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Chapter 3 - The Pact

The earth and the sky were at war, or so it seemed to Jak before he found sleep. The clouds above the mountains glowed a wrathful, bloody red as though the volcano were trying to burn them from existence. In response, flashes of lighting stabbed at the ground, and rain fell in torrents in a futile attempt to quench the earth's searing fires. Earthquakes shook the land repeatedly as if it were convulsing from the thunderous assault from above.

A few tremblors were violent enough to wake Jak, but not his captive. Each time nature's fury aroused him from his rest, Jak satisfied himself that she was stable and in no immediate danger of dying. The Rabbit doe's breathing remained steady, and her shivering had ceased soon after the warmth of his body made contact with hers. Clutching her tightly against his furry chest so that he would be alerted if she did stir, he returned to sleep.

By morning, the rain had ceased. The clouds were reduced to ragged wisps of cotton having lost their battle to cross the Earth Spine. Steam rose from the rock ledge as the rising sun warmed Jak's shelter. The Rabbit did not rouse even when Jak shook her and dabbed her face with cool water. It was possible that she would never revive. People with head wounds sometimes remained in the dream world slowly dying unable to eat or drink. Keeping her warm and protected was the best treatment Jak could offer. If she didn't regain consciousness within three days, he was prepared to abandon her to the elements and the scavengers. Until then, he would be patient, but waiting reminded him that he needed to consider his own health and welfare again.

Having eaten nothing the day before but his own self-pity, Jak pondered what he would do for food. He did not want to leave the bunny alone, fearing she might recover and escape. He considered binding her wrists and ankles until by great fortune, a lone deer foolishly wandered just beneath the rocky overhang of his encampment. Even with only one eye, Jak easily shot the unsuspecting prey through the throat. It died before taking two steps. He cleaned the carcass and had cooked and eaten his fill by mid-day. The rest of the kill he buried with the coals of the fire to hide its scent and let cook underground.

With a nothing else to occupy his time, he laid himself out on the rock ledge in the sun across from where the Rabbit doe still slept. As his meal slowly digested, Jak let himself doze but never sleep. He felt better having a full belly and a purpose for his life. The unconscious Rabbit was potentially a valuable prize that would help his pack. He had found a way to die with meaning, and he was content.

Late in the afternoon, Airy began to stir fitfully and groan occasionally. Feigning sleep, Jak remained motionless. His one good eye stayed partially open, and he was ready to stop her from escaping if she ever fully awoke. It was near evening, though, when she was recovered enough to become aware of her surroundings as the tattered remnants of a surprisingly comforting and warm dream fled her waking mind.

Remembering her ordeal from the previous days, she wondered why she had not been plagued by nightmares instead. The possibility that she was dead occurred to her, but her aching head and burning thigh were maladies of the flesh that argued that she still dwelt in the mortal world. Her other senses reported sensations similarly disconnected with her expectation of the afterlife. A pungent smell from the blanket that covered her body assaulted her nose. Undoubtedly from the carcass of some animal, it also possessed an additional reek beyond that of its original owner. Her long ears detected the slow, steady breathing of someone nearby. She assumed the breathing sound and the mystery odor were from the hideous, one-eyed Wolf.

Because any sudden movement and bright light made her nauseous, she moved her head slowly with her eyes slitted to investigate her surroundings. The Wolf beast was asleep nearby, but more importantly, her weapons were close and between her and the enemy. If she acted swiftly, she could retrieve her sword and kill the monster as he slept. With the superiority of her steel blade and surprise, Airy was certain she could overcome his advantage of size and strength.

Rising unsteadily, she staggered from beneath the rock overhang towards her weapons. The Wolf remained inert. Emboldened, she grasped the sword and yanked it from its scabbard. Her intent was to plunge it into the Wolf's chest, but as she hefted the blade to prepare her strike, a pulse of dizziness and pain shot through her head making her lose her balance and fall backwards onto her tail instead. The sword tip scraped loudly across the stone ledge as though she were sharpening it upon a grinding wheel, and the weapon fell clattering from her trembling paw.

She reached out clumsily with her right paw trying to retrieve the hilt, but the Wolf loomed over her. His hindpaw pinned her outstretched arm to the rock. Her attempt to push him off with her left arm resulted in it too being trapped by his other hindpaw. Lingering weakness made her body unresponsive, but Airy attempted to kick upward at his groin anyway. The Wolf responded by sitting on her thighs exchanging his forepaws with his hindpaws to keep her arms immobilized. With his snout directly over hers, the assault of meat and death on his breath was unavoidable.

Airy berated herself for severely underestimating the extent of her injuries and acting prematurely. The error would likely be fatal, but now that she was lying down, the dizziness passed and the pain in her leg made her irritable and defiant.

"Just kill me and be done with it, beast! Go ahead and eat me, Maker damn it! I'm not afraid to die."

Jak cocked his head to focus his one good eye on Airy as he listened to her rant. She was speaking the people's tongue, but her accent was strange, and he had to puzzle over the way she pronounced some of her words. The meaning of what she said was clear enough, though. His response was calm in the face of her rage.

"If I wanted to eat you, I would have done it already."

