Hans was nervous to say the least, while he was able to get out of the walled kingdom once again, he was more fearful of what awaited him when he found Pavlova... that is if he found her at all... "I hope she wasn't eaten, Pavlova is such a sweet little kitten... and the only friend I have..." Hans thought to himself as he carefully walked through the woods his crossbow at the ready as his hood was drawn over his head.

"Pavlova! Pavlova, are you here?!" the boy called out when far enough into the forest. Suddenly Hans saw a bush move out of the corner of his eye. He gasped and turned to the source of the sound.... Only to jump when he felt something rub against this leg behind him. "AH!" he shouted looking down to see... Pavlova, his lovable kitten. "Pavlova!" Hans exclaimed with joy as he picked up his friend and hugged her close as she purred in his arms. "You're alright?" Hans then questioned when he noticed the kitten's leg was completely healed, there wasn't even a bandage on it, it was as if the accident yesterday never happened. "How is it that you're fine, how did they heal your leg?" Hans asked Pavlova who simply meowed, happy to see her boy.

"Wait, it was that girl who took you, wasn't it?" Hans said rather than asked, but then he sighed in relief. "Oh, I was afraid she was going to eat you," the boy said with a chuckle, when suddenly he heard a twig snap in front of him. Hans gasped when he looked in front of him, there was a young , large, light brown, she-wolf with familiar crystal blue eyes standing a few feet away from him.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Hans stuttered breathlessly as he quickly placed Pavlova behind him and placed an arrow in his crossbow, pointing it at the wolf who was calmly inching closer to him.

"St-stay back now, back, I'll shoot!" Hans threatened nervously, when suddenly Pavlova climbed up on him and pulled the arrow off of his crossbow, meowing determinedly.

"Pavlova, what are you doing, stop that!" Hans demanded, but the kitten didn't listen as she then took the three other arrows in Han's pack on his back.

"No, wait what?!" Hans cried out as he then realized all he had was an empty crossbow for protection as the wolf was getting closer. "Get away wolf, no g-get away-" Hans stuttered, backing away from the wolf... only to step into a snag rope trap which then whipped him upside down. "NOOOOOO!" Hans cried out in fear as he hung upside down while the wolf only tilted her head, looking at the boy with a confused expression.

"Stay away you, you wolf I'm gonna get you!" Hans shouted determinedly as he tried to kick the wolf with his free leg only to swing around in a circle, making the wolf and Pavlova smile in amusement. The wolf barked playfully as her tail then began to wag as she tried to jump up and bit the rope that trapped Hans who was getting more scared by the minute.

"IT'S TRYING TO ATTACK ME!" Hans thought in alarm as he then tried to punch and kick the wolf yet again, to which he only succeeded in batting the wolf's nose a few times, when suddenly.... at the time the wolf was able to bite and break the rope.... Han's hand tried to hit her... making her bite the boy's arm as well....

Han's cried out when the wolf bite him as he fell to the ground free of the trap but that was the least of his worries... he took his bleeding arm in his other hand and bite his lip in pain as the stared at the bite mark and then looked up at the the wolf who looked as much in shock as he was but when Hans blinked he nearly fainted from fright, for the split second when his eyes were closed he saw a familiar girl with auburn hair with a worried and shocked expression on her face in the place of the wolf.

Hans backed away from the she-wolf in fright as she inched closer. "No, no!" Hans begged as he closed his eyes waiting for his death.... Only to feel the wolf gently lick the bite upon his arm.

"Huh?" Hans said softly as he then watched the wolf run ahead and then turn to look at him... while Pavlova jumped onto her back...

"Pavlova?" the boy questioned as the wolf with the kitten in her back turned and ran off.

"WAIT! PAVLOVA!" Hans called as he then got up and ran after the wolf and his cat.... Completely forgetting about his crossbow....

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Hans followed the wolf and Pavlova deep into the forest until he came across an area heavily covered in vines.

