Waxing Gibbous

Aniu and Home (A)

When I woke up the next morning I was lying on the bison fur with the lynx fur covering me like a blanket. I couldn't remember when I brought it back into the tipi, it had to have been last night. I didn't remember much from last night or the day before, I knew I was hungry, but my head no longer hurt, and nothing was swimming. Steppingout into the sun, i found my companions over by the fire, there was a pot roastingabove the open flames, and it smelled wonderful.

"You must be hungry" Korinna said handing me a bowl of stew. I sat down next to them looking out at the village. We ate breakfast in silence, only the sounds of the birds and the fire filling the air.

They let me bath and rest before the next part of the ritual. "you have successfully found your spirit guide and now we must grant you, your totem"

"you will need to focus on your most powerful sense; scent. Your totem is hidden in the woods, you must retrieve it. To finalize the bond between you and your spirit."

I stripped down and phased into the massive black wolf.

"Focus on your surroundings; close your eyes and listen, let your feet acclimate to the soil, then breath in"

I nodded, closing my eyes, and doing as I was told. The first thing I heard was the chirping of birds, but as I focused more allowing my surroundings to encompass me. I heard the river, felt the dirt part around my toes. There was a hum through the ground, it was a low beating from my two companions. It was easy to discern humans from the animals that I hunted.

I inhaled deeply; the scent of the forest encompassed me. The earth, soil, spruces and then there was something else. Something that stood out from the, trees (pines and spruces) it was fruity. A scent that was out of place.

Cedarwood and Mango.

The moment the scents filled my nostrils I felt a pull, and could see the tendrils leading in my mind. I opened my eyes, the tendrils were still present, one was faint and pulling me south (towards home). The other was pulling me east, towards the rising sun, it was stronger than the other and stationary.

I inhaled one more time, committing the strange smell to the silver blue tendril, ignoring the brown one that led home. I took a few steps the pull getting stronger, the thrum of electricity flowing through my paws. In a second I took off running towards the source of the pull.

The pull led me through the woods and over fallen trees. I could feel the earth cave under my feet and splay up behind me. The birds remain chirping as if there wasn't a 6-foot-tall wolf running through the trees.

The greenery filtered by my face at a fast pace that it would appear as a blur to a human. The closer I got to my target the stronger the pull got and the more my feet tingled with energy that radiated up my body. I stopped in an instant when the tendril disappeared. With my nose in the air, I looked around noticing a bright silver light catching my attention.

I focused my eyes more and found two pendants hanging from a limb. One large stone and a smaller one hooked to the leather with a smaller string. It reminded me of the soldiers dog tags. It was made of a grey stone; I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was carved. Hector's white wolf appeared with Korinna on his back, she grabbed the pendant before getting down.

"The wolf, loyalty, strength, courage and leadership. This is your spirit guide and the voice inside of you. Protector of the animal kingdom." 

Korinnaplaced a leather string around my neck, attached to it was a stone. I wassurprised that it fit over my neck. I wanted to look down at the stone that hungaround my neck, but my muzzle would not allow it, but I could feel theimportance as it clung to my skin. She kept the second in her hands