The happenings around the incident when the river had been contaminated with magic and affected those who had imbibed of it were curious, but most had fallen out of love with those they had become attached to as soon as the magic had drained out of their digestive system via normal body mechanics like it was any other chemical or compound. But for Missandei and Hondo, it had been the start of something beautiful. Hondo did not have much of a home life, and it had all started when he was born. His mother had given birth to her litter and promptly abandoned them without warning or cause or justification. Luckily enough, his father had found them and nursed him back to health until they could be stable without his constant vigilance. But past that, his father had tapped out, become almost negligent. Yes, there had become some resentment on Hondo‘s part toward his father for being so terrible at his life‘s job. At one point, they had had Kahlan to nurture them, but she too had eventually vanished as well, supposedly because she had gone back to supporting her own pups. And then, Wudubearo had closed its gates to its inhabitants, and they had all been pushed out into the wide world to fend for themselves. Hondo‘s father never come looking for him and had never even tried to find him, and so he had turned into somewhat of a loner…Aside from when he spent his time with Missandei.

At first, it was tiny adventures, once a week or so… But eventually it had transpired into something much more personal - they became each other’s best friends, but also were a safe haven for one another. Missandei did not have the devastating backstory that Hondo did, but she still felt safer with him than not. And so it went from once weekly adventures, to twice weekly explorations, until finally they were spending most of their time together and it was instead the odd day that they ever left one another sides or were separated. And though nothing inappropriate or of an adult nature ever came to pass, they shared a den, cuddled next to each other, and even gave one another the odd caress or kiss. They were the picturesque version of teenagers in love, but they never said it to one another, both too in their own way to share those three little words that were so simple to say yet also had so complex of implications. But even without being said, they both knew not only how they felt about one another, but more importantly how the other felt about them. And today? Today had been like any other day. They explored to their hearts content, settling into yet another makeshift den when they grew fatigued. Their plan for the next day was much the same, full of carefree fun that never had to end… But it was not the son that woke them. He woke groggily from a dreamless sleep, disoriented as to where he was and what time it was. But then he heard heavy breathing, and fear grew in his heart. He looked up and saw an adult wolf towering over them, only its canines were long and its eyes were red, and it was looking at the pair of them like they were prey. Though he had never come upon a vampire before, he knew all about Missandei‘s own mother Macaria… Only he did not think that this vampire would be as conscientious about what he ate as Macaria was.

Honda scrambled to his feet, trying to bolster his strength and his bravery and put himself in front of Missandei even as she told the vampire off. “Run, I’ll try to hold him off.” But he knew the words were likely futile - because this was a temporary den, they dug only a narrow entrance, and no exit. Even if Hondo had been able to hold his own, the chance that Missandei could escape was slim to none. The only chance they had was for the vampire to be destroyed… But Hondo was an orphan, had not been taught how to fight by anyone. As of this… The situation was depressing, and was about to become even more morbidly so.…

WC: 717