The Divine Wolf...or?

Even though Ark didn't know what to make of the situation, he still nodded at the remark. It seemed like he had underestimated these people who came to recruit him. He still didn't know what they wanted or what these "rebels" were about. But he could make some minor guesses from the information he had. They specifically came to recruit him after he had an open conflict with the holy church. Now, what did that mean? It meant that they were openly opposing the holy church, and Ark guessed that was the reason they were called rebels. But he didn't know this for a fact, and he would still like to know the truth.

He put that at the back of his head though, as he faced another dilemma right now. How was he supposed to go about this? He didn't have a lot of time left in this form, even if only 20 minutes had passed. A lot had happened in these 20 minutes, making it seem like an eternity, but in fact, it all passed in the blink of an eye.

He had about 40 minutes to get away from these people, but how was he supposed to do that? They were going to save his friend after all, could he just leave like that? And would they let him go? Ark was starting to grow anxious, maybe he should've just fought with all he had and tried to save Thufrat by himself. Nonetheless, it was too late to regret anything right now.

The lady with the fiery hair had paid close attention to this youth in front of her throughout the whole ordeal. And right now, she was starting to pick up on something. After the leader had shown his strength, and everything seemed to be over, he had started to grow nervous. At least to her knowledge. He had started to sweat from both his forehead as well as his palms, he was being a little fidgety, and he blinked more than you would normally. These were all signs of nervousness, but she still couldn't be sure.

Now the question was, why was he nervous? It could just be because of the power their leader had shown, and it could be because of his friend, but she felt like there was something more going on that she didn't know of. She didn't concern herself with this for now though, but she still kept it at the back of her mind.

As the leader walked back to the group, they all turned to look at Ark. For different reasons, but mostly just to examine him a little bit.

"Oi, are we getting out of here soon or what?" The man with curved blades said after a small moment of suspense.

"It's probably for the better if we get back as soon as possible, we don't want some more people from the holy church to arrive. Oh, and don't forget his dying friend either!" The leader replied.

"I have something that I need to say first!" Ark spoke up as everyone sort of got themselves ready to leave.

"Speak your mind" (leader)

"I don't know how to put this, but simply speaking, I can't come with you right now!"

This dumbfounded the entire group into silence immediately, what was he talking about? Didn't he already agree to join them?

"Huh, didn't you just say you would join us you little punk?" The man with dark hair was fuming, was this kid thinking they were fools? Did he seriously think he could use them to take care of his enemies and then go back on his word? As he thought this, he withdrew his sword from its sheath.

"Wait for a second, don't misunderstand! I'll still join you since I need your help to save my friend after all, but I can't go with you right now. I'm running out of time!" Ark quickly added as he took half a step back to show his stance on the matter.

"What do you mean by running out of time? Or are you trying to trick us?" He asked once again. This youth in front of him seemed quite suspicious but he didn't know why.

"To be frank, I can't tell you that, nor anyone for that matter, all I can say is that it's personal."

The lady with the fiery hair finally understood why this youth in front of her seemed so nervous, this was probably it! Now the question was, how would hey solve this situation?

"I do have an idea though if you're willing to listen!" Ark followed up as he noticed everyone's furrowed brows.

The leader raised an eyebrow as he heard this, he was quite intrigued by the youth's possible solution.

"Speak!"

"As you know, my friend's life is in danger, and he is my highest priority right now. You said you could heal him right? Then take him wherever you need to take him, get him healed, and then meet me here tomorrow at noon. That's my plan!"

"Can't you just run away if that's the case? This plan of yours sounds suspicious!" The man with dark hair pointed out.

"Uhhmm, you have my best friend's life in your hands, why would I ever run away?" Ark answered dumbfoundedly, wasn't it obvious?

"We can't be sure, can we? A lot of people would forsake their friends if problems arose, besides, we don't even really know if he is your friend. Even though we'd like to believe you, trusting strangers is usually a foolish thing to do just like that." The lady with the fiery hair said as she stared into Ark's eyes.

"Well, what do you suggest we do then?" Ark said, a little irritated. What kind of people would forsake their friends like that? And did they seriously think he would do something like that? Of course, he knew that their worries were legitimate, but he was still a little annoyed deep down.

A full minute of complete silence as everyone just stayed quiet and thought to themselves. Shuffling and sighs were the only sounds that could be heard right now. Since no one could come up with any ideas, the lady that had been quiet up till now, finally raised her voice.

"Why don't we use a blood contract then?"