Chapter 10: The Meeting
The air was still as rays of sunlight streamed through the tree tops and onto the forest floor. Another promising day had arrived, but the bright light of early morning came as a nuisance for Humphrey as he slowly paced through the woods. He pulled an all-nighter traveling away from Jasper, only stopping to drink water from any stream he came across. Looking around the forest felt the same as Jasper, a mix of pine and birch with a few rocks sticking out of the grassy earth. However this day he wasn't admiring the beauty of nature, something he usually enjoyed. The fresh cool air and smells of early summer had no effect on him; the events of the past few days have turned him into nothing more than just a plain silhouette full of troubles.
His blue eyes were stained a hue of crimson from lack of sleep and peace from the chaos taking place in his mind, so immense that his head was pounding with the symptoms of a headache. Being too focused on getting away from Jasper he ignored the good idea of finding somewhere to rest until morning, and now that it had arrived he regretted not resting sooner. He felt like he was sick, so many things felt wrong inside him, nothing but problems and he had no idea where to begin solving them. It didn't help that his stomach was starting to growl for a meal and he made the foolish mistake of not at least eating before he left his home. If he planned to become a lone wolf out in these untamed woods then this surly wasn't the way to start.
Eventually as the light of day seemed to only add to his headache he decided to find a shady spot to rest at. He wasn't sure if he could manage to sleep but it was worth a shot if it meant relief to some of the pain he felt. As he searched all he could continue to think about was Kate, wondering how she felt waking up right now and realizing he had abandoned her. 'It was for the best...' He reminded himself, it was too late now. Sure he could turn around and head back to her at any moment but he didn't want too no matter how much he thought about her. She had her own problems to deal with just as much as he did, times were hard and in Humphrey's mind this seemed to be the best option for them.
His ears twitched at the sound of rushing water as another stream appeared before him; hugging tightly to the grove where the base of two hills met along the mountainside he chose to follow last night. He continued his search along the banks, checking for a flat spot or even a den like crevasse carved into the dirt. All the while his thoughts shifted to his main objective of coming out here. He considered himself a lone wolf now, and if he was going to be successful at it he needed a plan to survive. So he spent his time of search attempting to come up with a list of goals he needed achieve, such as finding a suitable place to call his new home.
After several minutes passed he finally found a place where he could lie down and try to get some rest before continuing on. Rest would do him well as he could hardly focus on thinking about one thing before he would either lose thought or end up going back to thinking about Kate. There was no way he could go on, he needed to clear his thoughts and focus on sleeping. Falling over on his side he landed with a hard thump and let out a deep breath to relax. It felt good to get off his paws and with a slight feeling of pleasure from it he closed his eyes and silently begged for his mind to let him rest.
'Why must my life be such a mess at times...' He wondered as he listened to the sounds of nature that surrounded him from the rush of water in the nearby stream to the leaves as they rattled in the breeze. It was only a few months ago that he was in this same feeling of helplessness and battling with his emotions. He wanted to reach out for help but at the same time didn't, he wished he could take everything back and return to the beginning of this last week when he and Kate were starting to regrow their friendship. But now here he was, lying beneath a pine tree many miles away from his former home. He had to put the pass behind him and learn to move on from depression for the second time in his life, and this time without the help from his friends.
Surprisingly there was no challenge by his mind to stop him from resting and he slipped into the darkness of sleep within a few minutes. The sounds around him in the world of the living subsided as it was replaced by an eerie silence to coincide with the infinite darkness. Time passed by before he awoke to find himself walking through a dark forest only lit by a half filled moon hanging overhead. His heart began to pound as he wondered what was happening, he tried to stop so he could figure out where he was but it was as if his legs ignored him. He tried again but got the same result, no matter how much thought or effort he put into stopping his body continued to stride on at a steady rate, determined to get to a place that he had no idea about.
Looking around at the forest around him it all felt familiar, like he had been here many times before, it was then that he noticed the outline of howling rock jetting out about the trees beside him. 'I'm back in Jasper?' He thought to himself wondering why or how he got back here and wasn't in the place he fell asleep at. Everything was silent around him as he approached the base of the mountain his former pack gathered at every moon. All the while he continued to wonder where he was going, and he was starting to get the idea that he was on his way up to the top of howling rock. He gave up on gaining control of where he was headed as it was becoming more apparent that he was in some sort of dream. Everything around him felt like it was actually there and that he was back in the land he grew up at, except for the fact that there was an everlasting silence which creeped him out. What awaited him at the top of this mountain?