"Did they go through here?" Hans wondered to himself as he laid a hand on the vines... only for them to part for him with a glowing golden light! Hans gasped but nonetheless, he walked through the area to a small valley leading to a cave... where he saw the wolf that had bitten him with Pavlova going inside! Hans quickly followed them to the cave but he stayed behind the entrice for he saw a dozen gray wolves all around the cave but what shocked him the most was what he saw at the very back of the cave, The young girl he had seen yesterday was asleep on a mat next to an older girl who looked about Eric's age. Both females were asleep as the light brown wolf that had bitten Hans, circled the younger girl he had seen yesterday, Hans then was about to run in to wake the girls and warn them about the wolves in the cave.... only to see the wolf that had bitten him evaporate into golden light and descend into the younger girl's body and once the light and wolf were gone the younger girl's eyes opened softly.... Hans cried out in confusion and terror as he then hid behind the other side of the cave so the girl wouldn't see him, covering his mouth so as not to make a sound.

"Wolfwalkers... they're real!" he thought to himself

"You can come out, you know," the girl called from inside the cave. Hans then carefully looked inside the cave to see the girl in the teal dress holding a purring Pavlova in her arms as she sat on one of the gray wolves back's while he and the other wolves approached Hans growling.

"I knew you were here, now come out, let's see you" the girl demanded.

Hans knew he had no other option so he shakingly stepped into the cave. "Don't kill me please..." he begged in a small voice, but to his surprise the girl began to laugh.

"Why would we do that?" she asked between laughs as she jumped off of the wolf's back as he and the other wolves stopped growling when the girl nodded at them.

"Well because you're a... you're a-" Hans started but the girl cut him off.

"A... Wolfwalker! So what? You should be thanking me" the girl stated as she placed Pavlova down letting her go to sit at Han's feet.

"Why?" Hans questioned firmly.

"I saved you" the girl said obviously.

Hans only frowned at her words. "'Saved me'? YOU 'BITE ME'!" Hans exclaimed, holding out his bleeding arm.

The girl crossed her arms. "Well you hit me in the snout enough times!"

"Well, you were attacking me!" Hans pointed out.

"I was trying to get you out of that trap, and anyway you came into my forest!" the girl stated, turning away from Hans.

"Your forest?! It's the king's forest, your wolves are attacking the wood cutters-" Hans started only for the girl to cut him off again.

"They should be staying closer to the town, and so should you; 'Town Boy', now let me see your arm!" the girl said, reaching for Han's wounded arm, only for the boy to hold it away from her.

"What are you going to do, bite it again?" Hans questioned.

"Will you stop acting like a child, let me see it and fix it, before it's too late...." the girl said urgently, grabbing Han's arm, who sighed in defeat.

"Fine," he said as he watched the girl take his arm in one hand while the other began to glow with a golden light as it was over Han's wound.

"OWOOOOOOOO!" she howled, persuading the other wolves to howl as well as with it that the golden light warmed Han's wounded arm until the wound itself was no more....

"Wh-what?" Hans wondered observing his now completely healed arm.

"Alright, well fixed now, it never happened, bye!" the girl said, turning away from Hans.

"So you 'did' heal Pavlova" Hans stated as he picked up his kitten and held her close.

"Yes, I fixed you and your cat, your welcome Town Boy, goodbye!" the girl proclaimed as she tried to push Hans out of the cave.

"W-wait! Who's that?" the boy asked, turning around to point to the older girl that was still asleep. "Is she part of your family?" Hans asked, making the younger girl before him sigh.

"You better go, or my wolves will eat you" she teased, making Han's eyes widen.

"Wait, WHAT!? But I didn't-" he started but the girl cut him off.

"Oh no too late, they're gonna eat you!" the girl sang.

"NOOO!" Hans shouted running full speed out of the cave with Pavlova in his arms with the wolves and the girl hot on his trail.

"Ha, ha! Run away Town Boy, the wolves are after you!" she shouted from riding on one of the wolves' backs.

"NOOO, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Hans shouted as the wolves playfully ran after him and Pavlova.

"But you're so slow, I bet you're scared of your own shadow" the girl teased as she jumped off of the wolf and ran beside Hans.

"I am not!" Hans defended.

"Other than running like mad around my forest what else do you do, Town Boy?" the girl questioned with a giggle.

