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"He was awake, really really! I swear! He looked at me!"

"I believe you, hon."

The voices sounded like they were coming from underwater. No, wait... wasn't he supposed to be the one underwater? No... dammit, he was getting so sick of this. That was over and done with.

Banno opened his bleary, scratchy eye, somehow even more exhausted than he was before, like his rest had done nothing but tire him out further. He blinked, tried to move his head, found that even that was too much of a bother, and so just lay there looking up at the ceiling... looked a bit like the floors of the watchtowers back home, actually...

"Ah! He is awake!" somebody said, sounding positively delighted, strange as that may be.

Banno swivelled his eye to the left, but what he saw didn't immediately make sense to him. He was seeing a Fox, an adult male by the looks of him, with reddish fur, sitting just out of reach. And he was smiling.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the Fox said, standing up. "My name is James, pleased to meet you. The boys in the doorway over there are my sons, Luke and Timothy, and the girl -

Banno didn't hear a single word after 'girl'. He turned his attention to the doorway (since his right eye was no longer in operation, he had to turn his head a little before it came into view) and saw the Fox's children all squeezed together in a neat little bundle. The two boys in front, one slightly taller than the other, but both with the same reddish fur as their father, and standing behind them, peeking in from between their shoulders was the delectable morsel he had glimpsed earlier, the yellow-orange vixen, her ears folded flat against her head, her little black hands wrapped around the bigger brother's forearm in a death grip.

"Well, children?" the big Fox said. What was his name? 'James'? What kind of a name was that? Jaayyuummzz... "Aren't you going to come say hello to our guest?"

The absurdity of that last word was enough to momentarily rip Banno's attention away from the cluster of prey meats.

Guest? he thought. Did that Fox just call me a 'guest'?

The children just stood in the doorway, not saying a single word. That was until the girl let out a frightened little squeak, turned tail, and ran away down a square wooden tunnel as fast as her legs could carry her, which really wasn't very fast at all.

James's face fell. "Now where on earth is your sister going?"

"Running off," the biggest of the boys said with a shrug. Apparently neither of them had any intention of setting foot inside the same room as Banno.

"Oh dear, I should have seen this coming. Would one of you please go find her and persuade her to come say hello to our guest?"

Did this idiot really just call me a guest again?

"I dunno, I think Vee's got the right idea," the smaller of the two said, sauntering off down that same square tunnel of wood. What the hell kind of place is this?

James turned back to Banno, an apologetic look on his face. "Please don't mind the children. They're normally not this rude, I assure you. They're just a bit... reluctant, is all. You gave the boys quite a scare by the river, you see, and they've been telling their sister all kinds of things..."

A scare? By the river? Banno looked at the remaining kid, thinking hard, and a hazy image appeared in his mind. A reaching hand... a screaming face... but maybe that was just his imagination. He could barely remember anything after... after...

Ander...

Seething fury boiled up inside his head once more, but he was too weak to give voice to it. If that Fox was standing just a little bit closer, and if his arms didn't feel like wet moss, this whole room would have been bathed in his blood.

And yet... there was something very wrong here, even more wrong than this unfamiliar weakness in his body or the way the right side of his vision simply cut off. Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he here? What were these Foxes doing? He didn't like this. His wind was up, but he didn't know where the threat was coming from. The Fox? This weird dwelling? The whole situation? Banno didn't understand any of it, and he hated that. He just couldn't think of any reason for the world around him to be exactly the way it was right now, with him in this bed, and a Fox talking his ear off, not shutting up. They must want something. That was the only explanation. His presence must benefit them somehow, otherwise he wouldn't be here. And still the Fox was yammering on...

Banno focussed on the words, trying to make sense of this senseless world he had woken up in, trying to skim as much information as possible before it was too late, because information was just another form of power, and power was something he did understand, better than any other.

"... but I'm one to talk! I nearly had a heart attack myself when I saw you lying on top of Luke like that. Took the whole family to roll you over, haha! You are a heavy one, indeed! Took us hours to get you here. Had to bring out the wagon, and I must say Jitters had no love for you at all (that's our old dray mare, bless her heart), but we got the job done and here you are, right as rain! Well, not entirely right as rain, as I'm sure you know, but hey, at least you're still alive, right? That counts for something, right? It looked like you could've died at any second, you know. You were practically half-dead when we found you. Hell, more than that. Three quarters dead! Maybe even four fifths! It was that close! But listen to me jabber on and on like an old housewife! This will not do, this will not do at all! You must be hungry! Famished! Would you like something to eat? Judging by those enormous teeth of yours I'm guessing you like meat? Of course you do! Who doesn't like meat? Nobody, that's who! We still have some oxtail soup on the boil, or some salted pork, if you're up for something more hearty? Oh wait, maybe that's not such a good idea. You do have a hole in your mouth, after all. Maybe some porridge? No? How about a nice, soft sandwich? Bread is freshly baked, just out of the -"

"Vee!" the little one's voice interrupted from somewhere deeper inside the odd dwelling. "Dad wants you to come say hello to the thing that nearly killed Luke!"

