Raven Wolf - Origins - Shiya - Chapter 04 by Kurapika < Submission

Keywords male 1173996, female 1064107, wolf 190597, fantasy 26405, sci-fi 4653, series 4576, science fiction 1893, chapter 504, raven wolf 329, origin 145, extra chapter 6

Chapter Four
Laughing Meadow

A chill wind hangs in the air, the once busy Eden of North and the people within it still and silent, swallowed eternally by the ice and snow that had been at Shiya’s command. The sharp sound of something hitting ice fills the air, echoing through the still village, this sound continuing as the ice is repeatedly struck.

Shiya is holding a piece of a building as he continues to strike the sharp piece of metal against the ice he was in front of, digging into the ice with it until his work comes to a stop, Shiya throwing the piece of metal to the ground as he takes something from the ice, brushing the small pieces of ice away and staring down at the small blue crystal he had dug out of the ice, the vision of the destruction he had just caused the village now playing within it.

Shiya begins to cry as he watches the image, closing his hands around the crystal and holding it close against him, he sobbing loudly, hardly believing that he had been both angry enough and capable of doing something as horrible as that.

“A heavy weight hung on my heart, despite everything I had been through before reaching this point I never felt this horrible, this monstrous. I had destroyed my village, my own people, and nothing had come from this vengeance, my rage was not appeased and I was still angry at those who were already dead, nothing had changed, and I knew that I had made a terrible mistake, it was wrong of me to take those lives as I had done, it was wrong for me to let myself turn into such a beast, I should not have ignored the words of my father.

I should have left the village, run as far away from it as I could. Instead I stayed there, I couldn’t run, I was in shock over what had happened and I couldn’t leave behind what it was that I had done. Eventually the True Bloods came to the village once more, when I saw them I did not bother to put up a fight, and they caught me easily.

The Eden of North was never the ideal place for the True Bloods to work, they having to replace their men often and travel back and forth from this place and their fortress to keep from getting sick, and now after what I had done to it, it was impossible to work here, the True Bloods got me ready for transport, and just as I had been the first time I was taken from my village I was thrown into the back of a truck that would take me to another location.

I knew without being told where I was headed, back to the iron fortress. I dreaded returning there, my whole body trembled at the thought, the iron sky, the stuffy air, and Diaz… but there was nothing I could do about it.

Several days into the journey to the iron fortress, the trip was violently interrupted.”

Shiya is laying in the back of a truck, the chain on his muzzle locked to a hook on the floor of the truck to keep him in place, the white wolf sleeping through his journey when the truck he is in is suddenly thrown on its side, Shiya letting out a yelp as he is thrown about as the truck rolls over several times before coming to a stop.

Shiya holds his head in pain as he slowly gets to his feet, he looking out towards the back door of the truck to find it hanging open, it having gotten smashed up in the fall. Shiya looks down to the hook his chain was attached to, the hook having come lose from the floor of the truck in the fall, Shiya grabs onto the chain pulling hard against it until the hook breaks from the floor, falling back and hitting the side of the truck when it comes free.

He groans as he gets back to his feet, slowly slinking toward the door now that he was free, he looking outside to see what had happened, it hard to see as it was right now the dead of night, everything as dark and black as it could possibly be.

In the darkness he could make out the solutes of the caravan of vehicles that had been accompanying him strewn about the ground, the True Bloods frantically trying to gather their forces together while searching for something.

A bright light fills the air as one of the trucks explodes into a ball of fire, Shiya fearfully jumping back from the truck he had come from not sure if it would do the same thing.

There is a thump from someone jumping onto the side of the truck he had come from, a cheeky voice speaking up. “Now who might you be?”

Shiya turns back to find a green eyed swift fox crouched on the back of the truck, the fox continuing to question him. “I didn’t expect they would be transporting any other wilds aside the fellow I’m looking for in this group. That’s True Bloods for you, doing as many tasks as they can in one go.” He looks Shiya over. “You look like a prisoner with all those chains on you, are you some type of mass murderer?” He shrugs his shoulders not intending to waste his time. “I supposed that doesn’t matter much, perhaps you could help me, I’m looking for someone’s brother, you haven’t seen a leopard among your traveling companions have you?” Shiya stares at him, the fox frowning. “Do you not know what that is? He would look like a big cat with orange fur and black spots.”