"Will you stop calling me that? My name is Hans!" the boy stated, outraged.

"Hans? Hm, that's a nice name. I'm Clara, back there sleeping in the cave was my older sister, Louise" the girl said.

"Wow so is- WHOA!" Hans cried as he ran in the vines covering the exit to the rest of the forest.

"You really need to learn to watch where you're going," Clara sighed as she petted some of the wolves who whimpered happily as they licked her face.

"As I was saying, is your sister Louise a... you know... a Wolfwalker too?" Hans asked carefully as he took the leaves and twigs out of his hair while taking his hood off.

"Of course she is, just like our little brother and parents," Clara stated proudly.

"And what about the wolves here are they.... People too?" Hans questioned curiously.

"NO! My goodness, how big do you think my blood related family is? No, we Wolfwalkers only like to live among the wild wolves, it makes us feel more at home since humans aren't really the most accepting type..." Clara trailed off sadly, making Hans feel guilty.

"I thought her for a beast, but she helped me and Pavlova, so she can't be a bad person or wolf" he thought to himself.

"Well, I'm sorry, for all of the trouble I caused you, and I'm not supposed to be out here anyway so I'll leave" he said.

"Good, I'm mad to get you out my den, but first close your eyes" Clara requested.

"Wait, why?" Hans asked as the girl took out a cloth from her dress pocket and used it as a blind fold around Han's eyes.

"I don't want you coming back here, it's a secret safe place"

"But Clara, I already found it" Hans said dully.

"Oh just be quiet and walk forward, I'll point you back to the town" Clara stated, pushing Hans forward. "Now, this way Town Boy, oh I mean Hans, all of you go back to bed remember, It isn't safe for you out in the daytime" the girl said giving her wolves one last look before beginning the journey back to the town while the wolves themselves turned back to go into the cave.

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Hans and Clara didn't know how it happened but they got lost looking for their way back to the town, so after talking about what to do they eventually decided to sit down and take a break from walking under a large tree.

"So... Clara, can I ask you something?" Hans asked as he sat next to the girl with Pavlova sleeping on his lap.

"Well, I don't see the harm in telling you anything since no one would believe you found me or my pack" she replied. "What is it?" she asked as she was laying in the grass.

"Why are you here in my kingdom's forest?" Hans questioned carefully.

Clara sat up with an unreadable expression on her face. "Me and my sister... are part of the last Wolfwalker pack in the world... There is me, my sister Louise, our little brother Fritz, my two best friends Marie and Gaston, and finally our alphas, Pantaloon and his mate Trudy... all of us together make the last wolfwalkers. All of our other pack members including my parents, and other packs were either hunted in their wolf forms and killed or burned at the stake for being accused as witches... me and my sister were told to find a new place for our pack live a safer place, so we traveled down south hoping to find one until we came here.... But when we saw it wasn't safe enough, we tried to leave only to see that the safe passage of the woods we took to get here was no longer suitable for travel since the trees had all been cut down. So my sister told me that she would try to find a safer route for the pack to take in her wolf form, so we could continue on our journey.... But it's been almost a week and.... Her wolf form still hasn't come back..." Clara trailed off sadly.

Hans was speechless. He thought that all wolves were something to be feared and yet this girl who was basically half wolf was only trying to find a safe place for her remaining family. He felt ashamed for even thinking about hurting Clara or her pack.

"I'm sorry, Clara. You and your family have lost so much, I know how you feel too... my mother and father are gone too" the boy said sadly.

Clara turned to Hans as he continued. "My older cousin Eric lost his parents when he was young too. The two of us ended up living with our uncle Drosselmyer back in town, but he died from a fever not too long ago so it's just been the two of us and Pavlova.... But I feel like Eric himself hates me" the boy admitted.

Clara raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, how can he hate you? your his family, to us wolves family is everything-" she started but Hans cut her off.

"I'm a mechanic, like my uncle was, I get to build and fix toys and clocks... but to Eric every man should be a loyal soldier to their king like he is, if they aren't they're no man at all" the boy explained as Pavlova nuzzled his chest to comfort him. "It's not just my cousin either, nearly all of the townspeople think I'm odd for not joining the kings army, like all the other boys back at home my age have done, so I don't have any friends other than Pavlova, that's why I was so determined to find her today" Hans explained.

