Young Writers Society

A/N: The Wolfe in this story is very different from SpiritedWolfe. She is not male, she cannot handle weapons and she is not badass. That is all.

Slamming his own down, Wolfe growled, "Pick up your damn phones!"

"You haven't talked to anyone?" Lili asked.

"No, no one," Wolfe said, letting out a long sigh. "Not Adri, not Pomp... not even Nate! How else are we supposed to tell him we'll be out a few days?"

"How will I get to share this with my friends if they don't know to come?" Lili pouted.

"Guess we'll have to go ourselves and tell them later. Mind telling me where we're going, exactly?"

"The woods," she responded, bouncing on her toes. "I told you about that house. Never seen it before."

While Wolfe dialed another number into the phone, he rested against a wall of the small cabin that faced the door. His repsonse to Lili was curt. "That doesn't explain why you want to drag me along."

"The sign says free hugs! I want everyone to know!" Why couldn't he been more excited? The second she had come back from walking in the woods, she had ran right to tell him everything. She had expecting a grand reaction. For some reason, he had been less than impressed, but eventually agreed to go along with it.

"You and your free hugs," Wolfe said with an eye roll. "What's this house look like, at least?" As he listened to the ringing, he couldn't hold back a glare. Of course Lili was sweet, innocent. But she was too much so, and she needed him as a guardian. That's the only reason he agreed to the journey... and also the infuriating phone calls to gather interest.

"It's really cool! But I'm not telling you about it." She giggled. Why would she ruin the surprise? Of all the times she had been in the woods, she'd never come across the house. It was built into the side of a small hill. She wondered how many others had been to that same place. Why hadn't she discovered it sooner?

"HATT, I SWEAR TO GOD, PICK UP THE PHONE."

With a bang that echoed around the relatively empty room, the phone was thrown onto the floor. "Let's go," commanded Wolfe. "I'm done." He snatched up a half packed sack of food and a dagger, then marched out the door.

Before following him out, Lili bent down to pick up the phone. She pressed a few buttons, then placed it gently onto the counter. "You broke it," she mumbled.

She had to run to catch up to him. The dagger hanging from his hand didn't make her feel better. There was nothing to be worried about. She'd never seen any danger out here before.

While Wolfe tromped on, grumbling strings of curse words under his breath, Lili tugged at his arm. "You're going the wrong way!"

Glancing up, Wolfe looked at the clearly marked path that he had ordered her to stay on at all times. How could he be taking them the wrong way?Unless... Whirling around, he pointed to the looming, thicker forest to their right. "It's in there?"

She nodded excitedly, but Wolfe's harsh glare made her lower her gaze.There were supposed to be dangers deeper in the woods, Wolfe made sure to warn her of that. Depsite that, she wandered there anyway, evetually traveling there more often then she did the path. The path was boring and uneventful. None of the animals ever spent time there, while the deeper she went, the more there were.

Wolfe wasn't happy. No, he was beyond not happy. He gripped the dagger until his kuckles turned white and clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. But he took the girl's hand anyway and grudgingly lead her into the looming trees. Something in him just couldn't say no to her.

"Which way?" he said, struggling to hide his irritation.

"That way!" Lili tugged him to the right, giddy from his sudden change in heart.

Lili looked so at ease in the shadows of the trees, where the leaves blocked out the sun and anything could lurk. It only succedded in infuriating Wolfe more. How could she so directly go against my orders? He often wondered if Lili even heeded him. What if a bear attacked, or a snake bit her and she died?

He wouldn't know what to do with himself if that happened. Would it be his fault? He wouldn't be there to control her, but he- he should have been, right? That's what a guardian did.

A rustling in the bushes caused him to stop in his tracks and grab Lili. He pulled her up against his chest and held his dagger out. Whispering into her ear with a harsh tone, he ordered, "Stay here."

She started to sputter, trying to assure him it couldn't be anything, but Wolfe snuck forward, scanning the brush for any more movement. Whatever was in there lurking and seeking to hurt Lili was in for a world of pain. Aiming to throw the weapon, he stood still as a stone and waited for the next rustle.

When it came, he hurled the dagger without a moment of hesitation and sprung forward for a relentless attack. Until he heard the high pitched chirp of a dying animal. A quick search through the brush showed that Wolfe's dagger had impaled an innocent rabbit.

"What was it?" Lili asked, coming up behind him. A part of her was terrified. She had never ran into any trouble in all of the time she spent in the woods. She knew that Wolfe wouldn't attack unless it was something serious though.

"Just a silly rabbit," he said, relieved. He had been expecting something worse. But when he turned, the look on Lili's face made him pause. There was sadness in her eyes and her mouth was gaped open. What was wrong with her?

"You killed it," she squealed. "A fuzzy bunny. How could you?"

It was his turn to sputter. "Oh, uh... Lili, I didn't-- I thought it was--" His mind drew a blank on how to comfort the girl. "We can eat it so it doesn't go to waste."

She tilted her head in slight confusion as the words started to dawn on her. "Eat it...?" A look of horror spread across her face as she cried out, "No! Don't!" Tears streamed from her eyes at the thought of such a horrible thing.

