Chapter Text
The trees shook as we walked down the old dirt path to Wakanawa village. We had seen a reward for a help wanted poster around our hometown and decided we could use the extra money. I listened as Maxinne and Xaden argued over one thing or another like usual and a soft smile formed and I looked back at the rest of the group. It was a shocking sight to see Daniel was carrying Zade on his back as they spoke softly to one another but Daniel would do anything as long as Zade was the one to ask. Lydia was trailing behind Maxxine and Xaden instigating their fight but never picking a side as she fanned the flames and laughed.
I looked forward and saw the village coming into view and the sounds of the forest getting quiet. I let out a loud whistle and everyone went silent as I crossed my arms. “Alright, remember the rules. No causing trouble,” Maxinne and Xaden looked away guiltily," No profiling people who make you uncomfortable.” I looked directly at Daniel as he shrugged and spoke in a bored tone, “No promises but I guess I'll try.” Finally I looked towards Lydia and Zade, “Finally you two,” I looked the two of them up and down before smiling, “keep being yourself, you're doing great.” Lydia smiled brightly before sticking her tongue out at the others while Zade lazily raised his fist in mock celebration. I smiled and shook my head before walking towards the village while the others followed excitedly.
Lydia hopped around as she talked like the endless bundle of energy she was. “I wonder what the village is like? Or even the people! We haven't been off on an adventure in so long.” She whined out as she dramatically draped herself over Maxinne with her hand on her forehead. Maxine immediately smiled as she playfully pushed her. “ We haven't been on one because we all decided to take a break. Why did we even take this job out of all of them anyways?” I could hear varying sounds of agreement and pulled out the reward paper and smirked. “Actually I wasn't the one to choose the adventure, it was all Daniel and Zade.” Lydia’ s head snapped back to look at the two while Xaden and Maxinne gaped at each other before Xaden spoke hesitantly, “You mean to tell me the two people who never, and I mean never, contribute to mission picking decided we should go here?” Daniel let out a scoff as he readjusted Zade on his back who lifted his head up and off his shoulder, “I picked this mission because I needed some herbs that grow only in this area and Daniel picked this mission for the sense of mystery.”, he then put his head back down and Daniel nodded. “The reward paper had barely any information on it about the exact problem but has a giant reward? I was curious."
Lydia raised her hand to the side of her mouth and leaned in close towards Maxinne and Xaden and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “He just chose it because Zade did.” Daniel sent her a glare and kicked up a stick before throwing it at her. “OW! That hurt, jerk!” Daniel gave her a smile that clearly didn't reach his eyes, “Sorry, I thought I saw a bug.” He turned around with a grin as I shook my head. “Feyre give me patience…” Xaden came up beside me confused. “Isn't it ‘give me strength’?” I looked him dead in the eyes with a blank expression. “If I asked for strength you all would be knocked unconscious.” Everyone started to laugh while Xaden slowly backed away from me, quieting down as we got to the village entrance.
The village seemed to have a gloomy atmosphere surrounding it as we walked further into the village not seeing anyone. I pulled out the reward paper as Lydia leaned over my shoulder to read from it, “Reward $4,000 to any who can help.”, she tilted her head confused while Maxinne hesitantly spoke, “So… Are we sure we're in the right place? I mean this place looks sorta…empty.” she moved around looking at the stalls while Xaden trailed behind her. Maxinne let out a choked out shout and stumbled back as a person popped up from behind one of the stalls, “Well hiya there! I don’t think ive ever seen you all before?” He spoke excitedly as he walked around the stall. I looked over towards Maxinne and saw Xaden patting her back while snickering before turning and looking the guy over. He was short with a bushy beard with dark brown hair. He also had a suit on and a black bowler hat with a pin saying ‘Mayor Lewis!’ I put my hand out and spoke in a calm, even tone, “We actually just got here, I'll assume you're the mayor of this village?” The man grabbed my hand and started shaking it excitedly. “Oh yes I am Mayor Lewis! What brings you to our little village?” I tried removing my hand from his as he continued shaking it but he didnt let go so I pulled the flier out with my other hand and showed it to him. “We saw this flier and thought it was interesting to check out.” Mayor Lewis looked at the flier and his mood seemed to drop slightly as he let go of my hand, “Ah yes I assume you would like some more information…well we have had a werewolf sneak into our village a few months ago. It started killing our livestock and when that started running out it went after my people. Our village doesn't have much now and the only way to get help was by a flier. Please if you can help me save our village.”,he interlocked his fingers and looked at us pleadingly.
I looked back towards the group and saw Lydia already staring at me, Maxinne and Xaden straightened up while Daniel and Zade looked excited. I knew what their answers were without even asking and looked back towards Mayor Lewis with a smile. “We’ll try our best to help save your village and get rid of the werewolf.” Mayor Lewis brightened up as he clapped and let out a gleeful cheer before letting out a gasp grabbing my sleeve and tugging on it. “You all need a place to stay! There is a house on the edge of the village you all can stay at if you wish to.” I didn't even get a chance to respond as he started dragging me along and incredulously thought, ‘He is quite strong for someone so small.’ I could hear Lydia laughing at the sight of a grown man getting dragged around by someone half their size as they all followed behind.
