Chapter 07
• Silver •
The forest floor was a crisp white, testament to the long snow which had fallen many times in the last few weeks. It would be the last snow of the season and it seemed slightly softer than before, reflecting the dieing sun. A single set of tracks led to a relatively clear area in the forest where most of the snow had melted away.
Oddly enough though there were two separate creatures sitting in the clearing rather than one. One looked cozy as he curled on the ground near the fire, watching the flames flicker. His long dark hair laid around him like a mane with a body that was relatively bald otherwise.
The second was shaking his head and watching the first distracted. He pawed the ground slightly disturbed. "I'm telling you they have them. I've seen them with my own eyes on the edge of a human city. There's at least three or four of them and one's almost completely white, the exact opposite of the one you call Ink. There's other animals in there too and I think it's barbaric..." he paused for a moment and then, once he'd come up with a different word spoke again. "... awful that they're caged, but it is a rule that we cannot interfere with such things. The council is forbidding that we do things outside the forest."
The first creature, the one who looked almost human turned and his bright green eyes glinted in the firelight. "Other ... Wolves... ?" he said, his voice choked and unhuman.
The centaur Firenze nodded. "And other animals of the forest. Some are from other lands."
Harry grinned savagely, and while it was a human expression it looked far from human. "We ... save them?" he asked, wanting to have an adventure. During the winter he'd been cooped up for a long time with nothing more to do than practice with the weapons that Firenze had given him. It was too cold to stay outside most of the time and because he'd collected food already he didn't have to worry about hunting most of the time.
For a brief moment Harry's attention turned to the forest but it was back in an instant. "Dog." Harry growled to let Firenze know that Dog was coming. Firenze was always too jumpy around the other wolves and Harry tried to tell him when they were coming. Dog and Ink marched into the clearing followed by a couple of the pack. There was a large leg of a deer being dragged between two of the wolves and they dropped it at the edge of the clearing. Harry jumped lightly to his feet and grabbed the chunk of meat easily hefting it into the air. Once the leg had been placed next to the fire Ink loped up next to Harry rubbing his face against Harry's lightly. It was a standard greeting for him. Harry nuzzled him back and then the rest of the wolves appeared from the darkness, following Ink's lead and coming near Harry before laying down and resting.
After smelling the fresh kill on Ink Harry ignored the rest of the pack and went to work on the meat. A knife appeared from the only piece of clothing Harry wore and he easily separated a large piece of meet for Firenze, handing it to him to cook. Then, after slicing a second piece he gnawed at it hungrily.
Even though he was distracted with the food his thoughts drifted to the other wolves, the one's capture and he vowed to somehow set them free. Dog whined and Harry turned to him, then jerked his head just slightly and growled throatily, dog backed away from the meat without taking any. Harry took his knife out again and with a quick movement pulled another large chunk of flesh from the deer and tossed it to Dog. Dog never took from the kill if it was being brought to Harry, he always waited for permission.
Firenze watched with mild interest, but otherwise ignored the happenings. He understood what was happening because he'd seen it many times before. Harry cut another piece from the bloody limb and then dragged it away from the fire back into the center of the wolves. They ignored it altogether except for the cubs who seemed to find it as some sort of play thing, and Harry was as much a part of it as the limb.
For several minutes Harry rolled on the ground with them, nipping and growling as if he were just a cub like one of them. Then, he took a step back and returned to ripping the bloody piece of meat apart while he watched them play with each other. One of them, a pup as black as Ink, drew back with Harry and sat in his lap content to nibble on bits of food from Harry's hands.
Ink just watched quietly until Firenze drew back and rose majestically into the air, towering above all the others. "I must go now Harry," he said slowly. "Do not wander out again without food I may not be around next time."
Once again Harry grinned, baring his teeth, Firenze had found him being out in the forest a reason to chastise him and bring him close to the fire. Harry had just been energetic when the new snow had finished falling and gone out through the woods, flying amongst the roof of trees.
