"The Journey"
Arista AconiteWe agreed to meet in my bedroom within the hour. I packed about a wardrobe of clothes, two toothbrushes, toothpaste, a faux, fur lined leather coat, a couple really warm blankets, and a small lunch bag full of mineral water bottles, a couple apples, and some jerky, for the trip over, and wherever we may stay. I also stuffed in my backpack a wallet full of cash, too much of it to count. Then, I selected a couple really nice dresses, and some other stuff to perfect my looks (Hey, a girl has priorities, one of them being appearance).
Then, I sat down flat on the floor, and began to call upon the ancient pack leaders, and God to give me strength to make the journey, and perform the ancient art of the True Wolf. I hummed, and spoke the ancient language of the wolves that came before me. I was just about to attempt the transformation, when…
"Hey, Arista!" Loki said, breaking my concentration.
"Damn you Loki… I was just about to try the full transformation," I said under my breath.
"Oh. Sorry dearest," Loki said with an apologetic look.
"You are forgiven. Just, can you please give me silence?" I asked gently.
He responded by bowing his head and waiting for me to accomplish it.
I turned away silently. Then, I focused on changing.
"Come on… Change!" I thought desperately. I channeled my frustration to the change. Nothing happened.
Loki looked up, and I could begin to see worry flooding his face.
I tried again. Still, I felt nothing, not even the tingle in my back of my spine. Loki spoke; " Oh, this isn't good is it?"
"No, my love, it's not," I said. Panic began to flood my thoughts unwaveringly. What was going to happen, if I couldn't change? Would Loki hate me? I fought harder. I concentrated with more focus.
Then I thought of my training with Aunt Lucikara, the leader before my father, and the strongest and bravest of the pack. She was my mentor, and my closest friend. I thought of one day of her training.
'"How come I cannot change, Aunt Lucikara? I am focused, but I still can't change into a full wolf, but I can't do it. Why?" I asked slamming my fist on the hard, earthen floor of the dojo.
"Hush, child, it takes time. Sometimes in a situation like this there can be too much focus. A warrior must remain clam, and loosen up a little. Like this," and like that, she changed into a silver wolf, majestic and beautiful. It was also huge, almost like a medium size horse. Then, Aunt Lucikara changed back into a human again.
"Just like that, Young Warrior," she said, disappearing…'
I opened my eyes again, with a renewed spirit. Then I stood up.
"Stand back Loki," I said, and I loosened myself vigorously. Then, I tried to change into my regular werewolf form. There! That was the tingling I had expected to radiate at the base of my spine. My bones creaked as they shifted, and I dropped to the floor. Loki rushed to my side, but I pushed him back gently.
I felt my wings grow from my back, and my face extend to the snout I loved so much. I felt the clothes slip off and as they did my thick ebony coat appeared. My eyes slitted, I gained the long lost vision, and the tail grew from my back. Wolf ears sprouted from my skull, long after my humanoid ones disappeared. Then, I dropped back to the floor, and soon, I was a full wolf, after much pain.
I could see that I was beautiful, in the reflection of Loki's chocolate brown eyes. I was ebony black, and my fur sparkled like onyx stars. I was like a huge black dog, but I was a lot stronger, larger, and faster than a dog.
I shook my head, and sat doglike in front of him, folding my wings as I did. After much gawking he sat beside me. Then reluctantly, he reached his hand out, and stroked my back. Then, I pounced on him and whimpered. I licked his face furiously.
"Hey, cut that out! Ha! Ha! That tickles!" He said pushing me off.
'Loki?'
He looked strangely at me for one minute, and asked "Yes?"
'I want you to gather up all that we are bringing, and open the window. I am itching to try this new form of mine out.'
"Ok, my dear." He rose, and opened the window, and picked up the baggage on my bed.
As he did that, I jumped out the window, and unfurled my large wings. They caught me like I knew they would, and I flapped up to the window silently. Though large and bat like, my wings were charmed so that I would not attract the attention of my enemies or prey. I held my place there, and waited patiently for him to hop on my back. He hesitated, looking at me with a look of hesitant movement, and then he jumped on my back.
I dropped a couple inches, and then winced when he pulled my mane.
'Ouch! Watch what you are pulling at!'
'Sorry Arista.' Loki thought gently. And he moved his hands to the base of my wings, and we flew on to Fringe City
Five Sixths of the Way to Fringe City, 5:00 pm…
We flew into the clouds, and Loki was thoroughly enjoying himself. He grinned, and soon was laughing wildly. Then, I started to grow tired, about 5/6 of the way into the trip. So, I landed in a heavily forested area, fought with Loki over my clothes, and took them to a cave to change back. I headed back to the clearing that we decided to camp in and grabbed the jerky, dividing it into half.
I took my half, and dug into it with my teeth. Juice filled my mouth, and I enjoyed it as it flowed down my throat. Then I smiled at Loki expectantly.
"Enjoying yourself Arista?" Loki asked sarcastically.
