The Bear Shifter’s Promise

by Martha Woods

  “We’d be open to discussing some kind of trade, something for you in exchange for something for us.” Orson leaned back on his elbow, not wanting to surrender himself completely but wanting to at least put her at ease for a little bit. “How low are you on supplies?”

  “We might be able to scrape through this season, but we’re not sure about next season. We have some crops that grow pretty quickly, but with the harvest times it wouldn’t line up properly to be of any use to us, someone planted the wrong crops first and we don’t have enough to spare to just dig it up and throw it away.”

  So they had fast growing crops, but no land to plant them in. To Orson that sounded like the exact inverse of his problem, the crops having a hard time growing on top of there just plain not being enough seed to actually take advantage of the land that they held. It seemed like a deal made in heaven.

  It sounded like something too good to be true, but that was true of most things now. At least he could extend a cautious hand to test the waters.

  “We have some land that is available, if your people would be open to it we could… extend it to you as a favor, give you somewhere to grow extra food in exchange for a portion of the crops.”

  Jennifer narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him seriously for the first time that he’d noticed. “What portion?”

  “Fifty percent. It sounds like a lot, because it is, but fifty percent of something is better than one hundred percent of nothing right?” Settling into a sitting position, he crossed his legs and faced her. “Besides, it’s about time some of us actually did something with this ‘peace’ that we have, rather than just staying in our own territory and hoping no one comes through.”

  “I came through just fine.”

  “And if it had been anyone but me who saw you they would have tried to kill you on sight, memories are long and we were fighting not that long ago.” The wind whistled through the trees, leaves swaying on branches and twigs cracking underneath the feet of animals, so calm in that moment that it was easy to forget the violence that had happened not all that long ago. But there was something about a moment like this that could just set you at ease, make you feel calm in your skin that just radiated out to the entire rest of your body from your toes to your fingers, pulsing through you like an electrical current. When she nodded her agreement to his proposal, he didn’t bother hiding his smile, he just sat back and listened to the trees again, watching as she did the same while the sun was high in the sky.

  For just a moment, he could forget what day was coming up.

  “Just so you know, they might still not agree to it,” Jennifer said, hours later when the clouds had started to roll in, “They could just decide that we can go it alone, which means both of our clans will be screwed.”

  “Then it’s your job to make sure that they end up agreeing to it, just like it’s mine to make sure that the bitter old men decide that it’s best to willingly let wolves into our ranks. How fun will that be?”

  She snorted, slapping one hand into the ground and pushing herself up onto her feet, stretching the muscles in her back until they all popped into place. “How long do you think we’ll last if they don’t though?”

  “Your clan? You said they’ll make it through this winter, and I’m willing to believe that, but if very serious changes aren’t made then you’ll likely lose a lot of your people even before the next, and then your fates will really be sealed.” He debated telling her the next part, but he figured that they needed to be honest if they were actually going to be trying to make a deal. “I’m willing to compromise and buy supplies from the city if we’re short, but most of us don’t want to do that, and I wouldn’t blame anyone if they lost faith and decided to leave after that anyway. Same outcome as yours, just maybe a little faster.”

  She nodded, deciding that the most comforting thing that she could say was, “Even if you all died out by then, the land probably wouldn’t do us any good anyway, we wouldn’t have enough people to make it all work out.”

  “That’s right,’ Orson replied, “So that’s why this deal should go off smoothly and without any sort of betrayals from anyone involved, right?”

  “If you say so,” She laughed, waving over her shoulder as she turned and left, “You go and take care of your people, I’ll take care of mine. We’ll meet back here whenever we feel that we’ve got an answer.”

  “And when will that be?”

  She stopped, considering for a moment before she shrugged and smiled. “I don’t know. We’ll just feel it.”

  He was still standing there twenty minutes later considering that answer when he finally noticed the sun was going down, bundling himself up in his coat as the wind got chillier and harder, the hard ground crunching underneath his boots as a frost started to form on the dirt. “Great, that’s what I get for losing my focus,” He muttered to himself, not looking up until he could see the lights of the settlement off in the distance, families walking themselves back home from the fields or from a day of foraging and hunting, some hauling substantial meat for the rest of the clan to feed on, most coming back empty handed. The land had changed a lot in the time that he’d been alive, it pained him to think about what it would be like in a few years more.

  “Orson,” Jeremy greeted when Orson finally stepped through the door, shaking the moisture off his coat before settling in front of the fire, “Mind telling me where you went? Or is that a secret meant only for your ears?”

  “I just went off to do some thinking,” He replied, rubbing his hands together and groaning at the warmth spreading through them, “About this situation we’ve found ourselves in, and what we could do to actually fix it.”

  “Well if you’ve got any ideas I would love to hear them, at this point any idea is a good idea.”

  “I’ve been thinking that we should make a deal with the wolves.”

