Forest Murmurs
Disclaimer: I own Little/Eleece, the Collegium wolf pack, and the rogue wolf. Vanyel and company are copyright and property of Misty and them peoples.
Chapter 5
They made a motly bunch, sitting in the gardens under a tree that shaded them from the summer heat. Vanyel and Savil in their Whites, then Terick and Eleece in their tunics that marked them as patients in the Healers Hall. Moondance and Starwind looked spectacular, as always. Moondance was in a robe and pants set that echoed his use-name, in light blues and greys and silvers, making him look for all the world a cloud turned human. Starwind was in more of a conservative outfit, if you could call the open chested shirt and tight pants that. His boots would have gone up to his thighs if he had not turned them down at the knee, making him seems like a pirate captain, except he would look most out of place with a pegged leg and a patch across his eye.
Yfandes had finally regained enough strength to get up and out of the stables, and she sought her Chosen like a comfort blanket. Her filly, Maylea, wobbled slowly behind her. Yfandes laid down behind Vanyel and let him rest on her, while Maylea stood and sniffed his hair. Once satisfied, she went to sniff the others, including Sky. Sky decided that he liked her long mane and tried to see if it was tasty. Maylea lipped at him with enough teeth to startle, and he took offense, swiping at her nose.
" Skysong!" Eleece gasped, pulling him away from Maylea as Yfandes took her daughter's tail in her mouth and yanked on it until the filly bent her legs and sat by Vanyel as well.
Vanyel couldn't help but smother giggles as he heard Yfandes telling Maylea off, and then had to smother another fit whelie he watched Sky wilt under Eleece's mental admonitions. When the children were done with their scolding, and Eleece and Yfandes had exchanged tired glances and similar sighs of contempt, the questioning began.
Moondance wanted to hear both Eleece's and Terick's versions of their attacks, and got them. Starwind's face seemed to shut down when they mentioned that the wolf-beast had spoken, and halfway through Terick's explanation he went quiet. Eleece took his hand and rubbed it against her cheek and that seemed to revive him, though no one knew why. He went on, and seemed to be stronger than he had been.
Moondance sat back as he thought of questions, while Starwind was full of them. " What did he look like?"
It wasn't a new question, but she answered it anyway, cradling Sky in her lap as he dozed from the milk. " He was big, like those-"
" I meant what did his mind look like?"
Eleece blushed. " Oh." She looked away for a few moments as she thought. " Wolves, any wild animal, they've got a color of magic in them. The normal ones, like wolves and cats and the others, their magic is copper- gold. The other ones, like wyrsa and Colddrakes and basilisks, they've got silver in place of the copper. But this wolf, he was all blue, but with red and black streaks and strings running through him, like an infection." She shivered and Sky whined. " Yes, I know you are bright and shiny, now shush."
Vanyel wondered where she had been that would let her see wyrsa and Coldrakes and the like, but he did not ask, at least not yet.
" When you were in his mind, did you get any feelings from him?" Starwind asked, and Eleece and Terick both nodded.
" Anger and hate." Eleece said.
" He felt like he was dissapointed that it was me. Kept saying that I wasn't her. That it was supposed to be her." Terick shook himself. " He is not sane. An animal with a human mind. He's not right."
When the same questions came from the two mages, and they had been asked over and over, they settled to other topics, since Eleece was getting tense and Terick was being affected by it. Moondance finally let Sky tumble over his lap and bat at his hair crystals. " I thought that he would be older. Isn't this the season when wolves would be getting ready to mate?"
Eleece was glad that she had someone to talk wolves with, and she nodded. " Sky and his litter were somewhat of an accident, though they are loved much." She smilied lovingly at the pup and he yipped back, something that he said to her making her blush.
" What did he say?" Vanyel asked.
" He said he wishes I were his mother." So she had to change some words around, but at least the meaning was there.
: I am glad to have you as my mother.: Was what he had said, but she could not tell these people that, not yet.
