Od Asmodaya, Trening XIII, cz. II

"Leave me alone" the wounded whispered.

"See, I can't do that. You happen to play a big part in my current job. I can't let you bleed out" Katori remarked.

"Are you a bounty hunter?" the younger raised his head, looking at his tormentor.

Golden eyes flashed, as Katori cocked his head. He wasn't massive or imposing, but his presence still seemed overwhelming. He was an average-sized wolf, with beige, thick fur that sometimes taking on shades of gray. His specialty was that, apart from his eyes, he was unremarkable. He was not mighty, he had no distinguishing features, no scars, nothing that made him stand out from other wolves. Therefore, he was the perfect match for his job. Inconspicuous, discreet, able to blend in with the crowd. He worked in this profession for years and was satisfied with his work. Of course, he had a hard time dealing with the remorse at first, but over time he got used to the blood on his hands, it helped that everyone he was chasing were criminals, terrible wolves. He was not afraid of his profession, just as he was not afraid of taking responsibility for it.

"Something has to pay the bills."

"You never learn, now do you?" the young wolf hissed.

"What do you mean by that?" the male frowned, cocking his head in consternation.

"The bounty hunters have been chasing me for weeks, and all they've found is death" the wolf lowered his voice, a subtle threat hanging in the air, thickening the atmosphere in the room.

"And now look at you, peak of health" Katori teased, then smiled, pleased with his little joke.

"My current condition is a result of my own will. Why would I let myself get suddenly caught when I was so good at hiding in the shadows? In fact, you can just let me die here." The young wolf said in a voice that sounded like the wheezing of a vanishing soul.

Katori shivered, overwhelmed with a sensation as if a cool breeze passed through him. He looked at the cub. The young wolf just stared at the ceiling. It had a calm expression on its face, as if it had just told him its age, there was no emotion or implication. He didn't even sense sadness in his words, which was simply terrifying. What must have happened in this pup's life if he was ready to die at such a young age?

"Sure, you can die. But not before I hand you over to my client. I don't want anyone dying in my house, it's bad luck" the older wolf shrugged.

He looked into the younger wolf's eyes again, it didn’t even feel like there was something alive there. Supposing it was late at night instead of a brisk early morning, he would have thought it was a ghost or a hallucination. Why did he even try? It's not like the injured will repay him in some way. He probably won't even thank him for saving its life. Not to mention that the pup was his target, he was supposed to kill him, not take care of him. Was it his buried conscience? In fact, it was the first time he had met such a young wolf as his bounty. Maybe some fucking maternal instinct kicked in?

"You don't have to cooperate, I really don't feel like babysitting a criminal" Katori sighed.

Wendigo looked at the elder wolf and fell silent for a moment.

"That's bold. Aren't you a criminal yourself?"

"Bounty hunters act as an extension of justice" the elder wolf grunted, as if the words were etched into him, and he was extremely bored with them.

"Not when they kill outside their jurisdiction."

Katori frowned, wondering if that was a bluff or an actual threat. He might have problems if it turned out that he was taking orders from the underworld, and that he had literally become the same garbage he was officially exterminating.

"I know who you are, Albatross."

Surprise flickered across his face at first, when the cub's words reached his ears. But he was not fooled, and in the twinkling of an eye he returned to his cool indifference. What if his prisoner knew a little too much? He had no actual power anyway. The whole underground was after him, partly the whole Kingdom as well, though on paper they still did not know his identity. Either way, wherever he spread that info, he would be met with mockery. He posed no real threat, he could say whatever he wanted and no one would believe him.

He blinked a few times, then sniffled and looked at his prisoner with disappointment in his eyes. The pup seemed to understand that his words had no real effect or shock value, and disappointment crossed his face as well, amusingly quickly replacing the flash of satisfaction. They stood in awkward silence for a few moments.

"Well, that didn't work out. Do you want some coffee? Tea, perhaps?" Katori returned to the kitchen, taking a can of fresh cream.

No reply.

"So, how did you become the most coveted morsel in the underground at such a young age?"

No reply to this either.

"How do you know about me? No one knows, so you must have been watching me for a long time; and you were good enough at it that I didn't even realize. That begs the question, did you know I had a contract regarding your capture?"

As expected, no reply.

He felt like he was having a conversation with a wind fairy. A character from a picture book, who unexpectedly visited his house on a peaceful morning. That is, if the wind fairy was a bully covered in blood and a wanted criminal.

Katori poured the coffee into two cups and added cream. He took his sweet time stirring it, watching the steam. Then he noticed, that come to think of it, there was no sign of anyone in the next room. No audible breathing. No indication of death in the air. His prisoner was certainly unable to escape on his own, so after one deep breath, golden eyed peeked out the doorway.

The young wolf was crawling towards the front door. If its legs had been able to move, it would have walked out, but it did not seem to have recovered that much strength. He was crawling on the floor, awkwardly and clumsily creeping forward. Luckily, this time there was no trail of smeared blood. After feeling the elder wolf's piercing gaze on its neck, he stopped. The pup turned his head and donned a resigned, yet mocking smile.

"You don’t want me to die while I’m in this house, do you? If that’s the case, then if I leave the house, you’re irrelevant. No need to help. No need to think or worry. Just stand and watch" he blurted out.

"Don't abuse my good attitude. I won't hesitate if you give me a reason to hurt you. "

The cub shrugged, then resumed moving forward. Katori watched as he sipped his coffee. The young wolf’s progress was slow and pathetic. He took another drink of the coffee. The pup continued without hesitation, it no longer even looked at him.

Albatross sighed, finally moving. The pup tried to speed up, when he sensed a movement behind him.

It muttered something dissatisfied under its breath as its tormentor grabbed it again by the skin on his back and began to drag him deeper into the house. Resigned, he didn't even try to break free, he just accepted his fate. Katori threw the cub on the mattress, then looked at him, wondering how to deal with the whole situation. Suddenly, a brilliant idea dawned on him. Pulling out leather ropes, he wrapped the delinquent, tied his paws together and then knotted the ends to the metal bed fixtures. Then, he raised pillows, to give his prisoner at least a small sense of comfort, replaced the quilt with a new one, and opened the skylight to allow fresh air to reach the room.

"You’ll accept staying like that until the time has come that my client will get here" Katori announced.

Then he looked down at the pup and added.

"Anything you want?"

"My nose is itchy" the young wolf looked at him with increasing resentment in his eyes, whilst squirming and trying to move.

"Well. Sorry to hear that" the elder wolf smiled, then turned on his heel and returned to the kitchen for coffee.

Behind him, the young wolf's torrent of verbal abuse filled the air. The bundles of filthy words that the prisoner was making up exceeded any norms or standards, truly proving his magnanimous creativity. The hut was far enough from civilization that Katori did not have to fear that the prisoner's words would corrupt his neighbors. In fact, even if the pup screamed and cried, no one would hear him.

And that is how Wendigo and Albatross began their strange, brief time living together. 

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