Questionning

As the day began to fade, the enormous moon hanging already in the sky, lighting through the thick foliage of the forest tree, Alric was enjoying this change in light.

If the transition had been a bit difficult at the beginning, he was now welcoming it, feeling a sense of nourishment different with every kind of light, like some kind of flavour.

A bit of anxiety was now under this enjoyment, knowing he could not let the vine tattoo creep too far with it.

Fortunately, the moonlight was far less potent than sunlight, and even sunlight could not complete a wisp of the inscription in a day now, the energy contained in it much larger than when there was just an inscription on his left arm.

Judith say nothing as she comtemplated the stranged tattooed man.

He seemed nice on the surface and had even helped them escape from this death pit, but that magnificent inscription on every inch of his skin, coupled with his toned body reacting powerfully toward any noise and his green eyes glowing with light sometimes a bit cold, she could feel he was not any ordinary man.

She could feel danger coming from him, much like the one she could feel next to a powerful beast, something weird for somebody supposed to rely only on his beast.

Speaking of the beast, the small fox accompanying him was a mystery too.

No traces of savageness could be felt from it, even if he was exuding the same mysterious and threatening feeling as his master.

The cub was walking sometimes with them as if they were just friends hanging out, and sometimes would grin mysteriously, she even thought she caught it laughing one time.

There were rare cases of such complicity in the large city close to their settlement, but from what she could glean, the beast was a normal animal, the psyches between the man and the beast having fused during the descending of the Light.

The ease with which they killed the Phaco, the way they move inside this forest, she never saw anything like it, even when seeing experimented hunter like her father.

It was as if they were part of the wild, especially now in the forest, it was as if this strange man was in his element.

She knew he did not explain everything to them, hiding probably a lot more, and she did not think she had the right to know, but she was noneoftheless perplexed as to why he saved them.

He seems to have been in the wild for a long while, perhaps even during the descent of the Light, but they had probably not make a good job to explain how untrustful humans had become.

The settlement of Lion's Jaw was not a utopia, far from it, and the city was even worse if what she knew was true.

People were killing each other at the slightest grievance, robbing, raping, torturing, all sort of people made all sorts of atrocities.

She was glad to be a part of the big household of her friend Carl as not many women had the chance to walk alone nowadays.

"Well, if being with Carl and that jerk Rob was being alone..." she thought helplessly while gazing toward her two friends, probably sharing the same thought.

"Or maybe not, Carl seems completely infatuated with that guy..." Shaking her head, she continue to follow the weird duo, more questions than answers coming each time they revealed a new face.

- We should probably camp here said Alric matter-of-factly, the area appearing good enough against a potential threat, the visual range being larger than the majority of this thick forest.

- No problem said Carl enthousitly, what should we do?

Taking the role of a student ready to learn everything, he was asking for commonplace knowledge for hunters like them every now and then.

The two friends were facepalming, knowing full well they already learned the basics in the improvised Hunter academy, a sort of three weeks accelerated course to not let young helpless people die the first day when they choose to try this profession.

Not answering, Alric was musing, contemplating what his next step would be with these youths around the same age as him, but seeming so immature sometimes, or perhaps every time he looked at them.

Taking a brief decision after having consulted Mozzi who answered with a small nod, Alric took inspiration, knowing what he would say would decide his immediate future.

-Look guys, and girl, I will be a bit more honest with you.

The ears of the three immediately perked up, their curiosity already largely developed by the day passed with the duo.

- As you could probably tell, I had other motives behind saving you this morning. Nothing too special as I imagine if the situation is as you said, people like me are numerous. I just want to retrieve my family or try doing so, and I think you could help me relatively easily.

Not answering, listening almost religiously, the three had sat on a small dead trunk, drinking his every trivial word.

-Don't look at me like that, It makes me nervous, heh, It's nothing groundbreaking. I just want to become a hunter with you, as in your hunting party, to not have to deal with another group of influence in your settlement. I want to visit every city beginning by the nearest to find my lost family, and as you could see, my skill for surviving in the wild are not half bad. So I would help you progress in exchange, telling you what I could glean from this strange world, what do you say?

Silence met his question as the trio were looking toward each other, trying to convey their meaning with their eyes.

-Take your time to exchange on this proposition, I will go look for some wood as a bit of fire would do us good in this fresh night while you speak of it, or not, as you want.

Looking a bit flustered, the shy Judith nodded at him, a sufficient gesture to understand their need for privacy.

Looking at the already jumping little fox, they soon disappeared between the trees, actually hunting some small game in a somewhat tranquil moment.

