Stepping over a moss covered root, I huffed as I followed Vim ever deeper into the forest.
He was walking a few feet ahead of me, and seemed to have some kind of path he was following… but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Did he not realize we were walking in circles?
"Where are we going Vim? Another village?" I asked.
"To give an offering," Vim said.
"An offering…?" I tried to think of what that could mean. Offering to whom? Where? Why?
Stepping around a large boulder that Vim had stepped up onto and then down again, I wondered if our strides were really that different. He had clambered up on top of the boulder with ease, taking only two steps…
Pausing for a moment to study the large rock, I realized I could only get up on top with two steps if I actually jumped. It would take a strong leap to do so.
Vim slowed for a moment, but didn't look back at me. He returned to his normal pace once I hurried away from the rock.
Studying him, I realized he was taller than me. I mean, he had always been… but I hadn't thought he was that much more so. Maybe it was because of my ears…
"A member of the Society and her family live in this forest… but they're a little special. They're like Tor, kind of," Vim then said.
"Rodents?" I asked.
He chuckled, and in such a way that told me he found my assumption hilariously silly.
It wasn't that silly. After all I didn't know anything about this Tor… I hadn't gotten to meet him, thanks to Silkie's aversion of me.
"By the way, what do you think of this forest?" Vim asked before I could ask more about these new members I was about to, hopefully, meet.
"Rather than the forest I want to know why you have us circling around so much. Can't we just go in a straight line?" I asked.
Vim suddenly came to a stop, and I hesitated… had I said something bad?
He turned to study me, and I found a frown on his face.
Woops. I did.
"I forgot what you were," he said softly.
"A… very happy friend who wants to live a long time and spend that long life helping the society?" I offered.
His frown turned into a smile, and it made me smile in turn. It looked good on him… especially since I had been the one to put it there.
"You had mentioned you grew up in a forest, hadn't you," he said.
I nodded. "One denser than this," I said.
This place was dense. And… old… The trees here weren't the biggest, nor tallest, but the moss and foliage here told anyone with an eye to see, how long this forest has been here.
We were walking upon hundreds of years of life. Layers upon layers of grass and bushes laid on roots and rocks. Moss and leaves were layered on them. Odds are this forest was due for a fire, based off the density of the duff.
"Yes… I apologize. Instinctively I had been taking the long route, so that you wouldn't remember how to get there… Sorry about that," Vim sighed.
"Huh?"
He nodded and pointed to our left. Towards the very area we had been circling in one form or another for hours. "It's there. Come on," he returned to walking as he headed that way instead.
Glaring at him as he guided me towards the very path we had walked upon nearly an hour ago, I wondered if I should be angry or not.
"You don't want me remembering where the village is?" I asked him. If so that hurt a little. It meant he didn't trust me. Which… I mean… was to be expected somewhat but…
"No. Or well, yes. But there's no need for that. You can remember it if you wish," he said.
"Because you realized I would anyway. Which means you're only trusting me because you have to. Want me to stay here until you're done?" I asked. I could hear my own hurt and whining in my voice, and for once I hoped he heard it fully and well too.
Vim slowed to a stop again. He rubbed the back of his neck, and then turned a little to watch me come up and stop next to him. I stood a few feet away, but close enough that he should understand my own thoughts in the manner.
I wanted to be trusted. And if I needed to earn it, he simply needed to tell me how to do so.
"Renn, to be honest I had just… acted naturally. Usually when I visit certain places, with others in tow, it's because I'm taking them elsewhere and they're just accompanying me on my route for a short time. Those individuals, like Lomi… don't need to know the exact location of some of our members," Vim began to try and explain.
And trying he was indeed. He looked… hurt himself. As if it had been he who had just been told he couldn't be trusted.
"I know I haven't truly proved myself yet Vim, so they're only words… but I promise to never harm any in the Society," I said.
Vim studied me with his heavy eyes, and I hated how young I felt in front of him. Even if he was truly many times older than me, I was still old myself. I was not a child. Yet before him sometimes I felt…
"I've taken you to meet every member on the way so far, have I not?" Vim asked me.
I nodded, he had. As far as I was aware at least.
"I'd not have done so if I hadn't believed in that promise, Renn. Tor is one thing, but Rapti and Kaley are feeble, and alone. I would not have allowed you to meet them, or even know of their existence, if I didn't think you safe enough," he said.
Although I did my best to keep the warm happiness from showing on my face from his words, my tail and ears still showed the truth. But I didn't hide or turn away in shame for displaying such joy… since after all, I had been waiting to hear such words for some time.