The Wolf's speech was odd, but understandable to Airy. His 'R's were slightly rolled and slurred almost like he was growling them. Though what he said made sense, she could not believe that her ancient enemy would have any other desire than to kill her.

"Liar! Dog! Beast!"

She tried to spit at him, but her mouth was too dry. Airy struggled, but Jak was far too strong, and she was too enfeebled. A newborn kit's efforts could not have been more pitifully ineffective. The weight of his body was like a boulder on her legs. His arms were like unyielding steel.

"I can smell meat on your foul breath, and your bulging belly tells me you ate recently enough. I bet you ate those horrid things that attacked me so you could save me to eat later. Well, I won't let you do it. I'll fight you until you kill me."

As Airy continued her futile resistance, Jak looked at his belly and smiled.

"You are very observant and feisty for someone who suffered a blow to the head. I think it means that you will live."

He paused for a moment as he closely inspected her eyes. Something he observed there helped confirm his confidence in her recuperation. He nodded to himself before addressing her accusations.

"It is true that I did hunt and eat this morning while you slept. Ask yourself, why would I do that while perfectly good, fresh meat was lying here helpless?"

Airy did not like being called 'meat' but had no answer to his question.

"Why had this creature saved her yesterday? Why was he keeping her alive at all?" she silently wondered. Rabbits and Wolves were natural enemies. His kind was evil. The reason she was here was because she had been working to keep monsters like him out of Rikifur.

The Wolf's calm demeanor, however, was partly infectious. Airy stopped struggling and tried to relax, but the ache in her thigh was throbbing from the weight of the Wolf. Her speech remained terse as a result.

"What do you want, then?"

"Answers."

"To what questions?"

"To my questions, silly bunny."

"Don't call me that!"

"What? Bunny or silly?"

"Either."

"Then tell me your name and who you are, bunny," he demanded while clearly emphasizing the racial slur.

Wishing for a free arm so she could punch him in his smug snout or a knee that she could ram into his testicles, Airy was losing patience again with the Wolf's intolerable behavior. The agony in her leg was now secondary to his goading with insults. Of course, she had initiated the name calling by labeling him 'dog'. He hadn't reacted to it, but it had to be insulting to him. Despite her culpability, she was in no mood to compromise.

"Get your heavy ass off my leg first. I'm talking about the injured leg in case you can't figure that out yourself."

Jak was disinclined to accept her demand, and his lips curled back to reveal a gleaming set of sharp canine teeth as he spoke with a snarl in his voice.

"You are very rude little bunny. You are in no position to tell me what to do. Answer my questions, and then I may be kind and relieve your pain."

The hostile transformation of his attitude combined with the ominous implications inherent in the phrase 'relieve your pain,' made Airy reconsider her obstinacy and become more compliant.

"My name is Airiphryone. I am a warrior of the Rabbit people."

She didn't dare tell him any more than that, especially that she was a princess.

"Airiphryone," repeated Jak, but it sounded more like 'Airrrfrrreenie' than the correct 'Air-if-free-o-nay' to Airy. Despite his implied promise, he did not remove his weight from her injured leg.

"You are obviously a warrior. I saw you fight, and you are well armed and armored, so you have told me nothing new other than your name, which is a trivial thing to reveal. You fought well yesterday against the kryfes, but you could not have escaped their bellies without my help. I saved you from that fate. I also saved you from dying from your wounds. I tell you this so that you understand that your life is mine now. You owe me much in return. There is no greater debt."

The Wolf's snout was still close to hers, and he sniffed the air around her short muzzle as he spoke.

"I think that you are more than a warrior and are not telling me the entire truth. It has been many generations since we had close contact with Rikifur, but we know that your kind do not usually use females as warriors. Your males are bigger and stronger; nearly as big as Wolves. It makes no sense to have a bunny doe warrior. If you lie to me, I will know, and you will regret it. So, as your life holder, I ask again, who are you?"

As he made his demand, Jak put his muzzle within a hair's breadth of Airy's much smaller snout; his fetid breath nearly made her gag. The Wolf was more cunning and persistent than Airy had imagined. Airy's normally proud and upright ears turned down and flat on her head. She began to imagine the possible things that this filthy, dirty beast was capable of doing to her. One possibility made her wish for a quick death instead, so she told him what she hoped he wanted to know, the truth.

"I'm a princess of Rikifur. I'm the king's first born. As first-born, I am allowed to train with and lead warriors. It is one of my duties as future queen."

"King? Queen? Are these words for leader?"

"Yes. I am the king's daughter. That makes me a princess."

Jak's ears perked upright from their aggressive forward posture, and Airy recognized this as a sign of interest. Perhaps she had told him too much after all.

"So, you are the bunny leader's daughter."

Jak tapped his chest as he spoke.

"I was a pack leader - a 'king'- myself."

The thought of this primitive beast pretending to be a king nearly made Airy laugh aloud, but she dared not risk offending him further.

"My daughters became huntresses and warriors, but only because Wolf females are strong like males. You are not strong. You are strong for your size perhaps, but you are still a small bunny."

"Arrgh!", Airy growled in pain-induced frustration. "I told you what you wanted to know and you still don't understand, you great, stupid brute. You promised to get off my leg."

Airy winced and ground her teeth against the pain.

