A furry creature tall enough to stand above him when he was seated on the ground with sharp, dazzlingly white teeth could have been the Midnight Panther. Nick wanted it to be. He wanted to know how it was doing and if it was willing to be pet.
Needless to say, it wasn’t the Midnight Panther.
The fur of the creature standing above him was dark, but it was more black than the dark purple of the Midnight Panther. Its snout was more slender. It had longer fur. And, most importantly, it was a wolf.
Nick had a wolf breathing into his eyes.
If Nick wanted to, he could bump his forehead against the wolf’s nose. He had a feeling that would be a bad idea.
His mind and body froze. He wasn’t sure what to do now. Did he just accept his fate as wolf food?
’That doesn’t have the sa ring to it as dog food, though.’
’Tentacle?’
"Back up a little, Utri. I can’t see the Outsider with your big head in the way."
Nick’s eyes widened as a voice spoke from on top of the wolf.
The wolf let out a disgruntled boof, but it listened and took a step back, letting the man on top of it see Nick, and letting Nick see the man on top of the wolf.
"Hello...?" Nick said uncertainly.
"You’re the Outsider?" The wolf rider asked with a frown. Nick was too busy admiring the man’s dark mane to care about his expression.
"Yes?"
"You don’t look like much," The man said bluntly.
"Thank you?"
"It wasn’t a complint."
"Oh."
The two looked at each other until Nick started feeling discomfort at tilting his head back far enough to look at the man upside down. He turned around instead and looked at the wolf rider.
"Did you co here just to say that?" Nick asked, a little bolder now since he had seen the tentacle out of the corner of his eye. It had his back. He didn’t need to fear the wolf or the man.
"No. I ca to verify the rumors myself. Now that I have confird you are not a threat to the forest, I shall be taking my leave."
"Sure...?" Nick said. But the wolf rider wasn’t interested in a response. He had already turned around his wolf and started leaving.
Only when he was gone and had disappeared into the forest for several monts did Mijko start breathing again. She panted heavily like she had just been underwater for several minutes. Nick raised an eyebrow and gave her a concerned look.
"Are you okay...?" He asked. Her reaction felt strange. Maybe she was allergic to dogs?
"You...Do you not know fear...?!" She asked in shock.
"Hey, Fear and I are best friends. Don’t talk smack."
Mijko just looked at him as she gradually regained her composure.
"I see. It’s not that you don’t know fear. You’re just ignorant," She said flatly. She couldn’t believe that she, a trained warrior of the Gezercher tribe, had been outdone by soone like Nick.
"Enlighten , then. Who was that guy?"
"I don’t know their nas. But ’that guy’ and his wolf are from the Phoriae tribe," She said as if that would explain everything.
It would have been enough for soone familiar with the Phoriae, but not their appearance.
Nick didn’t know the first thing about the Phoriae, so it wasn’t enough. He could only stare at Mijko blankly.
She sighed.
"I forgot you were an Outsider."
Nick just continued looking at her. Was the Gezercher tribe fine, leaving soone like her to watch over him?
"The Phoriae might be the most powerful tribe in the forest."
"I see. Is that all? Because if it is, it doesn’t sound like it’s enough to warrant such a reaction." They might be the most powerful tribe. But Sosora had made it clear that no tribes lived in the center of the forest because they were scared of the monster kings.
Guess who was living in the center of the forest without fear of the monster kings? Nick.
Who weren’t? The Phoriae.
Mijko could see what Nick was thinking. It was printed on his face. She had to admit he had a point.
"The Phoriae are the one tribe who could possibly carve out a piece of the center of the forest for themselves if they wanted to.
"I could also tell you all about how getting on their bad side is certain death. Not even the full power of an entire tribe would be enough to stop them. They move like phantoms and demons of the night. They’re unstoppable. Formless. They ride across battlefields with nothing but the blood of enemies touching them." Mijko’s voice increased in intensity with each word she spoke.
Nick was not prepared for Mijko to suddenly dive into a semi-frantic speech about the Phoriae. It seed she looked up to them. Maybe.
"Okay. Scary people who ride wolves. Got it. I’ll be sure to rember that next ti, and I’ll be even more sure to freeze up and forget to breathe. I’m sure that will leave a good first, no second impression on them."
Mijko gave him a deadpan look at his sarcasm. She rolled her eyes.
He couldn’t grasp the threat they posed or the fear and respect they deserved. But what could she expect? He was only an Outsider, after all.
"Thanks for teaching about the dice. Don’t cause any trouble. The tribes have temporarily agreed to let you stay since you might introduce new and interesting things to the forest."
Nick’s eyes widened. He was finally getting so good news.
"Great. I’m happy to share," He said excitedly.
Mijko froze. She slowly turned back to Nick. Those words...She wondered if she could take them literally.
She glanced to the sides before sneaking up close to Nick and whispering,
"So, uh...Can you give any?" She asked, making it abundantly clear what she ant by not doing anything at all.
Nick had no idea what she wanted.
"What?"
"Co on, don’t make say it," She said, looking away while blushing. Nick wasn’t even sure how he saw the blush through the fur on her face.
"..."
Nick didn’t know what to do.
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