WC 323

She raised an eyebrow and stared down her nose at the frantic boy, tilting her head upwards to hide her scoff. She quickly erased the expression from her face so the boy would not see the scorn on her countenance. So, someone had been hurt, and his first instinct was to come to her? On one hand this pleased her for it displayed the boy's naivete. He was so willing to trust her. She had shown him a little kindness and now he was running to her to solve his problems.

But, conversely, this could become a problem for her very quickly. If he had just met her and had come to her at the first sign of trouble that showed a hazardous recklessness in his nature. The boy was easy to manipulate, almost too easy. It could be a trap.

Trying to act inconspicuous, Nuki took in a deep breath, surveying the frigid air for the scent of his pack mates, but she could detect nothing. She wasn't even sure she sensed Denali's scent from her perch. She frowned and scanned the area around them, peering through every part in the trees and surveying the snow padding for any signs of paw prints. If Denali brought others they remained hidden. This could be an ambush, so there was only one way to work her way out of this situation.

Her brows pursed with worry and she made quick work of dropping the arrow back into the sheath. She tucked her bow under her armpit and leaped from the branch, landing with a soft thud in the snow. She covered the few short steps between herself and Denali and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Hold up a minute boy, who is hurt?” She spoke rapidly, trying to inject faux concern into her voice. “Who is Artemis and how did she fall? Who knows about this? Is anyone with you?”

“No!” She gasped when he told her it was his sister that was hurt, her hand clutching tighter on his shoulder to show how truly worried she was. Her eyes scanned the area around them watching for any sign of life, ears carefully listening for others in the area, nose alert. He said no one was with him but she could not trust him on the chance that this was a trap. If there was one thing you learned in End World, it was that a good bout of paranoia was the key to survival.

Still, she didn't detect anyone around. If the boy was telling the truth she had nothing to worry about... yet. Someone could have followed him, though, and with all the noise he was making it wouldn't surprise her if he had been trailed and didn't know. They may have come after him, especially if someone in the pack was hurt. Especially if it was his sister.

Anger flashed in her eyes and she jerked her head away from Denali, pretending to look at her packs until she could control her expression. This nitwit put her in danger! She chewed her bottom lip for only a beat before nodding slowly, still not looking at Denali.

“Yes... yes, we need to help her, right away,” she muttered in a low voice and finally banished the rage from her eyes. Her bloody gaze met Denali's again. “You're sure she's still alive? If she was breathing then there's still time. You're right, the leaves can help her... but I'm out of them.” She lied. The hellion let her words hang in the air, secretly enjoying the moment as it sank in to the boy.

She let it dangle for a second, letting the thought that he could not help his sister permeate, then she turned to her packs and began gathering her things. “But I know where we can harvest some more. Quickly, we have no time to loose. It's about a mile away, that way.” She gestured to Denali. “Why don't you run along up ahead and make sure the coast is clear. I'll be a little slower with all of my backpacks but we'll make good time if you keep any predators at bay.”

What she really needed was Denali away from his pack's lands, distracted and running along ahead while she wiped the slate clean, erasing their paw prints and any sign that the boy had ever come this way.

Her eyes watched the almond boy as he darted off ahead, but little did he know that they would never find the plant. It did not grow wild here. At least, not that she had yet found. Nuki still had it stashed in one of her many pouches but she was not about to clue the boy in on that fact.

Once he was several yards up ahead she gathered her various packs and slung them onto each respective shoulder, her eyes carefully watching her surroundings the whole time. Her talons wrapped around a thick branch and with a hearty tug she yanked the piece off of the tree. There were several other small twigs and some old leaves hanging from it. She used it to brush the footprints from the snow. If someone came by soon they might detect the disturbed snow, but in even an hour the wind, fauna, and new snow would erase all traces.

She walked on steadily, diligently erasing every paw print as she went; her own and Denali's. The boy was far ahead but she followed his paw prints easily, not to mention that he was still making a good deal of noise from time to time. She wondered if he would ever stop if she never called to him.

Finally, after a little over a mile out, she paused and glanced around. Their trail had been covered enough to keep anyone from following them immediately, though a good tracker would still be able to make their way out there eventually. Still, Nuki had plenty of time.