Patiently, Jak continued, "You must make me understand. You want the pain to stop, you explain better so I am not so stupid."

In a rush fueled by agony, Airy tried to make her tormentor understand.

"In Rikifur, we have a king who rules over our lands west of the mountains. If his first-born is a son, then the son becomes ruler when the king dies. If his first-born is a daughter then the daughter is raised like a son to learn what a king needs to know so that on her twentieth birthday she can choose a suitable husband, who will then be king when her father dies. The daughter, me, then becomes queen and rules beside her husband. There! Is that clear? Are you satisfied?"

Airy closed her eyes while taking slow, deep breaths to try to banish the agony. Concepts of kings and successions were strange and foreign to Jak, but he understood well enough to know that he had an immensely more valuable prisoner than he had previously imagined. To retrieve their princess, the Rabbit's might be willing to yield concessions to his pack, but there was much still that he needed to know first, most importantly was why she was in Wolf lands.

Appeased by her answers, Jak rose from her legs. Airy nearly passed out from the abrupt relief. Though she was still weak from her ordeal, Jak suspected she was dangerous and would attempt to kill him or escape if she was afforded the chance. With his white paw, Jak hefted her by the front of her surcoat as if she were as light as a pup's woven reed doll. Carrying her and her sword to the edge of the rock slab that formed his perch, he set her down gently on her tail with her back only a few paw spans from the empty space that dropped vertically over fifty feet to a boulder covered talus slope. Jak positioned himself cross-legged in front of her so that she had no egress except past him. Airy examined her surroundings and observed that a few tall fir trees rose behind her from the base of the rocky slope below to tower above her head, but their nearest branches were tantalizingly out of reach. The Wolf had chosen an excellent spot to contain her.

Behind the Wolf, the mountains rose higher and higher with snow cover increasing with elevation. Airy could see back along the terrible path down which she had come. A towering black column of ash and smoke rose from beyond the crest of the mountains where the fire and molten rock had poured forth trying to engulf her three days before the kryfes' attack. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious and in the care of the brutish Wolf. She cringed at the thought of him having touched her while she was unconscious, pawing over her wounds and she knew not what else. The black cloud drifted northward with the high altitude winds as lightning played about its base. It was a stark reminder to her that even if she escaped from this monster, returning home by the only route she knew was impossible.

"I have more questions," said Jak interrupting her thoughts of flight, "and you still owe me your life. If you answer the questions to my satisfaction, I may return your life to you. If not, you go over the edge. Do you understand, or do I have to make you understand, with more pain perhaps?"

Exhausted and weary of suffering, Airy sighed in resignation. Her ears unconsciously drooped backward and her small nose twitched.

"I understand," she said with uncharacteristic meekness.

"Next question, then. Why are you here?"

Airy was hungry, she was beginning to feel dizzy again, but she did her best to answer the Wolf, even though her speech was a rapid jumble.

"I became trapped on this side of the mountains when lava spewed forth from fissures and covered the land. The mountains crumbled and broke apart. All is in ruin. You can see the smoke behind you."

"I am aware of the smoke and red glow, and I felt the ground shake three days ago, and continue to tremble since then. You say you are trapped. Is the smoke and fire blocking the pass?"

"Yes. We were repairing the wall that protects us and keeps your kind...our enemies out of our lands. The earth opened up at our feet and destroyed the wall."

Airy choked back a sob when she thought of her dead countrymen. Jak did not fail to notice the emotional response, but he remained silent since his captive was being cooperative.

"Everyone was killed but me because I was by the lake. The mountains collapsed around us. Red, flaming rock rose out of a crack. I ran and ran with the heat and smoke at my back threatening always to consume me. Every time I looked back, the devastation was worse. Fountains of glowing rock erupted, and the destruction was moving eastward flowing across the landscape. Explosions sent debris raining down. I barely made it to the high pass."

Jak was impressed that she had crossed the Earth Spine alone under such harrowing conditions.

"I am surprised you made it. It is still early to cross the high pass."

"The only reason I didn't freeze to death was because of the heat from the volcano. The air was unbreathable, though, and I could not stay. The western path was gone, and there was no way around the cataclysm without climbing even higher to thinner air. Do you understand me now? I didn't want to come here. I had no choice."

Jak was silent and thoughtful. Airy wondered what he was thinking and what fate he was considering for her. She would have been relieved to know that he believed her. Jak was not the foremost in his pack at smelling truth from lies, but honesty wafted from her like the welcome spring scent of alpine meadow flowers. There was likely more he could learn from her, but she was clearly at her limit of endurance and wouldn't be able to stand much more questioning without food and rest. Jak had felt and seen just a distant taste of the destruction of the recent eruption himself. What it had been like for her experiencing it firsthand, he could not fathom.

Though the burdens of leadership were behind him now, Jak could not help but continue to think like White Paw. Based on her description of the conditions as the high pass, this would be distressing news for Jak's former pack considering that the obsidian quarries were likely destroyed and inaccessible. New sources would have to be found. Their standing in the hierarchy of packs would fall without control over access to the precious stone for weapon and tool making.