"He did not nearly kill Luke!" James shouted down the wooden tunnel. "Luke's perfectly fine! Aren't you, Luke?"

"My wrist still hurts," the Luke Fox said, shooting a glare Banno's way. Banno supposed it was meant to look intimidating, but he found it rather cute, like a mouse trying to bite an eagle's toes before its head gets ripped off.

"Tell Vee Luke says he's perfectly fine!" James shouted down the tunnel, one hand cupped around his muzzle.

"No I'm not!" Luke followed it up.

"Gods give me strength..." James muttered into his palm, shaking his head. "Okay Luke, since you guys are obviously not in a very hospitable mood right now, I've got a job for you. Go get your brother and sister and make our guest a nice, big sandwich. You have my permission to carve up the leftover ham, and add some salted meat to the side. And a bowl of soup. If it's gone chunky, just heat it up on the woodstove for a few minutes. Oh, and you'd better bring along a ladle, since I doubt our spoons will be big enough. A big pitcher of water, too. Don't bother with any greens, though, I highly doubt Mr. Wolf will be interested in those."

"But Dad, that's our food!"

"Now now, I can understand you're not eager to be near him just yet, and that's fine, but if you can't be nice to him directly, then all I ask is that you be nice from a distance. Is that so bad? You can do that one simple thing for me, can't you?"

The Luke Fox slumped his shoulders in defeat, muttered: "Yes, Sir," and shuffled down the tunnel, but before he turned around, he gave Banno one last dose of the evil eye.

"Take your time," James said after him. "Me and Mr. Wolf have lots to talk about."

"Just don't get too close to that thing, his arms are longer than they look."

"Luke, please don't say such things! Be nice!"

"Be nice, be nice, oh sure, be nice, we'll see how nice you are when that thing grabs you, 'cuz obviously it'll let go if you ask nicely, so just be nice, be nice, yeah whatever..." The young one's voice trailed away as he went deeper into the square tunnel, and then cut off completely as his father closed the miniature gate with an exasperated sigh.

"Sorry about that, you know how kids can be, right? Oh wait, I have no way of knowing if you know that. Do you have any children?"

Banno watched as the Fox took a stool-looking thing from the corner and carried it right next to whatever he was lying on right now, actually within grabbing distance.

He sat down, clasped his hands together and asked, "This might be a weird question, but can you talk? I heard Wolves can talk just like us Foxes, but you haven't spoken a single word yet. Were you normally capable of speech until recently? Has your throat been injured? Were you born a mute, perhaps? Just shake or nod your head if that's the case."

And by the Cora, this crazy Fox actually went on to demonstrate. He slowly nodded his head up and down, saying: "Yeeeeesss...?" and then shook it from side to side, saying: "Nooooooo...?"

Banno had something to say all right, but it wasn't a 'yes' or a 'no'. There's only one thing he wanted to ask and, unlike his 'host', he had no hang-ups about being 'nice', and that one thing was: "Are you touched in the head?"

James cocked an eyebrow, sat back in his seat, and then threw his head back and laughed at the ceiling, a hearty guffaw in stark contrast to the raspy croak that had issued from Banno's throat, something that irritated him greatly.

As James laughed, Banno watched the muscles in his neck move up and down, ever so slightly. He imagined what it would be like to reach out and puncture the scrawny Fox's neck with his claw and rip him open from chin to chest, make a little Fox-flavoured waterfall.

James's head flipped forward as if on a hinge and he wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye, still chuckling softly. "Oh my, so you can talk. That was a good one, by the way, but to answer your question, no, I'm not. You're the one who's been touched in the head. By a rather large arrow, if I'm not mistaken. Judging by the shape of the wound in your eye, I doubt it could've been anything else. Tell me, what on earth happened to you? Do you remember?"

Banno reached up and felt the smooth wrappings around his head. His movements were sluggish and slow, but his mind was picking up speed, working at a fever pitch, analysing all the information he had managed to gather so far, information which made him wonder if he had somehow woken up in a different world altogether. Here was a Fox who had found an unconscious Wolf by the riverbank (apparently), but instead of running in the opposite direction, or dispatching him while he was still defenceless (which would have been the smart thing to do, impossible to accomplish successfully, though, since he was Banno, but still the smart thing), he took the Wolf into his home, among his family no less, treated his wounds, and now expected everyone to be nice, even though they didn't know the first thing about him? Banno simply couldn't fathom stupidity of such width and breadth. He lightly rubbed his head just above the bandages, wondering if he was maybe having some kind of fever hallucination. It was like he had tumbled into one of Ander's insane fantasies.

