The Plot Thickens
(c) 2010 Joshua G.
Greetings, all! Sorry this took so long to crank out.. it's a collective total of 13 hours of work, but this past week has been crap. x.x I like to think that maybe some of you out there might enjoy my writing style as an art rather than smut, and if that's the case, I've tried a few new things with this piece. Let's see if you can figure out what, ja?
Enjoy!
The Plot Thickens
The night was dark, and the moon was by no shape anywhere to light the sky. What dim light the stars provided barely lit the path they tread, but prey like this, they couldn't let flee. This group was a small hunting party of three, and they sought a large beast that could stand upright like a man, but more resembled a wolf. The leader of the party - weilding their first torch and dressed in nice, new fabric clothing with a bathed and healthy look to his appearance - took his two followers a few miles outside of their village by now. They were growing restless and if results weren't produced soon, each had their own idea on how to handle the situation.
When his people appeared agitated and started to fall behind, the leader beconed "Come on, guys, it's gone this way, I know it! We have to stay on its trail!" He continued ahead until he heard the crunching steps behind him stop, and catching on, turned to look to his followers. "What are you guys waiting for? Ed?"
"We've followed you for a while now, and we ain't seen shit!" Stated a bony one in rags with rotten teeth and terrible, wild hair.
Next spoke the man bringing up the rear and holding the other torch, a bony, frail individual with an unhealthily lean body; his attire was tidy, but none the less tattered. He followed up Edward's remark by putting his free hand on the hilt of his sword. "I swear to God, Hamil, if you're fucking with me...."
Hamilton took a step back and swallowed a breath. "Zeke, I wouldn't be lying about something like this, would I? Please, just trust me on this one, okay?" He took a deep breath and continued. "Look, I saw foot prints, and then I saw the beast in the distance. I took you back there to see the prints yourselves - you saw them youselves! Then we all saw it flee in this direction, before we left. Remember?"
Edward spat at the feet of Hamilton, and looked to him with a face reminiscent of eating an un-ripened pesimmon. "Yeah, but that don't mean shit, Hamil. If we've already gone this far and ain't even heard a peep, or seen no signs of life yet..." He grinned and dipped his head back towards the second accomplace. "Well, me and Ezekial here never much liked you, and there ain't no witnesses around here to see what we do to a liar.. or a thief."
Hamilton grew very uneasy and even more distrusting of the men he took along with him. Had he made a mistake? His anxiety reflected in his response. "I-I'm not lying! And.. y-you guys don't ha.. have to come along, j-just... go back." He brought a trembling hand to the ornate, brass hilt of his decorativly sheathed blade. "I'll come back with its head myself!"
Ed grinned wide at the concept, then held his pot-belly gut and laughed whole-heartedly. "Yeah, you go ahead and do that. But if you don't have it, don't bother coming back."
Zeke had joined in the laughter, and after Ed spoke he threw in his peace. "Your precious liege holds little power anymore, and we know your assets are only draining, what with the recession.. Hahaha! Look, I'm gonna give you a warning: you'd best find somewhere else to live all together. No one likes tax collectors, past or present, and it won't be long until our king is usurped, so it's a wonder you're even still alive." Zeke, having already started to walk away, paused in his step and looked over his shoulder. "I don't know why I had the kindness to even tell you that. Come on, Eddy, let's head back."
Hamilton stood and watched his hunting party disband and return to their respective homes, and as he watched them, he felt a great dread in his heart. It struck him now that they weren't simply merciful; they had abandoned him! Had he not managed to come back successful, it would mean only two things: either he would be lynched or chased from his own home, or the beast would do the job for them. In his panic, he dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together, begging the Lord for forgivenes. As he did this, a large beast emerged from a bushel on the far side of his present clearing and lunged straight to him. He fell to his back and threw his right hand up to block the monster while his left blindly groped the ground his ass retreated on, pleading for his life and soiling himself in the whole process. The torch he carried fell into a puddle of water from this past morning's rain, and the only thing he saw in the dim light of the stars was the black silhouette of a gigantic wolf head, hilighted with rich, emerald-green eyes and glistening fangs. He whimpered pathetically while pushing himself away from the beast and up against a tree by his heels.
