The Wolf and the Cat

The mischief group was in between towns. They were taking the scenic route. They were not in the habit of ever taking the main roads that the humans used unless it was faster. And even then they were always in their human forms if they could be. None of them were the domestic kind of fiend. The closest one was Hex, but she hadn't ever been...house broken, sort to speak.

Fiends had their own paths that they used to get to or around human cities. They took those, not just because they were fiends, but because they were more surrounded by nature and it was often prettier.

They'd stopped for the night to rest and eat. They were near a small lake. It was so tiny that it didn't really even make it onto the maps. But it was large enough to attract fish, which made Hex happy.

Once her belly was full, she started to chase after the glowflies that floated near and above the water's edge.

Wisp sat not too far from where Hex was chasing the glowflies. She watched them with interest and almost seemed as if she'd join in the chase. She was more akin to foxes and cats but didn't have Hex's same playful nature.

Bedlam, not being cat nor fox, wasn't in the least bit interested in playing with the glowflies. He paced around the camp, listening to the sounds in the night for any hint of danger.

Pande, having cleaned up what little mess there had been from dinner, just relaxed by the fire. It was too early in the night to nod off. And they were all fairly nocturnal but preferred to travel during the day and play at night only when they were settled somewhere familiar or safe.

Wolf was near though. He'd heard the group was nearby. It didn't happen often that they roamed the same areas.

Currently, he wasn't out to claim them or capture them. He wanted to talk with them and see if he could get them to calm down. Maybe he couldn't. He could try.

He was currently a fiend, his big fluffy tail swished behind him as his bright pink tongue hung out of his mouth and he panted as he trotted towards their camp curiously.

An unknown dark fiend was enough to make the group cautious but not enough to put them on the defensive right away like a human approaching them would have. They could each hear him approach before he reached them.

Hex stopped playing with the glowflies. She stayed near the water's edge with Wisp, who moved against her and looked at the large fiend curiously. Neither approached but they also didn't do anything more than sit there and watch what the boys would do.

Pande sat up but also did not approach the wolf fiend. He stayed near the little fire they had made for warmth.

Bedlam did approach the wolf. That was his role in the group. He barked a greeting, which was as polite as he was with other fiends, and positioned himself between the wolf and the rest of the group.

Wolf playfully barked back, pushing his butt in the air as his head was low to the ground, his tail wagged in a hyper fashion.

He tilted his head to the side and gave him his best doggy smile.

Bedlam relaxed at that display. It was not submissive but it did speak of youth. He did not think that an older wolf would act in such a hyper, playful manner. And the young were not strong enough to take him on so he was not so worried. He approached the wolf and sniffed him but didn't smell anything suspicious. He retreated back casually. "You may share our fire though we have little extra food."

Bedlam's relaxed manner told the others that it was safe. Pande still did not get up but simply got more comfortable sitting up.

Wisp ran forward away from Hex's side to near Bedlam so she too could sniff the newcomer. The wolf was much larger than she was. Her little lantern jangled as she circled him.

Hex did not join her. She left the water's edge to go near to the fire. Some dog like fiends were not the best with cats. She remained relaxed but still cautious.

"I can bring us food. You need more? I'll get a big boar." Wolf offered, he was glad they'd accepted him for now. "I can track him quickly."

"More food?" Hex inquired with a purr. Fish were good but were only so filling. They didn't have as much meat on them as a wild pig did.

"Food!" Wisp exclaimed in her whimsical voice and turned about in circles.

Pande laughed. Growing girls were just as bad as growing boys when it came to food. The boys of the group were already grown but that didn't mean they had small appetites. "We'd be happy to share food with you."

Bedlam flopped down by the fire. "A pig would easily feed us all..." Hex's little fish did not.

"Okay!" Wolf said excitedly. He bounced off like a young dog would, though he didn't feel like one. It was helping them to be comfortable with him.

He returned shortly after with the massive wild pig, dragging it by its neck. He shook it and growled like all dogs did with their prey, before dropping it right in front of bedlam.

Bedlam looked at the massive pig. "Not bad." He hadn't expected so youthful a wolf to manage to catch such a large creature. "Thank you," he said, having no idea it was part of a trick on them. "Will you cook it? The fire will take too long on it's own," he said to Pande, who was the one that did pretty much all of the cooking for the group.

"Yes, I'll prepare it for you," Pande said and dragged the pig closer to the fire.

