The bloody remains were thrown on his carpet. Katori looked at the body, then with doubt written on his face turned his head at the two wolves who dragged the corpse into his home. He raised an eyebrow, to which one of the brutes answered him with a shrug.
Dead bodies always seemed to be things strangely exaggerated, but for them, it was something closer to the norm. He couldn't count how many wolves had already fallen from his hand or how many corpses he had seen with his own eyes, probably the same as his current associates. It was not a profession for the faint-hearted, especially when any assignment could cost them their lives as well.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" he asked, waving his paw suggestively at the corpse lying on the carpet. His expensive, sophisticated beige rug was slowly turning scarlet, and he was losing hope of ever being able to wash it. His heart ached a little, that fucking rug was the most valuable thing he owned.
"I don't know, I don't care. Just make sure it doesn't run away" one of the thugs mumbled as he headed for the exit, then slammed the door so hard that all the furniture trembled.
Run away?
He felt like a total idiot, or as if someone had just spit in his face. After a little while, he noticed why those were his orders. The dead body’s chest was feebly rising and falling. Well, then it was not a dead body. It was alive.
He scanned the body. It was of medium size, as if it belonged to a small wolf or pup, completely covered in night-black fur. It was slightly unnaturally proportioned, as if it had been stretched out, or it has undergone rapid growth and has not had time to expand reasonably. Blood oozed from numerous wounds, which he probably obtained while defending himself against bandits. Bits of fur were missing here and there, revealing sensitive skin of an odd shade. However, by far the strangest thing was the head of a corpse, replaced by a bare skull, that was unlike anything he had ever seen.
He touched the body with the tip of his paw, nudging it lightly. It was surprisingly light. He didn't really want to do anything about it, he seriously considered simply leaving the wounded wolf on his carpet and letting him bleed to death. He would carry out his order, and at the same time he could relax and use the time freed up in this way. However, this plan had several flaws. He did not know when his client would return, so he could risk spending days or even weeks in one hut with a decomposing body. And if he did that, he'd feel like a bastard. He may have been one of the best bounty hunters in the Kingdom, but he wasn't a coldhearted, unfeeling monster. Still, getting involved felt like a huge pain in the ass. Especially considering who was bleeding out on his carpet. The juvenile was obviously not something the public should have anything to do with. At merely the sight of that creature, a normal wolf would turn on their heel and fleece as far as they could.
He looked at the juvenile, inspecting him from a different angle, and finally sighed heavily. He decided to act and with a bit of luck could save the young wolf's life. This option was also not the best solution, alive and in better condition his little prisoner was more likely to escape, and his main job was to keep him in place after all. He knew who was lying on his rug, and he was aware of the consequences he could face for being part of this whole conspiracy. But it was precisely that risk that got this job into his hands.
First, he approached the juvenile, then he lifted him off the ground, grabbing the skin on the back of its neck with his teeth. However, he was unable to pick it up completely, so he ended up dragging the half-dead body across the floor, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the wooden panels. After throwing the juvenile on the bed, he quickly inspected his wounds. There were a lot of them, and they were quite deep, so the amount of blood was definitely not unnatural. What was more shocking was how his guest was still alive despite being in such a bad condition.
He pulled out a basic first aid kit that was always conveniently stored under the bed, to give the juvenile some simple first aid. He washed and disinfected the wounds, noting with surprise that the wounded did not even twitch. Then, to stop the blood flow, he tightly tied a clean cloth around the injured parts of the juvenile's body, substantially covering his whole figure with bandages. The wounded wolf was lucky to be in the hands of Katori, who could tend to such injuries with his eyes closed.
After finishing, he looked at the juvenile, while sitting down in a chair which he pulled up to the edge of the bed. The young thing's breathing was steady. His respiratory system and bones appeared undamaged. However, he didn’t appear to be waking up.
"You shouldn't have helped him" said the voice inside his head.
A smart wolf would agree, and, if possible, finish off the wounded so that he would not cause problems later. He tilted his head and looked at his target's face once more. It was almost impossible to tell what it truly looked like, but that was rather obvious, given that its whole face was replaced by a skull. He still wondered, how something so young and potentially vulnerable could become something so… desirable that half of the best bounty hunters chased after it for weeks.
A dangerous criminal was resting on his bed and Katori literally just saved his life. But maybe it will give him some ground for cooperation. After all, he didn't know how long it would take his client to get here. Actually, he wasn't convinced about the job from the beginning, catching the target was one thing, but finding out it was just a juvenile was definitely a surprise. He himself had not been able to decipher how something like this pup was able to commit such acts. There must've been something clearly wrong with him, but who was Katori to judge that.
He decided to make something to eat for himself and his prisoner, but he couldn't leave him alone for fear that the juvenile would run away. He jumped off the chair and bent down under the bed again to grab the leather straps with which to tie the wounded man to the cradle. In the presence of the Wendigo, he should even watch out for the motion of raising and lowering a spoon in front of him. The wolf body has approximately 320 bones, but it wouldn't be strange for him to be torn up into as many pieces at the slightest mistake.
When he straightened up, a hoarse voice reached his ears.
"Put it down."
Unbeknownst to Katori, the wounded wolf had opened his eyes and was looking at him with one creepy eye.
"What if I don't?"
"I will kill you."
For the juvenile, it was a phrase as ordinary as fresh wounds on his body. He could see it in his eyes, it was just a normal vocabulary for him, despite young age.
"And how would you do it? You are badly injured, your body is almost unable to move. In your position, you'd need at least five of you to even scratch me" Katori spoke with a slight sneer in his voice.
"Do you know who I am?"
Under the furious glare of the younger wolf, he slowly put the restraints down.
"That's it" the injured praised him.
Katori stared at the target for a few seconds, before turning around and heading to the kitchen. Through the open door, he could still see his prisoner.
"All I did was emergency first aid, how do you feel about your wounds? You know, you could die" he said, putting the kettle on the burner and watching the flames grazing the metal dish.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing, I'm used to getting hurt." The deep voice did not suit the young wolf at all.
But nothing really suited him, everything was not as it should be. Such a weird, little thing.
"It's a good thing to be obedient for a while, especially in your condition. At first, I assumed you were dead" Katori laughed.
"I don't have to submit to anyone-" after the pup had said that much, he started coughing and then threw up blood.
Katori quickly rushed over and turned the younger’s head to the side, so he wouldn’t choke on his own bloody vomit. He checked inside his mouth. It was hard to determine where the bleeding was coming from under the circumstances. It could just be a cut inside his mouth, or it could be the damage on his internal organs. He really couldn't tell.
Słowa: 1533
Nagroda: 15 punktów szybkości
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