The Carnival [Gin]

[miguel]

(This is the continuation of 'Rookie')

Fred got bored. Cato would understand. If one thing Cato knew about him it would be that he was unpredictable and wouldn't really wait in a room for an extended period of time. He liked a change of scenery or something difficult. Which was why he decided to leave; not to be disobedient, but he could handle himself. He had a master plan anyway. He pulled out a big wad of cash from his hoodie pocket. He had been pick pocketing nearly everyone he could while walking to his destination. He knew it was a matter of time till Cal found him, so in the meantime he planned to have fun. He had walked quite a distance and picked many pockets just to go to a carnival. He was stoked. He planned on enjoying himself as much as possible, starting with the ferris wheel. He payed his way in and made his way slowly through the line with his cotton candy. At long last he made it to the ferris wheel and escalated upward. It was near the top that he realized it. A smell that he had smelled before, it was like life was slower. It was like a movie, where you look in slow motion for someone that you can't locate. He knew he was there. He became more serious, and ignored anything that he would have originally found fun. The ride stopped and he walked to a nearby bench surrounded by trees and a little more secluded from the rides. It was the typical park picture, except the happiness was somewhere else. Here, he was waiting for whatever it was that would come.

[Gin]

It had only been a few days since Cal had approached the muggle army camp. Since, he had no stopped thinking of the best way to get at Cato’s charge, the werewolf. He was sure now that he was looking for Fred. He had memorized the man’s appearance and knew his scent. After Cato had warned his charge to escape, Cal had taken the liberty of returning to the camp when the men were out training. Here he had found just what he wanted. Of the two men he had been watching, John remained while Fred had fled. Cal had snooped around the bunk, collecting Fred’s scent. When he was sure he could identify the scent, Cal quitted the camp and returned home. None of his pack had any information, but he hadn’t really expected much. Conner was about the only competent one there and he was still just a kid.

Within two days, his frantic searching turned up a hint of results. When a few of his pack had left, they had remained in contact with their former alpha. One, an older man, had moved to the United States, some hick-central place called Missouri. Why the man had chosen to live with coyotes rather than wolves, Cal would never understand. But the man had, walking his territory one night, come upon a new scent. Knowing his former alpha was on the hunt for a man of that description, the werewolf sent a message to Cal.

Cal had wasted no time in telling Conner to watch the pack. Before two hours had passed, Cal found himself standing at the back door of his former pack mate’s home. The man was not home but a note on the door told Cal that the new scent had been traced to the carnival currently stationed in St. Louis. Not having been to St. Louis before, Cal couldn’t imagine it well enough to apparate. He growled, irritated with himself. He would have to get a ride. He quietly entered the man’s house, searching the house for a broom. The werewolf had been a wizard, even if he was trying to give it up in his retirement. Cal chuckled. No one could resist riding on a broom high above the cities. He pulled the charmed broom from the hall closet and carried it outside, mounting it carefully before he lifted his wand from the strap at his ankle. He murmured a charm, a simple thing to keep himself hidden in plain sight. It would do no good if some muggle saw a wizard flying around on a broom in the middle of the day.

The carnival came into sight below him and Cal slowly guided the broom to the ground. He landed in a tree-covered park outside the carnival. The broom he would have to hide. Cal gazed around, finally settling on a large bush. He tucked the broom away into the leaves and turned toward the carnival. It looked to be entertaining. He would have to take Elle to one some day.

At the main gate, Cal continued to walk, ignoring the man collecting money until he yelled at Cal to stop. Cal turned with a reluctant sigh. Coming to America, he had had only his wizard money and a few pounds. But as he had searched his friend’s house, he had picked up a few loose bills. He would have to pay the man back once he spoke with Fred.

Cal handed the man a couple bills and turned back to continue into the park. The scents overwhelmed him. Food, muggles, water, and a werewolf. Cal’s nose itched with the scent. It was as he had been hoping for. Fred was near. His dark eyes turned around him, catching on various people as he looked around. He turned his gaze on the various rides, halting momentarily on the Ferris Wheel. A man was just getting off, walking away as if nothing in the world was wrong. But Cal could read the tension in his walk. The man took a seat on a nearby bench, holding a wad of blue cotton candy on a paper cone.

The alpha gave it a minute before he slowly approached. He didn’t look at the other man as he took a seat on the bench. His dark eyes kept forward, looking around at the muggles oblivious to the fact that they were in the presence of two magical werewolves. With his eyes unaware, Cal’s nose and ears were working overdrive, keeping him informed of any movement Fred made. If the boy tried anything, Cal would know. It was self-preservation. And growing up with Lucian, and living with a house of werewolves, Cal’s heightened paranoia was a necessity.

