Luna
The entire palace was silent with only lonely looking flames dancing every few feet which should not be a surprise since it was late in the night. Not everyone was haunted by a horrible nightmare. On our way coming out, I had been confident about training him, having it all playing out in my head but now that I was finally outside, I panicked as it all suddenly seemed too big for me to handle. Who was I kidding? I couldn't even help myself. How was I supposed to help a wolf? It didn't help that he was staring at me expectantly like I was his saviour who had dropped from the heavens. The heavens... "Master?" He called, inclining his head to the sky above us. He didn't say anything else. Didn't need to. I knew exactly what he was referring to. We would be better off training before light came. I inhaled deeply as I squared my shoulders. Here goes nothing. "What changes have you noticed since you woke up?" "I..." He started then trailed off. In the dim light of the moon, I could see his brows furrow as he thought about it. "Go on." I goaded. "Tell me whatever comes to your mind, however ridiculous it might sound." "First, I feel stronger, more confident. Like I can take on the world. There is this new found strength in the bottom of my belly, this new awareness, like...." He trailed off again. "An empty space that has been filled?" I suggested. He snapped his fingers in approval. "Exactly!" I nodded. I could understand that empty space because I had one myself and it was still not filled. I wasn't certain it could ever be filled actually. "What else have you noticed?" I pushed. "Well, the first time I woke up, I thought I heard the Beta and the Gamma speaking which was weird. Even now, I am pretty certain that I can hear the snoring of several people. It is probably my imagination though." For some reason, this confession of his made me blush which was rather ridiculous. Wolves have extremely good senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, feel. I have a feeling they would make very good poets. The way they experience things so deeply. Too bad few of them ever interest themselves in things like that. They consider them to be too...human. Despite this knowledge, I couldn't help but go through what I had done the past couple of days to see if I had said something embarrassing only to recall that I had been out of it for most of this time. The heat intensified in my neck and cheeks. More than ever, I was glad to have darkness as a cover. I suddenly remembered that I had a student waiting on me. "Apart from these?" He furrowed his brows again as he thought about it. "Nothing!" He shook his head. "Not that I have noticed at least. Maybe fast recovery from wounds but I haven't gotten injured and...I have been too scared to try." The last part came out silently, like he was ashamed to admit it but I could understand why. I had not known him for that long but I had seen him get injured a couple of times, like the whipping, Leon's bullying, and some very nasty bites from the dungeon, the cause of which I wasn't very sure I would like to know. All had taken a very long time to heal. The wounds on his back... "The wounds on your back, have they healed yet?" Having been unconscious for the past few days, I hadn't exactly been able to keep track of its progress. "Yeah!" He reached to his back. "It was gone by the time I woke up." I thought that was enough proof that he healed very fast but decided to test it nonetheless. "Where are you going?" He asked as I walked away from him and toward the large tree that sat in the center of the yard. I broke off a branch as silently as could be managed in a dead silent night and walked back to him. "Give me your arm." I ordered. "What are you going to do?" He blanched, slowing moving away. "Come on!" I huffed as I walked up to him and grabbed his arm. He started to struggle but I had pressed the stick against his arm and dragged it across his skin. He squeaked in a mixture of pain and surprise, his eyes burning into me in the darkness. I could see that he was struggling not to freak out. Living for a long time in the midst of people who healed within a short time from their biggest injuries while the smallest scratch on your skin took days to heal could do a thing or thing to you. "Wait." I ordered when he tried to pull his arm away, probably in fear that I would decide to cut again. His arm slackened but he looked away like he couldn't bear to see another wound that would turn into a scar. I continued to stare at it though and just as I expected, the wound started to close, it started slowly at first but it picked up its pace and closed up. "Yes!" I squeaked, barely able to hold my excitement as I let go of his arm and embraced him. "What?" He stuttered in confusion. "You have healed, my student. You have healed." I muttered contentedly, my voice muffled in his robe. He nearly jumped out of his skin which reminded me of where I was and I quickly pulled away. He raised his arm and scanned it, looking from the wrist to his elbow. The cut had been in the center of his palm but he was so used to being a slow recoverer that he could not believe it had simply vanished. "Do it again. I want to see it happen." He squealed in excitement like a kid who had just seen a magician perform a trick. In a way, he was exactly like that.Luna's PovAfter Indrik had finally recovered from the excitement of his accelerated healing which wasn't due so much to his growing tired of cutting his own skin as it was to my reminding him that daybreak would soon be upon us and he would lose his chance to train if he didn't get his act together. His eyes gleamed with joy as he nodded vigorously. I would have called him a kid if I wasn't feeling so giddy myself. It wasn't everyday that one got to play a major role in making a wolf. But we had had enough playing around, it was time to get some things done. Like teaching a man how to be a wolf. Not an easy task. Especially if you were not a wolf. I wasn't. "First," I started. That got his attention as he grew calmer. "To be a good wolf, a good fighter, a good protector. You name anything good you want to be. To be it, you have to first of all learn to become one with your environment. You have to learn to listen, feel and see before anything else. When I say see, I don't just mean