Higher and higher he climbed until at last, the summit was in sight, looking as it normally would on a clear night. The ground flattened out as he finally stopped in front of a smooth rock that gave way to an endless view of the landscape that surrounded Jasper Park. Being here only made him think more about Kate and he wondered if this was his mind at work making him dream about her. However he has seen no sign of her yet, and hoped it would stay that way. It took him a moment of standing there feeling a cool rush of wind blow past before he realized that he finally had control of his legs again. It seemed that this was the place his dream had taken him, but he still wondered what the goal of all this was, why was he here?
If this was a dream about being back home then why wasn't Kate in it? She has practically plagued his mind full of problems for the past few days, so how come this wasn't some dream to make him feel bad about leaving her behind? Suddenly a bright light erupted before where he sat causing him to quickly look away and shut his eyes in surprise. A white light flooded everything around where he sat as if a lightning bolt had struck before him, and much like it the light dissipated a few seconds later. He opened his eyes and was met in the glance of another wolf, dark brown in color that lightened as it reached the underside of their body. Their face was young and lighter in color with a lengthy mane to blend in with the rest of their fur; this wolf appeared to be not much older than him. Humphrey's eyes widened, "Who are you?" He immediately asked.
The wolf sat down on the rock it was perched on just above where he sat. "I have many names, most of which fall along the lines of guardian or overseer..." The wolf replied with a feminine voice as smooth as a flat pond in the morning. "But you may call me by my name, Jade."
Humphrey wasn't sure what she meant by that but he decided to roll with calling her Jade, maybe she knew why he was here. "Alright Jade, do you know why I'm here?" He asked. Her deep green eyes continued to fixate on him as he spoke, making his fur twitch uncomfortably.
"Simple question, you are here because you have had problems in the world of the living and I have been assigned to offer guidance." She replied.
"Guidance? You mean you know about my problems?" He asked, getting a feeling of uncertainty about whatever this wolf was on about.
"Not all of them, they never tell me that much. I only know that you have problems pertaining to a significant other, which once again, is the reason why we are here." She explained without hesitation.
Humphrey however was confused by way she spoke, who was they and better yet who really was this wolf? She seemed to already know about the problems he had currently yet he has never seen her in his life. He shook his head, "Okay backup, what is going on here? You are making no sense at all so could you please explain exactly why I'm here?" He asked.
"Ah yes an explanation, I can sense that I have confused and maybe even frightened you so I will try to make this simple." She replied. "As I've stated before my name is Jade, and I am what you would call a spirit, as I no longer live in the same forest as you do. Try not to think about that too much as it is not important to remember. What is important is that I, like many other wolf spirits, am assigned to offer guidance to any living wolf that is deemed to be going through difficult times. In this instance you are the one that's been chosen and so here I am. Trust me when I say that it's best not to focus on the reasoning's as our time here is limited and should be entirely spent discussing your troubles."
Humphrey took a moment to analyze before responding, "So you're saying that you're the spirit of a wolf who is now dead?" He asked.
"Not dead, just moved on into a new life." She replied.
"Okay then I think I must be going crazy if I'm dreaming about dead wolves whom I've never met." He stated with a sigh 'Great just what I needed.'
"Think what you wish of me but I have a duty to fulfill and I suggest you take advantage of it. Now, Humphrey," She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. Humphrey seemed unfazed by the fact that she already knew his name, nothing felt real to him right now. "Tell me about this problem you have."
This was defiantly a different experience to Humphrey, he felt so uneasy on the inside, still confused about what exactly was going on. Was he hallucinating all of this as just a dream or was this actually happening, he had to be sure. He understood that time was limited and was told to ignore thinking about the fact that this was a spirit he was speaking too. Yet it just seemed so sudden, like a lot of things lately. Even if what Jade said was true about her being here to act as moral support he still didn't fully believe her.
"If you are who you say you are then prove it." He replied.
"If I do then will you move on and focus on taking advantage of the help I offer you. If you continue to question my authority then I'm sure there are far more important problems I could be attending to besides yours." She replied with a hint of annoyance, yet maintained her smooth tone.
"Sure whatever you say" He answered, ready to find out whether or not this was just another drawn out dream that his mind had created.
"Good" She replied before suddenly getting up and leaping down onto the ground right before him. "For starters I cannot interact physically with the living." She extended one of her forelegs and swiftly swung at him. Humphrey flinched, thinking for a moment that he was going to feel the impact but instead his eyes widened upon seeing it phase straight through his abdomen. A sense of cold accompanied it, as if she were made of ice.