" It seems that you are his mother anyway, the way you deal with him." Savil mentioned, now having a lap ful of sleepy pup.
" As the lupa of the pack, I had to take care of nearly all the pups. It is just something that I did. Brightfang did not want me to hunt, so I took care of the litters when the mothers could not." She smiled at the memories.
" How many litters were there at a time?" Starwind asked.
" There are about seven females and five males now, but when it comes time for taking a mate the females that have not been taken invite other members from the packs in. Brightfang allows this, since if they father pups he must add them to the pack, and he does not take a mate himself." Her smile was tight now, and as nice as it looked, it did not reach her eyes. " So about seven litters of pups, all ranging from six to four pups."
Starwind gave her an appreciative look and prasied her skill with children. " Ow!" Savil pushed Sky off her lap and sucked at her bleeding finger. " I think he's teething."
Eleece shook her head as she scooped him up, quieting his snarling and growling, his little baby hackles raised and ready. " Someone shield me. Now!" She whispered, and the intensity of her voice forced Savil and Vanyel to throw temporary ones on her. " Now stay very still and very quiet."
No one knew what to expect, but they soon found out. The beast came loping into the gardens, sniffing the air and testing the ground with his paw as if he did not trust the grass. " If I don't move, he won't see me." Eleece's voice was barely more than a whisper, and only Vanyel heard her, being close enough.
He moved into the gardens, and suddenly the ground looked like it was water. He put his paw out to touch the grass before he stepped onto it. There were people, and they were looking right at him, he could smell their fear. He could smell her, but he could not see her, and his master had said not to attack unless he could see her. He dismissed it as the wind bringing the scent to his nose as it often did.
Turning, he loped back into the forest, not wanting to try the barrier on the big building where her scent was coming from. He would try another day.
Eleece fell over a few minutes after the beast left the gardens, using her ears and her nose to make sure that he was gone and would leave her alone. For now. She used the weam muscles in her arms to push herself back up, and by the looks in everyone's eyes, they wanted explanations. She thought that she had the answer to some questions now, and she was ready for them.
Disclaimer: I own Little/Eleece, the Collegium wolf pack, and the rogue wolf. Vanyel and company are copyright and property of Misty and them peoples.
Chapter 5
They made a motly bunch, sitting in the gardens under a tree that shaded them from the summer heat. Vanyel and Savil in their Whites, then Terick and Eleece in their tunics that marked them as patients in the Healers Hall. Moondance and Starwind looked spectacular, as always. Moondance was in a robe and pants set that echoed his use-name, in light blues and greys and silvers, making him look for all the world a cloud turned human. Starwind was in more of a conservative outfit, if you could call the open chested shirt and tight pants that. His boots would have gone up to his thighs if he had not turned them down at the knee, making him seems like a pirate captain, except he would look most out of place with a pegged leg and a patch across his eye.
Yfandes had finally regained enough strength to get up and out of the stables, and she sought her Chosen like a comfort blanket. Her filly, Maylea, wobbled slowly behind her. Yfandes laid down behind Vanyel and let him rest on her, while Maylea stood and sniffed his hair. Once satisfied, she went to sniff the others, including Sky. Sky decided that he liked her long mane and tried to see if it was tasty. Maylea lipped at him with enough teeth to startle, and he took offense, swiping at her nose.
" Skysong!" Eleece gasped, pulling him away from Maylea as Yfandes took her daughter's tail in her mouth and yanked on it until the filly bent her legs and sat by Vanyel as well.
Vanyel couldn't help but smother giggles as he heard Yfandes telling Maylea off, and then had to smother another fit whelie he watched Sky wilt under Eleece's mental admonitions. When the children were done with their scolding, and Eleece and Yfandes had exchanged tired glances and similar sighs of contempt, the questioning began.
Moondance wanted to hear both Eleece's and Terick's versions of their attacks, and got them. Starwind's face seemed to shut down when they mentioned that the wolf-beast had spoken, and halfway through Terick's explanation he went quiet. Eleece took his hand and rubbed it against her cheek and that seemed to revive him, though no one knew why. He went on, and seemed to be stronger than he had been.
