Found

"What's your name, boy!" a large, rotund man in a blood stained apron shouted at a dirty-faced youngster.

"Boi," the boy whispered, knowing the butcher wouldn't understand. He mentally cursed his parents for giving him such a name, so what if the name belonged to his grandfather.

"Don't get smart with me!" the man started waving his giant butcher's knife menacingly.

Boi glanced around nervously, the street was a busy one, but this was a rough area of town. Passers-by gave the two of them a wide girth, but other than that, no one paid any attention. He shouldn't have stayed up so long past sunrise, but it had been a bad night, and he was starving. Shrinking back from the large man's gaze, he murmured, "my name is Boi, sir."

"Boser? What sort of name is that?" the butcher guffawed, "Scram! your kind aren't allowed around here!"

Boi stared at him a incredulously, that was what this was about? Obviously, the butcher hadn't seen him snatch the string of sausages. Humans really had a horrible sense of smell. Boi backed away slowly, it was never a good idea to turn your back on a knife. Joining the crowd, he made his way to the abandoned building that he shared with a host of other homeless people. The front doors were barred, but there were plenty of other openings if you knew where to look. He found the basement window that was just too small for most adults, and slipped through. Dropping clumsily to the ground, he sniffed the air. Something smelled different. It was hard to tell over the stench of refuse, but it almost smelled like lailani. His little sister was down here, but the two of them hadn't smelled of lailani in a long time. They smelled of the sewage and rotting trash that decorated their home. No one else ever came down here, becaus it was too hot, and the stench owas nearly overwhelming. But, that ment the they were left alone, and he only had to share what little food he found with his sister. Well, no one usually came down, but clearly there was someone down here in the basement other than his sister and him. The smell got stronger as he moved to their corner. He hoped his sister was alright. He'd promised his parents he'd take care of her.

"Ral?" he whispered his sister's name as he moved cautiously toward their sleeping place.

"Boi?" a child's voice eminated from the darkness, "You came back!"

It wasn't long before she came into view. She was so tiny, she'd barely grown in the two years they'd been on the streets. She barely looked two, not the four years old that she actually was, but then, no one thought him old enough to be 9 either.

"Look who I met," the girl chattered, as Boi focused his senses on the wolf standing in the dark near Ral. Boi passed the sauseges off to his sister, since he'd already eaten two, and flicked into wolf form. The wolf stood still as Boi made a slow circuit around him, sniffing for a hint of anger or malice. Satisfied the lailani wasn't planning them immediate harm, he flicked back into common form.

"Why are you hare?": Boi questioned, as he grabed a sausage from Ral and settled into the dirty straw that was his bed.

"Wolf Clan should not live like this," the man had managed to get into common form faster than anyone Boi had ever seen.

"The floor is thin," Boi commented, mouth full of sausage. He was willing to hear the lailani out, since they were from the same clan, but he didn't need his neighbours discovering that he wasn't human. They'd turn him and his sister in an an instant, just in case. There was a reward.

"You two can come with me, and live as a wolf should live... free," the lailani said in a quieter voice.

Boi eyed the man suspiciously, but Ral seemed to have no such inhibitions, she chattered excitedly, "He says that where he comes from, there's lots of food to eat, and real toys to play with, let's go!"

The first thing you learn on the streets is not to trust anyone. The man was lailani, the same clan as them even, but even that was no garentee that he was trustworthy. Boi had heard stories of lailani selling other lailani to the humans as sleaves. It was a well known fact that everyone, lailani and human, only do thing that will benefit them in some way. "We're fine here," Boy muttered.

"You don't look fine," the man commented, "My name is Malan by the way, what is yours?"

"I'm Ral," the little girl volunteered, "Boi is my big broth...ouch!" she turned to Boi, "Why'd you kick me?"

"I didn't kick you, Boi replied. Giving out names wasn't safe. He tried to protect her from the harsh realities of life, so it was probably his fault she was so trusting and naiive. But that didn't give her an excuse to go giving out names like it was nothing.

"Boi?" Malan looked thoughful, "grandson of Boian and Nelanya?"

"Maybe," Boi replied cautiously, those were the names of his grandparents. But then, half the Wolf Clan knew that.

"I though you two were dead!" Malan exclaimed, "I'm your uncle!"

"Uncle?" Ral asked cautiously, she looked confused. Boi just raised an eyebrow, any lailani could make that claim. Didn't mean it was true.

"I'm your mother's older brother," Malan explained, "when I heard your village had been massacred, I thought my whole family was dead, but here you children are, I can't believe it!"

"My mother had an older brother named Malan," Boi conceded, "But Malan is a common name, that doesn't mean you are who you say you are."

"You've had a rough life," Malan commented, "I don't blame you for wanting more information. What would convince you?"

Boi just shrugged. He was too tired to be thinking deep thoughts like that. He'd been up all night scavenging. Besides, he didn't really want to think about his parents, particularly his mother. The village had had some warning about the raid, and she'd made him take his sister and leave when it became clear the village couldn't survive. He should have been able to convince her to come with them, he never should have let her make him go...

"Oh I know," Malan said suddenly, "Your mother was pregnant when she died. She told me the day before the attack, and she was planning on telling our parents at the solstice festival."

It was true, Mother had been pregnant. She'd told him to keep it a secret, he didn't know that she'd told her brother. So, Malan really was his uncle. But why did he have to dig up those old memories? "I guess we'll go," Boi choked out, trying not to cry.

"Yay!" Ral exclaimed. She had been pretty much oblivious to the whole conversation. But he couldn't blame her, she was just hungry. He has tried his best to feed her, but he knew they were slowly starving to death. Malan was probably their best bet for survival.

Malan smiled as he scooped up Ral and grabbed Boi's hand, "Your Aunt Helanya will be happy to see you two. And I think we'll be just in time for breakfast."

The End.