Michael sat on a log with the chieftain, taking in the surrounding tents and people milling about, as Mitsu muttered quietly to a child who was fidgeting under his gaze nearby. Kari shared the young girl's anxiety refusing to sit, or even stand still. She was running everywhere, bothering everyone with incessant questions about everything.
"What happened to your fur? Why is it so short? Did you get it caught in a trap," Kari asked some poor woman who was sitting on a log sewing a shirt.
"My...fur?" The woman asked, confused. She wore her hair shoulder length and tied back into a small tail at the base of her neck.
Michael panicked.
'Oh shit! The last village flipped out when they found out I can do magic. I don't know how they would react to finding out she is a werewolf.'
"Kari, come here please and let the poor lady work," he said waving her over.
"But she's been skinned, my alpha. We must find the hunters and..."
"Kari please come here. Right now." Michael waved frantically, trying to get her to shut up. Kari bounced over quickly and curled up against his side, leaning her head on his shoulder with a sigh and a small smile on her face.
"Kari, please listen. These people are not our friends yet, and many of them are hunters. Right now you look like one of them, but if they find out you're a wolf they might want to hurt us. We need to be quiet and careful."
Kari's green eyes snapped to his glowing with an intense fire and rage crossed her face. "They are hunters?!" She growled, "We will make them pay for hurting my pack." She started to stand, but Michael caught her arm and yanked her back down.
"No. They are not the people who hurt you, I already killed those. These are not hunters like you think, they are simply predators. Like you, they will only hunt to feed. If you attack them though, they will fight back and we will be killed. We need to be nice and make them our friends," Michael whispered in a rush. Kari's understanding of interpersonal relationships was on the same level as a toddler, and he only hoped that he could make her understand.
Kari bit her lip in confusion, a decidedly cute and human trait, and then tilted her head like she had when she was a wolf. Her long red hair cascaded over her shoulder and drew Michael's eyes downward until he forced them back up to meet her still intense gaze.
"You don't want to attack them for skinning her?" She glanced at the woman, and then at him, deflating with her decision and returning to cuddle into his side. Michael was grateful that the loose shirt she was wearing prevented the sensation of her nipples against his side. "If that is what my alpha commands."
Michael blew out a breath of relief. "Yes, that is what I want. No attacking. Instead I'm going to talk to their alpha and see if we can join packs, but it's very dangerous so I need you to be quiet and watch my back."
Kari nodded vigorously. "No one will hurt my alpha." She turned her head and began glaring at everyone who was even remotely close, her eyes scanning wildly back and forth.
He sighed as her insane scanning was actually drawing more attention than the questions. '
Well at least she's not asking strange questions. I'll take it.'
Mitsu finished giving instructions to the girl, who then sprinted off to complete whatever task she had been assigned. He then turned to Michael and grinned.
"So tell me, how is Nizhoni and her village these days? More importantly, you claim you're on a quest from the Goddess, how did that happen?" Mitsu's eyes sparkled as he leaned forward on his knees. Michael guessed that he loved a good story, though to be fair, there probably wasn't much out here in the way of entertainment.
So he obliged. Told Mitsu
almost
everything, and the chief was the perfect audience. He told him about being 'summoned' from his home by the goddess Sara. The chief laughed uproariously when he told him about his short lived victory over the spiders. He exclaimed angrily when he told him about the near death training incident, and nodded when Nizhoni gave him the bow as recompense.
Michael decided to omit most of the story about his travels north. Most of his successes were due to either magic or his new werewolf companion, and he decided that a few nights of comfort and perhaps training would be much preferred to being thrown out on his ass again. Especially considering that chief Mitsu looked like he could snap his spine by just looking at him too intently.
When he finished his dramatic retelling of his last week, Mistu leaned back and whistled through his teeth. "That is a tall tale boy, the like I've not heard of in quite some time and one that is hard to believe at times. It's also a shame you broke your bow, I would have liked to see it. There are some fine craftsmen in Nizhoni's village and it would lend credence to your story."
Michael smiled and tried to ignore Kari as she was now physically swiveling where she sat and started to growl at people who walked too close. "Well as it happens chief, I'm a novice crafter myself. I'm sure given a few days and some proper materials I could create a new bow. I made this one with a sharp rock and a bear tendon."
Michael handed Mitsu the bow for his inspection. The chef turned it over in his hands and flexed it experimentally. "It's not bad, especially for such poor working conditions. We have much finer ones of course, but I would be interested to see what you could accomplish given time and resources." Mitsu slapped his knee, coming to a decision. "I'll tell you what lad. You can stay here with us for a fiveday, and speak to our craftsmen. At the end of the fiveday I will expect a bow that matches the quality of mine, and any other bows you create in the meantime my warriors can keep. If you succeed, I will allow you to stay here as long as you like. If you fail, well it would be best if you weren't here at the end of the fiveday."
Michael kept a smile plastered to his face. '
This is fair enough. It's only if I can't deliver on the claims I've made that I'll be punished.'
Michaels respect for the man went up a few notches.
He thrust his hand out towards the chief, making Kari jump at the sudden movement. "You've got a deal. In the meantime, got somewhere I can pass out? Even just a corner of a tent. It's been a long journey and I'd like to sleep without being afraid of getting eaten."
Mitsu chuckled and shook his arm in a weird forearm shake that the locals must use. "I'm sure we can figure something out." The girl that Mitsu had sent running, returned just then with some bowls of food. "Ah, perfect timing! Thank you Chiki. Let us eat and celebrate our newfound friendship. I hope your bows are good enough to let us share many more."