The setting sun floods the heavens with seas of hazy clouds, the color of salmon drifting into darker waters. As the sunlight fades over the mountainside and abandons the sky to the moon and her stars, the forest begins whispering as nightling creatures wake from their daytime slumber. The sister wolves are following the scent of a recent kill, finding a dip in the long grasses where blood still drenched the soul. The body of a yearling buck was hauled through the grasses beyond the tree line away from prying eyes. The scent of the mother tigress and her young remain nearby even hours after the buck was brought down and feasted on. As Sayda slumps down low to sniff the earth, a soft yet slow patter of paw steps approaches the sisters, coming from deeper within the bushes and trees. Through the thicket of overgrown vegetation, a fiery face with enchanting eyes emerges in the wake of a familiar greeting that came from deep within her throat. The strange sound, now familiar to the sisters, is a form of 'hello'. Instead of being alarmed, both the sisters bow their heads in respect of the tigress. The three wolf cubs at their flanks follow their movements as they too have become used to the mother tigress's presence. In return, the tigress dips her head warmly.
"Good evening Sayda and Yùrlynn. I see your young have grown healthy and strong since the last time we've crossed paths."
Yùrlynn straightens her posture, standing proudly as she answers, "They have indeed grown strong and healthy thanks to your kindness no doubt. You have our thanks tigress. We are highly grateful for all that you've done for us."
"There is no need to thank me Yùrlynn. You took in a cub for me so that debt is paid."
"But if it wasn't for you, my pups might not have survived without their mother or my sister. Truly, tigress, you've done more than any other would have done given my condition."
"I am glad you are recovering well Yùrlynn. Your sister and your pups too."
"Now what of your cubs? How are they?"
The tigress smiles tenderly, "They are as strong as their mother and in good health. Today was Dæv'yièl's first official hunt."
Both sisters perk their ears with interest. Yùrlynn asks curiously, "Did he bring this spike down all by himself?"
"Not quite, but he did help lead the yearling my way. He earned his first scar in doing so."
Sayda chuckles, her once rasping voice now smoothed over and polished like the stones beneath a riverbed, "A fine lesson learned well I hope."
"What lesson is that?" Yùrlynn's youngest pup Quiver asks.
"To remain cautious of a buck's crown no matter the size," Sayda explains. "A good hunter must always remain cautious because the outcome is never set in stone."
"Well said," the tigress says.
"Thank you," Sayda dips her head again and smiles.
"Would you all care to join us for a story under the stars? It's a peaceful night and there is a spot not far from here that is perfect for the occasion."
Yùrlynn answers happily, "We would be delighted to join you and your family. We have stories we could share."
"Wonderful," the tigress hums and goes to turn, "Heed my paw steps and I will lead the way."
The tigress leads the group into a clearing where her cubs lay waiting in a shallow dip in the earth that was carved out by the tigress herself. The dirt is cooler beneath the topsoil, making it a perfect place to relax and escape the lingering heat in the air. Both Dæv'yièl and his sister Ayn'jièlah immediately stand in the presence of the wolf family walking out from the trees behind their mother. Instead of sharing her brother's harsh stare, Ayn'jièlah gazes at the wolves with excitement swirling in her eyes. Cry'stel rolls over onto her stomach and watches wearily as the wolves make themselves comfortable alongside her mother. They sit panting from the heat, in a circular manner, and as the mother tigress sets her sights upon her cubs, Ayn'jièlah is the first to join them.
"Come now, the both of you. We have guests joining us tonight."
Cry'stel picks herself up and quickly accompanies her mother's side, staying comfortably hidden from the eyes of the stripped wolves. With a noticeable vulgar attitude, Dæv'yièl drags himself over and sits between his sister and Cry'stel. As he settles, the young tiger arches his neck to reach the wound on his shoulder, continuing to lick where the spike had left its mark.
The mother tigress ignores his rude behavior and looks at the sisters with ears and eyes at their full attention, "Would you care to go first?"
The sisters share a glance before Sayda motions for her sister to speak freely, "Go on Yùrlynn. You know the story better than I do."
Yùrlynn licks her lips, noticing every pair of eyes focusing on her, waiting for the shewolf to begin.
"Don't be shy now sister," Sayda says while offering Yùrlynn a soft nudge.
She takes a deep breath, recollects her thoughts, and works out where to begin, "Alright, settle down and listen closely, and if something I say frightens you, feel free to stop me at any time. The story I am going to share with you all is as old as the North itself, older than the snow and ice when the wolves first roamed the open grasslands many years before the time of the Ice King. When the tribes were small and few, and dark creatures plagued the forests."
