Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and (hopefully) for the enjoyment of readers.

From now on, I am going to needat least 3 reviews per chapter. I am not getting as many as I would like to, maybe you guys can help me with that.

Yahoos go to warrior of Tortall, and Knights of Ne, for correctly guessing that the woman is Daine.

Anonymous: Sorry I made the mistake of putting guns into the first chapter. Thanks for pointing it out. I don't really understand why you think it would be in our world, other than the guns. To your last question, if you found a little girl in the woods, naked, growling at you, would you just leave her there? Think about it. I hope that clears it up.

Inuyasha delirium: I am really, really, really sorry about the length of the chapters. I have been trying to keep it as long as I can. Sorry!

Ephona and Flower Kid: Thanks for reviewing.

To every one of my readers: The only reason Daine can speak to Little White through her magic is because Little White thinks she is a wolf. She hasn't ever spoken as a human. Just like wolves can "talk" to each other in Tamora Pierce's books, Little White was given this "power" that enables her to talk wolves from Old White and Night Black. So Daine can talk to her, because she has lost her tie to humanity. I know I didn't say that and I apologize profusely.

I have decide to change the time of the story to a decade of so after Daine's child was born. (After Aly's part)

Remember, Little White is only about 10 years old.

On with the 4th chapter!

Chapter 4-Lessons

Little White stared at the huge group of humans milling around in front of her. She shrank back, until she was cowering on her knees behind the woman.

The woman put her hand on her mouth, and made that sound again.

She had stubborn, yet soft grey eyes, a very set and obstinate looking chin and full lips. Little White could feel a soft light coming from her. It made her feel sleepy, yet brave enough to return to the woman's side on the ground.

That's my wild magic. It enables me to talk, mind ride and turn into animals.

The voice entered Little White's head again and she whimpered and sank farther onto the ground.

The woman made a whooshing sound and then, the voice sounded in her head again.

Please don't be frightened. Little White saw in her head another picture, a picture of wolf pups leaping and snapping at falling leaves. The vision made Little White remember the pups she had been taking care of before the humans had taken her away.

The knowledge that she had let the pack down came at her, thick and fast, filled with pain and homesickness. Little White whined, and then tried to run, but something held her where she was and made it extremely difficult to move at all.

Again, Little White had some way of realizing that the source of problems was the woman. She turned and growled at her, only to find that the woman had disappeared, to be replaced by a medium sized grey wolf. It radiated the same strange light that the woman had, and Little White regarded it wearily.

It barked, and whined, taking a step closer to Little White, who in turn stepped back, a step. Please, I am called Daine. Who are you? Little White cringed, as she heard the voice in her head again.

How did she do it? Little White could see something shifting under the wolf who called herself Daine (or so Little White thought)' fur. It glimmered and sparked softly.

Little White whined softly. The wolf turned and trotted away. When it was a few feet away, it stopped and turned to look at her.

Well? Are you coming? The voice was starting to get annoyed. Little White bared her teeth and walked forward slowly. The other wolf turned again and hurried away. Little White rushed to catch up. She didn't want to be alone in this strange place, even if her only company was this strange wolf.

As they walked among the bustling crowds, Little White saw many more cloth houses like the one she had spent the night in. She surveyed her surroundings with mild curiosity and confusion.

The other wolf walked proudly through the humans, stopping sometimes to sniff here and there. Little White stayed right with her, not falling more than a foot behind her. At last the wolf stopped at a cloth house. It ducked inside, Little White following her apprehensively.

Once inside, Little White looked around. A male human sat on a pile of blankets, held up off the ground. He was absorbed in the sheet in front of him, which bore scratches and slashes from the feather he held in his hand. Little White stared at him.

The other wolf went right up to him and licked him on the cheek. The man looked up, wiped his cheek, garbled something, and nodded to the wolf, who nodded her own head up and down as well.

He grabbed some more of the things that Little White was wearing, and put them behind a screen. The wolf trotted behind it, but when Little White tried to follow, the man shooed her away. Little White sat down on the ground and waited. Eventually, the woman from before came out of the partitioned area.

Little White was amazed. How did she do it? Just show up out of nowhere? Little White growled and whined.