Nothing he could do, though, would change the moods of the earth spirits. Clearly, there was no invading army either; only one little doe who wasn't much of a threat to anyone. Nothing she knew would matter to the pack. His recently acquired purpose to live and die nobly was fading before him, depriving him a reason to carry on further or waste any more of his remaining time on the Rabbit doe.

While pondering how to dispense with his prisoner, he found himself coveting her magical weapons that were his for the taking. The power and prestige they contained triggered an idea that could yet benefit his pack. If he could learn how to make weapons like hers, to make steel, he could teach it to his people. With that knowledge, Blackrock pack would become the most powerful of all Wolf packs.

Jak reached behind his back and drew forth Airy's sword. Airy cringed and leaned back in fear thinking he meant to kill her after all, and why not, he was just a brutish beast. Jak held the sword testing its weight and balance, but did not strike her.

"Explain to me how to make a magic claw like this one."

The question stunned Airy. Steel was the most closely guarded secret in Rikifur. She had no idea how it was made. One day she would be given that knowledge, but only when she was queen and safe from situations like this where she could be captured by an enemy and made to disclose the secret. Those who knew it, like her father, were never allowed to leave the kingdom. If she revealed her ignorance, would the Wolf push her over the edge? Did it even matter to her anymore? Airy wondered if she could string the Wolf along pretending to give him the secret in hopes of living longer and escaping. Whatever hope that thought provided evaporated as she realized that even if she were free, she could not long survive in this land. It was far better to end her life sooner and shorten the agony.

"I don't know how to make steel. That is secret, sacred knowledge to my people. It is only taught to a few, and they are never allowed outside the kingdom. If I knew, I would not have been allowed beyond the capitol."

Jak's suspicions concerning her honesty returned.

"Don't know or won't tell?"

Jak placed the tip of the blade against her ring mail shirt at the level of her heart and began to press forward slowly, but with determined pressure. The sword was narrow enough at the tip to penetrate her armor, especially if the Wolf thrust hard enough. Airy shrank back as far as she dared putting herself in peril of toppling over the edge. It was evident that she was rapidly becoming of no use to her captor.

"Let him kill me, then," she thought to herself.

Best to be brave about it. She was a princess of Rikifur descended from the Maker's chosen. Begging for mercy was unthinkable.

"What difference does it make? Either way I would never tell you, beast!"

Relentlessly, the blade drove against her breast. Able to retreat no farther, Airy hefted her mail shirt above her breasts making her heart an easier target.

"There! Drive the sword home or push me over. Just make it quick, Maker damn it! I'm of no use to you. Do you enjoy torture, you sadistic bastard?"

Jak inhaled deeply and cocked his head to the side as he now frequently did to get a better look at her with his functional eye. Her courage was impressive. The blade stopped advancing. Airy held her breath and was dumbfounded when Jak set the blade down between them, inexplicably close enough that Airy could reach it if she was bold enough to try.

"What game was he playing now?" Airy wondered.

"You have answered my questions truthfully, I believe. You are no threat to my people or to me. You are also of no use to us."

"What 'us' or 'my people' was there anymore?" wondered Jak before pointing to Airy's weapon.

"Rather than yield and tell my enemies of a secret as precious as how to make such fine weapons as this 'sword' before us, I would emulate you and refuse. I suspect that you would even leap from this cliff to avoid telling me if you knew the answer. Loyalty and resolve like that are rare and precious traits. Only a base and ignominious villain would remove a source of honor from this world."

With a nudge from his paw, Jak pushed the blade closer to Airy.

"Though you still owe me your life, I return it back to you. You are no longer my captive. Your magic weapon - this sword - is yours again."

Airy tentatively extended her paw towards her sword. The Wolf made no move to oppose her. Grasping the hilt slowly, she felt its familiar and comforting weight. Their roles were immediately reversed. An easily executed thrust would kill the Wolf, but inexplicably, Airy had lost the desire to retaliate. This Wolf was not acting the way she thought he would or the way she had been taught he should, so she set her weapon by her side, within easy reach if necessary.

Having her sword returned was a kindness Airy was willing to reciprocate. In a voice devoid of anger and tinged with grudging civility, she corrected his assumption about her people's technology.

"It's not magic, the sword that is. It's made of steel. It is a kind of metal. I know nothing more than that."

"We have heard the word '_steel'_before, but it is still magic to us."

Jak toyed with the word 'steel' as though its name alone held secrets. He was quiet for a moment as if deliberating a course of action.

"We are now both fellow lost travelers, ex-leaders of a sort. You are far from home, and I am too close to a home that no longer welcomes me. I would like to propose an arrangement that will benefit us both."

"I'm listening," said Airy cautiously. Dared she hope that she might survive?

A new and radical idea had begun to form in Jak's mind. Blackrock pack did not need his help, but Airy did. With the pass closed, probably forever, the Rabbits and the Wolves could no longer fight let alone make contact with each other. The doe would desperately want to go home, and though dangerous, he knew a possible way, a hazardous and difficult way. Alone, with no pack, he would soon die from despair, fall to predators, or be killed other Wolves. Perhaps he could join Airy's pack. Airy was as brave as any Wolf Jak had known. With steel and courage like hers, Rikifur must be a worthy pack indeed. If he could learn the secret of steel from Rikifur, he might even be able return to the east and form a new pack if Rikifur did not accept him.