Moondance sat back as he thought of questions, while Starwind was full of them. " What did he look like?"
It wasn't a new question, but she answered it anyway, cradling Sky in her lap as he dozed from the milk. " He was big, like those-"
" I meant what did his mind look like?"
Eleece blushed. " Oh." She looked away for a few moments as she thought. " Wolves, any wild animal, they've got a color of magic in them. The normal ones, like wolves and cats and the others, their magic is copper- gold. The other ones, like wyrsa and Colddrakes and basilisks, they've got silver in place of the copper. But this wolf, he was all blue, but with red and black streaks and strings running through him, like an infection." She shivered and Sky whined. " Yes, I know you are bright and shiny, now shush."
Vanyel wondered where she had been that would let her see wyrsa and Coldrakes and the like, but he did not ask, at least not yet.
" When you were in his mind, did you get any feelings from him?" Starwind asked, and Eleece and Terick both nodded.
" Anger and hate." Eleece said.
" He felt like he was dissapointed that it was me. Kept saying that I wasn't her. That it was supposed to be her." Terick shook himself. " He is not sane. An animal with a human mind. He's not right."
When the same questions came from the two mages, and they had been asked over and over, they settled to other topics, since Eleece was getting tense and Terick was being affected by it. Moondance finally let Sky tumble over his lap and bat at his hair crystals. " I thought that he would be older. Isn't this the season when wolves would be getting ready to mate?"
Eleece was glad that she had someone to talk wolves with, and she nodded. " Sky and his litter were somewhat of an accident, though they are loved much." She smilied lovingly at the pup and he yipped back, something that he said to her making her blush.
" What did he say?" Vanyel asked.
" He said he wishes I were his mother." So she had to change some words around, but at least the meaning was there.
: I am glad to have you as my mother.: Was what he had said, but she could not tell these people that, not yet.
" It seems that you are his mother anyway, the way you deal with him." Savil mentioned, now having a lap ful of sleepy pup.
" As the lupa of the pack, I had to take care of nearly all the pups. It is just something that I did. Brightfang did not want me to hunt, so I took care of the litters when the mothers could not." She smiled at the memories.
" How many litters were there at a time?" Starwind asked.
" There are about seven females and five males now, but when it comes time for taking a mate the females that have not been taken invite other members from the packs in. Brightfang allows this, since if they father pups he must add them to the pack, and he does not take a mate himself." Her smile was tight now, and as nice as it looked, it did not reach her eyes. " So about seven litters of pups, all ranging from six to four pups."
Starwind gave her an appreciative look and prasied her skill with children. " Ow!" Savil pushed Sky off her lap and sucked at her bleeding finger. " I think he's teething."
Eleece shook her head as she scooped him up, quieting his snarling and growling, his little baby hackles raised and ready. " Someone shield me. Now!" She whispered, and the intensity of her voice forced Savil and Vanyel to throw temporary ones on her. " Now stay very still and very quiet."
No one knew what to expect, but they soon found out. The beast came loping into the gardens, sniffing the air and testing the ground with his paw as if he did not trust the grass. " If I don't move, he won't see me." Eleece's voice was barely more than a whisper, and only Vanyel heard her, being close enough.
He moved into the gardens, and suddenly the ground looked like it was water. He put his paw out to touch the grass before he stepped onto it. There were people, and they were looking right at him, he could smell their fear. He could smell her, but he could not see her, and his master had said not to attack unless he could see her. He dismissed it as the wind bringing the scent to his nose as it often did.
Turning, he loped back into the forest, not wanting to try the barrier on the big building where her scent was coming from. He would try another day.
Eleece fell over a few minutes after the beast left the gardens, using her ears and her nose to make sure that he was gone and would leave her alone. For now. She used the weam muscles in her arms to push herself back up, and by the looks in everyone's eyes, they wanted explanations. She thought that she had the answer to some questions now, and she was ready for them.