The Girl and The Wolf (Part 3)

The sun had completely set and the moon shone brightly. Despite the moon above and the Cellatins surrounding them a feeling of anxiousness washed over Talia. They had been trekking through this forest for too long. 

Talia increased her pace until she was beside the wolf, "Anna, do you think we're close to your house?"

"I'm not sure," she whimpered, "I know we're going in the right direction or at least I thought we were. I didn't think I had gone that far either. Earlier when I found both of you I was chasing Lumy. Usually, he doesn't disobey me but today was different for some reason."

"How so?"

"He ran off into the forest when I was collecting firewood and he didn't stop even when I told him to." She placed her hand on his back. "But I was finally able to catch up to him after he stopped."

"Anna, does there happen to be a stream near your house," Hirow said.

"Yes."

"If I listen carefully I think I can hear some water up ahead."

They all stood in silence for a few moments until Anna shouted out, "It is my home! It is! Hurry, follow me." 

She ran through the trees with Lumy by her side. Talia and Hirow followed until they burst into a clearing with a small house in the middle. The building had vines creeping up every side, only leaving a few holes for windows. Each of the windows still had light shining through them, piercing the darkness. The door facing them flew open as a woman burst out of the house. Anna ran into her arms as they embraced.

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again, " Anna cried.

The woman soothed her, "Don't think such dark thoughts, it's okay now."

"I didn't even bring the firewood back. I'm sorry Mommy."

"As long as you're okay it's fine," the woman placed her hand on the back of Anna's head to calm her down. "We can go tomorrow, together, to gather some."

A girl and her mother were both so at peace, Hirow thought.  It was quite similar to the dream he had a few days ago, but neither of them seemed to resemble those he saw in the dream. As Anna calmed down, the woman looked up at Hirow and Talia standing at the edge of the clearing. "Anna, who are these people that you brought with you."

Her mother let go and Anna swiveled around. "This is Talia and Hirow. They found me and helped me so I wasn't alone."

Anna's mother stood up to face the strangers, "and where do you two come from?"

"A village just west of here. It's called Celestate," Hirow responded.

"I know of it." She began to walk back into the house. "Why don't both of you join us for dinner? It couldn't have been easy trekking through the woods at this hour."

"Thank you." Talia nudged Hirow, "You got lucky your demands were met." 

"Oh, and by the way," Anna's mother turned back, "Call me Lucy."

The soft light from the doorway was welcoming. Hirow and Talia's deary bodies were drawn towards its warmth. The only peculiar thing about the outside was the vines covering the walls but other than that, it seemed to be a normal cottage, yet the inside was wildly different than expected. The vines didn't stop their approach on the outside, but they also covered the walls inside. They were expertly trimmed; to only cover the sides of the room. The house itself looked as if it were only a product of nature. The room they found themselves in was a kitchen. A round table that could seat four people was in the center, and a ceramic oven was nudged comfortably in the corner. A short countertop with a cabinet below stood next to the oven. Two doors lead out of the back of the kitchen to separate rooms. 

"Anna, could you please wash the greens." 

"Okay," she responded. "Lumy, it's time to come out."

The wolf appeared by her side, and her mother handed her a bowl. 

Lucy called to Hirow and Talia, still standing at the door, "You two can sit down if you want to."

They both took a seat, and Hirow watched Anna carefully. She would hold her hand underneath Lumy's tail as a liquid-like molten gold dripped off the end into her hand. The liquid remained steady until her palms were full and the dripping stopped. Then she dumped it into the bowl. Anna then pulled and pushed at the liquid as if she was kneading bread, but her hands never touched it. Even though the material Anna was working with seemed eerily similar to what Haddrung had described, Hirow couldn't help but be fascinated.

"You're probably wondering how she does that."

Hirow was surprised she had taken notice he was watching Anna. "Well, yes. I've never seen anything like it."

"Her father is a Luminary," Lucy said, sitting down; across the table.

"You mean those people that live by the Kings Mountains."

"Yes, I would see them occasionally when I used to live at the base of the Mountains. On the western side of course. That was where I met her father. He had this ethereal glow about him." She sighed, "I never thought he would fall in love with a human, and I guess he didn't think it would happen either, but we got together anyway."

"Where is he now," Hirow asked.

"He left about seven years ago. He probably went back to the Forest of Ori. It's against Luminary law to hold deep relationships with those of other races. It's been that way for the past couple hundred years." She bit her lip in frustration. "He just couldn't take the pressure from their leaders. He's a coward for choosing his race over us."

"Mommy, I'm done," Anna said innocently. 

Her mother brightened up, "Thank you, sweetheart. Now go get washed up while I set the table."

"Okay," she giggled.

Anna ran out the door, and Lucy started towards the counter, "She doesn't remember her father. Probably for the best."

