ExFic 5: Call of the Wolf

The sound of wolves howling was not unfamiliar to Katrina. Even before meeting Wearwolf, she would hear the chorus of cries echoing from the forests around the village. She never really thought about it until now, but she always thought it sounded so magical and mysterious. She had wondered what profound and inspiring messages were carried by those long-reaching voices.

“WHAAAAAAASSSSSSUUUUUUUUUP!?”

Needless to say, Katrina was feeling disappointed on a number of levels.

“HEY BROTHER, NICE HEARING YOU AGAIN,” Wearwolf screamed out to the full moon. “HOW’S THE FAMILY?”

The response came as a long howl. The thought occurred that Katrina had never met any Wearwolves other than her own and she never really considered whether her empathic link with Wearwolf allowed to understand the others or not. Apparently, it didn’t.

“GOOD, GOOD,” Wearwolf replied. “IS MOM OKAY!? SHE WASN’T DOING SO WELL LAST I SAW HER.”

A long, mournful howl echoed across the night sky.

“OH, I’M SORRY TO HEAR THAT,” Wearwolf called out. Despite hearing it as a loud scream, Katrina could sense the disappointment in his voice. “I HOPE SHE GETS BETTER SOON. GIVE HER MY LOVE, OKAY?”

Another howl, this one a little more cheerful sounding.

“NO, NO, THAT’S ALL RIGHT!” Wearwolf shouted with polite panic. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO…”

Wearwolf was interrupted by a new voice. This one was younger and higher pitched than the one before and had a sort of yip to it.

“HI, NIECE,” Wearwolf replied, trying to sound cheerful as opposed to incredibly annoyed. “HOW ARE YOU?”

The niece’s howl was practically a squeal.

“THAT’S NICE,” Wearwolf called out. “HEY, CAN I TALK TO…”

A short, squeaky howl interrupted him.

“WHAT?” Wearwolf asked, hoping the answer wasn’t “Chicken butt.”

More yippy howling.

“THAT SOUNDS VERY LOVELY,” Wearwolf shouted politely. “I’D LOVE TO SEE IT SOMETIME.”

Yippy, squealed howling with a lilt at the end. Probably a question.

“NO, I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY COME FROM,” Wearwolf answered.

Wearwolf sagged slightly as his niece gave him what Katrina imagined was a lengthy and poorly-constructed explanation.

“WOW, I NEVER KNEW THAT BEFORE,” Wearwolf said after a solid minute of exposition. “YOU’RE A VERY SMART LITTLE GIRL.”

The niece somehow managed to giggle and howl at the same time. Meanwhile, Katrina put her head under her pillow and tried to get some sleep. She woke up to find her head hovering over a bowl of oatmeal.

“Katrina, did you hear me?” came her mother’s voice. She looked up and saw her parents staring at her expectantly across the table. “I asked you a question.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Katrina said, rubbing her tired eyes. She looked down at Wearwolf, who snoozed at her feet. “Wearwolf’s howling kept me up all night.”

“I know, that’s what we’re talking about,” her father said. “We find the howling a little… disturbing.”

“You wouldn’t if you knew what they talk about,” Katrina’s voice creaked with tiredness. She slumped forward and put her head on the table. “He must’ve spent half the night entertaining his stupid niece. The rest of the time, he was gossiping with family members. Did you know his cousin got his butt caught on a branch trying to get the worms out?”

“Obviously, something has to be done about it,” mother said. “I don’t think the neighbors will be too happy with this sort of thing going on.”

“Then there’s the whole thing about ‘the thing’,” Katrina continued. “Apparently, someone had a thing and lost it before Wearwolf left. He kept asking if the found the thing or not, but I don’t think he got a straight answer because he had to ask someone else about it. Then I guess they found the thing again, because he was asking if they knew what it did. Someone said it did something, but Wearwolf had meant this other thing, but nobody knew what the thing did.”

“Maybe you could ask him to stop?” father suggested.

