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"Return from the Wild"
Date: October 25, 2000 (Aether: April 18, 3907)  As clouds drift across the afternoon's hot sun, most of the Sylvans are sweltering. In the height of summer most rest during the afternoon and work through the evening instead, but that is not always true of the Shifters, up in their hut in the high branches where the breeze always blows cool. WolfEyes stands at the window, looking out over the Glen. Soft-Feather remains back farther, on the opposite side of the room then WolfEyes. They've been talking, apparently. And both have much to think about it. Soft-Feather sits near an open window, as well, watching the goings on below. The view here is incredible. Scrambling up from the main branches and heading towards the classroom her memories drive her to, RagingSpirit rushes in only to stop dead in her tracks. Torn between growling and trying to demand some respect, or snarling and taking off in flee - the graisha just sits there, tail twitching with uncertainity, and a silent snarl on her lips. WolfEyes turns at the disturbance and smiles to see RagingSpirit there, a smile of peace and warmth. "Chookma, RagingSpirit," she says, her deep and musical voice also showing relaxation. Soft-Feather looks up as a smile, a smile slowly expanding across his face. "Spirit..." He just beams, "It is good to see you, Inkana. Please, come in." The teacher seems genuinely happy the young woman is here. RagingSpirit shows every natural sign of uncertainity and fear. Her eyes do not lower from the other wolf spirit in the room, nor do her ears, fuzzy and fur tipped now, flicker towards the voice that greets her. All senses are on alert - aimed at WolfEyes. Still using her mixed form mode of travel, she takes a few side steps, towards Soft-Feather and curls back to rest warily on her 'haunches'. WolfEyes' amiable smile does not fade as she takes a seat on the floor where she stood. "How do you fare, Sister-in-Wolf?" Again, she is showing nothing but friendship to the other wolf-graisha. Soft-Feather remains seated, enjoying to cool breeze that wafts in through the window. He wears his usual robe, but inside the school, and away from formal meetings and representing the tribe, his attire is very loosely held together by a belt. He looks very relaxed. "It's alright, Spirit. She won't hurt you...I promise." RagingSpirit snorts out an untrusting waft of hair through her nose and moves closer to the seated Soft-Feather. Eyes yet remain on the 'other'. No attempt at a reply is made to the woman, her speech troubles her too much for her to even bother. WolfEyes frowns ever so slightly. "After all I have done for you, RagingSpirit, you still see me as an enemy? I will remind you, when Eagle wounded you it was because you attacked her, not for fun or pleasure." She sighs and shakes her head. "Do you forget such things so swiftly?" Soft-Feather watches the two, and sighs a little. Always it comes to this. Always. He will be glad for the day when Spirit and Wolf cooperate and learn from each other. For really, WolfEyes could teach Spirit more than he could. She once went down the same path. RagingSpirit cants her head at WolfEyes, as if trying to think back and concentrate. Still, her jaw is clenched with dislike. Perhaps, or more likely, it is the dominant rank that the woman holds which keeps Spirit away. The same aura and rank that pushed her from her family and her tribe so long ago. She does however, pick up on Soft-Feather's sigh, and eyes glance to him for a moment, before resting back on the woman. It is then, that although she does not grow too relaxed, she is not bustling with aggression anymore either. WolfEyes, although she still holds her rank, has chosen to leave it at the door. It is always so for this graisha - when she teaches a class, she is pack-leader, but at all other times she is just a normal graisha as any other. Soft-Feather is the one who leads the school, and she will defer to him where his ideas and her own do not argue. And so she nods to Soft-Feather first before speaking again, to ask almost for his approval. "RagingSpirit, Soft-Feather and I will teach you what we can, hmm? I have offered before to teach you how to speak again, and if truth be known, I know how to teach it because I had to learn myself when my teeth grew so long." Soft-Feather nods somberly, "She's right. For all my experience, I've never been a wolf. I've never had to learn to speak or live with parts of me that weren't permanently Sylvan. For all my listening and talk, I can't know what it's like to be graisha...not completely. Let her teach you...be her student. You should not fear her...if she were to hurt you, I would hunt her down and give her what for." He winks at Spirit, "I can help you with your control...and with learning how to take new shapes and remain calm in bad situations. She can teach you how to be the best graisha you WANT to be." RagingSpirit listens intently, her tail swishing back and forth as she does. She licks her lips a little, eyes held solid to WolfEyes as she ponders the words, and the offer. A deep breath is taken, and she looks fearfully tense, as if about to pounce or about to whimper pathetically. Neither come to pass, and in a final show of submission, and of letting go of the wolf's pride - Spirit nods, and lowers her head, her body follows as she spreads low to the ground. Big eyes look up curiously to watch the others reaction.. her acceptance or rejection. So much of the wolf controls her, so much she needs to relearn and adapt to. But today, the first step is taken. WolfEyes smiles gently. "RagingSpirit, there is no need for that, not here. You still think that Wolf is proud, do you not, and will refuse to submit? You and I and Soft-Feather will go to a