"You want to return to your people."

It was a statement and not a question.

"Yes, but the pass is closed. There is no other way over the mountains. The Earth Spine is too high everywhere else. I am stranded here."

"I know a possible way."

Airy's ears bent forward in interest.

"It will not be easy," Jak continued. "I suspect our chances of success are very small. In exchange for the secret of steel, I will lead you back to your people if I can. I will be your protector and your guide."

Angry at Jak's lust for steel, Airy's belligerence returned.

"Never! Steel belongs to the Rabbit people. It was given to us by the Maker. I would rather die than give it to you."

Jak remained calm in the face of her fury.

"Consider that you no longer need the advantage of steel over us or any of the other people who might prey on the Rabbit folk. With the pass closed, what threat do even steel armed Wolves pose?"

"There are still Wolves like you in the West. We keep them at bay, but they attack and harass us when they can. How do I know that you wouldn't give the secret to them? No. The risk is too great. Never!"

Though pleased to learn that some of his kind persisted in the west, Jak understood how she would feel threatened by them. Yet maybe there was still a way for him to discover steel's essence. By joining Rikifur, he might learn much, and even if he didn't, he would have a pack to which he would belong. There was nothing left for him to lose and everything to gain. This was Jak's last hope to find the belonging that he needed to continue living.

"Very well. I understand and respect your position. Here is my final offer then. If this is not acceptable, then we part, and you may die in your way, and I will die in mine. In exchange for returning you to your home, you will have me admitted into Rikifur as a warrior equal in status to similar warriors of your kind. I ask only for a chance to prove my worth."

"What? Are you mad? My people will never accept you."

"You are a princess and someday to be queen, or so you claim. If you don't have the power to make this happen, then no one does. What is the point of a leader who cannot make decisions like this? Tell me if you have the power or not. Our continued association depends on your answer."

Airy thought franticly to herself. Would she do this? The Wolf's offer was tempting. It was her only hope for survival, but could she do it? Certainly as queen she would hold the authority, but as princess, all her father had to do was say "No" and the Wolf was dead. She could not guarantee his safety and acceptance in Rikifur. As likely as not, he would be killed the moment they crossed the border into Rikifur without anyone giving her a chance to explain. Should she even attempt it? She was surprised she was even considering agreeing. The person before her was not some stray puppy she was bringing home, but one of her kind's most hated enemies.

Despite that, she found herself wanting to accept his deal and bind the Wolf to her. She felt strangely attracted towards him. He had saved her life and was willing to free her without conditions. He had returned her sword at the risk of his own life. This was all contrary to the teachings of the Priests that declared all Wolves evil and depraved. Had she been misinformed about them all along, or was the Wolf trying to beguile her. Perhaps something else happening between them. She had learned from her military mentors that under the extreme conditions of battle, fellow soldiers often developed unbreakable bonds of loyalty to each other. Airy and this Wolf had fought together, though briefly, and not necessarily as friends. Yet a connection had developed nonetheless.

Airy trusted him. He seemed to trust her, but Airy was still conflicted. If he pledged to protect her, then she was obligated to protect him in turn, and she had no idea if she could honor that onus if it meant defying the laws and traditions of her own people. It was better not to begin an alliance with lies. This Wolf - Airy was beginning to think of him as a person and not a creature - was a warrior like herself. Though she would not have thought it possible yesterday, he deserved her respect and the truth.

"I won't lie to you just to save myself. You have my word that I will do everything in my power to make you one of the Rabbit folk if that is still your wish when we reach Rikifur, but as long as my father lives, his word is law. He will ultimately decide your fate, not I."

Airy held her breath wondering if she had done the right thing, wondering if she should have lied. Jak was silent again. Turning his head so his good eye gazed just past Airy's shoulder to look upon the moon, which was a faint crescent rising in the east, he thought of his mate of the same name and the pups they had sired and birthed together. Jak thought of his favorite son, Ice Eyes, and the things he would do to make him happy and healthy.

Considering that he would turn his own world upside down to ensure his son was safe, even if by the paw of a Rabbit, Jak wondered aloud, "Is your father, the king, a good buck who puts the well-being of his family above himself?"

The question was idle speculation, not meant to have been given voice, and Airy wasn't sure where the Wolf was going with his latest inquiry. Nevertheless, she continued to answer as truthfully as she could.

"Yes."

"Does he love you?"

Further puzzled, Airy gave the same answer, though it saddened her to dwell on how far she was from him.

"Yes."

Jak did not need his keen sense of smell to know that she was telling the truth. The affection she felt for her father was revealed by a tear that clung to the corner of her eye for a moment before falling to catch in the fur on her cheek. Jak understood that profound love for family.

"Then I will trust in the love of a father for his daughter and accept your terms. If you make my case to him, perhaps he will accept me out of gratitude for having returned you. I know it will be difficult befriending and trusting someone he has always been taught to hate. I hope that I would be wise enough to rise above that for the sake of my children."

Holding her breath while awaiting his answer, Airy exhaled. Tension drained away with her breath. It was strange that just a few dozen heartbeats ago she had been ready and willing to die. Now that hope had returned, she found herself eager to live. A strange urge to hug the one eyed monster came over her, but she quickly suppressed it. He really didn't look very huggable anyway with his shaggy and dirty coat, eye patch, scars, sharp teeth, and claws.

