A/N: This chapter is about Ghost. I'm sorry about the long update time, I've been really busy. I will try and get the next chapter up in a week and keep updating regularly after that. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I want you to know I really, really appreciate feedback and also appreciate your patience in waiting for me to get this story done!
Raleigh did not return to Faolan's dreams for a few weeks, but for Faolan, it seemed like so much longer. The problems started just before the next full moon, when Faolan was alone in the woods, practicing her archery. It reminded her of the days in the Waystation, doing archery to help her learn control, to give her something constructive to do. She could almost imagine Raul standing behind her, encouraging her as her arrows went everywhere but the target. Fao was now dressed in the long sleeved tunic, pants, and boots that the werewolves wore in the winter. The chill wind that blew around her whipped leaves from the trees and turned her hair into knots could not penetrate her furs, though it turned her ears and fingers red.
Fao nocked the arrow and pulled it back to her cheek, sighting down the wooden shaft at the tree she had made her target. Yellow leaves screamed in front of her path, impending her view and making her wonder why she even bothered to practice on a day like this. Her target was about thirty meters away, and for a tree, it wasn't that big. She'd already had a few arrows spiral so far off that they struck trees almost in a perpendicular direction.
Faolan released the arrow, and it sunk into her target tree about twelve inches from a white haired head. Red eyes stared at her in surprise and Faolan's hands shook in horror- had he been there when she released the arrow? Ghost glanced over at the arrow and reached up to pluck it from the tree. When his white fingers had yanked the arrow from its grip in the wood, he ambled over, moving quietly, the leaves swirling around him.
"Good day, Faolan," Ghost said, his voice soft and lilting; Faolan could hardly hear him over the howl of the wind and rustling of leaves. His whiteness shone in the bright fall sunlight- almost like he was an Angel instead of a Werewolf.
"Hello," Fao answered slowly, lowering her bow and taking the arrow he extended to her, "Sorry about the arrow- I didn't see you."
"Quite alright," Aric answered with a smile, "I'm good at sneaking up on people." He ran a hand through his hair and leaned up against a tree nearby, gazing up at the shining sky with his eyes like blood.
"Uh…" said Faolan uncomfortably. She wanted to keep practicing her archery, but Ghost… did he come to talk about something or was he just hanging around?
"Keep shooting, by all means," Ghost said a moment later when he noticed Fao was just standing there, "Don't let me get in the way. Your skills, by the way, are admirable for someone your age."
"That's the first time I hit the tree," Faolan replied ruefully, nocking another arrow and pausing to flex her fingers before pulling it back. As the string twanged with release her arm also protested and she stretched it out, peering through the trees to see where her arrow went. It was not in the tree. With a sigh she meandered down to find it. She'd already lost one arrow- hidden under the leaves or something…
"Still," Ghost said when she returned and he shrugged.
"Why are you here?" Faolan finally asked as she plucked an arrow from the cluster she had protruding from the ground.
Ghost looked surprised and he shrugged again, "I'm not really sure. You're an interesting character Faolan… We have backgrounds that are relatable…"
"Valdemar is no longer my home," Fao answered roughly, feeling bothered.
"Nor is it mine," Ghost said sadly, shaking his head and staring off into the distance.
"Why aren't you fighting?" Fao asked suddenly, digging the arrow back into the ground and staring up at Ghost.
He looked back at her in surprise and then smiled and answered, "I can't. I have never been blessed with the ability to slay with weapons. Swords practically jump from my hands. I was born to have claws, I sometimes think."
"Do… do you have true control?" Fao whispered up at him, feeling insanely curious yet also wary. Skylar didn't trust him but then again… did Faolan really know Skylar?
Ghost simply stared at her for a long time and then he nodded, "I do. I've had it since before I ever lived with these werewolf mercenaries."
Now it was Faolan's turn to stare at Ghost. Was that disgust in his voice? Or just a simple statement of fact? Uneasy, Faolan picked up all her arrows and walked down through the woods to gather up strays, intending to go back to camp. She didn't really feel like practicing anymore.
"When did you become a werewolf?" Ghost asked, trailing her as they wandered through the autumn woods, moving as silent as a cat.
Fao glanced back at him. He'd never really answered her question of why he had come. Was he stalking her? Nervously she shrugged and kept walking, pretending that she either hadn't heard or that her shrug was the answer. Leaves crunches under her feet and the wind curled around her in an enticing way, inviting her to play.
"Do you ever miss- not being a werewolf?" Ghost asked when Faolan stopped near the edge of the village. No one was around. Faolan looked up at him nervously- no wonder Skylar was suspicious of Ghost!
"I don't really remember much before," she admitted to him, "I was bitten when I was I was three, really little."
"Of course," Ghost nodded. They both stared into the village, but neither of them moved.
Finally Ghost added, "I'm sorry Faolan, if my questions disturb you. It's just… doesn't this family ever disturb you?"
Faolan looked up at him and then said, "I've never had any other family." She strode into the village and deposited her bow and arrows with the other weapons before going off in search of food and Taryn. Ghost did not follow.
That evening was the night before the full moon, and Faolan felt it as she never had before. It made her long to run the windswept forest hills and howl at the moon. Taryn stood beside her as they gathered with all the other werewolves in the center of the village. Breath steamed out in white puffs around them and everyone was quiet as Skylar made his way to the center, looking more like a bear than a wolf.
