The Night Before [story]

They made camp under a break in the tree tops allowing the moon to show through, with cast a milky glow on their faces as they looked up.

It will be a full moon soon. A few days, William thought. Suddenly, Rainier noticed that his mouth seemed to sag with a sadness she couldn't understand. Something was troubling him.

The fire flickered between them as they sat on either side of it, facing each other but averting their gaze.

"What's the carving on your dagger?" Asked Rainier as she remembered the claw on the hilt.
William looked at her with curiosity, sizing her up. "It's a wolf. It changes with its new owner, actually, it was a badger for my father.." He glanced at her sideways, "it's supposed to show a part of us."
"So, the dagger becomes you?"
"Precisely."

There was a moment of silence between them as they exchanged a mutual look of longing. Not for one another but a longing for answers..

William held on to an image of his father reaching for him in his head. He was younger then and unable to help his father. William threw his arms out to him as his father's image slipped away into a vast blackness that started to fill his head. There was a strong urge to cry but nothing was born when he opened his mouth, and he suddenly remembered where he was. He relaxed a little and threw his gaze up to see Rainier watching him with curiosity so freely contorting her face, which slightly annoyed him.

"What is it for?" She asked looking from his face to the knife and back.
Surprised at her ignorance he relaxed a little, "It's for hunting--"
"Hunting?"
"I am a hunter of this forest." His voice was calm. He had accepted his fate years ago.
"You.." Rainier bit her lip at the memory of her deep sleep and the medicine that yanked her out of it. 'The hunter will be the life in you and the death of you,' a silken faced woman had said to her in her sleep, with a voice so smooth that it felt like a wonderful dream.
"Rainier, are you alright?"
"Yes! I'm fine. I know what you are." He looked different in her eyes, now, less sad and more powerful, more beautiful.
"I'm sorry--"
"Don't be! The forest chose you. It's an honor!" She smiled a childish smile that warmed William's insides. "When I was little, in this forest, I used to play hunter and beast with Zeb.." her eyes lowered and she seemed to carry a heavier world on her shoulder. Zeb..