It had been two days now since the sun had shown itself. The blasted thing just refused to come out from behind the clouds and make the earth a little less cold. It was winter now, but even so, he was never really mentally prepared for that first, sudden drop in temperature.
It always seemed to sour his mood. "I hate the cold," he mumbled to himself.
It didn't help that a certain wolf was currently laying curled up on his cargo, wrapped in a blanket. He had a blanket over his legs, too, but they were cold in spite of it. He also didn't have the benefit of a warm, fur coat. Well, in one place, at any rate.
He glanced back over his shoulder. She was fastidiously nibbling on the end of her tail.
Holo's eyes glanced up at him from behind her bushy tail, then back down again. "'Tis a mystery, you know."
"What's that?"
"How humans survive without tails."
He was almost tempted to say what he'd been thinking. But that would mean letting Holo win without a fight. "I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with something sticking out from my behind. I imagine it would get in the way quite a bit." He hoped she wouldn't ask for specifics.
"You say that only because you are not accustomed to its presence," came the rejoinder, accompanied by more meticulous grooming. "A tail helps keep you warm when it is cold, protect your nose from the wind, and gives one an unmatched sense of balance. It is useful for communication, as well.
"Surely even you can see there are no drawbacks to having one!" Apparently finished, she curled up around her tail and pulled the blanket up to her neck. She looked positively toasty.
"Well, if I had been born with a tail, I'd probably have been handed over to the church and burned, or perhaps abandoned in a ditch somewhere." A tail wasn't even necessary for that second one, he mused, darkly.
"Only because for a single human to have a tail would be frightening; obviously I speak as though all humans had them." She wriggled, trying to settle into a comfortable position.
"Well, we seem to have done fine without them," he retorted dismissively.
"You would be better hunters if you had them."
"Ah, but we don't need tails when we have bows and spears... Come to think of it, that's something humans can do that no animal can: make things." Ha! He had her now!
"Wolves make things!" she replied, somewhat indignantly.
"Like what?"
"A mother wolf will make a den to keep her cubs safe and warm."
Lawrence had to concede that. "Very well, but what else?"
Holo had to consider this. "We make marks to warn others away."
He smiled to himself. "And what else?"
Holo frowned. Then, she sighed. "Oh, very well, do go on." He could all but hear her roll her eyes.
Lawrence coughed. "Humans also build shelters. We dig hollows, tie branches together, build shacks, verandas, houses, inns, mansions, castles, towers... warehouses, inns, halls... uhh... mills, longhalls... cellars..."
"Yes, yes, you humans build many kinds of shelters; I know this well."
"But we also make signs and lamps, statues, roads, carts, weapons, tools, crates, barrels, and bags, barrows, ladders... clothes... oh! And we invented trade, and money; contracts and shipping and--"
"Enough! What you humans have invented is a needlessly complicated world for yourselves!"
"We may not have tails, but we have plenty of other things," he decreed, bringing his pontification to an end.
"Only because you are in need of them... well, even that is debatable."
"What do you mean?"
"Take clothes, for example. You wear them because without, you would freeze. You spend your precious money buying and mending them." He felt this was just slightly hypocritical. "Some spend much to constantly change what clothes they wear.
"And yet, other animals have no need for such. We are born with our coats, and they keep us warm and protected."
He decided not to bring up the fact that humans could wear said coats, too... once they'd been removed from their original owners, of course. "Fur doesn't help much against swords," he offered instead.
"True, but if you did not have swords, you would not need armour. Or perhaps, if you did not have armour, you would not need swords." Holo paused. "Do you ever wonder if perhaps all these wonderful things you humans can make are the reason you need them?"
Wait, "... what?"
"Imagine that, perhaps, long ago, humans were like other animals. A thick hide, covered in fur. And then, some clever human invented shoes. Of course, all would wish to wear them to protect their feet.
"But then, your feet would no longer need to be so thick, and so, they became thin and sensitive.
"And oh so very ticklish."
Lawrence frowned at her. "You promised you wouldn't bring that up again."
Holo grinned nastily. "Oh, but of course. That aside, my point stands thus: what if, over the long eons, humans have come to depend on their clever little things, where others simply need be born with all they need?
"Would that not make humans the weak, foolish creatures, endlessly making their own lives harder and harder?"
He felt like this argument was becoming increasingly philosophical... he wracked his brain for a way out. "Not at all! It shows that we can overcome our limitations and become stronger!"
"But if those limitations are the result of poor past decisions, is your ingenuity truly so laudable? Wolves lead simpler lives, without having to worry about money and clothes... and debts."
Holo did like to play dirty. However, Lawrence had thought of an avenue of attack. "They also live without houses, hot food, walls.
"And spit-roast piglets with gravy and potatoes."
Holo went very quiet.
"'Tis the very height of cruelty to raise such a thought when you are to make me eat bread and gruel."
"Admit that humans are cleverer than animals and I'll break out an extra piece of salted mutton."
Holo narrowed her eyes. "I shall admit that humans are not entirely without merit if you admit that humans are flawed and silly. And if you give me some meat."
"Well--"
"Now and at supper."
He half-turned to eye her suspiciously. He was a merchant; he couldn't bear to be beaten at haggling.
"You can have one piece, now or later."
Holo considered this. "And...?"
He smiled. If you want a good deal and to get in the other person's good books: haggle down, then over-pay. "I truly envy you your tail in this cold."
Holo disappeared under the canvas in a blur. A few moments later she re-emerged, a piece of mutton hanging out of her mouth. She climbed on to the bench, and slipped herself under his blanket.
"Well, are you going to admit that--" he stopped as he felt her tail slide across his lap. It was warm.
"If you wish... but if I do, I shall remove my tail." She grinned at him. That really was completely unfair.
Dignity demanded that he suffer for the pride of the human race.
His cold legs demanded something else entirely. His legs also had the distinct advantage of not being an abstract concept, as well as being attached to him.
"Tail it is."
Holo beamed and settled herself at his side, chewing on her piece of meat. "A wise choice; words will hardly keep you warm at all."
He sighed. "Wolf fur certainly seems to do a much better job."
She nodded in agreement. "Still... I look forward to the next town," she said, looking down the road. "With a warm inn and hot food, made by humans."
He smiled. That was probably as good as he was going to get.
The scenery rolled on.
"I am rather fond of it, myself."
"Of what? Hot food?"
"The cold." Lawrence glanced down.
"At times, at any rate. It brings memories of long ago. When it was cold, the pack would huddle together, safe and warm. It is comforting, to be surrounded by your packmates in the cold of winter, to feel so warm."
He'd never really been the most sociable person, even as a youth. Even so, he knew loneliness. He couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like for someone like Holo to spend hundreds of years separated from her kind.
He took one hand from the reigns, reached over, and pulled Holo against his side. In this cold, he couldn't help but be reminded of how warm she was as snuggled against him. A distinctive, slightly sweet scent filled the air. "Yes; 'twas like this."
Winter seemed to recede a little.
They continued down the road.