The man garbled something else. The woman garbled back to him, pointing and gesturing to Little White from time to time. When at last the girl stopped, the man sighed and closed his eyes. Little White felt something in her mind, digging, pressing, pushing something forward. It stopped suddenly.

Little White looked at the two humans in front of her. What had just happened? Why were they looking at her like that?

" Can you understand what I'm saying? Numair, are you sure you pulled the right instinct out into the open?"

Little White yelped. The woman clapped her hands and made that sound again, only this time, some part of Little White's mind told her that the sound was a happy sound, a way of expressing emotion. Little White didn't know where that knowledge had come from. As she was trying to figure that out, the flap of the tent flew open and a small human rushed in.

"Mama, Papa! The king's coming! He's coming tomorrow! With Uncle Coram and Auntie Ris…" the child's voice trailed off when she spotted Little White. "Who's she? Why is she here?" the child was radiating endless energy. Little White stared at her.

"Sarralyn, please keep your voice down. Remember, sound travels out here so easily. Now, what's this about the king and Coram and Rispah?" the woman said patiently.

The child took a deep breath. "The messenger just came. The king's taking a trip around the whole country, to see how it fares. Papa, who is she?" The child's attention turned back to Little White.

The woman rolled her eyes at the man, who grinned. "Sarralyn, this is the young girl you heard about from the wolves, do you remember last winter when the wolves needed help with that disease that had nearly wiped them out? The girl that was raised by the Cria wolves, after the Black God summoned Old White, who then gave her to the Cria wolves. Do you remember? Anyway, some hunters found her yesterday. They put me in charge of teaching her. You can help me. Amazingly enough, I can communicate with her. You should be able to, too."

Sarralynstared at Little White. "What's her name? Does she have one? Can I ask her what it is?" she asked.

"We were just about to ask her that, we don't know and yes. Does that answer your questions?" the man said, with a hint of a new emotion in her voice. The girl stuck her tongue out at the man.

Little White was appalled. If one of the youngsters were to do that, their tongue would be so painful afterward; they wouldn't be able to do it again.

She yapped and growled at the child, who started and stared at Little White. Again, Little White felt something digging in her mind, this time just sorting through her memories. The feeling stopped, and the little girl started making that happy noise again. Little White stared back at her. These humans were very odd.

The girl made a wheezy, gasping noise, which caused Little White to be even more alarmed.

"Good Goddess, Sarralyn, are you alright?" the woman said.

"Yes, I'm fine, Ma. It's just… it seems… I should get my tongue pulled for sticking it out at Pa just now. But, Ma, I think her name might have little in it. Though she certainly isn't small for her age. How old is she, by the way?" the girl finally calmed down.

"Little, hmm? Well, give me a moment, and I will try to figure out the rest." the woman replied. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Once again, Little White felt something digging, and prodding at her mind. It was becoming quite annoying. Little White held back a growl. The woman's eyes opened again.

"Little White." she stated simply.

Little White barked when she heard her name. It sounded different somehow, but she knew somehow that it was indeed her name.

"Well. Now that we know her name, shall we head over to the dining tent? I am feeling a bit hungry for breakfast." said the woman.

"Ma, it's the eleventh hour already,they stopped serving lunch hours ago." the child said.

The woman looked surprised. "Is it really?The time has just flown by."the woman said, a bit preoccupied. "I suppose I will just have to starve a bit longer. I think I am going to take a walk along the stream. Maybe talk with the rabbits. Oh,why don't you come with me, Sarralyn, and we can work on your meditation. There is a herd of deer in the area yesterday, we may be ableto reach them. You need tolearn how to control your inner voice with creatures like deer."

The girl rolled her eyes again and followed the woman out of thecloth house.

"You can stayhere, or follow Daine or I around." the man said as he gathered a few items around the room.

Little White took a step backwards. "I take that as a sign thatyou'll be staying here." the man saidwhen he saw her.

Little White just watched him exit, then lay downand fell asleep, almost immediately.


What do you think?Good? Bad? Boring? Exciting? Be truthful now.

Thanks for reading!

:-)Meadow Runner(-: