Chapter Text
Dawn was breaking slowly over the mystic forest, in which the only sound was the whistle of the wind. The faint buzz of magic surrounded a slim wizard as he slowly made his way north.
His wand was buried a few miles away at the base of a large pine tree. The man had, as of now, only found a few paw prints and scratched trees, but he knew his own well enough to use them as a track.
The quiet was strong enough that when a small rustle echoed to the man’s right, it found his full attention. His breath hitched for a moment, but soon relaxed. Then he spoke, gentleness yet confidence in his tone.
“I am not here to do you harm.”
For a moment, there was stillness. Birds echoed in the misty distance. A younger man with dust-colored hair soon crept slowly out from behind a great oak. His gaze was piercing and fierce at first, but behind it was curiosity.
“What would a wizard be doing on our grounds?”
“I am of your kind. I wish only to return to my equals.”
The younger man narrowed his eyes. He was lean and small. “Why?”
“The wizards have made it clear that they will always see me as an inferior. They have become intolerable.”
Each breath was light and tense in the visiting man’s chest, but the other barely saw.
“Oh, despicable, humans are.”
“Truly.” The older man shifted his weight. “In a perfect world, all flesh would bear our marks.”
The dusty-haired man was wearing a sleeveless shirt and ankle length kilt made of deer hide. His eyes were brown like acorns, and he bared a silver dagger around his waist. He considered the newcomer carefully.
“And what’s your name?”
A cloud was moving from its spot against the sun, allowing for thin trickles of light to penetrate the woodland.
“Remus Lupin.”
The shorter man’s messy hair swayed in the breeze. Both werewolves held silent eye contact for a few heartbeats.
“I’m Odin. Odin Keenwind.”
The fog around them was cool on their skin.
“If you’re honest about wanting to join us, hunt with us at the river just west of here at dusk tonight,” Odin said.
Remus nodded. “Thank you.”
~
Remus waited until it was late in the afternoon, but not full sunset, to scout the creek that Odin had mentioned. Since he was without a compass, his way to determine west was using the sun. Its slowly goldening light was his only guide for half a mile.
At first, the werewolf could hear the gushing water’s echoes. Soon, he could see the water itself. It was a thin but powerful stream, with brown and green oak leaves having fallen onto the rocks that jutted up it in the middle. The riverbed was made of dirt stiff enough to hold its own unusual shape.
A few minutes of waiting was what it took for Remus to hear a rumple of flora nearby.
“So you were serious about joining us,” an ocean-eyed man called. His hair was sun bleached blonde, and his dark fur robes were torn as if they had been burned.
“They always are, Argos. But then they bail out after the hunting, the softies,” a slightly older woman with brown curls replied. She had a simple longbow resting across her body from her shoulder to her hip.
Once the two were standing just beside Remus, Argos revealed a small silver dagger in his open palm.
“I’m assuming you don’t know how to use this properly.”
Remus shook his head. “Sorry, but I have never hunted before.”
The blue eyed man sighed sharply. “There’s a clearing near here that always has prey. Axelia here will hit a few bucks with her arrows; I’ll finish the job. But you are capable of carrying them back to our den?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then follow us,” said Axelia. She led them downstream for a few nervous minutes.
The stream split and narrowed into a large and vibrant clearing. The grass was just above ankle height, and a glowy olive. The werewolves stood on the edge of the forest, not over a minute’s walk from where a clan of deer were drinking.
Among the deer were many stags, more does, and a few fawns.
Axelia loaded her bow. “Are you ready now?”
Argos bared his knife. “Fire.”
The deer perked sharply with alert. Thin brown ears spun in all directions. To the misfortune of tall buck, Axelia’s aim was true. The sight of the hurt creature made Remus sorry, but he knew better than to show it. She knocked another arrow.
It soared smoothly on its side; in a flash, the woman had downed a second creature by its flank. Its companions finally came to their senses and fled.
Argos sprinted with his full speed, his slightly blackened robes thrashing against his ankles. Their prey still had desperation in their eyes, frantically flailing, oblivious to their cruel fate. As he promised, the hunter took care of the hit creatures. His knife cut smoothly as a needle pulling thread, much to the other man’s discomfort. Remus and Axelia approached slowly. The sun, now orange like firelight, shone slightly into their eyes. The ocean-irised hunter did not take long to reclaim their arrows.
“Well.” He handed Axelia his dagger and her arrows. “I’ll lift this one.”
Remus bent down with the woman at his side, and slid his arms under the deer’s frail neck. It was much heavier than he had ever expected. Not like he had much experience with deer, but James could run so-
No, he could not. He blocked the thought of James Potter.
“The den’s this way.” Axelia was carrying slightly more of the deer’s weight, but Remus’ arms slowly started to ache from the pressure. Her brown curls covered her middle-aged face like a shield as they walked.
The trees of oak surrounding the trio slowly thickened as the werewolves made their way through the forest. Large rocks and boulders became generously scattered among the leafy floor. It could have been an hour that they walked from what Remus felt, but really, it was closer to a quarter of that. In the few moments where he resisted his nerves enough to properly inspect his surroundings, Remus would spot a very scratched tree, or the unfortunate aftermath of a small critter that got too curious. None of it was unexpected.
“How often do you go hunting?” Asked Remus, feeling a bit stupid.
“Every day, or twice a day. It depends on how much we can nick from the town not too far out.” Argos’ sun bleached hair seemed to absorb the orange light of the sun.
“You steal?” replied Remus.
“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?” Argos spat.
“Er- no, I do not.”
The journey felt uneasy after that.
“We’re here.”
Axelia’s powerful voice caught Remus off guard.
Before him was a flat surface of black rock, in about the size of a Hogwarts dorm room, upon which there was a mound of burnt charcoal. The trees at the edges were much taller than before, but they leaned like they were avoidant of the clearing. The deep purple sky above them was visible. Beside the clearing was a sharp hill, in which there was an opening in almost the shape of a car.
Axelia and Remus set down their deer, and Argos his.
“Hello, fellow wolf,” said a deep voice.