2fangs
Chapter 3:  Hunger
by Tearra Wolfe

A 2kinds fanfic
The world of 2kinds is a creation of Tom Fischbach, and Zen and Natani are characters created by Tom Fischbach.  The rest sorta vary.

The children clustered close together as they walked through the woods, all of their faces at least a little hurt and uncertain.  Kimi's face, her body language, however, also radiated fury.  Natani felt the same way, but was determined not to let it show, instead plastering the best cocky grin on her face that she could summon up, under the circumstances.  She briefly felt like the ground was rocking under her, and slowed just a moment to be certain of her footing, before continuing on again as confidently as she could.  Her head throbbed painfully, distracting her, and she just concentrated on following whoever was in front of her.

Zen looked uncertain, too, but more worried for her than for himself.  Her impulsively angry reaction made her head throb again, and she tried to calm herself.  She had told him, hadn't she, that she wasn't his weak little sister anymore.  Didn't he get it?  He didn't have to worry about her.  The next throb of her head, as if her skull was squeezing at her brain, sharp points of pain at her temples as if they wanted to burst, stole even that protesting thought away.  She reluctantly had to admit - perhaps he had reason to be worried.

Luckily for all of their nerves, the walk was short and without incident or test.  They soon found themselves as a river, where a small barge was tethered to a pair of trees on the shore.  The slow, steady flow of the lazy river pulled the rear rope tight, while the front of the barge bumped and scraped against a large rock on the riverbank, a few rope-wrapped barrels keeping the rock from gouging out the hull.  Several wolves, all wearing similar black trous and brown robes, sat on the riverbank around the glowing remains of a small campfire, looking relaxed with the leftovers of a mid-day meal laying stacked up on a nearby rock - bones with scraps of meat on them, and a few bread crusts on some simple wooden plates.

Natani's stomach grumbled at her as she saw the wasted food - scraps that only a few months ago, she'd never have glanced at twice.  She glanced at Zen, and saw the same look in his eye, as he glanced back at her and gave a small nod.

The students were gathered into a small group on the shore, Tand Ahiga telling them to sit down and wait till they were ready to take off.  Up on the boat, several more juves looked over the railing down at them, but said nothing.  Then Tand Ahiga walked over to the others, picking up one of the last cold bird legs and ripping off some of the pale meat.

"A lot of them," said one of the women around the campfire.  "Wasn't expecting to get that many out of the Seven Lakes.  This is usually a pretty sparse stop, and what with the recent attacks around here ..."

Tand Ahiga nodded.  "Bigger surprise," he said, blandly, "two of them are from River Run."

One of the men sat up straight, the rest all looked with surprise on their faces at the batch of Juves sitting nervously on the shore.  "River Run?  Did they leave before, or ..." he left it unfinished.

Tand Ahiga gestured towards them.  "You two!  Over here."

Zen and Natani scrambled to their feet and hurried over, belatedly crying out, "Yes, Tand Ahiga!"  Zen gave a small tug on Natani's sleeve, and led her around a stone on the bank so that when they approached the older wolves, they were closer to the dishes with the scraps on them.

"Sit down," invited Tand Ahiga.  Zen sidled over and sat down on the same rock that the used plates were resting on.  Natani followed him, perching on the rock as well, only half of her attention on the older wolves, the other half on the scent of food coming from the other side of Zen.

"What's your names?" asked the wolf who had reacted more than the others at hearing the name of their home.

Zen and Natani glanced at each other briefly - pure reflex from their weeks of hiding, stealing, and caution.  After the things that they had done, it was a very nervous feeling when people paid special attention to them.  "Zen," he responded, a little unsure sounding.  "And this is ... is my brother, Natani."

The older wolf considered a little, frowning.  "It's been so long," he muttered.  "Who were your parents?"

Zen responded again, while Natani squirmed on the rock, looking up at the wolves, then past him at the scraps of meat so tantalizingly close.  "Our father was Goodman Hohni, and our mother was Shima, the medicine woman."

The wolf nodded, a toothy grin spreading across his muzzle.  "I remember you.  Little scamp, you were."  Natani and Zen looked at each other in alarm.  If he recognized Natani ... "Last time I was home," the man continued, "you had gotten into the chicken coop of old man Toko.  Whole village was out there chasing down lost chickens."

Zen looked startled, and Natani giggled, looking over at him.  "You did what?" she asked in surprise.  She didn't remember that!

"That was a long time ago!" Zen protested, "I was just a cub!"

"You're hardly more than a cub now," laughed another of the wolves, one with lithe, corded muscles and a graying muzzle.  "Don't be too quick to grow up."

"Who are you?" asked Zen of the first wolf.

"Ah, don't remember me?  Don't blame you," he laughed, "Tand Skah, though as far as the village was concerned, I left to be a merchant in far-off lands."  Then he sobered up a little.  "Zen," he said, "I'm sorry I need to ask this, but ... who was it?  Who destroyed River Run?"

