A Vision for Sight
Chapter 1: Introductions
"Senses are our everything, take away one and we're left weak. That's how my pack saw it anyway…By taking away a wolf's smell they can't hunt, remove their hearing and we can't communicate. By taking away our sight we're unable to see what's standing right in front of us. But nobody said you needed to use your eyes to know this. By removing a wolf's vision, it opens up doorways to skills and unique gifts to strengthen us. Everything is tuned finely and sensitively, bringing forwards opportunities to reach that which we could not see. Going beyond to open up and grasp at something better. They still saw it as a weakness however, hence why someone tried to kill me for it. I may not have known it then, but there was a reason I was born like this. But still…I desired to see the faces of those who took care of me, my loved ones. So when opportunity came knocking, I took it. But everything comes at a price…"
You have to see some sense in this, what's the use of keeping someone around if they're of no use? In a pack, every member has a job to do, Leaders, Betas, Alpha's and Omegas. The leaders lead, the Betas organise, the Alpha's hunt and the Omegas keep the peace. Some packs can understand if there is a problem, they'll find a way around it. But there are ones that see it as a threat, a weak link in their survival chain. When this occurs, the threat is eliminated, cast out. It's just a waste of food and time to keep them around, strong wolves survive, not runts, not the sick or the defected. It's the hard reality; it's a way of life. But there is one thing stronger then the strongest wolves around.
A mother's love is what kept her alive, what's stronger then that. For a year and a half, it's what has still kept her alive to this day. Along with some other help of course. Daria, one of those wolves born with the rare defect that was what brought her here. She could not see, the emerald eyes of her mother clouded by a mist that has obstructed her vision for as long as she could remember. She did not know what the sky looked like, a tree, a bird, the porcupine that had cared for her since he found her. All she knew about Floyd was that it hurt to touch him in most places, it stung, he was covered in sharp pines, so a hug was always out of the question.
He found her one night, on a night she couldn't remember. As best as he could estimate, she had to have been no more then two months old. Scared, he always grew up learning wolves were dangerous predators. But this one was young; its mind could be change. Not to mention the danger it seemed to be in. There was another, a female, it left her in a hedge and ran with pursuers not far behind her. Shadow Forest wasn't a place many would come to unless they had no other choice; there hadn't been predators of any kind around here for years, so something here wasn't right. He ushered her away, the young pup following the sounds of his footsteps and whispers. She didn't know who he was, what he was, what his intentions were, be he promised her safety. Come on…she was two months old, pups that age don't have a clue what they're doing. Stranger danger was something she was yet to learn!
She was lead up hill, that's what she had learnt from the time she's been here now. Floyd was no parent; he didn't have a clue what he was doing. This was a wolf, he couldn't hunt, teach her wolf tricks. Thankfully, he wasn't alone in this. Shadow Forest was full of an abundance of Porcupines. Together, they all agreed Daria needed protecting. A myth was formed, made up warnings placed around its borders, it seemed to have worked. But strange things still happened.
Random weather patterns, as Daria grew up she'd talk to thin air, but imaginary friends weren't all that uncommon in young critters. A gloom seemed to have settled across the forest the night that pup came. It was…strange, but the forests beauty wasn't damaged all that much. It was just a change in the atmosphere of the area surrounding the cave
The smells of daisy's and lily's, the sounds of the river, birds overheard in a nest, the touch of the long grass under her paws. She knew it all; she knew where it all was. At the age of one year and eight months, Daria's knowledge of the area around her cave expended every day. Ask her where anything within two hundred yards of her cave was, anything at all, and she could tell you where it was. Taking small walks every day, learning more and more, memorizing every tree, rock, flower patch, muddy puddle and animal inhabitants. It was all locked in her mental mind map, gradually expanding her knowledge of her home.
Against Floyds wishes, she did this as much as possible. A young she-wolf can't be cramped up inside all day, she wasn't one to sit still for long. She wanted to be out and about, wondering what in the two hundred yards she knew so well had change since the last time. "Daria, eight O'clock, incoming!" She immediately leapt forwards into the long patch of grass her forepaws were feeling, hunkering down and planting her ears against the ground. She heard the light, fast paced, familiar footsteps that were her guardian's vibrating against the ground. She shuffled back a little more to hide herself; wanting to be sure she was as concealed as she could be. The footsteps stopped, so she did as not to make anymore noise. Her sensitive hearing stretched beyond what was normal to find him. "Slowly and carefully, move back." She started taking small and light footed steps backwards, her eyes frozen ahead; she moved back and carried on until she was out of the grass again.
