FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The fire crackled as Dusty stared at Wayra, the memory of his Brother's game they played when he was just a pup coming to mind, could he be the one Snow spoke of?

Play and learn: A memory of two brothers.

A pure white wolf scanned the village, his ice blue eyes searching for his little brother. Following his scent, he headed towards a favorite spot, his mind at top speed. "Where did he go now?...oh no...mud! Mom's not gonna like this...Late with a clean little brother or early with the mud puppy...I guess it will be clean...better yet I take the food and we can go hunting! Yes that would work and we both keep the fur on our necks!". His trials was coming soon and his studies under his Father would begin in earnest soon after. He ran back to the den and started packing some supplies and collected some of the evening meal when his mom showed up.

"Snow! what are you doing? Where is Dusty? Where do you think you're going?" she quickly asked as only a Mother can. "Getting Dusty some food, outside with the other pups, and taking Dusty camping in the old forest" replied Snow just as fast while he headed out "May the Den protect you, Mom! Bye Father!" And he took off at a run to find his little brother as his Father entered the den. "What is the big rush?" the Shaman asked his mate. "The pups are going camping, but I think the Mud Puppy is on the loose again!" she giggled as he hugged her while they seen a white tail disappear in the distance.

"Dusty! Where are you little brat!" called Snow as he follow the very muddy tracks to the river. He finally caught up to him sitting on a rock half asleep in the sun, caked in mud. As with most big brothers, the little brother ended up head first into the water via a "gentle" push. "Why" he sputtered as he surfaced, oddly enough his pelt was still the same color, even with the mud gone. "You know Mom wants you clean before you eat! I just brought the food to you, I just helped you to your bath!" Laughed the white wolf as he held up the bundle of food. "Dinner!" shouted the pup as he scrambled out of the water and tried to grab it, but the older wolf held it out of reach.

"Common Snow! I'm hungry! Gimme!" bounced the lil pup. "No. You know what we do before we eat, even in the wilds!" corrected Snow. Dusty sat down and held his paws out and they both spoke. "Thank you Den for protecting us, and the Spirits for guidance, and the Pack for strength." The opened the bundle and made short work of the food and buried the rest. "What are we doing now?" asked Dusty "We are going to the old woods, I have to collect a few things and I figured you would want to go. Or I could take you back..." replied Snow till Dusty pounced and hugged him "NO,NO,NO! I wanna go with you!!" said the excited pup.

As they walked, Snow asked Dusty questions, helping him when he got stuck and praising him on his good answers. He quizzed him on herbs, animals, and the Elements. "Fire is destruction, Earth is strength, Water is life, Air is the power of change, Spirit is guidance" counted off Dusty. "Good, but remember all things are a combination of the elements, some combinations are stronger than others. Now how does a deer..." this continued till they reached the fork in the river where they made camp and fell asleep, a little dust colored pup and a snow white wolf.

The sun rose and Snow gathered up the camp as Dusty wandered around nearby. The other wolves rarely came this close to the old woods because they feared the spirits that wandered them. As a Shaman, the spirits was revered and those with the gift of sight could see them if they focused. Snow would catch glimpses of them but his focus needed more training, he figured his little brother was too young to see them yet. They crossed over to the middle of the fork in the shallows with Dusty riding on his shoulders. Once across, they traveled further into the wood till they reached an old pole, feathers, fur, bones, and beads hung from it. Snow reached in his pouch on his hip and carefully hung his own token on the pole and gave a quick prayer for protection. Dusty remained next to him nervously the whole time, clinging to the fur on Snow's leg. "Don't be afraid, the spirits will not hurt you." said Snow "Besides they don't eat clean pups!" Dusty looked up at Snow then tugged on a tuft of Snow's fuzz. "Your mean Snow!" replied Dusty.

Further in they approached a clearing, a large slab of stone was warmed by the sun, near it there was a small circle of different colored stones. "Into the circle little brother." said Snow as he nudged him closer. "I need to focus and I want you to stay safe" Dusty sat in the circle and hugged the pack in front of him. He didn't like this part, he always felt cold here, like something was stealing his warmth. He looked around as the mists swirled around them and the stones as Snow began to quietly chant. Dusty looked around trying to stay as far from the outer edges of the circle, the fog getting thicker by the second.

Snow's mind began to drift, his pupils shrank till his eyes looked like pools of clear blue water, his breathing and heart slowed to a peaceful and calm pace. He could see the fog now, the wisps of the spirit world creeping over into the realm of his sight. Then he was startled by Dusty's howl of terror, the fog cleared and he felt the sun again on his pelt. Turning he seen Dusty trying to hide under the pack, his nose picking up the scent of Dusty's fear. He entered the circle and picked up the shaking pup and rubbed his back trying to soothe him.

"What is it lil Brother? Why are you scared?" asked Snow. The little wolf hugged him tighter, "I couldn't see you, you was there then I couldn't see you! Please don't do that again, I don't want to lose you!" he cried, Snow set him down and looked him over, he didn't see anything wrong with Dusty. "Disappeared? I was right there Dusty, I didn't move, didn't you see me? "Dusty looked up and then spoke very quietly, "The fog ate you!" Snow smiled and patted his head, silly pup the sun is out, I was right there all the time." Dusty muttered "No I'm not silly! can we go now?" Snow picked up the pack and they left the clearing.

"But home is that way! Why are we going deeper?" whined Dusty as he followed Snow, his little legs needing to trot to keep up with Snow's long stride. "I told you I need to collect a few things for Father, it isn't much further, read the stones!" The little wolf stopped next to his brother and looked up at one of the large black stones and started to sound out the words, Snow helped on some of the longer ones. More stones was scattered about, each with a list of names or some history of the past. Soon they came to a cave and they set up camp for the night.

Snow had several sticks, stones and other little tokens that he would toss on the ground between them, he would pick one and hold it, focusing on the elements, he tried to call them out to Dusty. "The stick is wood, what does it fear?" Dusty yawned and replied "Fire, it can resist Air, it wants water, and it is of earth." Snow smiled "Good!, now this feather?" Dusty scratched his head "It fears air?!?" Snow cocked his head and asked "Why would a feather fear the wind?" Dusty shrugged and said "Because the wind makes it go anywhere no matter if it likes it or not!" Snow laughed and stood up holding his paws out and bid Dusty to do the same. "Do you feel the Wind Dusty? It doesn't move you, unless you let it, and the Wind will guide you. No matter if your tracking prey, watching the storm, or letting it guide your heart if you listen. That's enough of our games for tonight, Just remember you have to bring the Wind to the Stone if you want to see!"