9 Home Sweet Home

A large cave opening was etched into a cliff. The cliff sat partway up to a towering mountain peak. There was a small clearing filled with loose rocks that had fallen from the cliff that meet with a sea of pine trees. From the pine trees emerged two figures, a large black wolf that one might mistake for a bear and a small red fox. They approached the cliff climbing over the loose rocks, until they got it it's base. The wolf holding a small bag in its mouth motioned with its head, making the bag swing. The fox followed his gaze to the the dark opening in the rock. It was at least 2 meters off the ground that they were currently standing on.

In one swift moment the wolf launched himself into the opening with little effort.

The fox continued to stare up at opening.

'I can't make that,' she said to herself.

'Sure you can,' said the wolf's voice . He then looked down at her over the cliff his eyes filled with a mischievous glow.

'How?' She asked her bright green eyes shining with confusion.

'With my help for course!' He said jumping back down. Before the little fox could react he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and hurdled the both of them into the cave.

When he gently set her down onto the floor of the cave Sionna looked around. Right at the entrance of the cave was a burnt spot where he must light fires. Deeper into the cave was a bed and deeper yet into the darkness there seemed to be piles of stuff.

The wolf passed her and walked into the darkness. She was very good at seeing in the darkness so she followed his figure intently. It was only when he started to shapeshift and she heard the familiar sound of bones breaking and growing. Then then starred intently at the wall as if it was the most interesting wall of stone she had every seen.

"I have something for you little little fox," he said startlingly her by how close he was. The man was dressed in all black and towered over her, holding out a bundle of clothing.

'Thank you,' she thought while gingerly taking the bundle and heading to the darkness of the cave.

A few minutes later a women appeared out of the darkness she was wearing a plain green dress that complemented her curly red hair.

"The dress looks beautiful on you," the man said watching her intently.

Sionna blushed and realized he was looking at her and he wondered how long he was watching her and if he saw anything.

'Can you still hear me?' She said in her head and the man didn't react. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Caith, what's yours?" He asked.

"Sionna, it's short for Sionnach," the women replied.

"That's a nice name," he said nodding, as he picked up the bag he took from carriage.

"Sionna, are you hungery?" He asked reaching into the bag.

There was something about the way he said her name that made her feel something deep inside herself that she had never felt before.

"Yes," she replied honestly.

Hearing her answer he pulled out a thin long burlap bag and a then a tin box. Holding them both with one hand he reached in again and pulled out a larger bottle with a cork. Setting the backpack back down he went and sat on his bed. He patted the spot next to him and set the bottle down at his feet.

Hesitantly she sat down next to him as he opened the tin box. Inside was a chunk of cheese and sausages, then be pulled a long baguette out of the burlap sack.

"Perfect," he said breaking off a piece of bread with his hands and handed her the loaf. She did the same, then watched him break the cheese and meat with his bare hands.

"Do you have any knives?" She asked curiously.

"Possibly," he replied finishing and grabbed a piece of meat. He placed it onto the bread and shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

Then picking up the bottle he took a swig and handed it to her. She sipped it and handed it back, then grabbed a piece of cheese, placed it on the break and took a small bite.

The pair they sat next to each other in the darkness, slowly picking away at the food. Caith watched the girl next to him, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Sionna paused sensing his eyes on her.

Caith smiled when her emerald eyes looked up at him.

"Is this your first time drinking alcohol?" He asked, causing her cheeks to get red and stare at the floor.

"My Papa said he saw too many good people ruined by uisce beatha. So he never drank it or allowed me to." She said nervously.

"Uisce beatha, I haven't heard that in a while." He said looking away his blue eyes clouded.

"That's what he always called whiskey," she said interested in his reaction.

"I know what it means," he said with the corner of his mouth turned up right. Then he took another swing from the bottle and handed it to her. Tentatively she took another sip. The liquid burnt going down her throat so she took the smallest of sips.

In her mind she could see her Papa lecturing her about alcohol and it's dangers. This made her feel a little guilty about drinking it, but for some unknown reason she felt compelled to do so anyways.

"Don't worry we have much better tolerance than humans, it would take ten of these bottles to get me drunk. You might just need three though," he smirked at her. Which gave her a sense of relief.

She looked down at the tin box and realized there was only one bite left. Glancing up at the man sitting next to her taking another swig from the bottle, she told him.

"You can have the last piece," her gentle voice sounded as sweet as sugar to his ears. Pulling the bottle away from his mouth he wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"No it's all you little fox, I ate most of it." He said before taking another sip, "Besides, I had a nice meal before I came to your rescue."

Her movements showed reluctancy as she reached out and ate the last bite. When she finished he handed her a almost empty bottle.

"You can have the rest," he said getting up then grabbing the tin and the bag and putting them away.

She was sipping on the bottle when he went and sat back down.

"Do do you want to sleep in your human form or your animal form? We might fit on the bed if we are both animals."

Sionna almost spit back into the bottle, 'he wants us to sleep in the same bed?'

Frantically she looked around but there was clearly nowhere else to sleep. The cave was freezing and her bare feet were a painfully cold.

There was no way either of them would be able to sleep on the bare floor.

She loved to sleep as a human for some reason but the bed wasn't very wide. It would be impossible for them to sleep without touching.

"We can transform, it will probably be warmer with fur."

"Whatever makes you comfortable, but I am plenty warm even as a human," he said with a grin. Then sauntered to the back of the cave his blue eyes vanishing in the dimness. A wolf then came back out with dashing blue eyes and jumped onto the bed. Making the handmade wooden frame creak dangerously.

He plopped down near her, and closed his eyes as if already asleep.

She lightly crawled to the other end of the bed and shapeshifted while still in the dress then crawled out from under it. She tucked her cold paws under her warm fluffy tail and closed her verdant eyes.

'Goodnight,' said the wolf.

'Goodnight,' said the fox, and the pair let sleep slowly consume them.