First Meeting
#2 of Calling Down the Moon
I really didn't like how this story came out the first time around. I seem to have a habit of doing that. So i rewrote it. So what do you think of it?
As if this guy wasn't creepy enough, he was wearing a Sigil of Baphomet proudly around his neck. Raine wanted to strangle the guy with the chord for following her around all day. Again. She just wanted to get through school without attracting the creeps for once. There was only one reason he followed her and that was because of the pentacle that she wore around her own neck. Sure, she didn't need to wear it for any reason, it just reminded her of her lineage.
Unfortunately, he is more persistent than he is creepy and Raine still needed to eat lunch. She didn't see him anywhere around when she sat down to eat her burger and thought the creep had gone. Halfway through her burger he showed up again.
"Ahhh, the little lamb is eating a burger. How ironic. There is still a place for you in our cult. My master has seen you work and is quite insistent you join."
He held out his hand for her to take it. She grabbed it for a second and squeezed before letting go and wiping her hand off. He suddenly looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, "I decline your offer, once again. I have no interest in black magic."
He grunted a few times before speaking, "you should... stop being so stubborn. We are *hrk* powerful! We will... Oh god I got to go!" With that he ran off swiftly to the bathroom and Raine got back to her burger with a smile.
Right as she was finishing her burger, a man who easily looked like he could be a devil's advocate walked up. To Raine, he reeked of death and torture to the point she gagged. She was thankful no one of this age could use magic but that never stopped people from trying, "you really must teach me that trick. What nerve endings do you hit? How much pressure do you apply? That is a rather effective deterrent you have been using on him. Nine times I sent him and nine times he was banished to the restroom for three hours."
Raine wanted nothing to do with this guy, "go away. I do not have patience for those who reek of death and torture. I would do the same to you but I would have to cleanse myself after touching you."
"Ahh but right there lies my problem. You have no way of knowing that and yet you seem to know a lot about me. That is why I have been seeking you. You know things and I want them for my self. Whether willingly or not you will tell me! You can not hide from--HEY!"
Another student grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away from Raine. She didn't get a good look at the fellow student but was grateful he shuffled the 'master' out of the cafeteria. She watched as a few people laughed at him but largely he went unnoticed. It was a good thing, too, his very presence could taint people with his ire. She already felt like she needed a shower herself.
After a thorough scrubbing in the shower, Raine took a hike up into the mountains the college was at the base of. She hiked until she reached a meadow with a small clearing in the middle. This was her favorite place to be and was a place of power as well. She stripped off her clothing and set it into a pile next to the cleared area breathed in the air that was starting to mist. With a sigh she let her guise slip away.
Her slight five foot two inch frame started to grow and fill out. Claws forming and pushing out where her nails used to be while her teeth lengthened and sharpened and her ears moved up her head. Her feet and hands thickened while a silvery white fur the color of her hair flowed up her arms and legs. As the fur reached her face her nose and mouth pushed out into a muzzle. A tail pushed from her bottom just as she was reaching a height of six foot. She fell back into the grass and flowers of the meadow with glee and enjoyed the heavenly smells of earth and flora.
Mike was getting tired of people calling security about a girl who keeps going into the mountains well past dark. There were wolves up in the mountains and they have found hikers dead up there from them before. Every hiker who had died had been armed as well which was the strange part but here a little 5'2" girl had gone up into the mountains for the tenth time for hours on end. People were starting to get afraid she'll bring the wolves farther down the mountain.
He had wanted to wait for her at the base of the mountain but when it turned dark and she wasn't back yet he was obligated to go check on her. He had been hiking for a while when he finally smelled smoke. A small plume of it was coming up from the middle of a meadow. He froze halfway to where the smoke was coming from when he noticed a huge wolf sitting where the smoke was. Unfortunately he gasped in fright and the wolf instantly looked at him. In that moment he saw fear in the wolf's eyes as well before it took off out of the meadow and into the forest. Why the wolf was afraid of him he didn't know but he went to the small plume of smoke to see if the girl was there.
He found her clothes and they were neatly folded and clean so she couldn't be in too much trouble but with the wolf nearby he was cautious. Something about the herbs that were gently burning caught his attention though and he squatted to take a look at them. He lifted them to see what they were and noticed it was a bundle of sage and lavender. He took a deep breath of the smoke and saw a flash of light before falling back unconscious.
Raine watched him carefully from the edge of the clearing. He was inspecting her things which wasn't a big deal but she was silently hoping and praying that he didn't sniff the herbs. She had placed a cleansing spell on them to clear her head after Mr. big bad and creepy had tainted the air she was breathing. He probably wouldn't like the effects if he inhaled the smoke and certainly not the effects of a deep breath. Her hopes went out the window when he inhaled the smoke like he was hitting a bong though. He hit the floor, out like a light immediately.
