Conscience
breaks across the islands of dreams, dragging at the edges,
destroying it piece by piece.
The real world devours, consumes
that world from which dreams come, our center.
Wake at your own risk.
One yellow green orb opened to the morning light. Rays reflected off of the tears of the morning, scattering rainbows across the rough gray of the stone walls. Jaenii stared at the ceiling, waiting patiently for her mind to wake and catch up with the rest of her. The rough grey stone of the cave roof was stained in a royal gold, gilding the dull walls to shimmer like jewels.
Jaenii sat up, rubbing the back of her head with a paw. 'Paw? No, no; paw isn't right.' She looked down at her strange paws, wriggling her long, hairless toes. 'So strange I must look to my brothers.'
And your sisters as well. A husky female voice answered. Twin pairs of startlingly blue eyes watched her from the back of the cave. But you smell like Sister, even if you don't look like it. Or act like it. The wolf shook her head, then settled her chin on her front paws. Will you walk again this morning?
Jaenii nodded, crawling forward on her hands and knees, moving swiftly out of the cave, careful not to wake her sleeping siblings. She blinked owlishly into the morning light, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her furless body. I will walk, Head Sister, but not far. Just to the Big Water. Will you walk with me? Wordless assent tumbled out from the Head Sister's place at the back wall. The wolf walked out into the sunlight, shaking dew from her silvery fur. She was beautiful, almost solid white, with hints of brown and black about her nose and paws. She was the strongest of the Sisters. Perhaps even stronger than Head Brother. But there was something else Head Sister had that no other wolf had.
Head Sister knew of the Ever Cold, in the far North. She was raised in it. Jaenii shivered; it was cold enough here without a coating of fur to keep her warm. What would the Ever Cold have been like?
Picking herself up off of the ground, Jaenii stepped forward, balancing carefully on her hind paws. The calluses on them were thick enough to match the padding that protected the feet of her Pack. She looked back at them, curled around each other in sleep. This was her pack, her family. But she was so different... where had she come from?
Come, sister, if we are to walk to the Big Water and back before we hunt, we must hurry. Head Sister sat, her fluffy white tail curled over her paws. She was serene-looking and as unmoving as stones and the great trees. Head Sister was beautiful, the most beautiful sister in her pack. Very unlike Jaenii.
Sighing heavily, Jaenii took a few tentative steps forward; the movement felt good. Smiling, she broke into a run, dodging the trees, and howling a challenge to Head Sister over her shoulder.
Welcome to Chapter 1. This is the last time I'll redo it; I just missed a few massive spelling errors I thought I had fixed. Gomen ne...
Mina
