The Dire Situation

Early bird songs filled the air as I woke up.

Artia was still sleeping. I got up and gathered a few sticks and some leaves to make a fire. While I was out, I caught two rabbits for breakfast. I gutted and cleaned them before Artia groaned herself awake.

"How long have you been up?" She asked as I scurried around the fire to cook the caught food.

"A while," I replied handing her a rabbit kabob.

She looked at it for a second. She sighed before taking it, after catching a dark glare from me. I bit into mine, devouring it within moments. I watched her, waiting for her to try it.

"Do I really need to?" She whined.

"Yes," I said.

She looked at me with pitiful eyes before taking a small nibble of the cooked meat. Her eyes widened in surprise, then she took a bigger bite.

"This is so good! How did you do it?" She said with her mouth full?

"I cooked it," I said looking at her with a serious face.

She glared at me for a second before taking a good chunk out of the rabbit kabob. I stood up and began kicking dirt into the fire, careful enough to not get any dirt on her. After the fire was out, I began making my way toward the farm. The sun had begun peaking behind a mountain, the warm light covering the fields we walked through. A sea of golden wheat parted as we walked. The smell of blood caught my nose and I began to run. I exited the wheat field to see a group of dire wolves circling a man and his daughter. They both had weapons in their hands, trying hard to fight off the wolves.

"Hey, you dirty mutts!" I yelled charging one.

My shoulder hit it hard in the ribs, throwing the creature to the ground. The other wolves focused all their attention on me. Their yellow eyes track my every step. One jumped at me. I caught the beast, driving my knife into its ribs and twisting. The blade broke as it got stuck between the wolf's ribs. The creature whimpered as I threw it away from me. Two more chomped down on my shoulders. Pain shot through my body, but I ignored it. I grabbed one and quickly broke its neck. The other wolf that had bit down on my shoulder was trying to use its weight to push me over, biting my shoulder hard as it could. I slammed my free arm into its gut as hard as I could. The beast cried out as it let go of me. I tackled it to the ground. I headbutted the creature before punching it to death. The last wolf had watched everything that happened, slowly biding his time. His dark black fur standing on end. His large body tensed up as he prepared his attack. I readied myself as he jumped. I caught him by the neck and belly, twisting my body to slam him into the dirt. The beast scrambled to get on its feet again, snarling and snapping at me. I swung a nasty right, hitting him in the snout. His eyes burned with anger, both of us bleeding. I charged the beast, He tried to bite down, but I was faster. I grabbed both sides of his skull and squeezed. The beast went wild as the pressure on its skull was applied. He tried snapping at my face. I only squeezed harder until a crunch. The wolf fell limp. I threw him to the ground and turned to the now terrified Artia. Her face was pale as a ghost. She ran up to me.

"You just killed four dire wolves, three with your bare hands." She stopped once she saw the blood from my wounds.

She threw a pack on the ground and began digging through it. She brought out white strips of cloth.

"Shirt off now." She demanded.

I gingerly took off my shirt. Artia gasped loudly as she saw my scarred-up body. Years of battle damage.

"What has happened to you?" She asked quietly.

"I grew up where humans wouldn't go," I replied.

The farmer and his daughter ran up as Artia was bandaging my wounds.

"Thank you so much, young man! I'm Ash and this is my daughter Myrtle. Are you ok?" He asked kneeling down.

He too gasped at the sight of so many scars. His eyes looked at me with a touch of sadness.

"You've been through a lot I see. Myrtle, go fetch a new shirt out of my closet. This one's torn from the wolves." He said looking at the shirt I had received from the older couple.

"Please make sure I get that shirt back, it's important to me," I said quietly.

The man looked at the shirt for a second before handing it back to me. His face looked sad as he stood up.

"I'll pull the cart around so we can help you get these to the guild. I can also be a witness to the contract." He said as he walked toward a large barn.

Fifteen minutes later, the dire wolves had been put in to the cart and we were ready for transport. I sat in the back with the wolves, guarding my claims. Ash, Myrtle, and Artia sat in front. They sat in silence as they pulled the cart. The long walk back was cut greatly thanks to the cart. We arrived at Typhoon in twenty minutes. Ash pulled the cart right up to the guild's building. I hopped down and walked in. The guilds desk attendant was different today. A beast woman stood behind the desk. She had long bunny ears flopped down. She had large brown eyes and a cute button nose. She was of average height with a well-figured frame.

"How may I assist you today?" She asked.

"Turning in the dire wolf job. Four bodies are outside on the cart. Farmer and family are safe." I said handing the contract over to her.

She looked at me for a second as if I was crazy. She then took out a pair of glasses and read the contract. She then looked at me again.

"If you don't believe me then go outside. There are three witnesses and the bodies." I said with thin patients.

She scurried off outside to double-check my story. I noticed she had a large brown and white puff hanging outside of her uniform. The urge to tug on it was great. She reappeared a few minutes later with a completely different attitude.

"I need to report this to the guild master please wait here." She said as she scurried past me.

The urge to tug the puffball overtook me. I gave a gentle tug, She spun around fast. Her face was bright red.

"Sir it's extremely rude to pull on someone's tail." She growled before continuing her scurrying.