Red X Wolf ~ Two

A soft light was pulsing around the bushes Lily was staring at as she patiently waited for the person hiding there to get bored and finally stand up. It had been two full years since she’d had access to her Full Class and her System’s Whisper skill. In that time, the Scout had grown accustomed to the world itself speaking to her through shifting colors and strobing light of varying intensity. Now she was so familiar with it that she trusted her skill almost as much as her training.

So, when a smirking face peeked out of the bush and looked around, a soft chortle escaping the trespasser’s mouth, she was fully unsurprised. The man was a Coasty, and for some reason, they’d been pushing into the Wyld’s territory more frequently recently. They weren't breaking the law by cutting down trees, nor were they poaching animals. No, this was something more… annoying than that.

Recently they had decided sneaking into the woods and avoiding capture for as long as possible was a hilarious game. The game was: how long can you stay in the woods without being dragged home? Apparently, the longer they went without returning, the more they would ‘win’. The bet was hours of work, or just the friends of the person in the woods paying for their fine with a little extra thrown in on top to make up for the player not being able to catch their own meal that day.

While tensions between the three city-states existed, none was outright hostile to the others so long as they didn't break any important laws. Trespassing into the woods was a violation, but as the fine was only a few fish—something even the most common household along the coast had an overabundance of, the game started getting played far too often. If they got bored or scared, as long as they had taken care not to damage anything in the woods, all the Coasty would need to do was get the attention of a Scout to be escorted home. 

Technically, Lily had no responsibility for the situation. She was not a Scout employed by the Wyld—a constant source of frustration—but her Full Class basic skill would constantly ping her with the location of anomalies such as the Coasty, thanks to the environmental awareness aspect  which the ability came with. If she didn't bother to get him out of here, it was going to keep flaring light at her for the rest of the day.

She watched with tired eyes as the fish-reeking man took a few steps forward, only for him to let out a scream of fear and surprise as a net suddenly shot up from the ground, closing around him and yanking him into the air. His fear turned to laughter as she stepped forward, seemingly appearing out of nowhere in her bright red Scout’s cloak.

“It's you! I found Little Red Riding Hood!” The man howled with laughter as her grim-set mouth turned into an actual frown. “Do you know what kind of multiplier I get on my bet because of this? I'm going to eat like the mayor for a week! You win this one. Take me home, oh scary Wyld Scout.”

“Red… riding hood?”

“Yeah, you know.” The man gestured at her outfit. “Because that's a full-body cloak for you, but for anyone else, it would just be a hooded riding cape.”

She watched on in… not disbelief—as she understood Coasties had no self-control in the slightest—but mild disgust at the minimum, as he leaned back and used her meticulously hand-crafted net trap as a hammock. 

Lily shifted slightly on her heels, using only a single kick to destabilize the stake holding the rope taut. A moment later, the man let out another yelp as he crashed to the ground, the net holding him still as the falling rope pooled atop his now-bruised body.

“Hey! How about some professionalism?” he grumbled as he pulled on the ropes to try and get himself free. Red wasn't having any of that and yanked on the loop to close the net more tightly around him. Then she walked over and adjusted his feet, forcing them to poke through the holes at the bottom of the net and allow him to walk.

“Let’s go.” Without another word, she gave a sharp tug on the rope-turned-leash and began navigating the two of them through the woods. As soon as she set her mind on the location she wanted to return this man to, a streamer of light appeared in the air—which only she could see—weaving around trees and through bushes to show the best, safest path to her destination.

“Oh, come on! Don't be like that! Chat with me a little, wouldn't you? All the other Scouts at least talk with us on the way home.” When Lily didn't respond, the man grumbled in annoyance behind her, “Whatever, I know you're getting paid for this. I'm job security. You should be thanking me.”

Red’s pale face tinged slightly as her annoyance simmered and began flaring into actual anger. Yes, this was a task which should’ve been completed by the Scouts hired by the Druidic Grove of the Wyld. No, she was not being paid for it. She would receive none of the credit for ‘rescuing’ a Coasty lost in the woods, none of the compensation for going out of her way and losing hours of training. Instead, she would be spending the next half day being taunted by this lazy person, then his lazy friends, and still need to return and finish her tasks.

The sad fact was, one of Grandmother's rivals had made it on to the council. Even with Red being more qualified than literally any other Scout her age, perhaps even some even a decade her senior, she had been trained by Grandmother. 

Reynard had been the second best Scout trainer on the island for decades now, and he had never forgiven Grandmother for beating him by all available metrics with every single trainee. Lily, as the poster child of the successful methods, not to mention being her own flesh and blood, was a far easier target for his ire than Grandmother herself.

After gaining her Full Class two years previously, Red had attempted to gain a paid position with the Druidic Grove, showing perfect results on all the testing requirements. Stealth, situational awareness, survivalism, everything. Lily had gone through all of the tests perfectly, and was calmly waiting for the job offer, only for the new councilor to block her acceptance on the flimsiest of excuses: a six-foot-tall longbow was standard issue for all Scouts employed by the Wyld…

…and Lily was too short to effectively use the weapon.

Even though using the longbow had never before been a requirement for the post, the councilor argued she was unfit for the position if she couldn't even use their equipment. With so many other viable candidates, her offer had been canceled without further discussion. To add insult to injury, as she walked out of the Heart of the Wyld, the only city in the Wyld, and therefore the only area with designated testing equipment, Reynard had called out to her and casually announced:

“You should try again when you’re older. You'll definitely get a job with us when you ‘grow up’.” 