"I believe that you would," she said instead.

Jak smiled.

"One more thing before we pledge ourselves to this pact," he said. "I ask no more conditions, but rather a favor. You are free to grant it or not. It will not affect our bargain."

Airy was unconcerned about more conditions, but she was getting tired of the Wolf dominating the conversation, which was a role she was used to commanding. She held up her right paw gesturing for him to silence.

"Hold it! You have been asking the questions ever since I woke up. Since we are going to be partners on a quest now, it is my turn to ask a question."

Jak laughed. It was an odd, yet endearing, growling affair.

"Very well. Ask."

"I need something to call you out loud and in my head other than 'beast', 'brute', or 'dog'. What is your name?"

Jak smiled again, something he seemed to be doing more frequently after having thought he never would again.

"I would prefer to be called something other than 'beast', 'brute', and 'dog'. Wolf people have two names, one given by our mothers when we are born, the other when we become a warrior. My birth name is Jak."

"Jacynth..." Airy blurted out unconsciously wondering at the odd coincidence.

Jak paused for a moment considering her with a puzzled expression through his one good eye.

"My warrior name was White Paw," he said with pride. "That name was known and respected among all the neighboring packs."

He held up his left paw as he said this and wiggled his fingers. Airy smiled at the absurdity of this experienced and fearsome warrior Wolf having a silly sounding moniker like White Paw. Since he was serious, she did not voice her doubts.

Elaborating further, he said, "In challenges with other males for dominance in our pack, I would often feint with this paw as a distraction before knocking my opponents down with my right."

He held up his massive right fist and muscular arm as he spoke. The name suddenly seemed less silly to Airy.

"Since I am no longer a member of a pack, I have no warrior name anymore."

"I will call you Jak, then. It's a good name, and reminiscent of someone important to me. We don't have warrior names in Rikifur. We have ranks like 'captain' and 'general' instead, but I don't want you to address me that way. Please call me Airy. I only let my closest friends and warrior companions call me that."

"I am honored to be listed among such select company, Airy," said Jak with solemn dignity.

Neither said anything for a moment as they each tried to resolve in their own minds the nature of their new relationship. Jak wondered if he was a close friend now or just a warrior companion. In Wolf packs, body language was used to signify levels of submission, dominance, and closeness to others. This Rabbit did not seem to hold herself differently from the time when she was his prisoner to now when he was her...what? Jak was uncertain. Sorting it out would take time, but he was content with his new status, whatever it was, for the moment.

Airy's thoughts wandered a slightly different route as she began pondering why this Wolf, who was clearly in friendly territory, was separated from his own kind. Wolves almost never traveled or fought alone. Fearing that he was carrying a plague or was a criminal of some kind, she began to suspect that she might have made a mistake in trusting him.

"I have another question, Jak, if I may."

"What is it, Airy?"

The rolling growl of his 'R's was present when he said her name, but less so than when he used other words.

"You said earlier that if we parted, I would die in my way and you would die in yours. Is there something wrong with you? Are you sick? Have you done something bad? Are you being hunted?"

Her questions amused Jak.

"I was sick at heart, but now I am well. I have not done anything bad yet, except for not dying."

Jak explained the practices of his pack and his permanent exile. Airy was fascinated yet simultaneously repulsed by Wolf society. She had heard rumors of the Wolves' bizarre cultural practices but never in such detail.

"So, after twenty-five years as leader, the other Wolves of your pack just turn you out on your own. I don't understand why you have to be exiled. Surely your wisdom and strength would still be a great benefit to the pack even if you are not its leader?"

"That is true, but dominance in our pack does not just give one the right to lead. It also means preferred access to females for mating."

Jak's tail wagged at the thought of his past life, and an involuntary trickle of saliva escaped his mouth.

"Whoa!" thought Airy as she blushed and began to think through the implications of her deal. "Is this brute pining for love?" she wondered._ "He better not think of me that way!"_

Her nose involuntarily twitched in agitated response. Too lost in the pleasant memories of his past to notice her discomfort, Jak continued explaining.

"Once a male has his pick of the best females, it is impossible to give it up willingly. If I stayed with the pack, there would be trouble. My son's ability to rule would be undermined by my behavior."

"What have I done?"_thought Airy. "_Did I imply we were close friends earlier?"

Praying that he understood 'friends' to mean the same as it did to her, she desperately sought to change the subject.

"When do we leave, and where are we going?"

Shaking his head to clear away the past, he returned his uncovered eye to her with a tilt of his head.

"Now you are asking too many questions. It is my turn again. You have not yet let me ask my favor."

After the discussion of Wolf mating habits, Airy wasn't sure she wanted to know the nature of the favor.

"Go ahead and ask," she said anyway with trepidation.

"I request that you let me have your steel tipped spear. I can better protect you with it, and you can't use two weapons at once. I would also like for you to show me how to wield the sword so that I may be competent in its use when I have my own someday."

"Whew," thought Airy.

"Yes. I mean certainly," she said aloud. "You may have the spear, and I will train you to use the sword."