"I do believe that I am, love. I only wish there was more. Pass me a bottle of mineral water, darling," I said. He reached into the lunch bag, and handed me a water bottle. As his hand touched mine, he took it in both hands, and we just stared at each other for several minutes. He let his hand drop and pulled some stray black hair from my face.
He pulled me to him and tilted his head. Then, I closed my eyes, and felt a quick brush of his lips against mine. Then, they locked, and he pulled me on top of him. I let him pull me on him, and consented to his will. My heart called for more, and my veins pulsed with excitement.
I will not tell you what happened next, (but those old enough to understand, you know well what Loki and I did. This is a teen rated story, so all those that are 12 and under, quit reading now.)
Meanwhile, Back At Aconite Manor, 8:01 pmAlexandria vigorously trained with Kale, her pup friend in the pack hangout in the work out room and gym. Kale was a nervous black haired, scrawny boy with black-rimmed glasses, and nervous looking silver green eyes. He was also one of the blessed pack members because of his powers of telepathy. He could tell the future, tell you what is happening with pack members, and all sorts of other abilities that he did not know of.
Kale was devoted to the girl standing beside him, smacking the hell out of the poor punching bag beside her. He was determined to win her over, no matter the lives he destroyed in the process, including his own. 'Yes,' Kale thought, 'she will learn of my love, and she will accept me, one day.'
But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that she would never have the capacity to love him. She was only focused on people other than him. He was so lost in his train of thoughts that he didn't know that his golden girl was speaking.
"Soon, my goody sister will be out of my hair, and Loki will be mine. Aren't you excited for me, Kale?" Alexandria said with a bleak look in her eyes. Kale snapped his eyes open to see her smiling face, which would soon be a grimace of anger. He had seen something that made him feel sad. He knew that something was already happening between Loki and Arista, something that would bring about something new between the pack and the Norse Leadership of Odin, Father of the Gods.
He knew that he would endanger Arista if he told her sister. But then he thought of his own fantasies with him and Alexandria, and thought, "Telling Alexandria will increase chances of that happening," and he decided to tell her.
"Alexandria? I need to tell you something; you will not get your Rite of the Moon tonight…"
"Why? Have you foreseen something that hinders that, Kale?" She asked stopping.
"Yes, Alex…"
"DID I NOT TALK TO YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT?" She roared fiercely.
"Sorry…"
"Apology accepted. Just never call me that again… Now answer my first question," She said grabbing his arm. He smiled evilly, and pulled her ear to his mouth. He whispered in her ear about his vision.
She shoved him away, and punched the bag with so much force, that her hand ended up shish-kabobing the punching bag. Then, she smiled demonically, and said:
"Kale, pack your bags, we're heading to Fringe City. And find that silver werewolf poison I was saving for enemy wolves. We are going to mess with my sister a little, so much she will be dying to see me…"
In A Clearing, A Sixth Away From Fringe City, 10:00 pmI snuggled under the covers, and fought to keep awake. Then, I remembered what Loki and I did with our relaxing time since Seven O' Clock. That woke me up, and I silently slipped out of Loki's arms, kissing his forehead as I wrapped a blanket around my body. I then gathered our clothes, and took mine with me to the cave that I had changed in before.
'That was easy,' I thought, 'and now to wake my sleepy-head lover.'
But, to my astonishment, he was already awake, and dressed. He had also already packed all the stuff up.
"Did you finally decide to wake up, or are you still too tired from our little escapade from tonight to travel?"
"Both," he said with an exhausted laugh, and rose to his feet. He walked over to me and kissed my cheek.
"Was I… too much for you?" I said with a sneer.
"No, just wild. I think that you are timid every day, compared to what you were an hour ago. You were like an animal," He said, and kissed my exposed neck.
"You can sleep back there, Loki, if you want. Just don't fall off," I said and began to change back again, into the huge black wolf. I did it within fifteen seconds. Loki picked up my clothes and the baggage, and then hoped on. He fell asleep on my back within moments.
I flew the rest of the way without problems, except the yawning that dragged the flight. We arrived outside of the city, and I laid him gently in the alley where I changed back, and woke him. Then, drowsily, I led him to a holiday inn, and paid for a room with two beds, a television, and a desk. I helped him into one of the beds and went to go shower. I dried my hair, and peeked out to see that he was in another deep sleep. I smiled, and kissed his forehead yet again, and crawled in on the other side beside him. He smiled, and turned to face me, his eyes opening again.
I frowned, and whispered, "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No."
"Then why did you wake up?"
"I wanted to wish you goodnight. You left and got your shower, so I couldn't."
"Sorry, on both counts."
"What do you have to be sorry for? All you did was get a shower." He chuckled as he said this, and I smiled.
"You can make anyone smile, can't you?" I said, and wrapped my arms around him. He pulled me so that my head rested against his chest.
"So can you, Arista… So can you…" He said, and we both fell into a deep sleep.