"You're a mechanic? That's amazing, you must be quite smart then" Clara stated.

Hans turned to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well soldiers blindly follow orders despite if they hurt others or not, thus meaning they don't really think for themselves unlike you who does what he loves to do with his own talent" the auburn haired girl explained.

Hans stared at Clara as if he was seeing her for the first time. "She.... thinks I'm smart then....?" he thought to himself as he stared into the girl's beautiful bright crystal blue eyes, seeing the wildness, yet also the honesty and gentleness within them... all while a light blush rose to his cheeks.

"I'll be honest, I never thought I'd ever be able to talk to a human without them wanting to kill me, well then again I've never talked to a human before... I like you Hans, I think we'll be great friends" Clara proclaimed.

"You... want to be friends with me?" Hans asked, astonished.

"Why of course, you seem like a nice boy, and you're very brave from what I've seen, and you seem like you could use a friend from what you've told me," Clara said.

Hans smiled at Clara. "Well then in that case... I'd like to help you find your sister" he stated.

Clara's eyes widened. "Really?" she questioned.

"Yes, you're my friend now Clara, and that's what friends do for eachother" the dark haired boy replied.

Clara looked at Hans and then sprang forward and hugged the boy tightly. "Thank you" she said with gratitude heavy in her voice.

Hans blushed as he hugged Clara back. "Let's meet back here by this tree tomorrow, then we'll come up with a plan about what to do" the boy said.

"I'll be waiting for you then, are you sure you can find the town on your own?" Clara asked.

Hans sighed in defeat. "No..." he admitted, making Clara giggle.

"Very well," she said, standing up and sniffing the air. "This way," she said, pointing forward as Hans got up with Pavlova in his arms to follow her.

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It was only after ten minutes of following Clara's nose for a guide, when they ended up seeing the walled kingdom in the distance.

"Well Town Boy, this is as far as I dare go" Clara said, stopping in front of the forest.

"Alright I'll see you tomorrow at the said place then Clara, will you be alright getting back to your den? There are still hunters around the forest" Hans warned.

"Oh no need to worry about me, I've been taught all my life how to avoid hunters with my sense of smell, I have a wolf nose remember?" Clara giggled.

Her smile made Hans blush. "Right, of course, well just be careful alright?" he said as he waved goodbye to Clara while watching her disappear from sight as she ran back into the forest.

"Alright let's go home Pavlova" Hans said as he hurried back to the walled kingdom.

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"Alright we're back" Hans whispered as he walked into the toy shop he called home... only to nearly jump out of his skin when he saw Eric at the front counter with his arms folded while staring angrily at him.

"Why were you outside the wall again?" Eric questioned firmly.

Hans bite his lip. "I was looking for Pavlova, and I found her, plus I'm back here alive-" the boy started but Eric cut him off.

"I found this in the middle of the forest, '' he said, taking out the crossbow Hans had dropped in the forest....

"Eric I-" Hans started but his cousin cut him off.

"NO, go to the bedroom, tomorrow you're going to stay in there all day!" Eric stated pointing to the stairs.

Hans tightened his grip on Pavlova causeing her to squirm a bit. "But I promised someone I'd meet them tomorrow" he said in a small voice.

"I don't care, you need to learn to listen to your elders and your king. The law is unless you have permission, you are not allowed outside of the wall, now off with you!" Eric demanded.

Hans bit his tongue to keep himself from yelling back as he took Pavlova and ran up the stairs to the bedroom, slamming the door in his wake.

That night in bed Hans couldn't stop thinking about how he wasn't able to meet Clara tomorrow. "What can I do? I promised Clara... I'll have to figure something out one way or another..." Hans thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep....

In his dream Hans was in the woods again and he was following a trail of golden light, he knew he was searching for something but he was unsure as to what it was he was trying to find.... That's when he saw the shape of a wolf at the end of the golden light's path... and in a flash of light.... The wolf took the form of a familiar young man with long dark hair....