Ayn'jièlah whispers to her mother, "But I thought he was called the Snow King?"
The tigress hushes her, making Yùrlynn chuckle softly, "The king of the Northlands was a great conjurer of winter, and came by many titles. So, in truth, he was called the Snow King as well as the Ice King."
Ayn'jièlah smiles but remains modest enough so that the she-wolf can continue with her tale.
"This story is called Heidi and the Lost Forest. During this time, wolves of our kin and many other species kept to their own, staying in close family groups that would occasionally cross paths. Conflicts between tribes were common then, but nothing was as dangerous as passing through the forests. Tribes would travel only during the summer and winter months following the movements of the herds while moving in and out of territories that pass through the forests. In one of these tribes, a family of wolves had settled between the Seer's Hills and the KaiLou Woods. Here in this open field, a mother wolf gave birth to a weakling pup who she named Heidi. The wolf mother looked upon her child with sad eyes as the pup that she cradled had been born incredibly ill and very small. And no child has ever survived past a full turning of the moon with an illness that takes the lives of many Northern Borns. Yet this mother could not part with her only pup, and as the days passed gradually, the mother wolf never left her den. After fifteen days little Heidi finally opened her eyes, surpassing the turning of the moon yet did little to ease her packmate's concerns. Since her illness had no cure, the wolf family felt that caring for little Heidi was a waste of energy and resources, but the mother would not accept their fears. With each turning of the moon, little Heidi started to walk, and although she was clumsy, little Heidi was determined to get it right. This brought such a joy to the mother wolf that when the time had come to travel between the forests again, little Heidi was walking like any healthy pup. And so, this wolf family headed to the east passing between the Cold Forest and the Greater Blue Pines where the trees there grew tall and grim with thorns.
Here little Heidi started to wander off in search of a sound that intrigued her, ignoring the heeding words of her elder and mother who grew fearful of the sound that pursued them. She would wander farther and farther away with each of the four days it took to pass through the forest, as the sound seemed closer each time she left their sides. Then on the final day, little Heidi had wandered too far from the eyes and ears of her packmates, crossing the tree line and eventually getting herself lost in the forest she did not recognize. She walked for hours searching for any familiar landmarks that would lead her back to her family. But unfortunately, her searching only leads her deeper into the mysterious and gloomy forest. The farther she descended, the darker her surroundings become until she could no longer see the sky or the trees around her. She would call out for her mother, a weak and hollow toon, and hear only an echo of her voice that the trees did not muffle. Fearful of the blinding darkness around her, the wolf cub curled up and cried herself to sleep.
Suddenly Heidi's slumber stirred swiftly by the sound of an owl hooting in the distance, and for a moment the wolf cub thought she felt the warmth of the sun in her fur. But as she opened her eyes, the sunlight had not greeted her kindly, and nor did the darkness still smothering her vision.
'Hello?' Heidi whispered warily, her voice as faint as the echo that followed. However, her voice was heard, and a response softly echoed back moments after. Little Heidi froze as her heart raced into a panicked rhythm. The familiar voice she had heard was an echo of her own. At least that is what she thought. Heidi was hesitant to speak until the same voice was repeated by the darkness.
'Hello?"
'Who are you?' She asked in a voice trembling, but this time there was no response. Not even her voice had echoed back.
'Where are you...?' She spoke even fainter, but the echoing had ceased completely.
Suddenly the trees changed, shifting and twisting with the rustling sounds of leaves and eerie creaking before the sky blessed the forest with soft and eerie moonlight. A haze of glowing silver dust appeared amongst a branch far out in the tallest tree that soon settled into the shape of an owl. It was as if the owl descended from the moon itself, taking on the bird's haunting appearance. An embodiment of the moon existing in our world as a spirit. Heidi could not break her eyes away from the sight.
'Hello,' said the same voice again, but this time Heidi knew it came from the owl spirit.
'Can you help me? I am lost,' she asked, and the owl turned its head to peer down at her with a terrible blackness in its eyes.
'Lost, help, can you, I.' It repeated and Heidi's ears fell back as she looked up at the owl with an unsettling sense of fear. The owl's dark eyes stared back unblinking; its head still turned in a disturbing manner.
'I-I am from the wolf village of the south fields heading to the eastern meadows. Please owl, I do not know where to go. I am frightened of the night and of this forest.' She confessed. "Please help me find my family?"