Shiya shakes his head no, having not seen such a person, the fox looking away from him and back to the rest of the trucks. “Suppose I should keep looking then, listen wolf I’m about to make quick work of everything around me so you best be out of here if you fancy keeping your life.” He looks around him letting out a sigh when he sees how many trucks there are. “Where in the hell is he? How many trucks am I going to end up throwing over? I suppose it’s going to be the very last one I turn over knowing my luck.”

Shiya’s eyes move down to the fox’s neck where a crystal of green hangs around him, it looking very similar to the one around his own neck.

One of the True Bloods runs over to the fox when he sees him, pulling out a weapon and aiming it at him, the fox reacting quickly as he swings his arm forward, a heavy blast of wind sweeping across the ground and throwing his enemy back before he can fire the gun at him.

Shiya stares in amazement, this fox was just like him… but better, he watches as he continues to attack his opponents, unlike Shiya who could not use the source inside him at all unless it was out of his control this guy was able so do what he wanted, and not only that but he could control just how much power he wanted to use in his attacks.

Shiya jumps back when another truck in the distance bursts into flame, Shiya remembering his situation and turning around running away as fast as he could while the True Bloods where distracted by the fox.

Shiya continues to run and run as fast as he could, he unable to see where it was he was going, the night pitch dark and not giving him the luxury of vision, he could feel though the dirt he ran across change, it now feeling as if he was running through coarse long fur, for hours he continued running even though it felt like his lungs might give out at any moment, he refusing to stop for fear that his captors might catch up to him, his running coming to a stop when the ground beneath him disappears, he falling down the step drop of a cliff, his body rolling and hitting rock after rock before finally hitting the ground.

Shiya lays still in pain for a moment, he struggling to get back up to his feet not wanting to stop here even though his body so tired, Shiya hardly able to catch his breath and sore from both the running as well as the fall. He tries to move forward to continue on his way once more but is brought to a stop, the chain attached to his muzzle pulling tight and keeping him in place, having gotten caught in the rocks during his fall.

Shiya pulls against the chain to try and free it, he unable to get it to budge. There is a flash of light followed by the sound of thunder, Shiya quickly running back toward the rocky cliff when a heavy rain begins to fall, he tucking himself under an overhanging piece of rock in an attempt him keep himself out of the rain.

Though right now panicked over the situation Shiya did notice something strange about this rain, it was not thick and piercing with cold as he was used to, instead it was cool, almost warm. It was still just as wet though, and it covered him despite his attempts to avoid it.

*******

The rain that had fallen during the night comes to the stop by the time morning came, the warm sun shining down on Shiya and drying his fur, the sound of running water from a river near by now able to be heard with the rain having stopped, this sound combined with the warmth from the sun very relaxing, so much so that Shiya would drift back to sleep every time he woke up.

“Oh you slippery little- don’t think you’ve escaped me fish! I’ll get you just you wait!”

Shiya slowly opens his eyes, a voice having interrupted him from his slumber, he looks around him not spotting anyone near him, Shiya going to have to get up to look beyond the rocks he had taken shelter by. He lets out a whimper when he tries to move, he more sore now than he had been last night, his body not wanting to move anymore, his muscles aching in protest when he tried.

Splashing sounds fill the air accompanied by someone talking. “How are you able to swim to fast when you’re so fat!? Stupid fat fish!”

Shiya forces himself up as he moves from his spot, looking out from behind a rock he was hidden behind and toward the direction the voice had come from, spotting a scruffy grey wolf that walked about on all fours circling an area of the river that had long ago when it was larger, formed the cliff that Shiya had fallen off of, the strange wolf talking to the fish that he was right now hunting. “Don’t think I’ll miss a third time fish!”