  Jeremy looked up from the fire, eyes fixed on the wall as his eyebrows worked themselves into a plain showing of confusion. “Except for that,” He said, “That is a terrible idea.”

  “And why’s that?” Orson asked, “Genuinely, why wouldn’t it work?”

  “Because they’re a bunch of warmongering savages who tried their absolute best to kill us only a few years ago, that’s why. Just because we’re not fighting right now doesn’t mean that they won’t try to take a swing at us soon anyway.”

  “They’re in just as desperate a situation as we are! They have too many people to be able to sustain themselves on their land, if they don’t get our help they’re just as likely to die too.”

  “And… where exactly did you learn this?”

  Well, the cat was out of the bag. “I… spoke to one of them today, at the cliffside.”

  It took only a moment for Jeremy to get his exact thoughts in order, but it was the longest moment that Orson could remember ever experiencing. “I’m sorry… you did what exactly?”

  “We both met at the cliffside, and she’d been wandering through taking a lay of the land. There’s nothing forbidding any of us from going into the other’s territory, it’s just strongly discouraged.”

  “It’s strongly discouraged because both of our sides know that we’re just itching for the chance to kill each other again.” He leaned in, voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper as he continued, “You cannot possibly be this naive, can you? I know that you’re young, but do you have no idea of what it is that they truly did to us?”

  “I remember Jeremy, don’t think for a moment that I don’t. But it’s time to move on, don’t you think? This could be a chance, a real chance to be able to heal something between us, so that we can actually survive.”

  Jeremy shook his head, not believing what he assumed was Orson’s youthful naivete for a second. “All that it is, will be a chance for the wolves to try and kill us and take the land for themselves to use. And given that now they know what situation it is that we find ourselves in, that’s likely exactly what it is that they’re planning to do as we speak, so the best
thing that any of us can do right now is think of a way to strike back before they can hit us.”

  Orson felt his jaw drop, just as the world dropped out from beneath him too, body losing what strength it had and making him slump into the seat in disbelief. “You can’t… you can’t be serious, you want another war?”

  “I do not want another war Orson, I would have been content to just let this lay forgotten while we tried to sort out our problems another way, but now that they know that we’re in a desperate position what is stopping them from coming and capitalizing on that opportunity?” Jeremy ran his hand over his face, sighing roughly to himself and shaking his head. “But let’s say that they’re not planning to attack us, we’re still in an incredibly vulnerable position here. We don’t have enough food, and we’re at risk of losing some of our people to the cities as it is, eventually we’re going to have to do something to protect our people. And eventually we might not have any other options.”

  “No other options except to start up another cycle of death and violence, just what we needed. You’re forgetting that there’s more of them than us right? So even if I was interested in talking about… about going and murdering them first before they can attack us, how long do you think we’d last before they got wise to us and just attacked all at once? You think we’d even make it a day?”

  “I don’t know,” Jeremy said, “I don’t know. But I do know that we won’t make it through another year at this rate, and you know that too. But I’m not going to make the decision for you, you know that I respect you too much to do that, if you want to just sit on this and see where it goes… fine, I’ll accept that. But the others won’t, so don’t breathe a word of this to any of them, understand?”

  “And if they do attack?” Orson asked, “What then?”

  “Then I hope that you’ll understand that I’ll have some people ready to act in that case, but I won’t tell them the specifics. I’ll just say that I’ve had a strange feeling lately, and that I’ve learned to trust my instinct, so I’m not lying.” He stood, regarding Orson for a moment before he sighed, “This will blow up in our faces Orson, I just hope that you’re willing to do the right thing.”

  “I want to believe that they want the same things that I do,” Orson said, “But… if it really comes down to that, us or them… I’m not going to hesitate to make sure that we’re the ones that end up on top, I promise you that.”

  Jennifer had received a definite scalding when she’d walked back into her own territory, the clan elder standing there waiting for her to make her reappearance so that she could tell Jennifer just how stupid she had been in going out to hostile territory so easily. It was, in many ways, the exact same dressing down that Orson had received.

  And just as the case was with him, revealing what she and Orson had spoken about did nothing to quell the anger and disappointment.

  “You told him about our land?” The elder said, tone conveying pure disbelief, “Have you completely lost your mind, or are you hoping for another fight to happen?”

  “What I want is for all of us to be able to eat next year, is that so wrong?” Jennifer was no stranger to conversations about her recklessness, but she had to admit that they were starting to get a little old. “I’m perfectly aware of what the stakes are talking to someone like that, but what’s being done here to make sure that we don’t starve? Not much, far as I can see!”

  “We are doing all that we can…”

  “And it’s not enough! Jeez, he even made the offer to loan us some of their land, so clearly he wants to try and heal things between our two groups, why can’t any of you see that?”

  The elder’s expression changed to one of concern, her lips pursing in thought and her eyebrows pinching together. “Did he make that offer by himself, or was it prompted by you during negotiation?”

