[You're still thinking about that wolf, aren't you?] Kael asked, sounding mildly annoyed.
"I wasn't, but I am now. I hope he's okay. Do you think we'll see him again?" Griffin asked his grumpy dragon.
A quiet rustling drew their attention as Kael responded, [We might see him sooner than you think.] Just as he finished speaking a small wolf warily peaked its head out from the bush it was hiding behind. In its mouth, a plump rabbit. Griffin's breath caught as the wolf slowly made its way to stand in front of him before setting the rabbit at his feet and backing up.
Once again, Griffin spoke softly, trying to not spook the beast into running away. "Good morning, boy. Did you find a rabbit? What a great catch."
The wolf sat on its haunches while tilting its head at Griffin.
[What a weird wolf. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that he can understand you.] Kael's tone sounded like he was holding back laughter.
"Maybe he can," Griffin replied before talking to the wolf again. "Did you bring me this? To replace the one I gave you?"
To his amazement, the wolf paused before nodding to him.
Sounding slightly out of breath, Griffin said, "Well… thank you. But you should keep it for yourself. It's hard to tell now that you're dry, but you seem like you need all the food you can get."
The wolf whimpered at his words before inching forward and nudging the rabbit closer to Griffin's feet.
He sighed, "If you insist. Do you want to come with me today? I was planning on heading down the mountain. My home is not too far from the base."
[You've officially lost your mind. There's no way that wolf…]
Kael trailed off as the wolf slowly nodded again and moved to stand next to Griffin's legs.
"Good. Come on, boy."
For the rest of the morning Griffin and his new wolf friend trekked their way down the mountain only emerging from the tree line in the early afternoon. Along the way Griffin was constantly talking. To himself, to Kael, and to his companion. He praised the wolf every time it tried to catch something, even though it only succeeded once. And it tried a lot.
[No wonder he's skin and bones. He doesn't even know how to hunt.] Kael couldn't keep his thoughts to himself anymore. [Makes me wonder how old he is.]
"He can't be too old. His eyes are still blue." Griffin pushed more brush out of his, holding it back until the wolf had passed by. "Wouldn't they be more of a hazel if he was an adult?" Griffin asked.
[Normally, I'd say yes but he's too big to be a pup. Maybe he's a late bloomer.]
As the two continued to speculate about their four-legged follower, Nathan was having his own conversation with Axel.
**********
"Well he seems nice. Much nicer than I thought he would," Nathan said, happily trotting along behind the dragon.
Axel just shook his head. [Much nicer than you deserve. Praising you even when you didn't catch anything? That's gone beyond nice and moved to pity.]
"Hey! I caught something!" He retorted.
[Oh, yes. How could I forget? Out of 50 attempts you managed to catch one rabbit. Whoop-dee-do for you.]
Axel's dry response had Nathan growling low in his throat, drawing Griffin's attention back to him.
"What's wrong, boy? Smell something?"
Nathan shook his head while brushing his body against the large man's leg. Griffin chuckled at his actions.
"Well, we're almost home. We can both have a good meal. Would you like that?"
Nathan's stomach growled at the thought of a real meal.
"I thought so," the man chuckled.