The wolf makes a leap into the water, lunging forward with his jaws open, splashing filling the air as he pulls a fish from the river, the fish wriggling and flapping to get free, the wolf letting out a muffled and satisfied laugh as he heads back to the shore, putting his catch down on the ground right next to the rock the Shiya had hid behind. “I told you I would get you fish!” He heads back to the water to continue his hunt, spotting another fish to catch and leaping into the water after it.

Shiya looks from the wolf and over to the fish on the ground, his stomach growling in hunger, he looks from the fish and back to the wolf who right now attempted to get more, it not looking as if he was paying attention to the one he had left here.

Shiya creeps out from behind the rock slinking toward the fish, grabbing onto it and taking it, ducking back behind the rock before he could be seen.

Shiya stares down at the fish he had taken, there a problem with him trying to eat it, as the muzzle he had on was right now tightly clamped closed and locked, there no True Blood guards in the area to unlock it for him to eat as they usually did when it came time for him to eat. Shiya begins to struggle to try and get the lock off, he going to die if it continued to keep him from eating.

The wolf that was catching the fish returns with another, a surprised look filling his face when he finds the first one he had caught gone. “What’s this…? Where did the fat one go?” He looks around him, sure that he had placed it in this spot. “Even if it were playing dead it couldn’t have gotten very far could it have…?”

He lowers his head to the ground sniffing and beginning to follow the scent of the fish he had left behind, moving behind the rock and jumping back in shock when he find’s Shiya, the wolf arching as the fur on his back stands up and he bares his teeth. “Who are you…?” He looks down to the fish that Shiya had taken. “And why are you stealing my breakfast?”

Shiya doesn’t answer as he stops struggling with his muzzle and stares back at him, the Wild staring at him curiously. “Well?” He cautiously approaches Shiya taking a closer look, realizing that the iron contraption on the white wolf’s head was keeping him from talking, while a chain that was attached to it was caught up in the rocks of the cliff kept him from moving from this spot. The grey wolf frowns humming to himself as he stares at Shiya. “I’m not familiar with this situation…”

He grabs the fish that Shiya had taken back in his mouth, turning to leave, only taking a few steps before stopping and turning back. The wolf staring at Shiya for a moment before making his way back to him, putting the fish down and walking close to him, lifting his hands to Shiya’s head and holding him still as he looks to the strange contraption that kept his jaw shut. “Let’s see…”

He tries to pull the muzzle off, it strong and not bending nor breaking free, the wolf changing his approach, circling Shiya as he looks the muzzle over from all sides studying what he had to work with and how it was designed, he coming to a stop on Shiya’s right side, staring at two small hinges on this side that would swing the contraption open and closed when unlocked.

The wolf tilts his head to the side as he stares at the hinges, he reaching to his side and taking a small knife that he has tied to him, lifting it to the harness and using the sharp end of the blade to dig into and pull out the two pins in the hinges that helped to keep the metal harness shut, he then able to open the muzzle from this side with them gone and take it off of Shiya’s head. “There. Now you are not stuck anymore and can catch your own fish.”

Shiya shakes his head as he rubs his face, it feeling wonderful to have that thing off of him, he looks back to the person that had helped him, the grey wolf turning around leaving once more, taking his fish with him.

Shiya watches the grey wild as he returns to the river, this person walking on all fours like he did, there a slight limp in his step from his back leg, this probably the reason for why he walked like that. The grey wolf wades through the water while staring down at it for the next fish that he would catch.

Shiya moves forward, leaving the side of the cliff and making his making his way over to the water, stopping to stare at its shimmering surface. He had never tried to catch a fish before, in fact he never tried to do anything, most of his life being spent locked up with him unable to do things such as this.

The other wolf looks over to Shiya offering him some very basic advice. “You’re not going to catch anything if you just stare at the fish.”

Shiya looks over to him not really sure of how to go about this. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do…”

The wild is shocked to hear this. “You don’t know- how could you not know how to catch a fish?? You’re not a child, even most Domestics would know how to catch a fish at your age.”

“I’ve never done it before.”