Hex moved out of the way, sniffing the pig briefly before easing down beside Bedlam. She was still cautious of the hyper wolf. "Do you have a name?" Only fiends that had belonged to Tamers had names. Oh, and the Gods.

Wisp sniffed the wolf's tail. "He doesn't smell like capture energy."

"Everyone just calls me Wolf because I look like one." Wolf replied and shrugged one of his furry shoulders slightly. "I mean, my momma used too."

"You travel alone now?" Bedlam inquired. The way Wolf said that suggested that his mother was no longer with him.

Hex made a sound like a snort. "Your mother was not very creative to name you Wolf. But my name isn't so creative either. I'm Hex. They have better names. Bedlam, Pandemonium, and Wisp," she said for introductions.

"It may not be creative but Wolf does seem to suit him," Pande said while Wisp finally eased down and waited for the food to be ready with patience.

"You have really fun names," Wolf said, as he nodded at Bedlam. "For now I do. But I do have friends. They're not here though."

Bedlam glanced off into the distance. He couldn't sense any other fiends nearby except those that likely lived in the area as they'd been there before the group had made camp. "Where are your friends? It's not always safe to part while traveling to close to where humans live."

Hex listened but she got a little bored of waiting for food. That was the hardest part. She could smell it so she wanted it right then and there. "Will it be ready soon?"

"Yes," Pande replied. "But it is a large pig so it does take longer. You'll need patience."

"I don't want patience," Hex said and batted at the extra wood they'd gathered for the fire.

"They're good at hiding, it's okay." Wolf wasn't worried. But he was also not going to lie to them too much. "Why are you so close to town?"

"We're travelling to it," Bedlam said.

"Greenfield is supposed to be the most beautiful area of Johto," Pande continued. "So naturally, since we're here, we figured we should see if that were true."

"Have you seen it?" Wisp asked. She didn't mind that humans had taken up residence there. Maybe they'd be nice since the area was supposed to be so pretty.

"Yes, it's as beautiful as they say." Wolf said, as he settled in a sitting position. He leaned over and sniffed Hex. "i like cats."

Hex turned her head to look at him. "You like cats as in to make friends with them or to eat them?" she asked. He didn't seem like he was interested in eating her. He wouldn't have brought the pig if he was. But his mouth seemed big enough to manage a large bite so she'd rather be cautious.

"No one wants to eat cats," Bedlam said with a roll of his eyes. "They're dirty. Since they don't bathe and all."

"I bathe!" Hex protested. "Just not with water. And I don't start to smell after walkies," she said.

"Licking yourself isn't a bath." Wolf laughed, that didn't count at all. "I don't smell. You smell." He said and sniffed his tail. Chasing it for just a second.

"But yeah, I don't eat cats. Gross."

Hex just watched that. "I don't smell!" But she was happy to know that he didn't eat cats. That would make things awkward.

"You could always bathe in the lake after we eat," Pande said as he finished up cooking and preparing the pig. He split it up into portions for the fiends based on what he knew they could eat. For wolf, he just gave him the same as Bedlam.

"I am not a fish. I do not swim," Hex hissed. She lost interest in discussing her bathing habits because hello, food right there.

Wolf was the same. He rarely ate in this form, but he figured he should just to go with it. He ate it fast though, because dogs didn't hardly chew sometimes.

"Are you that group of wandering fiends? The ones who get into trouble in towns?" Wolf asked curiously as he licked his face clean.

"That's probably us, yes," Hex answered. "Not that we go looking for trouble. But when there's mischief to be made, how can we resist?" she asked.

"Have we made such a name for ourselves that even young fiends know of us?" Wisp asked. She knew the humans did. And the older fiends. But not the younger ones.

"Are you surprised?" Pande asked.

"Well, that's pretty cool. But don't... Like... People die?" Wolf asked curiously, he was trying to see if they were really bad, or really good.

Every one of them just looked right at Hex.

"What?" Hex asked. "Sure people die. But you know what, Wolf. Sometimes people just need killing, okay?"

"Why's that?" Wolf asked, tilting his head to the side as if he was curious. A young fiend wanting to learn more.

"Because not all people are good. It's like the same with us. Some are rotten. And some aren't evil but the world is still better off without them because all they do is make life harder for everyone around them," Hex said.

"Not every human is missed when they pass on," Pande said.

"That's not to say everyone we kill truly deserves it," Bedlam added. "Sometimes it just happens. Accidents. And with those, we don't know. We try not to think about it too much when that happens."