"So you all are here from Windia?" Cameron took a sip of his ale as Ray nodded. The wolf-man chuckled a deep chuckle. "What brings you this far out? Out here looking for the cat?"

Ray raised his eyebrow curiously at the forestclan man. "What cat?"

Cameron took another sip of his ale before motioning to where Prather and Banter had headed off to. "The cat those two were talking about. Its stories have been bringing hunters around from all over to get at it."

"You mean that wasn't just some weird song?" Janet stared at Cameron in wonder. The wolf shook his head.

"'Course not, it's real. Almost everyone's had an encounter with the animal, and there's a big bounty on it right now."

"Is that why you're here?" Lucy gazed at the shotgun that was strapped across Cameron's back. "For the hunt and the money?" Cameron shook his head.

"I don't care about the money, I've got my own bone to pick with that kitty." The wolf gave off a low growl as he set down his mug. Lucy studied him curiously and the hunter continued with a sigh. "My son and I were hunting in these woods out here when we ran into the creature. My boy..." Cameron shook his head. "He didn't make it... cat got him in the night when my back was turned." The wolf took a large swig from his drink. "So now here I am, and I'm not going home 'til I've found that creature and blasted it to kingdom come." He growled again as he set down his now empty mug. The trio exchanged solemn glances before Janet spoke up.

"I'm sorry to hear that... we just recently lost a friend of ours too..."

Cameron nodded at the windian. "Say no more." The wolf-man seemed to assume that Janet had been talking about the cat when she mentioned Brandon's death. "We can avenge their deaths together." He flashed Janet a fanged grin before turning back to Ray. "So where are you all headed?"

Ray rubbed the back of his neck. "You ever heard of a place called the Sea of Trees?"

The wolf rubbed his chin lightly in consideration. "Yea, that's a ways east of here. That your destination?" The dragon nodded in reply. Cameron shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "What do you want to go out there for? Bah, nevermind." He brushed the question aside with a wave of his clawed hand. "That's your business, not mine. I'm just here to be a guide." The wolf grinned again. "Anyway, so the Sea of Trees you say? Yea, that place is farther out east of here." Cameron stared down at his empty mug absently. "I can take you to the edge of these woods, but not much farther. These woods continue over some mountains and mix into that Sea. There's a small range of mountains though that boarders the forest you're talking about." Cameron shrugged. "There's a path through them, made a long time ago through a hollowed out volcano. I dunno though, not many people take that trial anymore."

"Just get us to those mountains, and we should be fine from there." Ray glanced out one of the tavern windows. "It's starting to get late."

"Yea." Cameron chuckled as he followed Ray's gaze. "Come on, let's run by the supply shop and I'll pick a few things up. We'll start out tonight, try and make ground before it gets dark."

"You want to stay out in those woods at night?" Janet gazed at the wolf in disbelief. Cameron shrugged as he stood up.

"Why not? I've been doing it for the past few nights. Cheaper then the Inn here, and a hell of a lot nicer to." He grinned. "But then, you'd have to see what the Inn here is like to know that. Come on, I've got a camp set up just outside of Rasner, came into town earlier today to pack up on a few more supplies before I met you all. Guess I'd better finish running that errand and we can go." The trio stood and followed Cameron as he led them out of the tavern and through the village, taking them to one of the various hunting shops. The shop owner glanced up as the wolf-man stepped inside, the two windians and the dragon in tow behind him.

"Hey, Cameron." The man behind the counter nodded. "You here for your order?"

"'Course I am." The wolf stepped up to the counter, resting against it as the man ducked out of sight for a moment, shuffling through a few compartments under his countertop before reappearing with a medium sized box in his hands.

"Here you go." He plopped the box down on the counter and it landed with a loud thud. "You wouldn't believe how hard these things are to get a hold of."

"Oh, I believe it." Cameron dropped a sack of zenny on the counter before picking up his package and heading back over to the trio. "Come on," he motioned to the three. "I'll take you all to camp."

