Deeper into the Wilderness
#60 of The Moonrise Chronicles
Maggie
didn't stray far from the second lake, heading back in an attempt to catch his
scent again. She guessed that his transformation had subsided, hence the lack
of a strong odor, but she couldn't figure out why his regular aroma, one with
which she was quite familiar, was gone. It was like he had forgotten how to be
himself. She was
sitting at the water's edge in wolf form, her bag draped across her back
containing her clothing and a few other things. She was tired of carrying it,
but she refused to give up and knew that there were times she was going to need
to be human. Out of deference to the locals, she had been subsisting on fish,
which were numerous and easy to catch. That kept her away from them, avoiding
any unnecessary confrontations. She got
a drink, lapping up the clear cool dater and quietly headed up to a nearby village. She had been looking in the
wild for days, not thinking that he would have headed to anywhere close to a
human settlement. Maybe she had assumed wrong. Just shy of the village she
changed, putting on her clothing and draping the bag back over her shoulder. She was
instantly set upon by the other children, who danced around her at a safe
difference. Their chants were a little weird, and she wondered if she had
stumbled into some sort of asylum. It was hard to say, here in Russia, what a
stranger may find off the beaten track. Their
words were jumbled, but she did pick up ghost,
spirit and freak among the Russian words they were saying. It was like they
knew her already! They fled when an older man shooed them away. "Kysh! Udar
yego vy malen'kiye khuligany!" "That
seems a little harsh!" She said to him in Russian. "I'd hardly call them
hooligans." He
appraised her with a critical eye. "Your Russian is poor. You are not from
here, are you young lady?" answering again in his native tongue. "No.
I'm looking for someone who got lost." "That
happens a lot. Who is it you have lost to bring you so far out here?" "My
father." The man
stopped and squinted at her. "There was a man here a short while ago, a very
strange man. But you look nothing like him." The hairs
on her body stood on end and threatened to grow. "Strange how?" "I
don't know if I should tell you. I think he may be dangerous, despite his
relatively mild manner and words." "Words?
He spoke to you in Russian?" "Of
course. Why wouldn't he?" "Because
if it's my father, and I think it has to be, he doesn't speak Russian. What can
you tell me about him?" She felt her heart racing. "He was
about this tall, and naked, and he had a strange mark on his forehead." "Did he
have on a ring at all?" She held up her hand. "One that looked like this?" The man
did a double take. "Exactly like that. Who are you?" "It doesn't
matter. I need to find him and fast. Where is he?" "He
left in that direction," the man said, point to the north and west. "He's following
that strange boy we had here. Apparently they can talk in growls." "He was
able to speak wolfish in human form?" "Speak
what?" "Look, I'd
love to stay and chat, but something has happened to my father and either he is
in dire straits, or the whole of Russia is. If I don't find him soon, I fear
what he may end up doing." She
turned and ran out of the village far enough to change,dropping the clothes in the
bag and repositioning it over her back. Then she was off at a fast lope. She had
to track and back track until she finally found two scents; one belonging to a
young were in human form. It was odd, getting such a mixed scent, but she was
grateful for it. And overlaying it was a man's, and while it didn't smell
correct, she knew it had to be Edward. From
those thin smells she assumed that they had quite a head start. She was thankful
that for the moment he wasn't back in his feral form. He would be easier to
follow, but tougher to deal with. As it was, she was thinking of ways of
jogging his memory. That bullet to the head must have really caused some damage
to his gray matter. Of course, it was silver, and it had been dipped in
wolfsbane, but the bigger question was; why hadn't it killed him? She could
only hope that she had slipped the ring on soon enough to prevent his death. And
speaking Russian and wolf; both fluently. She could speak wolf and he could
speak wolf, but only in feral form. So then, what the hell was happening to
him? It was a good question with no ready answer. She needed to find him, get
him isolated and find out. She wished she had talked more with the man in the village. She had been so excited to find word of her father that she had rushed off. Now
that she was away, she had a thousand questions for him. She would have to find