"I can also say that I know all about your traits, you are an omega from the western pack located in a region named Jasper Park which happens to be where we are now." She paused and glanced around the mountain top they were on, "You are an orphan left to grow up without any true parents and you have an interest in making people laugh and have a good time." She continued without waiting for a reply from him. "Now do you believe me?"
Humphrey took a breath and was amazed that everything she said about him was true, even about his parents, which immediately spiked his interests. Did this mean that she knew things about his parents that he did not? "Well that stuff is all accurate, but if you know all this, does this mean you know about my parents?" He asked, he may not entirely trust her but if anyone had any information about his parents he would not resist to ask about it.
"I've met many wolves Humphrey, and your parents could be among them, but I have no reason to share anything about it, as it is not important right now. I know for a fact that this isn't the cause of your problems so could we please get on with this." She answered. "Most wolves jump on the opportunity to discuss ones problems with someone else but you however seem to be one of the few who do not." She added as she climbed back onto of the rock she originally sat on. It seemed with every second that passed she was growing more impatient.
Humphrey wasn't sure what to think about her answer, she neither agreed to it nor denied it. He had a reason to believe her now and her growing annoyance in the way she spoke only indicated more to him that time was valuable right now. This may be a dream, and Jade may just be a fragment of his imagination and not a spirit as she claimed. However he realized that it didn't really matter who she really was, he had a golden opportunity to discuss to someone about his problems. Previously he had his omega brothers to speak with but now that he was a lone wolf he couldn't have that anymore. Maybe he really could gain something out of speaking to her about Kate and all of his issues, it could even give him some strength to survive and focus on getting situated as a lone wolf.
He felt stupid for not just believing her in the first place, he's probably wasted so much time sitting here asking about things that she long before told him to not ask about. It was a waste of time but at least she was still here and hadn't left like she warned. "I'm sorry Jade, you are right that I'm wasting my time asking irrelevant questions." He stated, looking up at her after spending the past few moments looking at the ground.
A feint smile appeared on her face. "Ah I knew you would finally come around, just took longer than I thought." She replied.
"Yeah, it's now that I realize that you might be the only other wolf I get to speak to for the next few months and I should be taking full advantage of what you offer."
"You're right about that, now let's begin." She responded, sitting down. "Tell me all about your problems, no matter how personal. I'm not here to judge what you've done, only to offer advice and guide you in the right direction."
Humphrey took a breath before explaining his current situation regarding him and Kate, feeling uneasy about describing certain aspects of it. However Jade only sat and listened in silence, waiting for him to finish his explanation. He ended on stating that he had decided to leave Jasper and head out into the wilderness to become a lone wolf. Just talking about it wasn't as straight forward as he hoped as the familiar feelings of hurt and depression rushed back to him. There was no escape, but it pushed him on to continue pouring out the details in hope that Jade would give him advice to overcome it.
"...So here I am now, a lone wolf." He concluded.
"Ah young love, now I see why they sent me to you" Jade stated.
"And why's that?" Humphrey asked.
"Because I can relate to you in this instance, for when I was around your age I underwent some of the same things regarding love." She replied.
"Really?" He asked "So this means you truly can help me with this if you've already gone through it."
"I wouldn't say I've gone through everything the same as you have, everyone's life is different, but this at least makes it easier to discuss." She stated.
"Well then what did you go through?" He asked.
"I'm afraid it would be a waste of time explaining what happened in my past life. That's all distant now unlike you, in my opinion you still have a chance to end up with your ideal life if you make the correct choices. So let's focus on she-wolf, Kate right?" She replied, changing the subject back to him.
Humphrey understood and went along with what she asked. "Yeah her name is Kate."
"Alright how long have you known her?"
"For as long as I can remember, we were close friends growing up but now that we're older things aren't as great as they used to be." He answered.
"Have some sort of falling out?"
"You could say that, I don't know if you want me to go over all of that..." He replied, not exactly feeling positive about having to explain everything that went on between him and Kate before now.
"That's up to you, if it portrays to your current problems then feel free to do so."
"Well I will say that the main reason we fell out was because she didn't hold the same feelings for me as I did for her at the time. And showed it in a way that made me think that she lead me on as if she was playing some game with me before going off and marrying another wolf. However I know now that I was wrong." He responded.
"Are you in love with her?" Jade asked.
He took a moment before answering. "I used to be but now I don't know how to feel about her... With everything on my mind right now I don't know how to feel about a lot of things. She was everything to me many moons ago but after she surprised me with her arranged marriage all of that was crushed."
