Change had begun across the valley. In the weeks since her training began, the greens of the trees had begun to turn yellow and orange. Caribou had begun to move in vast numbers. The grasses had begun to die back turning into oranges and reds of their own. Despite the changes, not much else differed.
Much was the same below. The forest was much the same. The people of Emerton continued on as they would at any other day. The animals of the area moved mostly the same. As for Elise, much had remained the same as well.
Both Alto and Elise moved through the woods, baskets upon their backs filled with sticks, several canisters of water attached to the sides of their baskets. Both carried on looking around and then moving forward. The sun now high in the air shined down upon the two casting its warmth and providing wildlife with some excitement.
She smiled looking around with not a drop of tension in her body, Alto with a rather bland expression that seemed empty as he looked around. She glanced back once at him with a grin as she caught notice of his look. An eyebrow raised on his face, “What?”
“You seem to be put off. Are my weekly chores too boring for you?”
“The hell are these stupid chores? Why do you not have a cart or anything to really assist you, hack!”
“Cart broke, gotta do it by hand and foot with no help.”
“This is horrid!”
“Oh man, you’ve no idea. Vulper DOES have a cart but, it’s only for meat collection. Speaking of which, there’s a deer about two hundred meters off to your left. If you’d be so kind Alto?”
“Ugh,” he groaned, turning to his left, “Fine fine. I take it back, these are hard enough without my interference. Never again!”
With that howl he wandered away, disappearing over the tree line. Elise chuckled, turning to her right where she then began to move towards. She ran down a trail, the colors of the forest all around. The variety in colors of the flowers, the motion of wildlife, the sounds of nature. Her ran became a casual stroll as she moved along.
The sun shined brilliantly above, snaking through the trees in such a way that a lit path lie before her feet. Birds flew overhead, her gaze now upon them as they flocked away, “So peaceful,” she murmured to herself as she moved, the sun’s warmth washing over her.
On and on, smiles and warmth, her sweater gradually sliding down though not completely. Seconds had turned into minutes as she moved, still far from out of breath. As she moved, she remained unaware as a presence stretched nearby. In the shadows a figure stood, one observing her as she moved.
Her movement stopped, her feet stationary, her mind focused. Her torso tilted left as did her head, eyes gazing back. Behind her were large gray wolves in the distance, exceptionally large standing at about two meters in height. Several had been observing her, several which then turned and darted off at once, “Wolves?”
Her pulse quickened as she turned around completely, the sound of a twig snapping relatively close, followed by only a single crunching foot step. Brush brushed against itself behind, and not via wind. She looked off to the brush, eyes set, “Whoever you are you can stop staring. I know you’re there.”
“I apologize,” came the silky smooth response of a female, “It’s not often I just run into people in the wilderness, so I felt curious.”
From the shadows approached a woman dressed in all white: a white great coat, a white shirt, white jeans, white shoes, a white hood that was down, white gloves, and white socks. Her hair light brown and shoulder length, her eyes a bright pink at the core with a slight purple around them.
“Who are you?”
“I am a simple Sage you might say. Oh but I trust that you’re looking for a name so I shall provide one for you. I was born to the name of Lucy, Lucy Lex Bashwold. And you would be?”
“I’m Elise, Elise Bakuuva.”
The woman halted in plain view, her eyes moving over Elise slowly just as Elise’s scanned over her. A slight smile grew and fell from the woman, “A pleasure to meet you Elise Bakuuva. Might I incline as to what you’re doing out here?”
“Chores mostly. My people require me to gather wood, water, and supplies,” she replied with an adjustment of footing.
“You sound as if you are a servant. Most unfortunate.”
“So I am. Does it matter?”
“I suppose not, each individual has their own ways of living life. Though I will say, not all viewpoints are what they’re cracked up to be, for you never know what lies beyond your solitary confinement.”
“{The devil is this lady?}” Elise thought to herself, looking over the woman one more time.
“Remarkable creatures, aren’t they?”
“Beg pardon?”
“The Amarok, or I guess simply the big gray wolves as most put it.”
“Amarok?”
“Amarok, a term used by the Inuit people. There are many stories about the Amarok, how they can be vengeful yet very helpful. I simply find myself taken aback by the beauty of a natural world from time to time. They say that if an Amarock takes interest, a person has a very bright future ahead of them potentially.”
“Riiiight. Um, sorry but I just-”
“Oh, pardon my ramblings. I understand my words can be simply confusing young Elise. I’m not surprised. Most humans are blind to the words spoken that can mean truly a lot. All I can say is that there is no future in serving a fake people. I can tell by your aura. What you have to try and prove yourself to is not what you see it as truly when you walk among it. You’ll only rise high enough to see the vile nature of what it is you serve and it is not something anyone should have to experience.”
Lucy spoke as she strolled forward passed Elise.
“Most humans… you’re not human I take it?”
“I am something just as all beings are,” Lucy replied from behind, “If you don’t mind, I must be on my way. I am looking for a friend here in these woods.”
“A friend in the woods? Perhaps I can- huh?”
Elise turned her body and looked behind where she was positioned, gaze following the path taken by Lucy. As she finished her turn, the woman was gone. Elise’s eyes darted around, finding absolutely nothing. No tracks, no brush, not a single sign that the lady had been there. She stepped back, looking next to where the Amarock had been. Nothing.
Her head shaking she slowly moved away, “Well that was… weird. That woman, she wasn’t human was she? The way she spoke, no way she was. Crap, who the hell was that? Is she-”
“Elise!” came the call of Alto.
She spun around again to meet his approach. Her head tilted, eyes shifting and looking right around him. He approached with nothing but the clothes he had on, “Alto? Where’s-”
“Oh uh, right. I uh, I ran into a member of your clan. Big guy in a black trench coat.”
“Vulper?”
“Yeah, that’s the guy. He took what I had and the deer, put it all on a cart. He told me to find you and deliver a message real quick. The guy wants to talk to you about something.”
“Something?”
“Yeah, he didn’t say what.”
“Oh no… what could I have done this time?”
“Eh don’t worry about it. He didn’t sound angry; though he does want you back at the caves ASAP.”
“Gotcha… let’s meet up again tomorrow then for another day of training alright?”
“Heh, sounds good. Good luck Elise,” Alto chimed as Elise strolled right by him, heading off for the mountains.499Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQWOHAh245
