Running with the Pack
Disclaimer: I'm female, young, and relatively healthy. I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that I'm not Robert Jordan, and therefore don't own it.Come, Young Bull, run with us!
The thought had a strange tilt to it, as though truly composed of words instead of merely translated into a form he could comprehend. The name was no different than a wolf's would be, but neither was his. The scent, however, had the same slight wrongness to it that the thought did. It was almost as though Small Paws was human.
Perrin t'Bashere Aybara, Lord of Two Rivers, shook his head firmly. He had been speaking to wolves for years. You could not talk to Wolf Brothers as you did wolves. Even if you could, it would have been better not to. He had seen a man driven mad by his ability once. Ta'veren or not, even a man who had lived through the Last Battle would not chance speaking to a man as a wolf unless it was absolutely necessary. Perhaps especially a man who had lived through the Last Battle. Perrin, his wife, Faile ni Bashere t'Aybara, and those of the Two Rivers men he had led into battle that had survived the Last Battle had only recently arrived home. It had been less than a week, when he thought about it. He was not going to chance madness, particularly when he and his wife had just arrived home.
Small Paws sent again, his voice almost more urgent. Come, Young Bull! Run with us! Celebrate with us! We live! We have survived the Last Hunt!
Shifting slightly, Perrin kissed his wife gently and slipped out of bed. He dressed quietly, glanced back at a still-sleeping Faile, and slipped out the window. Tonight he would celebrate life with the wolves. After all who had died, both in the Last Battle and beforehand at his call for aide, he owed them that, at least. One night would not lead to madness, especially not in sight of the other reasons he had slipped out the window before this. Marking his territory in the middle of the night was more wolf-like than he would have liked. It kept the wolves off the sheep--they respected his territory and all that was in it--but it was still a more wolf-like action than he would have preferred.
I come.
It was not far to the woods where Small Paws waited. He thought the wolves would be farther from Emond's Field, especially since he'd marked the boundaries of his territory, but when he entered the little clearing he knew why they were so close to a human settlement. There was not a single wolf there.
About fifty humans waited in the clearing, all with golden eyes. Some were clothed and stood upright, while others were nude and rested easily on all fours. Many of those who still acted like humans carried weapons, and almost all of them had obviously traveled a long way.
Now that he was in the clearing, Perrin could easily pick out Small Paws. He was one of those who rested nude on the ground, his hair long and tangled and a rough beard obscuring most of his face. He had obviously lived for quite some time more wolf than human.
We are all here. All the Wolf Brothers. All together for the first time. Let us be known to each other. Let us be one.
The Wolf Brothers nearest Small Paws began, each introducing himself by his wolf-name and allowing his scent to be linked with the name. After all of those who could only communicate as the wolves did in their strangely stilted fashion had introduced themselves, there was silence for a moment. None of the clothed, still-human Wolf Brothers were sure what to do. Perrin had only known one other, named Elyas, an old Warder who had fled his Aes Sedai and eventually died in the Last Battle. Finally, a young man, still a boy in most respects, spoke in an accent that placed his origins in Kandor.
"I'm Edgyr Baron," he said with a grin. After a moment, he added, "Black Nose, to the wolves."
The tension among the still-human Brothers lessened. The introductions continued, each man introducing himself as a man and a wolf. Perrin matched names to scents automatically, surprised by neither commoner nor noble. They were more than halfway through when the first introduction of any surprise came.
"Lady Drucilla Kaliska, third child in a very minor noble house. The wolves named me Wind Flower. Half the time they call me Precious She, though, and I think I finally see why."
All eyes snapped to the young woman who had spoken. She was obviously Domani, with her coppery skin and long, lush black hair. Her clothes were more practical than the thin silks most Domani noble women wore, though her snug trousers and flowing knee-length coat presented her form almost as scandalously as the more traditional translucent gowns. She was armed with a long, thin, delicate-seeming dagger and nothing more, but the way she wore it made it obvious that she knew how to use it. The dagger was obviously only a last resort—her first and greatest weapon was her training in the Domani arts.
"Gethram Colehorn," the next man said after a moment, obviously shaken. "To the wolves, Light Stepper." The introductions continued until, last of all, it was Perrin's turn.
"I welcome you to my home. I am Perrin t'Bashere Aybara, Lord of Two Rivers. The wolves named me Young Bull."
We are welcomed to Young Bull's lands. Come, let us run, let us dance below the stars and sing to the moon!
It was something he'd never done before--running all night, spending the night dancing under the stars and singing to the moon. Before slipping away to return to his bed, Perrin extended an invitation for lodging until the man-like Wolf Brothers began their long journeys home.
"You were out longer than usual tonight, my wolf," Faile purred as Perrin slipped back into bed near dawn.
So she knew about him slipping out at night. "There are almost fifty of us, Faile. All of us were here tonight, in Two Rivers. Over half of us still remember we are men."
"I suppose your golden-eyed friends will need a place to stay for a few days. Some of them must have a long way to go."
"Some, maybe twenty, and some longer than others."
"I would like to meet your pack in the morning, my wolf-king."
"My pack? Small Paws brought us together."
"To your home, Perrin. Besides, you led the wolves and Wolf Brothers into the Last Battle, did you not?" She yawned, snuggling closer to her husband. "They are your people as surely as the people of Two Rivers. Now go back to sleep."
Perrin smiled, wrapping his arms around his wife and closing his eyes. He probably would get no more sleep that night, but a moment or two with his eyes closed would not hurt anything . . ..