The animal, snarling and highly aggressive in posture, backed him flat against this tree and held its nose inches away from his face. It stared long and hard at him, its lips drawn back in a gape-mouthed, low gutteral growl. Hamilton admired for a second the sharp contrast its bright eyes, almost glowing fangs and blood-red tongue held against the sillhouette. Soon, it spoke with a soothing female, almost human voice. "Leave me, and my children.." she gestured over her shoulder with her nose to two smaller cubs, peeking from where the beast lunged "Alone. Return to your people and breathe not a single word of us. Fail to do this, and you'll wish they'd slain you. Now, begone you foul, wretched creature.. and take a bath" the beast backed up and lowered her ears, closed her eyes and turned her head to the side while shrouding her nose with a paw "for you smell absolutely terrible." As quickly as she'd appeared, she lunged back into the shrubs and scooped her muzzle under the rump of the larger pup, saddling her on her back and her neck between her cub's arms; the other, smaller one she held in mouth by the nape of her neck. Without a single unnecessary second wasted, she lunged back into the forest and just like that, she was gone.
Humuliated, angered and absolutely refusing to give in so easily, Hamilton screamed out to the forest. "Oh.. oh yeah?? You haven't won! You haven't won!! Come back and face me, or I shall tell the world! They won't all believe me, but someone will, and we'll find the lot of you freaks!" He looked around anxiously and hoped the monster would take the bait, and while he waited, he decided to make his way up the tree at his back. Eventually, he saw the beast re-emerge alone and walk slowly up to the tree, and then it looked straight up at him.
"I don't need my ability to see at night, to hear your nervous breath or smell your stench. Your fear is tangible, so get down here, you sniveling coward."
To be spoken down to so harshly by an animal?! That was the last straw. He decided to do as she asked and simply fell down to her from the tree, but as he fell he drew his blade from its scabbard and held it poised beneath him. The sharp eyes of the wolf caught this and she moved hurriedly to the side, but not far enough. Hamilton managed to sink his blade to the hilt through her right shoulder and angular into her chest. After impact, his head collided with her's, his grip was lost, and he rolled across the ground a few feet away from her while his blaze of glory faded. Soon, all that remained in him was the instinct of self-preservation. And so he fled, desperately hoping he could make it back home. If he was lucky, he would make it with this monster right on his heels, then they'd have no choice but to believe him.. If he was lucky.
The wolf let out a piercing yelp, a firce and terrible snarl and finally, a branch-trembling howl. Immediately following this display she reached with her left paw to rip the sword out of her, which really couldn't sink that deep granted her immense size. Livid to the point her spine resembled that of a porcupine, she took off on two legs after the fleeing man. Being nearly double his height aided her greatly in catching up to him, and she briskly closed his advantage distance. With the very arm he injured, she reached out to lift the human by the top of his head, and he pleaded desperately for his life.
The man blurted madly, tembling in terror "P-p-please! D-don't kill me, I can you.. I can make you very wealthy! Taxes! I collect taxes for the King!"
"I care not who you are, or why you so earnestly pursued me, but it ends here!" And it was 'here' that she squeezed her paw tightly around his skull, and amid shrill blood-curdling screams, his cranium soon shattered and crumbled in her grip. After smearing the goopy, lumpy mess in her paw onto the ground, she returned with a bi-pedal step to her pups as she could no longer run with her right arm. She kneeled down and hoisted her first born onto her back, held her youngest in her right arm and took off running through the forest at an anxious pace; The blade pierced her lung, and she knew she didn't have much time left.
Soon, her travels took her past a clearing with a lake, then to a very sudden and steep wall side of an almost vertically rising mountain range, and she happened upon a small cottage and shed nestled at the foot of it. She considered her options and found she had little other choice than to hope its inhabitants could be trusted with her young. She walked over to the back of the house, using it to limit their visibility to only someone against the steep range footing. The large wolf placed her young carefully down at her feet and took a moment to scent out the perimeter for information, and happened upon a few things to bolster her confidince: the residents were older, relaxed, and she found no trace of anxiety or hostility. Older was a definite boost, because she knew that given enough time in the world, wisdom is inevitible. Humans proved to be no different, and so, she made her decision.
