Chapter Text
“Let go!”
“No, you let go!”
Renjun jerked on the fur with all the force he could muster and Jaemin squeaked as he lost balance from the tug. He tried to hold on, but he stumbled and fell, forced to let go. Renjun clutched the bunny’s pelt to his chest and dashed off while Jaemin was still flat on his tummy.
He heard him crying behind himself, but he didn’t care.
This was his bunny, he had it first and Jaemin had to go get his own! He always got everything that wasn’t even his just because he was so brash!
Quickly, Renjun had reached the working tent and found a piece of coal to write his name on the inside of the fur. It was still ugly and clumsy, but he had learnt how to write it not long ago. For that, it was fine.
Satisfied, he opened his fathers’ chest and gently placed the material for tomorrow’s lesson inside. That had been their after-lessons-work, to find something for tomorrow. Renjun had been diligently sorting through the furs that were prepared for these things to find the best one. This had been it, no marks from the kill and no wounds on the bunny from prior adventures. It also had a really pretty pattern.
One day, Renjun wanted to kill bunny this well, too! He knew how to do it: You had to bite their necks just right, which would make it easier for the bunny, too, as it’d hardly feel anything. He was just way too slow and too clumsy on four paws, so he hadn’t yet managed to even get close to one when his Baba had taken him to explore the woods where he wasn’t allowed to go on his own yet.
But he would. Renjun wanted to be like the heroes from the stories the adults told over the fire in warm summer nights. Strong and fast and feared and big, providing for his mate (and maybe puppies) well. Yeah.
By the time he returned to where Jaemin and he had been fighting over the furs, Jeno was there, too. He had ripped his shirt after bathing, earlier. The one he was wearing now was tiny, probably from last year.
Jaemin looked up and pouted. Renjun kneeled down next to him.
“Want me to help you find a good one?”
“You took the good one!” Jaemin whined and Jeno patted his arm soothingly.
“There are other good ones.”
“I don’t want those.”
“Tough luck,” Renjun huffed. Maybe, just maybe, he’d give a fur up for his mate in the future. But probably not. It was important to have good fur to work with, after all. His Appa was always very strict in judging their work. Renjun could see why. You had to be good so you could make things that worked and lasted! You didn’t want to fix them over and over or them not to work at all!
Jeno finally got Jaemin to settle for a different fur by just suggesting it enough times. He was always like that. Renjun always worried extra about him because he was kind of soft and too nice. They were the same age, but Jeno was too careful with everything, so he never won in fights. He needed protection, Renjun had long decided.
The working tent was boring, but outside it was becoming cold already, the spring sun wasn’t powerful enough to warm the soil to last through the night, so they stayed and pulled out the carefully carved figurines their parents had made for each of them.
Jaemin had an elk, which was super cool and Renjun was a bit jealous of, but he often traded it for his fox. His Appa had coloured it orange, so it was also really cool. Renjun could barely cut a straight line right now, but he also wanted to make cool figurines in the future.
Jeno had 20 bunnies. He used to have only two, but he liked them so much and had kept asking his baba for more. When he had been pregnant with Jeno’s brother, he had made a lot for Jeno, so now he had them in all sorts of colours and sizes.
Renjun wasn’t so much jealous of those. Bunnies were sort of…
Lame.
He wanted something big or something dangerous. Wolves, of course, were the most dangerous, only bears were even too much for a pack to take down, but bears were maybe a tiny bit scary. Of course, he’d never say that. How embarrassing, he wasn’t scared!
“Appa! Dad! Appa! Dad!”
Renjun startled when the yell of the fourth of their bunch echoed over the camp.
“What is Donghyuck screaming over about now?” Jaemin furrowed his brows while Jeno looked worried.
“Didn’t we kind of leave him?” he muttered.
“Well, he wouldn’t wake up!” Jaemin waved his hands.
“Yeah, his own fault,” Renjun agreed because Donghyuck was just a bit lazy. Or a lot. At least when it came to getting up or fighting. He never even tried. Renjun didn’t understand at all. If someone challenged him, he had to fight and show them who was boss! Even Jeno, though he was never mean with him because he needed protection.
