I.
The day was getting late, the shadows were fanning out across the ever-growing expanse of snowy terrain, and when Aniu looked back over her shoulder, she saw the scavenger keeping at a steady pace a few feet behind her. The rest of the pack hadn't yet noticed their interloper and Aniu was growing more concerned then curious now. What could this animal want? There was no food for miles around and where they were headed was much too brutal for this child.
Doing the only thing she could think of, Aniu tried weaving and bobbing. She tried to make it clear that his persistence would gain nothing. The wolf thought of making her point with more assertion when this proved ineffective, but she knew what Barano would say. The trees begun to appear less and less as they fast approached glacial plateau. Aniu tried to act like she was disinterested in the strange scavenger. After a minute or so of this, she turned to see her results... he was running almost close enough to touch her but at the last moment fell back in distraction.
His tongue falling out of his mouth seemed to hint at his actual intelligence.
...
Absorbed in nothing but her, Togo suddenly took notice of the way she was running. The wolf ran with her claws digging into the snow. She almost glided in her long-legged run. Togo gave a little stop-skip adjustment to his own four feet, then he raced with as much driving force as she did. The husky seemed to become one with his speed as she did. He grinned a little as he maneuvered around his sweet Goddess and dart in quick spurts up to where she raced at the end of the pack. Her golden eyes grew with surprise and she glanced anxiously at the black-silver wolf in front of them.
But he paid them no mind.
The husky ran beside his Goddess, never looking at any of the other wolves. She seemed perplexed as to why anyone would run beside her. Why was Togo not racing further to catch up with the rest? He beamed at her as he matched her pace perfectly, not needing a reason.
...
As the other wolves ran in a straight line, Aniu watched the scavenger more closely. It took her a few seconds to realize he was willingly keeping pace with her, whether he could outrun her or not. The bewilderment left her eyes as something softened slightly around them. She raised the sides of her mouth a bit. The scavenger let his tongue fall out of his mouth again.
Aniu checked where she was going once before looking back at him.
The scavenger watched her moon eyes, going at a full-tilt without ever looking ahead, when a ridged slab of granite made contact with his face. Aniu stopped short and watched as the other wolves kept racing ahead. She wondered briefly if they'd notice her absence and then looked down at the scavenger again. He peered up at her dizzily and grinned a toothy grin.
She stiffened at little at the odd display, unsure if he meant to be hostile.
His crazed look left and perked up like a pup.
"Hi," He got to his feet and wagged his tail. "I'm... I'm Togo! And you-, you're the Goddess."
Aniu blinked. "Goddess?" she didn't move.
"Yeah, uh, yes. See, I saw you in my dream. Heh-heh. I can do that, y'know. It's sort of like smelling with my mind. I can... I can track animals down by thought. And well, I knew I had to find you because my heart said to. My thoughts tracked you and my heart found you, so, I found you!" He didn't seem to see the need for more explanation than that. Aniu turned in the direction of her pack and found Togo there instead. "Isn't that cool? I mean, I know you don't know me and I don't know you. But I think we-," A furious growl erupted behind him.
Togo leapt in a startled fit to face the angry wolf.
Aniu stood beside him as calm and still as stone in an arctic wind.
"This scavenger has gotten lost," she explained simply.
Shanarow moved his deep brown eyes on her, she kept her own guarded.
"Has he?" The wolf was mostly unemotional except for his doubt. "He has traveled very far."
Aniu nodded once in acknowledgement.
Shanarow leered at her impassive face. "Quite the coincidence his distance as brought him here with us," she froze absolutely, "thereby providing fallacy to your claim that he is lost."
Two other wolves, brown and white but both patterned in reverse, came to flank him.
"This isn't necessary," Aniu said with an edge to her voice. Togo looked at her anxiously as she held her ground but made no move forward. "A wayward scavenger is no threat to us."
Shanarow's brown eyes deepened. "Then-send-it-on-it's-way," he grumbled each word with slow precision. A husky grunt caused the tall, limber wolf to look back in expectation. There was a spark of knowledge in the wolf's eyes as he stepped away to allow his father forward.
"Aniu," The strict wolf emphasized like his son. Togo gasped as he realized that it was the actual way he spoke; a raspy, menacing whisper. "Who is this dog you have brought here?"
"Dog?" She repeated innocently.
Togo examined his white Goddess and the older wolf who was truly graying with age. He let his eyes fall for the first time to the other wolves. The two from before, probably around his age or so, scratched and bit at each other's fur. An older female wolf swayed this way and that, seeming unbalanced. Her fur was white but shot through with silver and black. None of which were of particular interest to Togo... until his eyes fell to the darkest, oldest male wolf in the pack. If his Goddess fascinated him beyond all reason, this enormous timber wolf was enough to terrify him back into common sense. Togo looked at Aniu again and accepted her.
She was his fate.
To be continued...