The mother found a small flower garden off to the side of the shed in the back of the house, and she thought it would make a nice bedding for her young. After flattening it down with a paw, she placed her cubs in the makeshift bed and curled up around them. What little time she had left she used to try and comfort her children. "I'm sorry, my dears, but... I won't be waking up with you in the morning. Your mother has been badly injured.. she needs to take a long nap." Her ability to speak was fading, and simply moving her mouth showed signs of strain. She pressed on though, to finish her words. "But don't worry.. I think that whoever lives here will treat you well. Let's just hope... your Mother's senses.. don't mislead her, hm?" She let herself have a soft, soothing laugh and held the bigger one to her chest, while licking the smaller along the face. "I love you, both... Abagail.. Geane..." With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes and wrapped up around her young to the best of her current ability. Soon, she passed on into a sound, deep sleep, and soon...
= = =
Geane rolled in bed and beaded up with sweat, which served only to matt down her fur and sheets and further escalate her discomfort, until eventually this nasty mix woke her with a start. She looked around, anxiously surveying her surroundings while trying to rid her panic. Seeing nothing but her familiar bed and den and her loving mate sleeping next to her, she relaxed fully. A bit uneasy to get back to sleep just yet, Geana decided to get up and wander around a bit, maybe get some fresh air just out in their little grotto village. On her way down she saw a wolf with silky-white, smooth and wavey fur, resembling a cross of her own and her mate's in beautiful harmony, and this greatly spurred her interest. She decided to approach their daughter and investigate, to see what was troubling her as she was never up this late. "Hello, Liz... is something bothering you, dear? You never stay up too long past sunset..."
The small, maturely adolescent cub looked up to her mother and smiled, nodded and again looked straight ahead. "I'm fine, mother, I'm just... a bit worried about Idan." She turned and looked back into eyes that mirrored her own. "He is a smart dog, but at the same time... foolish? Or maybe, stubborn, pig-headed and selfish?"
Geane laughed softly and nodded. "Yes, he's.. got some growing up to do, that's the truth, but why does it worry you enough to lose sleep?"
"Well..." Eliza paused a moment and looked ahead, once again scouting over their village. "Lately, I'm worried about some of these dillusions and ideals that he has. It was cute a few years ago, when he was talking about meeting a human some day, or proving that his Mother was right about them." She turned her attention back to Geane, her paws held up with a vacant expression. "It was fun.. up until he had the means, or even the drive to persue it."
"Ah, that mess... Yeah, he's got some dangerous ideas, but there could still be truth to what he says. I did grow up with his mother, you know."
"I know, Mom, but that doesn't mean anything. You and Aunt Abby got lucky, is all, because I bet there isn't another human being in this land like them." Seeing the hurt already build in Geane's eyes, Liz inhaled slowly and re-thought her heading. "Yes, you and Auntie did have good fortune, but you know that if there were more people like that, our lives would be much easier."
"And I suppose you've broken the tribe rules and made contact, yes?" rebuttled Geane with a smug grin. "And maybe have proof to justify those words?"
"I-... that's not fair, you know."
"Dear, I know it isn't fair, but we can't say a thing about something we know nothing of. I know your father doesn't believe me, and maybe you don't either..." Geane paused and leaned against her daughter, bringing an arm over her shoulder "but humans can love."
"I want to believe it, Mother, but when all they show is bloodshed, carnal lust and betrayal" Eliza broke her sentence just long enough to stare to her Mother with a very deep gaze "how can one believe they are capable of love?"
Geane stared back into those deep, piercing and searching eyes and saw many things: anger, confusion, hope, curiousity, and trust. She knew that the next thing she said better mean something. "Well, my love... it's no easier to believe one can possess compassion, if they themselves judge without a proper trial." That either hit home or at least struck a nerve; or at least, there was some sort of reaction. Either way, the desired impact was made. She was calm now, and relaxed, and the cool night air had dried out her pelt. "Dear, I need my beauty sleep.. not getting any younger, y'know? I love you, Liz.. try and get some rest soon, please?"
"Yes, Mother.. we need to finish this discussion later, though."
"As you wish, sweetheart. Sweet dreams, when you do." Geane leaned in to give her daughter a kiss on the forhead and returned to bed, hoping to have a more relaxed slumber.
