[Stella]

 

“What happened to you?” I ask the wolf. “Who am I kidding, I know you won’t respond.” 

 

I walk over to kneel beside the wolf so I can get a better idea of its wounds. Looking over the wolf, I find multiple gashes around its back right leg. I don’t take long to figure out what to do, quickly grabbing a flower that I found with the spirits help earlier. 

 

It’s called a golden crown, a small yellow-green plant. I’ve never worked with this flower before so I’m a little worried I’ll mess it up with it. Using dryad’s knowledge I can feel the intent coming from the flower. As if even after I plucked it, it still has life to it. 

 

“Will the wolf be okay?” Arya asks.

 

“He’ll be fine, just let me concentrate real quick.” I say out loud, missing the look of confusion in the wolf’s eyes.

 

Taking the petals, I start to chew on them as I find the areas the bleeding is worse. Once I feel I chewed enough, I quickly bring it out and start to warm it up using fire I created in my off hand away from the wolf. 

 

As I do this, I create a bit of ice to melt beside the fire. This way I can get a bit of water to wash the wounds as best as I can. I don’t have the necessary items for this so it will have to do. Afterwards I gently apply the now warmed poultice to the wounds that just won’t heal on their own.

 

“There, it should hold for now but you can’t be running, otherwise the bleeding will seep through the herb.” I tell the wolf, who whimpers as it presses against me. 

 

As I get up to step back, I feel something connect to my mind, it causes me to feel a little dizzy before passing.

 

“Thank you, and I will have to apologize, young wolf.” I hear a deep voice resound, causing me to jump.

 

“Who?” I hear Arya ask.

 

“Don’t panic, I’m right in front of you.” Now knowing that the wolf is the one speaking to our minds.

 

“You could speak all this time?” I ask the wolf. 

 

“Yes, I’m sorry to have hidden it from you all this time, but I needed to know you were trustworthy.” I hear the wolf say. “You can call me Turgis.”

 

“Okay, Turgis, what happened?” Pointing to the wound.

 

Turgis seems to sigh before continuing. “I was hunting away from the rest of my pack. Fighting a creature I've never seen before, it had no sense of life and seemed to move very stiffly, it felt like it only sought out destruction.”

 

“What did it look like?” I ask curiously.

 

“It had black crystals protruding all over its body, with skin charred black.” Turgis says. “I think whatever it was, I hunted it’s kind before whatever happened to it.” 

 

“And it was? .” I say before adding, “ And you’re extremely intelligent aren’t you.” 

 

“An elk, an abomination is what it became, it had one antler and even that looked twisted and unnatural.” Turgis says. “And you can thank our guardian and just years of living for me being intelligent.”

 

“So what do you want to do now? I don’t want you to be too active for your wounds to heal though.” I say.

 

“We will head back to my pack. You’re staying with us now, I was working with the guardian to get an area made for you.” Turgis says. “And if you must demand, then we can go at a slower pace back to the pack. Just don’t expect to go to sleep so soon when we get there.”

 

“Why?” I ask Turgis who only turns and starts walking away. “What do you mean by that? Turgis!”

 

As I start to follow, I hear Arya laughing to my side. “What’s so funny?” 

 

“Nothing.” She says between her laughs. “Do you think I can take over for a while?”

 

“I’m not against it but for what reason?” I ask.

 

“No big reason, just want to talk with Turgis, catch up with him after the last few weeks.” She says.

 

“Ok, just let me know when you’re getting tired.” I reply as I give up control of our body. 

 

It’s weird how we do it, instinctively there is this sort of sensation where we connect with the body to control, gaining all the sensations of our body. But at any time we can just sort of disconnect and it allows for us to switch quickly.

 

~~~~~

 

It didn’t take long to get to the rest of Turgis’ pack, outside the cave a few of the wolves could be seen laying down waiting for him. Clearly the pack seems to care enough to have them placed out this long. 

 

I haven’t been doing much as Arya greatly enjoyed conversing with Turgis, talking about the things she’s been doing through the weeks. We noticed early on that Turgis doesn’t seem to hear us when Arya and I talk to each other in our minds. 

 

When we get in the cave Arya finds a space she can sit down. The main area is spacious enough for wolves to relax while the pups just run around. From a head count I could tell there were around seventeen adult wolves and six pups. They all seem to have coats of fur ranging in colors from gray to black, with streaks of red running across their fur, like lightning in the night sky.

 

It doesn’t take long for Arya to see the pups and start fawning over them, completely entranced by how small and adorable they were.

 

As she chases them around the cave I can tell that a few of the adults, the ones that look older than the others, seem to be watching Arya with a gentle look in their eyes. While running around, Arya trips over herself falling to the ground. 

 

The pups see this as a chance to attack, quickly jumping all over Arya, some even latching onto her tail that is quickly swishing on the ground.

 

"Hey, that tickles." Arya says with a laugh. 

 

Some of the little ones decided to start licking all over Arya’s face instead of jumping like their siblings. After a while, the pups start to tire out, having had their fun running and playing with Arya before falling asleep on top of her. 

 

"I'd love to do this every day, but I know we can’t stay forever can we."

 

"Yeah" My voice soft, "Though, as much as I'd like to hurry, we don’t have the time and I wish to get back home. However, I don't see any problem with you and the pups playing every once in a while while we’re here. I enjoyed watching you play with them." I say.

 

I don't voice all my thoughts on how she seemed happier than she has been the past few weeks. Ever once in a while, I still see her falter from more memories. It’s been taking its toll on her a lot,

 

"Really?! Thank you sister, and besides, you can't blame me for giving in when they started to get all big eyed."  Arya said.

 