"Excellent. To answer your question, we must leave as soon as possible, but it will be dark soon. We won't get far enough away from here to matter with the little light we have left, so we must set out heading north in the morning. Also, I think you still need rest and nourishment."

At the mention of food, Airy suddenly realized how hungry she was. Her stomach voiced its opinion by growling loudly enough for Jak to hear. His ears swiveled to focus on the sound.

"Based on your comments about my breath and the smell of death, I suspect that you do not eat meat."

Now that she had made friends with the most unlikely of creatures, Airy was beginning to regret her earlier insults.

"Sorry about the breath remark. No. I don't eat meat, at least not meat once covered in fur. The thought of it makes me sick. Fish and fowl are fine in moderation."

"You have nothing to worry about then. Despite my brutish appearance and foul eating habits, I know how to find food like berries, nuts, and tubers that are suitable, I suspect, for your diet. Stay here please. I won't be long."

With amazing speed, Jak was on his hindpaws and dashing away. Airy was alone, and though free and in possession of her weapons, she felt exposed and vulnerable on the ledge by herself. Moving to the rock overhang, she sat down in Jak's shelter. Instead of triggering her fight and flight instincts, the lingering odor of the Wolf became a comforting embrace that sustained her courage.

Inspecting her wounds, she was surprised to find that Jak had carefully and expertly cleaned them and smeared them with some kind of paste. Was that kindness, or had he just kept her alive to interrogate her? Airy surmised that it didn't matter now. He had saved her life and seemed eager to continue providing her with protection, which was her foremost need.

The ledge slipped into shadow as the sun began to set behind the Earth Spine. A cool breeze accompanied the lengthening shade, making her shiver. The pelt within which she had been wrapped when she awoke was lying beside her. She tentatively picked it up and sniffed it again. It smelled like Jak, which now seemed less unpleasant, but the blanket was still the skin of some poor animal he had killed. Dropping it, she curled up in a tight ball with just her dirty and bloody clothes for warmth. Despite the cold and her hunger, she was soon asleep again.

Jak returned just as twilight was fading. The temperature was dropping precipitously on this clear evening. Silvery clouds formed in front of his snout with each exhalation of his breath as he climbed up to his camp. He found Airy shivering and asleep. His mountain goat skin blanket lay unused next to her. Gathering the pelt, he spread it on the floor next to Airy and then gently woke her up.

"I brought you some food. No meat. Just bunny food."

"I said don't call me bunny," Airy replied with chattering teeth.

Though she gratefully accepted the food, she was a little testy again having just been awoken. Being cold and hungry didn't help.

"Sorry, Airy. Old habit. It's what my people call your people."

"And we call you 'dogs', 'mutts', 'ferals', and other worse things. I suppose that's one way we learn to keep hating each other."

Airy thought about her initial impression of Jak.

"When I first saw you jump into the clearing with the kryfes, I thought they were your pets sent to attack me. At that moment, you represented everything foul that I had ever been told about your people, and I don't think I ever hated anyone more than I hated you."

She looked at the food in her paws, and her expression turned grim with self-recrimination.

"Then you saved me and tended my wounds. You're even feeding me. Now that I know you, you're not such a bad dog, I mean Wolf_,_ after all."

"Thank you. Since we are sharing first impressions, I will admit that when I realized you were a Rabbit and not one of my people, I assumed you were part of an invading army. I almost put an arrow in you to make the kryfes' job easier. Now, I'm glad that I didn't."

Noticing her continued shivering, Jak beckoned her towards him.

"You're cold. Come sit on the blanket with me and we can wrap it around ourselves to stay warm while you eat."

Airy looked at the pelt with disgust.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't like your blanket. It's some animal's skin. You killed it didn't you? Did you eat it, too?"

Jak felt momentarily ashamed.

"Yes. I killed it."

"And ate it?"

"Of course, but what would you have rather I done? Wasted it? Why have it give its life just for its skin? It would be disrespectful to not eat it, too."

Airy put her paw to her mouth and made retching sounds.

"Stop. Please. You're making me sick. How can you kill animals? They are so much like us. Though dumb, they have fur like us and feel fear and pain like us. How can you inflict such fear and pain? Would you have eaten me if you had killed me after you were done torturing me?"

"Blackrock pack does not eat people, any people, even Rabbit people. It is forbidden. We only eat mute animals."

"But how different is a rabbit from a Rabbit person?"

Jak was confused. He had never thought this way before. Were the animals more like the people than he thought? Were they just silent people in animal form? Had the deer he killed this morning been a silent person? The thought of the deer meat slowly cooking in his buried oven made his mouth water, but he wasn't going to dig it up now in front of Airy. Surely not everything he had been taught in life was wrong. The uncertainty of his newly transformed world was forcing him to reconsider many things, but he was not prepared to believe that the way Rabbits did things was automatically right and the way Wolves did things was wrong.

"I...I don't know. Look, if my eating habits offend you, I will eat somewhere else so you don't have to see."

Airy put her hands on her hips and wore a defiant face. Though weakened and small, she felt compelled to set moral limits in their relationship or she would be utterly lost in the strange new world into which she had descended.

"Not good enough. You have to swear you will not kill and eat anything with fur while we are journeying together. Otherwise, the deal is off."

Jak was not to be cowed so easily.

