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Chapter Three - Unknown Origins

Snow had piled up and melted in the dirty streets, which made it difficult to keep mud from collecting in my fur. Walking behind the adults, they'd kick up the mud that'd splatter across my fur. Walking alone, the mud would somehow cover my hindpaws and halfway up my legs.

One morning a couple hours before dawn, I had undressed and waded into the icy waters of the river. I tried to rinse the frozen and dried mud in my fur but it pulled painfully. Working clumps of the mud with my paws, it finally broke up and was washed away. Luckily we had found some scraps to eat this morning, but the previous day we went without eating a single thing. Now with our hunger somewhat subsided we allowed ourselves a chance to bathe.

"How can you stand that cold?" asked Midnight, waiting on the bankside of the river. He had undressed too but was washing the mud from his clothes more than from his fur.

"It's not that cold," I boasted. The wolf may be bigger and stronger than me so I felt almost prideful that I could withstand the cold that he couldn't.

I continued to rinse out my fur, feeling the literal weight of it all being washed away. Lifting my white tail out of the water and bringing around so that I could wash it with my paws, I noticed that more of my white fur had come in. With the mud gone, I could see that the fur on my tail was two shades, black in the middle where my summer coat was still visible but with a thick highlight of my white winter coat.

My belly was turning white almost as fast as my tail but the rest of my body was still predominately black. Even though it was dark out, the half moonlight allowed me to see myself in the reflection of the water. Well, only my white ears and the highlights around my muzzle and eyes, but the rest was as black as the dark waters and the sky reflecting in them.

"Your clothes are all ripped," mentioned Midnight, drawing my attention. I glanced over at him to see him holding up my clothes. They were ripped and torn, worn and soiled but they were all I had.

The wolf dropped them in the water near the shore and started to wash them for me, now that he was finished with his own. His clothes were in better shape and drying, or more rather freezing, on the edge of a dirty barrel nearby.

Cold had started to seep in to my fur and I decide enough mud had been washed away for me to step out of the river. With my hindpaws stepping over the frosty shores, and to the driest patch, I shook my body and sent water spraying out from me. After I stopped shaking, I licked at my fur to further dry it.

Dawn was still another hour away from dawn when I had dried myself the best I could. Midnight was still messing in the water when I heard fabric being ripped. My ears perked up because I knew he was still holding my clothes. The wolf was ringing out my pair of pants, and had created a larger rip that was from the rim of the pants down to the top of my thigh, except now it would reach half way down my thigh.

"You ripped it!" I shouted, quickly reaching and forcefully grabbing the pants from him. The cloth caught on the wolf's claws, and the tear loudly ripped further across the fabric. When I held it in my paws again, it looked like nothing but scraps.

Those pants were all I had to wear, and now they were ruined. I'd have to walk around naked now in this weather. My only possessions were the clothes I wore and now one of them was ripped to shreds. Tears swelled in my eyes, once again in frustration and humiliation. Looking up at the wolf, he looked back at me stunned and with a blank stare.

"You ruined them," I muttered, crying and glaring through tear filled eyes at Midnight. I don't even know why I did it but next thing I knew I was lunging at the wolf and tackling him to the ground. All I wanted to do was hit him, but when I swung in frustration the wolf defended himself.

"I didn't mean to," Midnight tried to say while he rolled over me and tried to subdue me. I didn't hear them because all I could think of was trying to hit him. I pushed him off of me and rolled on to him again, but he easily overpowered me every time. We rolled in the frozen mud, our naked tails tracking it up.

"Stop it," begged the wolf. We continued to fight in the mud even when the frozen ground had started to chill me through my fur.

After we had crashed into the barrels and other garbage near the river, along with a lot of yelling and crying, Midnight was suddenly pulled off of me. I was grabbed painfully by the scruff of my neck and pulled up to my hindpaws. Tears still blurring my vision, I blinked a few times with my glare still set upon the black wolf, but the uniformed adult drew my attention.

"That's enough," said the adult. I looked up at him, to see the basic features of a pine marten. Around his belt was a sheathed sword. Weapons I've only seen sold by merchants, or worn by guards and the wealthy. I never saw much use for having one myself but I knew to not struggle against someone who carried a sword. "You two are going to wake the entire riverside."

"He ripped up my clothes," I cried, pointing at the wolf.

"It was an accident!" yelled Midnight. I could tell that he was crying too but I didn't know why. It was he who ripped my pants into scraps.