= = =
A small pair of sharp, unsynchronized howls cut the still of the night, and a startled older man in his 40s jumped from his bed. The frail, but decently maintained older gentleman was very used to the sounds of a wild forest, since it was where he and his wife made their home. This, however was very near, and if his ears didn't deceive him, in his own back yard. He scratched his gray, medium length cresent of hair on the back of his head and walked around his bed to wake his wife. A round, stout arm smacked his hand in response.
"Harold, sleep... Get in bed, you old coot!" started the short, round but solid woman, her hand grabbing blindly at his sleve and trying to pull him back to bed.
Harold resisted and continued to weakly shake his wife, refusing to be beaten until he could get to the bottom of this. "Angie! Do you hear that?" He started again, handing her a small, hollowed out bull's horn.
"Mmh? You just had a bad dream, get back to sleep, dammit."
"Angela, this is serious, you need to get up and listen!"
With a highly aggrivated groan, the long-haired woman sat up in bed and blinked open her gray-blue eyes. Reluctantly, she pulled the horn up to her ear and was already preparing to light into her husband when she heard nothing. But she did hear something: two small, faint howls, but nearby and weak. With a start, she rolled out of bed and stood next to Harold, looking around nervously. "Harold, what is that? You should go check it out."
"Oh, now I'm supposed to be the brave one, huh?" He went to a cubbord against his side of the bed and pulled out some better outing clothes. He then made his way to the direction of the sounds, around the back of his house.
When he crossed the threshhold onto their back porch, he damn near had heart failure at the sight off to his left. A large dog-beast, probably close to five times his own weight and around the size of a shire stallion, had made a den in his wife's garden. It was wrapped around two smaller creatures like it, each tugging on, whining at and nuzzling the non-responding one. He guessed it to be their parent. Before he was noticed, Harold crept back into the house. He turned to head back to his wife but was forced to stifle a shriek when he literally bumped into her as he turned. "Angie, you won't believe it!" he eagerly whispered.
"What is it, harry? Some creature rooting around in the garden again?"
"You could say that.. there's some very large wolf-like creatures sleeping out there. You need to see it to believe it!"
Angie just stared at him, initially convinced it was bullshit, but skeptical at 'see it to believe it.' So, she took a leap and decided to see what he was hooping about followed shortly by him, and sure enough... "Oh-!" She covered her mouth and backed up. "Oh my... look at that one. Have you ever seen a dog so big?"
"No, I haven't... I don't feel safe sleeping just yet, though.. let's wait until they leave."
And so they waited, each sitting in the kitchen with a view of back porch, waiting to see the large beast stand and lope away on all fours. That never came, however, and vigilance is something rarely seen in older folk. As they did every day, the couple awoke at day-break, each confused at first. Harold was the first one to remember. "That's right, those dogs!"
When he went outside to check up on them, the large, black wolf was still curled up and showing no signs of reaction to the desperately playing pups. One amber-furred pup was.. actually very large for a pup, but maybe they were some super-large species of creature. The other pup, much smaller and kinda roundish with puppy-fat, was a dark, milky chocolate color. He carefully approached, and when the smaller pup noticed him, she took off for the underside of the house. The larger one, startled, dropped to all fours and snarled, trying to protect her mother. He recoiled for a moment, but being a dog person saw that she only meant to protect the large one. This all but confirmed their respective connections to each other and told him a bit about the two pups.
He decided to crouch down into a squat and try to coax the hostile pup over. "It's okay, little one.. I'm not going to try and hurt you. Is that big one your mother or father?" He was surprised to see her face and posture relax, and impressed with the amount of expression that flowed through her face as he spoke; it was almost as though he'd evoked an emotional response. He felt taken aback when she started to approach him, but the surprise of her understanding was eclipsed in shock of what happened next.
Recognizing the local human dialect, the pup took a breath and began. "My name is Abagail, and this is our mother, Jeneva.. she got hurt last night, and.. she needs rest, but she said she trusts you until she's better.. but Momma never liked humans!" Abby's lip started to draw back into a snarl, and she rushed the old man along. "So.. make her better!"
Harold stopped and stared, dumbfounded. He shook himself out of it when his wife emerged from the house asking who's voice she just heard, and he wanted to tell her, but knowing she'd just laugh, he continued. "Well, I'll need your permission to examine her. The name is Harold, by the way." Again, the cub relaxed and stepped aside to let him past. He didn't know too much about animals and their health, but he did notice the ground and plants under her were stained red a deep, rich crimson. His heart sank at what the implications of this could mean, but then his wife called him short, breaking the moment while he approached.
