FSE

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Morning gave way to afternoon and the wolf and the boy continued their way over large, grassy hills. The boy remembered the way he would play in the grass near his home, following ladybugs across leaves and trying to point out where the next faint glow of firefly light would appear in the evenings. He became saddened to think those times were gone now and tears formed at the edges of his eyes while he held back a sob.

The wolf turned and was curious at the boy's actions, never having seen another creature cry before.

"Why does water fall from your eyes Boy?" the wolf asked as it tasted the salt of a fallen tear on the grass.

"I miss my home and I miss the fun things I used to do."

The wolf thought this matter over, furrowed her brow, and then the boy felt a warmth trail down his back. In short order the end of his spine had lengthened out and spilled over the back of his pants until behind him hung a wolf's tail. His tail was bare without a coating of fur of its own, a mix of boy and wolf, like his ears and his padded feet.

"Why gift me this Wolf?" the boy asked while feeling his new tail swing gently to and fro.

"So I may understand your feelings better. It carries a language I know well." The boy noticed as she once again led the way that the wolf's tail had now vanished in place of his own.

The pair continued their way through the grassy hills until they came upon a large tree growing isolated and alone at the crest of the tallest hill. They rested there together, the boy and the wolf, beneath the shade of that large tree, and while there the boy spotted a small bed of gorgeous wildflowers nearby, carrying as many colors as he thought he could name. His curiosity piqued, the boy went over to the flowers and breathed in their sweet smell, bouncing between them and greeting them as friends with a smile across his face. The boy's tail swung with joy behind him, and the wolf, who had been carefully watching from the shade of the tree, now understood his happiness and smiled too.

Leaving the flowers, the boy and the wolf left the hills behind in exchange for a dense jungle. The air was damp and strange creatures called to each other from the tops of the trees. The boy saw a fluttering shape in the air, and recognized it as the green butterfly with the speckled blue spots that had led him to this place.

"Mr. Butterfly wait!" the boy called as he ran over to it, hoping it might be able to help them on their journey. He jumped over logs and pushed aside great, wide leaves of ferns chasing after the butterfly as quickly as he could. So focused was the boy on the butterfly he failed to see the end of solid ground ahead, and fell forward through the air, landing in a tangled batch of suspended vines. The vines were wrapped tight around his arms and legs, making it hard to move. Above him the butterfly rose towards the sun and then vanished.

The wolf appeared below him and paced back and forth. Spotting the wolf, he was relieved and called to her.

"Wolf! Wolf! Help me! I'm stuck and I can't get down." He struggled in the vines, but he could not loosen them on his own.

"Use my teeth to bite the vines free." the wolf responded, and then the boy felt a warmth at his face. His face grew longer to accommodate new, pointed wolf teeth and was now a mix of boy and wolf, like his tail, his ears, and his padded feet.

The boy bit down hard on the vines and heard them snap one by one until he was only hanging in the air by a single vine. He slid down the vine like a rope and dropped down the rest of the way, landing in a crouch before he felt the wolf brush up against him. He reached his hands around her neck to hug her, and this time she did not growl at him. Looking at her he saw that where her muzzle had been, it was now flat and empty. Although the boy was thankful for her help, inside his heart he carried a tight knot of concern for his friend, not wanting anymore of her to go away.

"I am glad you are safe Boy." the wolf whispered while brushing her forehead against his leg.

"I am glad too Wolf. Thank you."

Urged by the wolf, the two continued traveling through the jungle well into the night until only the stars were awake. The boy had to hold his hands out in front of him, using only the sounds of the wolf's footsteps to guide him as they wandered through the pitch-black dark.

"Wolf, I can't see anything, and I don't like the dark very much. I'm a little scared. Must we keep going?"

"We must." the wolf calmly answered, then the boy's eyes grew warm and the world seemed all at once brighter. The darkness lifted into many shades of grey, and what were once mysteries and secrets were revealed. The boy looked at the world with eyes that were now a mix of boy and wolf, like his face, his tail, his ears, and his padded feet.

The wolf turned and looked in the boy's direction with closed eyes. "The dark is a place of fears and doubt combined. It is their home, their resting place. It is a place we all must venture to at times Boy. Sometimes by choice. Often by need. If we do not push through it will overwhelm us and sink us down."

"Aren't you scared of anything Wolf?" the boy asked with a tight knot still in his stomach.

"I only fear losing you." she answered with unwavering certainty before turning back towards the dark that would never become light for her again. The two finally stopped their travels for a short rest just as the first rays of morning light began rising in the distance. Huddled together in the hollow beneath a pair of fallen trees the boy thought long about the wolf's words before he finally drifted off to sleep.

When the two were well-rested, they continued on their way leaving the jungle behind for an open tundra, with rivers winding their way down from a pair of looming, neighboring mountainous peaks with a thicket of woodland trailing far back between them.

"The trees you see are your goal. They will lead you where you need to go if you go straight until your legs can go no farther." The boy nodded, wondering if he should ask the wolf to join him at his home. Maybe she'd be happy there too. The thought was broken by a cold breeze.

The cold sharpened at a frightening pace and soon small clumps of snow were drifting down from a clouded sky. The boy and the wolf quickened their pace as they were buffeted by blasts of frost from accumulating snow. The boy shivered, but he said nothing. The sudden storm raged on, and as they trudged their feet through the building snow the boy shivered harder, but he said nothing. He tripped on a rock he could not see, landing completely in the cold, soft snow, but rose back up, determined to reach the patch of green between the mountains and still said nothing. The wolf stopped and turned to view the boy's act with eyes still closed to the world.

"You have learned well of needs and wants, and the difference between the two." the wolf said while brushing the boy's cheek with her forehead. "This will be my last gift to you." The boy's whole body grew warm then and a coating of thick, dark fur blanketed his skin. He stood now completely as a mix of boy and wolf, from his fur, to his face, to his tail, his ears, and his padded feet. The cold bothered him little now, but his friend, the wolf trembled severely with the loss of her protective pelt.

"Boy of Wolves, your home is in your reach. You've made it so. But you must go on now without me." the wolf answered with a smile on her face

The boy was saddened to think of losing his friend. "No, what will I do without you? Whose lessons will I learn?"

"Your life is your own now. You will live and take your place among The Cycle when that time is done. For now, face the dark and find the light." Then the wolf laid down in the snow as if to take a peaceful nap.

The boy understood and slowly made his way through the relentless storm. When he looked back, his friend, the wolf was already covered by a blanket of white. Step after step the boy made his way forward through the storm until he finally reached the patch of green between the two mountains. The snow dared not fall here and the boy continued through the trees until his legs ached and even further past that as the wolf had instructed until after what felt like forever he finally saw a puff of white smoke in the distance among familiar trees.

The boy thought of ladybugs, fireflies, and warm stew waiting for him. But he also thought of other things now as well. He thought of gifts, and purpose, and a friend lost. With the path forward clear to him, he turned away from the safety of his home to embrace the dark of the unknown as he headed further into the woods.

For countless years after that the boy acted as guardian to the forest he loved so dearly, all the while learning its many lessons it was willing to share. As he grew so did the forest until one day he spotted a young Girl of Man looking bewildered and lost as a butterfly rose towards the sun and then vanished.

The forest belongs to no one he remembered with a smile.