Hirow and Talia sat in silence until Anna returned a few moments later. She sat comfortably in her chair next to Talia. 

"We've never had guests before. Mommy makes the best dinners."

"I'm sure she does," Talia smiled.

"Be glad I made extra tonight," Lucy said, holding a large plate. "I had to cook it all since it spoils so quickly."

The plate had a large piece of meat that had been chopped up. It had a dark silver color and a metallic glean. It was still steaming and surrounded by fresh vegetables.

"Is that meat," Talia asked

"It's a Half-silver Hare. They're extremely rare." Lucy placed the plate down, and Hirow looked up in awe. "How did you find one?"

"It wasn't that hard. You just need a lot of patience. I haven't caught one of them in my traps in over two years. So stop staring at it and eat up!"

They each began taking a piece off the serving dish. Lucy helped Anna serve hers then they all started to eat.

"It's soft and rich," Talia said, muffled by the food still in her mouth. She sank into her chair with a pleasurable look. "I'm sorry Hirow, but this is way better than the soup you made." 

Hirow nodded in agreement as he continued eating. The vines covering the walls still seemed strange to him. Lucy and Anna weren't bothered by them. They didn't even acknowledge their presence. The floor wasn't covered with them either, so it was apparent that they didn't just let them grow wherever. So why were they inside? He swallowed his food and then posed the question.

Lucy stopped eating, "Oh I was wondering when you would ask that. It's a pretty simple explanation. As you've seen Anna has a wolf made of light, and I'm not completely sure how it works, but it helps her see. She sees life flowing through all things. Since the vines are living things she can see them too. They make it much easier for her to navigate the house."

  They continued eating, and Lucy asked a few questions about Celestate which Talia noticed made Hirow uncomfortable, so she switched the conversation to what Anna liked to do. After they finished, Lucy gathered up the dishes.

Hirow stood up, "Thank you for the meal. We should probably get going now. It's very late, and we haven't found a campsite yet." 

"I thought you wanted to stay. Since you helped me, I said you can stay for the night." Anna turned to her mother, balancing on her toes, trying to look as fragile as possible. "It's fine with you, isn't it?" 

Lucy chuckled," Yes, it's fine. Just don't go making deals with strangers again."

"Yay, you can stay," she burst with joy.

"There is a shed in the back, and I have a few blankets you can borrow."

"Sorry for intruding so unexpectedly," Talia apologized.

"Oh, it's fine you'll just be helping Anna and me with some chores tomorrow."

"Thank you, mam."

"It's Lucy," she said with a gentle tone.

"Sorry, Lucy."

"There's no need to apologize so much, don't worry about it."

Hirow and Talia went around the back and found a shed. The shed was long but still much smaller than the house. Hirow opened the door with ease and stepped in. About a dozen gardening tools lined the walls, and the floor was made of fine grains of dirt. 

Hirow walked to the end of the shed and turned to face Talia, "You did go a little overboard back there."

"Yeah," she walked in with her head down, devoid of the energy she had before, "we should get some rest. It's been almost two days since we slept."

They set their sacks on the floor and laid out the mats. Hirow sighed in satisfaction as his back touched the soft ground. After laying in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, Hirow spoke up.

"That wolf seemed interesting. I've never seen anything like it. What do you think about it?"

"I guess it looked nice," she responded dully.

"Her father is a Luminary, so it does make sense she can create things using starlight, but to make a living creature is beyond anything I would expect."

"Yeah."

Talia is usually ecstatic when discovering new things, Hirow thought. But now, all the life she had before is gone. Was it because she was tired, or was it something someone said or something I said? Or am I just overthinking it? Either way, I don't want to leave the night how it is. She's done so much agreeing and apologizing maybe it's my turn.

"I shouldn't have pushed so hard this morning. It was rude of me to be so forceful."

Hirow anxiously waited for her response. Laying with her back facing him she whispered, "Thank you." Then paused, "And about the excessive apologizing. I'll try and get better."

"It's not too much of a problem. You just don't need to agonize over every mistake you make."

"The more I've interacted with people, it feels strange."

"How so," Hirow asked.

"I feel like I have lingering remnants of some personality I've developed, but it's not all there. It's hard to explain."

"Then just live and see what life makes you," Hirow sighed, "I don't know who I'm going to be in the future. Will I be proud of him? Will he be what I expected? I don't know. So remember, even though your situation is unique none of us really know who we are supposed to be. Or that's at least what I think."

Talia's body relaxed and she flipped onto her back, "I didn't tell you this before, but I'm glad you were the first person I met."

Despite the darkness she met as she closed her eyes, she was not scared. Here, beside Hirow, she felt as if the voice from the darkness could not reach her.