“I’m sure he’ll come once he finished complaining.”
“Yeah. So, like, my wolf would be chasing this single deer, like so,” Renjun moved the two figures in question through the branches and leaves they had used as the pretend forest.
Jeno kept asking if they should maybe check on Donghyuck and once Renjun had taken down the deer and Jaemin finished his branch-hut, they left their toys behind to look for him, he was their friend, after all.
The camp wasn’t big. In the middle, they had the fireplace with the cooking stone. Close to that was the supply hut, a big and sturdy house made from wood. Wood was a lot of work to take care of, so it was the only wooden building in camp.
Other than that, the camp was made from tents, some bigger, some smaller. The one in which they all, all eight puppies, slept, was also located in the middle, just in case. Their pack leader’s home was the furthest outside the circle. Renjun kinda also wanted to become like Johnny maybe in the future. He was strong and big and kind and everyone loved but also respected him.
They spotted Donghyuck in front of the medical tent easily, where he was braiding grass.
“Did he get hurt?” Jeno gasped.
“But he’s outside,” Renjun pointed out.
“What are you doing here?” Jaemin asked and Donghyuck looked up. His sweater was thick and fluffy. Renjun wondered if his Chichi would scold him for being in a sleeveless shirt himself, but he wasn’t cold at all, so it was fine.
“Are you waiting for someone?” he added; if Donghyuck was hurt, he’d not sit here outside all alone.
“Jaemin! You left me all alone!” Donghyuck jumped up, accusing Jaemin of exactly what they had already thought of. He brought Jaemin down but was overpowered immediately, “No fair, I was cold!”
“Sorry, Hyuckie, but you wouldn’t wake up! Jeno and Injun asked to come to bathe before it got too cold,” Jaemin explained.
“Still. But I found someone really interesting instead. And you didn’t, Nah-Nah-Na,” Donghyuck poked his tongue out.
He had found someone? Renjun’s interest was immediately piqued – and so was everyone else’s. Jaemin let Donghyuck sit up while Jeno asked: “Really?”
Donghyuck grinned, but he quickly burst out: “I found a grey wolf, who’s all alone and really hurt, in the berry field. I think they’re our age. Taeyong said so, too.”
“Grey?”
Jeno said what Renjun thought. Wolves weren’t grey, though, right? They were brown!
“I never knew there were grey wolves. Are you sure?” he flopped down next to Donghyuck. Nevermind he knew for sure no stranger should be on their territory. That was super forbidden!
“Yep. Doyoung’s taking care of them right now,” Donghyuck nodded so much, his hair whipped his face.
“Do you think we can look inside?” Jaemin asked, a mischievous smirk on his lips. He glanced at the tent.
“No! They said I couldn’t come!” Donghyuck crossed his arms, huffing as if that would be scary.
Renjun also wanted to see. What was Donghyuck being so boring for? Jaemin was already moving towards where their healer was working and Renjun was about to follow when Jaemin was grabbed by the collar.
“Jaemin, what do you think you’re doing?”
Oops.
Renjun quickly sat back down. He had not planned to follow. Nope.
“Nothing? I was just sitting here with the others,” Jaemin chirped with a beam up to the man holding him back.
Johnny wouldn’t punish him if he hadn’t done anything, of course. He also let some things slip if they weren’t bad. He was fair, a good pack leader, a true role model.
“Hm, good. Because your father said it was urgent and potentially dangerous. We wouldn’t want you close to that, right?”
“No, of course not,” Jaemin nodded as if he was an angel. He wasn’t. Of course, none of them would say that. If it was about the brothers of Jaemin, Jeno, or Donghyuck, sure, but not about each other. You had to protect your friends!
“Appa!” Donghyuck jumped up instead and hugged the leg of the taller man before he could move on into the tent, “I found them! And they’re alone! Can I keep them? Please! They smell really nice and they need to have friends! I want to be their friend!”
Renjun wondered why Donghyuck knew they were nice from their scent? What had he even smelt? The berries? Everyone knew you’d smell of something when you presented and became an adult – clearly, none of them was, so none of them smelt of much other than their parents.