"Where city?" he asked as Firenze started to move away. "Where animals?" he continued, as his thoughts drifted back to the caged animals Firenze has spoken of. He'd heard of a zoo but the memory was so vague that he didn't even think to try and recall it, he simply knew it was there buried in the back of his mind.
"The muggles city is a few days travel that way," he said, pointing off into the distance. "It is outside of this forest, but a second forest borders it, a forest with no magic. You will not be safe there as you are here, there are other people who often hunt in it. Do not go Harry." Though he did not ask for Harry to stay he hoped the warning was enough.
Once the centaur had gone Ink lifted his head and stared into Harry's sparkling eyes. "We go," Harry said softly to ink and then whimpered softly, making some odd gestures with his face. Ink rose and the rest of the pack followed. Then, full of energy, Harry bound into the chilly darkness disappearing from the light of the dieing fire. The other wolves followed.
Three days later as evening fell Harry was crouched at the base of a tree watching a man stumble through the woods with an odd device in his hands. The other wolves waited further out, hiding behind a grouping of trees that was large enough to protect them from his sight. It was where they'd dragged their last kill. The man had almost come upon them as they brought it down and had Harry not directed them to drag it off they would likely have been seen.
For a moment the man paused and turned to look out on the forest as if he recognized something was following him, but when there was nothing there he returned to his staggered walk down the trail. Ink growled lightly and Harry held his breath hoping that the man wouldn't hear it. He did not.
Once the man was out of sight Harry moved back to the kill and took a portion for himself. Then, into the trees he went to catch up to the man. The snow had not fallen lately and though the ground was cold there were no tracks to follow so he followed the scent of the man. It did not take long before he came upon a sight that had not greeted him in a long time. A few lingering cars were leaving the parking lot just ahead and to the right, and he quivered without thinking. He feared man, it was a natural response to his prior life and he did not want to return. But he caught another scent, one of pack, and his eyes drifted to the left.
Though he could not see everything he could make out large trees and cages on the other side of a tall fence. He could smell all sorts of new smells, but among them was the scent of the pack, of many wolves. Turning to his left he skirted the edge of the forest finding it difficult to stay within the trees, but still able to do so. The forest turned along the edge of the zoo and Harry continued to follow it around until he had come to a great fence that protruded into the forest. Standing in the trees he could see the seven wolves curled up, sleeping. One of their heads lifted and caught him moving through the trees but ignored him until he made a leap over the fence and grabbed onto the largest of the trees.
The leader was obvious, she was almost twice the size of the rest and her eyes shown brilliantly, as if she were as knowledgeable as the rest of the pack combined. It was odd that the leader was female, but she seemed to be the only one who could be the leader. She was also the first to crouch, raising her tail. She snarled softly, warning Harry of coming any closer, but Harry knew the warning and he snarled back, showing he was not frightened. The wolf paused momentarily, as if studying him, but her tail dropped just slightly and Harry lept to the ground, but did not move from there. The rest of the pack stood behind the leader but did not attack, they simply waited.
Harry bowed his head slightly and whimpered and the head wolf took an uncertain step towards him. Then Harry raised his head proud, but showed no signs of anger and he waited while the wolf inspected him from a distance. There was another step forward but Harry staid frozen, waiting until he was released. His muscles ached at the lack of movement but he knew that it would be death if he angered them at this moment.
Someone called out from the other side of the fence in the distance and only Harry's eyes moved, examining the scene. A mother was dragging her daughter away from the fence and Harry could hear the little girls words. "But mummy, there's a little boy in there playing with the wolves. I want to play too."
The mother didn't seem to even hear here and just tugged at her to keep going, saying that the zoo was closing. When his eyes returned to the leader he was met with anger and he dropped his head again reluctantly, still waiting. When the wolf finally approached him they met eye to eye and rubbed their faces against one another. Finally Harry was able to move and he almost collapsed because of the position he'd had to maintain. But he'd been accepted, and it was enough. The other wolves approached to, licking and smelling him so that they would know him. It was a part of the acceptance process and Harry did not even think twice about it, simply waited for it to end.