"Why are you talking to dogs? Harold, have you gone plumb mad??"
"Angela, please!" After cutting her off and closing to contact room of the felled beast, Harold traced the blood up her body with two fingertips to a large, gouged wound in her right shoulder. He didn't need to know swordsmanship to recognize this wound, and fearing the worst, checked for breath. Finding no breath, he searched for a pulse, or any other sign of life. His heart sank and went out to the two cubs, and he tried to think of the best way to share his findings. "Abagail, was it? Come over here for a second.."
"What is it, Harold? Is she sick? Can you make her better soon? I wanna go home, and I'm sure my Mother and sister do too."
Angie again rudely interjected. "HAROLD?! Did that dog just-"
"Yes, dear. And I'm sorry, sweetie, but let me show you something. Here.." He reached to grab her right paw and brought it to her mother's neck. "You feel that?"
"I don't feel anything. Mister, please stop wasting time."
"No, that's just it.. now, feel your own neck, right there." While he had her do this, he showed Abby her mother's injured shoulder. "And you see this?"
"My neck's throbbing.. and yes, I see it. Mister Harold, can you help or not??"
"Your mother's dead. The blood soaked into the ground, it's very dark: lifeblood. That feeling in your neck is your blood flowing, which is a sign you are alive. Your mother is no longer alive.. I'm very sorry."
"Wha..?" Abby's eyes started to tear up, and then she revealed another surprise. Out of nowhere she stood on her hind legs, effectively raising her hegiht to just under Harold's chin. "M-.. Mother's dead..? But she can't be! She told us we were going to see Poppa's parents! And she has to answer so many questions, and she has so much to teach us still, and I.. I.... I miss her.."
Harold shook off the initial shock of seeing her stand, which after seeing a dog speak was no feat. He walked over and hugged the cub, knowing she needed something to cling to. Two small, fuzzy paws gripped around his back and their owner was burying her muzzle into the folds of his button-up shirt. Amidst her sobs were whimpers and whines, and he felt very bad for the poor thing.
Overcome now with curiousity and no longer content to just sit under the house and watch, a confused brown furball came hesitantly crawling towards the stiff corpse of her mother. "Is that... is that why Mommy smells so weird, like she really needs a bath?"
Harold gave no response, instead holding a hand to the back of the crying wolf's head while his other stroked down her back.
When Abagail finally stopped sobbing and looked up at the patient human holding her, she blinked away the last of her tears. Such compassion and a genuine smile.. this was nothing like the humans in the tales of her tribe's teachings. After staring a while up to that warm, caring face, she smiled herself in spite of the situation. "I'm sorry for being so mean earlier, mister.. thank you for trying to help Mom, but my sister and I aren't supposed to go near humans... we should probably go now."
"No, it's quite fine. You two can't go out into such a cold world alone, things are pretty bad these days... We don't mind letting you stay until you can fend for yourself, do we honey?" The older man maintained a serious, non-breaking gaze down to the pup for a few seconds, then he looked up to his shell-shocked wife, who slowly made eye-contact and nodded.
Angela walked up to her husband and wrapped her arms around one of his, leaned in and whispered to him. "Harold.. what are these things? I've never seen anything like them.."
"Anwolfmay." Angie's hair went stiff, and she knew it was the answer to her question. Abby continued. "Mother told us that our species was named, as was every other evolved animal species, by a long-deceased race. It was once a different word, but that goes back to Latin; our race has has developed a more advanced language over time, so it's rarely used anymore. According to our teachings, it was a time when all of Earth's species co-existed, shortly following the era of our Dire Wolf, your Caveman.. some age long before recorded time. The time it came to an end was parodied under the human teaching of Christianity as a man named Adam eating the forbidden Fruit of Knowledge.. but every sentient species has their own version of the tale, and I can't tell you our's."
Confused, but not wanting to seem rude, Angela nodded. "I see.. I'd be interested in learning more about your.. kind? If you don't mind, of course."
"I don't know much, and you shouldn't even know we exist! But.. thank you for letting us stay with you, even if only temporarily.."