“If it’s not fish you catch then what is it you eat?”

“Kibble… mostly.”

The grey wolf stops what he is doing, he looking to Shiya confused. “You must not be from around here, I’ve never heard of this ‘kibble’ animal, they must not live in these meadows.”

“Meadows?” Shiya is unfamiliar with that word, he looks around him, the two of them in a rocky cavern that held a river running through its center, Shiya looking up the walls and spotting something unusual, he leaving the rivers side as he begins making his way toward it.

The grey wolf watches Shiya from the water he was standing in. “I should have known you were not from around here, I’ve never seen anyone with such a white coat, it’s no wonder you can’t catch anything, everything here would see you coming from miles away, unless of course it was winter, then they wouldn’t see you at all.”

Shiya continues to stare up at the object that he saw, it looked like a strange brown arm sticking out of the ground with an open hand that spread into dozens of fingers, with those fingers spreading into hundreds more that had strange green papers stuck to them. “What is that?”

The scruffy grey wolf looks at what Shiya is staring at, a confused look on his face. “Have you never seen a tree before?”

Shiya shakes his head. “I’ve only seen a small bit of one before when my mother got a piece from a trader… but never the whole thing… I never thought it would have come from something so large…” He looks back to the other wolf. “These things are very rare?”

“Rare…?” The grey wolf lets out a laugh. “You’ll find those all over the place.”

Shiya stares up at it. “Aside from the small piece my mother had I’ve never seen one in my life. These do not exist in any of the places I have been.”

The grey wolf leaves the water, shaking his fur off before bounding over to Shiya. “Now what kind of place does not have trees?”

“Iron fortresses and lands of ice.”

The grey wolf looks around him, he not sure at all where this stranger had come from. “Well, there are no such things around here, mostly meadows, fields, forests and rivers.” He waves his hand in front of Shiya’s face to try and get his attention off of the tree already. “Are you listening to me?”

Shiya looks back to him. “I know what a river is… but I don’t know of anything else you’re speaking of.”

“How can you be here in the middle of all these things and not know about them? Did you fall from the sky?” An even more curious look fills his face. “Where do you live?” He begins to scan the surface of the cliff, looking for some kind of cave or enclosure that could be used as a home. “Is there a cave you live in? Do you live here alone?”

Shiya shakes his head no. “I don’t live here, I don’t live anywhere. Not with anyone either, I’m alone.” He turns away from the tree heading back into the water wading into as he begins to search for fish, he reaching toward one to catch it, it swimming away before he could get it.

The wolf Shiya was talking to makes his way back over to him. “How do you expect to catch anything like that? You have to act smarter than that, and be quicker.” He watches as Shiya reaches to grab another fish, the wolf letting out a sigh as he shakes his head. “How have you managed to live this long?” Shiya does respond as he continues doing what he was doing. “What’s your name?”

Shiya splashes in the water trying to run over to a fish, it swimming away before he could reach it. “No one ever calls me by my name, so feel free to call me whatever you like. Dog, beast, wolf, weapon, power source, son of Amarok, I don’t care anymore…”

The grey wolf frowns. “What I would like to call you is your name.” Shiya stops what he is doing as he looks back to him, the wolf staring back at him as he gives him his own name. “I am Achak.”

Shiya stares at him for a moment before eventually answering. “Shiya… my name is Shiya.”

“Shiya then? Well Shiya, your skills at catching fish are lacking.” He walks into the water motioning for Shiya to get out. “Get out of the water before you scare them all away and neither of us end up with anything to eat.”

Shiya leaves looking to the two fish that Achak had already caught. “Is what you caught not enough for you?”

Achak shakes his head no. “Two fish is not enough to feed me, my father and you now is it?”

Shiya watches Achak as he stares at the water for a fish to target. “You told me to catch my own fish.”

“Yes, well I wasn’t aware of how bad you were at it.” He spots a fish preparing to leap at it. “I’m not exactly the best at catching fish, but I’m still better than you.”

