Howl of the Wolf

[Madel_H]

He walked on all fours, sniffing the ground several times before every step. With his long grey hair pulled back into a ponytail and his fur cloak adjusted in just a way to keep it from touching the ground, the wolfblood Kayne appeared just his namesake. Step, sniffsniffsniffsniff. Step, sniffsniffsniffsniff. For several hours he padded silently through the forest, tracking that faint scent that tickled his nose so. "This is useless, Kayne." He heard the voice that was more of a thought than a true sound. With the idea came an image: a wolf, black, with shrewd yellow eyes that stood out against his silhouette. Shadow.
"Regardless, we will keep up the hunt. It is around here somewhere, and I aim to find it." He sent the thought back to Shadow, and with it, he could feel his own image. A face, split down the middle. Half man, half wolf. Unloke the wolves' images, his was all too obvious.
Shadow was in the middle of his reply when his voice suddenly changed, matter-of-fact disapproval to utter amazement. "No one has found it in over a hundr- wait. Wait. Kayne, I think I've found it. Get over here, quickly." He was aboiut to ask where Shadow was when he caught the wolf's distinct howl on the wind. He ran towards it quickly, howling back over his shoulder to gather the rest of the pack. When he reached Shadow, the wolves nose was lox, almost touching the ground. He looked up at Kayne, his ears flicking forward. "Yes, this is definitely it. Come on." Shadow trotted deeper into the underbrush, and Kayne wasted no time in dropping back down and following him.
And then they saw it. The massive stone door, masterfully carved into a hillside. Vines grew up over it, and roots clung to the edges from trees on the overhang above. Kayne looked down at Shadow. He would have sworn that the wolf wore a large grin. Their eyes met for a moment, they both had been waiting for so long to find this. "Well. Let's go in," Kayne said.

[Madel_H]

It was damp inside, and dark too. The sunlight that filtered in through the hole that served as a door fell short of the passageway, which led into an eternal nothingness. Peering into the deep deep darkness, Kayne and Shadow cautiously stepped forward. Their footsteps squished and the air smelled of mold and other fungi. A soft dripping echoed from within the cave, reverberating from what sounded like miles away. As the pair made their way downards, their eyes began adjusting to the absence of the light, and they could almost make out the stalagmites and stalactites just before they ran into them. A few painful steps later, they rounded a corner and found their way lit by luminous blue mushrooms.

"I told you, we have found it." Shadow said, accompanied by an image of the wolf's face twisted slightly in a grin. "This is the cave."

Kayne nodded, and reached out to gather a few of the mushrooms. Using these to light the way back up to the forest, wolf and werewolf emerged into the sun. After a howl from Shadow, and a bit of waiting, the rest of the pack had joined them. Kayne, Shadow, Flit, and the others descended into the cavern. This time, they made themselves at home.

[Madel_H]

Once home of the ancient lycanthrope, Arrumas, the cave was also his final resting place. Having lived his entire life there, and organizing all of his major accomplishments from within the low-ceilinged stone passageways, the renowned military strategist made the final request that he be lain to rest in the Great Room of the underground complex.
As he crawled along the twisting tunnels, blue-mushroom lamp in hand, Kayne experienced awe like never before. Looking down at the dust along the floor, he couldn't help but envision Arrumas, in all his glory, padding silently along the very same spot en route to yet another victorious battle.
Entering a large opening, Kayne stood slowly, careful not to bump his head, and lifted the lamp high. Blue light leaped outwards, fading into black so far ahead and above that the werewolf knew he had at last reached the Great Room, the center of the series of tunnels that made up Arrumas' Cavern. Behind him, the wolves slipped in: Shadow, and Flit behind him, followed by Dusk, Moon, Leaf, Trickle, Starsight, Blazer, Stomp, Dipper, and some fifteen more.
As one, the pack moved towards the center of the room, nose turned up into the air to smell for anything unusual. The light flickered around them in a large circle, revealing small rocks and pebbles with elongated shadows. Ahead, a tall grey column loomed from the darkness.
All stopped just short of passing the pillar, heads low in reverence. Kayne ran his fingers over the smooth surface. This was the gravestone of the werewolf Arrumas Banter, father to Kinrin Banter, father to Tomas Banter, father to Del Adrian Banter, father to Kayne Banter.

[Madel_H]

The map room was small, with only enough area for two or three people. A large oak table set in the middle of the room took up the largest portion of space. Set atop that table was a carving of Myrken Wood, with little red flags spaced out across the landscape. Squinting to read the words under the flags, Kayne pronounced each name out loud. Tavern, blacksmith, fletcher, a sheep farm, cobbler, seamstress, council house, butcher (that one was underlined), another farm, baker, toy shop, mill, tailor, and the list went on. Kayne's eyes spied another set farther apart from the rest, and set his finger upon it. Nose almost touching the wood to read the engravings, Kayne whispered the word. "Foggy Bottom."
With a grating sound, the stone wall behind Kayne shifted. A hole seemed to grown from the center of the wall outwards, until it reached from floor to ceiling. Stone steps curved up and away out of sight, lit by the orange glow of torches. Kayne peered into the passageway, and then down at the wooden map. The red flag upon which his finger rested was glowing intensely.
The finger moved to another spot, and Kayne said aloud, "Bakery."
The hole seemed to collapse upon itself, resuming its wall-ish properties before once again dilating out to the passage.
Now that he was getting the hang of this, Kayne looked down at the carving one last time. One more test, and if that worked, he was going to have a hay-day. "Butcher."
The passageway closed and opened again. Kayne whooped, and ran through the opening.