Chapter 72: 71

As the sun finally descended enough that its rays danced between the mountaintops towards the pack, they found a quaint little place to camp for the night. It was just a small house, surrounded on all sides by trees and shrubbery. While it stood out like a castle on the wide and open prairie landscape, it gave them the most probable defence, as well as blocking most of the view from the outside. Given their exhausted nature, neither Nat nor Shannon felt like cooking whatsoever that night. Getting a bunch of cold cuts out from the Soulscape, the two of them just had some quick sub sandwiches for dinner. For the canines, the pups hunted their own food, keeping their practice up with hares, though the occasional calf was thrown into the mix by the adults. If they hunted the same thing over and over, they could have gotten complacent and used to hunting down just hares which could have consequences in the future. While they did that, Bryden led Ash and Shadow in taking down a cow. They decided as a group to just let the wargs take care of how much meat they needed, as their size made them require far more sustenance.
Laying back in the grass, the two women just relaxed as the canines hunted and ate, watching the sun set from one of the few openings in their surrounding tree line. Slowly, they observed as the sky began to shift and dance in an increasing amount of colour. The view itself only lasted about ten minutes, but it was breathtaking none the less. All the while, the two remained silent. There were so many things that Nat wanted to say and ask, but it felt too soon. That feeling, mixed with the body language that Shannon had the night before made her hold her tongue, until her best friend was ready to open up. When the light had almost fully faded from the sky, Shannon finally broke the quiet spell.
"So, you killed a person. A bunch of people really."
"Yeah." Natalie responded, leading back into quietness between the two of them. Feeling that it was far more awkward than before, she was quick to add on to her previously statement. "I felt that each time, it was necessary. And both times, it involved people that had already bonded with monsters. They had gone against humanity and nature and sided with those destroyers and defilers. I may have some regrets since this whole thing started, but killing anyone who can side with creatures that torture and kill for fun is not one of them."
An uneasy silence held for about a minute, giving Shannon a chance to mull over her words. Once it was up, Shannon asked another inquiry, "So how did killing someone feel like?"
Nat paused, unsure on how to answer. Both times, she had just gone through with it, not thinking on what was going on or how it might affect her. In fact, she had put it completely out of mind and just had dregs of the memory of committing those acts. "It was different each time, in its own way. Both had a similar underlying reason. I was angry and fed up with either what was happening or what actions were being taken. I find it almost scary to admit that I am not sure I felt anything with them other than anger."

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The moment of self-reflection had surprised Natalie. While she had not put any thought into it before, she found that she really felt nothing from either of her murderous incidents. No relief nor remorse, no guilt or satisfaction. Just emptiness where she believed that there should be feelings. Before going too far into her own mind, Shannon had one final question. "If you had the option, would you do it again? Would you repeat the actions you have gone through with so far if you had the chance to redo?"
"Yes." Natalie's immediate reply surprised even herself. "The only actions that I would change are the ones I have regretted, and at the time when I ended up killing those people, both times it felt like not only the best choice, but the right one. If I ever feel like the right choice would be to kill someone because they were threatening either myself or those I care about, I would end them in a heartbeat." The more Natalie talked, the more she felt convinced and empowered by her own thoughts. There had been no need to feel things. The people that she had taken out had been monsters in their own right. If it was not her, their targets could become those who were too weak to fight back. Ending people who have that twisted mindset felt right. Not good or bad, but more like the right choice.
"Thanks," Shannon replied after a few more minutes, now with both of them just looking at the sky as stars started popping out in the absence of the sun's light. "It's just, after seeing what you did to those men in the university, I wanted to make sure that it was still my friend inside there. I'm glad to see you have stuck to what you always believed in, you wannabe nature extremist." Upon saying that, both women erupted into laughter. Even back in university, Natalie had been quite extreme towards people who committed animal abuse. When she had heard about the two French fucks who set a quokka on fire in Australia, she had tried setting up a petition to have both of them doused and lit on fire, just so they could see how much they liked it. It took some aggressive wrangling to keep her from going online with it, but Shannon had eventually convinced her that it would be very much against the law.
Getting up, as Nat turned around to start the setup of the tents, she was surprise hugged from behind by Shannon. "Thank you for coming for me." After that, Shannon quickly separated and took a few steps back. She was obviously still hesitant of getting near people, but in this short of time it felt like a large step. With a slight smile, Nat got Maia and Kali to help her get two identical tents out and set up side by side. While most relaxed inside Nat's tent, Seeka and Scout went together to sleep with Shannon. They were being extremely reliable support for her friend, and were probably part of the reason she was showing such a massive jump in self-confidence and mental health. Saying good night to the two coyotes, both women and the rest of the pack crawled up in the tents, getting warm and comfy as they all surrendered to the void of sleep.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

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