After a moment of silence, the owl spoke back, 'Wolf village,' it repeated.
'Yes, the wolf village. Do you know the way?' She asked again.
'The way, wolf village.' It said before taking flight and gliding a great distance passed Heidi. Then it perched on another high branch repeating the same phrase indicated for the wolf cub to follow, 'The way, wolf village.'
And so, she followed not knowing what else to do. The hours pass as she walked on endlessly, but the moon stayed still along with the stars, and the darkness never changed. Little Heidi's paws had long grown stiff and pained her with every step. The owl continued to lead Heidi deeper and deeper in the forest as the rows of trees shifted and groaned to open to the sky whenever the owl flew ahead, only to close as Heidi and the owl passed. Heidi was not sure when the night would fade as it seemed to go on forever. Time felt nonexistent here and when Heidi could not carry her weight on numb legs, she collapsed from exhaustion. Thirst and hunger gave a dull pain in her stomach that the cold slowly stiffened leaving her hollow and eventually filled with a false warmth.
Despite this, the owl proceeded to repeat the same phrase, 'The way, wolf village.' It said one last time before Heidi fell into a deep slumber. Somewhere between wake and dreams, little Heidi heard her name spoken.
'Heidi.'
It was a distinct voice, a familiar one that was calling to her directly at first before sounding far off in the distance, gradually fading. Something about the voice tugged at her mind, but she couldn't remember whom that voice belonged to or why she felt a need to run towards it. As the voice grew more distant, desperation and fear pleaded for her body to move, but move she could not. For her limbs were stiff like ice, frozen to the ground and concealed by snowfall. Her once warm eyes held no color but the empty darkness as the forest claimed her."
"I don't get it. What happened to Heidi?" Ayn'jièlah asks with both curiosity and confusion lacing her question.
"Well as the story goes, Heidi had perished soon after being separated from her pack," Yùrlynn says.
Ayn'jièlah tilts her head, "She perished?"
"I thought she was lost in the woods, mama?" Quiver raises while her two sisters share her puzzled glance.
"She was lost but she did perish. Let me explain the rest. Our kind, along with others in the north believe that the souls of those who have died remain trapped within their bodies unless their flesh is stripped to the bone. And since little Heidi's body was never found by her packmates or by anyone, it is assumed that her body was claimed by the Lost Forest, still buried beneath the ice and snow. You see, she just vanished, bones and all. Some say her soul remains trapped in her body, but both are forever lost wandering the woods of the dead. There she had been misled by an evil guide while the rest of the folklore remains unclear. But what is learned from this story is to never wander off into the forests alone and to stay with your kin. As I see it, the North can be a frightening place if you become lost and helpless. It's why all the tribes stick in groups and why you never see a loner roaming across the snow or through the trees.
Another version of the story I have heard is a little different, but the outcome is still the same. There was a shewolf named Heidi who was born too soon and too small under the night of a new moon. Although she had surprised her family by surviving for the first two weeks, she was still a delicate pup. She was living under borrowed time given to her with the help of her mother who could not endure the thought of leaving her weak child in the unforgiving forest. And so, the child fell ill with night sickness, something uncommon but very possible among children born too early. Heidi's borrowed time had caught up with her and her illness had no cure. One day the child fell asleep and never woke up. Her mother, after many days and nights of staying by her child's side mourning her, had left her for the forest to take. It was her soul that had been lost in those woods along with her body which had vanished the next morning."
"What happened to her body?" Cry'stel murmurs anxiously, though Ayn'jièlah still holds a curious gaze.
"What about the owl?"
Yùrlynn turns her head from the azure cub to her oldest child, Zaida, and says, "Her body was taken by the forest I suppose and the owl in a way represents the forest or an evil guide. Either way, the forest is rumored to be haunted and not even the prey dares to enter there."
"The forest is real!?" Ayn'jièlah exclaims with a wild excitement rushing through her eyes.
Zaida rapidly paws in, "Where is it?"
The mother tigress grimaces and both her and Yùrlynn look to one another and sigh, "it is a real forest and a dangerous one at that. It is concealed within the Forbidden Mountains north of the White River, but you should never venture there by any means. The forest has not been passed through in over two centuries by any creature living, maybe even longer. Those who enter never return or make their way to the other side. Not even birds enter or are seen flying overhead. My mother believed that if you fell asleep in those woods, you wouldn't wake up."
Sayda nods and adds, "Our mother believed that as well."