Raine knew he wouldn't be out for long so she changed back to a human shape and got dressed. She had intended to go running with the wolves once she had cleansed herself but this poor sap just ruined that for her. There were aspects of the spell that he may not agree with right away or ever and she would need to make sure he didn't freak out over it. Hearing animals talk, as cool as it sounds, can be quite unnerving when you aren't expecting it. So she sat there in her pentacle on the ground, smelling the burning herbs, and waited for him to wake up.
Raine was getting ready to start poking him with a stick. He had been out for almost an hour now and she wanted to get him off the mountain.Finally he woke up with a groan, "oi. I feel like someone just scrambled my brains with a blender."
"Yeah, that happens." When he jumped and looked at her she figured he wasn't ready for a response, "sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. So what are you doing all the way out here?"
Mike just groaned, "I am going to assume that you are the girl I was sent up here to retrieve. Seeing as though it is currently way past dark, I don't think we are going anywhere." He paused for a minute and seemed to be looking around, "and what is all of that racket? I don't think I've ever heard so much sound up here at night."
Raine flinched, this was going to be a touchy subject, "how open are you about religion and magic?"
He just blinked and looked at her, confused, "umm, I don't know how that is relevant." When she didn't respond, only stared at him he continued, "I guess I'm pretty open. Both parents are catholic but I've always felt that wasn't the way for me."
Raine took a deep breath, "well, this is going to sound pretty insane. Those herbs you sniffed earlier basically stripped away your baptism. That and the noises you are hearing are the sounds of the earth. I call it the song of Mother Terra. It can be quite peaceful once you get used to it."
Mike just stared at her for a full minute. He didn't blink or move. Raine jumped when he finally spoke, "you're right, that does sound pretty crazy. Are you sure my ears aren't just ringing?"
"Yeah, well the last person that happened to didn't believe me either. They at least took my advice and got re-baptized to get rid of it though.That's why I come all the way up here. Nobody ever believes me."
"You got to admit. That does sound pretty far-fetched. So... what? Were you telling the truth?"
"Well I didn't tell you everything. I just explained what you were experiencing. It gets worse when you start understanding the birds and squirrels on campus though. I'm used to it. I've understood them since I was ten."
"Whoa whoa! Let me absorb one thing at a time lady. Jezus. So you're saying I'll be able to communicate with squirrels and birds now?"
"Well, understand yes. Communication is a little harder. Most of them will believe you can't understand them and will just go on their own way. They all understand you already."
Mike's head was spinning. This was all surreal! He would have to see if she was telling the truth. Maybe trying to talk to his dog tonight after work could be interesting, "alright, I'll conditionally believe you for now until I prove it one way or the other."
She got a small chuckle out of him, "I guarantee you won't have an easy time proving it works. You will probably feel like an ass and quit trying before they actually talk to you. Your best bet would be to just get baptized again and forget it ever happened."
He heard the sadness in her voice and the fun was suddenly lost for him, "hey, it's not like that. I actually want to try. I've always thought there was something out there besides Christianity. Maybe this is just the sign I've been looking for to find a new faith."
"Oh don't patronize me," she sighed heavily, "I don't need someone to believe me because they feel sorry for me. I get plenty of joy from outside of the human race.My mother didn't need companionship and neither do I."
Mike backed up a step, "whoa! Alright alright. I get the point. I still want to believe you though. This sounds too cool not to!"
"Yeah yeah. Come on. Let's get off this mountain before they send a rescue crew up. I don't need a bunch of people up here trampling my meadow."
"What? How can we possibly get down from here. It's a two hour hike and it's pitch black out!"
"I can see just fine. Just follow me and we'll be down in no time. Use the flashlight on your phone or a real one if you have it so you can see where you're stepping. Just don't shine it in my eyes."
"Why not?"
"Have you ever seen what happens when you shine a flashlight in the eyes of someone with night vision goggles on? Yeah hurts like that."
"That's cool! How did you get night vision?"
"Inherited from my father. You ask a lot of questions."
"Yeah well, currently you are the most interesting thing around and I'm curious. Your parents sound pretty cool. It'd be fun to meet them."
"Father died before I was born and my Mother a month after she gave birth. I've lived with a foster family my whole life."
"Oh. So how do you know so much about them? Did you ask the adoption agency or do some research?"
"I asked them myself. Oh I forgot to mention that you'll be able to talk to spirits on All Hallows Night. That's another side effect you may notice."
Mike stopped for a second before catching back up, "okay that one doesn't sound as cool. Then again I don't have anyone cool to talk to that's dead either. Any other side effects you forgot to mention?"
"Forgot to mention? No. Plenty that I abstained from mentioning though. Some are more fun to find out on your own."
He followed quietly for a few minutes before speaking again, "you better not be smiling. That wasn't funny."
"What? I was serious... Okay I was smiling a little but you're the first person actually interested in druidism in a while. I'm allowed a little fun."
"Still not funny."