"Thank you," I said, and noticed the small crack in my voice. Hopefully he simply mistook that for my typical emotional self.
"That being said… I apologize. I meant no ill will by it. As I said I did so by instinct…" He sighed as he shook his head, as if upset. "Wasted half the day. That's on me."
Half the day… so we really could have been there that much earlier.
"What made you forget? Or… why?" I asked, wondering how to actually phrase my question.
"Not sure…" he whispered.
"Am I that forgetful?" I asked him.
He smiled softly and shook his head. "No… I was actually thinking of you this morning as we entered the forest. I should have simply realized it then… maybe I'm getting old?" He asked himself.
Thinking of me?
"What were you thinking about?" I asked.
"Your name," he answered and returned to walking.
Pausing for a moment before following, I wondered what that meant.
My name? Was there something weird about it?
"The one's we're going to meet are wolves. Old ones. Real ones. Specifically I'm here to see the patriarch of their little pack. Her name sounds weird in our language, so I just call her Bray," Vim said.
"Bray…?" I asked as I picked up my pace as to stay with him. He had begun to walk a little faster.
He nodded.
"Real ones, you mean actual wolves don't you," I also realized.
He nodded again.
"So… You hadn't been teasing when you had said Tor was a small rodent," I said.
"I might have somewhat exaggerated his smallness, but he really isn't human in any form. They're what you'd call ancestors. Remnants of a forgotten era," Vim explained.
"I'd heard of them. My grandmother spoke of her grandparents. They had been large beasts. Able to see the top of treetops while lying down," I said, remembering one of her stories.
"There's likely some truth to that. Many were… special. Large in size, or possessing strange abilities and traits," he said.
"Strange abilities… you mean like Rapti, who grows old if she doesn't pluck her feathers?" I asked.
"Something like that."
I noted the way he said that.
Seemed he trusted me enough to let me meet her, but not know more than that.
Although a little disturbing… I accepted it. After all, I knew it'd take me a long time to really earn his trust.
Maybe even decades. Centuries.
I looked forward to those many years.
While walking, I tried to imagine it. An amount of time equaling, or even greater, than my whole life.
Maybe even many times over. Hundreds of years… learning and meeting so many people. Earning their trust. Earning their friendship.
It made me teary eyed.
Blinking blurry eyes, I paused as I realized we weren't in a forest anymore.
Suddenly we were in a great field. Covered in lush grass and flowers, the only trees in view were far off in the distance.
"Huh…?" I tried to understand what had just happened. We had just been in a forest. A real one. Although there did seem to be a forest, a similar one, off in the distance… how had we ended up so far outside it?
Looking around, I was a little relieved that Vim was still nearby. He was walking ahead calmly, which told me that nothing… unnatural had happened… but…
Surely something had. I had grown emotional in my thoughts but I would not have missed such a thing as this.
The ankle high grass was lush, and the flowers scattered all over were vibrant colors. And huge. Most looked…
Bending down near one, I studied the massive purple flower. It was bigger than my head.
"How have you been Bray?" Vim's voice drew my gaze away from the flower, and I groaned as once again the world changed.
Now there were large rocks. Boulders, of all shapes and sizes… Scattered all around. Some were even covered in grass and moss.
Although the rocks were new, the field of grass and flowers was the same… but what really made me flinch were the large wolves all around us.
Hurriedly standing, I tried to count them as I hurried to Vim's side. Luckily he was only a few feet away.
Once next to him, I slowly began to calm down. Not that I felt I was in any actual danger… but it was very unnerving for the world to seemingly alter itself without me noticing. And I didn't like how these creatures had appeared out of seemingly thin air.
I hadn't even smelled them.
In fact… I still couldn't.
A heavy, and very rough sounding, paw scraped stone. The sound drew my eyes towards it, to the front of us. I had to peer around Vim's shoulder to see it, as a massive white wolf stepped up onto a large boulder in front of us.
This was undoubtedly the alpha… and also likely the one Vim had come to find.
It was several large bounds away from us… yet looked up close thanks to its size. The thing's paws alone were probably as big as my whole body.
It could swallow me whole.
Yet for as huge… as powerful as it looked…
"She's beautiful," I whispered as I stared into its golden eyes. They shone, as did its white fur… but somehow they looked…
"You're not so bad yourself," a deep female voice said.
I shivered, and realized it had spoken.
Bray Vim had said. One of us. Animal yet not.
Of course.
