((Author's Note: This entire thread is based in Soerl's past. None of this is anything in recent history. Which, in this case, means the last two years.))

Soerl ran full bore down the street, waving as he passed by one of the neighbors. She paused in sweeping the cobblestone path to her home and waved to Soerl as he went. The young boy was off to meet his friends. He only had made a few since he'd been staying with Honto and Nell, but he still had fun. It was like being home, except there was no Ma and no Ari. He frowned a little at the thought, but it didn't last long.

His short, golden hair swayed about as he came to a halt. He looked around for a moment. No one in sight. He lifted the dirty blanket up off the cobblestone. There was a trap door underneath it. Soerl tucked the wooden sword into his belt and opened the door up. He tugged a small string attached to the blanket a little ways down the steps that appeared. He reached up, shut the door, and started walking with the string in hand. He let it go after a few steps. The blanket had covered the trap door back up.

The tunnel he was in was well lit. He and his friends had discovered it one day. It'd been abandoned. Likely used as a shelter in the old days, when war was commonplace in Borna. Soerl got down to the end of the tunnel and emerged into a large room. It had quite a few things that he and the others fixed. A stove for warmth, a few worn chairs, there were even a pair of beds. Those had been there when they had found the place, they'd just been cleaned.

"You're late, Soerl!" A pretty, red-headed girl around his age turned to look at him. As had the other two boys. They grinned at Soerl, who moved to sit in one of the empty chairs. "Nell took her time making breakfast, sorry. What were we supposed to be doing today?" Mart, the oldest of the group, spoke up. "Today, we've got a job." Mart was tall for his age of fourteen. He stood at nearly six feet and dwarfed his companions. Red hair, much like the girl's, adorned his head. Bera, Mart's thirteen year old sister, rolled her green eyes. "Oh, come on, Mart. We're not playing this stupid monster hunting game again, are we?" The other boy, Karn, spoke up. "Aw, come on, Bera. No point in being a spoilsport. What else are we going to do?"

Karn and Bera looked over at Soerl as Mart laid down a parchment on top of a box they frequently used as a table. "It'll be fun, Bera. Don't worry." Soerl grinned at her. He fancied her, and she him, though neither had admitted that to one another. She smiled at Soerl and then sighed. "I imagine. So, what's the 'job', 'boss'?" She peered at her brother, who cleared his throat in a very official manner. He tapped the parchment and pointed at the picture on it for all of them. Mart had a real bounty poster. "This chicken here.." He tapped again. "Has been bothering the farmers outside the south gate. We're going out there and taking care of it." Soerl blinked when he saw the reward being offered. "Five hundred silvers? Mart, that's not a real bounty is it?"

"And what if it is, Soerl? Gonna run home and tattle to Honto?" Mart challenged him. Soerl's brow furrowed up. "No. The real things are usually dangerous, though. Is it a good idea?" Bera agreed with Soerl. "He's right, Mart. We don't need to do this. We've never done anything like that, just played around." Karn didn't agree. "Oh come on. Look at the picture. It's just a dumb chicken. What harm could it really do? They're probably too lazy to round it up."

Bera sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Soerl eventually nodded. Mart grinned. "All right, get your weapons! We're moving out!"

Soerl usually didn't have a weapon. Honto's gift to him had him grinning as the group left the south gate of the city. People, even children, were permitted in and out at will. There were always many people around so it would have been hard to stop anyone regardless. The farms were within sight of the city. It only took the youths about a half hour to reach them. They all had their weapons. Soerl had his wooden sword, Mart had a staff, Bera had what was pretty much a club, and Karn had a real dagger. It'd gotten a lot of admiration when the group first saw it.

Once at the farms, they searched around for awhile. The farmers had told the children to go home and more than once. Mart, their ever defiant leader, waved off the warnings. They kept moving through the fields until they eventually reached a small forest path. "Come on everyone!" Mart waved for the others to follow. They did.

