Children of the Starnik
Chapter 25: Come back with me
Myka's P.O.V
Tonight was the night, tonight Jack and I were going on our first date, and like all girls but more importantly big sisters, Lupa was with me helping me to look good. I think she was more excited then I was. She was rather funny, running around looking for things like a flower that suited me and a pine comb to brush out my fur. Usually, Tony used to use a brush, but this was the wild now, we had to make do. But it was when she got back I found Skye's brush, so I "borrowed" it and it did the job. I hadn't seen jack since around lunch today, I hoped Dakota didn't do something to him and hid the body, but Lupa assured me that she had been with him most of the day; Jack was probably getting himself ready for tonight. The last thing he told me was to meet him at the base of the trail leading up the mountain, I was ecstatic. Tony was like a proud father, Lupa obviously told him about tonight along with everyone else, he was so happy to see the little pup he once knew going out on a date. But what brought stinging tears to my eyes was that he said that Karl and Lexi would be happy.
We were finally done; Lupa had brushed my fur back nicely and found a white lily which she placed behind me right ear. The flower was ok, but honestly, I'm not really one for looking tidy. I prefer a slightly scruffy look. "You don't need to make such a fuss." I giggled.
"Don't be silly." She replied. "I'm not letting you go out looking all scruffy on your first date. This is your first date right? Like, ever?"
"Yeah, it is.
"Then I'm not letting you see some guy without looking good."
"It's only a date, it's not like we're getting married or something."
"Don't let Dakota hear you say that. And I hope you don't for a little while longer." She giggled.
"How is Dakota?"
"Not happy, but just ignore him, I usually do."
"Was he like this when you were in love?"
"A little, mom was far more because she didn't want him to find out about us, but he did and then he hated me. But the night we died I went to see him and we made up. We're good friends now."
"And he's the one who made you look different?"
"That's the one, he was a witch, just no where near as powerful as you. But tonight is about you, not me."
"No, I like to hear about this, come on tell me. I know the fact that he was bigger then a normal wolf, but you don't say anything else." She sighed and finished adjusting the flower. She then picked up the pinecone and started brushing my fur again while she spoke.
"His name was Faolan; he lives in Alaska with his pack. He's a nice guy and very charming, the stuff he knows you'd think he was thousands of years old."
"Like the older guy do you."
"Shush you." She replied with a small laugh. "I didn't tell him about me, you know the walls in the main dome light up when we go near them?"
"Yeah, but they don't do it to me anymore." I replied hanging my head. Ever since I lost my powers, it's like the Starnik gene in me has been erased, they don't light up anymore for me. Ever since the day I lost my powers I've just given up on the fact they were coming back.
"Well, we found a place like this a little and I got too close and he saw it light up. He thought I was the she-wolf the Starnik prophecy spoke of, but then mom came running in and said it was her and the Scott came in. He said he didn't love me anymore and we didn't speak anymore until I went back to clear things up with him."
"He sounds nice."
"He is, very nice."
"Do you still love him?" I asked turning back to face her. At the same time I asked, she was brushing down and the question must have sparked something in her, for she pulled down too hard, pulling several strands of fur out. It didn't hurt much, but enough to make me say. "Ouch."
"Sorry." She sighed.
"Touch something bad?
"No, it's just… Never mind." She said spitting out the pine cone and walking in front of me. "You look amazing."
"Thank you, it was all because of you?"
"Anyone would think you were getting married by the looks of you."
"Better take it all off before Dakota sees then." I giggled.
"You aren't touching my master piece." She said with authority she wasn't going to let anything ruin her work. "Ok, you look good to go."
"What time are you meeting him?" Oh my god. I looked back through the tunnel leading to the main dome; there was very little light left.
"Like five minutes ago!" Her eyes widened.
"Then quick get moving." I nodded and ran out the chambers and into the main dome. But upon reaching the exit tunnel Dakota called me to a stop. I looked back to see him running up to me.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I just want to look at you, you look beautiful." But then he came right up to me and pulled me into a hug. He was up to something. I wrapped my own paws around him, but then I heard him smelling.
"What are you smelling? Do I stink?"
"No, defiantly not. Just remembering what you smell like so I know if you smell any different when you get back."
"It'll be fine." I giggled. "Jack's a nice guy, if he does start something which I highly doubt he will then I won't be afraid to kick him where it hurts. I trust him."
"That's my sister." But he still didn't let go.
"Now what are you doing?" I giggled again.
"Just remembering what you look like so I can remember."
"Just stop it." I said pushing him away. Lupa then came running out the chambers to see us like this.
"Let her go, you'll ruin my masterpiece." She said splitting us up.
"Fine..." He grumbled. "Go, have fun."
"I will, see you later." I said turning my back,
"One last thing…" He said stopping me again. "If you look or smell any different I will cut off his…" He didn't get to finish as Lupa clamped his muzzle shut.