Shiya watches Achak as he leaps into the water to try and catch the fish, not catching it the first time, the grey wolf not letting it get to him as he prepares himself to try again. “Thank you.”

Achak doesn’t look back to Shiya as he continues his hunt. “I’ll take you back to my father to have him look you over, your body looks rather beaten up from fallen down a cliff and your mind seems just as thrown about. Not knowing how to fish, what a tree is and talking about metal fortresses, I don’t think you’re thinking very clearly.”

“Who is your father?”

“The Shaman of the Laughing Meadow tribe.”

“Laughing Meadow?”

Achak nods his head. “Yes. Laughing Meadow, I picture the laughing to represent more of a deep and proud laugh, a husky ‘ha ha ha.’ Not a silly one like a tee hee hee or a ahe he he, but not too deep, else it might start to sound evil like a muaha ha ha ha.”

Shiya stares at Achak, if anyone was a little but mixed up in the head it was more likely him. “Oh… I see… what’s a meadow?”

Achak motions toward the small cliff Shiya had taken a tumble down. “Climb back up the rocks and you’ll see nothing but meadow. There’s a path up them that I used to get down here, you’ll spot it if you look.”

Shiya looks back to the wall of rocks, he scanning it for a moment before finding the steep path that Achak had been talking about, making his way toward it and climbing up until he reaches the top where he is greeted with a sight that he had never before seen in his life.

Everywhere he looked there were rich green grasses and plants as far as the eye could see. He looks down to his hands realizing that there were green stains on his hands and body, he having been running through this in the dark during his panic and not even noticed.

It was clearer now than it had ever been before, Shiya was very far from home.

*******

Shiya follows after Achak as he leads them toward the place his father was, Shiya rather content right now as his belly was full of fish, it had been such a long time since he had eaten something so delicious, and even longer since he had eaten himself so full that he couldn’t eat anymore.

Shiya looks toward Achak, though he was a wild he traveled around on all fours as if he were a four legged beast. “Why do you walk like that?”

Achak looks back to him, he carrying a rope that several fish he had caught are tied to in his mouth. “My leg was broken when I was a pup and healed funny, so it’s either I walk like this or very slowly with a large limp. What is your reason for walking this way?”

Shiya looks to the side, he not really having a reason like that for walking on all fours. “It’s how I was told to walk… I suppose I just do it out of habit now.”

He looks around him at the meadow of grass they were in, he still surprised by it. “I’ve never seen so much green.”

Achak shakes his head, Shiya having made the comment numerous times by now. He picking up speed and breaking out into a run when he sees a tent crafted out of the skinned hide of animals.

Shiya starts running to keep up with him, their running coming to a stop when they reach the tent, Achak looking back Shiya. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He makes his way toward the tent entering it. Shiya looks from him and around the camp site, that tent the only one here, a small recently built fire pit the only other thing nearby. It didn’t look as if this was any permanent place of residence, Achak and his father probably traveling.

Achak soon returns, he followed by an older wild who looked similar to him, he standing upright as a wild normally would, Achak walking alongside him as he explains the little he knew about Shiya. “He had gotten himself stuck by the river, he says he had no home or companions, and he acts strange staring at the grass and trees as if he had never seen them before.”

Achak’s father approaches Shiya kneeling down next to him as he begins to look him over at Achak’s request, he runs his hand down Shiya’s side, Shiya flinching every time he touches one of his burses, Achak’s father taking hold of Shiya’s arm noticing the fur there grew in strangely, Achak’s father moving the fur with his thumb and finding the scars in his skin that had come from a knife, these cuts that had healed over what was causing his fur on his arm to grow in strange.

His inspection moves toward Shiya’s face, he looking over and running his finger along the lines upon Shiya’s face, the fur having been warn away almost to his skin from the iron muzzle he always had to wear, Achak’s father takes hold of either side of Shiya’s head, keeping him still as he stares at his eyes.

He makes a frown as he gets up, looking to Achak and giving him orders. “Gather everything, we are going back home.”

Achak seems confused. “We’re going back now? But we came out here to gather herbs for your medicines? You want to go home without them?”