the answers on her own, for there was no turning back. Ahead of her, the
boy, the one from the village, was having trouble. He was feeling dizzy and
disoriented. The bite from that human was painful to the touch, and he knew it
must be infected. He stopped more often to rest. The man
had been an odd one, that much was true. He smelled like the others; mostly. But he
could speak and be understood, and that was not like the others. He had to a supreme alpha. But if he was, why was he living with the humans? A supreme took
their place at the head of the pack, though of course females were generally
the leaders, not males. But if he could find his old pack, maybe they would be
interested in this human. That is, if death didn't keep him from reaching them. He was
feeling just awful. Edward
was racing along the best he knew how. He was agile; jumping over falling trees
and fences like an Olympic hurdler. Of course, it felt natural to him. For all he
knew, this was a day at the park for him. He kept feeling this urge to change,
to become something else, but he didn't know how to grant this unspoken desire
so he ran on and on. He instinctively knew he was on the boy's trail, though he
had no idea how he knew that. It was just like his brain was leading his feet,
and he had no choice but to follow. The
boy's scent had begun to change over the course of the chase, and he would have
wondered if his mind had opened up such things to him. But there was now a
background program running his movements, and his thought processes were
restricted to working on the problem of who he was. He didn't come up with
much. It was as if he had just been born, or maybe reborn. So was it better to
dwell on who he was, or who he had been? Maybe the old man was right; maybe he
belonged under the waves. He then
thought about the other possibility. Fur. He remembered fur. Why did he
remember fur? Would he have fur under the water? Maybe, but it didn't sound
right. He knew of fish, and fish lived under the water. They had scales. As he
was thinking something kicked in. His arms sprouted hair and his body changed
into something strange. Yet it felt normal. He felt like a caterpillar becoming
a butterfly, skipping the cocoon stage. His clothing from the man split and was
shed on the ground. Well, that explained why he had been naked before. One
hardly needed clothing when you were already dressed. His
sniffed the air and caught the scent of the boy. This time the oddity that came
to his nose was recognizable. He was turning into a wolf. How quaint! Why had
he never done it before? He looked at his own arms and smiled, showing scimitar
fangs. It was a gorgeous feeling, and he felt the need to celebrate by killing
something. But
first things first. Find the boy. That was stuck in his head. He didn't
remember why he had to find the boy, but he had to find him. So off he ran,
leaping thirty foot stretches in a single bound. And he wasn't even breaking a
sweat. The boy
heard the crashing from far away, and instantly panicked. It was his last
mistake before being set upon by a huge hulking beast. But instead of it
tearing him to pieces, it sat down and wagged its big black tail. "Hi! I found
you? Why did you run off?" Now
mind you, the boy was still looking human. The change that Edward's bite had
started was still working through his system. "Are you the man from the
village?" "I
don't know, am I?""You speak like him. Why did you
follow me?""I asked first! Why did you run
away?""Because the pack needs to know you
exist, that's why!""Ok. Why don't I come with you?""I'm too sick to travel. The bite you gave me is infected."The big wolf sniffed the wound,
licked it a few times and then morphed into some more frightening and picked
the boy up. He gave him a hug. He didn't know why, but he did. In the next
instant he dropped the squirming wolf to the ground. The boy had to orient
himself to his new proportions. "What did you do?""I hugged you. Least, I think
that's what it's called. I seem to remember something similar that involved a
whole lot more. Would you like to try that too?""Uhh, no. I'm not sure what you
mean, but I think you've done enough to me today.""Ok. Suit yourself. How do you feel
now?"The newly formed wolf was taking an
appraisal of his new body. "I feel great, thanks! And now I'm a real wolf so you makes you a supreme alpha!""Whatever you say. I wanna go kill
something. Is there something we can kill out here?" It was made as if an
offhand remark."Uh, do you mean you're hungry?""No. I want to kill something. I
want to smell blood. I want to crush bone. I want to rend flesh. You know,
kill."The boy knew the blood rage. His
pack's alpha female would go on one every full moon. Why this alpha wanted to kill seem so random.