"Just go, have fun." I smiled and ran out before he had a chance to stop me again. I emerged into the dim lit forest, It was dusk, so where it was he wanted to lead me, we'd get there by the time the moon rises. I was so exited. I started running, but I cushioned my paw steps as not to mess up my fur. But halfway there, I realised it wouldn't look good if I was panting and with messed up fur, so I slowed it to a fast walk. Fifteen minutes later, the base of the trail leading up to the mountain came into view, as well as Jack. He sat beside the wooden post that directed up the mountain, something I never really noticed before. He looked very handsome. It looked like he washed, groomed his fur, it shined and looked like it was reflecting the little amount of the suns light. It looked like there was a kind of glow around him. I trotted up to him, and I saw his jaw drop as well as a large smile that appeared on his face.
"What?" I asked coming to a stop before him.
"You look amazing." I blushed and looked away slightly.
"Thank you; I could say the same about you."
"I try my hardest."
"Did you have a bath?"
"What, are you saying, that I don't?" He joked.
"I don't now, do you?" I giggled.
"I didn't think you were going to show for a minute." He said as he started walking up the trail with me beside him.
"Lupa wanted to make sure I looked good."
"Tell her she did a good job."
"You're staying with us you know, you can tell her yourself."
"I was thinking of sleeping in my den tonight, saves me from having to face your brother until tomorrow."
"But the Ditori might come back and they find you. You can sleep in the temple with us." I said worried.
"You don't need to worry, I'll be fine." He said flashing me a smile.
"I can't help it; if something happened to you I couldn't take it. I've already lost my family, I can't lose my friends." He looked into my eyes, seeing the worry and stress that brimmed in them. Once again he smiled.
"Ok, if that'll make you happy."
"It will, thank you." I said licking his cheek lightly. "So where are we going?"
"There's a great spot I found once up here, it's amazing."
"Sounds amazing, I've never been up here."
"I only did today; I thought it was worth checking out."
"I trust you know how to spoil a girl." I said smiling.
"Maybe, I wonder if the surprise I left up here will be enough." He said winking.
"Another surprise?" I asked making sure I heard right.
"That's right. I'm full of surprises."
"I bet." I said winking again. "Hey…" I said making him look over at me. "Tag!" I then bopped his nose and bee-lined up the path. I heard him start laughing followed by thundering paws close behind me. We were acting like pups again, we felt so free, capable of doing whatever we wanted. Nothing was impossible. He tapped the end of my tail and ran ahead, now it was up to me to catch him. If this didn't work out, we'd still be great friends, I knew it, nothing could ruin what we had before, even if I only saw him once every few months when I travelled. It as a good thing he had run ahead, there were many paths leading off this one and towards other places. But I still wanted to keep this game going. I tagged his hip again after catching up with him and ran ahead. This happened multiple times, tagging one another until we started to reach the summit of the mountain thirty minutes later, it was me trying to catch him. We ran up some very steep steps and towards wherever it was we were going. At the final step, I jumped and landed on him. We rolled and rolled while laughing until coming to a stop. He was stood over me with his paws either side of my head while I lay on my back under him. We continued laughing, but as we settled, I found myself lost in his blue eyes, they looked like mine, but darker, like an ocean blue. They were amazing. I snapped out of my trance and realized how we were. "Do you wanna let me up?" He shook his head to wake himself back up.
"Oh yeah, sorry." He said stepping off to the side.
"Don't be, that was fun." I giggled while rolling onto my feet.
"No. I meant that last bit."
"I meant that as well." I said while walking passed him and flicking his nose with my tail.
"So what does your brother think about this?"
"Not happy, he wouldn't let me go before I left. He was smelling me and remembering how I looked so he could come after you if I looked any different."
"Look at your fur after all that, he's going to be pissed." He said pointing to my body and more importantly my back. It was ruffled and messed up a little from the running and rolling earlier.
"I don't know who'll be madder, Dakota or Lupa, she spent ages making me look good."
"You looked fine before anyway, you didn't need to get all fancy." I didn't answer, I just smiled at him. But then something caught my attention. I pointed my nose into the air and scented it.
"Can you smell blood?"
"That'll be dinner, come on." He replied walking a little faster. He led me across the clearing and to a place that made me gasp. I had heard of this place before, I just never came up here. It was the viewpoint; it overlooked the forest and the town in the distance. It was beautiful. "How come I've never been up here before?" I gasped.
"Because you don't stay long enough." Jack chuckled. I came to a stop when I walked into something; I looked down to see a dead deer at my feet. It had a bloody neck, showing it had been killed by a wolf.
"You did this?" I asked.
"Yeah, I thought that dinner and a view would be nice."
"It's perfect." I replied. "It's all quite new to me, when I was with Karl and Lexi we never ate raw meat much."
"Well I'm glad to make you more then happy." He chuckled. "Dig right in." He added. We lay down side by side and like he said, dug right into the carcass. He was the first to cut into its belly and dig out what I heard was the delicacy of the kill, the liver, the best part. He was very charming, for he moved everything out the way and after pulling it out, set it right in front of me.
"You don't want it?"