An awkward silence followed, and deciding on moving things along to break it, Harold clasped his hands together. "Okay, well.. this has been a very interesting morning.. but Abby, do these Anwolfmay have customs for their deceased? If not, I'll just bury her according to our own customs.."
"I don't know.. Mom never talked about anything like that. And you mean.. like, put her body in the ground and cover it?"
"More or less... unless you have any better ideas."
The quiet creamy dark brown pup stood up and pressed her back against her mother's shoulder, spread her short little arms out and shook her head violently. "No! What if Momma is okay and just needs to rest a while to get better?? I don't like the putting her in the ground idea! That's where plants go... Momma isn't a plant."
Abby stared at her younger sister a moment, and groaned, shaking her head "Geane, listen.. Mother is dead. We both knew something was very wrong, and that stench.. it's like a rotting kill if left for a day..." she brought a paw to her clenched eyes after trailing off, breathed in slowly through her nose and clenched teeth, relaxed and continued with a paw still over her eyes "It's hard, Geane, but.. we have to move on." She looked back up to Harold with a serious, almost scowling look, and nodded. "I'll help you bury her, but my sister and I pick the location."
= = =
After re-planting the flowers in the small meadow garden behind their house, Harold described the custom of designing a headstone. Seeing as he'd be letting them share his and his wife's roof, he offered to make them a marker in his small crafts shed behind his home. The pups decided on a small stone plate with an engraving of a simple wolf-head carved into it, and Harold would spend the next half of that week chiseling and sculpting it, until it was ready to embed above the burial site. He added her name, 'JENEVA,' as a personal touch.
Their temporary bedding he decided would be a thick, feather quilt stuffed from the down of geese he'd hunted at a naked lake earlier that year's Spring until such time that he could complete small, square cots for each of them. This project spanned the old man that month's remaining week and a half, and the fruits of his efforts were two sets of two open-side square wooden braces he'd bound on two hinges made from long-rusted sword's hilts. His simple mathematics came in handy when measuring just the right amount of slack for sewing the sheets to the hinged braces, which would complete the make-shift beddings. His Father had been right: It WAS a good idea to study those books in the manor library. He never thought he'd find uses for any of those obscure foriegn ideas and theories, or even any of that old junk from his Pop's wandering days, like the unsalvagable swords.
As time went on, they began to grow pretty close as a family, and the youth was always helpful for some of their more strenuous endeavors; like hunting, for instance. He looked on to the day he would part with these two with dread, for never had he had the advantage of a hunting companion with the gifts of an animal and a sentient mind, and here he had two. As they grew, Abby became quite the avid reader, as her nose was consantly burried in one of his father's old books. He also learned that they could be much more creative than any man he'd met; Abby implemented many ideas into modifying things lying around his shed. For example, she once took an old sword and re-forged it with a flat side and a curve to the blade. She explained that a book on the East stated it should greatly improve its endurance and slicing ability. Then another time she came up with the idea of a bow resembling a wide, short lowercase 'w' in shape, and it had a distinct ability to propel arrows much further and with greater force.
The small family wouldn't only go out simply to hunt and gather, though. They would spend much time wandering around their secluded little slice of the forest. Angela's stern and cocky attitude would eventually melt away into a more humble, motherly one and she saw the cubs soon less as guests, and more as daughters. Harold developed a strong bond with Abagail on the day he'd burried their mother, but he couldn't figure out what to make of the younger sister. His wife seemed to develop a real soft spot for her, though, and nurtured her more snuggly and affectionate nature. He was more a thinker and a doer, like the older wolf, and he decided to take things as they were. This family they had developed may have been very un-orthadox, but all of them welcomed and cherrished it.
It wouldn't be too long until Abagail would hit puberty, and while she was until late the height of Harold, each day she grew a few more inches. It had gotten to the point where she could barely get in and out of the house, and her sister was only two short years behind her. Angela came up with the idea of re-furbishing his old workshop into a house for them, as the immense height and girth of the barn doors allowed greater entry and exit flexiblity. So, following her advice and direction, the entire house-hold re-designed the shed, adding furnishing and garnishings to liven it up and closing off a section of it via hanging blanket to be reserved as Abby's private quarters. While Harold took the time to develop a large, custom-sized bed for her and hunted enough fowl to feed them for a year to gather the featherings, she modified her space.