As the path winded further on, it got darker. Soerl was nervous about it. "Mart, where are we going? Honto told me to stay out of the forests..." A loud noise made Bera jump. She knocked right into Soerl. "Oh, I'm sorry, Soerl." Her voice betrayed her fright. "Baby." Karn quipped to Bera as he passed the both of them and got close to Mart. "Don't talk to her like that." Soerl frowned at Karn, who busily made hand talking gestures at Soerl.

"Shh! The chicken, I see it!" Mart gestured for them all to move off the path. They hid behind nearby trees. The creature that came down the path was vaguely chicken-like. However, it wasn't a chicken. It was a cockatrice. "Attack!" Mart leaped out onto the path and swung his staff at the creature. It hit dead-on. The only problem was, it didn't seem to do much aside from make the thing angry. It's beak lashed out and tore into Mart's arm. He cried out in pain, just as the others came back on the path.

"Mart!" Bera reached out toward her brother. The cockatrice tried to snap her with its beak, too. It missed by a few inches. Bera shrieked and backed away. Karn tried his luck with his dagger. He met the same fate as Mart, cut by the razor sharp beak. "Run! Everyone run!" Soerl declared. As he turned to bolt back toward the forest entrance, another cockatrice warbled and came out in front of him. There was nowhere to go. Bera started to cry. It was obvious this was no adventure. They were going to die.

The pair of creatures had them cornered. One stayed near Mart and blocked the path further into the forest, the other the way out. Karn clutched his arm. It was bleeding pretty heavily. Soerl was unsure what to do. Bera, out of fear, tried to run past the one blocking the way out. The cockatrice caught her leg and tore into it with its beak. Bera cried out, loudly.

Soerl felt something stirring in him. Anger, fear... Do you want help, boy? He heard the voice in his mind. He looked around. "Yes! Please, help us!" Everyone else was too hurt to really pay attention to Soerl's yell. He had the sudden picture of a wolf grinning in his mind. As you wish.

When Soerl awoke, he could tell it was dark outside. His eyes hadn't opened, but the lack of light on his eyelids clued him in. Something was mumbled as he stirred. He felt heavy, for some reason. Restricted, as well. When his eyes finally did open, he realized he was chained to a tree. He was no longer in the heart of the forest. He was at the edge, facing a crowd of a couple dozen.

"W-what...?" The boy was confused. He struggled with the chains. They'd wrapped them around his chest and the trunk of the tree. He wasn't strong enough to break those kind of bonds. "Let me go!" Soerl was frightened. He was still very young, after all. His emerald eyes moved over the people who were there. He recognized some of them. His friends, their parents. Some of the farmers were there, as well as some others from Borna.

As Soerl continued to struggle with the chains, the people stopped talking among themselves. "Well, seems we've decided what to do with you." There was no pleasure in the farmer's voice. He frowned a little at Soerl. He hefted up his scythe and started in the boy's direction. Soerl started gasping out of fear. "No, please... stop! I didn't do anything! Stop!" He looked over to his friends, frantically. Karn stayed near his father. Mart's gaze went down to the ground. "Soerl!" Bera started to run toward him, but her father caught her shoulder. "You stay put, girl." Mart stepped in front of Bera to block her view, eyes still on the ground.

"I'm sorry, son. We can't have any little monsters running about here." The farmer spoke quietly. No one in the crowd said much of anything, nor did they try to stop what was about to occur. Soerl squirmed hard, trying to get out of the chains. Gasps could be heard when his eyes glowed brightly. "Help!" Soerl cried out in desperation. The man brought back the farming tool and prepared to swing at Soerl. Bera was struggling to get past her father and brother.

A steel bolt came out of seemingly nowhere. It slammed into the scythe and knocked it from the farmer's hands. He blinked and turned to look in the direction the projectile came from. Nell looked absolutely livid. She tossed the crossbow down on the ground and started advancing on Soerl's position. Honto followed not far behind her, silently. "How dare you. He's just a boy." Nell was aware of Soerl's condition, much as her father was. She never saw him any differently than the young, golden haired boy who liked to cause mischief.