"I'd rather you do, there are plenty of other good bits in here." He smiled.
"Thank you." I said. I placed my paws over it to hold it down and started ripping pieces off. What I heard was right; it was one of the best things I had eaten. It was tender and succulent, I savoured every bite. By the time I had done, he had ripped out what looked like the heart and started devouring it. So I helped myself to the kill and ripped into the leg, taking off piece of meat and spitting out the fur, that part wasn't as good.
Thirty minutes later, we had eaten our fill, the deer had three meatless legs, most of it's insides missing and half it's chest, we tried not to waste it, but we couldn't fit it all in. I flopped onto my side and sighed happily. "That was great." He just laughed and said.
"It was, wasn't it?" I lifted my head up to look at him, then I saw something amazing. Behind him was the moon, rising high in the sky. But it wasn't just that, it was that fact that the light it created shone down onto us and him. His fur really did shine in the moonlight, it looked beautiful. He narrowed his eyes slightly, puzzled, and then looked behind him. He smiled again as he turned back to look at me. "Will you howl with me?" I smiled back up at him.
"That's why I came." I giggled. I excitedly rolled onto my paws and walked by his side to the edge of the viewpoint. Beneath us was a very steep incline leading down into the forest far down. A fall would be certain to kill anyone. But I didn't care about that. We sat on the edge, careful not to fall over. For a moment we just stared at the moon, just enjoying the others company. I wrapped my tail around his, I felt him flinch a little from the slow and unexpected move, but then I felt his coil around mine, making us both smile. We both looked back at it before looking at each other, both of us with a large grin. "How do you want to do this?" I asked nervous. This was my first howl; I didn't know how this worked out. Did we both start or did we have to do something first?
"Ladies first." He replied. I nodded and looked back up at the moon. Like I said, I haven't done this before; I don't know what my inner howl sounded like. What scared me was if his was the same. I listened to my soul, and heard that howl, so I threw my head back and realised it. I closed my eyes and sang to the heavens, repeating what I heard within myself. Then I heard him join in, and would you believe it, his was the same, our howls matched. They flew into the air and intertwined into one harmonious howl. They danced in the sky and rang out. I could help but let a single tear fall down my cheek. But does this mean we were meant to be together? I certainly had feelings for Jack, but was I prepared to possibly spend my life with him.
We howled for a while, but suddenly his whole formed into words, he started singing.
"I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better, know you better now." I then started to join in with him, feeling for some reason I knew the words despite that I presumed he was making this up as he went along. He stopped singing to take a breath, so I started singing on my own.
"All I knew this morning when I woke
Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before
And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago
Is blue eyes and grey fur and your smile
In the back of my mind making me feel like"
"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now"
"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you"
"'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed"
Then he started singing, his voice I couldn't believe was amazing. Our voice's complimented the others very nicely.
"And all my walls stood tall painted blue
And I'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time,
Taking flight, making me feel like"
"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you"
"'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
And you'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed"
The next part, I don't know why, made me feel so loved, like there was no-one left in the world but us. I wanted to cry in pure happiness, never had I felt like this before. I was exploring uncharted territory in my life, I didn't know where the next step would take me.
"Come back and tell me why
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.
And meet me there tonight
And let me know that it's not all in my mind."
"I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you"
"All I know is we said, "Hello."
So dust off your highest hopes"
"All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed"
"All I know is a new found grace
All my days I'll know your face"
"All I know since yesterday is everything has changed..."
The song came to a graceful end, and we looked at one another. Jack had a massive smile, as did I, but the tears started to come flowing down my face. I looked back up at the moon and shuffled closer so I could rest my head upon his shoulder. I felt him rest his upon my own head. We both sighed, happily. "Thank you Jack, this has been the best night of my life."
"I'm glad you think so." He chuckled lightly. "I was thinking, how would you say to coming back here tomorrow night? I'd like to do this again."
"Certainly." I replied as it was obvious. "I don't want this night to end so it's going to happen!" I protested. We both started laughing.
"So what happens now?" He asked.
"Let's just enjoy the night." I replied. I didn't answer because I didn't know; I didn't know where we went from here. Was this love?
Lupa's P.O.V
Everyone was sat in the sanctum around the waters edge. Me, Tony and most of the girls were in tears after hearing Myka and Jack howling, you could hear them from miles away. Dakota wouldn't admit it, but he was happy for them, but he wasn't happy with her choice in wolf, but I don't think that was the problem, I think it was the fact he couldn't be with her all the time. He had to learn to let her go and trust that Myka can take care of herself. He gets the protectiveness from mom; she was like that when I was with Faolan. Growling when he was near me, and hating the idea. But she had a reason; she didn't want him finding out about us, whereas Dakota doesn't, he just doesn't like the guys we're with. Maybe it could be because of what happened to me, that must be it. He has a new fear now, letting go of a sister. Well that's something he has to face sooner or later.
They came to a steady stop; we had listened into the entire howl. "She's so grown up." Tony muttered. "I remember when she was just a pup."
