Charlotte was lagging a bit behind the other three hunters, not due to being tired, but because he was giving his arm more time to heal. He wanted to be as best of a shape as he could be for the next fight.
He was also disappointed in himself for having frozen up against the wolf; that couldn't happen again. He could have lost his life if he had gotten unlucky; Charlotte couldn't let that happen again; he promised himself that neither man nor beast would ever make that happen.
Giles seemed to be slowing down as the group approached a nearby cave, pulling an arrow from his quiver while the other two drew their weapons.
They stopped near the top of a small hill leading down to the cave, crouching down to hide as Gabe peeked over the hill to watch the cave for any wolves that might try and attack them.
"How many do you think are inside? There could be a lot more than we previously thought?" Adam spoke in a hushed tone, looking at Giles and Charlotte.
"There were four wolves back when I got attacked; I killed one, so I figure there must only be three?" Charlotte spoke first, but both Giles and Adam shook their head.
"Unlikely, packs usually send males to hunt, and females stay back to care for pups. To be safe, we can assume there was one female for each male to be safe, so there could be about seven wolves possibly?"
Giles spoke almost condescendingly, but Charlotte didn't let that bother him. It was good information to know.
"We have the advantage here, Gabe. Stay and shoot arrows from here, and we can lure them out. Fighting inside that cave will only hinder us. Are you ready to help Charlotte?"
Adam seemed concerned; he probably didn't think Charlotte was as old as they said.
Charlotte didn't bother responding, instead standing up and walking over the hill towards the entrance. This time, he wouldn't freeze up.
"I like them already. Not thinking, and just walking to their possible death."
Gabe chirped and patted their back, causing Charlotte to stumble and glare at him. Gabe stuck his tongue out at him and looked towards the cave with his shield raised.
Adam shook his head and got up, walking beside the two. He grabbed a rock from the floor and tossed it into the cave. A howl came soon after as if signaling the soon-to-come fight.
The first wolf to come out jumped at Adam; however, Charlotte stepped forward and swung at it. His fist collided with the wolf's snout, sending it back with a whimper. Two wolves would come out right after, both jumping towards Charlotte.
A shield slammed one of the wolves, launching it back into the cave; the sound of broken bones was quite audible. The other was shot by an arrow, hitting it directly in the eye before a sword came down and stabbed it through the back and pinned it to the floor; it squirmed a bit before dying.
The wolf that Charlotte sent back got up from the ground, growling at the group, an arrow coming down as it barely dodged. Charlotte took that chance to move up and strike it; this time, he focused his chi on his fist as he got near and went for a blow to its side.
He lost his focus as another wolf came from the cave; he shifted his body to try and strike the wolf beside him. He managed to move in time, hitting the wolf across the ribs with a back fist; sadly, the chi he had gathered on his fist dispersed, so the blow wasn't as decisive as it could have been.
The wolf he struck was sent toward Gabe, who acted quickly and sliced the neck of the wolf moving towards him, his shield facing the cave in case any other wolves made themselves known.
The last wolf went for a bite towards his legs, an arrow striking its chest as it fell to the ground. The wolf was shot in the heart and quickly died; Charlotte had barely turned their body to face the final wolf, only to see it on the ground.
The group remained vigilant, waiting a few more seconds for any other attack; slowly, Adam relaxed, cleaning his blade and putting it away. Giles and Gabe kept their gaze on the cave but seemed more relaxed.
Charlotte slowly lowered his guard, taking a deep breath. Fatigue slowly began to hit his body, and so did the pain. His injured arm wasn't pleased with him, especially after hitting that wolf with a back fist. He anxiously awaited when the benefits his soul bind would take effect.
"Good job ki-...Charlotte, that was some fine work; your stance and footwork could use some work. But you have some talent."
Charlotte felt a bit of pride from the compliment; he had done much better this time, especially after not freezing up. He picked up the wolf killed by an arrow to the chest, and with this, he wouldn't have to worry about going hungry for a while.
Slowly, Adam and Charlotte climbed up the hill, followed by Gabe. Giles locked his gaze onto the cave until the three were on the hill. Finally, he put his bow away.
Adam seemed towards the sunset and turned towards everyone else.
"If run, we might make it before night hits, so you might want to put the wolf down. I don't think you can keep up with something that heavy slowing you down."
"Not on your life. I am not letting someone else poach my kill."
Adam shook his head While Gabe gave a thumbs up from the side.
"Fine, if you can't keep up, that's on you."
As soon as he finished speaking, he took off in a sprint, heading back to town. The other two quickly followed behind. Charlotte struggled as he tried to put the wolf on his back to make it more manageable to carry it. He was getting blood all over his back, but it couldn't matter less to him right now.
He still had chi left over, and it seemed his body wasn't taking it to heal his wound. This meant he could get some much-deserved practice now.
He spread the chi to his legs and took off in a sprint; it was hard to focus entirely on his legs, especially since he was running quite fast now. He quickly caught up and almost began to overtake them.
Gabe seemed to take this as a challenge as he handed his shield to Giles and began running much faster, effortlessly passing Charlotte.
"Last one, there is a rotten egg!"
He said with a grin, running past Adam, who shook his head. Giles sped up, handed the shield, and ran past him and Charlotte.
"H-hey wait, that's unfair!"
He gritted his teeth and began speeding up as he and Charlotte were now neck and neck. Charlotte had to admit he got pulled into the little race, although he wasn't going to try and run past Giles and Gabe, who were running way up front. Instead, his focus was on not losing to Adam and being last.
There was no way he would be the rotten egg, not today!