Vim chuckled as he looked at me, but I ignored him. I focused on the wolf in front of me, and the many dozens around us. None of the other ones were anywhere near as big as she or as pretty… but each was still beautiful in its own right.
"Been well I hope?" Vim asked it.
"Yes," was all she said. She lowered her head a little, as if to study us a little closer.
I gulped, feeling suddenly the center of attention. I doubted they needed to study Vim as deeply.
"Family looks fine," Vim commented as he looked around. Did he recognize them all? Did they all have names? There were a few that were the size of a normal northern wolf. Still huge, but nothing compared to the others.
"Yes," the wolf said again.
While glancing around, I wondered why her responses were so brisk and simple. She obviously could say more, since she had earlier… but…
"Glad to hear it. And the forest?" Vim asked further.
Typical of him to ask such questions… they were really common from him, when meeting members of the society it seemed.
"Well," was all she said.
Vim nodded, and then reached around to grab something in the small of his back. I watched him mess with a small pouch, one that hung from his belt.
Wait… had he always had those pouches?
No. He hadn't. Where did they come from…?
He pulled the pouch off the belt, and I noticed the small string it had used to wrap around the belt… fade away. As if disintegrating.
Transfixed, I watched as Vim slowly opened the small bag and pulled out a small blue jewel.
Or rather… an orb? Maybe an egg? It was about the size of my fist, which made me self-conscious cause it looked a little small in his hand.
"Hm," The large wolf stood up straighter, its eyes leaving me finally. They went straight to the orb.
Vim stepped forward, and then bent down. To put the blue orb on the ground.
The thing made an odd noise as it rolled onto the grass. A high pitched sound, that reverberated… as if there was an echo.
After putting the orb down Vim stepped back and then glanced at me. He nodded, seemingly proud of himself.
"Huh?" I frowned at him as he gestured for me to join him. He was walking away.
"See you again later," Vim said to the wolves, and without looking back turned and headed away.
Being forced to accompany him, I tried to look behind us. Behind him, to see the wolves.
The giant white wolf hopped off the boulder, and suddenly was smaller. Now a more normal size, it bent its head down… and then took the blue orb into its mouth.
"Vim?" I asked, trying to understand. We were leaving? Already?
Looking at him, and his strange smile, I wondered why. I hadn't even introduced myself yet!
"Goodbye Renn," the wolf then said.
Quickly looking back, I found a different world again.
The boulders were gone. The field was now an open plane, devoid of flowers but covered in grass.
Only the white wolf was there. Back to its massive form. Inside its jaws, behind pure white fangs, was the glow of blue. Most likely the orb.
"Goodbye…" I whispered to her.
Bray nodded and then turned away.
A few moments later, I blinked and she was gone.
"What the heck Vim?" I complained, looking back at him.
"Hm?" he paused, looking at me with a look of worry.
I was about to complain. To ask why we had left already… but before I could, I noticed the trees.
Glancing around, I groaned at the familiar forest. The one we had been walking through most the day.
"Oh… you wanted to talk to her, didn't you?" Vim asked, realizing it.
"Of course I did!" I complained as I focused on him. I'd think about the forest later.
"Sorry. She's not much of a talker," he said.
"She talked to me!" I argued.
"She did," he nodded.
I groaned as I turned around. To look around us. There was no sign of her. Or any of the other wolves.
"What did you give her?" I asked.
"A heart," he said.
Hesitating, I frowned. It had looked like a jewel. "A heart?"
He nodded. "Of a monster."
"Monster…?" I asked, what did he mean?
"I mean it literally. I told you we came here to make an offering, remember?" he asked with a small smile. He was amused at my reaction.
"You… you did… is that what you meant? Why did you offer the heart of a monster to her? Why did she eat it?" I asked.
"You ask a lot of questions," he sighed.
"Because that was ridiculous! We weren't there, then we were, then we're here again! How does that happen?" I asked loudly. Maybe if I yelled she'd come back.
Vim's smile didn't die off, but he did seem to soften his look as he studied me. He remained silent, however.
"And if that was going to happen, what was the point in trying to make sure I didn't know how to get there?" I asked further.
"Could you come here again? Without me?" he asked.
Hesitating, I looked around.
Yes. There was that boulder. The one vim had walked over, and I had walked around. I knew where we were.
"Maybe," I said honestly.
"Good. There might be a day I'll ask you to. If you walk there," Vim pointed behind us. To where we had just come from. "Between those two flowers," he further explained.
Sure enough there were two flowers. They were small, barely noticeable amongst the foliage… but they were the same purple color of the one I had looked at earlier.