Camp was nice. Cameron had everything. Tents for the trio to use, pans and dishes and food for meals, blankets, air mattresses, sleeping bags, everything the three could have hoped for. Lucy and Janet had been given a tent to themselves, and the two girls where currently fussing about inside of it, getting their beds ready for the night. Ray was using a smaller spare tent that the wolf had had with him, and left Cameron alone in his own tent that he had been using for the past few nights. Cameron was tending to getting the campfire situated when Janet crawled out from her tent and headed to the warm glow of the fireplace. She had left Lucy behind, the raven-haired windian was quickly falling asleep and she didn't want to disturb her. Ray could be heard moving around in his tent, which left Janet and the wolf-man alone and seated around the fire. Janet looked at Cameron for a moment, studying him before her eyes moved down to the box the wolf held in his lap.

"So what's in the box?"

"Hrm?" Cameron glanced down at the box in his lap. "This? Just some ammo." He opened up the package and plopped it down on the ground so that the windian could see. Janet picked up one of the shotgun shells and studied it curiously.

"It's silver?"

Cameron nodded. Janet was about to question the odd choice of material when a yowl rose up in the night. With a start, Janet dropped the bullet and looked around for the source of the noise as it faded away. Cameron's low chuckle finally turned her attention back to the wolf-man next to her.

"Don't worry about that, it's just the cat. He won't bother us. From the sound of it he just came across another hunter anyway, so we should be okay for the night."

Janet shuddered lightly as she picked up the bullet she had dropped and placed it back into the box. "You've been out here all these nights, and you're not worried about that thing?"

Cameron shook his head. "Not really. I've been out here long enough with it to understand it a bit. It has patterns in what it does. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you hear it, sometimes you just find clues that it was there." The wolf shrugged his broad shoulders. "But the cat's got a pattern in what it does. It's a strange creature. You can't find it unless it wants you to find it, so its no use coming out here to hunt it. All you do is you sit and wait." Cameron nodded to the darkness around the camp. "And sometimes when you do find it, it's not time to try and fight it. Everything goes by the cat's schedule."

"That's creepy." Janet shivered. "It's like its controlling everything..."

Cameron chuckled. "There's an illusion to hunting that most people share, and that is that if you have the weapon, you must be the hunter." Cameron shook his head. "That's what most of those guys are probably thinking." He gazed out into the dark forests. "But you see, it's not really like that. We're here on this animal's territory. It has the upper hand. It's really the hunter, we're just prey that can chose to fight back." The wolf grinned at Janet, and the windian fidgeted uneasily under his look. Cameron continued. "The hunter always controls the situation. They know when to strike, where to strike, and what the prey will do. So really, there's nothing that can be done but to sit and wait for your turn to fight the cat, and then give it hell before it brings you down."

"That's... that's pretty morbid." Janet shuddered again. "And this doesn't bother you?"

Cameron shook his head, letting go of another low chuckle. "Not really. See, when it's my turn to fight the cat, that thing is going to find that I won't be like its other prey. I'll fight back, and I'll fight to win." The wolf-man's face took a more solemn look to it as it stared into the fire. "I'm not like the other hunters, I'm not out here for the money." Janet considered the wolf for a moment before she stood up and made her way slowly to the tent she was sharing with Lucy.

"Sleep well." Janet could hear Cameron's rough voice call out from behind her. She turned to where the wolf was still staring into the flames, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Probably thinking about his son... Janet thought to herself as she headed into her tent. The words that the hunter had spoken to her earlier echoed in her head quietly. We'll avenge them together, she thought as she looked down where Lucy was sleeping. It's almost over Lucy. We'll avenge your brother in the end...

Janet crawled into her sleeping bag and prepared herself to drift off into an uneasy sleep. We'll avenge Brandon, and we'll find Jason, and then we can all go back home...