I walked to the center of the forest without any true purpose. With time my first impression wore off and fear no longer wan my curiosity. Tonight these smells brought it right back to me, and I had to see once more what they did for fun in this secret squad. The smells were faint as the colors of the dusky dense forest in this cool spring night. I heard some voices and felt some movement to my right. I closed my eyes to concentrate on the fragrance of the new comers. I could distinguish the dew on the leaves all around me... the small rodents jumping on the trees near by and some hidden within the tree trunks or under their roots... I felt some movement in the air coming from within the trees ten meters to my right, there were wingmen, catmen, wolfmen, whalemen and one scent I recognized particularly though I couldn't name it at this moment. There were six men and two female, they traveled together in an accelerated rhythm murmuring amongst themselves. My heart started jumping at the notion of all the knowledge I could gather from so far just sniffing for a while. My abilities were much better tuned than when I first started the year. I couldn't wait to find the extent of them in the long run.
I started moving in parallel, slowly and keeping my distance. After all if I could feel them then so could the wolfman of the group if he tried. We walked for five meters until they entered the clearing. I turned to the left and got to the clearing a few seconds afterwards. There wasn't anyone in the open. The tomb stone door was opened and an amber dim light was escaping from within. Something crashed against my chest from the inside, I considered myself and found that I was breathing uneasy, sweating, nervous and agitated to the point of considering something as stupid as reaching the entrance for a brief peek.
Before I could gather my thoughts and reason with my thirst for meddling I was standing in the clearing, near the crypt heavy door. I cleared my mind and eased my breath so I could concentrate and be less easily detected. Then I tilted my head towards the inside, keeping my body out of inner sight. There were large stone stairs glistening all the way down and ending on a large corridor light by electrical fake torches on either sides. With my eyes closed I could hear the loud argument that seemed to come from inside the earth. I knew the voice that sounded the hardest, it was the voice of the smell I knew before, it was my trainer. I could distinguish some but not all the words.
-``I CAN'T BELIVE we are voting on this again. ...'s as if we will be FORCED to vote until the day we decide in f\#\*\@\$. What the hell is the matter with you people?''
-``\%\@\& that seems to be the matter, DOESN'T IT?'' - this was the voice that sounded over my shoulders the day I was flown back here. I could still picture his hands on my trapezius pulling all my weight. A shiver dropped my spine and shook my memory. - ``\*\#\$ problem is that once more THEY have shown they DON'T see us as a fitting opponent, \@\&\$\&\*\$\% they are intimidated. And do you know what human kind \^\#\*\%\@ known to do to what they fear? EXTINSION!''
-``Don't be so dramatic! And BOTH of you sit down and behave as if you @%$&*^ a seat in this council.'' - A strong yet female, calm yet urgent and determined voice stifled the rising argument. - ``Pray, continue exposing your case, so that we can START addressing the issue and discussing measures. Without further interruptions, if you please!''
The batmen trainer continued in a smoother tone. - ``With the new government we where made clear we had no place n s)\#!\#\%l f=\%\&\#s. I would like each of you to take a look at this report we received last week coming from the president himself. As you can see it explicitly disapproves our c"\$"\#)!\%g u\&t ad a\%y organized a/\#d f234e u\#\$\&\#=\&r c"\$e. This can not be seen as an inconsequential act, on the contrary it requires a strong response.''
-``You are INDUCING A CUE!'' - My trainer answered with clear constrained of his own.
-``As the leader of the squad I see this as a threat to our e"\%/\$(\&\$\%\#m with the humans and as a test of our predisposition to engage in the challenge or surrender to their wimp.''
-``OK. Your personal understanding of the situation is duly noted.'' - The female voice ended his comment with a firm voice. I heard that voice before, just not quite... - ``Now who would like to add to this argument. Yes, of'course, please do.'' - Her last sentence was kind though distant and the answer came from my trainer. Of'course, her voice sounded surprisingly familiar reminding me of the granny - teacher that gave us the welcoming seminar.
A male matured voice added. -``As you all know, this situation has been created before. The fact that the president only gets to know of our existence when he a\$("\&=!s power is one of the major ingredients in the first approach miss-understandings we find. We should APPEAL for a meeting with him, when the council leader should make it c!/\#()\%\& to him, who we are, what we do, where we are and how everything has been dealt these past centuries. I see no need to encourage violent reactions to his decision.''
-``If I may.'' - The batmen trainer interrupted - ``You are naïve to think this is the usual reaction. In previous first approaches we always found the president to address us with c#$%&^& and curiosity, sometimes even fascination. In this case, and if you read it carefully, there is no interest in this man to reach out to us or to consider our kind. I say we prepare for battle and hope there isn't one coming.''
-``Yes. Very wise of you'' - A soft old voice continued - ``We should always be prepared for the moment the humans lose their heads and decide they want war with a minority that integrates their society. Nevertheless, the political approach has proven more than effective for this type of situations, not only with our kind but throughout history. Now if the council approves of this I will as a precaution contact our brothering institutions all over %^Y& $%&%%# and conjure a polite ultimatum to meet the president who dismisses this force so easily.''
-``Anything to add?'' - The female voice again. - ``All in favor? That seems settled then!''
A noise broke my concentration, someone was reaching for the hall down the stairs and I would be, if nothing else, quite visible.
I ran towards the trees, though
-``Hey. Who's there?'' - An empty voice hit my back. I didn't stop until I found the trees surrounding me. Then I blended to the scenery as best I could, controlling my erratic breathing and closing my eyes. A wingman ran up the stairs and moved around the tomb stone.
-``Is anybody there?'' - He left and I strode back to the gymnasium.
I found no lights, the door closed and no living soul. I went straight home and decided not to dramatize the meeting I heard partially from the other end of a stone fortress. A bath, a warm long bath would shake this rising illogical fear. It is more than natural that the world dwells with our existence every time it is faced with it. We are after all freaks of nature, hidden from humans to avoid undesirable conflicts. In fact we were used many times by humanity and fortunately it was ever far more profitable to use us under the shadows than to come clean and confront this insignificant and advantageous minority of living nightmares.