{"sf1_id":775102,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Receiving a Sign","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2875,"posted_at":"2014-10-29T14:35:00.000Z","tags":["Amnesia","Discovery","Human","Lost","Village","Werewolf","boy","russia"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/775102-receiving-a-sign","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/775102","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=775102\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#59 of The Moonrise Chronicles","content":"                Reports\nof a loose zoo animal circulated through the news outlets, for lack of any\ndefinite information. They were assuming that the paucity of a clear\nidentification was mere obfuscation on the police's part. Of course, the\nLeningrad Zoo denied having any of their animals missing, and especially\nsomething answering the description that the witnesses gave. It sounded more\nlike one of the exhibits in the ice age section of the zoological museum had\ncome to life and had wandered away on a drunken rampage.                Maggie\nfollowed his trail as it led out of the western portion of town. Gone were any\nchances of seeing her grandmother's home now, as the need to find Edward was of\ngrave importance. His trail led her along the southern shore of Lake Lodoga,\nacross the wilds to Lake Onega. It was there that she lost it along the shores of the great expanse of water. One moment she had\nit, and then in the next it was gone. She looked out across the waves and\nshivered. She didn't think he could drown, but in his present mental state\nthere was a chance he just might try.                She\ngave up the search and huddled down for a long night, just one of so many over\nthe distance she had traveled on foot. She wasn't a quitter, but she had to\nwonder where he was going. Russia was a big place, and if he had some specific place in\nmind, she wished she knew where it was. For once she wasn't getting a handle on what was going on.                For the\npart of the werewolf, that is to say Edward, his rage had burned out over the\ncourse of tearing through the city and then mile after mile of countryside. He\nhad killed a few sheep on the way and had eaten his fill. It was while he was\nlapping up water at the edge of a great lake that he lost his feral form and\nreturned to being human in appearance.                That\nwas all well and good, except that he was now naked, and worse yet, without his\nmemories. His head was still paining him, though he knew not why. Had he known,\nit would have meant little to him in the state he was in. There was, however, a\nsilver bullet lodged in his brain and pressing against the right side of his\nbrain, buried to its core.                 He was having\npain in his chest to, though the head was bothering him more.  He looked around to see where he was at,\ntotally lost as to time and place. There was a chill wind blowing, bringing the\nsmell of water and muck to his nose. He stood and scanned around him, looking\nfor a clue as to where he was. Then it came to him that he had no idea even who he was.\nIt struck him as odd, and he grew upset with the complete lack of this information.                He\ntrudged off to the west, away from the water and walked for miles. He came to a\nvillage, but something inside him made him shy away from the people. Instead, he\nwalked until he came to a tumbledown structure, an old church, and he slipped\nthrough the wooden structure to hide in the safety of the shadows. He sat and\ntook an assessment of his person.                The\nonly thing he had on was a ring. When he slipped it off, the pain in his head\nincreased so he stuck it back on. His feet had no shoes, his back had no shirt\nand his legs had no pants. His hair smelled of fire and his feet felt sore and\nblistered. He tried to find a name for himself in the mangled mess of his mind,\nbut he came up with nothing. There were a horde of fleeting images, but none of\nthem made any sense to him. It was like watching a carnival; while on drugs; through a kaleidoscope.                 He\nwasn't hungry for the moment, which he counted as a blessing. He had no idea\nwhat he might find to eat here. He stayed under the decaying roof for the\nlongest time with his head in his hands. He was wracked with conflicting\nemotions and he didn't know why. It was like his life had been erased and\nsomething new was trying to take hold. Eventually, he fell into an exhausted\nsleep.                He\nawoke to the strangest dream, though upon waking he couldn't say what it was.\nBut the hand on his startled him to full alertness.                The man\nlooking down at him was also startled, but his countenance was kind and gentle.\n\"You are in a sorry state my friend. What has happened to you?\"                Edward\nsat up, \"I don't remember.\"                \"How\ndid you end up inside of the old church? This is a dangerous place to be now.\"                \"I\ncrawled in. Why are you here?\"                \"I saw\na board pulled away and decided to investigate. The children of the village\nhave been warned not to come here, but that doesn't stop them.\"                \"Village?\nWhat village?\"                \"Paltoga.\nAnd this used to be the old Church of the Sign. But no longer.\"                \"Paltoga?\nI don't think I know of it. But then, I'm not sure of anything right now.\"                \"It\nsounds like you've had a rough experience.\" The man focused n Edward's\nforehead. \"And what is this? It looks like a healed over bullet hole. Were you\nshot?