Thanks to the fickle wind, Laris was alerted by the concentrated smell of Vihan's scent. Laris cursed inwardly. He ran, not daring to look back in order to hide his face; even going so far as tightly holding the hood, despite the possibility of Vihan already surmising his identity. He and Vihan had met multiple times over the years at the palace after all, if not to endure each other's presence.
Laris scurried past abandoned broken things and garbage dumps. He may be in humanoid form, but he was still half a Lycan, and Lycan hybrids like him had better physical traits than the pure.
If one may ask, why couldn't the half-Lycans just band together and rebel if they were stronger? Because they only had half the lifespan of the pure. By the time they had their litter, or grown old in a happy family, the pure Lycan-kind would be in their middle years. It would've been easy to persecute their children and packmates during the average half-Lycan's declining years. It's not unlikely that this had repeatedly happened before, to the extent that half-Lycans avoided but cherished the concept of family or joining packs. They couldn't help but long for something they knew they may come to regret in the future, should they succumb to their longing.
Weren't their current lives already miserable?
Nonetheless, Laris was the person who brought hope to those that chose to rebel with him. He was a fierce leader and a half-Lycan that had given aid and freedom to many of them, as well as the other races trapped inside the massive dual walls. He and his twin, Letitia, had given them a pack, and having a pack was filled them with a sense of belonging.
And yet, one of their leaders had gone missing for so long. None of the pack members knew that their said leader was at Evidna, and currently, he couldn't avoid the rising panic in his throat.
Where are you? Why aren't you coming out?
Gasping, Laris trepidly scaled over a high wall, using whatever dump to hoist himself up. Growls echoed by the end of the tunnel. He was aware that his escape route had been cut off by two brown wolves. On the way down the other side, there was nothing to make use as foothold. His feet dangled for a moment until his hands lost grip and slipped.
Laris groaned as his arm took his whole weight when he slammed to the ground. He scuffled to his feet, trembling a little, before
Had you given up on me?
The edges of Laris' eyes turned red; not known whether it was due to the pain in his arm or his heart. His wolf wouldn't come out. It must've been because of it, right? Because his wolf abhorred him. Because it loathed him just as much as he did himself.
Even his regeneration had slowed; something he didn't know he took for granted until now.
The noise of a crowd grew louder as he staggered to a corner. He took a breath and walked away the pain. Vihan's personal guards were near; he could hear the sound of their intensifying growls and running bouncing off the cold walls.
Just as he had pushed himself of the wall that supported him and began to sprint to the busy market street ahead, a hand had cupped his mouth and he was dragged up—not in, but up—to an open second floor window.
He was almost there; so close! He only needed to blend into the crowd, blend into this sea of scents!
In a moment of inattentiveness, his coat was pried away from him. He watched it flutter down to the ground, the rainwater and soot stain it, as he was pulled backwards into the air and into the room. The windows closing an inch in front of his face. Everywhere suddenly smelled so fruity.
He did not know what magic ropes needed only half a second to bind his whole body into immobility, but he didn't doubt their authenticity and lethality. Thus, he struggled! He struggled so hard that he and his captor stumbled back and fell to the floor, his captor's back hitting the wall beside the window. But the panic only lasted until a palm was pressed to his forehead, pressing his head back, as if to confirm his identity.
"Laris." Two amber eyes stared at him from above. He was close enough to see his unbecoming figure in this person's eyes.
Laris stopped tussling in the arms of this person, and instead, unconsciously looked to another source of movement.
An attention-grabbing pink-haired man stood straight as he pulled the bed comforters and unhurriedly carried them towards the window. There was only one bed in the wide room, and numerous craters of persimmons and round orange melons were scattered everywhere. The walls may have been thick but they were not thick enough to silence that snarling barks and growls that reverberated in the alley below. Laris simply stopped breathing when the pink-haired guy opened the window.
Laris screamed in his mind, What are you doing?!
As if blind to his reaction, the pink-haired guy threw half of the comforter over the window in a nonchalant manner.
