"Wait," Elson holds up his hand. "So you're telling me these stones do nothing but glow?"

The stranger stares at the Prince with his one good eye. "Yep," he pops the 'p.'

"So she wasn't possessed?"

"No-pe."

"So why did Crowley take her?" Elson stands up and starts pacing. "This proves he's planning something nefarious... she's in danger."

The stranger sits cross-legged under a tree, holding a makeshift cold press—ice Elson had created, wrapped in his old handkerchief—against his left eye, silently watching him. "Ya don't say."

"I could do without the sarcasm."

"Oh, could you?" The stranger asks sweetly. "Well, I could do without a black eye right now, so I guess neither of us are getting what we want."

Elson looks off to the side, muttering under his breath. "To be fair, you could have dodged it." Unphased by the stranger's withering glare, he continues. "Why are you here?"

"None of your business."

"How do you know Y/n?"

"None of your business."

"Why did you approach me?"

"Why is a noble prince running along after a lowly peasant?" The stranger quips.

"She is my subject, and she is in danger. It is my duty to protect her, and I don't trust Crowley. Do I need another reason?"

The stranger shrugs. "I just find it awfully interesting for a prince to be going out of his way for just one person. Even stranger, given that it goes against the King's orders." He gives an exaggerated gasp before continuing, voice like molasses. "Wouldn't that be considered treason?"

Elson glares at him. "And what are your reasons? No one lives within five miles of Ramshackle, so you clearly care a lot about her in one way or another. Given her... questionable past, how am I supposed to believe your intentions are pure?"

"As far as you're aware, I haven't done anything illegal." The stranger growls. Elson looks at him dryly.

"Exactly how a perfectly law-abiding citizen would respond, I'm sure."

"I didn't have to tell you any of this- I'm of more use to you than you are to me."

"Oh really? Then why bother asking me in the first place?"

"I thought you would have your uses." As a scapegoat, but he doesn't need to know that. "But I'm starting to doubt that now."

Elson glares at him.

"So what'll it be?" The stranger asks. "Are you with me, or not? I haven't got all day."

Elson pauses a moment longer. Ultimately, he doesn't have much of a choice. This stranger clearly knows more than he does... and when it comes down to it, he's confident with his odds if this stranger ever decides to betray him. "Fine. Let's go."

***

"You did what?" For what might be the hundredth time today, you feel like passing out.

"I was hungry!" Grim protests.

You let out a guttural sigh that comes out as a quasi-scream. "Oh my god."

"You should be thankin' me!" Grim shoots back. "I found out some stuff that'll really help us with our plans!"

"Our plans?" You scoff. "Please. Enlighten me."

"I know where the kitchen is," Grim declares. You feel the life drain out of your body.

"And how exactly is that useful?"

Grim pauses. "It was useful last time. That's for you to figure out."

You groan, running a hand down your face. "How did you even get in there?"

"Through a window." Grim says. "It leads to a room with some fancy vases and stuff. It was by our normal entrance."

You pause for a moment. "Wait, that's why there were guards in the area of Leona's room?"

"Yep." Grim smirks and crosses his arms. "But don't worry, I got away."

It took all you had in you not to punt him.

"Okay, look." You let out a defeated sigh. "For whatever reason Leona wants us to head down to some cavern or something tonight. We're going to go, and you're going to behave."

"I do behave!" Grim whines like a petulant child. "Speakin' of, why'd Leona want you in the first place?"

You give him a rundown of everything that had transpired in Leona's room, minus the close proximity and prolonged eye contact. By the end of it, Grim is definitely unnerved.

"He figured it out just like that?" His eyes water. "That guy's scary."

"Yep." You nod. "And we've gotta go see him tonight."

Grim shivers. Unable to do much else, you break into your rations and pull out a bread roll, shoving the little monster away when he tries to grab one.

"You already ate." You grumble.

"But I'm hungry!"

"Tough."

Night falls. You follow Leona, Ruggie, and Jack to the cavern, feeling the air get hotter and hotter the further you go down. The humidity sticks to your skin.