A sound came from the side of the enclosure and Harry turned to see a great metal door opening from within a rock. Not knowing who was entering Harry scampered behind the closest tree and waited. The other wolves seemed to sense his nervousness and ignored him as a man entered into the area. He held a cage with several rabbits in it and he set it on the ground, letting them out. "Feeding time guys," he said as he picked up the cage and returned it to inside the door. Then he took a seat on a rock and waited. The leader who somehow still watched Harry, stared at the man waiting for something, nothing happened however.
Harry stared at the man from his hiding spot, willing him to go away but nothing happened. He didn't want to have to interact with the caretaker, nor did he wish for the man to die because someone would discover it eventually. For several minutes the man watched but the wolves did nothing and he finally stood. "Fine, fine, I get the idea," he said to the closest one. "You never eat when I'm here watching do you? It's hard to see it from anywhere else though." Then, standing once again, he disappeared through the metal door.
Relieved Harry waited a minute until he was sure the man had disappeared for the time, he couldn't hear beyond the door and so he just hoped the man was gone. The leader approached him again, and whined a question of why Harry had come. Harry did not know how to answer, so instead he moved to the fence and pressed himself against it, whining all the time. He was trying to ask if they wanted the outside though he was already sure of the answer.
After several minutes of conversation, mostly whining and yipping, Harry discovered that he was right, they did want to leave. But they told him that it was impossible, and that they had tried everything they could. They had been caged for a great long time and all of them missed the outside world.
Then for another hour Harry spent time hunting the meager rabbits with them and examining their cage. It was almost dark when he scaled the tree he'd come down on, promising he'd return, and fled through the trees.
Ink was waiting for him somewhat impatiently, but still was there. Harry relayed everything that needed to be said as best as possible and then they moved further into the forest. Ink had told Harry that there were other humans who roamed near the forest and animals that were not pack – animals that reeked of people. Though the rest of the pack stayed away Harry never went to deep into the forest. Instead he ascended into a tree and wedged himself between to branches so if he fell asleep while he thought he would not be in trouble. He didn't sleep in the branches unless he was away from home or the pack, but he had learned to do it after having several close calls with other creatures on the ground.
The next morning, long before the sun dawned on the new day Harry had returned to the fence, and was trying to see if his knife would cut through the thick metal. It did not, not at first, but he continued to work at it until he'd made a small nick. He stopped then, surveying his progress while the pack on the other side watched him intently. He would not be able to use the knife to get through the fence if he wanted them out, so instead he alighted the ground inside the cage again, searching for another exit. He was cautious to avoid the stares of the people that watched on the far side of the cage, but they were not looking for him and it was easy to move without them seeing him.
The thought came to him that he might be able to see them through the iron door, because it had been how the man had escaped the pin, but he was unsure of how safe it was, and was nervous about entering into it even with the wolves following him. People were his one fear and to take the door meant people may be beyond it.
It was the only way he discovered, except for spending many, many days at the cage with his knife where he might be spotted. So, quietly he came to the door and placed his ear against it. As he had suspected there was no sound, but he wasn't sure if that was because it was a door or because nothing was behind it. It did not matter he thought, an d he grabbed the handle, and twisted open the door waiting for someone to show up and stop him.
Instead, the hallway was utterly empty except for a chair that was placed to the side of the hall. With a low pitched growl Harry entered the hallway, the rest of the pack padded softly behind him. They had never been in the halls and they were both interested and cautious, sniffing at things as Harry moved forward at a quick, but silent, pace. It wasn't hard for them to keep up, and they followed Harry's lead explicitly. The leader stayed at his side the entire time though, ignoring everything except what lay ahead. She seemed to be extremely smart and was taking it all in, but staying focused on the task ahead.
There were several doors that led off to different rooms and Harry explored each of them one by one, making sure that none of them led out. One door opened as he approached it and he found himself facing the man who'd been in the cage the day before. With a bark one of the wolves leapt forward and had knocked the man to the floor before he could utter a word. A yip and the wolf had the mans throat tightly locked within his jaws. Harry stared down at the bewildered man and thought hard for a minute. "Exit," he mumbled, and though it was pronounced wrong the man seemed to understand.