Achak’s father looks back to Shiya. “We need to get him out of this area, before whoever he ran away from that’s been causing him harm finds him again.”

Achak seems reluctant to pack up everything and go when they had gotten finished setting everything up last night. “Are you sure he is being chased?” Achak’s father stares at him with a frown, Achak letting a sigh as he begins to do as he’s told. “Fine then…”

Achak’s father looks back to Shiya. “There is no need to live in fear any longer, we will keep you safe from those that would hurt you.”

“His name was Noshi, and he chose to help and protect me without knowing who I was or having to be asked or told, he was strict, bossy and not very talkative, but he was kindest person I had ever met. I grew to like and trust him almost immediately.

His son Achak was eccentric and strange, acting more like a beast than a person, holding a lot of ferial qualities that were sometimes difficult to get used to. Despite that the two of us saw a friend in the other, and we got along well. Unlike his father Achak would always talk, in fact he didn’t have to even be around anyone to be talking, Achak practically just as content with talking to himself as he was with other people, his constant conversation helped me to overcome my own quietness, and I re-discovered how wonderful it was to talk to people and not have to keep silent.

We traveled for days through what felt like and endless field of green plants of all shapes and sizes, and though these things were all familiar to the two companions I traveled with they were new to me, I was always curious and distracted every time I saw a plant or tree with a new shape of leaf or fruit growing from it. I must have looked like a child going outside for the very first time to my two companions.

Finally after much travel we reached the village of Wild’s that Achak and Noshi had come from. It was much larger than my village had been before the True Bloods had built their alliance with us, but much smaller than what the True Bloods turned my village into. It seemed a humble and modest place, where everything was simple and routine.

Though it seemed a nice place and reminded me of how much I had loved my own village when I was a child, I didn’t intent to stay there for very long, though I was thankful for their help I did not want to trouble Achak and his father, and I didn’t want to find out how their attitudes toward me might change if they were to find out that I was hose of the Ice Source, in fact I intended to leave as soon as my strength was recovered and I was able to.

Plans though sometimes do not play out as they are intended to, and certain situations arose that would end up keeping me with this village for many years to come.”

Shiya flinches back when Noshi rubs a cream on his face on the raw areas the muzzle had worn his fur and skin in, the cream having stung him. Noshi frowns at Shiya as he instructs him to hold still. “Do not move, you want your fur to grow back don’t you?”

Shiya tries his best to keep still so that he could continue, Noshi having been giving him all kinds of remedies now that he was back in the village and had all of his supplies.

Achak sits at the other end of the hut, talking to himself as he tries to pull out a thorny twig that had gotten caught in his tail. “Ahh that stings! Ow stop pulling!! Oh once I get you out I’m throwing you into the bonfire!!”

The three of them are right now inside the shaman’s hut where Noshi spent most of his time, Noshi putting the last of the cream on Shiya’s muzzle before looking over to Achak. “Take Shiya with you on your walk.”

Shiya doesn’t seem to enthusiastic over the idea. “We’ve been walking for days to get here, can’t I at least have one day where I don’t have to walk anywhere?”

Noshi frowns as him. “You intend to get your strength back don’t you? You are frail from not moving and eating enough, though you eat fine now you will get fat and lazy if you do not move. So move.”

Achak walks over to Shiya. “Come on let’s go.”

Shiya sighs as he begins to follow Achak out, Achak taking a moment to throw the thorny twig he had pulled out of his tail into a fire pit in the center of the village. “I told you I would do it!!” He turns away from the burning twig and starts his walk through the village, the people within it looking curiously toward Shiya, most having not seen him in the village until now.

Achak looks around him as he starts to give Shiya the grand tour of the village. “That building there is where the children go to learn, that other building is where our supplies go, that guy standing next to it is a jerk don’t talk to him, the building over there is the chieftain’s hut, no one goes in there unless they are a member of the chieftain’s family or need to discuss important matters with him. Over there are the field the woman of our tribe grow our crops. There is a river nearby that we drink from and catch fish, the rest of the buildings are mostly other people’s house’s or I can’t remember what they are.”