"I remember when she was born." I added.
"She will always be the pup you all knew." Jenny said.
"So how does it work?" Chris asked. "Why howl?"
"Well, if there's someone you like, you look inside yourself and hear for a howl. Then you sing it, and if it's the same as your partner's then you're meant to be together."
"And their's were the same?" Tess questioned.
"Sounded like it."
"So what now, they get married or something?" Cody asked.
"God no, it's like dating. You do it several times, get to know your partner and if you still like them, then it's up to you what happens. Some wolves find their howls match but they don't feel that way towards one another, so they stay good friends. They might do that."
"Let's hope so." I heard Dakota grumble.
"Don't like the idea?" Skye asked.
"No, not one bit." He replied making them laugh.
"How would you feel if both of your sisters went out with someone?" Chris teased. He didn't answer, instead and quietly growled and sulked away. "Did I say something wrong?" Chris asked again.
"Don't worry about him, he's just VERY protective of me and Myka, he'll learn."
"I feel sorry for him." Michael said. "Having to see your sister dating like that and fall in love. It must kill him."
"Have you ever been in love?" Skye asked.
"Once before, when mom was pregnant with Myka and Scott was ill. The people who helped him were nice, and one of them I liked."
"What happened?" She asked again.
"He found out about us, and he hated me for it." She gasped, and seeing as she was sat beside me, she shuffled closer and wrapped her arms around me.
"I'm sorry honey."
"Don't be, before the battle I went to see him and we cleared the water, he was the one who made Dakota and me look different and help us find her after you were first attacked."
"What did Dakota think?"
"He wasn't as bad as this; it was mom who was protective of me, that's where he gets it from."
"Did he know you died?" Michael asked.
"Yeah, he as a psychic like me and could see the dead in water like the waterfall." I said pointing to it. "It creates a type of energy that spirits can use to manifest themselves using, so he'd sit by one and wait for me to come to him. It was a bit of a shock when we saw him after Myka brought us back."
"Sounds like love is in the air tonight." Tess giggled.
"God, I don't love him anymore, we're just friends." I protested.
"Whatever." Michael said with a yawn. "I'm going to bed." He added walking out, the others weren't far behind. Everyone left and turned in for the night, leaving me on my own. It got me thinking. I hadn't seen Faolan for a long time now, nearly four months. I'm alive again so why can't I just go over and see him? I don't know why I had the sudden urge, but I wanted to go and see him. It was at that moment Dakota came padding back through, his head hung low.
"Hey, are you ok?" I asked.
"Yeah fine, I just couldn't be around to hear that."
"It's fine, but can you do me a favour?"
"Sure, anything to not think about that." He replied sitting in front of me.
"Can you take me to see Faolan? I need to ask him something."
"Why?" He asked confused.
"He might know of a way to help Myka get her powers back, so I need to talk to him."
"Fine by me." He said taking hold of my paw.
"No." I said pulling it away. "I can talk to him better; let me go on my own."
"Ok, whatever you say. I'll bring you back in an hour."" He replied. The last I saw of him was a wave of his paw and a flash of green before I was stood knee deep in snow inside a creepy dark forest. Behind me were the cliff and the boulder concealing the entrance to the Dire Wolves temple. But then a realization came to me, how was I going to get inside or get Faolan out? I thought and thought before eventually coming up with a plan. I Astraled out, standing beside and looking down at my body. I then walked towards the boulder; I didn't need Dire Wolf strength to walk through it. For I as a spirit, and hopefully invisible if the practise I had been doing was good enough. I passed through the boulder and out the other side it was really weird. I then walked down the length of the tunnel, but when I came to the main dome where I saw several of the large Wolves walking around. I looked down at my paw, I could still see it, so how was I to tell whether I was invisible? I could see it either way. I took a deep breath and stepped out. I couldn't even hear my own paw steps, so that must be a good sign, and neither did the others see me as I walked out and into the middle of the dome. I stood there looking around for Faolan, I couldn't see him anywhere. That was until I heard a deep voice bellow his name. He came running out the sleeping chamber, through me and into the sanctum. I was hot on his tail and followed him. Oakllwar sat by the waters edge and turned to see him.
"Yes master?" Faolan asked.
"I need you to do a herb count to see if we're low on anything."
"Of course sir, right away." He then padded back across and out then into the healing room. It was far fuller of things; more things then in ours at home but then again, ours hadn't been used for thousands of years. He sat before the piles of herbs, mixtures, plants and carved bowl and things counting them. I sat by his side looking up at him and waving a paw in his face, he really couldn't see me.
"Hello?" I asked, still he didn't respond. "I thought you were supposed to be psychic." I added, trying to see if he was just ignoring me. I sighed and looked down to the various things when an idea came to mind. I mustered all the energy I could and hit one of the bowls, causing it to flip and spill its contents. He looked down at it puzzled, but not enough, I guessed he thought he must have knocked it. "For goodness sake." I exclaimed. I did it again, flipping another bowl over and spilling the herbs onto the floor. He looked down at it again; he knew this time he didn't knock it over.