"Stop yelling," ordered the adult marten. When I looked at him, I noticed that he was staring at Midnight, looking him over. I kept my mouth shut, but the marten seemed to have forgotten about me and just continued looking at the mud-covered naked wolf. Finally he let go of my neck before asking, "What's your name?"

"I'm called Midnight," answered the wolf, holding back his tears. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to tear his clothes."

The marten glanced at me before again gazing at the wolf. "Where are your parents, Midnight?"

"I don't have any," Midnight said, shamefully looking away from the gaze of the marten. I couldn't tell but the marten almost seemed happy, in a way, to hear that.

"So you accidentally tore up his clothes?" questioned the marten.

"It was an accident," he repeated. "I don't know what to do. I don't know how to fix them."

"What is your name?" the marten asked, turning his attention on me.

"Snow-Snowflake," I muttered, using my own name that Midnight had given me for the first time. It felt strange using it but it also came with a small bit of pride.

"Did he tear up your clothes?" asked the adult, using a chastising tone I've heard adults use on their children.

"Yes," I admitted glancing off to the side. I didn't want to admit that it was an accident, even though I knew it was. Accident or not, they were still ruined.

I knew the marten glanced back at the wolf, taking the pressure off of me again. "I'll make you two a deal. I was going to go pick up a parcel that was delivered from the southern cities. It's medicine for my employer who has taken ill, and we need it so he can feel well enough that we can travel back south before the snow blocks the paths. Clean yourselves up, go pick up the parcel and bring it back to the merchant's riverside inn and I'll give you two coppers so you can buy new clothes. Deal?"

The offer sounded great, and my ears perked up again once I heard it. I quickly grew excited and enthusiastically nodded. Midnight was a little more hesitant.

"I'll give you both a treat when you meet me at the inn," included the marten. "You have to promise to stop fighting though and be back before sunrise." Finally the wolf agreed. From the pocket of the marten's robes, he pulled out a small parchment. "Here, you'll need this ticket to pick up the parcel for my employer Velox. Do you know where the inn is?"

We shook our heads. The marten sighed asked us to follow him, we walked a little away from the river and pointed at a building with a pointed roof. "I'll wait inside, so just walk in and I'll see you. Go to the rookery at the main gate and pick up the parcel. I need to go back and talk with my employer. I think he'd be very interested in meeting with you."

He directed the last statement at Midnight but I held onto the ticket with excitement. I was about to do a job for someone and make money for the first time in my life. This time I wouldn't have to steal what I needed but could pay for it!

"Hurry now, the sun will rise soon," said the adult, pointing us toward the main gate in the city fortifications. "Remember that I will be at Silverriver Inn."

Without another word the marten hurried back in the direction of the inn, allowing us to gather our clothes.

"It really was an accident, Snowy," said the wolf after he had dressed and saw me holding up the tatters of my pants. I had already put on my damp shirt but I didn't think the pants would be useable.

After giving the ticket the marten gave to me to the wolf, I tore off one of the pant legs and tried to make something useful out of it. With a small rope that I used to keep them up tied around, I now wore them with one leg missing and them risking falling off my hips with every step.

"Come on, we have to be back by sunrise," said Midnight, growing impatient. Walking awkwardly and holding the two sides of my ripped pants, I followed him toward the large wall that bordered around the entire city.

Traveling through the city, it was still sleeping with very few others morning laborers awake at this hour. Walking through the streets, I saw the other orphans and even some homeless adults sleeping in the streets. They slept in barrels, under makeshift shelters and even sometimes just out in the frozen mud.

Last year I remember seeing some orphans that never woke up. I wondered how many wouldn't wake up during this winter.

Cylinder-like structures placed around the city were occupied by guards, most of them trying to stay as warm as possible inside their small shelters. Thankfully that allowed us to pass without the normal glares. I hoped that they wouldn't be any guards to give us trouble today.

"That marten is nice to say that he'll pay us if we get his medicine for him," said Midnight after we had been walking a while. "We can buy you a new pair of pants from someone and he said he'll give us a treat. Maybe we can do more jobs for him too!"

"It really was an accident about your clothes," he said again after a few seconds pause. "I don't want you to be mad at me. I'll help you get new ones. Besides we get a lot more food together, and its warmer at night with you on the roof with me. We are friends now after all."

"Friends?" I repeated, vaguely unfamiliar with the word.