"Where are we going?" You pipe up after a while, moving your backpack in front to press your back against the stone wall. You shuffle sideways, trying to heed the good old fashioned advice, don't look down. Still, you can not help but peek down at your feet. A few rocks crumble off the edge and descend into the abyss below. You feel your stomach drop with them.

"Down." Leona responds, fearlessly leading the way across the canyon and jumping to another ledge.

You step onto a rock much further back, appreciating the virtues of terra firma. "No kidding." You hurry to catch up to Leona, appreciating the clear path this part of the route has. You join him on a ledge, eyes flitting to the wide gap that separates you from the platform Leona is eyeing.

"You're kidding me."

Jack joins you on the rock, taking a few steps back to position himself before taking a running leap. He soars across the chasm and lands gracefully on the other side, looking back expectantly. You stare dumbly at the drop between you.

"C'mon, Y/n." Ruggie encourages, jumping across to the other side like it's nothing. Grim peers down at the gap.

"It's... a little, wide, doncha think?"

"Yes." You agree without hesitation.

Leona rolls his eyes, clearly unimpressed. Grim lets out a yelp as Leona abruptly grabs him by the scruff. His yelp quickly turns into a scream when Leona leaps across the gap. He's quite literally dropped on the other side, panting.

Leona gives him a look. "Relax, you're not even doing any of the grunt work."

All four sets of eyes turn to you, and you look down to the chasm uncomfortably.

"You coming?" Ruggie calls over.

"Yeah." Wishing you were anywhere but here, you sling your backpack over your shoulders and take a few steps back. You hop in place a few times to prepare yourself, swallow hard, run forwards, and leap.

You soar across the chasm, suspended in the air for a moment.

Then you miss the landing.

You scream and hold onto the rock for dear life, trying to find a proper hold.

"Leona!" You shriek as you start slipping. "Leona! Leona!"

He rolls his eyes and groans, waltzing forward and grabbing you by the collar. He stands and drops you on the ledge, legs dangling over the side. Leona adjusts the scroll in his pocket, seemingly more concerned with the scrap of paper than your life.

You scuttle away from the side, still trying to catch your breath.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." Leona mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You okay, Henchhuman?" Grim rushes over to your side and props his front arms up on your leg to look at you.

"Yeah," you pant, eyes wide. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Jack asks, eyebrows pinched together.

"Yeah." You nod, trying to assure him (and yourself.) "Athletics isn't exactly my strong suit."

"No kidding." Ruggie snorts. "C'mon, let's get going."

You'd get him for that.

"Hey, Leona?" You cautiously step onto another ledge, looking up at the lion. You note that Jack has taken the spot directly behind you, always waiting for you to go on ahead before following behind. It was both comforting and humiliating. "What's that scroll in your pocket?"

"It's got all my follower's names on it." He responds. You blink.

"You have a scroll with all of that?"

"Did you think we just memorised who all our loose ends are?"

...he had a point. Now that you thought about it, how did Scar manage to organise everyone in the original story?

"Here, Ruggie." He tosses it over to the hyena. "You take it- bring it to me when everyone's been checked off."

"Why are we here?" You ask, hearing voices in the distance. Ruggie turns to Leona but the prince just jumps ahead, tired of answering questions.

"Hey, Leona?"

You're ignored.

You huff in offense and hold Grim against you when you jump across another (much smaller) crevice.

"Leona!"

Both Ruggie and Jack look towards their leader, but you still gather no response.

"I know you can hear me."

"Then you'd think you'd learn to take a hint." He snarls. You frown, equally as irritated.

"If you don't respond, I'm going to make a really loud noise."

He snorts and keeps moving, so you stop entirely and start fishing around your bag. Curiously, all three stop to watch you. You pull out the airhorn and raise it above your head, plugging your ears. Grim does the same, realizing your plan with horror.

The noise was so much worse echoing around the cavern- your own ears are ringing despite being covered. You can only imagine how much worse it must be for anyone with animalistic hearing- all three men have covered their ears, Jack even crouching on the ground in pain. A second later, you lower your arm.