"Pass through those and you'll go to the fields. Once in the field just walk around, Bray will find you. You leave the way you came, and then you're back here," he said.
"Really…?" I asked. Just walk in-between the flowers?
"For now don't think too much about it. Bray is old. And powerful. She's useful, even if a stiff sometimes," he said.
"Stiff?" I asked as Vim turned to return to walking.
Following him, I studied his expression as he frowned. "She's the type to bite you if you annoy her. She doesn't give warnings, usually."
"Oh…?" I didn't like that. Especially since I probably would have talked to her and asked so many questions she probably would have bit me, if I had been allowed to.
"And the heart is…" Vim slowed to a stop, and I went wide eyed as I watched the man hesitate. Seemingly unsure of himself all of a sudden.
He then looked at me, and my back went straight. I felt my tail go stiff, and I gulped as he stared into my eyes.
"If I tell you, it could get you killed," he then said.
"Killed?" I asked, worried.
"There will be those who will want that knowledge. And are willing to kill for it. To torture and do debase things. There are some who will even dare my wrath, given the chance to do so," he said.
"Over the heart…? Then why did you give it to her if it's so precious?" I asked.
Vim pondered something for a moment. I couldn't tell if it was my question, or something else though. "Rather… I suppose it's a good way to give you the opportunity to prove yourself," he said.
My ears perked up, and I was suddenly very excited. For many more reasons than one!
"It could get you killed, though. Are you sure?" he asked me.
"You believe in free will," I said to him.
His eyes narrowed but he nodded.
"I want to know, if it's something I can… show I can be trusted, then yes. Please, tell me," I said.
"That was the heart of a Monarch."
He spoke so purely, and so seriously… I felt as if I had just been told a very severe secret.
Yet I couldn't understand it.
"Monarch… Rapti had mentioned that," I said.
"As had others," Vim said.
I nodded. Kaley had too. Yet she hadn't cared about it.
"It's a great being. Something similar to Tor or Bray," he gestured behind us.
"Huh?" Like them?
"Bray is the offspring of a Monarch. It's why she's able to eat their hearts and not become corrupted. She's one of few I can entrust such things to anymore," Vim said.
I stepped back and tried to wrap my head around what he was saying.
"You… you mean…" I hesitated, and felt numb. As if cold. As if I was floating in an ocean, naked.
Vim nodded. "That was the heart of a creature like them. One I tore out with my own hands," he said.
One of us.
"But… why?" I whispered my question.
"Because it needed to be done. Monarchs are not named such because they are rulers. They're named it because the idea is that their crowns need to be taken. By force," Vim raised his left hand and clenched it, making a fist.
The meaning was clear.
"They gave birth to our bloodlines. To all of us. Yet they're not suited for this world. Not suited to rule. Luckily there aren't many left, as far as I'm aware," Vim said.
"Birth to us…" I whispered.
He nodded. "Somewhere up your ancestral line is most likely one too. Could be a cat, could be something different. Hell, I could have already killed that one too for all I know," he said.
Looking behind, to the purple flowers in the distance… I wondered if that meant…
"Yes. It means one day I might have to kill her too," Vim then said.
Closing my eyes, I groaned and wished I hadn't thought it. Maybe then he wouldn't have said it aloud.
Putting my head into my hands, I quietly tried to calm my throbbing head.
The closer one was in relation to these supposed monarchs…
They were seen as an enemy to Vim.
"Why…? Why are they our enemies?" I asked, trying to understand.
"Because they upset the natural order. They kill. They devour. They poison. They only take, never give," he said.
"They gave birth to us right?" I asked, countering his logic.
"In theory. In reality those like you only exist because of their carnage. You're descendants, but not in the way you think. Think of it more like… pollution. Then eventually your bloodlines are born and spread the more… normal way," he seemed to hesitate at the end there.
Poison…
Maybe that was why my grandmother had said our ancestors were wild. Without reason. Savage.
Still…
"Come on. Don't think about it too deeply. Nothing's changed, you just learned a little bit of history," Vim said as he gestured for me to return to walking with him.
History. Sure. Only if one looked at it from that way. A surface level perspective.
It wasn't history after all.
He had just killed one of those very monarchs. And there were more out there. More to be killed.
That wasn't any common old history. That wasn't something forgotten over the years.
That was our world today. My world. The one I was trying to make a nest in. The one I wanted to join.
"I'm out of my depth," I complained.
Vim laughed. "Welcome to my world!"