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 Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 3:50 am
"The worst thing you can do is to deny it." the bear went on. "If you are truly concerned about your gift, then you must learn to love who you are and who it is you are becoming...its the only way you will then control and hone your abilities."
He fell silent then, looking to her intently.
go back to your own, wolf. heal, both inside and out, and face the road ahead of you with a clear mind.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 3:57 am
Mire jolted, having not expected Tadge to complete his final thought in the confines of his own mind on the offchance she may hear. Before the tiny wisp of mental tongue could retract from her head, she seized onto it with the fangs of her own mind.
It was frightening, and also strangely exhilirating to be linked this way. ....but what now?
how will i know that i'm ready...? she sent tentatively. and how will i know that the others will accept this new me?
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:01 am
Tadge, as well, jolted. If he'd had doubts about her claim of mindspeak before, they had now fled. This was a sensation entirely new and alien to him, having someone knowingly invade his mind with their own thoughts.
you won't know. you can't know. he thought. you can only become.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:03 am
become... Mire repeated, mulling it over for a bit before letting go of Tadge's mind, feeling it withdraw back into its own private haze without further ado.
Become.
Apparantly she would have no choice but to do exactly that.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:07 am
The scene of enlightenment was shattered abruptly with a stern growl as Myrl emerged from the brush, hackles raised and teeth bared.
The usually-docile wolf was the picture of threat as he approached the massive bear standing off with Mire, eyes locked on the huge brute menacingly. He had awoken at the sound of the humans' gun and from there, had followed the scent of Mire's blood, first to the water's edge where the scent had become diluted, and after some trial and error to this nearby clearing of trees.
"Leave her." he rumbled, tail bristling and held high behind him. "Now."
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 4:13 am
The old bear regarded the male wolf with a look of contempt, though he was devoid of fear. Such audacity...picking a fight with something nearly three times his size. Favored by the gods wolves may have been, but that did not make them any smarter.
He was fairly sure that the striped green male was bluffing, besides, but was not particularly in the mood to put his theory to the test. Not if he was one of the she-wolf's pack.
"Do you know this one?" he asked Mire, though his eyes never left Myrl.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:10 am
"Yes. Yes I do." she replied, sidestepping to place herself between Myrl and Tadge unconsciously. She did not want there to be a confrontation...much less over her.
please. please, i must have frightened him horribly when i left without saying...
She cast about for Tadge's mind and was unable to find it...at least with as secure of a grip as she'd had a moment ago. Perhaps he would hear her anyway...
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:14 am
Tadge, in fact, did not hear Mire's plea at all, but the message, nonetheless, was clear enough.
With a snort, the bear turned from her and shambled in the direction he'd been heading in in the first place, lumbering at a deliberately-sedate pace out of view of the two wolves, as though making it clear that he was retreating by his own choice and not running away.
take care. was the final parting shot, meant only for her should she be receptive to it, and then he was gone.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:20 am
Myrl had stepped slowly closer to Mire with each retreating step of the bear, every muscle tensed in case it should change its mind and turn to attack.
Only after he was sure that it was leaving did he drop his guard.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his hackles immediately smoothing back as he turned his attention to Mire. She stank of blood, fear, adrenaline, and something oddly sulfuric as well eminating from her wounded haunch. Lowering his head, he began to wash his tongue over her blood-grimed fur.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:22 am
"I'll live, I think." she assured him, shying away from his gentle attention to stand once more. Her muscles quaked and her body felt almost as heavy as her mind...for having awakened less than an hour ago, she felt as though she had not slept in ages.
"Myrl..." she whimpered. "...I want to go home."
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:26 am
Myrl nearly protested....it hardly seemed like much of a sabbatical, after all, to leave the pack for a single day and then ask to return. He wasn't even sure that Choma would approve of such fickle behavior....it was surely not enough time to have become enlightened about one's station in life.
....or was it?
Something about Mire seemed different. Perhaps it was finally having a chance to see what she looked like without that ever-present spark of fear in her eyes.
But he hardly saw how she'd accomplished that, considering how closely she'd come to being gored by that--
His train of thought promptly derailed. Could it be that he had misunderstood?
"Mire..." he whispered. "....tell me what happened."
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:30 am
"Humans." she began tentatively, her forepaws beginning to quake with the strain of supporting her weight as she gave in and collapsed to the forest floor. "They had a thunderstick and nearly killed me with it...Tadge frightened them off."
and he did so much more... she added mentally, studying his eyes carefully for a reaction. There was none. She felt a pang of disappointment...perhaps she had a long way to go yet.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:35 am
Myrl was unable to suppress a wince. The bear HAD been helping her...it seemed an apology was owed. However, it was too late for that now, and Mire was the more pressing matter anyway. Padding closer, Myrl curled up beside the exhausted heap of her body and pillowed his head on her back.
"Rest a bit." he insisted. "And then we'll go back."
and if any of them have a problem with it, they can answer to me. he finished in thought.
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Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 5:42 am
It was there again. That same tongue of thought she'd found in Tadge and Mire, tired as she was, eagerly grasped for it, feeling her mind's teeth find purchase in it.
thank you. she sent simply, knowing he would hear it before releasing his mind back into his custody.
They would go back, yes. And perhaps things would be different now. Perhaps they would be even moreso different as she discovered more of her ability.
Perhaps More Than You Think an alien voice whispered. Before she had a chance to become alarmed, her senses were suddenly awash with the delicate scent of newborn puppy. Of the dark earthy scent of a birthing den. Of Myrl nearby. Of the helpless grunts and squeals of blind new babies nested snugly together.
As the vision of a future that could be faded from view, returning her to the present, she was not quite sure how to feel about it.
At length, she decided simply that she would pursue nothing. Things would happen as they happened.
She would, quite simply, become.
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Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 3:02 pm
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