"Yeah, that means we help each other out," said the wolf with an excited tone. He continued to tell me the meaning of friends while we walked toward the wall of the main gate that was growing larger as we approached. Once we reached the main gate, we realized we had no idea where we were going.

Midnight approached one of the guards and asked, "Where's the rookery?"

"We're doing a job," I explained, excitedly.

The guard looked down at us with a less than amused expression before pointed at one of the stalls built into the wall itself. "Over there, pups. Don't try anything I'm watching you two."

Ignoring the guard's threat we wondered to where he pointed. Behind the stone stall was a cold-looking caribou. I didn't know what we were supposed to do so I started to hang a step back from Midnight. He was not even tall enough to see over the edge so I was hopeless to get the attention of the caribou.

"Hi," he said, waving over the counter after he walked up to it. The caribou looked over the edge at both of us.

"What do you want?" she asked us. She didn't seem to be in the best mood probably because it was cold or still early in the morning.

"We're here doing a job," boasted Midnight, looking up at the female caribou. "There's a parcel we need to pick up for someone."

"You two are couriers?" questioned the caribou. "Do you have a ticket for your package, or am I supposed to be trusting you two?"

Midnight reached up to the stall counter with the ticket in his paw and set it down. The caribou took it and read it, mumbling to herself while she walked away from the counter and out of view. A minute passed before she returned holding a small wrapped package about the size of her paw.

"One parcel for Mr. Velox, weapons merchant," said the caribou holding out the package for Midnight. "Be sure to get it to him. It's not smart to cheat a weapons merchant."

"Thank you," said Midnight, turning away from the counter. We started to walk away but I was excited that we did our job right so far.

"Can I hold it?" I asked the wolf, walking quickly to keep up with him.

"I'm holding it," the wolf said defiantly.

"Please," I begged. This was the first time I had the chance to do something for someone else and get paid. It wouldn't be like stealing food because and I was excited to do something the right way. I wanted to be an important part of it. "Just for a little bit."

"Fine, just don't drop it," Midnight finally agreed. I was practically jumping up and down when he gave me the package.

While I marveled at the small and wrapped box that I held in my paws, I followed Midnight back to the river where the marten spoke to us. Midnight saw the pointed rooftop that was the inn we were supposed to go and started leading me toward it.

It didn't take us long to find the building but we hesitated at the entrance. By then the sky was a grey blue, with the sun threatening to shine its first rays over the horizon, but we had both tried to enter buildings before only to get thrown out. Sometimes a beating was the result, and that was the last time I tried to go into any building that wasn't abandoned.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Midnight pushed open the large front door and entered. I followed him in, staying close to the larger wolf.

Inside smelled of smoke from the fire, but it brought an incredible relief from the cold outside. A few seconds passed before I realized that the warmth came with a price as my eyes started to sting in the smoke. The fire, and candles on the tables around the room were the only source of light. Few of the tables were occupied with adults who were eating their breakfast, but one of them that were wandering around came toward us.

"Get out, there's no food for you here," growled the white-furred hare. He waved his paw at us before the marten placed his paw on the hare's shoulder.

"They're here on business, I'll take care of it," said the marten. The hare glanced at him before turning back toward the other end of the room.

The marten walked up to us and knelt in front of Midnight and me. "Do you have what I asked for?"

Still hiding behind Midnight, I held out my paw with the parcel out for the marten. He took it from me and smiled.

"Thank you," he said. The marten stood up and led us away from the front entrance and toward some stairs on the other side of the room. "My employer isn't feeling well so we'll go up to him to chat, and you'll be paid there. Bartender, bring up some food and drink, and a pot of hot water."

"Yes sir," said the hare while we passed him and went up the stairs.

The stairs were dark, much darker than most nights outside and it was difficult for my eyes to adjust. I stumbled a few times trying to climb the stairs. I was relieved when the floor finally leveled out again. Everything was dark up there too, and Midnight practically vanished in the darkness. I had to rely on my scent and hearing more than my vision to follow him, and the marten.

Finally we entered through a door where a fireplace had lit the room. There was a bed, and a table in the room but otherwise it was practically bare.

I would do just about anything I could think of to stay in a place like this one.

"This is him, Velox" the marten said to someone wrapped up in a cloak near the fireplace. The cloaked person turned to look at us, more specifically Midnight.

Looking at us was another fox, this one was grey and different from me. I had expected the marten's employer to be an adult like him but this fox looked barely an adult. He was about the age that most orphans found jobs at the docks. The other fox stood up, keeping his cape tight around him and walked over to us.

