Chapter Text
Cale perched on the edge of a tree stump, the most recent victim of the wolf children’s exercise dummy in the Forest of Darkness. Crossing his arms and slowly tilting his head to the left, Cale wondered just how much he could sell these cut trees to the group of specialists back in Harris Village.
“Human, listen!”
The black blur known as Raon Miru soared through the Forest of Darkness and like a homing missile, headed straight for Cale.
Familiar with Raon’s two modes of flight, Mach 5 or hyperactive puppy, Cale subconsciously leaned back as Raon came to a stop right in front of Cale’s face.
“Seen something interesting?”
Cale asked before reaching out to brush off the dirt clinging to Raon’s scales, most likely from the Wolf children’s flying kicks when Raon got too close.
“Human! Lock began to shed when he went berserk! The Vice Helmsman said there’s enough to make a blue coat!”
Raon hurriedly explained, his wide dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement as Cale peered over Raon’s head curiously.
“It’s summer after all.”
Cale cryptically explained before uncrossing his arms and standing up. Raon gleefully wagged his tail before hitching a ride on Cale’s shoulder as Cale walked over to now deadly quiet training grounds.
“You weren’t joking.”
Cale’s voice echoed down to the group below as he came to a stop at the edge of one of the many 6-foot-deep craters decorating the forest floor.
Lock, the center of the debacle, was poorly covering his face with his massive hands while the other wolf children happily combed through his fur. Vice-Captain Hilsman was off to the side attempting to hide his silly grin behind one hand while Choi Han sat on the edge of the crater with a small smile.
“So much fur!”
“We could make many scarfs with this!”
“Hyung is so patchy now!”
The wolf children cried out in delight as the pile of dark blue fur surrounding Lock grew larger with each pass of the children’s clever fingers.
Lock, like a good older brother, stood completely still even as their gentle fingers brushed over ticklish spots. But once Lock heard Cale’s voice from above, he became frigid as a glacier.
“See weak human! Lock has enough to make at least 3 coats!”
Raon elatedly called out with a gentle tap of his paw on Cale’s head before launching from Cale’s shoulder to join the circle of wolf children.
“Sigh...”
‘Good thing the pair of kitten siblings were currently being brushed by Deputy Butler Hans or there would be silver and red fur added to the pile.’
“Young master-nim, don’t you think some brushes would make it easier for them?”
Vice-Captain Hilsman aske from below, the nosy Vice-Captain was eyeing the patches of fur beginning to stick to Lock’s legs and feet.
Stepping off the edge of the crater to descend to the bottom with the help of the Sound of the Wind, Cale slowly walked over to the group of beast children before stopping at a safe distance from the flying fur.
“I suppose if it’s alright with Lock.”
Lock eyes widened as the wolf children crowed in delight, Raon brushed off a couple stray locks of fur from Lock’s ears before proudly proclaiming,
“Weak human stay right there! I will grab some from Deputy Butler!”
Raon vanished into a black blur as Lock collapsed into himself in embarrassment, his furred face doing little to hide his mortified expression.
“Young master-nim! You don’t have to do this! In the summer, the adults usually take a dip in the river when they get too itchy. Brushes aren’t necessary!”
Lock cried out, not seeming to notice that his small movements created an even larger mess around his feet.
“I believe even our chief Beacrox would agree with me when I say that only a good brush down can make you clean again.”
Cale claimed with a wave his hand before Raon appeared with at least 4 large brushes cradled in his small paws.
‘The great and might Raon has spoken, looks like Lock is getting a brush down.’
“Deputy Butler gave me his extra brushes and the spares just in case!”
Raon gloated before distributing various sizes of brushes to 5 out of the 10 wolf children while the rest carried Lock’s mound of fur to the other side of the crater.
‘I don’t want to even know why Hans has a disturbing amount of brushes on hand.’
Even Choi Han joined in the fun when Raon passed him a brush, grinning at the mortified expression on Lock’s face when he realized who was merged with the various pair of hands brushing through his fur.
“Hyung!”
Lock cried out, trying to grab the brush from Choi Han’s hand.
“Young master-nim is right, you have to be clean before we eat.”
Choi Han slyly remarked before slipping away from Lock’s grabby hands to continue brushing his back.
Cale had found himself a spot a safe distance away from the spectacle, having Raon take out a small stool before joining the fray.
It seemed like an hour had passed before Lock was brushed down of all the excessive fur and worn down to a thin coat of dark blue fur.
A bag full of dark blue fur was saved while the rest of the fur was burned into ashes by Raon’s magic.
Lock sighed in relief at the end of his torment and was sitting criss cross on the ground while everyone else was splayed out like a bunch of overworked laborers with their now blue brushes thrown into a pile a good distance away.
A soft chuckle escaped Cale’s lips as he removed a remedy from his spatial bag that he had Raon bring from the kitchen earlier, Lock’s shedding reminding him of one of his teammates who was a dedicated dog lover.
“Lock come here.”
Cale called out as he opened the small container in hand to reveal the smell of coconut oil.
“Young Master-nim, not you too!”
Lock practically howled in distress even as he obediently trudged over to Cale’s side. Going as far as to turn around and sit with his back to Cale’s legs without prompting.
All 10 wolf children perked up at the smell and wondered over, while Choi Han and Hilsman watched from their spot on the ground.
Dipping a tablespoon worth of coconut oil in hand, Cale explained the necessity of such remedy before carefully rubbing the oil through Lock’s fur.
Seemingly too tired to join in, Cale ignored everyone's enraptured gazes as he meticulously combed through Lock’s fur with oily fingertips.
‘Does this count as petting a dog even though it’s a werewolf’s fur?’
Although On and Hong were delightful participants to Cale’s secret joy of petting soft fur, it’s been a long time since Cale had an opportunity to pet a dog because they were terrified of his wards' presences.
Cale tried his best to keep a stoic expression, he was finishing Lock’s back when a strange rumbling sound emerged from Lock.
Cale snatched his hands away quickly as Lock’s back arched, as if chasing Cale’s fingertips, before Lock froze again.
‘Was he going to bite him or something?’
The Wolf Children seemed to know otherwise as they called out happily,
“That’s a happy sound.”
“Don’t worry younger master-nim! We sometimes make that sound too!”
“Lock’s happy that his coat will be shiny!”
The confirmation from the Wolf children eased Cale’s hesitance before he continued with steady hands.
10 minutes later Cale found himself sitting criss cross on the ground surrounded by the small pack of wolf beastmen as he finished up.
Lock long ago closed his eyes while the rumbling sound continued to grow louder by the minute.
Dropping his strained arms from keeping them up for a long period of time, Cale couldn’t help but yawn as he realized the sun long moved away from the zenith and a particularly tall tree created a decent patch of shade for them.
“Human, are you done?”
Raon asked from his position in Cale’s lap, Raon’s little head nudged against Cale’s stomach as he curled up tighter into a ball.
“Yes, although it took a bit longer than I thought.”
Cale murmured before letting out another small yawn. Choi Han and Hilsman seemed to have gone off to another area of the Forest of Darkness to train while driving away any monster that dared to get close even though Raon already set up a clear barrier.
“I suppose we could stay for a while longer.”
Cale words faltered as he slowly fell over to join the pile of sleeping wolf children.
When Choi Han walked back over to the crater with Vice-Captain Hilsman, he couldn’t control the bright smile gracing his lips at the sight of red amongst the large pile of blue hair.