Red Coat wakes up with a start. Her heart is thumping like she woke from a very bad dream. She is cold, it's dark, and she can hear rain pouring down from outside the cave entrance.
Thunder cracks. Maybe it was thunder that woke her?
Her hand reaches out for the warm body of Wolf Man. He's still there, asleep. She looks over and she can barely make out his silhouette with the red light of a dying fire. As the rain ebbs for a moment she can faintly hear a low rumble emanating from his body with each slow breath. She takes in a deep breath herself. She is safe.
She is safe but now, she is wide awake. Her heart has yet to settle back into a sleepier mode and even though her eyelids are heavy, she knows she will not sleep.
She draws a small handful of runes from the pocket of her red coat. Her finger tips run over each etching on each stone and she is reassured by its message. All is well, you are home now, nothing to fear, you have completed your journey.
One rune is a little out of step with the others. Is it a portent? She can't tell. In the dark, in the rain, with her sleepy brain only minutes out of a very bad dream, she knows she is prone to paranoia, but perhaps there really is something to worry about this time?
Her heartbeat is rising again when she feels the familiar arm of Wolf Man dragging her in to him.
At first she resists. She lets him pull her closer but she doesn't lie down; she must find out what this errant rune could mean. She pulls another from her pocket as Wolf Man traces his fingers over her bare leg. His touch is comforting but she is determined to remain fixated on her runes. However, he is warm, much warmer than her, and she immediately notices how cold she is.