Zen's demeanor darkened, and Natani blinked rapidly as the tears started to well up.  She would NOT cry, she determined.  She was not a little girl anymore.  She was a boy, and boys don't cry.

"It was humans," snarled Zen.  "Humans with magic."

"Humans!" cried Tand Ahiga in surprise, along with several other wolves.

Tand Skah snarled "I knew it!"  Many of the other wolves nodded darkly, a deep rumbling growl coming from several throats.

"Ridiculous," said one black-furred woman.  "The Templar have been cracking down on the human bandits for months.  There isn't a group big enough to take on a small caravan, much less a village the size of River Run."

Didn't you know hear what the boy said, Aiyana?" scoffed Tand Skah.  "They were using magic.  It was probably the Trirings, or the Society.

Tand Aiyana shook her head.  "Society's gone," she said, "And Triring's down to a third of its members."

"What?!" exclaimed Tand Skah.  "What happened?"

"You didn't know?  Been out of it a bit too long, haven't you?" she teased with a sly grin.

"I've been busy with the Tandvlees and the Vis for a few years," he almost snarled, "So yeah, I don't instantly hear the news from far-off lands anymore.  Why don't you just stop gloating and tell me?"

Natani felt a small nudge in her side.  She glanced at Zen, curious, and found him offering a bone with scraps of meat still on it.  A wave of hunger washed through her, but she restrained herself and instead of ripping at the bone, she carefully plucked off the small scraps with her claws and subtly lifted them to her mouth as the adults were distracted by their talk of politics and recent events.

"Templars found evidence that the Society was plotting against their throne," Aiyana was saying, "They started some trials, but then a small group of Society assassin-mages attacked the palace, almost killed the king.  The Templars responded by destroying every Society Enclave in the human region."

"And the Trirings?" asked Tand Ahiga.  "Why are their numbers down?"

"Well, there was evidence the Society didn't work alone.  They started some sort of witch hunt for traitors, starting at the Trirings, since they've often been allied with the Society.  A whole mass of Tris bailed out and swore loyalty to the Templar."

"Great," snarled the older, gray-muzzled wolf.  "The Templars were already getting full of themselves, far too aggressive, looking out for expansion.  Now they've got a whole lot of imperialists swelling their numbers."

"Maybe if the damn foxes hadn't destroyed all those human villages," snarled Tand Skah.

"Yeah," replied Tand Aiyana, "And maybe if the humans hadn't built their villages in Fox lands..."

"Oh, come off it," replied Tand Skah testily, "The foxes hadn't used those forests in generations.  They didn't care a bit what happened over there till the humans started spreading out and they suddenly realized they had some neighbors."

As the adults got more into their conversation, Natani felt more relaxed about pilfering their scraps.  The first bone got picked clean fairly quickly, as was the second.  By the third bone, Natani's restraint crumbled, and she forewent the discreet plucking in favor of just gnawing hungrily right at the small bird's leg, scraping the scraps off with her teeth and working at the chewier bits a little before swallowing them.

She looked up at a giggling and a few chuckles from over by the other Juves.  Kimi was giggling disdainfully as she stared at them, and Natani suddenly felt very self-conscious, lowering the bone and acting like she hadn't done anything.  Zen nudged her and gave her another bone.  "Ignore them," he said quietly.

Shame and hunger warred in Natani, and hunger won out.  She gnawed hungrily at her bone, as did Zen beside her with his own, the faint bits of meat doing little to assuage the painful pangs from her belly, but at least it was something.  

"I can't believe they're eating garbage!" she heard Kimi's voice float over.  It sounded so much like Natani's, the first time they had eaten garbage, that it creeped her out a bit.

"Well," replied Natani, testily, echoing Zen's words to her from back then, "Some people might be lazy and spoiled enough to take food for granted, but I'm hungry, and I'm eating.  Damn sight better than starving."

She looked forward again, then froze as she realized the adults had stopped their discussion and were watching them all.  Butterflies fought over the few scraps of meat in her belly, then she defiantly stared them in the eyes and gnawed on the bone some more, daring them to say something about it.

"Well," said Tand Ahiga, "These two won't be picky about the food when we hit survival training."  The other adults laughed.  "That girl over there sounds like she might suffer a bit, though," and they laughed some more.

The black-furred woman stood up.  "I'll get the cheese and the dried venison from the ship," she said.  "No sense making them scrounge like this when they can have something decent to tide them over.  Those two obviously haven't had a good meal in a week or more."

Natani put the bone down and wiped her fingers on the rock, trying to get the sticky juices off of her fur and pads while maintaining a dignified stance.  Her stomach rumbled in protest as she stopped eating, though, and it was hard not to pick up another bone and go at it a bit more.  She settled for just directing a fierce glare at Kimi, hating her all the more.