The creative thing went ahead and carved a thin, cylindrical piece of wood and sewed the very end of the blanket around it, mimicing her cot's mat design. With her ever-rising height, she placed it over two of the shed's rafters. It was at this moment she noticed that her space was literally a corner of the room, and she saw a chance to make things a little bit easier. So, she went out and recovered a series of long vines, returned to the shed and twined them together into a long, braided cord. She lit the forging furnace and set a large steel pan of water to boil over it, and eventually soaked the vines in this water. Once soaked, she suspended them above the rising steam until they shriveled and bound themselves togehter permenantly. She then took two large nails and folded them around a single finger into a question-mark shape and drove them into the wall above either side of where she planned to place her bed. Abby wove one end of the vine cord through the blanket's stiched end, and once through she took both ends of the vine and hooped them over the nails. 'That should make opening and closing this thing easier.' she thought.
Amazed by her creative handy-work, Harold began to draw inspiration and devised a number of ways he could implement such innovations into every-day life. Maybe inventing could even be a calling of his, but he decided that was something to look into when he didn't have a family to tend to. Smiling, he returned back to his own craft works.
As predicted, it wasn't long until Geane followed with her own growth-spurt. Luckily, she didn't get quite as gargantuan as her sister, which made his work that much easier; Harold was grateful for this, at least. As time continued to pass, he soon learned that with rapid growth came a rapid jump in appetite and physical prowess. He didn't have to go out hunting with them anymore, and they would come home with enough food to sustain him and his wife for months; the cubs, however, maybe a few days. Then hunting soon became crafting, and then eventually gardening.
Eventually, Harold's wife grew ill and could no longer be roused from bed. He knew that it wouldn't be long, now, and he readied his heart and his nerves for what he knew was inevitable. He spent many long days by his wife's bedside, tending to her and all but forsaking the pups. Harold knew that they realized what was going on, too, because they didn't question him and gave the two of them plenty of space. Geane would sometimes come in to spend time with them, though. It was not that long until days became weeks, and fate would play a mean game with the two of them. Her health would improve, then grow worse, each time improving less and growing more pitiful. Harold gave up on hoping he would see her fully recover again and already accepted that she would soon die, and came to terms with how he would deal with it when this happened. He just wanted to squeeze as much time with her out of fate as he could, until the moment she finally passed away.
The day after his wife's death, he decided to burn her body and spread her ashes out over the small, round garden that she so loved, and it wasn't until this moment that he noticed something strange. A small budding plant had cracked through the headstone, through the eye and in a spiral. Closer observation of the plant showed similarity to young trees he'd seen grow in his life, and Harold was greatly confused by this at first. He called over the two cubs to see this phenomena, then Abby explained that they were always taught their kind returned to nature in death. He pondered over the possibility that maybe this tree was, in fact, their mother. Harold shook it off as a fleeting thought.
After he emptied the ashes of his wife over the garden, he heard a small voice carried on the wind, thanking him. Harold failed to recognize it as his wife's, but when he looked down to the budding plant, he saw a faint, smiling transparent image of the large black wolf's face. Beautiful sea-green eyes shimmered on its face, then closed. The head lifted into a howl that echoed only in his head. The old man shook his head and wrote it off as his withered mind playing tricks on him, or maybe his weary heart justifying his decisions. He decided to spend the remainder of the day with whom he'd come to consider his children, and Abby did her best to console and comfort him as he had her on the day their mother had died. Geane just kept to herself and apologized that she couldn't be more help to him, but he could tell... He could tell she was mourning to, just in her own, non-intrusive way.
When the day came to a close, Harold retired to his bed and stared up at his celing for a little while. He looked to his right to the empty spot that his wife filled for the decade and a half they lived out here, then he looked over to the dim lit shed inhabited by the most interesting pair he'd had the grace of knowing. Smiling, Harlod looked back up to his celing and made a small prayer. "Thank you, Lord, for such a full and wonderful life. I made many discoveries, learned many things.. and in the end, you allowed a greatly kept secret to be revealed to me. I hope your trust was not ill placed, my Lord. Thank you for my wonderful wife, and granting us a family in our close. I'll see you in the morning, Father." He closed his eyes and crossed his hands over his chest, then drifted off into the soundest and most restful sleep of his life.
