Silvershore

Chapter Twenty-One

Jeez...how late did I stay up? Wood opened his eyes that morning, lying on his back. He always had a hard time sleeping, even before he became chieftain and all these stressful responsibilities were suddenly thrown at him at such a young age.

There were nights he fell asleep only after being awake for longer than he could recall. It was the kind of sleep deprivation that's painful. He would sleep for not very long and then awake as if he was breathing for the first time, as if his body was deprived of oxygen.

Sleepless nights used to be a chance to meditate, to feel the energy of the positive world sparking in his paws, asking to come in and let his dreams become their own night-time reality. Now, his insomnia was at times a response to trauma, when fears ignite the ghosts he'd otherwise laid to rest.

"Wood, are you awake in there?" A soft, female voice rang in his ears as soon as he'd processed that he was awake.

"I'm awake, Fawn..." He yawned. "Come on in..."

There was a steadiness to Fawn, as if all the storms in the world were a whispering breeze when she was around. At least, that's how she was to Wood. She was quite similar to Daruk in terms of personality, and it had become clear as she had gained confidence over the past few months.

"You slept in a little bit. It's almost noon..." Fawn smiled. "Is it your insomnia again?"

"Mhmm. Another sleepless night."

"Maybe you should see the shamans about it...I'm sure they have something that promotes better sleep for you."

"I'm sure it's fine...don't worry too much. Anyway, did you need something?"

"Daruk, Misa, Roscoe and I all patrolled the first mile of the West Forests. None of us found anything suspicious..."

"Ah, that's good. Thank you. But Fawn, you don't have to go on so many patrols... you still need to heal mentally..."

"...P-Please don't bring it up." Fawn muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry...but, really. You should take more time off...do you want to take a quick walk with me before I take care of my business for the day...?"

"O-Oh, okay. Heh...I hope I won't be a bother..."

"Of course not." Wood shook his head. "Come along, now. Let's go to the East Forests..."

Wood and Fawn walked together through the Main Territory. Upon newly green wings came the season of spring, freed at last from winter's cocoon. A patch of flowers began to grow in the Main Territory over the grass. The flowers were a dancing rainbow, as if light and music had found a new way to blossom together. They came as dreams of the Earth that were born into reality come the spring light. The grass moved as a heaven-weaved quilt of the earth, as if by root and stem it stood in protection of what mattered.

He entered the East Forests with the tiny she-wolf trotting quickly behind him. The woods, hos kin of brown and green, the happy place of sanctuary and jocund solitude. Today, he shared it with Fawn. The water ways of the woods, the blues and white lace amid the earthy hues, amid the dance of green, came together as a visual form of poetry. For the eye that captures moments as easily as a camera lens, the woods offer a chorus of browns leading up to a seasonal cupola. And with this image it weaves nature's aromas and hearty birdsong. Thus on any given day, at any time, in any weather, these woods can tether anyone's spirit in the most soothing of ways. In the community that is the woods, from the trees to the insects and birds, there is a sense of divine peace that settles soul and spirit.

In the dappled sunlight amid the boughs and strong risen roots, Wood could feel his spirit weave itself into nature, as if for this time he was one with this place and all the life that is here.

"Wood...what do you even do all day? I-I'm sorry! I-I just don't r-really know..."

"It's alright. It's hard work...but I think I'm doing a pretty good job." Wood gave a small, rare smile. "I tell groups of guard wolves where to patrol, I give hunters numbers of prey they need to catch that day, I go on patrols and hunt myself, I answer any questions, and I come up with solutions to problems that arise in the pack, such as..." He was about to say something about The Pack of the Fire invading, but he immediately stopped himself, in fear of triggering Fawn. "Well, you get the point."

"I-I don't know how you do it..." Fawn sighed. "It sounds really hard."

"Well, it certainly is...but it's worth it when you see the wolves in your pack happy and healthy. Know what I'm sayin'?"

"Y-Yeah... I mean, didn't your sister just give birth? I-I bet that made it feel worth it..."

"Heh...it sure did." Wood smiled a bit again. It was nice to talk to someone like this. Although, he felt bad opening up to someone who clearly had even more trauma than he ever did, so he decided to not get into that stuff.

While walking through the woods with Fawn, he breathed in every way that it is possible to expand: in lungs, in brain in soul. In the forest there was a sense of kinship with the flora, of an ancient soul that stretches into everything that lives. It was here under the nascent rays of a sun born to rise each day that everyone was alive. From simple seed, with mud, water and sun, comes all this, these towering gentle trees that were so anchoring to all that he was. Upon the forest floor so woven with ancient tree roots came a light filtered by the bouquet of foliage above: softened, verdant and freshly aromatic.

Wood had talked about himself enough, so he wanted to know more about Fawn. Sweet yet mysterious, how could he not want to know more about her? No one knew anything about her past life, even before she was imprisoned, simply because she didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to know more, but restrained himself since she would probably get triggered by it, and he understood how awful PTSD really was, and she clearly had it even worse than him.

He glanced at Fawn for a moment. The she-wolf was clearly deep in thought, journeying through some creative stream only she could sense.

"You alright?" Wood asked. She nodded with a smile. Wood nodded back and looked ahead of him again. The path had a way of greeting the soles, solid and warm. It was a silk scarf over green hills; it undulates with the earth, leading into the horizon of land meeting sky. It could have been woven for thousands of years, perhaps in a place where time is truly forever, a place of eternal serenity. Each footfall is cushioned from below and the next encouraged, for this is a path given to the walker, to the one who loves adventure and a chance to follow the rising sun.

Even in silence like this, Wood felt comfortable with Fawn. He loved quiet days like these. He loved the random sounds that came sailing in the breeze. He remembered when he was young, he would sit there upon the clouds that were his dreams until, as the ones above are so prone to do, they condensed to form the random ideas that quenched his mind. It was on those quiet days that ideas came as natural things do - from the sunshine, rain and earth.

Although he knew very little about Fawn, he was happy to be alone with her like this. Although this walk would seem like something very little to a bystander, Wood would keep this day with her in his memories forever.