"I warned you. Where are we going?"

Leona huffs and rolls his eyes. "Geez, if you waited a short while longer, you'd see for yourself."

"There's going to be a congregation." Jack tells you, eyeing the noisemaker wearily. You nod and stuff it back into the bag.

"Thank you, Jack." Trying not to think too much about what you had just done, you trot forward and look at Leona. "Lead the way."

He rolls his eyes and turns the corner. You scamper along behind him, Ruggie and Jack just staring at you in mild bewilderment and Grim with embarrassment. You follow Leona around the corner and stop, looking down with wide eyes. You gasp.

"Is that...?"

"Every one of the collective." Jack confirms. Ruggie smiles at you.

"Pretty cool to be part of it, right? To know you're not alone?"

You stare down at the group below you in awe and worry. If you failed, you'd rather not see what this many animal hybrids could do to you.

***

This was the weirdest day of your life- a statement that had gained significantly more status recently. You're fairly confident no other thief in history had ever formulated their heist whilst jumping for dear life during a song break.

You leap to another rock with Grim, narrowly missing the volcanic steam that sprouts up behind you. You look and check your spot is really as stable as it seems before turning your attention back to the musical number in front of you. You sat there nonplussed as Leona's followers marched in perfect coordination.

"It's great that we'll soon be protected! By a King who'll be all time adored!"

"...this is weird."

"No kiddin'." Grim agrees, crossing his arms.

Despite the strangeness of it all, it was fairly enjoyable when you could safely watch it. You would go see this performance if it was on a stage, like some sort of musical... if you could afford it. The whole song and dance was spectacular, but it was so impromptu you wonder if the members were actually aware they were in a musical number.

"Leona." Grim points with his paw. "There!"

You look up just in time to see Leona jump down from his rock with a yell. Before you know it the rocks are splitting, shards bursting up high into the sky. The rock you are sitting on cracks and steam rises upwards from the break, the humidity burning your skin like the air itself had been set ablaze. Grim leaps up onto your shoulder and holds on tightly when the part he was on grows unstable, claws digging into the burnt skin. You spy a rock nearby and without any time to think or plan (which you hate,) you jump. You're only safe for a moment before the rock moves upwards unsteadily. You grip on for dear life, ignoring the pain that erupts from your arm.
You rip higher and higher into the sky, watching as even the other rock's ascending slows to a stop. Your halt was abrupt, but you were thankful nonetheless. You peek over the side. The drop below was even worse than before, and Leona wasn't close enough to help you if you fell.

"Yes our teeth and ambitions are bared; Be Prepared!"

The song seems like a background song in that moment as you stare at the only thing higher than you in the whole chasm: Leona. He meets your eye and smirks, as if pleased with your terrified expression. To avoid his gaze you force yourself to look downwards, looking at everyone in the chasm.

You were getting out of here soon: you had already set everything up perfectly.

"Hey, Y/n?"

You turn towards the sound of the voice and see a very prickly wolf standing behind you.

"Hey Jack," you greet. "What's the matter?"

"Where're you going?" You stare off toward the direction Leona had stalked off to. Despite being the leader he had been the first to leave, muttering something about sleep. Ruggie stayed behind to finish checking everyone off and planned to give the scroll to Leona in the morning during his banana delivery. You would have waited for him had the checkoff line not been as long as it was, and you were terrified of not finding the palace again.

"...the tree."

Jack frowns. "You shouldn't be sleeping on the ground. It's cold and there's bugs."

Neither were points you could argue with, but you had nowhere else to go. Jack lets out a long suffering sigh.

"C'mon. You can stay with me for the night."

Your eyes widen at the unexpected kindness, then narrow in suspicion. "Why?"

"Because you're one of us." He says simply. "And we take care of our own. Now hurry up before I change my mind."

Jack begins to walk off and your eyes soften. Somehow, you have a feeling that he'd never do that.

In a way, you envy him. He had the resources to bring you into his home, and the heart to do so. You'd happily do the same for others if you had the ability, but life had never granted you that card. The rich stay rich, and the poor remain on the streets. Only those with things to give could give to others, but most of the time they never do.