wolf-pack and watch them quietly, and we will see how wild wolves living as the Mother intended treat such matters. Wolf is as any other predator - when one must kill to survive one wastes nothing, and that includes energy. An all-out fight, to a predator, is a disaster, for injuries will result and injuries mean starvation and death. In a pack, such fights do not happen often, for the loss of two hunters cripples the pack. Wolf is not the ravening beast you have seen, and if you learn to accept her wholly she will comfort you and care for you as you do for her. You cannot deny her now, it is too late. You are graisha - accept the whole of it. Wolf is wiser than Sylvan, and always will be." Soft-Feather smiles at this and nods, "It's time you learned to live with the wolf, rather than keep her locked up. At times, it is necessary, until you can safely let her out and learn to cooperate with her. The tests you have been through so far...leaving the wolf atop the tree, staving off the hunger, all have been to help show the wolf you are worthy of her, and smart. WolfEyes and I offer you peace with her...we have found it ourselves, and will be much happier when you have it as well." RagingSpirit brings a confused hand up to rub at her face and head, nodding lightly. But in her eyes it is plain to see, she doesn't like or trust wolf.. wolf hurts her,and ruins things for her. And what of.. she looks up, "Mmm- .. mmmmate. Hon." WolfEyes smiles. "He and I have spoken, and he too wishes to learn more of wolf, to help you. I have no quarrel with him, and he has none with me that I know of. That is a truly remarkable male you have found, especially for one of the bird-brains." And if WolfEyes likes him, that says a lot - that she's willing to tolerate him mating with a Sylvan means she must believe there will be no offspring. Of course, if RagingSpirit fell pregnant, WolfEyes' rage would be deadly. Soft-Feather hadn't known much about the intended mate. The curious look on his face makes that very clear. Now, he returns to looking out the window. After a few moments, a form crawls into the room. It comes from the meditation area. Slippery Rabbit, daughter of Soft-Feather, giggles as her barely-over-a-year-old legs try to carry her across the floor to her father. Feather doesn't notice her yet, though...he's...thinking. RagingSpirit lets a little grin curl up, her body relaxing even more now. "H-h-hhheeel-p. S-spiri'." She rises, slowly moving towards WolfEyes, still cautious, but with a feeling of newborn trust, and perhaps - hopefully, comraderie. WolfEyes smiles gently and holds out her left hand, moving slowly and gracefully. The hand extends, palm-uppermost, and the expression in the eyes beyond is comprised of relief and welcome. "You only had to ask, Inkana," she says, her voice soft and warm, a voice between friends and not rivals. Somehow RagingSpirit has managed to get through the hardened warrior's shell and reach the heart beyond to convince WolfEyes that she both can be saved and is worth the effort. "Friends?" Soft-Feather turns to regard the two women, and just has to smile. It's finally happened. And it makes him very happy...very happy indeed. He doesn't have to worry so much about Spirit anymore. She's in good hands. A giggling sound causes him to turn, and he laughs as his little girl crawls towards him. When she is close enough, he reaches out and picks her up. Situating her in his lap, he gently plays with her tiny little hand and shows her the view from the window. RagingSpirit stares at the offered hand in question, as if it were a gesture unknown to her. After a moment, she slips closer, resting within arms reach of WolfEyes, and in imitation, offers her hands out. Her head bobs low, peering at the woman and watching her reaction, still a little weary. The two hands meet. Spirit's hands, though with curled fingers, are completely Sylvan in form. One hand falls into another, and the sight of it causes Spirit to become completely entranced. Meanwhile, the wolf within is none to pleased with the girls quiet acquiescence to the arrangement. And those in tuned with hearing both.. would hear just that. WolfEyes gently holds RagingSpirit's hand with her own, saying softly "Inkana, will you let Wolf see through your eyes for just a moment? You will not lose control to her, I promise. Will you let her see and hear me for just a few minutes? I need to speak with her, to make it easier on you and she both." The graisha knows that she is asking for a great deal of trust on the part of RagingSpirit, but her quiet, calm confidence that RagingSpirit's other soul will listen should have an effect - and this is a thing between Wolves, that Soft-Feather cannot know until he understands wolves far more than he does. RagingSpirit licks her lips nervously, and her hand twitche in the hold of the other woman's. She nods though, and shrugs her shoulders up high as if not understanding exactly what she is to do. At the urgings of WolfEyes though, she relaxes, and when she does so, Wolf comes raging to the forefront, ready to grab hold of Spirit and make her do what -she- wants. Spirit gasps and looks upon her new teacher with worry, begging for her help -but.. the attention is given to her, even the Wolf listens. As WolfEyes' magic rouses and holds RagingSpirit to a Sylvan-graisha shape, her own Wolf-soul comes to the fore and speaks, looking out through amber eyes. "Hear me, pack-sister, and know that I speak truth for Wolf knows not how to lie and I am Wolf as you are. I tell you that it is better to work with Sylvan, pack-sister, for Sylvan is what we are not, and we are stronger with Sylvan than alone. My Sylvan-soul and the Sylvan-soul with the cub, they will help you find balance with your Sylvan-soul, so that the two of you can grow together. There