"It was a hunting accident." This lie came out effortlessly, with almost no conscious thought on his part. He didn't exactly know why he felt the need to lie to this Fox, but he always trusted his instincts, and right now his instincts were telling him to deceive. Lying, after all, was one of the things he did best.

"A hunting accident? How dreadful!"

"Yes..." Banno said, the story forming in his head even as he told it. "I was slaking my thirst by the river, and then suddenly I felt this huge pain in my ankle. I'd accidentally gotten my foot stuck in a trap, you see. I was still trying to get loose when I felt another huge pain in my head. I don't remember anything after that." Simple. Effective. But most importantly, close to what actually happened. The best lies, after all, are indistinguishable from the truth.

"You, my friend, are preternaturally lucky. I took a good long look when I cleaned your wound, and it looks like the arrow pierced your eye, broke through the socket wall, punched a hole right through the roof of your mouth and stopped just short of puncturing the back of your throat. If it had gone just a little bit further, you would have bled to death in less than a minute! Or if the angle had been any more severe, it would have shot right into your brain! Unbelievable!"

This idiot might find it unbelievable, but it didn't surprise Banno in the least. He was Banno, after all, and that in itself meant that he couldn't die. As long as the world existed, it wouldn't be allowed, because he _was_the world. It was as simple as that.

"So, do you think you just pitched into the river, or...?"

"Maybe," Banno said, rubbing his chin, putting on a thoughtful façade. "Or maybe the one who shot me thought I was dead, and decided to get rid of the body rather than own up to what he had done."

"Are you sure it was an accident? Maybe someone tried to... you know..."

Banno flashed his most winning smile. "Oh no, who would ever want to kill me? I'm quite loved by my people, I assure you. It must have been an accident."

"Well, that's good to hear."

"Oh! Where are my manners? We've been chatting for so long but I've completely forgotten to introduce myself."

"Oh, don't worry about a little thing like that. You just woke up, perfectly understandable."

Banno extended his hand, disgusted by the way it shook like an old Wolf's in the dead of winter. "My name is Banno, and I am very pleased to meet you, James."

James extended his own hand, and Banno watched it come closer, inch by inch, his mouth salivating.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Banno!" James said with a smile as Banno practically entombed his fingers with his own. The size difference was so extreme, it looked like Banno's hand had swallowed James's whole. "Whoa, that's quite a grip you've got there."

Banno smiled as the red fog started to creep in around the edges of his vision once again, framing James's slightly uncomfortable face in a crimson halo. Should he risk it? Did he have enough power to slake his thirst? He was right there, so close... he could hear the Fox's heartbeat speed up, could feel his pulse quicken against the pads of his fingers. Not much, but once Banno pulled him in close and bit into his neck, right in the soft spot where the big vein is, then it would go crazy, and blood would come out in rhythmic bursts, staining the pure white blankets a much more beautiful colour. Maybe he would ask Banno nicely to let go, but he would just bite down harder in response, and feel the life flow out. He would taste death, and it would be sweet...

Banno tightened his grip, his eyes locked on James's throat, but just as he was about to make his move, the Fox said something that froze him in his tracks.

"Hmm, 'Banno'...? Then I suppose you're not that other Wolf that's been seen in town then?"

Other Wolf? DAMMIT!!

It pained him to do so, but he had no choice. Banno released his grip and James pulled his hand back, but it irked him so much he actually had to restrain himself from making a mad grab for it and shoving it into his mouth and biting down and crunching the bone and severing the tendon and tearing the fingers and -

Banno took a deep breath, smiled, and asked: "What other Wolf are you talking about, James?"

"Well now..." The Fox sat back in his chair and slowly crossed his legs so that his right ankle was resting on top of his left knee. "I'm not sure of the details, but apparently there's this Wolf that's been staying in Rufio's house for a while. Don't know him all that well, but our wives used to be on friendly terms. I helped build that house, actually. One of my better works, even if I do say so myself. Of course, not quite as nice as the home you find yourself in now, eh? That's one of the perks of being a carpenter. You get better 'till the day you die. Ha! But that was before I moved out here. Went from a great builder to a so-so farmer in less than a month."

Banno smiled and nodded his head, but what he really wanted to do was jump up and shake the runty little bastard to make him talk. "The Wolf, James? What does he look like?"

"I never actually saw him. I just read about him in a letter I got from my brother up at the mill, and Jonathan's never really been one to paint a picture with words. Just said that he was 'really big' -"

Oh great, that narrows it down.