“I dunno, dad,” Katrina said, raising her head a little. “He’s gotta keep in touch with his family, right? I know you two would want to keep tabs on me when I leave.”

“That’s a good point,” mother agreed. “But does he have to do it from inside our house?”

“I guess not,” Katrina answered, allowing her head to drop back down. “But then one of us is going to have to stay up to let him back inside. I don’t want him sleeping outside all alone.”

“We could resize the cat door,” father suggested. “Then he could let himself in and out whenever he wanted.”

“Or maybe he’d prefer sleeping outside anyway,” mother offered. “He is a creature of the forest, after all, and I think he’s better off not jumping out of your loft every morning.”

“How does he get up there, anyway?” father asked.

“I just fuse with him and climb up,” Katrina explained. “I’ll see what he thinks, hold on.”

Katrina lazily slid out of her chair and knelt on the floor. She nudge Wearwolf gently until he stirred.

“What is it?” Wearwolf asked.

“About the whole howling thing,” Katrina said. “Is that gonna happen often?”

“It might,” Wearwolf replied. “Why?”

“It’s keeping everyone awake when we’d rather be sleeping,” Katrina explained. “And, quite frankly, I find it a little annoying.”

“You are aware that I must maintain relations with my family?” Wearwolf inquired.

“Yeah, we know that,” Katrina replied. “But if you’re gonna be keeping us up at night, we’d like it if you’d do it outside the house. Maybe even outside the village.”

“Well, it would be a little inconvenient, but I do not wish to be a burden,” Wearwolf said. “However, I feel it is my duty to remain close to you whenever possible.”

“I know how you feel,” Katrina said. “We can make the cat door bigger so you can come and go whenever you want.”

“That is very kind of you,” Wearwolf accepted. “Although it pains me to do so, I will respect your sleep cycle and howl elsewhere.”

“Thank you,” Katrina said as she stood back up and slumped back into her chair. “He doesn’t really like it, but he’ll do it anyway.”

“That’s good,” father accepted.

“Do not bother yourself with the cat door,” Wearwolf added. “I will just sleep outside, in the cold dirt.”

“Look, we’ll build you a dog house if you want,” Katrina said, leaning under the table.

“No, the crawlspace under the house will suit me just fine,” said Wearwolf.

“Don’t you guilt-trip me,” Katrina said. “I had to listen to you talk about your grandmother’s arthritis all night. If anyone should be a whiney bitch about it, it’s me.”

“Fine, you will not hear me complaining,” Wearwolf said as he stood up and walked to the far side of the living room. “For I will be outside in the rain and snow while you sleep in your cozy little bed.”

Katrina sat back up and looked at her waiting parents with tired and annoyed eyes.

“Just great, now I have to go home to that,” Katrina joked.

“Katrina…” her father started.

“I know, I know,” Katrina said as she got up. “I’ll go and apologize.”

She walked over to Wearwolf and knelt down next to him.

“Look, I’m sorry, all right,” she said softly. “I’ll go with you, okay?”

“Katrina, you do not have to,” Wearwolf replied.

“I know,” Katrina said, stroking Wearwolf’s head. “But I’m not gonna put you out just so everyone else is comfortable. If you need to go out of your way just to talk to your folks, then I’m going too.”

“But I do not wish to bother you just so I can talk to my brother,” Wearwolf conceded.

“Nah, I don’t think I can sleep soundly in my cozy little bed knowing you’re all by yourself in the rain and snow,” Katrina said, half chuckling.

“Thank you, Katrina,” Wearwolf said, nuzzling Katrina’s chest. She wrapped her arms around him and stroked his shoulder.

Katrina’s parents, as well as their pets Cleaver and Mysticat, watched from across the room at the breakfast table.

“I may have only understood half of that, but that’s still sweet,” father said.

“Yeah,” mother agreed. “But those two still have a long road ahead of them.”

Mysticat meowed disinterestedly and hopped off the table.

“Yeah, well, what do you know?” mother replied.