The two begin to head out of the village, Shiya beginning to question Achak. “So where do you normally go on this walk of yours? What do you do?”

“I run through the meadow a bit, chasing rabbits and birds for fun, if I can’t find any I’ll chase bugs, or my tail.”

Shiya stares at Achak. “Your… tail…?”

Achak nods his head. “Well as long as I don’t catch it it’s fun to chase.” He looks out in the direction of the river. “Sometimes I’ll go to the river and chase fish.” He looks the river to some nearby woods. “Sometimes I will go to the woods and chase the small animals there.”

Shiya sighs as he interrupts Achak from explaining further. “Do you anything that does not involve chasing a small creature?”

“You don’t like chasing things?”

“No.”

Achak looks to the side. “Well then you’ll be very limited to anything I suggest.” He thinks this situation over for a moment to see if he could come up with a solution.

Shiya looks around him, taking in his surroundings while Achak contemplated on another idea. “You could let me sleep and just tell your father I was running around all day.”

“Oh no, I can’t lie to him, he finds out every single time I try.”

Shiya is about to try and convince him to try anyway when a sound catches his attention, someone humming and singing in a very beautiful and almost alluring manner. Shiya begins to follow the noise as if mesmerized by it, something about the sound making him unable to ignore it and eager to find the source.

Achak gets an idea. “If you don’t want to chase a small animal then we could chase each other!” He looks around him not spotting Shiya near him, the wolf looking about him curiously until he spots Shiya wandering back toward the village. “Shiya?” He bounds after him catching up and walking alongside him. “Where are you going?”

Shiya slows to a stop finding the source of the noise. Just outside the village, sitting on the ground while working on sewing the details into a dress that she was making, sat a young woman of wolf decent with a coat of fur as black as night, she singing and humming the sound that Shiya had followed while she worked.

Shiya approaches her, getting closer, the black wolf stopping what she is doing when she realizes Shiya’s presence, she looking to him curiously not recognizing him at all. “Who are you…?

Achak walks in front of Shiya as he confronts the girl and begins to explain. “Me and father ran into him on our trip to gather medicine, as you can see he’s pretty beaten up, so father took him back with us to look after him until he recovers. Sorry if he frightened you Kanti.”

The black wolf smiles at Achak. “There’s no need to worry Achak, he didn’t startle me at all, he just isn’t anyone that I remembered seeing before.”

Shiya looks over Achak speaking up to get the girl’s attention. “You have a very pretty voice. I’ve never heard anyone that could sing so beautifully before.”

Achak pushes Shiya back down behind him. “He hit his head pretty hard so he’s a little bit crazy.”

“I am not!”

Kanti smiles as she gets to her feet, walking over to the two of them, kneeling down next to them as she could speak with them. “What’s his name?”

Shiya pushes Achak to the side. “Shiya! My name’s Shiya!”

“I am Kanti.” She smiles at him pleasantly. “You’ve a beautiful white coat Shiya, I’ve never seen a wolf with a coat as white as yours.”

Shiya gives her a sheepish grin. “Really? I never thought much of it, where I’m from everyone looked just like me.” He quickly corrects himself. “I mean, no we didn’t all look the same… just the colour of our fur… everyone was coloured like the snow there.”

Achak begins to push Shiya back. “Come on Shiya let’s go.” He turns back to Kanti apologizing to her before leaving. “Sorry for disturbing you Kanti.”

Achak manages to push Shiya back several paces, Shiya getting annoyed with him. “What are you doing!? I wanted to talk to her.”

Achak makes a frown, Shiya not able to do that. “There are plenty of other girls in the village that you can chase after, Kanti though is not one of those girls. She is off limits to everyone!”

Shiya frowns not understanding. “Why?”

“She’s the chieftain’s daughter, she is promised to whoever wins her trials, she’s not allowed to mingle with anyone in the way you were thinking.”

“I wasn’t thinking-”

“Yes you were!”

Shiya looks to the side. “I wasn’t going to do anything but talk to her.”