Their own scent was super important and Renjun wanted to be an adult very soon, but his Appa always reminded him it was still a long time away and he should enjoy his time as a puppy. Being an adult was just so much cooler, though. No bedtime, no cleaning your toys up, you got to go hunting and stuff. Renjun wanted that.
Still, chances were Donghyuck was making things up.
“They smell really good? I see. But they might be dangerous, you know? Your safety is my number one priority, always. Now, why don’t you boys go and help with dinner?”
“But Appa, I wanna know what happens to the grey wolf,” Donghyuck whined, squeezing the leg tighter. Renjun mainly didn’t want to help with cooking. That was so boring!
“Don’t worry, we’ll tell you. But we couldn’t have a guest and not have any dinner for them, right?”
Donghyuck let go of him and turned to them, new determination in his eyes, “We have to go and make the bestest dinner ever! Right now! Come on, don’t slack off!”
Renjun groaned while Jaemin complained. Cooking was the worst. Only the fine handiwork was even worse!
So, he and Jaemin slipped away the first chance they got.
Unfortunately, they next ran into his Appa, who said it wasn’t ‘orderly’ to leave their figures behind and made them clean up, so that really sucked.
Admittedly, Renjun had thought Donghyuck had been lying for attention when he had said there was a grey puppy.
But when they peeked over the edge of the bed in the medical tent, he was actually grey.
And hurt.
Really hurt, a lot of bandages were all over him. Jeno already worried if he felt bad. Jeno was too kind, feeling for every other being. That was why he needed Renjun’s protection.
“He doesn’t smell of ginger, though,” Renjun pointed out the obvious. Of course, he didn’t. People only smelt of things when they were adults like how his Chichi had explained his Appa smelt of mint and his Baba smelt of cassia.
“Yes, he does!” Donghyuck loudly snorted, immediately getting hushed by Doyoung because the puppy needed rest. Not like anyone could rest when they had visitors anyway.
Jeno and Jaemin loudly sniffed the air, trying to get as close to the stranger as possible.
“Kinda not,” Jaemin denied.
“I don’t smell anything either,” Jeno shook his head.
“Well, fine, then maybe only I know,” Donghyuck huffed and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.
“Or you’re making it up to look important,” Renjun teased. Everyone knew that in the fairy tales, two mates could smell each other really strongly. Maybe Donghyuck wanted to pretend he was the hero of one?
“Why is everyone always so mean?” Donghyuck started sniffling and Renjun rolled his eyes while Jeno immediately said they didn’t mean it, but they really couldn’t smell anything, hugging him in consolation.
Renjun only did that when it was Jeno who needed soothing. Because. Jeno was different.
There were a lot of extremely cool things adults did, which was why Renjun was eager to become one.
Such as hunting, fighting, protecting.
Renjun wanted to do all of that and he hated all the boring and slow things like sewing, stitching, and knitting. Unfortunately, he had to learn everything. It was important to be skilled in everything you might need.
Sure, he wanted to be well-skilled, but why was it so hard?
Whenever they had a cool lesson, a hunting lesson or a fighting lesson, Renjun paid a lot more attention. He didn’t want to miss a single thing, no, he wanted to be the best! He always had. His Baba said it was a good thing to be ambitious, though his Chichi often said to not push himself so much when he cried because he had not been the best.
“There is a fresh track here. I want you to pick it up and follow it for five steps,” Jaehyun, who was leading their training today, announced.
Renjun was buzzing with energy.
Finding a track was a hunter’s duty, a skill they needed to find prey and take it down. It was extremely important – the better you were, the more you’d find and the more you could help the pack.
His nose worked fine and he knew which animals just wandered the woods but never made good food and which were big and full of the things everyone needed to be strong and healthy.
It was easy to sniff until he found where a small group of deer must have passed through recently. Renjun had his nose on their path in the blink of an eye, following it.
Deer were good, they were big and not too difficult to take down, so the effort was worth the gain. Their skin could be used in many everyday things, too.