He used one of his hands to slowly point down the corridor but didn't say anything at all, fearing for his life.
Harry growled and then sprinted down the corridor, the rest of the wolves following behind. The lone wolf who had the stranger by the throat waited for a long minute and then followed quickly. Harry discovered the door and pushed through it only to find himself entering another passage. He sprinted down this one too and finally came to a glowing red sign that had marked the first door. He slammed himself against the door and heard shouting behind him.
Upon exiting Harry found himself in front of a large group of children not much older than him, a few adults trailing in the background. The wolves followed him out and Harry decided to just rush them, and moved through them like the wind, making a pathway for the rest of the pack. Two adults screamed and a couple of the children started crying while a few more started yelling with glee. Harry ignored them altogether and rushed through the crowd angrily barking. The people seemed to split and a path was made.
As they neared the exit Harry saw people approaching them from a side path holding something he vaguely recognized as a gun. He remembered that they were to shoot people and he sped up even more, the adrenaline in his system making up for the lack of physical prowess. There was a slight pinging noise and something fell to the ground just in front of him, Harry knew they were shooting at him and so he slouched in his run, trying to make himself as invisible as possible.
He came to the gates at a full on run when something sharp hit him and he slowed immediately. There was a bright silver object stuck in his arm and he yanked it out and then ran straight into the gateway that formed the entrance. It was a thick metal gate that was impossible to get though going under or over and Harry had no choice but to try and plow through. Strangely enough it worked, the bars seemed to bend as he slammed into them, finally giving way and making a hole large enough for Harry to stumble through.
On the other side though his body started to numb and he had a hard time keeping at a run. He saw several people moving away from him, afraid, and then he spotted something he thought might be a dream, silver hair. By the time his mind came to believe that it might be the same silver haired girl Harry had collapsed onto the lead wolf with another long thin needle protruding from his back.
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Harry's eyes lifted heavily and he found it was warm all around him. It took a minute to remember what had happened before he fell asleep but it all came rushing back to him like a hammer. He jerked involuntarily, but quieted immediately when he found himself in the company of the pack.
It was odd, but at the same time the most natural thing, finding himself waking up between several furry bodies. He yawned and stretched, finding his back and legs were rather sore. "I see you're awake," someone said and Harry turned to see Firenze standing at the edge of the cavern. "I told you not to go and get yourself into trouble, but you had to go do it anyway, didn't you?"
The only response the centaur got was a wicked smile from Harry. "All right, will you come out here so I can check on you, the pack wouldn't let me get any closer than this to help clean you up. It seems you were injured pretty bad."
The thought of the girl with silver hair glossed over Harry's mind as he stepped between the pack, a few who lifted their heads to watch him, but otherwise ignored him. The leader of the caged back was closest to the centaur and was not asleep, but instead watching him with mild caution, but curiosity too and Harry touched his head to ease the growl that came from his mouth when Firenze took a step forward. The pack leader who Harry was already calling Silver in his mind, seemed to welcome Harry's hand and rubbed her head against his leg. Dog appeared on the other side of Silver looked content and whining good morning.
"How... get here?" Harry asked Firenze once he'd said hello to Dog and Silver. He strained to remember all the words he wanted to say, but his mind was still raw and he couldn't think right.
"This wolf," Firenze said, pointing to Silver," carried you. I met them at the edge of the forest, and she was carrying you on her back. It's the first time I've seen a wolf do that, and she wouldn't let me approach either, she didn't seem to like me very much. She carried you the whole way back."
Yawning, Harry turned back to Silver and rubbed up against her, a sort of thanks, though nothing was said. His mind turned back to the silver haired girl every time he looked at her coat and he wondered if it was really her, if it was the same person, he wanted to know.
"You're not going back, right?" Firenze asked, as if sensing that Harry wanted to return.
Harry turned to stare at him, but said nothing.