= = =
When Geane woke in the morning, she felt something amiss and scented the air, recognizing a reak or the starting phases of decay. "No!" She jumped out of bed after this shriek and rushed into the house to see the human she had come to know as her Father lying on his covers with a smile on his lips. She ran over and scooped her right paw behind his head, and her left around his chest, held him up to her and rocked slowly while sobbing. She recognized the pale skin and still chest immediately, and the clammy skin of his neck on her paw pads brought tears to her eyes. As she rocked back and forth with the body and soaked his balding head with sobs, she wondered in her heart why it was his death that shook her to such a degree, and then she had an epiphany.
The human family she literally grew up with and came to love was gone, and now all that remained was her sister. She needed to move on, to get away from this place, with all of its sweet, wonderful... terrible memories. It was then that she felt a presence behind her, and she turned with swollen, tear-soaked eyes to see her sister, and then she felt gentle paws stroking and caressing her cheeks. Everything around her faded into blackness.
"These are our roots, and you can never forget them, Geane. You are my only sister, my only blood, and you are the only one who bears this tale that could be the very salvation of both our people. Today, your nephew.. my son Idan will ask you for your help with something very important, and I need you to listen. He could very well be onto something huge, bigger than you and I, than our whole tribe.. he could change the flow of history, but not without your help. Now, awaken, my dear sister.."
Geane refused to lose this image of her sister, and her arms went now around the large golden wolf, but when she opened her eyes again, a sharp yelp escaped her mouth at the sight. The beautiful fur and skin, and most of the flesh had melted form the face, and the membrane holding the eyes, and her eyes themselves rotted away. She clenched her eyes shut, refusing to either look upon or release this rotting corpse. When she felt the air around her vacant, she opened them again to see a faint image of her sister before her.
"This will be my last visit to you, Geane. May the Great One, and my love always be with you."
And now she was alone in an endless sea of darkness.
= = =
"ABBY!!" Geane was upright and alert before the word finished escaping her mouth, and a yelp, and then a soft growl followed it.
"Honey, calm down... stop waking me up with your nightmares already, will you?" grumbled a cranky Sanha, and he rolled over and went right back to sleep.
Geane slowly rose from bed and made her way to the common room while rubbing her eyes. When she arrived, she looked around the empty space and saw a crack in Idan's room. Her sister's words regarding him urged her to investigate, and so she did. Rather than barge in, she pressed up against the door's frame and whispered his name. Getting nothing, she creaked it slowly open and saw his room neatly tidied up, and this being so unlike him concerned her. She noticed a small piece of parchment on the bed with scribbling on it, and before thinking, picked the piece of paper up.
"Dear Family,
I have gone out into the world for a journey of self-discovery. I don't know what I'll find, and I don't know why I want to do this, but I know that you won't have to worry about me. I won't be too far, but I won't be too close. I'm sorry for talking in riddles like this, but you are all right, I do have a lot of growing up to do. Learning the ways of the world and observing everything first-hand is the best option that I can see to accomplish this. And to settle Unc's nerves, no, I won't be reckless enough to allow myself to be discovered, nor reveal myself. Besides, he sounded kind of scary when he told me not to endanger the family.
I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll be sure to come back and visit from time to time. It shouldn't be that long before you next see me again; I'll have to restock some time, right? Hahah! Well, you've all been a wonderful extended family, especially you, Aunt Geane. You're every bit as loving as Mother was smart, and I'm grateful I got to know you. Uncle San, I always did treasure our little chats about human nature and where we should go as a species. I learned a lot of useful things from you. And LIz.. I never could figure you out. You're very quiet, but still very loyal. Thank you all, for all your support and kindness. I shall return capable of making you all proud, I promise you this.
P.S. Aunt Geane, when you read this, meet me in our place at sunset."
Geane crumpled up the letter against her pounding heart. Her eyes were closed and her nose raised, and she made her emotional and physical perparations to rondevous with her nephew. She waited until that afternoon to head out to the base of a great tree in the middle of a small, beaitufl meadow, behind a cliff-base home, just a short walk from a lovely, naked lake.
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Edits: Re-named the title, fixed a plothole involving 'Latin.'