Heart has been wondering about her pack more. Especially her adopted mother. She has been going back to the northern border to see if she meets anyone. Although it seems like she meets two friends of Alastor that are willing to help her reach her old home in a way she never thought she could
Ch 7: To See You Again
After that last meeting it seemed that things were still calm and Heart seemed to be getting better about living in this new land. Since the announcement of the giant snake there hasn't been any word of hit. Although not everyone wanted to believe that it was fully gone. Heart avoided much of the east as she could, it was more than just her as well avoiding the area. It was hard since her den was on the east side, but she has been keeping an eye out.
Alastor seemed to be coming by more often as well. In the last two weeks since the meeting Alastor has been coming by twice a day instead of once to come to the east side. He stopped to see Heart if she was at her den or if he saw her walking around. She just knew that the deer was just worried about her. It honestly felt nice to have someone care that much for her safely again.
Chicka has been keeping up with Heart's flying lessons as well. Although she didn't want to do it by her den ever since finding out about the threat. So, she had been taking her to the front of Alastor's den instead. It was safer there and sometimes Alastor would sit and watch them when he was done walking his rounds. She was nervous at first to have the deer Lord sitting there and watching him, but at the same time she liked it. She wanted to show him what she can do and is capable of. She can do anything if she puts her mind to it.
Flying was starting to become very easy to the hybrid demon. Her wings got stronger every day and she could fly more than before. She realized that she wasn't a fan of heights though, so she stuck to just flying above treetops. Was fun to feel the wind in her face and see everything from below her. She probably wouldn't fly all the time. Just when she found it necessary or if she wanted to get somewhere quickly.
After their lesson she would sit and talk with Alastor for a bit. Twice before he even caught some prey for her to have after training. The three of them would sit down and talk while Heart ate. The Lord was no ordinary deer, which should have been a clue from the get-go because of his sharp yellow teeth. He had magic that no one really knew much about. He was still a clouded mystery. Heart didn't mind that one bit.
When the day was over it would start over. Chicka said that she was going to lessen Heart's lessons now since she had gotten much better. Gave her more free time to be on her own. Most of the time she spent wandering the land in order to recognize it better. It was taking a while, but she was slowly getting the hang of getting around the forest.
Heart has also been worried about her old pack. She knew she shouldn't care but part of her couldn't help it. She mainly cared about her adopted mother Ciel out of all of them. She was the only one that cared about her in the pack. She just wanted to know how she was doing. How the pack was without her. All these worried questions ran through her head.
Because of this worry of Ciel, she started to go to the northern border. Walking around the edge of the territory, staring into the forests beyond. Wondering what was going on. She knew she wouldn't' step foot into the land but she was doing it to help her worry. She even left her sent in some places. Who knows if a demon from the pack would even come out this far, but it was worth a shot. Every day she would walk along the border, hoping that maybe someone might come by.
Now that it was morning, Heart was waking up in her den. She had worked a bit more on the den, making the ceiling higher. She didn't want to admit that it was partially because she did it for Alastor. The wolf hybrid blinked open her eyes and gave a yawn. She stood up to give a stretch and got out of her den. She was going to stop by the border first thing this morning, but before she went to do that, she wanted to get something to eat. Luckily, she hid a rabbit not far away so that she didn't have to go out hunting. She went over to a tree and dug a little to take out the prey and she went back over to her den and ate it.
As she ate, she looked at the sun as it was still rising and she took in a breath as a breeze went by. It was definitely a nice day and it made her spirits high. She felt that today was a good day. She felt something might happen today and she was excited to see what today had in store.
Once she was finished eating, she buried the bones and then went on her way to the northern border. As she walked, she enjoyed the morning sun as it was starting to get warmer out. The sunlight beaming down through the treetops. She could have flown there but it was such a nice day that she just wanted to walk.