The farmer didn't speak, but some in the crowd did. "He's a werewolf!" Soerl looked up as the yelling started. "Monster!" Bera and Mart's father spoke up as well. "He can't be allowed to play with other children! What if he hurt them?!" They were all getting restless. They were prepared to let Soerl die and their fear with him. "He protected them!" Nell whirled and yelled at the father. She and Honto had both heard of what had happened, which is why they had hurried out to the forest. "This time! What about next time? You can't control him." Soerl was looking down at the ground. Tears fell from his eyes. He kept quiet.

"Give me the key, right now." Nell glared at the farmer. He reluctantly offered the object over. Nell then dipped her head and looked at Soerl. She smiled affectionately at him. "I'll have you free in a moment, Soerl. Then we can go home and I'll make you some cookies." The boy looked up a little. He just nodded. Nell circled around behind the tree and searched for the lock.

Elarn, Mart and Bera's father, stepped away from the crowd. He drew the longsword from his belt. "You better get away from him, Nell. I won't let you keep that boy." Nell quickly unlocked the chains, which sent them tumbling to the ground. Run, boy! Run! The wolf spoke to him again. Soerl did just that. The crowd started to turn after him. Some began to follow.

Honto withdrew his flute from his coat. He played a quiet song. It was haunting, the melody. Soerl just kept running toward the city. People paused and looked to the bard. Ghostly energy had appeared around him. He lowered the instrument quickly and yelled, rather loudly. "Somnus!" Soerl's pursuers fell onto the ground. Similarly, those nearby Honto also fell to the ground. The bard sighed, quietly. Nell was unaffected. She started running after Soerl, whom she could see in the distance.

The people would awaken after a little while. Honto rarely used his songspells for harm. He hated to put the people asleep, but there had really been no other solution. He figured Soerl would head straight home, so his pace was not as quick as Nell's. He just began to walk toward the city once again.

After a few moments had passed, Nell spoke up again. "The harvest festival is coming soon. Are you going to go?" Her eyes settled on the teenager near her. Nell had secretly hoped that Soerl would go. She hated that he had so few friends. After the cockatrice incident, it was really unavoidable. Fear was a powerful emotion.

Soerl swallowed what he'd been chewing and looked up at Nell. The glance was cursory, since he turned his head away almost immediately. "Well... I've been thinking about asking Bera to go with me to the festival." Soerl's tone was definitely a bit shy. He never knew what to say around a girl he liked, and that rang true with Bera. Conversations became more awkward than usual. It was, however, a shyness that would wear away over the years.

Nell smiled secretively to herself. She knew Soerl very much fancied Bera. She also knew he tried to hide it, so she played along. "Oh, is that so?" A nod followed her own words. Rather than speaking again, Nell took a bite of her sandwich. The glint in her eyes got Soerl's attention almost immediately. He lowered his second sandwich. The first had been devoured already.

"It's not like that, Nell. I just thought it would be fun to walk around the festival with her." His tone was definitely on the defensive side. It didn't bother Nell at all. She gave Soerl a feigned clueless look. "I didn't say anything, Soerl." She smiled broadly at the boy afterward. He let out a groan.

Once they were finished with their meal, Nell had a obstinate Soerl help her clean up. After that, the boy actually did some of the studying he'd been told to do. A couple of hours passed.

Honto came in through the front door. Soerl grinned when he saw the older fellow. Mostly because Nell had told him he could leave the house when Honto returned. After snapping his book shut, Soerl stood up and bolted for the door. Honto reached out to make him slow down. Soerl did just that. He even stopped to give Honto a quizzical look. "Soerl, be careful." There was little point in warning the teenager any more than that. Soerl's expression became cheerful again.

"I will, Honto. Don't worry." He flashed his father figure a bright grin and continued on his way out the door. He was off to ask Bera to the festival. It was only a few days away. So was something else.

"Nell, we're going to need to keep an eye on him. It's nearly time." Nell said nothing to her father. She just glanced down and nodded.