"Fine, I won't be there to help next time though. The herd has seen to it that I go on a pilgrimage to help me become a better member of the herd. They believe that I have been spending too much time away from them because of..." he paused and looked at Harry for a minute. "Never mind, it doesn't really matter, what matters is that I will be gone for a very long time. I have a couple of gifts for you just in case I never return. They're hanging on a tree just outside of your home, I wasn't sure if I'd see you again before I left so I left them there."
After nodding slowly Harry turned and went back to the pack, he didn't really feel like doing anything except rest for the time being. He lay down next to Ink and drifted off again.
The end of winter came and went, without Harry returning to the zoo. Whatever they'd hit him with had caused him to be ill for several days and after that he'd had to get used to living with a pack. Silver was their leader, but she only stayed with Harry, and even more than Dog did. She, unlike ink, was even able to follow him into the grove while the rest of the wolves waited outside. So Harry ended up living with the pack as a whole, bringing only a few of his possessions from his home in the grove so that he could live with the wolves. He didn't mind in the least, especially after Firenze quit coming, because he quit feeling separate from them and was able to feel at home there.
The girl with silver hair plagued his dreams though, and as spring turned to summer Harry decided to return. This time only two followed him, Dog and Silver, the rest stayed with the pack as they were ordered to. Harry didn't mind Dog coming along, and somehow Silver had saved him last time so he didn't mind her either. It seemed Dog had come to like Silver as well, so her coming along troubled no one.
This time Harry was much more cautious, he didn't want to be trapped like he'd almost been the last time, and he wasn't sure about going into the zoo in the first place. But, he wanted to find out if the girl was there and the only way to do it was to go in. Still, he waited at the edge of the forest and watched for two days. Besides avoiding people the watching was pretty monotonous, people went in and people left, and all Harry did was observe them from the trees.
No one with silver hair entered or left though and Harry began to think that the trip was worthless, he had thought a lot about zoos and after searching his memories he discovered that people only visited there, they didn't live there with the animals. At least that's what he'd been told. But there were all sorts of animals that lived there and Harry wondered if he could free other animals as well. His first action was to return to the outer wall of the cage that had held the wolves it was not empty now, instead it held a more exotic species, a black cat that was as large as Dog, the cage had been changed too, now there were more trees and the cat seemed to like them as it slept in them most of the time. Harry's curiosity was piqued, but it snarled at him from the trees when he got to close to the cage and a second one appeared, one that Harry hadn't noticed at all, this one charged him, but could not get too close because of the fence.
Still, it wasn't the only cage, and Harry took to examining all of them that lined the outside of the zoo, finding all manner of animals some as strange as the giant bear he'd run across a few years prior. This time, instead of jumping into the cages without knowing the situation he spent a full week watching and discovering how other people came and went. Some people had keys – he remembered keys – and they used them to keep the doors tightly locked. It didn't take much for Harry to discover where the keys were kept, there was a room where people went in with keys and didn't come back out with them. The only problem was that that door was on the far side of the zoo, and there were lots of open areas between the forest and it. Harry didn't dare try and go there during the day, and when he'd gone at night it had been locked.
Silver was patient and was the only reason that Dog didn't give away their position more than a few times. Dog may be a good hunter, but spending days watching nothing that could even be considered food wasn't something Dog seemed to like to do. Nor did he like the fact that some of the animals in the zoo were his enemy to some degree.
The worst thing was that at night Harry would try and approach some of the outer cages, trying to befriend the animals held within. Some accepted him after a while and he was able to enter the cages without worry or care, while others were not so friendly. Some allowed him entrance, but were guarded the whole time. It didn't matter a lot to Harry, he understood their lack of willingness though he wished they could see him as he was, not as he looked. He hated that fact that he was like all the other humans to them, but he accepted that no matter how much of a wolf he was he couldn't change his outer appearance.
During the day he spent hours chipping away at some of the cages with his knife as long as the animals within did not bother him he was not seen at all. But occasionally a guard or visitor would catch a glimpse of him but he was gone before they looked back.
