[Sodium_noir] a Company of Wolves

[Beth Savage]

Korben, Nez, Poe
Bone Gnawer, Uktena, Raven spirit
The Isle of Crabs

It was time for a tour of the island. After all, if Nez was going to be 
hanging out here a lot, she needed to know what was going on. It wasn't 
very exciting as islands go- it basically had a grassy center with dirty 
beaches on all sides. Fortunately, it looked like most of the inner 
island would be hidden from direct view of the shore.

On the southern beach was a water sports shack called 'Slippery when 
Wet', the ruins of a fish factory and cannery, and a jetty. A bridge to 
the north led to another, much larger island. The store was the first 
problem to deal with. No one actually lived there, thank Gaia, but its 
presence meant that there would be students, slackers, and stoners 
hanging around. Nez checked out the building, noticing the store hours, 
ferry hours, and the names of the store owners. She'd have to check them 
out later.

Nez wasn't sure yet exactly where the caern's heart was, but it probably 
covered most of the island. The bawn surely stretched into the water on 
every side- it might even include some of the mainland or the other 
island. That would be another problem.

Out of habit, Nez had been trying to stay out of sight of anyone who 
might be watching from the shore or a distant boat. As she walked up a 
dune to check out the bay between her and the mainland, Nez caught a 
glimpse of a large boat in the bay. She instantly fell to the ground and 
scurried backwards, putting the dune in between them.

What the hell was that? Nez felt stupid and a little cowardly at her 
reaction- she had hurried for cover without even thinking about it. 
Despite the warning, Nez needed to get a better look. She felt a little 
goofy sneaking up sand dunes on a deserted island to look across the 
water at a boat, but the wolf in her was urging caution. Nez often found 
herself arguing with that part of herself, but this time she listened; 
there was something going on out there.

Poe, of course, had no need to hide. As Nez grumbled to herself
about the damn sand, the raven flew over her head and landed on the
crest of the dune, just beyond the marram grass.

<<You know, this is a pretty good place. There are all kinds of bugs
here.>> Poe said.

<<Uh huh,>> Nez responded. <<Just... just keep your head down.>>

As Nez crested the dune and carefully pushed the grass apart, she just
barely caught the faint scent of something foul carried on the wind
toward her. She had no special gifts to catch the scent of the Wyrm, but
sometimes you didn't need them. Nez remembered how her teacher had
brought her to the corpse of some unnatural creature that had been
twisted by the Wyrm and corrupted. It had taken three experienced packs
to bring it down- even dead it had given off the same foul odor Nez
could smell now.

The large boat was laying some kind of cable; on the surface it looked
innocuous enough. Nez watched it for a little while, but there wasn't
much she could see from here.

<<So when did you develop boat-phobia?>> Poe asked as he stabbed an 
insect skittering past.

<<It's not a normal boat. It smells wrong.>> Nez responded. She tried to 
catch its foul odor again, but the air carried only the scent of sand, 
seaweed, and dead fish.

If this was a cursed boat, it was best to stay away from it, Nez knew. 
Of course, she had no intention of doing that.

<<Go check it out,>> she said to Poe. <<I want to get a better look at 
it. But don't get too close; it might bite.>>

Poe was just about to take off; Nez' comment made him pause and look 
back at her. <<Really?>>

<<Probably not,>> she admitted. <<But be careful anyway.>>