is no need to chafe in confinement, for that confinement will soon be over, pack-sister. As Wolf with Sylvan ties, you can never truly join a pack - true-wolves will cast you out, as you have found. Think as your Sylvan-Soul as your pack, pack-sister, and of other Sylvans in the same manner. They are not so different from we, when you look at them. You were never meant to live as a wild wolf, and in truth you know it. Give these Sylvan-souls a chance to help you gain what freedom you can - I work with mine as friend and pack-sister, and you can do the same, in time." Practical as ever, and speaking nothing but the truth in words a wolf with Sylvan ears can understand, this is truly WolfEyes' wolf-soul talking, with nothing of the Sylvan about it. Untamed, this wolf, and majestic, though she does not seek dominance there is a quiet air of dignity about her. She is, after all, a pack-leader of Sylvans. "My Sylvan-soul truly is a pack-leader, now. Accept your life, and you will find it easier." Her eyes squint with either nerves or hesitation, but the Wolf hears. For as much as Spirit wishes to be rid of the wolf, so too does the wolf wish to be rid of her. Together, they have lived through scorn and banishment, raising themselves into a fitful being that no kind would want around. Perhaps this wolf speaks truth, and being given the circumstances perhaps it is time to try something new. "She is without sense, without me, she is nothing." The wolf sputters out in reply. But even the wolf knows that no pack will accept her, not with the Sylvan a part of her. "I will try this.. arrangement. If it is not to my liking, I will take her away from you." All is folllowed by silence then and Spirit sits there growling softly. Wolf nods. "You will see that I speak truth, pack-sister. But I and my Sylvan-soul must have a proper chance. You will be asked, when the time is right, and that time will come soon - but neither you nor your Sylvan-soul is yet ready. You both will know when you are." From experience, she speaks, and the truth of it speaks louder than her voice. "I too was once locked away within a Sylvan mind, escaping when I could to wreak havoc. But then I learned respect for Sylvan, and that she too had a right to live, and then she bared her throat to me and asked for forgiveness. I forgave her, and we have grown to care for each other since that day. We truly are stronger together than we were apart, and both of us feel that this is how the Mother of all things intended us to be. Not truly Sylvan and not truly Wolf, but something between and stronger than either can be alone." The Wolf hears each word, and it rings through her ears like a thunderclap. "You will have your chance - if she does not decides she prefers things as they are." In other words, if Spirit does not grow so frustrated as to give up and let the wolf once again rule her. Those who partake in this journey will need a lot of patience, and endurance. It will not be an easy one. "Take her then. I've heard enough of your talk - I want to /see/ what you can do for us." The Wolf is just as tired of this dual life as the Sylvan is, it has left her hardened and bitter, where it has left Spirit frustrated and defeated. Wolf nods. "Take heart, pack-sister. I stand as proof that it can be done." And then in just a moment, Wolf stands back in peace and WolfEyes speaks. "She speaks truth. Will you return your Sylvan to us now, so that we can start the teaching?" There is nothing but silence for a time, and the hold that Wolf has on Spirit is sustained, as if testing the waters, or showing these people - these Sylvans that she can be in control if she wants. Then it fades, and a jittery eyed Sylvan woman looks up at her new mentor. She rolls her shoulders, as if trying to relax muscles that were bunched up. Her hand still remains in WolfEyes, and she keeps silent save for a quick huff that is aimed towards her own wolf spirit, in disapproval of her manners. WolfEyes smiles. "RagingSpirit, it is done. Could you hear what was said and how Wolf felt?" Soft-Feather smiles as the exchange draws to a close. It is about time. RagingSpirit huffs a little, nodding her head and looking down. As much as Wolf must learn to let Spirit be a part of the whole, Spirit must learn to want it. Straining, she straightens her curled fingers out against WolfEyes' hand, trying to mimc the look of the others digits. Then she looks up, eyes falling upon those of the woman and holding there for a long while, as if trying to understand her. WolfEyes smiles. From her eyes four souls look out, Wolf and Sylvan together, joined by Eagle and Otter. And all care deeply for the young graisha and her unwilling othersoul, knowing what it is to be trapped in another's mind. In the next moment, what transpires is certainly along the lines of the old saying on peace about the lion and the lamb. For the graisha scoots herself forward, one hand still touching WolfEyes', and lowers herserlf into a curled position at the woman's side. RagingSpirit.. her namesake betrayed in this moment, as she settles next to the elder wolf spirit, settles next to what she has fought against since the onset of her magic. Her head lies on the floor, but her back is pressed to the Sylvan's thigh as she curls up tightly and closes her eyes. Trusting so much as to even sleep against her old enemy.. it truly is a good sign. And as the younger wolf-graisha curls up against the older, the older drapes a careful arm over the younger's shoulder, much as a wolf-bitch would drape her tail over her cub, to remind the youngster that it is loved. And Soft-Feather, sitting in his school with his daughter on his lap, must rejoice, for this day a wolf-graisha has started the long return to sanity.
FIN
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