“Hold on tight, Tanis, we are going into town now.”
I grabbed my twin Brother Thomas’ arm harder and closed my eyes. I’m sure the town was beautiful, however I knew if I opened my eyes I would have a sensory overload. The last time that happened I did something awful.
We walked into a town where many people were walking. Their energies bounced around making it hard to tell my way around. The energy started giving me a headache and I held on to Thomas’ arm even tighter. He led me through the busy streets to the other side of town.
We entered a forest, still a lot of energy but not as much. I kept my eyes closed just in case though. Thomas continued to lead me down an unkept path. He often stumbled over hidden roots while I glided gracefully across.
“You can let go now, T,” Tom said. I opened my eyes and let go of his arm. New bruises from where I was holding were beginning to form against his old ones, I had done it again. I had hurt someone that had helped me.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered with tears in my eyes.
He shrugged and continued walking. I followed behind letting my mind wander. The forest was peaceful and quiet. The only noise were my brother’s feet stumbling down the path, the wind, and the quiet whispers from the little creatures hiding just out of sight. The trees were tall and their leaves were a deep green. The bushes, moss, and flowers grew in an array of vibrant colors. The path was dirt and was unkept, full of overgrowth.
I tried to ignore the energy of life that was all around me. Somewhere far off behind us and to the right a voice cried out in agony for help. I continued to walk on, the voce getting fainter and fainter. Just as it was about out of earshot I snapped.
“Tom!” I called to my brother as I took off to find the voice. I ran gracefully, jumping over fallen logs and missing the dangerous areas entirely. The voice of my brother calling after me got further as I got closer to the pleading being. I ran into a clearing and saw where the voice was coming from.
In the center was a deep hole. Looking down in it I saw a she wolf and her pups. There was so much blood. I took a quick look around to make sure that no one was watching, and began to concentrate.
I felt the earth respond to my will. The ground started rising; bringing the wolf gently closer to me. As the ground got closer the she wolf struggled to stand up. When she did she stood protectively over the pups. Her light grey fur was matted and full of dirt and blood.
She growled in defense, the fear she felt rolling off of her making me feel frightened too. I lowered myself on my knees and bowed my head as a sign of respect. The confusion she felt at my actions seeped from her being. I raised myself slowly.
“I heard your cry for help so I came,” I said quietly.
“Now I know you lie girl. You are human, you cannot understand the language of the animals,” She growled.
“You’re right, I am human. But, both a gift and a curse from when I was born, I can understand as well as speak your language,” I replied, still speaking quietly. The she wolf was astonished. I slowly crawled forward keeping my head down. “Let me see your pups. Let me help save them and you, please.”
“Why would you, a human, wish to help us, a pack of small, helpless mutts?”
“I can hear you. But the question is why. Why can I hear you? Why even when I’m trying desperately to be a normal human, why can I not ignore a pled for help? I don’t know the answer to these but I do know that as much as I try I cannot walk away when an innocent being needs my help.”
“Young girl, I’m far from innocent. I have taken a great deal. If I were to tell you a small portion of the things I have done would you still help me?”
“I live in regret as well. I am far from innocent too. If I were to tell you a small portion of the things I have done, weather I meant them or not, would you still carry this conversation with me?”
I held back tears as I remembered their faces. The she wolf moved away from her pups, sensing my honesty and remorse. I blinked the tears away and crawled to the pups. Gently picking each of the male up, I used a combination of my energy and the energy around us to heal their wounds. Once all three of them were healed I crept toward the she wolf.
I raised my eyes to hers only to realize my mistake a little too late. The she wolf had figured out my secret and masked her emotions. However she couldn’t mask her eyes. The fear, pain, anger, remorse, pity, understanding, and gratitude that she felt rushed into me. I shook my head and took a deep breath, pushing out her emotions and gaining control of mine.
I looked at her again only to see her fall. I looked into her eyes again, this time with a barer. The light of her life was fading fast. I reached out determined to help even though a small part of me knew it was useless. That was further proven when she nuzzled me and again by her words.
“Travel west, there is a pack. Ask for Toko, tell him Nala sent you. Then tell him what happened. Take my pups with you.” And with that she took her final breath, her life energy burst into the world, and my brother stepped out of the forest panting and out of breath.
He looked around at the scene in front of him. He shook his head and sighed. Walking over he closed the she wolf’s eyes and picked her up.
“Grab the pups. Do you know where the pack is?”
“Not far, just a little to the west,” I said wiping my eyes.
He began to walk to the west. I called to the pups. They didn’t trust me so I pushed m energy out just a little to them. I could sense them even clearer than before. They were scared and didn’t want to get hurt anymore. They were sad and confused.
I could visually see as well as sense them relax as they felt my honest desire to help. I called once more and they came and circled my bare feet. We came to the side of my brother, who was waiting patiently, and all the pups stayed to the side away from hi. It was cute and I couldn’t suppress the giggle in my through.
My amusement quickly vanished as we entered the wolf pack. These wolfs were not going to be kind to outsiders. I called the pups closer to me which they did quickly.
“We seek Toko,” I said in a loud, clear, and demanding voice when we had gone a little further into the pack.
Two wolfs stepped forward. They both had jet black fur. The larger on stood above my head and had Chestnut brown eyes that held wisdom, anger, and mistrust. The smaller one stood eye to eye with me and had bright blue-green eyes that held kindness, loss, and adventure.
The larger one let out a growl, calling the pups to him. They ran over to the smaller one excitedly. They played beneath his feet before he playfully told them to stop. He turned his head towards me and my brother.
“What do you want, human girl?” questioned the larger one, voice dripping venom at the word human.
“You are Toko?” I questioned back.
“Yes, now what is it that you want?” he asked, slightly confused on whether or not I could understand him and why I was not afraid of him.
“Nala sent us. I do not know how she and the pups got stuck and injured in a hole. I heard her pleas for help. I was able to heal the pups but I was too late to help her, I’m sorry.”
“As a sign of respect to her, we have brought her bod to her family, to her pack,” Thomas said with perfect timing even though he only heard my half of the conversation. He stepped forward and gently placed Nala’s body at the Alfa’s feet and then stepped back behind me. Toko nudged Nala’s body with his snout then let out a whine in defeat.
“Her last breath was spent asking me to ring the pups here and tell you what I knew,” I wisped quietly knowing he could hear me.
“Thank you,” was all he said.
I bowed my head and turned to leave. As I walked away it felt as though a cord was connecting me to the pack, or one in it. When I got to the edge of the pack’s territory I got light headed and felt he cord pulling tight. Thomas caught me as I fell and passed out to exhaustion. A feeling came over me, one I had only ever felt once before, when I was separated from my best friend Kyle.