The forest was just waking up still and she saw squirrels chasing each other and she passed by a river and there was a beaver making a dam. She saw a small herd of deer run by as well and she waited till they passed before moving on. The place could be magical if you gave it a chance. Heart had found this to really be a good home for her. She was glad some of the demons were warming up to her.
As she walked by she felt something whiz by her ear. She looked around quickly and tried to see what it was but shrugged it off since she thought it was just a bee. Soon the whining noise went past her other ear that other way. She was now annoyed and bared her teeth with a growl.
"Who is that? Show yourself." Heart said with anger as she looked around.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you mad." A voice called out to her.
Heart's growling stopped and she looked around. Her ears perked up and flicked to find the noise. "Who said that? Who are you? Where are you?"
There was a giggle. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. Let me get closer." The voice said. Soon enough a red and yellow bird appeared, it looked to be a hummingbird, which flew in front of her face. "Hi, I'm Nifty, it's nice to meet you. Your Heart right? Lord Alastor has to me a lot about you." The hummingbird said quickly.
Heart was speechless a moment as she looked at the quick bird in front of her. "Um, yes, I'm Heart. It's nice to meet you as well." She tilted her head. "Lord Alastor hasn't told me about you, so I do apologize."
Nifty giggled. "It's no worry at all. Lord Alastor sometimes doesn't introduce us to newcomers since we aren't around too much."
"Not around? Do you travel?" Heart asked.
"In a way yes. I guess you can call us like spies in a way." The bird said in an excited whisper.
"Spies huh? So do you go to different territories and look around for things?" The hybrid wondered.
"Yep! We keep an eye out for anything that might be interesting for Lord Alastor in other territories. Especially if it's something bad and affects him and those in his land." Nifty explained.
Heart was surprised and excited to know that Alastor had something like this little bird on his side plus what she did. "So, do you go to dragon territory a lot?"
Nifty nodded. "All the time. Alastor has been having trouble with the dragons as of late so I've been having to go over there."
"Trouble? Is it ok for me to ask why?" Heart wondered.
The hummingbird shook her head. "That is classified information I'm afraid."
"I understand." Heart was a little downhearted to hear she couldn't say much about the dragons and the problems they were giving Alastor. She was wondering if she could help in some way. She shook it off and took a breath to calm herself. "So, you said 'We', are there more of you?"
"Oh yes! I also have Husk with me! He is kind of like the mussels in a way...well...when he hasn't been into the catnip I mean." Nifty said with a small laugh.
As if on cue there was a loud thump behind Heart and she froze a moment. She slowly turned around to see a grey and white cat like Griffin standing behind her. Her eyes went wide and she quickly the rest of the way around and put her ears back with her tail tucked between her legs.
"Husker! Don't scare her like that you big lug!" Nifty scolded the big griffin cat as he gave a yawn.
"I don't care. All I care about is that I found you. We're supposed to be going to Lord Alastor. We have to report back." He told her in a gruff voice.
Heart had gotten out of her frighten stance at this point and was watching the two argue.
"Yes I know, I know, but I saw this cute wolf hybrid and wanted to see if it was the same one Lord Alastor has been talking about." Nifty told him.
Husk gave a huff. "Whatever."
Nifty turned back to Heart, "Sorry about him. He is grumpy...all the time. I assure you he is friendly though." She turned back to Husk and whispered to him. "Will you please be nice? This is the girl Lord Alastor wasn't to protect after all."
"I couldn't care any less who she was." Husk said and then yawned. "All I care about is getting this report back to Alastor and then going to bed. We've been out all night."
"Ok ok, keep your wings on." Nifty rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Heart this is Husk and Husk this is Heart. He is the big man that helps me if I need it."
"Nice to meet ya. Can we please get going now?" Husk wondered.
Nifty sighed. "Yes, we can." She looked to Heart with an apologetic look. "Sorry Heart, we better get going. It was very wonderful to finally meet you."
Heart nodded. "It was nice to meet you too."
"Goodbye!" Nifty said before landing on Husk's head.