\"                Edward\nrubbed his forehead, feeling the little dimple there. \"I don't know. It's all a\nblur.\"                \"So be\nit. I think we need to get you some clothing and a place to rest. I will send\nout inquiries to the nearby villages to see if anyone from there is missing. In\nthe meantime you will stay with me.\"                They got\nup and crawled out of the old building. Edward turned to look at it and\nwondered that it hadn't fallen on them as they were talking. There was another\nchurch close by, in better shape, but equally as deserted.                 He\nfollowed the man to the village, hardly paying attention to the looks he was\ngetting. Apparently naked men weren't a common sight. He would put that down in\nhis mental notebook. Whenever he went out, he would have to wear clothing. That\nseemed odd to him for he had a notion that he once had a coat of warm fur.  But this man obviously didn't have fur; well he had hair,\nand it was thick, but it wasn't fur.                The\nhouse was simple, and a more than a little rundown. But the man pulled out some\nold clothing and set it before him. \"Here my friend, these will be ill fitting\nfor you, but they will be better than nothing.\"                Edward\nput them on, finding the man to be right on both accounts. \"Thanks. But what\nnow? I have no idea where I'm at or how I got here. And for that matter, who I\nam and where I was going?\"                \"Have\nno fear. We will figure it out. Do you have a family?\"                Edward\nsat in thought for a while.  \"I don't\nknow. I think so, but all I can grasp in my mind are snatches of faces.\"                \"That\nis at least something. It can give you hope that you will know them when you\nsee them.\"                Edward  shook his head. \"I hope so. I feel lost right\nnow.\"                \"You're\nnot lost my friend, for you found me! That has to mean something! It seems I am\nalways finding lost things, or else they find me.\"                \"Lost\nthings?\"                \"You\nare not the only one who has make it to this village after being lost. Come,\nI'll show you.\"                They\nwalked to another house where a woman greeted them with a smile. She showed\ngreat gaps in her teeth. \"This is Akilina. She is my sister. Together, we help\nthose who need it.\"                Edward stuck out his hand. \"Hello.\nI'd give you my name if I knew it.\" Then he turned to the man. \"Do you have a\nname?\"                The man\nslapped himself in the head. \"Yes! I got off the topic and forgot to tell you.\nIt's Czernobog.\"                \"I'm\nglad to meet you both. But what was it you wished to show me?\"                \"Sister,\nwhere is Kolzak?\"                \"Out\nand about. He doesn't ever go far, though he will not sleep in the house. He\nstill prefers the ground.\"                \"Come,\nwe will walk and find him.\" The two men walked around the village, and after\nasking some of the children, were directed towards the waterway to the north.\nThe eventually found the boy, sitting by the water and looking off into the\ndistance. He didn't move at first, but when he saw Edward, he crouched as if to\nrun. The man held up his hand. \"Don't run boy. This is just another lost soul,\njust like you.\"                The boy\nlooked at Edward. \"Who are you?\" he growled.                \"I wish\nI knew. I don't remember a thing about myself. What about you?\"                The\nboys eyes lit up like floodlights. \"You speak to me?\"                \"Uh,\nyeah. Wasn't I suppose to?\"                \"No one\nspeaks to me! All they do is make strange noises and expect me to understand.\"                \"Wait,\nwhat? I was just talking with Czernobog here. Didn't you hear me?\"                \"I\nheard nothing but strange noises.\"                Edward\nlooked up to his new companion only to see him staring at the two of them like\nthey were aliens. \"What's wrong?\"                The man\nstuttered. \"Why are you growling at the boy?\"                \"I'm\nnot growling at him. I'm talking to him.\"                \"You\nare growling like a beast, just as he does. We have never been able to get him\nto speak a word.\"                Edward\nstopped. In his head he was speaking all the same. Yet this man was saying that\nhis words to the boy were growls. That made no sense. He was talking plainly\nand clearly to both of them.                \"Boy,\nare you saying you can't understand him?\" Edward asked, pointing to the man.                \"Nothing\nbut foul noises. I think he means well, but I would rather be back with my\npack.\"                \"Pack.\nWhat pack?\"                \"My\npack. We ran through the woods and we hunted, but I got lost and separated from\nthem, and then I was injured. I figured if I came to these creatures, they\nwould either kill me or save me. Either was preferable to being alone and\nlingering.\"                \"Did it\never dawn on you that you look a lot like them?\"                \"Yes, I\nfound it strange. I thought my looks were because I had not grown enough to be\nlike my pack.\"                Czernobog\nwas listening to the two and doubting his own sanity. The boy communicated with\nno one, and yet this stranger was talking with him as if it were an everyday occurrence.\nAnd the talk was all wolf growls and howls. It was the only the sound the boy\nhad ever made, and everyone thought he was just a little lunatic.                \"What\nis he saying?\"                Edward\nlooked up. \"Not much at the moment. He says he wished he could go back to his\npack.