Chapter 8

I awoke the next morning, to the sound of birds singing and the sun in my eyes. Soaking wet, I remembered that dew gathered in the forest at night. The grass of the meadow glittered in the sun. In the middle of the sea of glittering grass, an awkward shape was moving around. Wolfe! I realized that she had gotten up. Scanning the area, I saw the back of the tree. The spot where Wolfe had been sleeping last night was a lonely pack.

      I sprinted to the middle of the field where she was. There, struggling to stand up, was Wolfe. She used her wings to steady herself, the iridescent feathers shinning with dew. As I ran, she managed to stand up. Looking at me, a guilty expression came over her face.

      “Wolfe! What are you doing out here!?!” I shouted, “You’re supposed to stay off that leg!” I found myself scolding her like I would a child.

      “I know, I know, it’s just… after a day of staying on the ground, I’m ready to fly again. I crawled out here and didn’t put any weight on it. I was trying to practice the standing take-off.” She tried to plead with me that she was being careful.

      “Yeah, I can pretty much see that. With the standing take-off, start with your wings as far above you as they can go. When your wings have reached full height, quickly bring them down so that they touch the ground. Bend your wings and repeat until your wings don’t touch the ground.” I demonstrated as I talked and Wolfe was surprised that I wasn’t mad with her. After I stopped talking, Wolfe tried it herself. Surprised at the outcome, Wolfe found herself ready to fly within two strokes.

      “My wings must’ve gotten strong from all the flying,” she said satisfactorily, “I’ll go get my pack,” she said as she turned and swooped over to the tree where we had slept, and retrieved it. I launched into the air, and followed her as she rose above the trees and put the rising sun on her right. I zoned out as I followed her, my mind drifting on why I still didn’t know anything about anything.

       That fact was strange, the memories would sometimes pop out, but only one at a time. Sometimes it would be the name of things, or the Deja vu that I had been somewhere before. I tried very hard to chase down those memories, but I would always come to a wall. It was all a big blank area.

      “Elsa, are you coming?” Wolfe asked, bringing me out of my daze and back to reality.

      “Yeah, I’m coming,” I replied, and sped up, shaking away the fog of my mind. The sun seemed to take its sweet time rising. In one hour, it felt like several had passed. Spying a clearing down below, I called for Wolfe to stop.

      “Why don’t we stop to eat in that clearing?” I asked, “We haven’t had breakfast yet.” Wolfe turned, nodded, and started a slow descending spiral.

      As the trees neared, the thought dawned on me that these were different. They were leafy, deciduous, as Wolfe had explained. Strange how I remembered that and no other things about my past. I thought. Some things are so clear, while other things are very fuzzy or completely blank. The thoughts quickly dispersed, as the forest grew closer.

      The large trees looked ancient and strong. As we glided through, we spotted the small clearing to land in with one large tree in the center. Then I got a better look. The bark was thick, with many a deep grove running vertical along the trunk. The trunk branched out early, splitting into several other trunks. Large roots carpeted the forest floor. They were smooth and wound around the base of the tree, as if someone had a trail through here that they used constantly.

      Glancing around, there seemed to be a clear small path winding through these old trees. Calling back to Wolfe, I said, “I’m going to see where this goes,” and I started down the path. The only markings of a path being there at all, was that leaves were trampled and the roots were smooth. The light was green, filtering down through the leaves above. The path that I was on lead to a larger clearing. I crouched behind some shrubbery on the edge of the clearing.

      In the center of the clearing was a small peculiar cabin. It was wooden, with slats for a roof. There was smoke coming out of a chimney on top that looked to be made of large river rocks. The door was intricately carved, with swirls and leaves around the edges. The vines wove together to form a carved cross in the center that was covered in leaves and a rose in the center. The windows had shutters instead of glass and they had the same vine pattern around the edges.

      After observing the cabin, I noticed a golden blur streak towards it. When it reached the door, I saw that it was actually a dog. Trailing close behind was a similar dog. When it stood next to the first one I realized that the first one was a darker shade of red than the first one.

      The two dogs had a lot of energy, the red one more spastastic than the other one. Watching, I realized that the lighter dog was reprimanding the younger one. Instead of jumping up on the door, it rather barked at it. Soon, I saw a woman come out of the cabin and let the dogs in.

      “Beautiful, aren’t they,” came a man’s voice from behind me. The man wore a maroon fleece jacket and was looking lovingly at the dogs and the woman. I spun around, instinctively drawing my dagger. “Relax,” he said, raising his arms in surrender, “I saw you hiding in the bushes, watching my home with weapons on you. I just wanted to talk.” He reasoned. I slipped the dagger back into its sheath, not taking my eyes off his.

      Studying his face, he had hazel eyes, and short black hair. The tip of his nose was rounded and his mouth was in a wide smile, as if he was trying to make a good first impression. “I assume that you’re a friend of Wolfe’s?” he suggested, with a smile and gesturing at my wings. I reacted, spreading them in case of a quick lift off.

      “Who I associate myself with is none of your business,” I said, choosing my words carefully. I glanced behind him, seeing the leaves move. My eyes widened as there was a loud whooshing sound and flapping of wings. Wolfe was landing right behind the man in front of me.

      “Hi Elsa!” she said, as I smacked my head with my hand because she completely blew my lie wide open.