Heartlines ||Jared Cameron||

v. nepenthe

NEPENTHE: (n) something that can make you forget grief or sorrow

"Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life."

- Anne Roiphe

Makenna takes the path she saw from the house. It isn't far into the forest when the path completely disappears having not been used frequently. She doesn't mind and continues her walk, pace sedate so as not to exhaust herself.

Half an hour later, Makenna stumbles upon the clearing from yesterday, despite the odds of that happening. Today, however, she takes the time to walk the perimeter of the clearing, looking out into the forest. When she completes a circuit, Makenna goes into the center and slowly turns in a circle, head tilting to look at the treetops.

The sound of rustling leaves causes Makenna's head to snap down, eyes rapidly searching the trees to identify what caused the sound. Then, before her very eyes, Crook steps out of the forest. His head and body are lowered to the ground, eyes carefully watching Makenna.

"Crook!" A smile blossoms of Makenna's face.

Her hand is held out, unsure if Crook remembers her or plans on attacking. That's what Crook has been waiting for apparently because he pops up to full height and wide steps have him in front of Makenna in seconds, head-butting her hand. She laughs while using her fingers to scratch his forehead.

"Hi Crook, how have you been?"

Crook yips and out of nowhere surges forward. A patch of grass softens Makenna's fall when she inevitably falls backward. After nuzzling her face for a second, he moves back to rest his head on her chest, a leg pinning her legs down.

"You could have asked." Makenna is laughing, wrapping her arms around what she can reach of Crook and runs her hands through his fur. "Had a good I take it?"

The snuffling is all the answer she gets and a cold nose pressing against her neck which causes her to giggle. He calms down eventually and it remains silent for a moment longer.

"It was my first day at Forks High School today and it was a day."

Crook makes a snuffling, inquisitive sound, rearranging himself. Makenna's gaze goes to the sky; it makes talking easier.

"Originally, Uncle Charlie wanted Bella to take me to school but she's gone to Italy so he was going to take me. Then, when we came to visit his friend yesterday, one of the Quileute members here offered to drive me to school and back along with his friends. It was really nice of him and I think I'm going to make some new friends. The boy who picked me up called me Little Wolf and thinking back on it, he wasn't that far off was he? Here I am talking with my wolf friend now."

Makenna is interrupted by Crook's excited barking. His tail thumps the ground insistently, tongue making a few passes across Makenna's cheek.

"Yes, yes, you're my friend," she giggles.

It takes a couple more minutes for Crook to calm down and return to his previous position, tail calmly wagging behind him.

"Embry, the one who picked me up from school, told me Paul has a temper problem and was known as the resident hot-head. Oh, Paul was the boy who picked me up by the way. I didn't know where Embry was coming from because Paul was only nice to me when he took me to school, helped me forget I was about to start at a new school. But," here Makenna pauses for a second, "I see how Paul was regarded like that. Before I-"

Makenna doesn't get anything else out because Crook is on his feet, growling up a storm like a motor. His mouth is pulled back to show off his impressive teeth, a feral gleam in his eye. The girl doesn't know what to do to calm him so she throws her arms around his neck, raising slightly off the ground to hug him. One of her hands runs down the length of his neck, trying to soothe the wolf.