Snippet #2481144

Charima, Toohoo, Mist; a black she-wolf larger than a bear, an average sized brown wolf, and an albino-white she-wolf with red eyes and an ability for speed such that she was visibly holding back for the other two to keep up with her. Three wolves; three soldiers on a self-imposed mission.

It took the three of them two hours to reach the fox girl's burnt tree house. One look to each other, and they silently agreed to scout the perimeter. The fox girl wouldn't have thought about it; foxes were never as suspicious or as assiduous as wolves - it just wasn't in their nature.

The three wolves took their part, Mist scouring the remnants of the house for any traces, while Charima and Toohoo padded inside the perimeter of the surrounding trees, as silent as ghosts. For all they knew those who had done it could still be here, hiding out in trees; they could have already gone but left marks of their passage and of their guilt around. This was what they were looking for.

After a few minutes, Toohoo gave a soft bark for Charima to join him. When she caught up to where he was, he was prowling under a high tree. Understanding immediately, Charima nodded her wolf head at him, and he Shifted and became human again while she averted her gaze. He dressed quickly, and when he began to scale the tree Charima kept watch below him. Toohoo had always been better than her when it came to being agile; for things like climbing trees and obstacle courses, she had never been quite as silent as he was. Of course, Mist was even better than any of the pack, but her investigation of what was left of the house was more important, so Toohoo was left to do what she normally undertook.

"Chari," the brown-haired boy called down from above her. His head poked out from above a strong, thick branch. "There was someone here. They know their way around the forest; they lit a fire inside the bark to keep it lit during the night and avoid too much smoke. Small carcasses - rabbits, mice, birds - carefully hidden away. And - gunpowder! Chari, it's human gunpowder!"

Charima growled. That was all the confirmation she needed. It was a human who had burnt down the fox girl's tree house. And now she was going to follow their trail - even if it led her over the border and into the Clovek territory.

Charima threw her head up and howled. Instantly, Mist was beside her, her red eyes inquiring and hard and cold. Toohoo jumped down from the tree in one swift movement, and in under a minute he was a brown wolf, ready for anything.

They were going on a manhunt.