Achak frowns. “Even if that was true her father would think the worst if he saw you speaking to her, you do not what to know what he does to people who talk to his only daughter.”

Shiya looks back over to Kanti, she still watching them from where she was, it looking as if she had been upset that their conversation had been cut short. “But she looks like she wants to talk to us.”

Achak shakes his head no. “No men are allowed to approach or talk to Kanti if she is on her own like that.”

Achak begins to walk away motioning to Shiya to follow, Shiya watching leave for a moment before turning back to Kanti and heading towards her instead of following him, Achak looking back and realizing this, letting out a frustrated groan as he quickly turns back running after Shiya and biting onto Shiya’s tail pulling back to try and get him to stop, this only resulting in Shiya dragging him along with him instead of stopping him.

Kanti smiles once again when she sees the two of them coming back. “You changed your mind about leaving?”

Shiya nods his head. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“I would be happy if you did.” She looks over to Achak who is still biting Shiya’s tail. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“Yes, it hurts a lot.”

Kanti lets out a laugh. “You know most men are afraid to talk to me when I’m on my own. My father will get angry with those who do. They say that he will do terrible things to them.”

Shiya motions back to Achak. “You’re not on your own, you have Achak with you.”

Achak lets go of Shiya’s tail so that he could respond to that. “Don’t get me in trouble with you!!”

Kanti looks Shiya over. “You must have been in a tough battle to get all those wounds.”

Shiya shakes his head no. “No, no battle, I’m not a warrior.”

Kanti is surprised to hear this. “Then what happened to you?”

Achak answers her question, trying to make Shiya sound as undesirable as possible. “He fell down a hill.”

Shiya frowns at him. “It was a cliff!”

“A cliff not that much bigger than a hill.”

Kanti laughs at the conversation. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume you were a warrior. It’s just aside from a very select few like Achak and his father, men are warriors and hunters. It is there’s roll after all, just as it’s a woman’s task to take care of and nurture their husbands and children and grow food from the ground.”

Shiya seems surprised to hear this. “Where I come from men and woman did both, woman were warriors as well as men, and both men and women were expected to know how to cook, sew and nurture their family.”

“How strange… where is it you come from?”

Shiya looks back to Kanti as he tries to change the topic, not really wanting to go into detail about that. “What was that song you were singing earlier? I’ve never heard it before.”

Kanti smiles at him. “It was nothing special, just a song I made myself for me to sing to my children when I have them.”

“Well it’s very nice, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a nicer sound.”

“Thank you.”

“Conversation came easily between Kanti and me, it was just so easy to talk to her and though neither of us had anything interesting to tell the other we somehow managed to hold a captivating discussion, or well, it least it was to the two of us, Achak seemed rather bored through the entire thing. Kanti and me though the way we talked and laughed, it were as if our souls were meant to be with one another.

I hardly spoke much of myself, I did not want her to think me pitiful from everything that had happened to me in my past, nor did I want her to think me a monster for the terrible things I have done. I told her though of the land of snow that I had come from, of my village before it was changed by the True Bloods. I told her of the little memories I had of my parents, of my father Amarok, the strongest warrior in my tribe, of Adina who was easily the bravest warrior, of my mother Pinga, why was kind, shy and gentle.

Kanti told me of herself as well, her mother and father were the current leaders of the tribe that Achak and his father were members of, and she was their only child. Her father was a strong and proud warrior, her mother graceful and wise, and they both cherished her very much, perhaps a little too much, as they were very over protective of her, her father more so than her mother as he would threaten any men that would talk to her.

Kanti had grown up in this village all of her life and had never known anything more, she loved the village and it’s people and was nervous of if she would be able to lead them as well as her parents did, she liked the colour green and enjoyed crafting in her spare time, and had both a talent and a love for singing.

I had never felt so happy before, so light hearted, my heart was dancing and all the bad things that had happened to me were as far from my thoughts as they had even been. For the very first time in my life, I was in love.”

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Raven Wolf - Origins - Shiya - Chapter 04

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