much time has passed since the hunters found the unfortunate little girl, and although they had some minor trouble finding her brother, using the directions she gave and the tracks she left behind, they eventually stumbled upon him in a dark isolated cave.
around the site each lay on his own stone, the small boy seemed to be hurt and unconscious after they brought him back. and since the hunt would become more challenging with two more children on their company, they rested and started proposing solutions and measures to take into consideration. they could not send the kids back nor could they return with them, the hunt was far from over, they had at least three more days before they could return to stormsong, those were the rules all the tribe must follow.
"This is an unexpected turn of events, though we couldn't find the cave bear, we found two orphans...! I think its good to add them to the tribe, I don't know about the boy but the girl is gonna grow to be very beautiful, hahaha" one of their oldest hunters spoke before he started chuckling"almost as beautiful as my wife" he added
"ah really? I've never seen your wife, is she really that pretty?"blubberthongue had a smile on him as he asked.
"of course, ehhh but you already saw her, she was the one who gave you a few praying tooths on the beast's edge" the hunter smugly smiled then reminded him.
"ha? but I thought she was your moth..." before blubberthongue could say anything unnecessary rumbleback swiftly covered his mouth as he praised the hunter's good eyes on choosing his mate.
time passed and after some discussion, they had already proposed several resolutions which were directly rejected, as they had no solution to the pressing problem they decided to keep the two with them for the time being.
"hah, but didn't you notice something about the boy..." swiftleg, the one who had found cloudeye glanced at everyone in the eyes, noticing their confusion he hurriedly explained" he looks quite peculiar...I can't find the word to explain, I think...more pleasing to the eye?" his words came out more of a question than anything else.
the men rubbed their jaws in contemplation, only they still couldn't grasp what he wanted to convey. they kept thinking as they looked at each others' ugly looking faces, everyone had a question mark above his head.
after dropping the matter they started devising a plan on how to catch as many animals before the hunt ended, after all, they had wasted much time chasing the cave beast, they believed that they were much behind the other teams. there was still time to catch up, but if they couldn't they would need to spend double the energy in the upcoming hunts before the year concludes.
"haaaah, if we are at least able to bring back a fierce beast, it would be much better" blubberthongue sighed as he spoke, the others looked down clearly dejected.
"if you require a fierce beast, I know of a way " while the hunters were thinking how they were bound to disappoint their tribe when the time comes, a clear childish voice woke them up.
cloudeye boldly stood before them like he was never unconscious, in fact, he was never unconscious in the first place, it was just an act so he won't have to answer to any inquiry.
long before they found him, although reluctant he hid all that he stole from dusknose on the ground behind a branded tree so he could later recover it, he never expected that his decision was proven wise this quick as the one who came to find him was dusknose himself, back in the cave cloudeye almost had a fright when he heard his voice.
while everyone was looking at him with doubtful eyes, rumbleback's heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly asked "what kind of beast?!"
cloudeye squinted his eyes, he didn't expect them to believe him so quickly, though surprised he immediately responded" its a silver wolf" the moment he spoke those words, all the hunters stood up, a silver wolf was of extreme value, a lot more than a mere cave bear, if he's speaking the truth then the top spot on the hunting list was roughly guaranteed to be theirs.
"hurry! tell us what you know!" even before rumbleback could say anything, tumblehunter shouted after he held cloudeye's shoulders with gleaming eyes.
cloudeye sat beside them as he slowly started explaining their encounter with the silver wolf, how they luckily survived, and how they could lure it using his sister's blood. and he wasn't incorrect, it truly had scratched hue's back and failed to kill them, the prideful silver wolf would certainly track her scent if given the opportunity. that was why previously he used fragrant herbs on her body to mask the smell.
'brilliant' all thought the same as they gaped at him.
time passed as the night arrived, the bonfire on the center of the camp brightly burned as it warmed the people inside their huts, however, despite the cozy atmosphere no one slept, everyone was sharpening weapons or readying traps on his own, the silver wolf was of utmost importance.
as for cloudeye and hue, tumblehunter gave them a small hut near the fire, they were young not as much resistant to cold, they cuddled while they talked.
"you did a good job hue, now if only we can catch the wolf, they'll trust us more" cloudeye's childish voice whispering beside her ears made her blush, he was unconsciously brushing her hair which made her feel comfortable.
"It was your plan that was splendid, I didn't think they would believe us so quickly" raising her head she spoke hurriedly.
cloudeye shook his head before speaking" we are just extremely lucky, these guys are simply too softhearted. if we were to meet another group, I think the situation would've been more difficult" he stopped stroking her hair as he resumed" but it was worth the risk"
they stopped talking for a while, and slowly both drifted off to sleep.
morning came and as planned cloudeye gave them several drops of hue's blood for them to use, he just made small enough cuts that would heal quickly, without leaving scars on her body.
the hunters certainly knew what they were doing as they smeared the precious blood on specific locations, but they couldn't just wait in ambush the whole day without hunting, thus, they took turns keeping watch as they resumed their hunts.
the first day passed with no sight of the wolf, yet the hunters were happy with the day's result, they had caught two wolves and three goats, they ambushed a wolves small pack while they were hunting a herd of goats, they intimidated them launching multiple spears and got an unexpected harvest.
what pleased them more was cloudeye's unique traps, they didn't expect much of him at first but by the time they returned they found him clumsily skinning two rabbits, the kid was hardworking and smart beyond his years. no one had ever heard of a child under twelve catching anything with meat in it.
his sister helped him as they hurriedly finished and stored the meat, cloudeye had previously asked how they stocked the meat, the hunters were happy to answer, and he found out that they tied tight cords where one end was attached to the meat and the other end to large stones as they put them on the river, the meat was safeguarded by other hunters from potential enemies and beasts.
the second day also passed, the hunters never perceived any hint of a silver wolf, they smeared today's quota of blood on a different place yet to no avail, though they worried, rumbleback worried more than anyone. he feared it would never appear, and the kid's performance was remarkably good and probably he will go back with them into the tribe, the problem was simply that he couldn't dispose of him before discovering the wolf.
one day became two and eventually, three days had passed. it was the last hunting day and they had to go back. the wolf was nowhere to be seen, the hunters were frustrated, however, even if they wanted to stay they simply couldn't as the little girl would collapse if they extracted any more of her blood.
cloudeye didn't think the effect for a single fierce beast was going to be this extreme, he started regretting telling them about it as he sensed their overreaction. although he knew the plan was solid the outcome was uncertain, and so in this three days cloudeye and hue didn't just waste their time, but they attempted to get closer to the hunters, hue talked with them almost all the time that silly grins appeared in their faces, and cloudeye got used to the woods and the art of trap making that his game got richer by the day, no one could find fault on these pair of brother and sister.
nevertheless, the silver wolf charm was more potent, and they gradually started doubting whether he told the truth. on many occasions, they would gaze at him strongly while passing by his side as if trying to extract the truth out of his head, this awkward atmosphere continued like this until they heard a ghostly beast howl in the middle of the third night.