"Tarkeith?" He questioned and turning around to face the entrance. "If you're trying to mess things up again, it won't happen!" Of course nothing happened or answered. A bowl of blue mixture caught my eyes. I flipped that bowl over which caught his attention again. I started by sticking one claw into it and writing in the mixture.
"Waterfall." I was sat by his right, so if anything, he'd look and see me, that was if he sensed me. If not then he'd understand the message and go to the waterfall. He saw the message and did just that, but still he didn't see me.
"For god's sake!" I then hit him, he moved a little and he held the spot where I did. Suddenly he ran out leaving the mess I had made and back into the sanctum. Oakllwar wasn't in here, so he stood with clenched eyes looking into the waterfall, and I stood by his right side. Finally, it seems as though he saw me, for his eyes widened and looked directly at me by his side.
"Lupa?"
"Finally you can see me." I giggled.
"Was that you back there?" He asked.
"I was trying to get your attention, I've been following you since you came running in here for your ass of a master."
"You made a mess." He chuckled.
"Sorry." I giggled.
"Wait, are you dead?"
"Technically yes, but my body's out the front, I couldn't howl or come in now could I?"
"Well get out of here before Oakllwar sees you."
"If you couldn't then how the hell is he?" I giggled.
"Look, let me clean up your mess and I'll be outside, ok?"
"Fine, don't keep me waiting." I reeled back and into my body, waking up with a gasp and shooting my eyes open. I looked around to make sure I hadn't been found by someone, which thankfully I hadn't. So I lay around for the time being, trying to figure out what made me want to come and see him so badly. It's not like I still like him, because I don't, we're finished, it won't happen. It as something similar to being in heat, I just wanted to go and see him so badly. But why? He emerged from the hole ten minutes later and closed it again.
"So I wasn't seeing things." He chuckled.
"Nope, that was me."
"How did you do that?" He asked.
"My grandma taught me, it's called Astral Projection, it comes in handy when you're half dead." He looked down at me with a puzzled expression, probably by what I meat by "half dead". "Don't ask."
"So what's wrong? Why'd you come back"?"
"What? Can't I see a friend when I want to?" I asked.
"Not when his entire pack hates you."
"Then let's move away from them, fancy a walk?"
"Sure, Oakllwar won't need me for a while." He replied with a smile. We set off through the snow. I forgot how tall he was, my head was up to his chest when standing up straight, it may not seem that tall, but it really was when you see it. "So how's your sister?"
"She's great, not as happy as she could be I guess, but still happy."
"It seems only like yesterday I remember meeting you guys and she was still just a foetus." He chuckled.
"Two years, yeah, two years we missed out on."
"I'm sure she doesn't mind."
"She doesn't, you should have seen her face when we told her we were alive."
"You told her?" He asked.
"We did, around three months ago, a lot has happened since then."
"Like what? We've got nothing else to talk about."
"Well, Myka started learning about her powers; I'll tell you you'd like her for being a witch."
"She's a witch?" He asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, she was the one who brought us back."
"That's cool, what else?"
"We told her who we are, she started learning how to control her other powers and…" I froze both with my movements and my words when I thought of one last thing.
"What?" He asked.
"Something else happened."
"What was it? You can tell me." I sighed and replied.
"I was raped the night we told her." He gasped and placed a paw on my shoulder, making us stop as the subject turned more serious.
"What happened?"
"You know the Ditori right?"
"The Humans that tried to kill us, and are after you guys, yes?" He growled lightly.
"Well they were after her when she was out, but we stopped them and they took us instead. They drained my brother of nearly all his blood and they wanted me to birth Starnik pups so they could use them." A tear fell down my face, so I looked down so he didn't see, but he just brought his paw under me and lifted it back up to wipe it away.
"Did he… in you? You can tell me?" I nodded and sniffled.
"I was pregnant, but I was shot a week in and I lost them. I was healed by Myka but they still died." He himself sniffled and embraced me with both his paws.
"I'm so sorry." I started crying into his fur lightly.
"It's ok; I thought I was over it." I tried my hardest and laughing a little to seem stronger but it didn't come out, it was more of a sob. "I saw them when it happened, I saw them fly away, they looked beautiful. I even dreamed about them."
"I'm sure you would have made a fantastic mother." He said rubbing my back. "Can I ask, what happened to him?"
"Dakota killed him before we were rescued, he haunted me for a little while after they died, but when I had them taken out of me he was gone again."
"He can't hurt you anymore." He cooed.
"I know, I try not to think about it."
"That's good, you shouldn't do." I pushed him away and squirmed out his clutches. I wiped away my tears.
"Let's keep moving, I don't won't to talk about it."
"Sure, so what else is new?" He asked as we moved on.
"Myka's already dating; she went on her first tonight. We could hear them both howling, but Dakota…"
"Let me guess." He said interrupting me. "Protective?"
"Yeah, now that mom and Scott aren't around to be, he's the wolf of the house now. He's not happy about it." I giggled.