LunaThe part of listening to the environment passed without any more drama which was a relief because my heart could not take much more of that torture. Next was the testing of instinct which I found to be pretty comical though I don't think my master shared my views. I led him to the tree and made him stand underneath it. "Now, you are going to have to dodge projectiles." I informed him as I peeled off his outer robe. "What?" He stuttered, his eyes widening. "Blind." I added as I made the biggest blindfold of all time. "This is ridi...owww!" He cried, placing a hand against a bump on his head that grew from my throwing a pebble at him. "You are not trying." I taunted as I picked up another pebble. "You like injuries now that you heal fast?" I threw the pebble which hit him square in the nose, extracting another cry from him. "They still hurt as much." He grumbled as he began to move round in circles in an attempt to escape. I simply threw another which hit him in the chin. "
LunaNeedless to say, our training stopped after Blaire chanced in on us. Indrik shuddered, his shoulders slumping once Blaire was gone. "That was a close call." He breathed. He straightened and looked around the yard, releasing another shaky breath. "We cannot continue to use this place for training. It is too dangerous.""Really? I didn't know you were scared of deers." I commented. He turned toward me with a dry look as though considering how my head would look on a stake. He sighed. "Of course not." He grumbled. "I was scared for you. If word gets out that you are training me..." He trailed off. "What are you talking about?" He sighed. The day was becoming brighter more quickly now which allowed me to see the tortured look he gave me. I knew more than ever now that there was something he was hiding from me. "What are you so afraid of?" I pushed carefully, afraid that he would cover his ears and start crying about voices again. He looked into the trees in which birds were sta
LunaIndrik did not seem to appreciate my attempts to brighten his mood which included preparing bath water that was a little bit too hot. He had been so distracted that he had not noticed the rolling steam until he dipped a leg in. He retrieved it faster than a little child who had been playing with fire would withdraw once the fire burned too hot. I had been expecting a smile of sorts but the extremely cold look that I was gifted instead got me running to get more water. I gave up when my joke of replacing his robes with lady Blaire's pink gown did not work either. He just did not know much humour. I couldn't help feeling sorry for whoever his bride was going to be. Finally, I led a glum master to breakfast. He seemed to have decided that his first breakfast with the others after what seemed like ages ago would be better celebrated with a huge frown. Frankly, I couldn't blame him for that. If I had a family like that too, well... And no, I am not being sentimental. The Beta who I h
IndrikI was scared. More scared than I had ever been in my entire life which was saying a lot because I had spent my entire life living in fear. Fear of never being more than a weak wolf who was the butt of everyone's joke. Fear of always being tormented by my half brother. Fear of dying from a simple cold. Fear, fear, fear, that had always been a recurring theme in my life. Something that I hated but could not do without anymore than I could do without breathing. You would think I would have mastered the art of fear by now. Wait a minute, is there anything like that? Forget that. My point is, now, I felt so scared, it paralyzed me. I had only just started to get my life in order, started to reach my dreams and suddenly, my master tells me she won't be training me anymore? My whole world seemed to be crashing around me and it really wasn't a pretty feeling. And then, Leon had come along again, reminding me of my weakness and that even if I had my wolf now, I would still always be th
IndrikWords could not possibly begin to express how much joy flooded my heart when Luna told me that but another thought stopped me cold. "When you say that, you mean..." I gulped, not having the heart to put it into words. "Are you going to show me or not?" Her face was expressionless, leaving me dangling precariously on the precipice of uncertainty. "Uhh... alright." I muttered. It wasn't like I had that much to lose anyway. Well, except for the fact that I was taking her to someplace that no one else, not even my closest friends, was privy to. "So, should we go now?" I crawled out of bed. "No!" She made a gagging face as she looked pointedly at me. I looked down and would have crawled into the earth if I wasn't held back by my skin. I looked like a mess. My robes had become so soaked with dried sweat that white lines snaked across it like cobwebs. My hair felt like it had been glued to my head with tree sap. Everything about me felt sweaty and dirty. "You should go get yoursel
IndrikAs I led Luna through the winding paths that I had only ever walked by myself, it felt rather surreal. Like I was exposing a part of myself that only I had ever known. A part that I had been too scared to share with anyone else. And the most scary thing was that I did not care. If anything, I wanted to show her even more. Wasn't sure she would want to see more though judging by the hay straws that had threaded their way into her hair. Stepping out of the oaken door that led out of the other end of the palace, I stared at the row of tall, thick trees that formed a green and brown wall several feet away. I was hit, as I always was by the ethereal aura that filled this place. It had the ambience of a place that had been left untouched by anyone, both human and wolf for a long time. I could see signs of this place having been used by someone or some people before, a four feet wide entrance that was flanked by tree stumps that led into the heart of the trees. This entrance was easy
LunaWhen my master led me into the horse stables, I thought, "of course! What better place to have a hideout that no one else knew about than in the stables." (I mean, most people preferred their horses when they were outside, looking prim and proper and ready for a ride, not when they were here, reeking of hay, and well, horse. You would understand if I don't want to go into details about what the 'horse' part means. Not that I minded horses, I mean, I did stop by with Lea for a quick greeting.) Then, he had continued right on to the last stable and pushed in. I had hesitated, wondering if my master had meant horse fundament when he mentioned a hideout. Then, he had walked over to the wall and pushed a door open. I had been so shocked, I had gotten a mini vertigo. Sure, I hadn't really been a frequent visitor of the stables but I had taken in the compartment after he went in and could have sworn the door hadn't been there a second before. "You coming?" He had called, extending his