The Wolf, The Doe and The Mage

Death

I pushed my way past the ferns, Ranaa trotting beside me, a wicker basket clamped in her mouth. She was rambling about what kinds of ferns tasted the best; I was only half listening, nodding and making grunts of agreement every now and again. Though, as I gazed at her absent-mindedly, I thought about how much she had grown in just the time I'd spent with her. It been countless weeks, probably months, since Koiress had found her in the woods. Since then she's practically moved in, spending most if not all of her time with us. Koiress' hunting skills had also improved greatly, and he had even been managing to catch entire meals for the two of us on some days. Meanwhile Ranaa had been helping me collect herbs and do research on animal communication. Her naive, simplistic outlook on things was refreshing, and often helped me come to a conclusion that I otherwise would have overlooked. She reminded me of my mother, with her live-life-to-the-fullest attitude. She kept telling me, "I don't know why you're obsessed with finding out how we can talk to one another. Just be happy that we can!". Over the last few months, I'd watched Koiress grow from a young, inexperienced outcast into a nearly fully grown wolf. Ranaa, who now nearly stood up to my waist, spent hours and hours with Koiress - they spent almost all of their free time together, talking about who knows what. They'd both told me about a vision they'd had on the morning we first spoke to Ranaa - Ranaa's about a man, and Koiress' about a woman. Neither could recount what the person looked like, though both agreed that upon looking at the person, they felt intense passion and love. It was unlike anything I'd ever heard of before, adding to the list of strange things that had happened since the two of them arrived. I'd pretty much given up trying to figure out how we could communicate; I'd scoured every book in my collection, and not found anything. Besides, I had bigger problems to deal with - the summer was coming to a close, and I promised myself I would attempt the necromancy spell again - just thinking about it chilled my bones and filled me with dread, but I knew I'd never forgive myself if I didn't at least try. I planned to go far away, ordering Ranaa and Koiress to stay at the house. I couldn't risk them getting hurt - not only would it completely run my potion stocks dry, but I dont think I could handle it emotionally.
"And that's why I think that blackberries are far superior to cranberries, even if they do give my tummy problems!" Ranaa finished.
I nodded and smiled, pretending that I'd been listening.
"Oh look, were home!" She bounced off, toward the house, humming a seemingly random tune.
I smiled blissfully, and ran after her.

It was later that same night. I was in my parents bedroom, sitting on the bed with my mother's diary open before me. I was reading those words again, over and over...
And Rune, please, never forget me.
Silent tears ran down my cheeks, flooding my eyes and nose, dripping off my chin onto my folded legs.
"Rune?" I heard a voice from behind me, making me jump.
I turned to see a pair of amber eyes gazing at me with concern.
"Oh, Koiress." I said, trying to hide my red face, wiping away my tears briskly.
It was no use, he'd already noticed, "You're reading her diary again, aren't you?" He said, jumping onto the bed and curling up next to me.
I nodded, wiping away the last of the tears and closing the diary carefully, "The time has come, Koiress." I breathed, trying to get my voice steady. I hadn't planned to tell him, but I didn't want to lie, even if said lie only meant keeping the truth.
He bowed his head, "Are you sure?"
"Yes. And this time, I'm going far away, to the south. That way, you cannot follow me."
There was a pause. I glanced toward him. He seemed to he lost in thought, contemplating something. It was a couple seconds before he spoke.
"Actually, may I suggest a location?" He said, taking me by surprise.
"Uh, sure..." I gazed at him curiously.
"There's this place, up in the mountains." He was staring into space, "I used to play there as a pup. It's a little snowy hollow, just west of the brook. It's nice and secluded."
"But you'd follow me, wouldn't you?" I glanced away, "The whole point is that you can't follow me if you don't know where I'm going..."
"If I really wanted to follow you, I could just track your scent - I'm a wolf, for goodness sake! But I promise you, I won't." He was looking directly at me now, desperation in his eyes, "Please, Rune."
I gazed back at him. I could tell this meant a lot to him, for some reason. "Okay." I nodded, "If you really want me to, I will."
He smiled in relief, "Thank you..."
I smiled and glanced up - our eyes locked.
All of a sudden, a flash of blinding white light lit up behind my eyes before I even had the chance to react.

My vision cleared, though my mind was still foggy. I was no longer sitting on my parent's bed. I was instead... up a tree? It was a warm summer's day, and I clung onto a branch, the leaves tickling the side of my face. I could still feel the goggles on my head, though for some reason they felt even more oversized than usual... I gazed down over the side of the branch and down the trunk, and saw that I was a long way up. A feeling of leaping fear filled me, and I yelled something... a name...
I heard a voice behind me, and I looked down to see...
"Dad!" I whispered, the word barely making it past my lips.
The familiar figure's hair swished in the breeze, his bright blue eyes glittering in the light. A large smile was spread across his face, and I couldn't help smile back, despite my fear. As he approached, I realized that I wasn't nearly as far up as I had first thought. He grasped me firmly by the sides and swung me down from the tree and onto his shoulders. I giggled joyfully and hugged his head, pressing my face into his soft white hair, breathing in the smell of snow and fallen pine needles... I sat there for a couple seconds, and the fog in my brain seemed to clear.
I opened my eyes and pulled my head away, still smiling. But it was no longer white hair that I saw, but wolf fur. I was back in the house, with Koiress. And yet before I had even time to reflect on the vision, the details were fading from my memory, and within moments, all I could remember was the everlasting, impenetrable joy.