She dropped the branch and let her two heaviest packs slip from her arms. The packs were just provisions, niceties that were good to have around but if it came down to it she could abandon. Still she hoped to find a place to store these things so she would not have to resort to that. This would probably be her next task.

“Denali!” she called to the boy and waited for any sign of him doubling back. “Denali, come back, you missed it.” As she waited for the boy to come back to her she sidled up next to a small bush, barely surviving the winter's cold but with a few remnants of green leaves. She glanced around; Denali was not here yet. Quickly she snatched one of the pouches from her belt. It was a heavy linen bag reinforced with fur for warmth, and it seemed to twitch with life. Nuki shook the bag, enraging whatever was inside, untied the end, and deposited it in a secluded place in the bush then moved away and awaited Denali's approach.

What a fucking idiot! He fell right into her trap! Oh, everything with this boy was just too easy. He clamored right up in his oafish, noisy way to a bee infested bush. Although she was sorry that the first few bees were rather quick little fellows as they zipped out of the bush and started stinging Denali before he could enrage the rest of them. It was not the great swarm she had expected, but it would do. She watched through shadowed eyes as he flailed and winced away from the bees, chuckling quietly to herself.

“No, Denali! Not over here, I'm allergic,” she lied. “These things often have bees. Let them sting you and they will die. Hurry up, collect the leaves. Think about your sister. Your sister. Is a little sting going to stop you from saving her life?”

His back was to her as she spoke, and she backpedaled a few steps. Her bow slid down her arm and she ticked an arrow into place, but did not take aim just yet in case the boy turned back around. She wanted the sick pleasure of watching him try to harvest the bush, but he would surely not do it if he saw she had him in her sights.

There it was, the great swarm she had been hoping for! She watched with a sick pleasure as the boy forced himself, against the cries of his own instinct and in the face of pain, to push into the bush and harvest the leaves. The leaves that were not even what he thought they were, either. The bag was disturbed them and the bees swarmed from it. There was not as many as there would be had he disturbed a full hive, yet still it was a sight to behold as the boy was engulfed in the buzzing black cloud. She watched the boy struggle, twist, and writhe in pain as the creatures attacked his face and body. It might have felt like forever to Denali but to Nuki the assault was drawing to an end far too quickly. Outside of their protective pouch the cold began to affect the bees, and if they did not drop dead from stinging Denali, they started to succumb to the cold. Soon enough there were only a few of the bugs swirling around in a confused pattern.

Her eyes flicked to Denali as he groaned with pain, the stings concentrated around his face and muzzle and and place that his fur was shorter. A grin cocked on one corner of her mouth. Good. This is what the fool deserved for endangering her.

“What's the matter? Can't bear it long enough to save the sister you endangered?” She lifted her bow as he stumbled from the bush and took aim, but not for a killing strike. He was unsteady and difficult to lock onto at this close proximity, but she let the arrow fly anyway, aiming for one of the boy's shoulders.

She cried out in triumph as the arrow drove home, impaling his shoulder. She could see the confusion in the boy's face and the fear as it slowly sank in. Yes, now he's getting it. I'm not his friend.

He ripped the shaft of the arrow from his shoulder and threw it at her, but she knocked it away with one swipe. It wouldn't even have done much had she not bothered to flick it aside. Slowly, she paced toward the felled boy, glaring down at him with a mixture of mutated glee and sadistic joy. He had been unable to get to his feet a moment ago and Nuki was not sure that he could now, even with the adrenaline finally kicking in. She swung her bow at him, using it like a thick cane to crack him over the side, a halfhearted blow that he might roll away from and dodge altogether.

“Oh, but Denali, I was only trying to shoot the bees,” her voice was sick and taunting. She scoffed. “You would believe anything I said, wouldn't you? Would you believe that? You stupid pup."

“Those aren't even the right leaves,” she said in a sick tone as she looked at the plants he clutched, then kicked at his fist. “Those plants don't grow here. I have some in my pack right here,” she patted the pouch on her belt. “But I wouldn't give them to an idiot like you to save your weakling little pack sister. It is not my job to clean up everybody's garbage. Especially not a spoiled little pack pup like you. A witless moron who doesn't even have enough sense not to endanger the people who are good to him. Yes, Denali, like your sister. And like me.”