carefully around the other girl. “You have been a most interesting prey,” she said, flipping her dagger into the air and catching it. “A werewolf beast with power over plant life and with the ability to imitate the sound of other beasts? Most unusual.”
“Don’t you think that should tell you something?” growled Nendara through gritted teeth. “If I don’t meet the criteria of your usual prey, don’t you think that means I’m not what you seek?”
“In a world of magic, such as this one, anything really is possible,” said Rosette. “You could be a new breed.”
“Well, in a world of magic, such as this one, where anything is possibly, don’t you think it could be possible that I’m simply of a race of beings you’ve never encountered?”
Rosette paused for a moment, considering this.
“And another thing, Miss Rosy Posey” spat Nendara, “when you encounter such a being the likes of which you’ve never met before, don’t you think it would be wise not to attack when you don’t know what you’re dealing with?”
“Oh, I seem to have beaten you quite thoroughly.”
“Oh, I’m not down quite yet.” In a final effort, Nendara held out her left hand, her eyes glittering blue now. Rosette looked down to find that she was standing in a puddle… and the puddle was slowly climbing up her legs. She tried to shake it off, but it merely climbed higher and began to freeze. In her own last ditch effort, Rose made to throw a dagger before her arm was totally frozen, but because it was already partially encased in ice, her aim was off. Instead of burying itself in her heart, the dagger merely buried itself in Nendara’s side. Cursing in elven again, Nendara doubled over as her adversary became completely encased in ice. As the last of her strength left her, Nendara passed out cold.

A short time later, Nendara woke to someone gently slapping her in the face. Her eyelids fluttered open to the sight of worried green ones looking back. As her vision cleared, the green eyes were joined by worried looking face and scruffy brown hair. It would be another few minutes before she could form coherent speech.
“D…Dy…Dylek?”
“Thank Ezbhan,” sighed Dylek in relief, rubbing his eyes with his hand. He turned to call to someone as Nendara tried to sit up, but it was a fruitless effort. She sank back down. “Nendara, what happened to you?! You’re all…” Dylek had turned back to her and was eying the hole in her shoulder and the three significant dagger cuts, unable to say anything.
“That crazy girl attacked me,” said Nendara, gesturing to Rosette, who still stood frozen in ice. “Something about being a… a… oh, something called a ‘werewolf.’ Apparently, that’s what she hunts.”
“I see,” said Dylek, eyeing the ice statue with displeasure. He fingered the axe on his belt.
“What shall we do with her?” came another voice.
“Tabitha!” shouted Nendara, trying to sit up again, but her strawberry-blonde friend put a restraining hand on her shoulder, signaling that the half-elf was not to be moving about. “What do you mean, ‘what shall we do with her?’”
“Shorty, she tried to kill you.”
“I know.”
Dylek and Tabitha exchanged looks. Nendara frowned. “But that doesn’t mean we should kill her. I mean, I did try to kill her. But I’m glad I didn’t. It wouldn’t have been right.”
“We can’t just let her go though,” said Dylek, ripping up cloth he’d brought with him for bandages. “She’ll just try to kill you again.”
“I don’t think she will.”
“Nendara, you’re too trusting,” asserted Tabitha, glaring at Rosette from beneath her strawberry-blonde bangs.
“And you two worry too much.” Once Dylek had bandaged her up as well as he could, Nendara made to sit up, and nobody stopped her this time. She even made it to her feet. The half-elf looked into the eyes of her crimson huntress, whose green eyes were wide with fear. Nendara had been kind enough to leave holes for breathing and hearing in the ice so her captive wouldn’t die, so Rose had heard every word and knew what Nendara’s friends were hinting at doing. Nendara almost sank back down to the ground in her exhaustion, but Dylek was up in an instant supporting her on one side while Tabs supported the other.
Once again, Nendara extended her left hand, although this time, it was for the reverse purpose. The ice quickly melted then sank into the ground, leaving a slightly wet and slightly shivering Rosette Crimsontide.
“When I’m in my right senses, I don’t believe in killing,” began Nendara sternly. “Therefore, you can go freely from this place to wherever it was you came from. However, if you attack any other person or creature, I will hunt you down and there will be no mercy next time. You will be my prey. Do you understand?”
Rosette nodded in understanding before turning slowly around and walking back the way she had come, picking up her daggers and her crossbow on the way, defeated. Nendara, Dylek and Tabitha watched her until she was out of sight among the trees.
“See? No fuss,” sighed Nendara, suddenly remembering that she was in considerable pain. Dylek rolled his eyes.
“You’re still too trusting,” sighed Tabitha in return as she and Dylek started the slow and arduous task of helping Nendara back to the nearest place with medical facilities. “You should have attacked first, not tried to make conversation. If Wind Dancer hadn’t come for us, Ezbhan knows what would’ve happened to you.”
“Well, you do not trust enough,” huffed Nendara to Tabitha. “One of these days, you’ll meet someone besides me and my friends who’ll make you laugh and smile, and you’ll fall head over heels in love with him.”
“Like that’ll ever happen,” muttered Tabitha. “Let’s get you home before you spew any more nonsense in your delirium.”