On the way to the house we heard a scream from the distance and we were all immediately on alert while Mayor Lewis mumbled. “Oh my! What is happening!?” I pulled my arm out of his hold and brought my hand up letting out a whistle as Maxinne and Xaden immediately went running towards the scream with Zade behind them then looked back towards Mayor Lewis. “We’ll check it out but you should stay here just to be safe.” I didn't even give him a chance to speak as I immediately started sprinting towards where the other three went with Lydia right beside me and leaving Daniel behind.
As we got closer to where the yell came from the metallic scent of blood started getting stronger and when we got closer I saw one person still on the ground and Zade crouched on the ground in front of another who seemed to have been thrown through a fence and was tending to them while Xaden stood on guard. As I got closer I looked around kicking a few pieces of wood out of the way and crouched down beside Zade taking a closer look at the person who was male. He had blonde hair that was stained red towards the ends and three jagged slashes going from his left eyebrow to his jaw. “How’s it looking doc?” Zade didn't even look away from what he was doing as he pulled out some disinfectant and gauze before starting to clean his wounds, “He’ll live but the lady over there was too far gone. I’d assume they are siblings seeing as they look similar now, where is Daniel?” the man flinched a bit unconsciously when Daniel started stitching the wounds closed.
I leaned back against Xaden’s leg as he was right behind me and grinned. “Our favorite little detective decided to stay behind with the Mayor. Probably to try and grill some answers out of him about this werewolf and village.” Zade let out a hum of approval as he started wrapping the wounds “If anyone is going to get answers without it being obvious it's Daniel.” I nodded along as I picked up the medkit and started messing with the things inside it, “He’s scary good at doing that, good but scary.” Daniel snatched the medkit from my hands and shooed me off like some stray animal. “If you're not going to be useful then go make yourself useful.”
I placed a hand on my chest and let out a dramatic gasp, “How could you just shoo me away like that? Betrayed by my own medic.”, Xaden huffed out a laugh as I stood up and patted Zades head who swatted my hand away before getting back to work. “So where has Maxinne wandered off to?” Xaden pointed off to the left towards the more worn out side of the village and spoke in a disappointed tone. “She ran off that way saying that she was going to search around for the one who did this even when we told her to wait.” I let out a sigh as I called Lydia over towards us. “Lyds I need you to go herd the bull and bring her back. Zade, Xaden when he is stable enough move him to the house so Daniel can get some information out of him. I'm going to go get Daniel and we meet at the house at the edge of town, got it?” Lydia and the others nodded as I got up and headed back towards where we came from while Lydia went off in the opposite direction calling Maxinne’s name in a sing-songy tone.
I ran into Daniel at the halfway point and we both fell into step as we walked towards the house we were all staying at. I put my hands into my pockets and looked up towards the sky, “Did you find anything useful from the Mayor or was it all nonsense?” Daniel let out a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “That fool of a Mayor kept babbling about how great this village was and other useless things but I did get some information that there was word from villagers that a new face showed up a bit before the murders. I believe that this person tried to show up early to get along with the others and cover their tracks.” I nodded along as the house we were going to stay at came into view. It was a decently sized house but looked rough as the stone was cracked with moss growing out of them and some beams of wood seemed split but as we entered it looked better than the outside by a long shot as I let out an impressed whistle.
I could hear Lydia and Maxinne chatting with an unfamiliar voice in the living room and when we turned the corner I saw the guy who was thrown through the fence sitting there with Zade beside him checking him over. Daniel immediately made his way over to them and I let him do his work as Maxinne followed me into the kitchen where Xaden was cooking. I leaned against the wall as Maxinne leaned against the counter, “So you find anything after running off?” She nodded as she pulled out and handed me a map of the village covered in x’s, circles, and one blue star. “The x’s are abandoned while the circles are where people are living but the one with the star people say that that person showed up a week or so before the attacks started. I went to check it out when Lydia showed up and did some magic things and we found wolf fur all around the outside.” Maxinne never really understood Lydia’s magic even though she has been in our group for so long and it was quite amusing.
I looked back down at the map and saw the house was closer to the edge near the forest and filed away that information. “What do you have there?” I jumped as I looked over to the side where Daniel stood and give him the map as Maxinne repeated what she found and he brought a hand up to his chin, “This all adds up to what the Mayor and the guy out there, Tobias i'm pretty sure, are saying so I believe we found our werewolf.”, He grinned as he stared at the house a rare gleam of excitement in his eyes. I shivered in fear before calling Lydia and Zade into the room and we planned for tonight.