The blatant insult had caused the other Scouts in the area—all trained by him when they were younger—to burst into laughter. The joke spread like wildfire, and now Red was a laughingstock among her peers, even though her skills surpassed theirs in almost all areas. Perhaps because her skills were so much better.

“Oww! That one had thorns!” The netted man whined pitifully as a branch snapped back on him, causing Lily to blink furiously and glance about as her attention came back to the present. “Can't you be a little nicer? Life's a game; what's the point if we don't enjoy playing it?”

“Stay on the path, don't stray or roam… lest the woods decide you shan’t go home.” Lily stopped so abruptly the man walked into her and rebounded, falling on his butt and letting out another grunt. She turned her piercing stare on him, bright green eyes narrowed as she tried to reign in her temper. 

“We are not playing a game. You’re trespassing, and I’m not a Scout hired by the Wyld. My only obligation is to ensure you do not damage the forest. I could accomplish this by tying you up and leaving you for anyone else to find, or maybe for the bears. Frankly, you're already lucky you walked into my trap. My live trap. Some of the other ones are not so… forgiving.”

The man let out a muted *eep* and recoiled from her, though after a moment he looked her up and down and grinned as if she were only teasing him. “Yeah, maybe, but that's why I came looking for you. Everyone's heard how you specialize in being able to capture pretty much anything alive and unharmed. I've heard how many tokens you make on securing animals for people to tame and turn into pets.”

Red couldn't even be upset about his words, as the annoying man was correct. There was a huge market for young foxes, rabbits, and other fragile creatures who weren't too difficult to be trained up by young people with classes such as Beast Tamer. She should be happy word was spreading so far, as she hadn't been sure how effective her minimal attempts at advertising had been. 

Still, no matter how lucrative each individual job could be, it wasn't the same as having steady income. There were only so many young, rare beasts, not to mention youngsters who wanted to train them. 

Lapsing back into silence, she pulled the Coasty to his feet and prodded him with the hilt of her short sword. Lily could practically hear the man roll his eyes as he started walking again. “Seriously, you're no fun. Like, at all.”

No matter how much he grumbled, Red didn't bother responding any further. She stayed several feet ahead of him, the rope connecting them together sometimes being the only reason he knew where to go. Even with such a short distance between them, the man often called out to her fearfully, having lost sight of the Scout in the dense underbrush.

Red suddenly halted, flashing lights from the system highlighting the area, specifically one creature almost perfectly hidden by the old growth forest. With a practiced, fluid motion, she unslung her bow and nocked an arrow. Just before she released, the rope she had wrapped around her arm went tight, and she was nearly pulled off balance as the netted man stumbled.

The target in the distance turned to look at them sharply as the bundled person dropped to the ground, loudly moaning over his misfortune. Red didn't hesitate any further, launching the arrow smoothly, even with the disturbance.

Over the last few years, she’d grown to love owl-feather fletching, and had replaced every arrow in her quiver with them. So, as her projectile traveled from her to her target, it didn't make even the slightest whistle as it pierced the air. A soft *puk* reached Lily's ears, and a deer fell forward, suddenly visible as it slapped bonelessly onto the ground. She let out a soft breath and nodded at the creature. “Clean kill. I'm glad you didn't suffer. I'm sure Grandmother will be pleased to add you to our larder.”

“Ahh!” The man screamed as he heard the distant crash, only to be forced to his feet and into a stumbling walk as Red began moving again. “We’re going toward whatever that was? What if it's a mountain lion?”

Besides letting out a soft snort of derision, Red didn't bother responding to the inane question. Approaching the kill, she knelt beside it, knife already in hand. For just a moment, the blade glinted in the filtered sunlight, catching the eye of the Coasty, who watched on with a mix of horror and fascination.

Then she plunged the blade into the carcass, cleaning the deer with efficient, methodical movements. As if the forest was holding its breath, the only sound in the area was her knives separating hide from flesh. The scent of blood quickly mingled with the earthy aroma of the forest, and soon Lily was wiping her blade and hands on the fur of the animal to clean off the already-sticky liquid.

When she was done, Lily jammed a meat hook into the deer's neck, tossed a rope over an overhead branch, and hoisted the creature off the ground. After tying it off, she reached for the other rope—still connected to the net holding the Coasty. “Let's go.”

Only when the man refused to move did she bother looking at him, slightly annoyed, but calmer now that she had secured dinner for the next several days. The Coasty was pale, his eyes wide and fearful as he looked at the bloodstained fingers holding the rope. As Lily stepped forward to inspect him, worried he’d been stung by some venomous creature, he flinched back, turning his head and gagging. “N-no! Don't touch me! You capture pets for spoiled children, I didn't realize you were so cruel! Please don't hurt me; I'll stay out of the forest–”

“You're joking right now. Right?” Red scoffed as she stepped back and pulled on the rope, forcing the man to move his feet. “I'm glad you've decided to stay away from my home, which is the correct thing to do. But I'm not being cruel, I'm getting ready for dinner. Don't you catch fish and eat them? Do you see an ocean in the forest? How did you think we got our food?”

“It's just so… so violent!” the man whimpered. “Fish practically throw themselves into our nets, and by the time we’re home, they don't thrash around and bleed all over the place. We don't kill them, the air does!”

“Un. Be. Lievable.” This time, when Red pulled on the rope, the man meekly followed along, thankfully keeping his thoughts where they should be: in his own head, with his mouth closed.