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Chapter Five - Strange Opportunity

Darkness still covered the sky, at the hour in which the sun should have been up. The shorter days of winter have come, and with it more cold and ice. I stood knee deep in the snow on the side of the street, but the two full moons held my gaze. It was rare for both moons to be full and visible in the sky, and now they were shining brightly across the city.

The moons were dim compared to the sun but they never failed in the sky. Every night they were there, defiant in the dark and powerful enough to always come back after the sun had monopolized the sky for the day.

I wish those who run the city didn't affect me so much, and that I could remain strong like the moons. I admired them.

A few flakes fell from the clear sky, and one fell on my nose. There were no clouds but whatever precipitation remained in the air must be being frozen by a cold draft of wind from further north. I glanced down at the ground that was covered by a couple dozen centimeters of snow from an earlier storm.

My throat felt dry from the cold and I had a thirst so I tore my gaze from the moons and dropped my gaze back to the ground. I was standing near the river where Midnight and I usually went for a drink or to bathe. The river was frozen over with about two centimeters of snow piled on it but with a sharp stomp of my hindpaw, the centimeter-thick ice shattered.

I leaned down to take a drink, and again saw the moons in the reflection of the water. When I leaned over the water, it was replaced with the dim reflection of myself. I was easy to see now in the dark with my full white coat covering my entire body now. The obvious sign telling me that winter is here, and how scarce food is.

Being reminded why I was at the river, I quickly satisfied my thirst and wandered down the bank of the river. Winter was hard on the homeless and poor in this city. With food becoming less of a common item in the marketplaces, those that still sold food kept a more careful watch on their product making it next to impossible to steal food. Midnight knew this and I knew it, so now we separated at night and searched for scraps of food that have been carelessly dumped outside small shops, and wealthy homes.

Walking along the snowy banks of the river, and the shops that bordered them, I obviously had the task of searching the shops. Each building was silent and dark in the night, but with my fuzzy paws, I walked silently enough and managed to stay on top of most of the snow rather than sinking into it.

I searched the empty barrels and broken crates that were stacked up on the sides of the shops, risked forcing a few open myself, and checked near the entrances and exits. I had searched the majority of the shops along this stretch of the river, and had only found a stale heel of a loaf of bread, rotten piece of fruit and a few bones thrown out. When I reached another bridge, I hesitated when I saw something underneath it, frozen in the ice.

Stepping closer I took a better look to see another orphan, dead and frozen in the water. The black fur of the orphan was frozen in place. The triangular ears, the short black tail and the familiar features marked the species being wolf, who looked identical to Midnight. The only difference was the white fur on the orphan's neck and the slight difference in size made me know that it was not him; even though they did look to be about the same age.

The dead orphan was displeasing to look at so I did my best to ignore it. That orphan was the first one I saw to have been claimed by winter this year, and I knew it wouldn't be the last. I turned and started to head back to Midnight, but I decided to check the shops again on my way back. Seeing the orphan in the river reminded me the consequence of failing to find sufficient food.

The cold was intense, even in my thickest coat. Cold seeps into my fur, into my skin and bones to the point where when I eat something, I can feel my metabolism digesting the food warming me up. It was a kind of cold and hunger that I was familiar with but those merchants and wealthy seemed ignorant to the pain I felt. They must have never felt it themselves.

Maybe they ignored my pain for the same reason I looked away from the dead orphan back in the river. It's better to look away from those that are painful to see and pretend it's not there, rather than help. But then why wouldn't they help when they do see me? They have more than enough supplies to feed me and keep me warm. I survive on a fraction of what they do.

There are times when I hate those who are more privileged that me.

Failing to find any additional food, I soon gave up and continued walking back to the gazebo on the rooftop of the abandoned building. I reached a familiar alley, and crawled up the frozen barrels to the breach in the building. The sky started to lighten making it easier for me to climb the stairs and reaching the gazebo that Midnight and I slept under. Midnight wasn't there but it looked like he was recently; the snow was stirred around and our sleeping mat was kicked to the side with a little snow shoveled on it.

It was odd that Midnight would compromise the few things we have by leaving them in the snow, but he must have had his reasons. I have been guilty of recklessly shoving our stuff into a corner when we were trying to catch a food cart.

I brushed the snow off our mat and pushed it back under the shelter. I glanced around from the rooftop, checking for Midnight but he wasn't there. The city was still quiet under the dull morning sky, leaving me alone on the rooftop. It'd be impossible to find Midnight if I were to go search for him so I settled down under the gazebo and laid out the food. I grabbed the rotten piece of fruit and bit into it. I could taste the spoiled flesh but it was still edible.