One night as a guard made his rounds Harry dropped on him from a tree where he'd hidden himself for the whole day. After knocking the man unconscious he relieved him of his keys and made his way to one side of the zoo. Only two other people where at the zoo at the time – one other guard and a man who seemed to work late a lot, and both were on the other side of the complex. Harry moved silently to the cages, headed to the back where a door that exited the zoo lay. He unlocked this first, and left it wide open so that the animals would see it there and escape through it.
Then, one cage at a time he released some of the beasts. There were small dark haired critters that could walk on two legs, unlike most animals and had long tails. Harry wasn't sure what sort of creature they were, he'd never heard of them that he could remember, but they were talkative and smart and seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Since Silver and Dog where outside the complex waiting they didn't seem to have any qualms about Harry and a few of them perched themselves on his shoulders after he'd opened the doors to let them loose. The rest seemed to make their way out of the zoo as a group carrying the little ones with them. Then Harry released some tiny bear like creatures, that cling to stick trees, and there were more of the first types of creatures (though they seemed a bit different in each cage) some little things he thought might be raccoons, they were quick but didn't leave the cage until he'd left the opening area. Other tiny creatures were let lose before Harry made his way to the larger areas. Some of the big cats were pacing restlessly along the front of the cages, as if they knew what he was going to do. The black ones he'd met that inhabited the wolf area were not snarling or baring their teeth, but were watching him and waiting. When Harry let them loose they alighted the path in complete silence and paced behind Harry, waiting for something. He tried to let out some of the other large cats, ones with fur, but they snarled at him when he approached.
Then, to his misfortune, someone approached. The second guard, not hearing his companions reply had come searching for the one Harry'd knocked unconscious. He was met with two snarling leopards and a strange – almost human – animal with two monkeys perched on its shoulders.
The guard had heard of the rumors of the shadow boy who'd been seen many times in the zoo and who'd led the wolves to away – but he'd hardly believe the tails until now. He paused, confused momentarily, which was his downfall. When he reached for the gun at his side the human like creature was already springing at him, snarling.
Harry left the man in on the ground, while the two panthers trailed behind him almost obediently as he left the zoo. Since one person had come Harry didn't want to have to deal with others. He planned on coming back to release more of the animals later, but for now he wanted to go home and tend to the injuries he'd sustained from fighting with the man – even if he'd won easily he'd been caught a few times with a sharp knife the man had been carrying.
Dog and Silver met up with him at the edge of the forest, both seemed excited as the animals past by. Harry wasn't sure how many animals he'd let go, but he'd opened a good deal of cages. More than he thought it seemed as he saw the animals in the trees, moving into the forest. Not wasting any time, Harry started towards home, this forest was not his forest, and he didn't feel comfortable there. The two dark companions that had joined him trailed behind, leaving a place for Dog and Silver at Harry's side.
It was past dawn when something tugged at Harry and he turned back for some unknown reason. The few animals who'd been following him before scattered into the forest except for Dog and Silver who faithfully stayed at Harry's side. Wounded still, Harry somehow found the strength to return to the zoo. Whatever it was that pulled him was there, and he waited for it.
Thoughts drifted into his head and he wasn't sure why he was there, it seemed almost like he'd been pulled back, but he stayed, watching the zoo with interest to see what would happen. Men came and men left, there were cars with flashing lights, and people were starting to crowd the outside. People ran too and from the forest in groups of four or more searching. Sometimes they'd bring back a stray animal, but it didn't seem as though they were having very much success at all. Dog and Silver were hidden where Harry had slept the last few weeks with them, within a bush that had been hollowed out, but it wasn't visible from the outside. No one even took a second look at it when they passed near.
In the crowd a glimpse of silver flashed and Harry at it waiting to see if she was there, hoping in some deep part of his heart that it was her and that she'd remember him. It wasn't her though, an elderly lady with silver hair similar, but toned down, was with a dark haired child. It made Harry tremble to see them talking so lightly together and he began missing Firenze, even though he'd only been gone for a short time. He turned and dropped from the tree and fled into the woods, not wanting to see any more smiling faces. He hated people and that's all he wanted to know.
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