The two turned and started to head off back further into the territory.
Heart sat there with her tail over her paws. She had a thought for a moment. If they could cross the borders…then maybe... "Wait!" Heart called out and padded up to them. "One more moment of your time please."
Husk stopped and turned back around to face her. "We don't have all day kid."
"Yes, I know. I apologize. It's just…" Heart took a pause as she put her ears back a moment. "You can leave the territory...and... well I was wondering if…. I can ask a favor?" She finally asked.
"I favor?" Nifty wondered and flew up from the cat's head and over to Heart. "What kind of favor?"
Heart paused for a moment and took a breath. "I was wondering if you could send a message to my old adoptive mother in my old pack. I miss her. I want to talk with her. I just want to see how she's been doing." Heart's ears went back as she gave a small whine. "I've been walking along part of the northern border for a few days now. I just want to see her."
Nifty was flying in front of Heart and gave a small frown. She looked back at Husk as he had an annoyed look on his face. She turned back to the wolf who was looking at her with wide eyes. The bird then smiled. "I'll do it. For you Heart."
The wolf's ears went up and her tail wagged behind her. "Really? Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! It means so much to me." She said excited as her tongue rolled out of her mouth.
Nifty gave a chuckle. "You're most welcome. What does this wolf look like?"
"Her name is Ciel. She is a black wolf with orange eyes. When you find her, please tell her to meet me at the border tomorrow, when the sun is almost at its highest." Heart explained to her.
The hummingbird nodded. "You got it. Once we are done with Lord Alastor, I'll go and send your message." She said and went back over to Husk and laid on his head.
Husk said nothing but huffed as he turned back around and walked away. Heart was left there with so much excitement she didn't know what to do with it. She jumped around a moment in circles as she made some happy noises. She then jumped into the air and took off flying until she got back to her den and wanted to make sure she was ready for tomorrow.
Heart was quickly walking through the trees as she was heading to the destination. There was a small bird in her jaws as she happily padded along the forest floor. She got the bird for Ciel, it was a gift. Heart wanted to show her how well she was doing on her own. That her hunting training was paying off and was successful.
Nifty had come to her last night saying she found Ciel and gave her the message. The hummingbird told her that the wolf was happy to hear that she was ok and was really wanting to see her. Heart was so excited to hear those words, she couldn't' even get a lot of sleep.
The hybrid woke up early in the morning and hunted down the bird to bring to her adopted mother. She had so much energy and set out early to go to the border. She didn't mind waiting. She wanted to be sure Ciel would find her.
Heart knew she was going the right way as she passed the old hollow log she first laid in when she arrived. Was happy that so much has happened in the last month and a half for the hybrid. She felt very lucky she found this place. Lucky to have found Alastor. He helped her out so much to get comfortable. He accepted her when not many would. It made her heart fill with joy.
Soon she reached the edge of the territory. She put the bird down and then sat down as well. Her eyes scanned the trees. Heart knew she was early, but she still wanted to be sure. Her tail didn't stop wagging and she kept a front paw on her kill.
After a while Heart started to pace. She knew that the land was large and hard to navigate. She expected there to be some waiting. Looking up at the sky she noticed the sun was almost to its highest point. She gave a small sigh then and just laid down again. She didn't want to feel impatient but now she was starting to worry. She rested her eyes a moment, she didn't get enough sleep last night after all and the sun beating down on her pelt felt nice in the spot where she laid. She let out a small sigh and was almost lulled into a sleep.
A rustling of grass causes Heart to lift her head. Her ears flicked as she listened in to the thing that wasn't far away. She looked a little off to the left and stood up. "Ciel?" She called out low at first to not alarm anything.
The rustling stopped a moment before a familiar voice called out. "Heart?"
Heart's tongue hung out as she quickly stood. "Ciel!" She said a little louder and then grabbed the bird at her paws.
"Heart, where are you?" That voice was definitely of her adopted mother.