~~~~~

 

Once the pups started to wake up, Arya gave back control for me to do what I needed. I headed towards Turgis to ask him a few questions.

 

"When can I meet this guardian of yours." It's time we get some proper answers about our situation.

 

"Soon, she is in seclusion, gaining strength." Turgis lightly taps the ground beside him with his paw. "The guardian, she has mentioned before of a task given to her. In cooperation with the world tree."

 

My eyes widen at the information. "What is so important that the world tree is also helping?"

 

I feel Turgis' tail slap me on the back of my head. Causing Arya to laugh at my dumbfounded state.

 

"What?"

 

"It should be obvious enough, it has to do with the source of whatever happened to that elk I fought. I don’t know exactly what that task is but I guarantee it has to do with that." Turgis says before shifting his position a bit. Probably to find a spot that isn’t uncomfortable with his wounds. 

 

"If he doesn't know when we can meet the guardian, then what should we do for now? Sigh"

 

"Do you have a rough idea when she will meet with us?"

 

"No" He said, "She will call for you when ready. For now though, you can stay here, the little ones like you and whoever the other one of you is." 

 

I didn't expect him to realize Arya within me, what all does he know?

 

"Are you able to hear her?" Curious as to if his ability connects to us all or only whoever is in control.

 

Alpha shakes his head, "No, I can't hear either of you, only send thoughts, but I can feel the other one in you. So when talking to me, at least do so verbally. Also the sudden shift in personality didn't make sense when you were playing with the pups." 

 

"That's good to know, I was a little worried you could hear everything we said." I said.

 

"This might be embarrassing to ask, but could you see with Turgis if it's alright if I can pet his tail later." Arya says as she starts to mumble the last part.

 

Really, that's what you want to ask him for? 

 

Facing alpha again, blush starting to form from embarrassment, "If it's not too much to ask, Arya wants to know if it's okay with you if she pets your tail later. If that's fine." 

 

The alpha lets out a noise that sounds like laughter and barking together. "I can't remember the last time someone besides the guardian asked that. Very well, I’ll think of it as a reward for having her play with the little ones earlier. I hope she's ready for when the other thirteen of them join in, they're just more scared of new people, we don’t get them often." 

 

"I'm pretty sure she'd love that."

 

Getting up, I start to make my way outside for some more training before the sun comes down. I could really go for some food from mom. It's at times like this I wish I learned how to cook from mom. I never felt the need to learn how to cook, besides from how to roast meat from my father when we were out hunting. I wonder if Dawn knows how to cook. 

 

"Hey Arya?"

 

"What's up?"

 

"Does Dawn know how to cook?"

 

"A little, but it doesn't seem to be anything excellent."

 

"Well we can always have her cook once she wakes up."

 

"That would be nice." Arya said, "Do you have any favorites?"

 

"Meat." I said.

 

I hear Arya laugh from my instant response. 

 

"Don't laugh at me, there's nothing wrong with meat. If anything meat is better than veggies, while there are some good combos with the two of them it just cant beat meat." Stopping to think, "When cooked right, the meat is juicy, tender, nothing too tough to bite through and tastes extremely well. I even know a few seasonings to put on it when cooking over a fire that the smoke and heat mix well with. I'll show you, meat is amazing!"

 

By this point Arya has completely lost herself laughing. 

 

"A-Anyways, I need to talk to you about something." I quicken my steps to a boulder nearby to sit on before entering our soul space. Where I find Arya bent over laughing, holding herself by grabbing onto the bedside. 

 

“Why are you laughing?” I ask.

 

Arya’s laughter starts to die down as she turns towards me. “I didn’t expect you to reply with just meat. I should have known though, with how you always look at it while cooking it over the fire.” 

 

“And you’re laughing?” Arya nods her head to my question. “Whatever, I wanted to ask what your thoughts are about what Turgis experienced in the forest.” 

 

“What are you hoping I’d say?” She asks as she falls onto the bed going silent for a while. “As it stands, I don’t have an idea of what I want to do outside making these headaches stop. I’m struggling to keep up with myself as I feel changes constantly.”

 

“So you won’t do anything to help the pack out? If Turgis description is anything to go off of, this sounds like the work of a person or thing. Meaning they won’t be safe forever.” I say quietly. “Even if the pack didn’t have a chance to be in danger, I’ll probably do it for the forest.”

 

“Then you have your answer.” She says, finally sitting up again. “You can think of me as someone entirely new to this world, even if I have your memories. If my sister wants to help the forest heal, then so be it. Though I might change my mind to help the wolves out even more, they are already starting to grow on me.” 

 

“Then for now, let's continue to train, I’m close to getting the form of a bow stable through mana. I never thought I’d be able to manipulate mana like this.” I say