\"                \"Pack?\nAs in wolves?\"                \"I\nassume so. Are there wolves in the area?\"                \"Yes, on occasion, but they don't come around here very often. We have guns to fight them off if\nthey attack our livestock.\"                \"Understandable.\"\nHe turned to the boy. \"Does your pack attack the people here?\"                \"No.\nOnly their animals and only when we are starving. It is much safer in the\nwoods.\"                \"That\nmakes sense. So why do you stay here, if you don't feel like you belong?\"                \"I look\nlike them, but my heart is with the pack. What can I do? I am a lingering demon\nthat belongs nowhere.\"                \"I\nwouldn't say that. You just haven't found your place yet.\"                \"Well I\nhope it comes along soon. I tire from all of the noise here. What I wouldn't\ngive for some good old singing.\" And he began to howl. It carried a sad note to\nit, and Edward joined in, somehow knowing the old words. It made him wonder how\nhe knew them.                 The\nnoise brought the villagers to see what the sounds were all about, and stood in\nrapt amazement. No one understood what was going on, but they thought it either\na miracle or an evil omen. Funny how that worked.                 Edward\nignored them and continued to talk with the boy. \"I don't know what to tell\nyou. If I knew more about where I was from, and who I am, then maybe I could be\nof more help.\"                \"I\ndon't want help. I want my pack.\"                \"I\ndon't think I can help out there boy. I think that like me, you're here and this\nis where you're going to stay until something happens.\"                The boy\ncrouched down in an attack position. \"Make something happen. I'm tired of being\nhere.\"                \"Like\nwhat? I can't help you anymore than I can help myself right now.\"                The boy\nlunged, sinking his teeth into Edward's arm. His instinct kicked in and he bit\nback, drawing blood from the boy's shoulder. There were simultaneous yelps and\nthey sized each other up. The boy however quickly backed down. There were two\nreasons. The first was that Edward's wounds healed over in front of his eyes.\nThe second, which meant more to his nose than to the other villagers, was that\nhe was smelling the odor of a wolf, and no ordinary wolf.                \"My\napologies master. I did not know.\"                \"Master?\nKnow what?\"                \"You\nare a supreme alpha. I have only ever encountered one other.\"                \"I'm\nvery confused. What are you talking about?\"The boy lunged, but it was only to\navoid a blow from one of the villagers. One of the old ladies was making a sign\nof the cross and beating at the boy with a broom. That irritated Edward and he\nstood. He meant to yell at the woman, and in a way he did. His yell was a roar.\nHer hair flew back behind her and she fell to the ground.Czernobog grabbed his arm. \"My\nfriend, what is wrong with you?\"\"Me? I wasn't the one trying to hit\nthe boy!\"The man stopped. \"Now I can\nunderstand you again. What are you, a vodianoi?\"\"I don't know what that is. I guess\nI could be. What is it?\"\"A water spirit, perhaps lost\nbecause you are now on dry land.\"\"The boy said I was a supreme\nalpha, which I think has something to do with the pack he was talking about.\nDoes that mean anything to you?\"The man made a sign of the cross.\n\"My grandfather told me about men who could shift form. They would become bears\nor wolves. Can you do this?\"\"I have no idea. How would I go\nabout doing it?\"             \"I\nwould not begin to know. But I am afraid that I may not be able to keep you\nsafe. The people here are a superstitious lot, and whether it is the old ways\nof the ways or those of the church, they will likely not tolerate you remaining\nfor long.\"                 Someone\nyelled and the men turned in time to see the boy running off through the tall\nweeds. Edward made as if to chase him.                 \"Don't.\nIf he runs, no one will find him. He has never been forced to stay here. He\nstayed of his own volition. Now he runs off. I cannot keep those who do not\nwish to stay, and I may not be able to keep those who do but who are not\nwelcome. I will feed you my friend, and then I think that you must go. I am\nsorry.\"                \"I\ndon't want to cause any trouble, and to be honest, I'm rather curious where the\nboy is going. I'll follow after him and see where he's going.\"                The\nmeal was simple, and was silent except for a single interruption. The man had\nnoted Edward's ring before. \"My friend, what is the significance of your ring.\nDoes it denote your marital status, or is it for something else?\"                Edward\ntried to take it off, but the pain in his head increased. \"I don't\nknow. But when I try to take it off, it hurts.\"                \"Then\nleave it. Perhaps it's a lucky charm or talisman. I have a feeling that where\nyou will be going, you will need all the luck you can get.\"                At the\nedge of the village, and near the old church, the two shook hands. \"Be well my\nfriend, and if you find that you are a spirit, please come back and tell me. I\nhave never had the fortune of meeting one, and so I do not believe as strongly\nas my ancestors did. I will think of you only as a strange man for now, but if\nyou are more, I would wish to know. Then I will have something to tell my\ngrandkids. They live in the city, but they like the old stories. A new one\nwould delight them even more!\""}