Chapter 2
Wolf Pack
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I've only gotten two reviews so far, but that's ok. I write because I like to write, not because I like compliments. (However, I do like them! And constructive criticism!)
To my....two wonderful reviewers, skipp20 and Kit9888, THANK YOU!!!!!
Well, on with the story. Enjoy!
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Night was falling faster than I had thought it would. It seemed even darker due to the tall trees blocking out the dying sun. I would have to stop soon. There was no way I would be able to keep on the direction I was heading with out the sun's help. I needed time to gather some wood for a fire. I wouldn't have anything to eat; I didn't know what was edible in the forest and what wasn't. About a mile back, I had come upon a stream. There, I drank as much as I could, and continued on my way.
I really had no idea what I was doing. My mind just seemed to have stopped working. I mean, I was in the Wayless Wood! The Wayless Wood! It was mind blowing! I would soon be in Ombra!
A wolf howled in the distance.
Assuming I made it there. Who knows what could happen to me out in these woods. Fear made me shudder. The books described all sorts of nightmarish creatures.
On the other hand, what would I do if I made it to Ombra? Wait for the Blue Jay to appear and take me to their camp? No. It was unlikely at best. My best bet would be Farid. Or Fenoglio. I would ask around, and find out where they lived. They would be able to take me to the Black Prince's camp.
Another annoying question came to my mind. What would I do if I actually got to the camp? Sit and twiddle my thumbs? Be one of the women who sat about worrying, cooking, washing, and doing other things that women in this place did? No. I needed to do something more. I needed to make a difference; to help out some other way. I came here, even if it was by accident. I was going to make my stay worth while.
Again, a wolf howled in the distance. It was time to start a fire. I found a small clearing, and began to collect dry wood where I could find it. It was a pitiful pile, certainly not enough to last through the night. And how was I supposed to light it? I moaned inwardly. This adventure stuff was tougher than it looked. I knew that before, but then, I had been safe in my bed. Now, I was thrown into one of my fantasy's.
I arranged the small pile of twigs into a teepee, stuffed dry leaves under them, found two rocks, and began cracking them against each other. It made an awful racket, and no sparks came forth that would light the leaves. If only Dustfinger, or Farid were here. I would have no problem then.
So I sat and shivered as the final rays of light disappeared, and the moon slowly began to rise. A breeze wafted past me, and I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm. I really wasn't prepared for this at all. I was still in my clothes from the night before. If it really was last night. Hard to believe.
A Taylor Swift t-shirt, and a pair of jeans, with soft leather shoes that were already scratched up from hiking in these woods. My shoulder length brown hair was pulled back into a pony tail. It was starting to get very frizzy and tangled, thanks to the damp air. Instead of the normally straight mess, I would wake up tomorrow looking like a puff ball. A digital watch, not that it did me much good here. A gold ring, inlaid with a ruby, my birth stone. And a book. That was all I had. It would have to do.
The wind was beginning to pick up, so I started to try again with the stones. The grating sound hurt my ears, making me cringe. Still, no fire appeared.
However, the howls of the wolves sounded louder. They must be nearer to me.
Cursing, I chucked the stones as far away from me as possible. A moment later, I heard a thump and a pitiful whimpering sound. That soon turned into a growl. The low, menacing growl of a wolf.
Apparently, they had been attracted to my rock banging. And like the idiot that I was, the rocks had hit one of them on the head.
That wolf came out into the clearing first. Blood already was matted in the fur on it's head. It snarled viciously, pacing around me in a circle. The wolf was dark brown, the color of dark chocolate. Three more wolves joined it. One was normal brown, with gray patches. One was black as the night. And the other seemed to have a reddish brown fur color. They all bared their teeth at me.
I tried backing up. The black one snapped at me. They began closing in, making to circle tighter and tighter. Finally, the dark brown one stopped in front of me, crouching low. It was about to lunge for me. Fear, terrible fear, gripped my whole body to the point where my brain stopped working and so did my muscles. I stared wide eyed at the wolf, waiting for it to take my life.
It met eyes with me. Deep gold against ocean blue. And something clicked. It suddenly stopped snarling and slowly loosened the stance it had to the point where the wolf was simply sitting there, with it's head cocked to one side.
The other wolves did the same. Obviously, the dark brown one was the pack leader. Which made it a he. All the others were probably male's too. The dark brown wolf got down on his stomach and started to crawl toward me, inch by inch. A strange sound came from him Almost like...whimpering. I backed away, but he continued to come, so I sat down and held out my hand.
He stretched his head forward, and put his nose in the palm of my hand. What was happening? Wolves were acting like little puppies around me!
I caressed his head, noticing that blood still trickled down from the cut on his head. Wondering what to do about it, I sat back on my hands. Out of no where, the reddish brown wolf knocked me on my side. I screamed, while he laid on top of me, looking mischievous. He was only playing!
Pushing him off, I got up and started walking towards the stream I had found before. Then I looked back. The wolves were following me. Good. When I reached the shallow stream, I lured the dark brown wolf into the water. From there, I ripped a strip of cloth from my shirt, got it soaked, then started dabbing at the cut. He trembled but, sensing I was helping him, did not run away. I cleaned the blood off him. The cut was already clotting. Sloshing out of the stream, I sat on a rock, and the dark brown wolf sat next to me, just staring.
"You need a name," I stated aloud. He looked at me as if to agree. I stared at him for a long time before it came to me. His eyes. Gold, dangerous, intelligent.
"Griffin. I'll call you Griffin," I said to him. Surprisingly, he moved his head up and down, nodding. I turned to the black one.
"Blackpool," I murmured, the name instantly coming to mind. He blinked. The reddish brown one was harder. I ran through several names, but none of them fit. I started to put random letters together.
"Chaska," I said, putting my hand on his head. He wagged his tail. Turning to the brown and gray one, I found him the hardest. He just stared at me, waiting. Nothing came to mind. I remembered a name from a book that I had read a while back. It was the only one that fit.
"Brom," I whispered. He came up to me and laid down at my feet. I guess I had chosen well. I stood up.
"Well, I need to be going now, or I'll never get to Ombra," I told them, as if they could understand me. And maybe they did. It sure seemed like it. Griffin ran ahead of me, Blackpool was on my left, Chaska on my right, and Brom behind me. They started walking north, toward Ombra. It looked as though they would escort me there. I followed them and wondered if this was just coincidence, or was the story binding me too now?
Because I had a wolf pack. That's not normal, is it?
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Ok, I know it's probably bad to use the name Brom. But it was all I can think of, and it suits the wolf. So don't shoot me.
Please, please review!!! I would love it if you reviewed!!
Hopefully, I can post the next chapter soon. Until then, Bye!