"I see, I'll leave it at 'it's complicated.'" She replied. "But what I want to know is how you ended up together during her heat cycle if you say that you no longer love her, and she's already married."
"Well that much I can explain, to make a long story short Kate hasn't been having the dream life as I once thought with the wolf she settled with. So she came to me asking if she could stay with me in my den during the season as an opportunity to get away from him and to catch up with me since we rarely talked over the past couple months. I agreed as I was already deciding on the idea of at least becoming friends with her instead of going further like I originally hoped." He explained. "Things were going well and I was enjoying spending time with her and eventually learning that the things I assumed about her in the past weren't exactly true. I could say that closure was the biggest thing I gained out of learning that, because it made me feel a fool for thinking that she hurt me on purpose." He was surprised at how words were flowing right though him as if this was a casual conversation.
Jade listened as pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together, however she shook her head after he finished his explanation. "I will say that you were foolish to think that you could put up with her heat for the whole season. That is the toughest challenge, and I know that for a fact." She stated.
Humphrey sighed "I realize that now, everything was going well during the week and I thought that we could make it, but then we got talking and lost ourselves faster then I think either of us knew it…" He agreed, reflecting back on the night prior, still fresh in his mind.
"Heat can bring any pair of wolves into submission regardless of their relationship; it just depends on how strong they are to push past it. For you to make it as long as you both did I will say that you both have strong wills." She replied in a way that carried sympathy.
"But it wasn't enough, all that effort and now it's ruined. I have to live out my life as a lone wolf as my punishment for what we did because our pack would never accept an alpha and omega couple. Especially when she's already married and serves as the bonds that unites our pack with another. I can't even imagine what the pack will think when they find out she's holding my pups!" He couldn't stop himself from snapping and letting his pent up emotions get the better of him.
"It's alright Humphrey, let it all out. I wouldn't say it's all ruined, you still have a chance to turn this around in my eyes."
"How...?" He asked.
"What made you decide that becoming a lone wolf was the best option for both of you?" She answered.
"I thought it would be best if I took the fall by leaving since I have no family keeping me there."
"And she agreed to this?" She asked.
Humphrey paused, Kate never did agree to his idea of leaving yet his judgment told him that it was the best decision, however looking back on it now he was starting to feel some regret about it. "No not really, last thing she said to me before I left was that we would discuss a plan in the morning but I decided to just get up and leave anyway..." He replied.
She sighed. "Humphrey, Humphrey..." She said with a shake of her head. "You're not thinking logically, where you have ended up is the result of your own selfishness."
"How did being selfish bring me here?" He asked not quite believing her.
"Because you are too afraid to face the truth about your actions with Kate, you regret what you've done and therefore decided to run away from your problems by leaving her behind to deal with the real consequences of your actions." Humphrey was taken aback by the sudden hostility in her words, her smooth and mellow voice gone. "What do you think she's going through right now without you there? She could very well be carrying your pups and yet you've decided to fail your role as a father by ditching her."
Humphrey couldn't help himself from backing away slightly from the sharpness in her eyes that seemed to cut straight through him. Everything she said hit him to the core and all he could think about was Kate and feel a wave of grief crash over him. Jade had opened his eyes to his true situation, which he alone was to blame for being where he is now. He could still be in Jasper and probably already have a plan laid out but he let his fear take control of him. Kate needed him and he had failed her by leaving her side, the image of her having to raise pups who never knew their real father entered his head and it chilled him to the bone. Kate didn't deserve a life like that, she enough life issues as is.
Minutes of silence ticked by as Humphrey became consumed by his own anguish to the point that his eyes began to water. He felt horrible, a complete idiot, and he wanted nothing more than to take it all back and wish he had never listened to himself when he decided to leave Jasper. Jade meanwhile held her eyes closed ever since she snapped at him; however the sound of a choked back breath caused her to open them and see that Humphrey had broken down into tears.
She let out a soft sigh "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to seem so hostile about that, it's just that I can't tolerate wolves that are blind to their own actions sometimes." She said, calmness returning to her voice.
A moment passed before Humphrey looked up at her, his red eyes reflecting in the moonlight. "No it is I who should be sorry and thanking you. You've opened my eyes to all the wrong I've done Jade." He replied softly before sniffling.
"There's no need to thank me yet when we still haven't solved your problem." She replied.
"Yeah but what you just said made me realize that I have been selfish far beyond my normal self." He stated.
"Fear can make us do that Humphrey, some of us let it control everything we do in life but you can consider yourself lucky to get this opportunity right now, to have someone to speak to and point you in the right direction." She responded.