"I bet, I wouldn't be."
"You know, this is nice."
"What is?" He asked confused to my random saying.
"Walking again with an old friend."
"Very old." He added making us both start laughing.
"I don't know why, but I found I wanted to come and see you tonight." What he replied took me by surprise.
"You know what, so did I; I wanted to see you again for some reason."
"Not awkward at all." I giggled.
"Totally, not weird what so ever." He chuckled in return.
"Have you got an idea about why?"
"Nope, you?"
"Maybe." I said.
"Tell me; maybe it'll shed some light."
"Well, like I said, Myka has started seeing someone, but before all this, she's asked a lot about you."
"What do you mean ask a lot?" He asked with a smile.
"As sisters we tell each other everything, we've got nothing to hide. An obvious subject for girls is the guys and she asked me if I had been with anyone before, so obviously I said you."
"What?" He asked not annoyed by it, but as if I was joking.
" What? We get out once, get over it. And like I said, she wanted to know about you so I told her."
"And what did you tell her?"
"That you were nice, charming, strong." I said poking is legs and giggling. "I just guess that the amount of times that I've had to talk about you it's just made me be thinking about you again."
"I think I know why now as well."
"Share it."
"Well, Oakllwar has been saying how he believes his time as Shaman is coming to an end, that there is nothing else he needs to teach me, so he asked that everyone removes their bracelets for a year so he can age gracefully and die and therefore a new apprentice to be born."
"I'm not sure whether to think of that as a good thing or a bad, we was an ass to me."
"I know, but anyway, there are four couples in our pack, including my parents. They've all mated and are due at some point. None of them maybe born at the same time he dies. Really, he's nine, so he could die anytime soon, the she-wolves that are pregnant are due anytime soon as well. If none are born when he dies then we try again, but one of them should."
"Can you imagine that, having a little brother or sister as your apprentice?" I laughed
"It would be fun; I'd get to spend more time with my family rather then with Oakllwar."
"So how has all that made you been thinking of me?" I asked.
"One of the she-wolves has already given birth, and as the apprentice I was there to help, it made me think that it was once a possibility that, that could have been your mom giving birth then. I remember going out to collect the things she'd need."
"So do I, I was with you,"
"That was what really made me think of you, that you were with me when we collected the things for her, and that the last pregnant she-wolf I saw was your mom."
"So pregnant girls remind you of me?" I asked with a giggle.
"Basically, yes, they do." He smiled.
"Wait, have we been here before?" I asked while looking around the place. It was a small meadow with different coloured flowers, untouched by the season's snow.
"Yeah, we have?"
"Wait a minute; is this our old make out spot?" I asked going red under my fur. I looked up at him and I knew he was too.
"Yeah, I believe it is." He said looking down at me with a wry smile.
"I was following you, did you bring me here?"
"No, I was following you." He responded. It didn't make any sense. We have wanted to see one another over that last few days and now we find ourselves drawn to our old spot. I couldn't understand it, what was this? "Do you want to get out of here?" He asked.
"Strangely, I don't, I want to stay."
"Why?" He asked confused. To be honest, so was I. I didn't know why I wanted to stay. Something just wanted me to.
"Something's not right here." I proclaimed.
"What do you mean?" He asked again.
"Something isn't right, we've been thinking about each other, we've been drawn to one another, we walk into our old spot, something's doing this to us. I've told everyone that what happened between us is over, so how can this happen again?"
"Like what, no-one knows what happened between us other then your family."
"Wait a second." I turned around and looked behind me. "Mom, Scott, get out here now!" I order. Seconds later, they fade into a transparent form not too far from us. "Are you seeing this?" I asked.
"Yep."
"Have you got something to do with this?" I asked.
"Maybe just a little." Mom replied making a small gesture with her paw.
"What do you mean?" Faolan asked.
"I was wrong to think what we thought before; you two are made for one another. We've just been doing what your father and grandmother did to us, taking over your instincts to come to one another."
"You can't say things like that." I snapped. "It's over between us."
"But is it?" Scott asked. "Admit there's something inside both of you that feels something towards the other." We both looked at one another, wondering if this was true.
"I'll admit, I did feel something." Faolan answered.
"Really?" I asked.
"Really. What about you?"
"Honestly, there was, but I didn't know what it was."
"That dream you had a few months ago." Scott added. "That was a vision of a possibly future for you both. Those pups weren't the ones could may have had, they are the one you will have. Had you stayed asleep, you would have seen Faolan as the father."
"You have got to be kidding me!" Faolan spat. "I did dream that, but I thought it was the pups that I miscarried."
"Want to see how the rest of it goes?" Mom asked.
"Show us." Faolan replied quickly. Mom and Scott walked up to us, he placed his nose against my forehead and mom's to Faolan's, and everything flashed before I started to see something.
