A wolf ambled down a slope between the trees, her black and white coat further dappled with the thin, powdery snow that clung to everything warm. It was a bad day for hunting and travel – she’d known that when she’d woken to a bird’s harsh scream – but she’d couldn’t afford to linger either. Only prey got to eat while standing around, and the lemming she’d killed earlier now knew what fate that led to.

She imagined the rodent in her stomach being fat and heavy, swinging her gut from side to side. She imagined being full to the point of lying down and whining in discomfort. It had been a long time since she’d been that full, but the memory was warm and lingering with only that lemming to put a meaty taste in her mouth. At the bottom of the hill she glanced back, noting her trail with critical, dark eyes, and after some consideration blew a disgruntled stream of breath into the frosty air and trotted on casually, dreaming of her stomach.

Three days without a pack. Though his wounds healed, the silence seemed to go on forever. In the night, when winter’s chill burned so deep, while he pushed his way through a snow bank, searching for a safe place to sleep, for a few minutes the voices of other packs would haunt the air and his vocal cords would tremble, but the sound died in his throat. They would not welcome him.

Now another brutal morning had come. As he wandered through the hills, nose to the wind, his sharp ears detected the sound of crunching snow. Could it be another wolf? A pack scout come to chase him off some other wolf’s hunting ground, perhaps? Zale snarled low to himself.

Well, at least it was company. Maybe he could even have some fun. He stood tall and waited for the wolf to come to him.

Dimah sniffed as she padded on, skimming the earth with her nose. Dying leaves, dead leaves, rotting leaves, bird s**t, frozen earth, lichen, sap, dead bugs, and more. She was too busy trying to catch a fresh musk of prey to notice the heavier current in the breeze for several breaths. When it finally came to her, her head pulled up tautly, slinging snow everywhere. Wolf! The forest hid him him for the moment. Her paws moved with aching slowness, and she could swear the snow was creaking, crunching louder than ever with the intent of giving her away. Licking a crust of frost from her mouth, she crept forward until she spotted him. She froze, too busy staring to finishing lowering her forepaw.

The flaring white of his face only brought attention to black fur his eyes sank into. It reminded her of something, but she couldn’t recall what.

This is taking too long.

Shaking the snow from his pelt, Zale started walking in the direction of the sound. Snow crunched beneath his paws. He wanted to be found. His heart drummed for a fight. He needed something made of flesh to release his anger over the loss of his pack and the sudden scarcity of food that came with it. When he finally spotted the other male he, uh – oh…

That’s a female. Zale blinked, ears perked, paws tingling. She looked like she was alone.

He smiled, hoping not to startle her. He called to her, making his voice sound apologetic, “Hail there! Am I in your territory?”

If she ran he would chase her. He didn’t have anything to lose.

Dimah blinked slowly, pulling herself from memory, and raised her chin a bit. So this land wasn’t his either. “I have none,” she called back stoutly. Inwardly, she was growing more uncomfortable. His voice was friendly and the woods at her back felt cold and full of nothing but more dead leaves, but she’d been avoiding wolves for some weeks now. Leaving was probably the wiser decision.

“Neither have I,” he answered smoothly, taking a step forward. Behind his pleasant mask he analyzed her body posture. Rarely was he forced to make snap inferences about a stranger. In his old pack he knew everyone by name. Most of them he’d known his whole life. This was exciting.

“I’ve been journeying for days now, following the will of the spirits. Do you know of them, stranger?” He tilted his head questioningly.

Dimah’s original caution had begun returning in the form of tension in her shoulders and stiffness in her tail, but he spoke before she could turn or snarl at his approach. Silence struck her for a dumb moment, and then her ears pricked.

Her father had laughed at her for that sort of talk. Her sister had only turned away from her in embarrassment. But where were they now? One sunk in his private failures, the other dead. “Yes. Who are you?” she asked in a softer voice, one that called him closer to listen and talk without shouting.

“You may call me Zale, but Zaledenet is my full name. I’m a shaman.”

As he came closer, for every step and every word he said his mind was ahead by ten. If he could get her to stay sooner or later she would ask questions and he would need answers to satisfy them. It was exhilarating.

For example, when you tell someone quite simply that you are a shaman, you must sound convinced of it yourself or they won’t believe you. You don’t get into the business of lying to another person’s face just for a means to an end. You do it because you damn well enjoy it!

Dimah’s head twitched in want of tilting, her lip in want of trying his name. A shaman. She didn’t know the word well. She knew when the moon was a friend by it shape, and that mist was treacherous, and that when a lake froze over what went on below the ice had nothing to do with mortals. She knew things no one had told her and believed in them more strongly because of their self-evidence, but a shaman? “I am Dimah.” She had no title to give, but her eyes were bright. “Are you of this area?”

“This is not my home. I asked the spirits to lead me to a new pack where my powers will be more appreciated.” He frowned slightly at that, narrowing his eyes into the distance. When he looked back at her his eyebrows knitted as if in concern. “How do you know of spirits?”

Dimah snuffed at his question and felt her tail move in a slow wag. “They make signs for those willing to see. I simply heed their warnings and advice as best I can, and we’ve served each other well enough in the past years.” She made a tiny step and smelled the air around him, wishing she could have knocked him over and studied him at her leisure.

Rather than welcome her inspection, Zale tried to get some space. He was still a little sore from the beating his pack gave him and didn’t want to be touched. Besides, he wasn’t sure he could trust her yet.

“You sound like a natural,” he commented.

“That seems the best form of understanding - natural,” was her unconsidered answer. Dimah gave up on further examining for the moment and forced herself to sit back on her haunches. She still felt dazzled at the chance of the meeting, but it might be better not to push him too much. Should he leave it would be impossible to find him again. The forest had a way of stretching unimaginably and swallowed what it liked. “Which way have the spirits been leading you?” she asked, this question a bit more tentative than the last.

Zale nodded, “To the east. What lies in that direction I do not know, but I trust the spirits will keep me safe. The spirits work in mysterious ways. Sometimes they answer me in unexpected ways. Are you also following their signs?”

The implication was obvious.

She answered, almost smiling. “Yes, I’ve been bound south and east for some time.” Indeed, her body offered a glimpse of the traveled miles in the last few weeks. Her frame was strong and her fur heavy against the elements, but in each movement muscles shifted visibly beneath the skin. She was sharp still, but lacked the smooth weight of the comfortably fed. “I’ve been having a more muddled time of it lately though. Mixed signals if any, but I would think meeting you is a sign, and with your agreement would travel with you – at least for a short time.”

He smiled and it seemed confident and reassuring. “Well, I could help you with that. Spirits can be tricky. Not all of them are on our side.” He shifted his paws, turning toward the south east once more. “We should get moving. This snow is making my blood cold. I’ll tell you more of what I know as we go.”

With this female on his side he might be able to catch a decent meal tonight, not to mention a warm companion to curl up against at night. If he was cunning he might be able to keep her with him for a long time. Only when and if he found another pack would he decide to toss her aside or keep her, depending on her usefulness. For the moment he was just glad to have a companion. Loneliness didn’t suit him.

East then. Into the sun. Dimah rose readily, feeling more alert now than when she had first crushed the lemming this morning in her jaws. She had been adrift long enough to fear staying that way. Waking, running, and eating was not enough. The forest spoke too much in silence, and after hours of hearing the cool breeze groaning through the trees she often felt delirious and small. And Zale? He was a pinpoint her rambling now, though she didn’t know what he would come to mean.

It was as they began walking that she glanced at him and recalled what his eyes reminded her of, all sinking blue in dark fur. They were frozen lakes, and what went on below the ice had nothing to do with mortals.

((Fin~))