An hour later, with branches under his arms, two haze on his back and a fox on his shoulder, Alric made some noise while nearing the hideout to not startle the group.

He did not say anything as he circularly organised the wood while Mozzi let an orb of fire touch it, soon giving way to a pleasant heat.

As the trio were searching for words, Alric had already started to cut open the two hazes, cleaning them with a water pouch filled before with his watershed to not create other interrogations.

- So, for what you proposed, we have all agreed. Surprisingly, it was Rob who began to speak.

The werewolf was a man of few words, but intelligence glowed behind his two eyes.

If Judith was the designated leader and Carl was the nice spokesperson, Rob was the mastermind behind their plan, well not so much of a good one for hunting but still.

- Oh, good, do you have any conditions?

- Actually yes, answered the brown-eyed woman, a small smile now visible on her face.

- We are good for vouching for you in the settlement, but first, we have to know a bit more about you, I think that's fair don't you think? asked Carl with a good-natured smile.

- I'm good, fire your question away, spoke Alric with a pleased tone.

He knew if they didn't try to pry a bit more, there were two possibilities.

The first one, they were completely not ready, as to trust their life to the first stranger coming would be a fatal error, and he would not want such type of people as Lifecomrad.

The second reason was that they had other more sinister motives.

Not seeing the scheming type in these three friends, Alric knew he should be right in his assessment.

If they were three naive idiots, they were still able to learn from their mistakes and try their best to survive.

After all, not anyone could survive the Flash and all the ferocious beasts that came afterwards.

- Well, you are a beast tamer, right? Spoke a bit quickly Judith, wanting very much to know the answer.

- Yeah, what of it?

-It's not that we never saw this type of people, but, how to say... Usually, their beast is just a common animal close to their owner before the cataclysm, not a powerful beast like this... Small fox? She nevertheless asked what was on her mind.

Knowing he was riding a thin line, wanting to be honest without revealing all his cards, Alric soon offered an explanation standing on nothing.

-I don't know of these people you met, but Mozzi which is the fox's name, by the way, was tamed by me after the descending of the Light, and is not a pet I had before even if it lived around my house. I could sense I could communicate in a certain manner with it, and successfully tamed him after much effort.

Distorting the truth while mixing it with some oversight was a good way to not be lost in his lie, as the small bits he said were close to the truth.

Knowing he still lied to them even if they were building a relationship based on trust, Alric felt a small pang of guilt, but to survive, he would not be blindsided by his conviction.

Even if they did not do him dirty, they could very well reveal without wanting to do so, crucial information to a third party which had much less noble intention.

- Oh, so the mistake was on my part, they are probably not beast-tamer even if they called themselves such, or had not tamed a wild beast yet... there is so much strange power after all.

- So you could tame others? Asked the cheerful swordsman.

- Probably, I don't know much, Mozzi is enough for me at the time, but I guess it would depend on luck, answered truthfully Alric.

-And how did you survive before taming him? Asked somberly the hairy man.

- As anyone did I guess, killed rabbits, rats and squirrels, eating them to increase my strength.

Pleased with not lying at all, even if decreasing the difficulty of the deeds, Alric looked toward the trio, waiting for another question.

He felt Rob was not convinced like the two others, but as he was not completely honest, he did not resent him.

-Your armour, where did you find it ask the werewolf again, taking the lead in the small questioning.

-Actually, I made it myself, I'm a bit of a sculptor you see, and I would often carve wood furniture before the cataclysm, and after, well, I did have to find a way to protect myself a bit, so by trial and error, I tried my luck and this armour is the result.

Surprised by the answer, Judith could not help but ask again.

- So you mean you made all of that, in the middle of the wild? Impressive! In the settlement, you could make a living from it!

Grateful that his different blade weapons were so black it was hard to make the wood veins, he did not disclose the incredible difference between a normal wood armour or a bow and his carved ones.

A bit surprised as well, Rob seems to have finished his lines of questions but still asked some meaningless ones.

- We will probably have other questions during the coming days, you won't mind answering them I'm sure? To carry out the end of your deal, I hope we could learn well from you.

A bit uneasy with the superior tone of the hairy man, Alric could only nod, while looking towards the small fox which was delivering a flow of insults on the dog species which would make the werewolf silent from rage if he could hear them.

-Now, calm down Mozzi, it's normal for them to be suspicious of us, after all, we weren't fully honest, don't we?

Silent, the fuming cub turned its head and closed his eyes in a false sleep, cutting the conversation short.