Sitting with my legs crossed and tail wrapped around myself, I finished my small meal and waited for Midnight to return. Light started to break over the horizon from the sea and Midnight still had not yet returned.

Hunger still persisted even after I finished the spoiled fruit, but I ignored it and saved the rest of what I had scavenged for when Midnight would return. Similar to most mornings, as the sun raised so did the noise of the city. I waited at the edge of the roof, watching over the street beneath me. Winter always limited the traffic as most of the residents stayed inside where it was warm.

Morning had arrived with the sun now hovering over the horizon, and Midnight had finally returned. The sound of him crawling up through the rubble of the building drew my attention. I turned to see his black ears poke out from the old attic hatch.

"Good, you're here," stated the wolf the moment he noticed me. "Come on. A ship hit some ice and lost some of its cargo. With any luck it'll wash up on the beach."

I hurried over to the hatch and followed Midnight back down through the abandoned building.

"Won't there be guards searching for anything lost?" I questioned. The chance of us finding a full crate of goods, uncontested, was difficult for me to believe.

"There might be but they can't cover the whole beach," Midnight answered. He always seemed to be an optimist. "If we get one barrel or crate, then that'll feed us for a month. Or if it's not food then we can sell and make more money that'll feed us for a month. Either way, it's worth taking a look."

We dropped down into the street and I followed Midnight toward the harbor. The streets were occupied but it was easy to navigate around the older occupants. The black wolf excitedly hurried and ran toward the docks, with the rising sun lighting our way.

When we reached the docks, it was more crowded with the sailors, dockworkers and even civilians who just wanted to see what was going on. The majority of the crowd surrounded one particular ship. I couldn't see the hull but the mast that peered over the crowd could be seen tilting at a steep angle.

"Come on," urged Midnight when I slowed to gaze at the broken ship. "It crashed not far from the docks but we'll check further down the beach."

Midnight led me around the crowd, giving them a wide berth. We exited the harbor and walked on the beach and that's when I could see the ship without the crowd of onlookers blocking my view.

Indeed the ship was half sunk as half of the ship was in the water. A great crack was visible even from our distance crawling along side the ship's hull. It was amazing that the ship made it back to the port; it obviously had to been towed there. The damage looked really serious; I wondered how many were killed as a result of the accident.

"I didn't find much near the keep, and what little I did find I already ate," announced Midnight after the roar of the harbor faded. "I hope you had a little more luck at the river shops."

"I hardly found anything," I admitted. "I ate some fruit I found left out in the cold. It was a little spoiled but other than that, I only found some bread and bones."

"I hate winter," grumbled Midnight.

We casually strolled down the beach, leaving the edge of the city boundaries. I had rarely gone beyond the boundaries and never risked leaving the city for more than half a day. Food was even scarcer beyond the city walls.

Staying close to Midnight's tail, I followed and noticed that there were searching boats near the shore. We weren't the only ones on the beach either as there were several others on the shore. During summer time it wasn't uncommon to find the city residents taking a break on the beach but in the dead of winter, they could only be here for one purpose.

"Looks like they have the entire beach covered," I mentioned to Midnight, gazing across the sand. We weren't even the last one to arrive late as I noticed another bundled resident following us onto the beach. "What was the ship carrying?"

"Just stuff from one of the southern cities," answered Midnight. He persisted in searching for a strip of beach in which they could search for washed up goods without being noticed. "Fruit and fish are often traded up here during the winter. Last year some vermin got into the crates on one of the ships so they threw the whole thing out. It was full of fruit. By the time I was done eating it all a week later, I was sick of that fruit. It was worth it though."

One thing about Midnight that he enjoyed to remind me of, is when you get him talking, it's difficult to make him stop. He continued to tell me about how some more of his winter adventures, whether I was listening or not.

We had gone further down the beach than I have ever been when Midnight had stopped to look around at the shore. Besides us and one other persistent resident, there was no one scavenging the beach.

"I think the ship hit that iceberg," said Midnight pointing out a distant floating chunk of ice. He wandered closer to the waves, searching over the water for any sign of floating debris. "Maybe it was another one."

I gazed over the water in search of anything floating besides the ice but found myself distracted. Something didn't feel right. Once I checked the shoreline for washed up crates, I knew what it was. The other resident that was following us out on the beach had stopped with us. Whoever it was found Midnight and me more interesting, than salvaging some lost cargo.