"You think because you are a princess, you can tell me how to hunt and how to eat? You think you can change with one decree how Wolves have lived since the making? What gives you that power? You need me, and I need to hunt. You will be dead tomorrow without me."

Airy was irresolute. She stood in an attempt to try loom above him. It was comical because she wasn't much taller standing than he was seated. A little extra height was provided by her proudly erect ears.

"And so will you without me. You need a pack and have joined mine. In Rikifur pack I am the leader. You are not a leader any more. You said so yourself. That gives me the power to tell you what to do. Flesh from fish, birds, and insects is tolerable to my pack, but we do not abide the eating of creatures with fur. If you want to remain in Rikifur pack, you will obey."

Games of dominance were familiar to Jak.

"What if I just pin your tiny butt down to the ground again? Then I am the leader."

"It doesn't work that in way in Rikifur, Jak. If you want to be one of my subjects, you have to play by Rikifur's rules. We don't beat people up to elevate our status. I am a leader in Rikifur by the divine mandate of the Maker. Pinning me to the ground won't change that."

Jak had no response. Lost in a culture with disparate rules, he was unsure how to proceed. Submitting to a Rabbit, especially a doe, was onerous, but his only recourse was to die as a lone Wolf. He had joined her pack. In her pack, she was the chief, or something close to it, not him. As the newest member of Airy's pack, Jak would logically be the most submissive member. He could easily beat her in a fight, but she would not accept that as dominance like his kind would.

It struck Jak at that moment that he was truly not White Paw anymore. White Paw died the night of the challenge. A strange feeling of peace and security that had been lost returned to Jak. Despite his age, he felt reborn with an opportunity to start a new life. Perhaps there was a path for Jak to become a leader in Rikifur. He would have to keep his ears forward and learn the rules and customs of his new pack first. He was determined to suppress his pride until it occurred to him that it was White Paw's pride that bedeviled him, not Jak's. Jak had to earn his pride. Laying his ears back, tucking his tail between his legs, and putting his snout down at Airy's hindpaws, Jak gave Airy the traditional Wolf posture of submission.

"As you wish, Princess. I will eat only fish, fowl, and Rabbit food if that is your command."

Amazed that Jak had complied with her request and touched by his sincere gesture, Airy's previous resistance to embracing him crumpled. She threw her arms around his sinewy neck and hugged him. As royalty, she should have reacted with solemn dignity, but she was so relieved that he would give her this gift that she could not resist.

"Thank you, Jak."

Surprised and confused, Jak forced himself not to recoil from her touch. Dominant Wolves did not cuddle and console their inferiors. Perhaps things were different in Rikifur. Awkwardly, he returned the physical contact, but gently, fearing that Airy might still be tender from her injuries. Even through his own fur, he could feel that she was cold.

"Princess, you are chilled. We cannot have a fire tonight. Pack patrols, if any are about, will certainly see it on such a clear night. I have compromised with you. You must yield and sleep with me in the pelt tonight or risk freezing to death in your sleep. Tomorrow we can begin to move to lower elevations where it should be warmer and you may not have to use the blanket."

"All right, Jak, but you don't have to call me 'Princess'."

"You are giving orders, so I call you 'Princess.' That is your rank is it not? Are you done giving orders?"

Airy sighed.

"I am done giving orders. However, Princess is my title, but my rank in the army is Captain. When it is just the two of us, I prefer that you call me 'Airy'. When we act in a military capacity, you should call me 'captain,' or 'ma'am.' Since you are of Rikifur now, I officially admit you into the Rikiguard. Your rank is lieutenant as befits an officer in training. I guess I will have to instruct you as we travel."

"Thank you. Come in the pelt with me, Airy. Eat your dinner, and stay warm."

Airy was content to comply. The berries and nuts were tasty and filling. She even ate the tubers, though they really needed to be cooked and seasoned; she hoped Jak didn't mind if she had gas all night from eating them raw.

After her meal, they huddled together under the blankets. For the first time in days, Airy felt secure. The irony of an enemy keeping her safe was puzzling, but her life had changed so drastically so quickly that she found herself dull to the oddness of being in the close embrace of this Wolf. With Jak's warmth and her hunger satisfied, Airy began to slip back into sleep. The cozy, warm dream she had the night before returned to her like a welcome embrace from her parents. Before she completely drifted away, though, she couldn't help teasing Jak one last time.

"Your breath still stinks of death."

"And you reek of sweat and kryfe blood," he answered, but she was already asleep and smiling contentedly.

Jak lay awake for a while enjoying the realization that his despair had departed like an unwelcome guest. He felt alive again. Airy was shivering a bit in her sleep, so Jak pulled her close engulfing her small frame with his legs and arms.

"A little kit for Jak to keep safe and warm," he muttered to himself.

Airy sighed serenely in her sleep, and her shivering ceased. Before falling asleep himself, Jak spoke to the moon as a surrogate for his former mate.

"Good bye, love. Take care of our son, and he'll take care of the pack."

If the moon had been alive, it would have looked down upon this curious scene with wonder and speculated upon the meaning of a sight as strange as a Rabbit and Wolf sleeping together. Perhaps great changes other than geologic catastrophe were at work on the earth.

[End of Chapter]