OOC: going to not have internet for a few weeks, hope this will allow me the time to get back and not have Singed sitting around drooling like an idiot
After several days of scouting, Singed finds the nearby village. "Perfect...," Singed thinks to himself, "With Maedhros's primary fortress to the north, merchants and entertainers are likely to come north, and by this village, to sell their wares and to entertain the soldiers." Without waiting he sets up a camp roughly 2 hours marching distance south-west of the village. In his calculating mind, it made a perfect spot for a sneak attack, or in this case a quick retrieval of a map, and maybe a hostage or pack animal if luck was on his side. Within a single week multiple caravans came through, though he skipped these because they were too large with multiple rings of look outs to easily penetrate and retrieve a map. A week later, however, his luck turned for the better. "Now I'm glad i decided to skip that larger caravan 2 days ago, this group is too lax for their own safety," he said to himself. So he made himself comfortable for the long wait ahead, he decided he would sneak in 3 hours before dawn. The decision was a sound one, just 2 and a half hours before dawn, he was on his way to the mountains to the north to study the map in more detail and with less fear of discovery. After keeping his distance from the village and heading into the mountains, he finds a small cave and prepares it with what resources are ready at hand. While looking for wood to make a crude bow and some arrows, he comes across a she-wolf and her pup. At first Singed thought nothing of the blood and the fact that the she-wolf was laying on the ground. Then he realized that she had an arrow of elvish make in her side and that it was her own blood. "Horrible luck you have had, she-wolf," he murmurs as he approaches. The she-wolf is too weak to do more than bare her teeth, though the pup started, to attempt, to snarl threatenning and then latched itself to Singed's thick leather boots. "Well pup," he says, "Are you crazy or brave?" The pup responds with a muffled snarl, "Oh well," he responds, then takes a length of rope from his pack and proceeds to tie the squirming pup to a tree. "Now" he says to the she-wolf, "Lets see what kind of damage that pin did." After looking around the wound, and removing the arrow, he pulls out his sword, "Gutted like a pig you are, so I might as well put you out of you're misery," so he slashes the she-wolfs throat and takes her hide, "No point in wasting a good hide while I'm in these mountains." He also takes some of the sinew to reinforce and string his bow with. So now he goes back to the pup, and now he realizes the pups coat is coal black, "Well don't you have a pretty coat?" he asks the pup as he pulls out a strip of meat, "Now, do you want to go or stay with me? I could use a scout, and you act braver and look smarter than any of the other wolves I've seen." So Singed gives the meat to the pup and walks off to find the rest of the components for the bow he is making. He later returns to the cave he is sheltering in to find the pup sleeping inside. "So, you're smarter than I originally thought. So if you're sticking with me, what shall I call you...?" he says to the sleeping pup, which woke with a start at the sound of his voice. "How about Shadow? Seeing as that coat of your's seems to allow you to dissappear into dark places with ease," he tells the pup. So he gathers the pieces to his new bow and starts putting them together, randomly calling Shadow over to his side. Every time he responded, for he was indeed male, he would give him a bite of meat. So for the next few weeks Singed finished his bow, practiced with it, and trained Shadow as best he could.