"Good evening," he growled at them from behind bushy black eyebrows, "Welcome to the first full moon of Autumn. Let the moon fill your veins and I will meet you here again in morning, once we have all slipped out of our furs and crept back into a human life. Enjoy the night."
As he ended his short speech, the moon appeared from behind him, silhouetting him with its harsh white light and enhancing his sort of bestial appearance.
This full moon, Faolan looked at the white orb that had almost brought her death four years ago, and she no longer hated it, or dreaded its existence. She closed her eyes and let the light wrap around her body, drinking it in with her mind and soul. Fao slipped into wolf form like one pulls on clothes, and when she opened her eyes Taryn stood before her, a lanky young wolf. Faolan herself was much bigger than she had been her first change, and as she inhaled the scents of the night, she recalled those first Changes, so painful and emotionally stressful, when she galvanized the forest and plotted to rule the world, when Raul was her enemy by night and her best friend by day…
Taryn leapt off into the woods and Fao was quick to follow. They romped in the leaves and chased each other through the trees, running over rocks and logs and attempting to catch squirrels and the mice that scampered under the leaves at night. But suddenly, when the night was nearly through, Faolan found herself running through the trees alone. Taryn had disappeared.
She gave a short bark, but there was no answer. Faolan knew where she was- but where was Taryn? Nervous she let out a short howl, but again, there was no response and so Faolan started following her own track back, intending to find Taryn's trail again and chase her down. But before this happened, a white shape materialized, lithe and red eyed. The fur on his back stood up and he looked angry. Faolan stepped backwards uneasily, eyeing him carefully before giving a low whine that Faolan intended as a question.
Ghost only stared back at her, as if surprised to find her there, like she caught him in the middle of doing something he shouldn't have been doing. Faolan glanced to the east, where the sky was lightening. The moon was sinking low and soon it would disappear over the horizon. Feeling satisfied Ghost wasn't about to do anything crazy, Fao started to slink past him, heading back towards the path.
A growl from deep within the white wolf stopped Fao. She turned back to stare at him, tail low and close to her body. He smelled angry, Fao noticed, and he smelled scared. But why? Had he and Skylar gotten into a fight? She started to move off again but Ghost growled again, and turned his red eyes back upon her, making it clear the growl was directed at her movement. Faolan whined at him, confused and tugged at her Gift- she could only smell emotions so far.
Cautiously she reached through her shields and let his emotions touch hers. A thick, deep, rolling anger throbbed through her, one that went deeper and farther back than a day's argument could. And she had been right, there was fear too, a curling, horrible sort of fear that made Faolan quickly retreat- what was wrong with Aric?
Faolan huddled against the leafy ground, frozen by Ghost's icy stare. But then the white wolf lifted up his head and howled, and dark lonely howl. Fao did not join him, nor did she hear any answering howls. Then he leapt, bowling into Faolan and flipping her on her back so that his paws pressed her into the ground and their faces were only inches apart. She could feel hit hot breath against her neck and a shiver went through her as she recalled the day she was bitten.
A low, deep growl burst from Ghost's throat and Faolan struggled against the weight and power of the full grown werewolf. :RAUL!: she screamed, knowing the Companion was too far away to do anything.
But as he stood over her, growling, the fur was slowly inching back into his skin, his face was changing, and his shape reverting back to human. Faolan hardly noticed, but the same was happening to her. Scared still, she retreated back to her Gift. It wasn't trained to be used on other's emotions, but there was nothing else she could do.
"You asked me how I gained true control!" Ghost screamed when he was human enough to have a voice, "And I will tell you!"
"Ghost!" Faolan screamed at him, struggling as his fingers pressed into her skin, "STOP!"
"I killed my family, Faolan!" he cried at her, and Faolan noticed tears streaming down his cheeks, "I killed them all! After I was bitten out in the country, I returned home and told no one of what had happened. I hoped nothing would come of it. I told myself it was just a mad wolf. But then the night, a night like this, came, and I changed for the first time. I killed my family. I killed my wife- her throat was torn out before she was even awake, and when my children, my babies, came into the room at the noise, I ripped Tommy's head off and ate Sarah's heart out! THAT is how I gained true control, Faolan! Being a werewolf is no game! If you had any sense, you'd return to Valdemar and let them lynch you! Let them burn you alive, because it's better than anything that can happen to you here. They've lost their souls, Faolan, every one of them, including me! GO BACK TO VALDEMAR!"
Faolan closed her eyes, feeling herself weeping too at this barrage of information. She hadn't been so pushy as to drive him to this, had she? And she dropped her shields, reaching into the tangled mess of emotions that composed the werewolf. Almost my instinct she pulled at the strings that were untangled and smooth, and softened his hatred, softened his anger, told him he was forgiven and pushed her own emotions onto him. Ghost fell back, his now naked and hairless body cradled by starlit leaves. He was sobbing, and wrapped his arms around himself as Faolan kept pushing his emotions, desperation driving her.
Fao pulled herself to her feet as there was a shout through the trees and Skylar appeared, looking ferocious and angry and still half in wolf form- thick black fur covering parts of his body and claws still protruding from his fingers. He saw Ghost and leapt at him, sinking long claws into that pale, white, white skin.
"NO!" Faolan screamed, running over to pull at Skylar as hot red blood spurted from the gashes Skylar was tearing in him, "He didn't hurt me!"
Skylar whirled on her and pushed her up against a tree, the claw slowly sinking back into fingernails and he growled, "Are you with him? Are you working together? How long have you been a spy?"