"- and that his name is 'Andy' or somesuch."

"Ander!? Where's - Ah!" Banno moved his stump without thinking, and an incredibly annoying blast of pain shot through his leg, followed by an even more annoying itch.

"Whoa there, big guy! Calm down or you'll mess up my mediocre patchjob! No real healers out here for miles and miles. I thought about going into town to fetch one anyway, but I didn't want to leave my kids all alone with a (no offense) potentially dangerous stranger such as yourself, at least not until I had a chance to talk to you. Seriously, the way Luke yammered on and on he had you pegged for the devil himself..."

By this point, Banno was seriously weighing the pros and cons of throttling this insufferable Fox where he sat. It would feel good, sure it would, it would feel _damn_good, but he needed more information, and fast. "Did your brother say the name was 'Ander'?"

James cocked his head a little, and his eyes drifted up to the ceiling. "Hmm... Now that you mention it, yes, I do think that was the name. I still have the letter somewhere. I could dig it up, if you want?"

"Don't bother. I mean, that won't be necessary, thank you." Banno sunk down against the soft thing at the back of his head, a hundred restless thoughts crisscrossing his mind. Was Ander really here, and if so, what was the bastard doing this side of the Cora? Why didn't he go back home? Was he looking to finish the job on his dear older brother, perhaps? Banno couldn't remember much of anything after he got stuck in the head, but he did remember a kind of 'floating' sensation. How far did the river carry him? How long has he been lying unconscious on this springy white thing? And what the hell was this unnatural itching in his damn foot!?

Banno tried to scratch the maddening itch with his toes, but they just rubbed over empty air. Oh yes, of course. He no longer had a foot there. Great. Just great.

And to make matters worse, James still didn't know when to shut up. "Who is this 'Ander' fellow? Do you know him?"

"We're... friends. Back home. But we had a bit of a falling out. I'd rather not talk about it. Personal issues, you understand."

"Oh, of course, of course! Didn't mean to pry, so sorry."

"How long have I been lying here?"

"Here? You mean in this bed? Bit remarkable, actually. You were so haggard, and your wounds were so severe, I expected you to stay unconscious for at least three days."

"How long, James?"

"Only one day. Less, actually. Probably more like twenty-two hours. Amazingly hearty. Are all Wolves as tough as you?"

"A whole... A whole day!?" By the Cora, this was a potential disaster.

"I have no way of knowing how long you lay on the riverbank like a dead fish, though."

Banno did some quick thinking. "How long ago was that lightning storm?"

"We haven't had any rain in about a week."

"A week!?" Scratch that, this was a disaster. A lot of things can happen in a week, and Banno had no way of knowing any of them. He hated being out of the loop. Knowledge is power, and not having any knowledge is the same as being powerless. A week... how is that even possible? He couldn't have drifted for six days, could he? One day, sure. Two was maybe pushing it. But six? Banno tried to remember, but it was all a blank. He knew he couldn't have drowned, since he was still alive and he was Banno, but there were still rules. He couldn't just walk off a cliff without falling, and he couldn't just drift for six days without slipping into the water eventually. Did he get off at some point? Did he wander through the wilderness in an animalistic daze, mindlessly following the river, not even aware of what had happened to him or where he was going or why? Did he try to get back home, or was he still going after Ander, even after all sense had left him? Did he just keep going and going until he finally succumbed to his wounds and passed out from sheer exhaustion?

Banno would probably never know what happened, but he knew whose fault it was.

Damn that Ander. Damn him straight to hell!

"Banno? Are you all right? You look a bit... off."

Banno didn't doubt that. He felt more than 'off', he felt downright awful, like he was hollow on the inside and was getting sucked into himself. He just wanted to curl into a ball and go to sleep, and that sounded so pathetic he would have growled out loud, were it not for the burning in his throat. Honestly, it felt like he had swallowed a big bushel of burning coals, and they were still inside of him somewhere, heating him up from the inside.

And then, to add insult to injury, James got up and actually felt his forehead! Like he was a pup! Banno was so enraged, he forgot all about his little acting game and snapped at the impudent black hand disappearing over the top curve of his vision, but he was so out of it he missed by a mile, and James barely even flinched, like he didn't even notice...

"My gods, you're burning up!" he said. "I was hoping to avoid this, but your stump was absolutely filthy when you got here. I did my best to clean it, but after all that time in the water it looks like you've got a nasty infection."

Infection...? Oh that's... just... great... The perfect end to a perfect day. No, a perfect week! Gaahhhh...

James sat back down, his movements slightly blurry. "What you need right now is to rebuild your strength. That means lots of food, water, and sleep." He shot a glance at the doorway and muttered: "Now where are the kids with that -

---

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