Quickly the hybrid made her way over to the sound of her name. The grass was moving more wildly. Soon enough the two black wolves almost hit into each other, both skidding to a halt. The two looked at each other for a moment. Heart quickly put her kill down and went to the other wolf's neck and started to make happy whine noises and rubbing up against Ciel, giving her small licks as kisses. Ciel laughed and returned the nuzzles to the younger wolf.
Once Heart had calmed down, she touched noses with the older wolf. "I missed you. I've been worried about you and the pack."
Ciel gave another chuckle and looked at Heart up and down a moment. "I've been so worried about you since you left. When that hummingbird came to me yesterday to tell me you wanted to meet, I was so happy. I had to find a reason to get out of the pack today. Luckily, I managed to convince Alpha to let me out." She explained.
"I was so happy to hear you would come to see me. I have been walking up and down the border the last few days. Hoping I would see you." Heart said a little downhearted and her ears went back.
Ciel looked at the young wolf with sadness but still had a smile. "Alpha had been keeping me in the base. I haven't been out this far since you left. I feel he knew I'd look for you." She then snorted. "Alpha can kiss it. I was glad I was able to get out here today at least."
"Oh, mother I have so much to tell you!" Heart then said excited with a small jump. "It's been very good since I left. I've settled into my new home well so far." She pushed the dead bird closer to the older wolf. "I even caught you something. Figured we could share and talk a little."
"I see those hunting skills paid off." Ciel said with a giggle. "I'm proud of you Heart. I see you even kept your collar on."
Heart puffed out her chest proudly to show off the pendent that hung from the collar. "I never take it off. It's a part of me now."
The older wolf chuckled. "It still fits you well." She then sat down where she was. "I appreciate this kill very much." She then laid down. "So, how about you tell me how this land down south is? Anything different here? Meet any more wolves?"
Heart smiled and also laid down with the wolf. "Well, it's a little warmer I want to say. Nothing too different. The more southern part of the territory is swamp. I almost went into it my first day walking around, it's full of gators that are bigger than me. They snap demons right up."
Ciel looked wide eyed as she said that. "Very dangerous. I do hope you stay away from there."
"Oh, don't worry I do. I will make sure of it." Heart reassured her. "As for meeting any other wolves...there aren't any. I am the only wolf. The Lord of this land does not allow canines."
"No canines? That...odd in my opinion." Ciel tilted her head in confusion.
"Oh, believe me I know. I was surprised myself. He kept an eye on me the whole first month I was here. A lot of the other demons here didn't warm up to me at first." Heart explained.
"How are things now?" The black wolf asked as she took the bird and then took a piece.
"Better. Way better." Heart answered with a wag of her tail. "I have friends here now. It's honestly the best thing. I love it here. At the same time, I miss home. I just have to remember that this is my home now." She gave a happy sigh. "The Lord here has been nice to me. Everyone says how mean he can be but he has shown me nothing but kindness and I greatly appreciate it."
"What kind of demon is this Lord?" The older wolf wondered.
Heart was a little uneasy to tell her a first but eventually answered softly, "A deer."
The beta tilted her a head a moment. "A deer? That is one I haven't heard before. He must be impressive?"
Heart felt her ears get hot with a blush. "He is. I've heard he has magic. I haven't seen all of it yet though. So, he must be powerful."
"I'm glad you have a good Lord who will look out of you and is strong." Ciel approved.
The hybrid got a dreamy look in her eyes. "He does look out for me. He helped me find a den of my own too. He told everyone I was permanent here now. He even found someone to teach me to fly."
Ciel went to take another bite but stopped in surprise, "You can fly now!?"
"I can!" Heart jumped up and flapped her wings.
"Can I see?" Ceil asked excitedly.
"Of course! I've gotten so much better." Heart backed up a little.
Heart flapped her wings and started to get into the air. Soon she was flying above Ciel, who sat up to see better, and did a few tricks she knew she could do in the air. She was definitely getting better. Then she went and started to fly down and landed a little hard but a lot better than she has. She turned to the older wolf and bowed her head.
