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Aurora Borealis (pt.3)
“You are troubled,” came a voice from behind me. I looked back to see the pale grey wolf, introduced to me as River, standing over me. He smiled and lay down at my side.
“My worries are none of your concern,” I said, resting my head on my paws.
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” River replied gently. “We are comrades, are we not? Fellow Canthines. We all must look after one another. Who can we rely on if not each other?”
I just watched him for a moment. “My pack is dead. How can I not be troubled by that?”
River hummed softly. “True, true. But that is not all that troubles you. There is one among my own pack who causes you turmoil as well. Who?”
I shook my head.
“It’s Shadow, isn’t it?” River smiled. I didn’t get why he was so smiley all the time, but I supposed that was none of my concern. Let him smile. At least he made for pleasant company. “You picked up on it, did you not?”
“Picked up on what?” I asked. I was beginning to wonder if River was psychic. It was extremely rare, but not completely unheard of.
“Shadow,” the wolf replied. “He isn’t like us.”
“How so?” I asked.
River gazed off into the distance. “He’s not a pure Canthine, you know. He’s a wolf Canthine. But his pack abandoned him. He had a twin brother who was killed when they were still only cubs. His pack killed his brother and drove him away.”
I was more than a little shocked by this. “Why?”
But River merely shrugged. “Not sure. None of us know. Shadow won’t say. Hardly ever speaks, actually.”
“How did he come to be part of the Night Forest pack?” I asked.
“Ivy found him wandering out on the plains. He was just an injured cub. He would have died if she’d left him out there, so she brought him back,” River said. “He’s been with us ever since.”
I nodded to show I understood. “So what’s your story?”
River chuckled softly. “I’m sure it’s not as interesting as you. I smell human on you. You came for Baltic City, did you not?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
“What were you doing there?” River asked.
“Travelling,” I said. “Nothing more.”
“But you know it’s not safe to go into the cities. And you’re injured,” he pressed.
“I wasn’t when I went in,” I replied.
“Why did you go?” he asked again.
I shrugged. “I wanted to see it, I guess.”
I closed my eyes, but I could feel River watching me. It was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. “How did you come to be part of the River Bend pack?”
“I was born into it,” I said lazily, not bothering to open my eyes.
“No you weren’t,” River said. “You were raised by the humans, weren’t you? That’s why you went to Baltic City.’
I opened one eye and gazed at him annoyedly. “I don’t know what happened to my parents. I was raised by an old Inuit woman and the Canthines of the River Bend pack. The woman was the last member of her tribe. She said she had lived with my parents and that’s why she kept me. We lived outside the cities. When she died I was officially adopted into the River Bend pack. They were friends of the old woman. As far as Baltic City, I had never been to a city. I was curious.”
River nodded. He turned his gaze upward to where the waning moon shone through the pine branches. It seemed there was more to the smiley one than met the eye. At least, that was the impression I got from the deep sadness in his grey eyes.
“You haven’t told me your story,” I reminded him.
He just shook his head. “That’s a question for another time. We will meet again, of that I am certain. But you should rest. I know you plan on leaving early tomorrow, and I have a feeling you won’t be going alone. Goodnight, Isolf of River Bend.”
With that he rose and wandered off into the darkness, leaving me to stare after him.
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