"Uhhh, there are deer and boar. Outside of that, everything is fairly small or
belongs to the humans.""Belongs? It belongs to whoever
kills it. Let's go hunting."Maggie was working her way from behind
Edward's position, when a gust of wind blew several scents her way at once. The first was
blood. It was animal blood, and she could only hazard a guess as to what it
was. But since it wasn't human and not wolf, she kept calm. And then the other
scent came to her nose. It was a bit more familiar. It smelled an awful like a
feral werewolf, and while Edward's normal overtones where gone, it was
distinctly male.She ran on, breaking out into a
clearing were two male wolves, or rather one young male wolf and a huge hulking
werewolf were feasting on a large boar.
She overheard the big one snicker in wolf tongue. "Look, you bring down some food
and wolves start coming out of the forest.""Father?"The big one paused, blood dripping
from his jaws. "Whose father?""Mine you big idiot. What have you
been doing this whole time? I've been worried sick."The smaller wolf snickered as well.
"Father? She sounds more like your mate." She came up panting. "I'm both you
little bastard, so shut the hell up!" Edward
was staring at her. He sniffed her. "You do smell familiar. If you know me,
tell me who I am." "You're
Edward Peterson. And I'm hoping to the heavens that you still have your ring." He
lifted a front paw. "You mean this thing?" She
nodded. "It's just like mine, see?" He
looked and agreed. "Yep, just like mine. I can't take it off or my head hurts." She
noted the puckered mark on his forehead, visible even in his present form.
"Yeah. I think it's the only thing keeping you alive right now. That bullet
really messed up your head." "Bullet?" "You
really don't remember do you?" "Now
that you mention it, I don't know who I am, where I'm at, or why I'm here. Bu
this food is good. I'll even share." Maggie
was torn between being heartbroken and elated. She had found him, but there
seemed to be nothing left of his personality that made him who he was. When she
got back to St Petersburg she was going to tear the town apart until she found
out who was responsible. In the meantime she had to stay close and try to reach
his memories. It had to be that damn bullet. The ring was the only thing
keeping him alive, it had to be, otherwise his brain would have burned out
through his ears. "I
thank you for your offer, and I will accept. But I must ask that you believe me
as to who I say you are, and who I say I am. For it is very important for you
to regain your mind." "But I
have my mind. It's a wonderful mind. I can see all kinds of things in it;" here
he squinted at her, "Even you. I see you as a human I think; and I see us
mating. He
paused. "Is that right?" "Yes,
it is." "Funny
that. You aren't old enough to mate." "I
know." "Oh,
ok. As long as you know it." He turned back to his food and grabbed huge bites
of the pig meat. She sat
down, feeling defeated. It was like he was a great big kid. When he had left
the bar he was consumed by rage and hatred. Now that had been replaced by a near imbecilic mentality that was almost more dangerous than the rage. Now he
was equally unpredictable, and his bearing was likely to throw others off until
it was too late. As if
to answer her fears, a brown bear came out of the woods to the left,
sniffing the air. It stood on its hind paws and growled intimidatingly. Since
there were only three wolves around the kill, it figured it could scare them
off. Edward paid it no attention until the young male backed away with his
hackles up. "What's
wrong?" "That's
what's wrong." He said, looking at the massive brute. Edward
turned, glanced at the bear for only a second before grabbing it, and with a
single heave, sent it crashing several hundred yards through the trees.
Branches broke, leaves fluttered to the ground, and a very bruise bear landed
on its posterior, alive but very much bruised. Edward turned back to the kill.
"Next time he can ask nicely. Imagine that; him demanding that we give him the
meat." Maggie's
jaw dropped. "Are you telling me that you could understand that bear?" "Barely.
He has the most atrocious pronunciation I've ever heard from his kind. His
mother should have taught him better." She stared open mouthed at him as he returned to eating his kill.