Taken aback, Wolfe didn't know how to respond. Before he'd met Lili, it was a normal occurence for him to eat animals, that was his way of life. Slowly, his thoughts turned to how innocent the girl still was. "I'm sorry, Lili. Please--"

As he tried to reach out to embrace her, she stepped away, glaring at him through the tears blearing her vision. He knew how much she cared about animals, and there he was suggesting that they eat one he'd just killed. The words came out before he thought them through, as he often forgot her sensitivity.

Tears still fresh on her face, Lili took off into the trees, determined to get as far away from him as possible. Whatever apology was about to be attempted, it would have to wait. She couldn't even look at Wolfe without seeing the crumbled rabbit at his feet. It wasn't something she wanted to be reminded of.

She knew that he would come after her. How could he not? He always had to be one step ahead, always finding a way to be annoyingly close to everything she did. It was all because he cared, but sometimes he'd just have to trust her. If she had been through the woods and back without following the path, there wasn't any type of danger.

Wolfe watched her go, uncertain about his next move. He should've gone after her; she needed the protection. But he had hurt her enough already. She had to calm down, realize that she was being ridiculous.

It didn't take her long to find her favorite resting place. Two trees had fallen years back and formed an almost triangle with a large boulder. She liked to squeeze herself behind the rock. She felt secure, trapped. No danger would come to her here.

By then, he had lost her. Not that he was watching her go, but the sounds of her barefeet crunching the grass faded from his ears. It made his heart feel suddenly empty, like the warmth of a candle flame put out. Still, it was troubling that this hurt him so much. Why? It's not like he did something awful, compared to what he used to do.

But he'd hurt her heart, no matter how little it was.

Good god, he had become a softie. Before, he could spill the blood of five men within mintues without so much as a twist in his stomach. Now he couldn't bear a little girl crying. Perhaps he was just being ridiculous. Lili was rubbing off on him too much -- that's what it was. So, he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his dagger. He was going after her.

As Lili sat, she bent her head back to look up at the sky. The moon had been out for a while, but the stars were just starting to peek out. She smiled. It was her favorite time of the day, right when it changed from day to night.

There was a rustling in the trees in front of her. She didn't even look up. There were always noises in the forest. It was just an animal, one that would be far too scared to come out to see her. She wished one of them would. She always wanted to meet a baby deer.

That's when the other noises started, ones she hadn't heard before. They were quiet at first and she couldn't make out anything. As it got louder, she could understand it.

"Lili, Lili, come out and play."

She'd never heard those voices before. They definitely weren't animals. Animals only talked in movies.

They repeated their chant. It was a lot of voices together, layered on top of one another. She couldn't tell exactly how many there were, but she knew they were coming towards her.

"Lili, Lili, come out and play."

She stood as they got closer. "How do you know my name?"

The voices laughed, all at once, just like they had talked. Only one talked after that though, one of the males. She could tell from his deep voice. "We watched ya. Every day ya come here. We all seen it."

Lili shifted her feet as she saw the outlines of the creatures. "I've never seen creatures like you."

Another creature, this one female, spoke next. "We hide good. We don't see humens here much. This our woods."

"This is our woods," another one of the males mumbled. He was the smallest of them all. "At least say it right."

"The woods aren't yours," Lili argued as the creatures got close enough for her to clearly see. "They belong... to everyone..." She had more to say, but she couldn't force the words out. She realized who had found her.

Trolls. She remembered seeing a picture of them once in a book, but she never imagined they would actually be in the woods.

There were five of them, each one just as ugly as the other. With a sickly green colored skin, the mud they'd roll in looked like giant spots all over. They were all much taller than her. She didn't like looking up just to see their crooked teeth baring down in crazed smiles.

Lili didn't know what to do. Where had they come from? She'd never seen the trolls there before and they didn't look too friendly. "Why are you here?"

The female troll, who didn't look much different than the males, gave Lili a smile that made her skin crawl. "Food a'int been round her much. We hungry."

The smallest one rolled his eyes. "How do you expect to get anything talking like that?"

"H-hungry?" Lili took a step back. "Don't you eat the animals?"

The largest one beared his teeth. "Nobudy more good than little girls lost in woods." Before she could take another step back, he grabbed her arm. She screamed as loud as she could. Wolfe was out there somewhere, he had to have heard her.

The troll forced its hand over her mouth. "Good gurls know quiet." She gagged at the terrible smell of its skin.

"Know when to be quiet" the smallest one corrected. "The next time we go out for food let me do all of the talking."

Lili slowly gave up hope as she struggled, realizing that there was no way she could escape. The trolls were too strong, there were too many of them. All she could do as she was being dragged away deeper into the trees was hope that Wolfe had heard her. Who else was going to help her?

Wolfe had heard it. The sound was a faint trill that rung in his ears, but after a quick thought of What was that? he dismissed it. It was a mere distraction, perhaps a bird or other creature testing thier limits as the sun comes ever closer to the horizon.

He scolded himself silently. This "adventure" was a disaster just waiting to happen, and if Lili wasn't back by his side by the time the sun set, she was surely lost to the clutches of the forest. The threat was always there, but it had never been so real as now, with her missing in the deepest parts of the woods.

