Kaya

Part 5. The Past

As we arrived we could see a few people still sitting around fires, talking and playing calm music. Some were drunk, but quickly were shut down by others once they became too loud, as to not disturb the sleeping people. Valeska led me back to her tent and we went inside. She quickly lit a few candles and poured a brown liquid into two mugs.

"Please, sit down." She gestured to a few small logs covered with furs and handed me one of the mugs. I smelled at it. The smell was sweet and chocolatey, all too familiar.

"Is this hot chocolate?" I asked with a surprised look on my face.

She giggled and sat down opposite of me. "It's cold unfortunately, but still delicious." She said as she took a sip.

I also sipped from it and savoured the taste. It had always been my favourite and it made me feel a little at home. As if Val could read my thoughts, she leaned forward a bit.

"Would you like to tell me about your home?" She asked carefully.

"Well, this is my home now. I can't go back." This was the first thing that came to my mind and  it happened to be a way to dodge her question aswell.

"What was so horrible that you can't go back?"

I sighed. "I'm sure you remember the guy I was with when we first met?"

She nodded. "Master Sylen, was it?"

"Yes. I had been with him for a few years.. At first things went great, I became his apprentice and we got along wonderfully. We even fell in love." I laughed sarcastically as I thought back on how stupid I had been to think it was love.
"Sylen quickly showed his true nature, or something changed him, I'm not sure. He started saying hurtful things, not treating me in a good way. He-"

"Did he hurt you? Physically?" Valeska cut me off.

I hesitated. "He did. Not often, but from time to time he would."

"Did he ever do more than that?"

"N-no.. no, he didn't." I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but I could imagine what went through her head.

"Good. What he did was already bad enough. He will pay for this." Her voice and expression were sinister.

I gave her a halfhearted chuckle. "Val, he's a wizard, a very powerful one. There's no chance we can even come near him."

"Maybe... We will see. Everyone has a weakness, even people with that much power.“ She sighed, "Anyway, it's late. You are probably quite exhausted, it's been quite a day for you." Valeska smiled and stood up, taking the almost empty mug from me and putting it on a table along with her own. Val grabbed a few blankets and a big fur and put them on the ground, creating a make-shift bed.
"Would you like to get changed? I can turn around if you want." She asked.

I chuckled. "Haven't we seen each other naked earlier?" I pulled the wool dress off, keeping the undergarments on to stay warm.

Valeska nodded, pulling off her boots and jacket before blowing out the candles and walking to the bed she had just made.

"Wait, are you sleeping on the ground?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. You're my guest so you are sleeping in the good bed." She smiled and crawled under the fur. I wanted to object but it seemed she was not going to negotiate as she had already made herself comfortable.

"Good night, pup." Valeska said.

"Good night, Val." I replied as I pulled the big fur to the side and slipped my feet under it. It was soft and warm. I laid down comfortably and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

As I woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the sky. Valeska had left earlier and I  was alone in the tent. I got out of bed and looked for my bag of clothes only to realize I had completley forgotten about it since I got here. Where the fuck had I left my bag? I pulled the dress Valeska had given me yesterday on and left the tent. It must still be at the fire in the middle of the camp.
As I made my way past everyone's tents, I again got many looks, though this time, without Valeska, I felt uneasy and even vulnerable. I hurried to the centre and was relieved to find my bag where I had left it the day before.

"Kaya!" The familiar voice of Randolf called and I turned around to him. "What are you doing here all alone?" He asked.

"I had just forgotten my stuff here and Valeska was already gone when I woke up. Do you know where she is?"

"Yes, she is currently talking with Fen. I can bring you there." He offered.

I nodded eagerly. The more of the pack I got to know, the better. After bringing my bag back to Valeska's tent, Randolf led me through the camp to Valeska. She stood talking with a slender man with long, black hair. He wore colorful robes with lots of jewelry, both golden and silver, aswell as beaded and with bones.

"Ah, good morning pup!" Valeska called as she saw me. "Let me introduce you to our friend Fen!" She gestured to the man beside her and he bowed deeply before stepping closer and taking my hand.

"Fenrisúlfur is my name, but everyone calls me Fen." He further introduced himself as he gently  kissed the top of my hand and took a step back.

"Lovley to meet you, Fen. I am Kaya." I giggled a little at how formal he was.

Valeska smiled. "He was a memeber of our pack once, but now he lives as a travelling merchant." She explained.

"I don't get to go this far north that much anymore, but when I do I just have to come and visit my dear family!" Fen said.

"Are you a wolf aswell?“

"The finest in this dear world of ours." Fen winked at me as he laughed before turning to Val. "Well, I better say hello to the others now. I will see you later dear. It was nice making your acquaintance young lady." He added as he turned to me, lightly bowing once again before leaving.