"I'm ready to hear what I need to do. I want to be there for my possible pups and Kate." He replied, regaining his composure and feeling a sense of duty.
Jade smiled a bit at his quick turn around, "What I have to say isn't an order to you, this is your life and it's up to you to go and make the right choices based on the events of this meeting." She stated. "However I would recommend that you go back to Jasper and more importantly back to Kate. If I had this opportunity to go back and fix the problems in my life I know what I would do, and you should be starting to get the idea now. You're an omega and the life of a lone wolf would be hard for you to mold into so you should have never left on that reason alone."
Humphrey already agreed with that, the second he left this dream he would head straight back to his home. However there was still the problem of what to do when he got back, what would he and Kate do to overcome their challenge? "What will I do when I get there? There's no way we can stay there and live a normal life." He asked.
"That is for you to decide, I know you can be an intelligent wolf and come up with amazing things if you put your mind to it, it's something you got from your mother." She answered.
"So you do know my mother?" He asked, his curiosity growing inside him.
"All I can say is that you and she are a lot alike." She replied, but that wasn't enough for him.
"Tell me more about her then if you know her." He asked.
"I'm afraid that is for you to learn at a later time, I can tell that she means a lot to you but understand that there is a time and a place for everything." She replied.
Humphrey couldn't help but wonder what exactly she meant by that, here he was at the edge of learning something about his parents but was told to wait until another time. "I see..." He replied with a sigh.
"Fixing your problems with Kate is what's important right now Humphrey. Learning to set things straight between you two and form a solid relationship before your pups are born if she does become pregnant."
"I understand." He replied, letting go of it and focusing back on his current goal.
"So do you feel you're ready to make the correct choices upon returning to the world of the living?" She asked.
He nodded. "I know what I have to do now, to go and set things straight for not only me but Kate as well." He responded.
"Good because our time together has reached its conclusion." She replied as she looked beyond him causing him to turn around as well and see that the moon was setting, turning golden in color. "Promise me that you will discuss with no one about our meeting, what happened here is for your benefit and only stays between us."
He nodded, returning to face her, "I will, do you think we'll ever see each other again?" He asked. They had only just started to see eye to eye and now their time was over and he didn't feel eager to leave as not everything was laid out before him to fix the wrong he done. But at the same time he knew he could trust himself to make the right choices now that his mind had been cleared.
"Maybe someday our paths will cross again in our dreams, but until then I wish you the best of luck Humphrey. You have a bright future ahead of you so go and make sure that it happens." She replied.
Humphrey couldn't help but smile. "I can't thank you enough for all this Jade, you have shown me something I couldn't see myself and I will never forget about this dream."
Jade returned the smile with a nod of her head, "All part of my duty in this life but you are welcome." Just then her body began to glow, dim at first but quickly growing in intensity. "Goodbye Humphrey, remember that the choice you make today will affect the world you wake up to tomorrow..."
White light consumed every corner of Humphrey's vision as Jade's voice faded into infinity, and then before he knew it he was greeted with the vision of a great pine tree towering above him. The meeting was over and now he lay in the exact spot he fell asleep at only everything around him was stained red like fire due to the setting sun. He had been asleep all through the day which surprised him, his talk with Jade felt like it only lasted the length of a morning but it turns out he was wrong.
He let out a groan before getting up on his paws and stretching, his body felt stiff, especially his legs, but to his astonishment he felt fine otherwise. No more headache, no more depression holding down his moral, what happened in his dreams was not just some dream his mind made up. He really did think that he met with a spirit and seeked the guidance he needed to clear his thoughts. Right now all that mattered was to get up and get going back to Jasper, a sense of purpose burned within his chest. If Kate was pregnant with his pups then he would make sure that he would be there by her side, for the second he sees her again his is going to beg for her forgiveness. As for what to do about the pack finding out, he and Kate had a lot of discussing to do and this time he would be sure not to be absent for it.
A/N: A bizarre turn of events for Humphrey, meeting with a spirit whose supposed job is to help the living with grave problems they face. What's the significance behind it? Well that's to discovered later as I believe it's time that Humphrey and Kate get their lives going on the right track.
As for the long break between chapters I truly am sorry about the wait, I didn't expect to lose all interest in A&O as my life got busy in other areas but here I am, still alive and breathing. However I did warn you that I would not release another chapter until I held enough motive to finish one, and that's just what I did. Honestly I'm glad I took my time cause this is like the 4th or 5th version of this chapter I have come up with idea wise, and this version suits what I had in mind for the future. Anyway, thanks for reading and being patient, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to complete!