At least, that was what you thought until you saw Jack's house. Well, house is a strong word for it. It is more like a shelter than anything else- a cloth door covering the entrance to a den with one room and a dirt floor.

"Make yourself at home." He welcomes. You duck inside, looking around. He grabs with what looks like some flint and starts to build a fire, the light and warmth desperately needed. Grim takes it in.

"Wow. What a dump."

"Grim!" You hiss in embarrassment. "Don't say that. I'm so sorry Jack, it's... nice."

He awkwardly rubs his neck. "No, it's fine. I know it's not luxury, but it's a place to sleep." He digs through a basket, pulling out some dishes. "Are you hungry?"

"Heck yeah!" Grim cheers, punching the air with his fist. You feel more guilty.

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't." He deadpans. He throws some meat over the fire, and you watch him as he starts to cook it. The smell wafts throughout the den, and Grim is practically salivating beside you.

"So, Jack." You ask him. "What made you want to follow Leona?"

"Leona has the strength and leadership needed to run the country." Jack explains. "People are dying out here with too little to eat. I wanna build a good future so my siblings so they can have good lives. And one day, I wanna settle down."

"Settle down?"

"Yeah." He nods. "Wolves mate for life. When I find her, I wanna make sure I can support her no matter what."

You stare at him, speechless.

"That... sounds really nice." You weren't sure how to respond to that. Whoever ended up with Jack seemed like a really lucky girl.

They mate for life, huh?

You choose not to dwell on it too much. After all, the very person you thought was your soulmate was the very reason you ended up here. Not that it was exactly their fault, but it hurt nonetheless. Better not to think about it.

"You're a really nice person, Jack."

He smiles. "Thanks."

There's a moment of comfortable silence between you, just staring at each other. Jack breaks it by clearing his throat.

"Ready to eat?"

"Heck yeah!" Grim celebrates, already salivating. You smile and reach for the food.

"Thanks Jack." You wince. You had forgotten about your burnt arm, but when you moved it it really hurt.

Jack frowns. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing!" You deny. "I'm just hungry."

"Hungry doesn't make your arm hurt." He scoots over. "Show me."

Hesitantly, you give him your arm and pull up the sleeve. His eyebrows furrow.

"Did you get burnt in the cavern?"

"A little." You play it down, not wanting to cause a problem when he was already being so nice.

"It's fine."

Jack scoffs and stands up, walking to get medical equipment. "You should be more careful."

Before you know it Jack is applying some sort of ointment onto your arm and wrapping it with a tenderness you wouldn't have expected from the burly wolf man. He's methodical about it, not spending any more time than he would need to. He doesn't even get mad when Grim starts trying to eat his food when he's not looking.

"All done." Jack finally pulls back. "You take the bed."

"Oh, no." You deny. He was already doing too much.

"I'm not inviting you into my home and then making you sleep on the floor." He looks at you like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Plus, you're injured. I told you I'd take care of you, didn't I?"

You hope your blush isn't visible in the firelight. You needed to get a hold of yourself- he was just being nice! This probably didn't mean anything to him, despite it meaning the world to you.

"Are you sure?" You ask.

Jack takes a bite of his meat. "Positive. Just curl up in there when you're finished eating."

That night Jack slept on the floor while you anxiously lay in his bed. You would be gone before he wakes up, and you wish there was some way you could move him to the mattress without waking him. You would make sure to put the only blanket over him, at the very least. It was the least you could do, after all. You fall asleep feeling slightly envious of Jack's future partner.

"For this to work, we're gonna have to get Leona alone." You explain in the morning on the way to the palace. "Unfortunately for us, he's surrounded by both followers and guards."

"So how are we gonna get rid of them?" Grim asks. Awkwardly, you bite your lip.

"You're made for this role Grim, but somehow I don't think you're gonna like this."

I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took 😭

My laptop is basically destroyed at this point and it's making this whole process difficult.

I hope you enjoyed all the same!