Wolf at Heart

Chapter Thirty Three: Aftermath

"Well, at least you didn't die," Ash said simply after a minute of silence.

I laughed bitterly but had a growing sense of admiration for his unrelenting support. "Yes, Mr. Obvious, as I'm still here right now. I survived -- barely."

Ash responded with his infinite well of patience. "You know what I mean. What happened after?"

Making a pained noise, I ended the tale in a monotone voice. "I woke up on the shore and walked back to my house. I'd broken an arm and hat a lot of bleeding cuts and stuff. I made an excuse to my parents about why I was soaking wet and injured. Of course, I got punished once I was healed up. Long story short, I avoided all possible places she could've been to. I never said a word about it to anyone. Who'd believe me? No one would think that precious little Sora would hurt a fly. So I shut up about it...and yeah, that's about it I guess."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ash tighten a fist. Wanting to avoid conflict for once, I hurried to reassure him. "I can deal with this myself. Besides, I'm okay now. I got this."

Ash looked in no way convinced, but he dropped the matter in favor of another, more pressing matter. "We already decided we're heading to the Serpentine's camp first. It's the closest to where we are now. We'll make it up from there."

I arched an eyebrow, pretending to be surprised. "Wow. The great and all-knowing Avian didn't stalk the Serpentine's Chosen one? You must be more clueless than we are then."

Instead of being offended, he gave me a pleased and smug grin. "You think I'm all-knowing?"

Much regret at this point.

"I -- uh, no," I stuttered, mentally facepalming.

Ash smirked. "Don't get so riled up. I'm just teasing, Mel. Chill out for a change."

Shrugging, I fiddled with the hem of the cloak. No matter how he put it, the weight of the world was still heavy on our young shoulders.

Which begged the question: Why would you choose a bunch of teenagers to "save the world?" My parents were wrong then; I wasn't the most irresponsible and useless thing on the planet, the ones who chose me were!

In all seriousness though, why me?

My train of thought derailed when Ash lightly brushed his fingers across my shoulder. His hand trailed down to my back and rested there. Surprised, I looked up at him, my confusion evident.

"Hey, I know it's a lot to take in, and there's so much we don't know yet, but we'll get through this. We'll figure it out," Ash said, reading my mind and saying exactly the right words.

I smiled up at him, then shifted my attention to something less stressful. "Where are the others and how long was I out?"

Ash thought for a moment then answered measuredly. "Sora and Dakota are talking in another room. I think they are at least. You were asleep for about a day and a half. I've been here just about the whole time, so I really don't know what the other two are doing. And I don't want to either."

We shared a look: I knew what that meant, and I was in no hurry to interrupt their conversation. I had other things to do. Like eating breakfast or lunch or dinner or whatever time of the day it was.

"Where can I get something, honestly anything, to eat? I'm starving."

"I thought you'd ask sooner or later. C'mon, I'll show you, it's not far."

Following him, I discretely tuned in to my wolf senses, checking if anyone was about. I took a couple of whiffs, and sure enough, one room we passed distinctly smelled of fox and lion. I heard quiet voices inside that made me halt mid-step.