"Let me take a look at you," said the fox named Velox, but he was only speaking to Midnight.

Velox knelt down to look at the wolf and brushed a paw through his fur. He examined the wolf up and down before gazing into his eyes. After the strange examination the fox stood up and walked back toward the fireplace.

"You think its him?" asked the marten, following the fox.

"I don't know," answered Velox. He sat back down at the table in the seat closet to the fire. "Come over here pups. I believe I owe you something."

We did as we were asked, and sat down at the table with the fox. Before anything else could be said, the hare walked into the room holding a couple trays of food and behind him was who must have been his daughter carrying a pot of water. The food was set on the table while the marten took the water and set it over the fire to keep it hot. He opened the parcel that we had retrieved for him. Inside was a small tangled looking plant that smelled strongly and burned my nose a bit when he cut it with a dagger.

"Can I get a few coppers for this?" asked Velox, pressing a silver coin into the paw of the adult hare.

"I'll be right back," said the hare before leaving the room.

"Please eat up," said the fox gesturing at the food on the table. I didn't need to be told twice, and neither did Midnight. We both greedily started to gather some food for ourselves and eat it. It was the best food I've ever tasted. "My name is Sage Velox. My guard is called Bran, and he tells me that you're Midnight, and Snowflake. Is that right?"

Too engorged in our food, all we did was nod in response. Or at least I did, because I was focusing on stuffing as much food as I could down my throat. The hare returned and gave Sage a small bag that clinked with the familiar sound of coins. When the coins were dumped out on the table, I watched them roll around but continued eating.

After the older fox had divided up the coins into two separate piles, he put them into two small purses and held them out for Midnight and me to take. My eyes went wide and I choked on my food when I saw the fox was offering us a lot more than just a couple coppers.

"All of this is for you two," he said when we were hesitant to accept. We just stared at the purses, not sure to expect some sort of trick. Midnight reached out for his and took it so I did the same. "Now be careful spending that money. And don't let anyone take it from you."

The pine marten returned from the fire with some steaming bowl of water. It smelled of the planet that he cut up but it also had pieces of meat in it. He set it down in front of the fox for him to eat.

"Can you get me a quill and parchment?" asked Sage to his guard. Bran nodded and walked over to the bed where there was a bag full of the fox's belongings. "I have another job for you two, if you'll accept. I'm going to write a couple letters, and I want you to bring them to where you picked up my parcel from and have them delivered. I'll write instructions for the rookery caretaker so all you have to do is give them the papers. If you come back here, I'll give you another letter for a friend of mine in the city. She'll help you buy some clothes for the winter."

"All we have to do is give them your letters?" asked Midnight, chewing on a bit of food still.

"That is all," answered Sage. Bran returned with what the fox had asked of him. Sage began to write on them, while also eating his soup. "I come up to this city once a year to make some sells. When I come back next year, I might have some more work for you two."

"Thank you, Mr. Sage sir," said Midnight.

I was listening in but I was never specifically addressed. I finally stopped eating, feeling full and a different kind of pain that I wasn't familiar with. Maybe I had ate too much because my belly felt like it was being stretched, painfully so.

After several minutes of the fox writing and stamping some letters, he gave them over to us. "You should leave your purses here so that you don't lose them. When you get back, I'll give them back to you along with the letter for my friend here in the city. Now go on. Hurry back. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Okay," agreed Midnight. We were given one letter each to hold, and I accept cheerfully. We jumped down from the table and started to head out of the room.

"So do you think its him?" I overheard Bran say before we left.

"Might be, we can't ignore it if there's a chance. There's a lot of black colored wolves that match..."

Their voices faded while we walked through the dark hallway again. I slowly crept down the dark stairs, afraid that I might fall. Thankfully Midnight went slow down them too so that I could keep up. Downstairs, the tables were full of others now. They were loud while they ate but Midnight and I were completely ignored.

Stepping outside, the cold felt much colder than it has ever been before. I crossed my arms across my chest and followed Midnight. Each both holding the letters in our paws, we were doing our second job of the day to help me get some new clothes that the wolf had ripped earlier.

With our bellies full, we went slow through the streets that now had the morning light shining on. As usual we received the glares and distrustful looks.

Soon though, I'd have new clothes that I hadn't stolen or salvaged from some vegetable bag. I was full, going to have money for the first time in my life; today was easily the best day in my life.