Flowers and Claws

Gladiolus

Chirping in my ear is the first thing that I heard today. I flickered open my eyes and turned my head slowly. A small Scarlet Tanager was beside my head. A small smile stretched across my face as I held out a finger for the beautiful bird. She rubbed her head against it, so I started to scratch it lightly. I pulled my finger away a few seconds later.

I sat up on the tree branch I had slept on the night before. The little bird flew up to my shoulder and sat there. I smiled again before jumping of the tree, landing on the ground softly. I started to walk around, searching for a water source so I could clean up.

A trail of brightly colored flowers bloomed as I walked across the grass. The scarlet colored bird started to sing a beautiful song. As the song continued more birds hiding in the tall trees started to sing along. Each one sounding different than the last, but still blending gorgeously into the song.

I started putting words into the tune. I sang about lush grasses and pretty little birds. While singing I started to feel the ground getting damper, meaning there was a water source near by. I started singing louder and walking faster.

By the time the song finished I found the water. It was a medium sized pond that had a water fall overflowing into it. I smiled for the third time today and started to take off the cloth that covered my chest and pelvis. I placed it at the water edge and walked into the water. The water went up to above my bellybutton if I stood. I sank down to my knees and the water rose to my upper chest.

I scrubbed my arms gently, trying to get as much dirt off as possible. I hummed as I did, letting the cool water relax my bones.

Once I felt that I was clean I started to get out of the water. As soon as my feet touched the grass more flowers started to bloom. I grabbed the cloth and wrapped it around my body again.

I was about to start walking away when I heard a deep howl. There were wolves all around the forest, so I wasn't surprised. Another howl came a few seconds later, this one sounding closer to me.

My head whipped around to where I heard the howl. It came from the right of me. I couldn't see if the wolf was near me, however, because there was an especially big bunch of trees blocking the view.

A deep growl came from he bunch of trees. By now I was becoming a bit scared. I've heard and seen wolves before, but none had ever growled at me. They just came up to me and sat there, waiting for me to give them attention.

I looked down to see the flowers that had just been circling me, were now wilting. I knew it was because I was scared. The flowers change with the nymphs mood.

I heard another growl so I looked up quickly. A few feet away from me there was a wolf. It was looking me dead in the eye, challenging me to see who was the dominant one. Obviously this wolf was the alpha of the pack.

Knowing what would happen if I didn't back down, I feel to me knees in front of the wolf. I still kept eye contact with it, but it was my way of saying that I wasn't in control.

The wolf walked up to me slowly. It was raven black and had silk like fur. It's eyes were a deep brown, almost blending together with it's pupils.

When it was finally in front of me sat up bit more. The wolf got up to my neck a sniffed me. He then pulled away and sat down. He his head by my hand and knudged it with his snout. I giggled and started to pet the top of his head. His fur was a bit curly at the ends so my finger sometimes got a bit tangled in it. I still continued to pet the wolf though.

The wolf leaned in more and licked my cheek, causing me to giggle louder. I was laughing so hard that my eyes shut completely. I continued to laugh until the licking was replaced with a peck on my lips.

My eyes shot open and there was no longer a huge wolf in front of me, but a strange creature. My face burned and my hand flew up to my mouth. The thing smirked for a second before he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again they were dandelion yellow. My face became hotter as I felt my own eyes change color. They became a deep lylac, and a new type of flowers started to surround us. Gladiolus. My breathing picked up as I realized two things.

The first being that this wasn't just some strange creature, He was a werewolf. I only heard stories about these creatures. They were half wolf, half man. And they were first put onto Earth to protect nymphs.

Which led me to the second thing I had realized.

This werewolf was my protector. That's why my eyes had changed with his own. That's why the flowers surronded us. He was here to keep me safe and prtect me from the dangers of this world.

"So I finally found my nymph." The werewolf said

I felt dizzy, and I couldn't control my breathing. Something was happening to me that I didn't understand. My skin felt like it was burning and my head was pounding.

"Nymph." I heard the werewolf say

My vision was becoming blurry and the next thing I knew I was falling backwords. Then all I could see was black.