Chapter 5

I do not won Spice and Wolf or Holo, the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu

He stepped over to her chair and sat down heavily, "It's my fault really, I should have told you about the box and how it is not to be touched." he said wearily.

He glanced over at Holo and smiled, "I never thought I would actually be seeing you in the flesh Holo. I would imagine that I could see you dancing in the rain as it watered the fields or running through the wheat as it ripened in the August sun, but never sitting in my granddaughter's bedroom!"

He bowed his old head to her and said gratefully, "Thank you for the bounty we have long enjoyed and the prosperity that came from it."

Elizabeth began crying as she stammered out an apology, "I..I'm.. S..Sorry Grampa! I don't even know why I did it, it just seemed like it would be fun to plant some of that old wheat. I didn't mean any harm!"

He held out his big arms and Elizabeth snuggled into them, her head pressed against his broad chest.

He said gently, "What's done is done Lizzy, however, you will be responsible for Holo's wheat, that means you will tend to her wheat 'til it is ripe and when that happens, you will replace what you took out of that bag. As for Holo herself, she is your responsibility now and you are likely to become her lifelong companion."

Holo stood bristling at his comments, her ears folded back and her eyes glinting red, "I am Holo the Wise Wolf! I am not a child to be watched over!"

Elizabeth's grandfather smiled at her and replied, "No one here thinks of you as a child, Great Mother, it is just that times have changed tremendously since last you walked among us. Some changes have been good, others, well, the good of them remains to be seen."

"What sort of changes?" Asked Holo with a skeptical look on her pretty face.

"The Church no longer has the power to pursue heretics and women now have more say in how they live their lives. Though there is room for improvements, that part is good." He replied.

"And the bad?"

"We still have religious intolerance and it probably would be for the best if you didn't walk about openly as "Holo the Wise Wolf". He emphasized that part with air quotes.

Holo harrumphed and said curtly, "I have never walked among men openly, very few have ever seen me in my true form. In fact, the last man to see me in my true form was your great-many-times-over grandfather."

Elizabeth "ahemmed" to get their attention, then she asked, "What do you mean by "True Form"? What is your true form?"

Holo smiled at her and replied, "My true form is that of a giant wolf."

Elizabeth looked skeptical, then she said, "How big a wolf are we talking about? I doubt if you weigh as much as I do, how big of a wolf would you make? Assuming you can actually transform!"

Her grandfather looked pained at her remarks and was about to reply when Holo spoke up, "I see you have your doubts. Is this one of the changes you mentioned earlier?" She glanced at her great-many-times-over grandson for his reply.

He sighed and said quietly, "Yes it is, Great Mother, people of today no longer believe in the old spirits."

Holo shrugged and remarked, "That is a good thing, is it not? If I am seen they won't think I am real and the church will not come after me, am I right?"

Elizabeth interjected, "What does it take for you to assume your true form?"

Holo grinned and replied, "Oh, a bit of wheat or..." her eyes briefly glinted red, "Some blood."

"How much blood?"

Elizabeth's grandfather paled and he cried, "Are you crazy? I can't allow this!"

Holo laughed playfully and replied, "I only need a handful of wheat, though my husband did give me some of his blood once. I only needed to bite his arm to get the blood I needed, it was only a small bite..."

Elizabeth didn't even bat a lash at Holo's remarks and she held out her left arm as an offering.

An unspoken challenge.

"Lizzy!" Cried her grandfather.

Holo imperiously held up her slim hand for silence, then she said, "If you truly wish to see my true form, I will grant your request. However, it must be done outside and you must not show fear, these are my conditions."

"Agreed!" replied Elizabeth and she pulled on her shoes.

Once outside the old farmhouse, Holo took off the underthings Elizabeth had forced on her and glanced around. It was the dark of the moon, a good night for a run.

Glancing back at her grandfather, Elizabeth handed Holo a sheaf of freshly cut winter wheat, Holo took the wheat and began chewing.

Moments later, her form began to change and shift and grow, tremendously. They staggered back as the small girl fell forward onto her hands and knees and she grew into a wolf in form, but of a size to stagger the imagination.

Elizabeth forced herself to not look away or show fear while her grandfather's great hands squeezed her slim shoulders almost painfully.

When it was done, Holo's great shaggy head looked at them, a glint of amusement in her great, reddish eyes. Standing before them was a creature resembling a wolf but rivaling one of the giant dinosaurs in size, it was Holo, the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu.

She was so big that Elizabeth's grandfather could walk under her belly without hitting his head and her shoulder was almost the height of a two story house.

Elizabeth stood silently gazing up at her gigantic ancestor, she felt her grandfather's hands squeeze her shoulders and she heard him softly weeping until he murmured, "Great Mother, how beautiful you are. To think that I would live to see you in the flesh, when before, I only saw you in my dreams as a young girl dancing in the rain."

He gently pushed Elizabeth towards Holo's gigantic form and said softly, "Go to her, go to your Great Mother for you are truly her Great Daughter and heir to this farm."

Uncertain of what to do next, Elizabeth stepped forward. Holo's great eyes glimmered at her and she lay down, Holo's mouth opened and a voice more like a growl said, "Get on."

Elizabeth climbed up onto Holo's massive shoulders, straddled them as best she could and hung on to a couple of tufts of her red-brown fur for dear life.

A throaty chuckle came from Holo's toothy mouth and she said, "I won't drop you, just enjoy. It is a good night for a run!"

Holo rose to her great clawed feet and took off in a great bound, clearing the house in a single leap. Elizabeth let out a single shriek as Holo surged forward in great leaps and bounds, within seconds they had left the farm far behind them.

Elizabeth's grandfather stood looking after them for several moments, then quietly went back inside and back to his bed. He lay down beside his wife of many years and she said softly, "Was that really Holo?" He sighed in the darkness and replied, "Yes, she truly is Holo." He heard her softly chuckle, then say, "I'll make breakfast for four then." Soon after, she fell asleep in his arms.