We ended up deciding to leave when the sun set and try to catch Carroll, who Daniel told us is the name the werewolf from a few different people in the village, before she kills another person and distract her while Xaden shoots her with a silver bullet that also had wolfsbane added inside by Zade and I am not questioning where he got it from. I value my life. Anyways as night fell we left the house as Daniel led us to Carroll's house. “You know my gut feeling is saying this is a terrible idea.” Lydia spoke nonchalantly as Xaden made a shushing noise and whisper shouted, “Don't you dare jinx us! Take it back before it's too late!” Lydia let out a small laugh as Daniel slapped the back of his head, “Don't worry I was only joking!”
As the house came into view I let out a low whistle and everyone fell silent watching as I raised a hand up for a few seconds before closing it and everyone scattered. I jumped up onto the closest house’s roof and layed in the shadows watching the house. It didn't take long for Carroll to come out covered in fur and almost big enough to not fit through the door looking around swiftly and sniffing the air. I tensed up as I waited to give the signal and when Carroll let out a growl snapping her head in my direction I jumped up and threw a dagger at her as the others jumped out as well.
Lydia shot different beams of light trying to herd her towards the middle as I held my daggers in my hands. We blocked her exits while trying to leave openings for Xaden to shoot her which is honestly harder than it seems. I looked over my shoulder towards where Xaden was but felt a weight push me down and a sharp pain shoot through my shoulder as one of my daggers flew out of my hand. “ARAI!” I could hear multiple voices shout out as I let out a grunt of pain gripping my other dagger tighter and could feel the hot breath on the back of my neck as its claws dug farther into my shoulder. I lifted up my dagger and shoved it into her front leg but by doing that her claws ripped themselves out leaving a stinging pain as I rolled onto my back as she let out a howl therefore lifting up a paw getting ready to slash before a blur tackled her away and as I looked up I saw Maxinne with her arms wrapped around the wolfs neck hanging on as she thrashed with a growl that resonated throughout the area. I watched as time seemed to slow when she lifted up a clawed hand and threw Maxinne into a nearby wall before anger surged through me.
I jumped up ignoring the sting in my shoulder as I scoped my daggers back up and stood in front of Carroll. I stared into her glowing yellow eyes and ran at her ducking under a slash and jumping up onto her back stabbing a dagger into her shoulder blade as she took off running and grabbed at her fur so I wouldn't fall off. I could hear the others panic as she started thrashing around running into walls in an attempt to knock me off and in one sharp turn my grip on the dagger loosened as I crashed into a wall. She stood over me slowly getting closer, her hot breath hitting my face and I held up my dagger thinking ‘I will not go without a fight.’ She crouched down getting ready to pounce and when she sprang at me a loud bang resonated throughout the area. Everything went silent and I smiled as she stumbled but it quickly went away as she fell towards my direction, “Oh no-”, she crashed down onto me and I let out a groan. I could hear the others coming closer as Lydia ran to my side and let out a laugh because of the look on my face and I could see Maxinne limping her way over snickering as Xaden, who jumped out of a tree, pushed her off of me. I sat up with a grumble as I put pressure on my shoulder, “You’re all grounded when we get back home…”, Xaden let out a sigh as he grabbed my arm and started dragging me to where we were staying while Lydia handled the situation we left behind and tell the mayor the good news. As soon as the house came into view I shook off Xadens hold on me and kicked the door open. “Darlings, I'm home!” I could hear Zade and Daniel let out a groan but was cut off at the sight of me and Maxinne standing in the doorway covered in mud and blood with sheepish looks.
Zade walked over and grabbed mine and Maxinnes’ ears dragging us over to the couch and let out grumbles as he opened the medkit and cleaned the area before stitching us up and cleared his throat, “No heavy lifting for either of you or fighting,” He sent Maxinne a glare as he moved in front of her wrapping the bandages. We nodded as we shivered in fear, “We promise not to cause any fights.” I could hear the others enter the house and let out a yelp as I was tackled off the couch by Lydia wincing as I landed on my shoulder. “Careful with the merchandise, Lyds!” She was immediately pulled off by an angry Zade. “I just finished stitching him up. If you break his stitches then you'll need stitches!” Xaden helped me up and pulled my arm over his shoulder, “Remind me not to let Zade and Daniel pick our next mission.” Xaden helped me out of the house as the others followed and as we got to the entrance of the village I looked back seeing the villagers speaking happily with the mayor feeling uneasy when we locked eyes but looked away pushing the feeling down laughing along with the others.
The mayor watched them leave with an uncanny grin before turning towards the ‘villagers’, “I believe we found ourselves a new source of entertainment,” his form shifted to a tall male wearing a top hat and a black suit holding a cane with a king chess piece at the end. The ‘villagers’ forms shifted to shadowy forms resembling people of different shapes and sizes as they dissipated into the shadows. He twirled his cane and hit it against the ground as orange lines spread around him before disappearing in a flash of orange light leaving the ground burned.