He wanted to hunt one so badly, he blindly followed the track because he knew he’d find them on the end of it, then he could chase it down until he’d get a good angle and launch himself at it to take it down and…
“Good job, Renjun. Everyone else, please come to follow where Renjun did and see if you can pick up what he did,” Jaehyun let him snap out of it and he stopped even though he didn’t want to.
He wanted to hunt and prove himself and support the pack, keep them safe!
But he was too young and he’d have to wait for a lot longer. Until he was tall and strong and an adult.
To grow tall, he had to eat healthily, so his dads always said.
“Yuck!” Jaemin gagged and Renjun took back the concoction of different greens he had made.
“No one asked you to eat it,” he pouted and took another bite. It tasted bitter and not nearly as yummy as the stew they usually had for breakfast.
“But why do you?” Jaemin looked baffled and then downed a cup of water.
“Because I want to grow tall and strong,” Renjun announced. Filled with new determination, he took an entire mouth-full.
“Well, I’ll grow tall anyway,” Jaemin decided and leaned back, stretching his legs out lazily.
“Maybe not,” Renjun muttered just because how could Jaemin be sure?
“Yeah, I will, so I can protect all of you well.”
“I don’t need protection. But I guess you could help protect the others.”
Jaemin turned his head.
“I wanna protect you, too.”
“I said I don’t want it!” Renjun glared back.
“How will you stop me?” Jaemin smirked.
Renjun carefully put his breakfast aside before he was on Jaemin’s throat and they were rolling through the dust, trying to best each other.
Jaemin was good.
Which was why he could maybe help Renjun protect the others, especially Jeno.
But he wasn’t good enough, he was a bit too slow, a bit too predictable, and Renjun had him pinned down and forced him to submit soon enough.
Jaemin had this way of giving puppy eyes even with a bared throat. Renjun nudged his nose against his neck, a peace offering, but then he pulled back and didn’t yet let go.
“See? This is why you need me protecting you!” he grinned and Jaemin was so surprised, he didn’t reply.
Because Renjun was right, of course.
Everyone needed his protection, it was what he wanted to do.
“I’ll get better than you and then I’ll be the one to protect you,” Jaemin muttered when Renjun let him go.
“You can try,” Renjun nudged him with his shoulder.
“What can who try?” Donghyuck suddenly asked and Renjun turned to see him and Jeno get closer, a blanket wrapped around both of them to fight the cool air of the morning.
“Jaemin can try and become better than me,” Renjun grinned and the two others settled down.
“Oh, I thought it was something important,” Donghyuck shrugged and helped himself to some of the stew.
“Do you wanna be better than Injun?” Jeno asked, blinking wide eyes.
“Yeah, duh,” Jaemin huffed.
“Why is it always about fighting, that’s so boring. Let’s talk about the really important news, which are where did the ging- I mean Mark, where is Mark?” Donghyuck changed topics and looked around.
“Aren’t we good enough anymore?” Renjun complained.
Mark was the name of the grey wolf, as they now knew. Their pack leader had announced he would join them yesterday, but Renjun hadn’t care that super much if he was to be fully honest. His Chichi had given him leaves with different tracks on them and he had been busy memorising which was bunny, rabbit, squirrel, and fox.
The new kid was kinda tiny, super shy, and had stuck to Johnny all day yesterday, never doing anything fun and Renjun knew that he for sure needed to be protected, but he also wasn’t sure if they would become friends.
Donghyuck, of course, had been talking about nothing else. He had ever since he had found Mark in the strawberry field. Renjun found it maybe a little irritating because they had been friends first and now Donghyuck found that boring grey wolf more interesting.
“Maybe still with Johnny?” Jeno contemplated.
“Unless someone cut him off him, he probably is,” Jaemin giggled.
“Don’t be mean! He must be super scared and super lonely! You’d do the same if you got really hurt and then suddenly ended in a new pack!” Donghyuck knocked his spoon over Jaemin’s head, making him whine.
Renjun guessed that was right. Maybe they should be friends so he wasn’t scared and lonely? That would also be better for protection…
“We have to be nice to him and make friends, so he can feel safe,” he loudly decided.
“Yes!” Donghyuck broke into a brilliant beam.