The Way
It was not the Way.
The lightning flashes outside of your den and you recall your sire's image fondly as his namesake disappears from the sky. Your mother's namesake announces itself shortly after that, booming from the great pillars of dark clouds that gave you your name.
Cloudlaugh.
"I am Cloudlaugh. I am Cloudlaugh. I am-"
**Nael…**
"No," you whimper, turning your back to the outside world, with the rain and the wind and the eyes the color of an aged piece of wood, warm and full of life even as it dies. Eyes that see you far too deeply. His name burns your soul. Your blood heats with the thought of him. You are not new to the ways of lovemates but this is different. It feels like the time you were bit as a cub. A single bite from that snake had caused you agony. The feeling is similar here. There is venom in your blood and it has a name.
Jieen. You're not supposed to know, Jieen.
"No."
It was not the Way to deny Recognition.
But you are afraid and you cannot admit to yourself that the venom you think is in your blood, the feeling of agony, is probably made up. You do not think you can bear to admit to yourself that that feeling might be giddiness. A giddiness at a possibility. A beginning.
You do not want change. You do not need change. You have had enough of change.
**Nael!**
Your name. He knows your name, your true name, your soul-name. Your name.
The word you have been muttering to yourself bubbles upon your lips again. The desperation in his sending, the pain in his sending, stops it cold.
You pull your furs up over your shoulders to protect against the wind. To protect against his eyes. You usually love the wind, and riding your wolf so that your hair skims out behind you as you howl and bring down your prey. You hate it now, because it reminds you of your parents and the hunts with them.
You are a hunter. He is not.
He is Jieen.
And as soon as you think that thought, as soon as you calm down and think, you realize that the puzzle you had been troubling yourself sleepless over the past few nights, only exists in your now calm mind. You feel him behind you and you shudder as he says quietly, "Nael."
You realize that he is Jieen, you are Nael, and he is yours. And your fears are unwarranted because his eyes cannot lie to you. To others yes, to others they may show deceit even though he would never, but to you, you see only love, trust, yearning, and hope.
You roll over and your hand is over your stomach, already feeling the cub that will be growing in there soon.
"Jieen."
It was the Way.
ElfQuest is property of Warp Graphics and Wendy and Richard Pini. This was not written for profit, only for the enjoyment of myself and others. Enjoy.