Jazzy - In the Shadows

Tony, too, was caught in his thoughts as he rode ahead of Wolf. How could he handle him with the full moon? He remembered everything that had happened last time. He recalled how awful he had looked, the snappy attitude, and of course, the mood swings.

He was somewhat startled by his drastic change, especially when he'd yelled at Virginia all those times. He was aware of his feelings for his daughter at the time, and unwavering devotion, but if he would snap at HER, than what was stopping Wolf from going after Tony? He didn't feel too comfortable, not at all.

Tony's mental discussion with himself was interrupted as Wolf appeared next to him after finally catching up. Looking at him, he could tell that he had been thinking too, probably about the same things. They rode for another fifteen minutes without saying anything, but as a pair of figures in the distance appeared, they slowed their pace down.

Wolf checked the air several times to make sure there was no threat. As his senses affirmed that, Tony and he heard the two calling out to them. Tony and Wolf looked at each other questioningly, then shrugged.

Two old men dressed in light rags were walking down the forest path towards them, waving their hands to stop. They wore brown pants and cloaks with their hoods down, resting on their backs, revealing their white hair and rounded balding spots.

Wolf and Tony dismounted their horses as they came closer and walked the rest of the way to them. "Can we ... uh ... help you?" Tony asked warily, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.

The older one spoke as he approached Tony. "Oh, kind sirs, we are but humble foresters. We're weak and hungry. Spare us food? We have such a long way to go, and little time to do it. We have no food and without the energy, we are slowing down. Please, might we have some food?"

The poor men were practically begging. The mention of food snapped something in Wolf's head. With the moon fast approaching, he suddenly noticed the gnawing pain in his side as a low growl escaped his stomach. He let out an exasperated sigh and scratched his temple, showing clearly he was very irritated. Why was this taking so long, he thought to himself as he began to pace? He felt his patience wearing thin; he was nearly to the point of thrashing out at all of them, but restrained himself.

Tony sighed and patted his pockets to prove his point that they had nothing as he shook his head. "Sorry, we don't have anything," Tony informed them and turned to Wolf. He stared back for a moment, and then Tony could see something click in Wolf's mind. He came up to Tony and leaned into his ear.

"Tony," he whispered. "Ask them where the next town is. The mirror, remember? Two old men..." Tony understood, and turned back to them.

"Umm, would you happen to know where the next town is?" Tony asked casually, trying to avoid actually giving them something. He was sorry for them, but they needed all they had for themselves.

"Yes, we do," the other man spoke for the first time. His voice was not as weak or pitiful as the other, but seemed to be more sly and had a deeper bravado.

"Really? Where is it and how far?"

"Oh, we'll tell you," he paused, then looked to his side. "For your horses, that is." The man smiled, exposing his long, sharp teeth. Tony stared at him, narrowing his eyes into an unbelieving gaze.

"I don't believe you people! This is getting ridiculous!" Tony shouted out, throwing his arms into the air. He then was the one that began to pace back and forth, muttering choice curses under his breath. Wolf was beginning to get agitated by his movements and stopped him abruptly by grabbing his coat.

"Tony, let's just do it. It won't take us too long to reach the town, I think. Besides, wherever it is, they're bound to have horses we can borrow." He roughly let go of Tony's jacket and scratched his temple. Tony noticed a sweat breaking out on Wolf's forehead, and it was only the morning. He watched his movements for another moment and realized the day was slowly wearing on and they didn't have much time.

"All right, where is it?" He took their belongings off the saddles and handed the reins to them after giving his horse an affectionate pat.

The men admired the horses for a moment then answered. "Well, you head down the road and when you reach the crossroad, head left and you'll see the town within fifteen minutes. Thank you very much for the horses," the older man spoke again and with some effort made it onto the horse. After steadying themselves, they took off down the road in the direction Tony and Wolf had come from.

Both looked at each other and turned back toward the road they first were heading down. They walked along the rocky path, just now realizing how rough and rocky it was. As the old man had said, they finally reached a fork in the road, and headed left, following their directions.

When they had traveled about ten minutes down the new path, they saw a few houses up ahead that branched off into a small town. Tony and Wolf quickened their pace and were soon in the town.

People were about their daily activities and working in their tiny shops spread across the small town. The population couldn't have been more than thirty, and yet the streets were crowded. The town lay nestled in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. Wolf sighed happily. This wasn't farming land.

A young lady approached them wearing a bright smile. She couldn't have been older than eighteen. At least she wasn't a shepherdess, Wolf thought contentedly. She was dressed in a light purple skirt and top. She had white sandals on and carried a basket filled with yellow and white daisies. "How may I be of service to you?" she asked happily, noticing they both had just entered the town.

"Uhh, well, we are looking for something." Tony said bluntly. The young woman's expression changed to confused as she turned to Wolf, just noticing he was there.

"Yeah," Wolf agreed, eyeing the new stranger.

She turned to Tony again. "Oh, well, I best be going. My mum's waiting for me." Then she returned her gaze to Wolf. "If you need help, you can talk to our mayor, he's in the hall," she said slowly, never taking her eyes off Wolf, even when she pointed to the town hall. She smiled to them once more, then headed back off into the heart of town.

"Okay, well, let's start looking for this crystal. One down, two to go."

Wolf didn't move for a moment, still watching the girl walking through the streets, even though she was further away. "Wolf?" Tony asked, snapping Wolf out of his trance.

"What?" he snapped. As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly took them back. He sighed and scratched his temple.

"Are you ready? Let's get going." Wolf's expression went blank and Tony watched him. Wolf was onto something, he could tell. But what was it? What did it have to do with that girl? "Wolf, what's going on?" He finally asked.

"I don't know Tone, there's something odd about that girl. She knows something."

Tony shook his head and agreed with Wolf, he was right about that. Time to get going, they could worry about the strange girl later. Tony knew he had to be the stronger one that day, take the lead. With the sun wearing on the day and eventually turning into the night, there wasn't much time before the full moon and he'd have to deal with Wolf. Tony sighed and pushed Wolf into town. This was going to be a long night.