Though what scared him more was the fact that he didn't know where to start. The forest was filled with scents and sounds that often overwelmed him. How would he pick out one little girl in the mush senses? Perhaps she had stormed off this way.

As he charged off, one distinct scent overpowered his nose so much that he was forced to stop again, gagging at its strength. It was one of rotting meat... and lack of hygiene. Troll no doubt. The hair on the back of his neck rose and spiked. The scent is troll.

And Lili was out there.

So many emotions that he had long since buried came spurred in him. Bloodlust, panic, fear. Like old, unwelcomed friends invading the home of his mind once more. But of course, his thoughts realized before he did that trolls come out to prowl for food. That set off a whole new reaction.

Some form of instinct kicked Wolfe into gear. It was a nice "blast to the past", remembering all the horrible things trolls could do versus the horrible things he could do. There was still the dagger in his hand and the scent still fresh in his nose. He darted after it, sprinting faster than he had in years.

Lili's heart pounded out of her chest. Where was Wolfe? It felt like an enternity was passing as the trolls kept dragging her farther and farther in and he was nowhere to be seen. What if he'd left her? Ignored her plea for help and left her to die?

She choked on a sob, trying not to swallow the rancid taste of the troll's hand over her mouth. While her breaths were short and shallow, every slight inhale brought it right back, making her want to cry and wail all over again. But she didn't. Or couldn't, really.

The smallest one spoke up. "Can we move faster? I'm starving."

"I don't walk no faster," the one next to him retorted.

"You apparently don't think much faster either," the smallest one mumbled.

Lili tried to block them out, focusing on the path they were taking her down. It seemed to gradually become more and more familiar to her. Once the group passed the ribbon tree, with the branches bending around in loops to look like a ribbon, she was suddenly sure of where they would take her.

One of the trolls snickered. "You reconize there, don't ya?"

Of course she did, remembering the glorious house of hugs she was so eager to show Wolfe. Oh, no hugs, no hugs, no hugs! I don't want hugs anymore! With one last major struggle, she strained to even more one of her hands in their grasp, but with no luck. She could only continue to make muffled sobs as the tears started to flow, then taste the bitter muck on the troll's hand as it floods her mouth.

Wolfe discovered the scent had no clear cut path, leading between trees, in slight circles and even backtracking over itself at one point. Frustration continued to bubble up in his head, as each minute passing meant one closer to sundown, one closer to losing Lili, and one closer to the trolls finding her. If they hadn't already.

As he continued along, he saw the trees become thicker, the ground being denied what little sun was left in the sky. Why was he still even following this trail? If Lili were out here on her own, she would never venture this far.

But the trolls... He hated to admit that there was any sliver of a chance that they would have her, that he only wanted to follow them so they wouldn't bother her later. Of course that wasn't the case, otherwise his feet wouldn't be flying and the panic wouldn't fuel his heart. Also, the fear. Wolfe couldn't forget the fear.

Those fears suddenly crashed around him when he saw a slight clearing. There was a small hill with a stone structure built in. Words were spray painted on the front wall, reading, "Free hugs! Come inside!" The stench led inside, there was no fighting it. Gripping the blade tighter, he remembered all the other jobs he did before ducking inside.

The first thing Wolfe noticed was how vast it was. There was more than enough space to house a couple of trolls. And then he saw them: five trolls standing in a tight circle, mumbling to each other. The largest of them all was holding a little girl in his grasp.

Lili.

All of the anger already boiling inside of him increased. The dagger suddenly felt like a feather in his hand. He was going to get Lili out.

He swung the weapon at one troll, then the other, not letting them even get a defensive swat in. He saved the largest troll for last, as he didn't want to lose Lili again. When he rounded on it, the troll dropped her in order to fight back. One swift stab of the dagger and it was laying on the floor with the others, all of them dead.

Wolfe scooped up a still terrified Lili in his arms and took off back into the woods. Her tears dripped onto his neck as she buried her face in it, but it didn't bother him. All that mattered now was she was safe.

He didn't stop until they reached the main path. It was there that he put her down and then collapsed to the ground next to her.

"I warned you of the dangers out here," he said breathelssly. "That's why I said to stay on the path."

Lili wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I never saw trolls before."

"That doesn't mean they aren't there. A lot of creatures lurk in the woods, ones you don't even know about." And boy could he name a lot.

"This is the first time anything bad has ever happened!"

"And it might not be the last." Wolfe sighed. "My point is, you need to be careful. Trolls go after little kids because they fall for things like free hugs."

"I just really like hugs!" she whined. Wolfe couldn't hold back a smile. This was the Lili that he knew, the Lili that he would die to protect. He was hers and she was his. Without each other, life wouldn't be half as fun. Or fun at all, for that matter.

He reached over and poked her stomach, setting her off in a spout of giggles. It never failed to make her laugh.

"How's this for a hug?" He reached out and took Lili in his arms, embracing her again and never planning on letting go. She continued to giggle but wrapped her little arms around his shoulders. Finally, he said to her, "Lili. You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course I do. You saved me."

"Good. Then let me guard you, alright?"