Alone in a Busy World

Chapter Fifteen

I wake with the sun starting to peek through the trees and quickly wish I hadn't gone running off. I scoot down the tree and rush to our hideout; although now it's just my hideout. I know well enough where it is, right at the centre. I'm brushing away the soil that covers it up in no time, and I'm inside in a jiffy.

Fresh tears start to pierce my eyes as nostalgia washes over me and the smell of Al and damp soil fills my nose. I fight off the numbness and rush to a cupboard which contains the weapons. I can't remember half of the stuff I find but I don't hesitate to grab the stuff I think I'll need.

In my chest strap I secure two more daggers and three smoke grenades. To my belt I secure a sword with my name scratched on the hilt. I also find two loaded pistols and two sets of bows and arrows. I know full well who the other set belongs to but I just grab mine and sling it over my shoulder.

I leap back into the sunlight, and in a matter of seconds I've covered all traces of there being a hideout there. I run back to the rock face and slip inside without a second thought. I rush back through the tunnel and back to the little cave to find Misty and Spirit still asleep, but Storm is pacing nervously about.

When he sees me I'm flooded with a load of questions:

Where have you been? I've been worried sick, the smell of humans is so much stronger and there's been another explosion. Yes it was smaller and none of us are harmed but still...

Slow down there feisty pants, I left a note, I'll talk about it when the other two are awake. I don't really want to think about it at the moment. Don't worry about the explosion; they're probably just checking that we're actually dead. Last thing is that the smell of humans should be stronger because we're in a city.

No! I mean that it's grown stronger; I think there might be a crowd outside or something.

We'll sort it out, don't worry.

I take a seat against the wall and pull my bow off my back. The wood is so smooth, and a pattern of a fire is burned into the front. On the inside, there's a picture of a wolf burnt into the wood with my name underneath it. I use a pocket knife that I picked up to carve another wolf in a sky which is full of stars looking down upon the first wolf. Underneath the second wolf I carve Al's name. Around the wolf that's meant to be me, I carve wings and four other wolves; I carve the names Lupa, Spirit, Storm and Misty under those wolves.

When I'm finished carving, I light my finger and burn over the carvings so the pictures are permanently in the bow. A place to put all those I love. It's a place to hold memories under lock and key.

I toss some meat to Storm; he wolfs it down without pausing for breath. Excuse the pun. I eat a rather meek breakfast which consists of an apple. I don't really have an appetite, not after the trip I've had. My heart's on its last string. If that string breaks then I've snapped and gone forever.

I sit in silence, stroking Storm's mane and replaying in my mind the terrible events that I've been through in life; the terrible events that make up my life. The moments that I sit there for seem to last forever as I relive my life each moment and as I linger over the loss of my brother and the homesickness I feel at not being with the pack.

When Spirit and Misty wake, I go through my trip in detail. My voice breaks when I talk about the message and how I'd cried in the tree, but Misty just licks my hand and I stroke her as I finish my tale. After I'm finished I let one last tear trickle down my face as I put aside the ranger and become the avenger.