I lay beside that giant lake again with the sandy beach, those pups still bound around in the tall grass to my left, beyond the lake was the Mountain View. This was about the time I woke up, what happened next I would never have guessed. Behind me Faolan appeared out of a large den, and the pups all ran over to him, yelling "Daddy!" He greeted them with open paws as they pushed him back onto his back. I smiled warmly at them as they bit his ears, jumped around on his chest and he laughed around underneath them. He looked over to me, still smiling. "Hey guys, why don't you go and play in the lake while I talk to mommy, ok?" They bounded off him and ran passed me and into the lake, still playing around and splashing one another.
"Why'd you tell them that?" I asked.
"So I can kiss you." He replied while bending down to do just that.
"Did she get you good?" I asked after pulling back and looking his ear.
"Needle teeth, that's what they've got. They grow out of it."
"I hope not, I want to keep them like this forever."
"So do I." He said nuzzling my neck. "I want to picture this day for the rest of my life."
Scott and mom pulled there noses away, and Faolan and I looked at one another. "I thought you didn't like the idea of us being together?" I asked.
"That was back then." Mom replied. "This is now; you two are made for one another."
"But it can't work." Faolan added. "She's the daughter of the Starnik, something I grew up to hate. Sarabi and I grew distant because of what she became."
"Lupa isn't the same." Scott said. "You've done it before, just with a white lie shrouding it. What was it I once heard you say? "No matter what your secret is, we'll make it work out."
"Can you just go, we need to talk." I asked of them. They both nodded and slowly faded away, leaving only us. I groaned in frustration and swiped the snow with my paw in frustration. They've been butting their noses into my life again, they can't keep doing that.
"Lupa just calm down." Faolan said far calmer then I was after seeing the rage practically flowing out my ears.
"How dare they screw around with my love life!" I said starting pacing back and forth. "They can't choose who I love."
"Lupa let's just talk about this." His words were going unnoticed in the rage I was in. I needed to get rid of some. I threw one of my shields as a ball at the nearest tree, resulting in it exploding with the electrical blast that it does. The tree shook, the leaves and twigs fell, my eyes were swirling, but it still wasn't enough. I spun around and threw another at a tree, then another and another, getting rid of this rapidly building up rage. Suddenly, I felt a great weight on my back and push me to the floor. I spun around so I was on my back to see Faolan holding me down. "Just stop!" He yelled. "Just stop and talk about this!"
"What's there to talk about, it's not going to happen!" I screamed back and batting at his chest for him to let go.
"What if it did?!"
"What did you say?" I asked in disbelief and freezing my actions.
"What if that did happen? What if it could happen?"
"What do you mean?" I asked settling down some, but my eyes still glowing green. "What are you saying?"
"I won't deny it, I've always felt something for you since we split up, I never stopped loving you." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. But there was a small problem.
"I never stopped loving you." I admitted. "But what about me being a Starnik? I thought you grew up hating them?"
"It's true; I was, in a simpler way, dumped, by the last Starnik, yes. So I grew up hating her and the ones coming after. I was taught to hate them." His words carried with them like a fire, such heat and ferocity in them. "But I was also taught to heed the words of a spirit more importantly." I looked back up into those jade green eyes of his now swimming with an entirely new feeling. "I don't care what my master says, he taught me more then anything to heed and complete the wishes of spirits, and seeing as your mother and step-father are, I can't ignore their wishes." Throughout his entire little speech, I didn't take my eyes off his.
"So, you still love me?" I asked as I felt my eyes settle and return to how they were.
"I do." He said with a confident smile. "Do you?"
"I do." I hadn't realised it until now, but his head was much lower then to where it was earlier. I never expected this to happen; I only came for a talk. "Is what I think about to happen, happen?"
"Again? Looks like it." He laughed lightly. "Oakllwar's gunna kill me." He said before suddenly bringing his muzzle all the way and I brought mine up to meet his lips. I didn't wait in wrapping my paws around his neck to pull him closer and push my lips against him more. I couldn't believe this was happening, we had already once agreed that this could never happen again, never, he grew up to hate me and my family, and now we were falling in love, again. We started moaning as the intensity built. I mustered all my strength and managed to flip us, so I was standing over him, which was a little hard, but manageable. After several minutes of this, we pulled our lips apart. "Lupa, I love you so much." Another tear fell down my face, a tear of happiness.
"I love you too." Once again I brought my head down to meet his lips. But this one was more of just a small kiss as soon after I pulled back again and asked. "Please, come back with me, come and live with us."
"I can't, I can't leave my master or my pack." He replied sounding guilt ridden and upset. So was I, I could tell how much he wanted to be with me and I with him, but how could we do this?"
"Just run away with me, don't worry about them. Maybe that new apprentice was supposed to take your place, not his." I said stepping off him.
"I can't, I'm sorry, but I just can't. They are all my family back there; I can't just up and leave. Not because don't I love them, because I do, but because…"
"Because what?"
"Oakllwar wouldn't have it." His master was going to take everything away from me, and he was seemingly succeeding. But I wasn't going to let him take Faolan away again, not this time.