Ciel looked at Heart with her tongue out and started to stomp her paws on the ground. "Absolutely amazing Heart. It's so fantastic to see you fly. I know you have always wanted to, but Alpha wouldn't let you." The black wolf looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm so happy to see it finally with my own eyes."
Heart looked at her adopted mother and had a face that looked a little sad at her. She went over to her and rubbed her nose against her head. "You ok mother?"
"I'm ok." She choked out a little. "You've grown up so much. I'm just so happy." Ciel chuckled. "To think you were only a pup once."
Heart smiled and laid back down. She gave a small chuckle. "Yea I know. I'm just glad I found somewhere that accepts me." She took a pause and looked at the prey that Ciel has been eating. "Found someone else that accepts me. Lord Alastor cares about me and he makes me happy, just like you mom. For him though, I seem to feel more." He scrunched her nose in confusion. The hybrid looked up at the beta. "What is that feeling? Do you know of it?"
Ciel had laid back down as she listened to Heart talk. A small smile came onto the wolf's face. "I do, but I feel that is something you need to discover on your own." She gave a small snort. "Going after the Lord. Only you Heart."
"What is that supposed to mean?" The hybrid wondered in confusion as she tilted her head.
The beta laughed. "All in good time my little one." She then took another piece of the bird to eat.
"Fine fine, leave me all hidden in the shadows." Heart said rolling her eyes with a small laugh. "So how is the pack anyway?"
After swallowing the wolf answered, "Going ok, I think. Alpha is starting to teach Lizzy how to be a pack leader so she can take over one day."
Heart's ears went back a moment at the mention of her half-sister but still had a small smile, "How is she doing?"
"Learning very well." Ciel told her then gave a tiny sigh. "A little hard on us sometimes when Alpha lets her try and take over for a day, but she is getting there."
Heart paused for a moment as she felt a little tightening in her chest. A small pang of jealousy but she pushed it aside, "I'm glad she is forming into a good leader."
"Slowly but surely." The older wolf said.
The two wolves talked for a little bit more as they shared the bird to eat. Most of it though Heart wanted Ciel to have. When the bird was gone the disposed of the remains and they thought it was time to part ways.
"Can... Can we do this again? Meet like this?" Heart asked as they stood up.
Ciel's ears went to the side as she gave Heart a smile. "Of course, we can, little one. It was really nice to talk and catch up with you."
Heart's tail wagged happily at that. "I'm glad you feel the same. How often would you want to meet?"
"How about every two months? Think you can stand being away from me that long?" Ciel joked as she bumped her shoulder into the hybrids.
Heart laughed. "Yes, I think I will be ok. It sounds good to me."
The two stood still a moment until Heart went forward and started to rub her muzzle against Ciel's. The older wolf rubbed back until they were both at each other's necks. They pulled away and the hybrid gave the black wolf a lick on the nose.
"Please be safe." Heart whispered as she pulled away.
Ciel gave a small giggle and looked at her with a smile, "I could say the same to you."
The wolf dragon nodded, "I promise."
"Goodbye Heart, until next time." The black wolf whispered.
"Until next time." Heart repeated.
The beta turned and started to walk off back into her territory. She stopped and looked over her shoulder one last time with a big smile before turning back around and she took off into the trees.
Heart stood there with so much joy and happiness. So glad to see her adopted mother again. Enjoying her company. Sharing things with her. Just like she used to. She waited a little bit longer before she turned around herself and headed back to her den.
So happy to have Heart reunite with Ciel. It makes me so happy. Although, Heart's return back to her den might not go as nicely as she would like. We'll see what happens next chapter.
Also a note: I am caught up with my chapters of this story and i do not like that. I like to try and be two chapters ahead if I can so I'm hoping I can get something written up but if not I might not update this story in two weeks when it comes to updating it again. I'll see though. For now, thank you