  “I… he was the one to bring it up, we’d just been sitting there and thinking for a while at that point. What does that matter? Elder Sarah?”

  She’d been expecting disappointment and concern, but what she never would have guessed happening was the Elder’s fist to slam against her desk, sending books toppling off the edge to the cold ground below. Jennifer was almost readying herself for an actual fight, before she saw the trembling of Sarah’s fist where it sat upon the wood.

  “Can’t you see?” The Elder said, “It’s a plan to wipe out our best and brightest, as soon as we send anyone out there he will have his forces just waiting to tear us all apart, and from there it would be easy for them to rush in and take the rest of us by surprise. It’s a brilliant plan, and absolutely not one that we would be able to survive.”

  “What?” Jennifer shouted, “Do you even hear yourself? Why would he do that?”

  “Because no doubt he believes that we would do the same to him, and for that I truly can’t blame him, neither of us can truly forgive the things that both of our groups did during the war. But as much as we might dream of forgiveness and reconciliation, we’re not so stupid as to think that it’s something achievable in any of our lifetimes.” The Elder shook her head, something approaching sadness appearing on her face, “We need to get to them first, it’s the only way to ensure that any of us will come out of this alive at the end of all this. Much as it pains me, I think that we’ve managed to walk headlong into another war.”

  Jennifer’s head was spinning, so surprised and distraught at the possibility of what she was hearing that she began answering questions on auto-pilot, not realizing that she’d been asked where the rest of Orson’s siblings were until she gave the answer. “They all split off, he doesn’t know where they went.”

  “Hmm, once they hear about what’s happening to their home they’ll likely come back to aid in its defense, and that is not something that we want. If that family is good at anything, it was absolutely fighting.” Already the Elder was scribbling names down on a piece of paper, shifting into war mode in front of Jennifer so easily that she couldn’t even tell when it had really happened. “I hate doing this, but we’ll have to deal with them as well. If they come back it will definitely be a problem that could spell the end for us, so we need to take care of them while they are still alone, wherever they are. I’ll send some trackers out to find them, we should know where they are within the week.”

  Jennifer meanwhile was already turning and leaving, the Elder not even noticing her leave as she scribbled down war plans and hit lists, prepared to do what she thought was necessary to defend all of their lives. What pained Jennifer wasn’t the fact that the deal had fallen through, or even that all it had resulted in was a war after such a short time of peace, what truly pained her was the thought that she couldn’t truly tell if she’d been conned by Orson or not.

  For some reason, that last bit hurt most of all.

  Chapter 2

  Orson awoke with a pain in his neck and a headache, a fantastic start to the day already on top of everything else he had to deal with. The conversation that he’d had with Jeremy was still on his mind, the easy dismissal of everything he had tried to do in favor of a preparation for a war, the feelings of necessity overriding just about everything else that could be gained from an arrangement, both good and bad.

  But that was still a problem for another day, Jeremy had already taken the necessary protections to make sure that they were prepared in case of a surprise attack, so Orson could dedicate himself fully to the problem facing his people: Imminent starvation. A shame that his previous solution hadn’t ended up working out, but he wasn’t going to let one setback mean that his people didn’t get the chance to live another year out in the freedom of nature.

  “What would dad do?” He asked himself, before chuckling bitterly, “Probably make all of our crops into rye so he’d never be short of a drink, that sounds like him. Why couldn’t I have had someone useful raise me, I sure could use some knowledge right about now.”

  All things considered, he was rather impressed that they’d managed to make it this far after the war, bu
t they were seeing the effects of it far later than any of them could have thought. The fighting had been brutal, and they had all seen loss, Orson had lost his father in the middle of battle, never seeing who was the one to deal the death blow, he was simply another fallen body in a sea of dozens. That battle hadn’t just cost them their elder however, most of the experienced teachers of the group, the ones who imparted the knowledge of the land and the climate were among the dead, there was a reason that the only ones who made up their clan now were either in the early twenties or late sixties, with very little in between. The young were too young to have fully learned everything that they’d needed to know about growing, and the old hadn’t been in practice for decades at that point in time, leaving everyone with a generational gap in their knowledge that none of them could rightfully heal.

  Fitting really, that the wound caused by the war hadn’t really healed over time, it had just been allowed to fester, and was now in the process of killing them.

  There were no ideas that he could come up with on his own to solve their growing problem, far smarter people on the subject than him were already trying, but the least that he could do was visit them and make sure that they knew their work was valued. He was many things, but unappreciative of those below him he most certainly was not.

  Taking up his coat and squeezing a beanie over his head, he walked out into yet another icy cold day, far colder than it rightfully should have been for this time of year. Part of what was making the crops so stunted was the time that they’d been planted, something due to their own foolishness and the unexpected shift of the weather, chilling the wind and hardening the land months in advance. As the days went by he was growing more and more ok with gathering supplies from the city to ensure that everyone was fed properly over the harsh season, he much preferred it to the current open option.