The stranger underneath the bundles glanced around to confirm that we were far from view of anyone else. When the stranger glanced at me, I recognized the eyes as being reptilian. Who else would require so much clothing to stay warm than a reptilian? Those eyes had something that few had, something dark in them.

By the expression, the reptilian was pondering over a thought for the short moment he stared at me. Whatever the thought was didn't bother the reptilian for long. Midnight had paced further down the beach several meters away from me, but the reptilian suddenly marched straight for him without even bothering giving me a second glance.

One gloved claw of the reptilian grabbed the unaware wolf by the throat, dragged him into the water and plunged him beneath the icy waves. Midnight's scream was garbled out when he was submerged.

My heart skipped a beat. I was stunned by what I was witnessing. He's going to kill him! Midnight kicked and thrashed in the water but under the strength of the adult, he could not catch another breath.

"Stop!" I screamed. I ran as fast as I could over to the reptilian. I rammed into the stranger and tried to push him off my friend. "What are you doing! You're killing him! Stop it!"

The reptilian ignored my pleas but must have found me to be an annoyance. He kicked me aside with one of his hindpaws. I fell back and splashed in the water that's colder than ice, but I got back up and tried hit the reptilian again. Before I even landed another punch, the reptilian used his free claw to grab me and throw me down into the waves, and pinned me beneath them by stepping on my stomach with his hindpaw.

The cold assault of the waves pulled on my fur, covering me and refusing to allow me to breath. Fear tightened around my chest painfully and I desperately fought to get a fresh breath of air but the force of the reptilian's paw kept me pinned. The waves rocked me again, wanting to force what air I had in my lungs out. Some sea water forced its way into my nose, and it felt like fire burning down my throat and into my lungs. Through my struggles I felt something jab into my flank.

The dagger! The only thought on my mind was getting some fresh air, so without thinking I reached one paw to my waist, grabbed the hilt of the dagger and pulled it free. I slashed at the leg pinning me down and felt the pressure lift immediately.

For what felt like minutes, when it really was less than a few seconds, I resurfaced and gasped for air. I crawled from the beach, with my ears burning and buzzing but through it I could hear screaming and a violent coughing. Next to me, on paws and knees, was the drenched black wolf coughing and taking sharp gulps of breath. He must have been under the waves for nearly fifteen seconds, and his coughs audibly caused him immense pain.

"Damn you!" came a scream from behind us. I turned to see the reptilian dragging himself onto the shore as well, clutching his leg. The scent of blood was detectable over the salt of the sea, partially because I still held the blood-stained dagger in my paw beneath my burning nose.

Midnight noticed the threat too; we exchanged a glance, tears in both of our eyes, before the wolf hurried to stand. He attempted to speak but only a hoarse sound was made that started another attack of coughing out salt water. Coughing into his arm, the wolf gave up on trying to tell me to run and instead grabbed me by the paw and sprinted back toward the city harbor. I quickly sheathed my dagger and followed.

"Get back here!" screamed the reptilian, cursing us. Without even glancing back we could hear him screaming and struggling to stand. We quickly put distance between our attacker and us.

I tried to ignore the fact that my lungs were on fire as I followed Midnight, but I could easily see that he was having significantly more trouble than me. Each breath was labored and brought on a new wave of coughing that staggered his running.

When we started to see the guards on the beach again, we allowed ourselves to slow down but we kept a quick pace. I glanced back to see the reptilian in the distance limping after us but we were confident that he wouldn't attack us in view of the guards. We kept moving for the city regardless, which was best for if I was wrong.

By the time we reached the harbor, I had lost sight and scent of the reptilian. The residents of the city again surrounded us and I felt safer. Midnight's cough didn't sound so wet and painful anymore but he still had trouble breathing without triggering another fit.

"Who was that?" I asked, finding it painful to speak. The salt had dried out my throat and mouth, leaving an unpleasant taste on my tongue.

"I don't know," answered Midnight, his voice sounding far too hoarse. He again coughed but managed to recover quickly. "Was he following us?"

"I think so," I answered. We followed the river upstream, heading back to our rooftop. "He went right for you."

"Why would he try to kill me?" asked Midnight. I didn't have an answer so I kept silent. He stopped by the river that only had sands bordering the shores and rinsed out his maw before taking a drink. I followed his example, glad to have the salt rinsed out. "He might try again."

"He did try to kill me too," I mentioned. "Think we should tell someone?"

"No," said Midnight frankly. He turned to look at me directly. "They won't believe us. They'll blame us for attacking him. Just keep our daggers close." The black wolf glanced back toward the street, before urging me to hurry and follow him back to the rooftop. For whatever reason, someone was following us intent on killing us.