Vihan and his guards had arrived hy this time. His Beta had shifted to human form and grabbed the hooded coat Laris wore. He sniffed and glanced suspiciously at the lively street nearby, before shifting his eyes around the building windows. At this moment, he saw a young man opening his window and airing out his duvet. there was a faint scent of sweet ripe fruit coming from their side. Feeling his scrutinizing gaze, the young man with pink hair looked down and smiled at the group.
The building they were in was a small enough to be rented out per floor. The first level was the most expensive one, and was a shop for grain and rice. The other floors were rented as either an office space, or a warehouse for the goods sold at the stalls. This was a commercial street after all, and business competitions were high. Vendors that couldn't afford shop rentals would fight for good location to set up stalls and rent cheaper floors as small warehouses to store their goods. They could sleep in that warehouse, guard their goods overnight, and get up earlier to protect their stall location. It was simply cost-effective!
Laris watched as another person in the room leaned on the window frame with his elbows and asked, "Bosses! Can I help you with anything? Are you out patrolling?" His eyes shone with respect and admiration. "You must have it rough—wait a moment." He leaned down to grab a couple of persimmons by his feet, to which he tossed down to the Beta and another wolf that had shifted back.
Vihan's Beta stared at the persimmon and gently placed it under his nose, his eyes never leaving the man on the second floor.
"Go ahead—I'll give it to you, bosses, free of charge for keeping these here streets safe." Then he added seriously, "Better go quick though, 'coz Grandma might see."
Wordlessly, Vihan's Beta reluctantly accepted it. Since none of their mouths moved, they were probably conversing through mind link. Vihan shifted to his human form, nodding at the others as he walked to his Beta's side. Receiving their silent commands, the other wolves had disperse to different directions back in the alleyways. His Beta surrendered the persimmon to Vihan while lowering his eyes, as if the persimmon wasn't a persimmon, but a priceless treasure.
"Thank you—" Vihan wanted to ask the man a question, however, he was interrupted by a scolding.
"Brat, I saw that! You giving away my persimmons again! I'm deducting those from your allowance!" An old lady rushed over, her half-cane, half-staff, swinging in the air with menace.
"What are you even doing—I told you to bring a few boxes down, not give them away!" Then she looked at the two men. "Of course, I don't mind if it's given to you good bosses. However, a business is hard work and we seldom get to earn enough for us to eat", she flattered and hinted, rubbing her palms together.
With a black face, Vihan took out two silver coins and tossed them to the old lady vendor before leaving with his Beta to walk into the market street, with the old lady repeatedly thanking them. Vihan's Beta gave a last glance over their shoulders.
Was this a new way of swindling? Thankfully, Vihan was busy trying to find Laris that he did not care about the couple of coins he'd given to charity.
At their absence, the old lady materialized her wand and waved it. Her appearance turned youthful but not a lot; she looked middle-ager with freckles and wavy dark violet hair. She looked up at the pink-haired man, who at some point, had vanished inside the room, and placed her hands on her waist.
"I know you're their, brat! Come down immediately to take your shift when you're done cleaning up!"
Only a thumbs-up hand appeared by the window from below it. The female Sorcerer-kind scoffed at it before going back to her stall, opposite of the building. Not even a reply for her? Just a gesture? She must've been crazy when she took in those two! Her dissatisfaction only lasted a second, as she found a new customer checking the persimmons in her stall. She quickly transfigured herself back to an old lady and praised her own products for the customer to hear. Everyone knew that in markets, old lady vendors were the hardest to trick out of their money.
Inside the room, Obrecht sat in between Videre's legs, not even bothering to control his weight as he leaned back into Videre's chest and grabbed Videre's arms to wrap around himself. He was too preoccupied to respond to his employer—he was busy extricating Laris from Videre's arms and replacing him!
This was his spot! Exclusive! Spot!
Disgruntled at being tossed to the side, Laris stared at them speechlessly. He didn't know where to start, thus, the three of them silently glanced at each other.
Videre, "..."
Laris, "..."
Happy Obrecht, "...Mm?"