"Stay here." I think he cocked onto what I was going to do, but before he managed to speak I Astraled out, back into the temple the Dire Wolves lived in. I reappeared back in their main dome, this time in a physical body. I didn't speak a word as they saw my appearance and started snarling and forming a circle around me. I didn't know if that was because they remember me, or because a stranger just came in out of nowhere. "Where's Oakllwar!" I demand. The giant blind and grey Dire Wolf came stalking out of the Sanctum and into the circle.
"What is this, who are you!" He rasped in a sickly tone.
"My name is Lupa, Daughter of Rosie, the she-wolf of the Starnik prophecy!" I yell out for all to hear. The snarls and growls increased in volume, obviously they now remembered me.
"How dare you return!" He screeched. "Last time we allowed you to leave, we won't this time."
"Why? For a reason I couldn't control? The fact that my mother was the Starnik and birthed two pups that had now control over what would happen to them? My brother and I never chose to live this life. You can't blame me for what I became."
"What are you doing here?!" He rasped again.
"I have come for retribution, and for your apprentice."
"Your retribution you shall never receive, but what has Faolan got to do with any of this."
"We were in love the last time I was here, and we're in love again." Just then, I heard him come running in yelling my name. I looked just as he came running out the tunnel with my body on my back to see what was transpiring.
"What nonsense is she talking about boy?!" He demanded of Faolan. He barged passed the wall and towards me. He carefully laid my body beside me, but I didn't go back into it, it was safer for me like this. He looked around at us, and his eyes momentarily set a gaze on two wolves, one male and another female, the male looking an awful lot like him and the female having as large bulge of a belly, so I assumed it was his parents. "Step away from this dog."
"No." Faolan replied facing him again.
"Faolan, I said step away." He repeated sounding as if his rage was building.
"I will not. I am in love with her, and I will stand by her side until the end of time."
"Faolan do as he said." That she-wolf said.
"No mom, I won't." He replied looking back at her. "I'm in love with her, I was when we met and we are again now, I will not leave her."
"Son, stop being irrational." His father added. "Get over here." Instead he shuffled closer to me, making everyone gasp and growl.
"I don't want to be your apprentice any more." He said throwing in his bracelet that gave him immortality to his master's paws. Suddenly, the entire wall erupted in a gaps a murmurs to the wolf beside them, even more so, a disgusted look appeared on Oakllwar's face. "I believe this was meant to happen, and this new apprentice to be born is to be your new one."
"That's not tradition." He snarled. "That's not how it works."
"You taught me to hate the Starnik."
"For good reason." He grumbled.
"But you also told me to listen to the spirits, and do as they wished. Well we had two spirits come to us, they gave us a vision of our future, that we were destined to be together. I saw our future, and from what you taught me, I should follow it and see it through." For once, there wasn't anything he could come up with to answer back. Faolan had beaten him at his own game.
"You are possessed boy; these are not your own actions."
"I'm possessed all right; I'm possessed with the sight to know what is right, and the right thing to do is right beside me."
"You are no longer my apprentice. Tarkeith, kill them both." Suddenly, a giant jet black version of Scott came stomping out and towards us, baring teeth and glaring at us menacingly. I took this as a moment to get back into my body, but when I opened my eyes again, Faolan was stood defensively in front of me and doing exactly the same.
"You touch her, and I will make sure you never see the outside again." Faolan snarled back.
"Like the shaman said, you are possessed by this demon; the real Faolan would know his responsibilities." Tarkeith snarled back. Suddenly he jumped for Faolan, but I was quicker and I threw a ball of electricity at him, sending him flying back and into the stone ground. He was alive and unscathed; he'd be left with a bruise. Everyone around us stepped back as I prepared another ball ready to throw. It hovered above my paw, fizzing and clicking away as the electric in it buzzed.
"Hold onto me, Dakota will bring us back soon." He grazed his pelt against mine, ready. It's been an hour, any time now we should be brought home. Tarkeith groaned as he got up to his paws with the help of another wolf. I saw Faolan look across to his parents and just as we were engulfed in green light, he managed to say.
"I'm sorry." Just as we were brought home. It was a good thing we timed that right, had we not; I would have ended up leaving without him.
"Wait I thought you said we were going home? Where are the others?"
"This is our home, we live here." I replied.
"What's he doing here?" Dakota asked laying to our left.
"You're not going to like it." Now was the time that I'd have to explain everything to both of them. To Faolan why it seems we never moved and that this place was also occupied by Humans. And to my brother as to why I had brought Faolan back with me, and boy was he going to be pissed.
Lupa has made just about everyone pissed. Her brother, a pack of Dire Wolves, she's good. hehehe. So Is Myka feeling love, Lupa is in love so whoever predicted that. congratulations, you win the satisfaction of knowing you got it right. This is a classic example of what i mean by i picture how it starts adn how it ends, the stuff in-between i do as it comes. This was one of those moments, the same with Myka and Jack, when i started this i didn't think about it, but then it happened. To be honest, i'm glad i did, or else the story would have ended a whole load differently. Until next time guys.
The FalconWolf