"Ha…Busted!" An abrupt and sharp sting went into her rear, something she was again very familiar to and had come accustom to feeling. But still, it hurt!
"Argh! Ouch Floyd! Do you mind?" She exclaimed sheepishly.
"No do you mind?" The small porcupine countered. "Go on, move it!" She signed, dropping her head and hanging her tail low behind her as she started moving again in the direction of home. "I told you not to come so close to your border without me, if you got lost and I wasn't there you'd never get home again."
"Relax; it was your idea to begin with, to move around more."
"Maybe so, just not on your own."
"Come on Floyd, where's your sense of adventure?" She giggled and suddenly diverting away from him to the right. "I need to have a life outside here, you can't make me stay here, I have rights!"
"Oh yeah? Name two?"
"The right of freedom for one." She now began to counter. "Only time to here my own thoughts and…to learn on my own!"
"Who's the adult here? I look after you, remember."
"Me too."
"Oh shut up, I'm still alive aren't I? I wasn't going to be much longer." She picked up her walking pace and started pulling ahead towards the river nearby. She needed a drink.
"Wolves, nobody said it would be easy."
The river located forty fifty yards away from the rocky cave. Or in Daria's mind, down the path to the large boulder, twenty paces to the fallen tree at eleven O'clock, then sixty paces at seven O'clock, stepping over a tree root right before the river. That's from starting from the cave though, so a new route was needed. So from the long grass patch, two O'clock and forty seven paces before turning right ninety degrees where it was a straight shot. Her target was to learn the next thirty yards, pushing the boundaries to made it triple digits, one hundred yards from the den. But that would take a couple of months. It's taken a year just to learn this much!
Lap after lap, she lavished in the moment of the cool liquid running down her throat on this particularly warm day. This was a shallow spot in the river, a part that formed a little pool of its own in a funny way. The rest of it however was a rushing river that would carry anything away in seconds. She was careful to make sure she was at the right bit before stepping in to wash each time. Speaking of a wash, her fur felt some what greasy too, and on this hot day cooling off wouldn't be a bad idea. So she submerged herself into this little pool that was no deeper then her sternum before scrubbing away to remove the dirty and grease.
Floyd was nowhere to be heard or smelt; he came and went all the time. He had stuff of his own to do, a life of his own too. He really only came by to help her move around in newer areas to expand her mind map, for food and of course company. She wondered what it would be tonight, bark, berries…she hoped for the last, there was patch of sweet berries thirty eight paces at two O'clock from bottom of the cave's rocky path down. She had to thank her prickly guardian for so much; she couldn't stay made at him for a second. He found her that year and a bit ago, she didn't know much about what had happened then, she knew only as much as Floyd saw. She just grew up learning not to trust other wolves, anything with the same scent as hers, to run and hide from it.
However, there is a point where it starts to become frustrating. She knew the rules, and from what she knew that was out there, she never, ever thought about going out of her border without help. She knew if she went beyond where her scent stopped she'd never get back. She just wanted his trust, for him to know that she would be sensible and stay where she could get back afterwards. That's where it was frustrating; she just wanted the leash he had on her to loosen a bit.
"Why does he always have to be like that? Talk about overprotective."
"He's just being the good guardian he's always been. And don't tell me to shut up either!"
"I know…I'm sorry." She sighed. "But still, he can't expect me to keep inside whenever he's gone."
"It was poor timing today, sweetheart. He came home earlier then usual." She stopped what she was doing, just freezing for a moment when a thought came to mind.
"Why can't you be here? You could look after me better."
"It's just the way of the world, but you know me…" It was then she felt something on her forehead, like something brushing the dirt of it and into the river. "I'll always be there for you my pup."
Right...this is awkward. So much for retiring right? Ok, let's get this out of the way. So I'm back with a new story, so that I'm rather excited to write about. For those who don't know, this is based around the newest film (Legend of Sawtooth Cave). Only it take an in-depth look at Daria's earlier life and how she became the shy wolf we new her as. The reason I wanted to do this was when I saw it a few months back i couldn't help but notice the supernatural element to it. And if it wasn't obvious enough, that stuff draws me in like a magnet! I don't plan on making this a long story, somewhere around fifteen chapters, maybe less. One thing you will need to know is that it will be slow. It's taken me practically a month to do the first two chapters, so they'll be up either once a week or whenever I can. One last thing you'll need to remember...
Rule 2: The FalconWolf lies!
Until Next Time! :)