[miguel]

Fred sat there for a minute or two before a man sat down next to him. He sat there watching the people walk by and breathed in as much as he could. He smelt it, the presence of another werewolf. The smell was potent and was clear that Cal was the person sitting next to him. He sighed. "So . . . You've made it. I was wondering how long it take for you to find me." Fred continued staring forward. He didn't care to look at Cal. He wouldn't look at him till he thought he deserved it. He moved his cotton candy in Cal's direction without changing his line of sight. "Would you like some cotton candy?" He debated about what to do. "Should I ask him and get it over? I don't really know what to do. . . " He thought as he sat there staring at the people going by. He decided that he would let him get to the discussion in his own time. He was here to have fun, and it is just a business transaction. He watched a couple walk slowly by. They were in each other's arms as they walked onward chatting. It was an interesting site to look at. He then noticed the next group walking. It appeared to be a bus load of kids. It made Fred a little bit more nervous in the situation. "They won't be at risk with us here will they?" Fred asked Cal.

[Gin]

Fred made no move to even look at Cal as the man sat down. As long as Fred made no effort to acknowledge Cal's presence, he wouldn't either. They could sit in silence for an hour for all Cal cared. As long as Fred didn't run away. Of course, if he did run away, there wasn't much Cal could do except run after him. He couldn't just turn werewolf--of wolverine in his case--and cahse him. There were too many muggles around. If Fred decided to try that, Cal would have a serious problem on his hands. He would need a good memory spell.

"So . . . You've made it. I was wondering how long it take for you to find me."

Cal scoffed as if he had had no trouble at all finding the boy. Cal was nearly 10 years older than Fred. The boy hadn't been a werewolf long but it was long enough that Cal was certain Fred knew of werewolf laws enough to keep himself hidden from muggles. Fred didn't seem to concerned with Cal's presence though. He tilted the cotton candy toward Cal, offering it silently before verbally. "Would you like some cotton candy?"

"No." Cal's voice was quiet and firm. He had no reason to trust that Fred had no altered the cotton candy. Cal remained silent, watching the people go by. A few groups of friends walked by, laughing at a joke one of them had made. As they passed, Cal chuckled silently. He had been like that once. Laughing, making crud jokes to his friends. He had been the leader of his friends; Well, the leader of the few friends he actually had. Cal had never had many friends. But now he had an entire pack to follow his lead.

"They won't be at risk with us here will they?"

Fred seemed to be looking at a bus load of kids who had loaded into the park. Cal shook his head. "They are at no risk from me," he mumbled. It was for Fred's ears only and his sharp wolf ears would catch it when no other human would. "From you..." He trailed off, finally turning his head to look at the young werewolf. "I cannot say." His shoulders lifted in a light shrug. "But that is why I've come. You know the rules, do you not?" he asked. Most werewolves were introduced to the rules when they were first turned. That is, if they were turned by a werewolf who abided by the rules. Had they been turned by Oliver, there was almost no doubt that the new wolf would not know the rules. If any of Cal's pack had turned them, they were sure to know the rules. But having only recently learned of the lone werewolf that had been in his territory, Cal had no idea who had bitten Fred or if they had bothered to discuss behavior with the boy. Now that he had come upon Cal's pack, knowingly or not, it fell to Cal to make sure the boy would be no danger to exposing himself or anyone else for that matter.

[miguel]

"They are at no risk from me, . . . From you . . . I cannot say."

Fred smiled. The conversation was starting out good. He didn't have to worry about anyone else's safety. He was worried that Cal was a recruiter from one of the bad werewolf gangs. He shrugged. "I guess you'll find out yourself whether I am a threat or not to others." He said as he realized Cal's eyes were on him. He still didn't give him the respect to look at him. It is one those things he believes. If you look at a person you are more likely to believe them based on anything else besides just logic. For some reason, the emotions of the human soul transfers through the eyes. He'd rather not risk anything like that. Fred stopped his thinking and listened to what Cal was saying.

"But that is why I've come. You know the rules, do you not?"

He thought about the idea. Rules? What rules is he referring to? The standard secrecy rule that every wizard follows? He smiled and responded. "You might as well tell me these rules. The only rules I know of aren't werewolf specific, which I assume you meant it to be." He mumbled back just as quite as Cal did. "Lets get up and walk somewhere. I'd rather like to be more free if something would to happen between us, if you get what I am saying." Fred gestured toward the woods that bordered the carnival. It was a short walk and had a small fence that they could both easily jump.