"He‘s quite the character, hm?" I chuckled as I looked after him.

"Oh yes, he has a blooming personality. The camp is always so much happier when he's here,  especially Sága. It's about the only time she voluntarily socializes." Val laughed. "So how did you sleep?" Valeska asked as she looked back at me.

"I slept wonderfully, thank you."

"Perfect. I thought we'dstart with your training today?" She smirked a little and crossed her arms in front of her.

I raised and eyebrow. "My training?"

"Of course! You may be a pup but you still need to learn what being a werewolf actually means. Come, the sooner the better." Valeska said and gestured for me to follow her. We came to an open area at the edge of the camp. A braod, tall man was training with a two-handed sword all by himself.

"Bhaltair!" Valeska called as she leaned against the fence. The man shifted his attention to us, taking a few steps in our direction.
"Have you met Kaya yet?" She asked and jumped over the fence. He shook his head and eyed me intently. "I scooped her up in Neroja, she's my protegee and part of the pack now."

As Val said those last words his eyes seemed to soften a bit and he lifted his fist over his chest. "I am Bhaltair." He quickly introduced himself.

I nodded and climbed over the fence aswell. Valeska smirked at him from the side. "The little pup needs some training."

Bhaltair's eyes lit up, still looking at me. "So be it." He walked over to a half open tent with  many different kinds of weapons and put his sword back in it's place before turning back to me. "How long?" He asked as he walked in my direction.

"Uh..how long what?"

"How long since your first shift."

"A-a little less than a week..."

He smirked. "And how many times?"

"Fully, just twice." I looked to Valeska for help but she just smiled, pat me on my shoulder and hopped over the fence again to watch from the other side.

"Do it now." Bhaltair growled.

"Wh- now?" I looked around. I couldn't transform here. What if I lost it again? I didn‘t evene really know how to.

"Of course now. Come on." Bhaltair insisted.

"It's okay, Kaya. You are safe here." Valeska tried to comfort me as she noticed my uneasiness. I nodded and swallowed hard before looking back at Bhaltair. Taking a deep breath, I  concentrated. I had never transformed intentionally before, so far it had always been triggered by something. I tried to think of what I felt during the last transformations, how my body felt and how it changed. How it seemed to just happen like instinct.

Suddendly I felt a chill go through my body. I glanced at Bhaltair and saw him nodding as I felt my form shift.

"There you go. Not bad." He said as he examined my wolf body. He came closer and snapped his fingers around my ears to seehow they react. Then he took one of my hands, or paws rather and examined it. As Bhaltair looked at my claws, he frowned and sniffed at them, then he looked up at me. "I can smell this is human blood. Who is this from? What happened?" He asked.

The blood. The blood from the park was still on my claws. I turned to Valeska with a look that must have screamed for help as Val quickly lied to Bhaltair when she saw my expression, "We have already talked about that, nothing of concern."

I nodded to her in gratitude and she winked back at me.

"Well then. Have a go at that dummy over there." Bhaltair turned around and pointed at a  training dummy made out of hay. I walked towards it and swung at it, effectively cutting through a lot of the hay with my claws. And so my training began.

Bhaltair taught me better techniques and stances for a few hours. Valeska stayed and watched the entire time as he corrected my posture or just yelled at me to get me in a different mind set. I genuienly felt I‘d gotten the hang of how to move in this body and once I wasn‘t overwhelmed with the heightened senses anymore, I felt at ease with it. It almost felt like letting yourself fall into your bed after a hard day of work.

"You should shift back now, you must be exhausted after that." He said as I was breathing heavily.

"I don't know how to..." I admitted a bit ashamed.

As she heard this, Val jumped from the fence she had now been sitting on and approached me. "Let me show her, you are dismissed, Bhaltair. Thank you, you trained her very well." Valeska looked at him and he nodded at both of us.

„Good work Kaya.“ He said before turning and leaving us both alone.

"Calm your breathing, sit down if you need to." Val said softly.

I nodded and let my legs give in to sit on the ground. I took a few deep breaths until my  breathing had relaxed. Valeska put a hand on my shoulder and stood before me, being at eye level with me sitting.

"Think about yesterday, when you were underwater. Imagine the feeling you had. Picture yourself in a calm, safe place." As I listened to Val's words and pictured the serenity of the darkness below the ice, I felt my body shrink and grow weak. "There you go." Val said as she embraced me and helped me get up. "You did very well with the training. I hope Bhaltair's nature wasn't too harsh for you?" Val asked as we went back toward her tent.

"No, it was alright. At  first I was very intimidated, but after a while I realized that he genuinely wants me to learn and get better. When's the next training session?"

Valeska laughed, happy to see me eager to become stronger.