Tribal Legends - The Water Wolves
#2 of Tribal Legends
Tribal Legends
a suite of stories
Written down and translated by Sharpfang '99.
You can copy this story freely as long as no contents are changed
The Water Wolves
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The Story of Water.
A tribal legend by Aris, translated and written down by Sharpfang.
Dedicated to: Fublewutz
Kiri was a young, very curious wolf cub, who had a talent of living with and understanding nature. Every day, he spent much time in the mountains, pathfinding, learning about different herbs and plants, and watching the beauty of the forests. His only close friend - and teacher, was the shaman of the village - a very old and wise wolf, who expected the boy to take on his duties when his time came. Those plans also appealed to Kiri, so he learnt hard, but even though he tried really hard, and could understand the languages of wild animals, he couldn't meet the Great Spirit in visions - and that was the necessity for good shamanism.
As he grew and got older, on the threshold of adulthood, his trips in the mountains were getting longer. Sometimes he stayed for the night in the wilderness, returning home next evening. Once he found a lake high in the mountains. It was beautiful. Quite big, cool, part of it hidden in a forest, part of it where high mountain walls entered the water... When Kiri touched the water's surface with his paw gently, he felt something changing in him - He felt in love with the lake.
No one falls in love with a lake, you say? Some say they fall in love with a country, mountains or sea - but they don't really mean it. Kiri did. He stayed the whole night, kneeling by the lakeside, playing with the water, feeling its life. In the morning, he ran home and told his parents everything. He also asked if he could stay away from home longer, returning for a shorter time. His parents consulted the elder wolves of the tribe on the case. The answer they got, was that they shouldn't agree to it. The young wolf was old enough to leave the parents' tipi and make his own - then he could do whatever he wanted. Otherwise, he should stay with his parents. Kiri asked then to be given three days to make the decision, and they agreed.
He ran back to the lake, not thinking about his parents, only hoping for the acceptance and returning of the love he felt. He knelt on the shore and a small wave lapped up to his hands and knees, as if greeting him. When he bent over to drink, and touched the surface with his lips, the most wonderful, sweet taste of kiss touched his tongue. He was kneeling the whole evening on the rocky lakeside, touching the water, kissing it and caressing it like a lover, and he felt the lake responding. The shallow water tugged at his hands, asking him to enter it, and walk deeper, to dare to step into it... and he did so. The water around him was unusually warm as for a mountain lake and slight whirlpools and drift caressed his fur and carried him along the shore, into a small bay in the nearby beautiful forest, where several hot springs from its bed were making the water warm and its flow was touching him like gentle hands. He didn't need three days to make the decision. He already knew he wasn't going back home.
And so they stayed together. Extremely happy, they they learnt about each other's bodies. Kiri found secret whirls and straits, where disturbing the waterflow and caressing it caused the lake to boil and rage as if in a storm, and it too found his sensitive areas, giving him more pleasure than any she-wolf could ever give. Every time he was hungry, fresh fish landed in his hands, and when he was sleepy, the gentle waves kept him on the surface, floating in the most comfortable bed in the world, allowing him sleep with no worries. In exchange for these favors, he removed dead animals and rotten plants from the water, and caressed his love for many hours.
They began learning each others' language, and soon they could converse about some basic things, but usually they needed no words to express their feelings - their love.
One night, two years after they had fallen in love, a gentle wave woke Kiri from his dreams. He looked around and in terror saw that all the water in the lake was red like blood. In fear, he asked his love what had happened. "The time has come. Our son will be born. Come!" - it answered. The gentle drift carried him towards the middle of the lake, and he noticed the red water converged at one point, leaving clean lake behind. It was gathering in a concetrated area, forming arteries with blood, then the bones appeared, covered with muscles, then skin and fur... and the cutest wolf puppy imaginable dashed towards the surface to take his first breath.
Since that night Kiri - the father, and the lake - the mother had a lot of work to do, looking after their baby, teaching it and playing with it. The cub couldn't stay away from water for long. He started suffocating just as his fur started drying - however, he could stay under water way longer. He could also control the water flow around him, so he didn't even need to move to swim quickly.
He was growing quickly, and Kiri went down to his village to ask if it would be possible for his son to learn and play with other children, and the teacher had no difficulty in moving the classes from the forest glade to the sandy beach overlooking the river - and the cub loved to play with other children, and in winter it was even easier for him - he was able to walk on long trips away from water, all he needed was to wallow in the snow from time to time to make his fur wet, and he didn't get cold at all.
A few years later the lake gave birth to the next wolf. This time it was a daughter. Her brother helped their parents in looking after her and he taught her much. They often swam down the river to listen to the teacher and play with other children.
Years passed. The Lake and Kiri had no more children but the two they who they had grew up. The cubs became wolves of unusual beauty, and when the time came for them to leave their home, they swam down the river to seek their own lives... and loves. And so they became the origin of a new species, which could love, live together and have children with lakes, rivers and seas and with furries who lived on land. In this way, other species of furries appeared in waters of the world. They all had two things in common: extreme beauty, and inability to live without contact with a clean water source.
In your world they were known as nymphs as many humans saw them, but few dared to say that the beauty they saw didn't look quite human, but animal-like. Nowadays, with humans having polluted all the waters, all the nymphs who stayed in Earth's waters died, but some of them left for the stars together with the tribe of Ti'Kan and Ka'Mi, and when the waters of Earth become clean again, they will return.
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Sharpfang
sat 23:26 9.10.99