"Is the forest really haunted?" A sharp gaze of emerald eyes on a pale face glances between Yùrlynn, Sayda, and the mother tigress with uncertainty. Yùrlynn smiles down at her winter pelt cub with tender eyes and licks her forehead gently, "I'm afraid it is haunted young one. But if you keep away from the Forbidden Mountains and stick to the trails made by your ancestors, my dearest Polar, then you will have nothing to fear about such a forest."
Cry'stel shivers, "Please tell me the forest isn't real…"
"I think the forest sounds fascinating!" Ayn'jièlah exclaims with a wide grin. Her excitement had caused her claws to dig into the earth accidentally and upon realizing it she relaxes.
"It's just a story." The tigress hears her son say with a tone coming off as flat. Dæv'yièl's gaze hardens when the eyes of his mother, his sisters, and the stripped wolves glance his way. He's resting with his head on his paws and grunts before turning away.
The tigress keeps her sights on her son as she speaks slowly and softly, "At times we learn more about the world around us through the stories that are shared amongst other tribes and passed down from our elders than through experience, my son. And whether those stories hold true or false does not make it any wiser not to take heed of the words of our ancestors, for they have seen what horrors the world is capable of. Especially in the Northlands. Hence it is sensible to learn about the past so that one may never repeat such acts."
"Hmm," he sighs but never does he fill in her silence.
"Well, I loved your story Yùrlynn!" The young tigress exclaims proudly before turning to her mother, "True or not, scary things don't scare me none, mama!"
The tigress chuckles while Yùrlynn thanks her. "You get that fearless trait from your father."
Smiling at the thought Ayn'jièlah asks, "Am I a lot like father?"
She nods slightly amused, "Very much so, at times it's hard to tell you two apart."
"What was he like?"
"That is another story for another night, my child. How about I tell one of your favorites?"
Ayn'jièlah gasps, "The Dance of Daemons?"
The sisters gawk at the tigress in wonder as Sayda asks, "I've only heard pieces of the tale when another of your kind passed through our village years ago. I was only a young cub with my sister and brothers who had not left our mother's side in the den. Neither of us has ever heard how that story ends since we fell asleep."
"Well, I should know this tale by heart now seeing how my oldest daughter adores it," the tigress smiles. "Long ago when the Northern Kingdom first began, there lived an Ice King tormented by his troubling thoughts while locked away in his castle made of Ice. He was a King of many names and a powerful sorcerer born of pure magic blood. But with that power and torment, he shrouded himself away from the world. His erratic emotions brought on fierce snowstorms and long winter nights that left the land in great peril. This caused a great unbalance in the North, so much that the natural order had been broken, leaving the tribes to fight amongst one another for resources. Many starved, both predator and prey as an eternal winter fell over the North along with an endless night. Monsters from the darkest forests and cursed beasts filled the open tundra and devoured most of the tribes. All seemed hopeless as the last of the tribes fell into hiding, trying to survive in an unforgiving misery that the land had become. And then, a warrior princess was born from the Eztli Tora Tribe in the far east, a land of Ice and Rock. She was born from the All-Mother below, Aisha the life-giver. And when the daemon child came of age, she made the treacherous journey to the Ice King's castle where she found the lone Ice King on his knees frozen in place with a red jewel clutched in both hands held to his heart. His face carried the deepest sorrows, a paralyzing agony that could not be calmed by death, and he was still very much alive. Gently, and with warmth the warrior princess took hold of the Ice King's face and kissed his lips, melting away each icy layer that was his prison.
As he met her eyes, the princess pulled back strands of his long white hair and whispered, "Weep no more, my king, for the time of great sorrow has long passed. It is time to look towards the sun and leave the moon behind."
She takes hold of his hand, picks him up from the icy floor, and leads him to the light of the sun where his heart could feel her warmth and loving embrace. And with her guidance, her love, and her support, the Ice King broke from his troubling thoughts and learned to control his power. In doing so, he fell in love with the warrior princess, and the seasons returned to the North once more. What remained of the tribes who survived came together and with the help of the Ice King and his Daemon Queen, they took the Northlands back from the cursed beasts who fled back into their forests. Over time the prey returned to the North and the natural order started to heal."
Cry'stel yawns before returning her head to her paws, letting her head rest against the mother tigress's arm. As the tigress continues with the story, the azure cub feels herself falling asleep again. A hushed quiet falls over her ears, until a faint breathing, strained and slow eases into her sleeping mind.