January 22, 2005
Dapple and Dreamsong are once more caught in a nasty situation - only this time, they aren't as lucky as usual.
"Ayooooah! Run, Dreamsong, run!" Dapple's laughter faded into another howl and the wolf barked. Dapple took a moment to look at her wolf bond, which darted around her till they needed to speed up some more; the angry snorts and other sounds were approaching again. Dapple couldn't help but snicker, but had to focus on the road since she had almost tripped over a bush.
She and Dreamsong had been on their own for half a night now, and hadn't seen a living creature except for the prey they hunted together. This had been a mere accident; they had stumbled upon a boar with a couple of her offspring and Dreamsong's bark came too late to warn her elf-friend. The boar had been furious and before Dapple even understood what happened, the wolf had pushed her away from the scene.
But the boar had come for them and now they were running for their lives. Dapple preferred to see it as a simple run-and-catch game. **She should give up soon, right? She can't leave the little ones alone for so long!** The wolf sent an confirmative image; if the boar would leave the youngsters alone there would be other animals who'd see them as a meal.
They succeeded to increase their speed until the boar was out of sight and she could barely hear her. She allowed herself to stop and catch her breath, but her eyes widened when Dreamsong whined and barked. **Again? Still?**
Indeed, the sounds of the boar approached swiftly, and they took off again. **How much longer will she follow!?** It would be easiest to just hunt the boar since there were two of them, Dapple figured, optimistic, but she couldn't get herself to do that, remembering the young ones the mother boar had to take care of.
She looked around and saw that the distance was increasing, and then howled in pain as her hair stuck in a branch, pulling her off balance. Trying to regain her footing, she felt tears burning in her eyes. No time, there was absolutely no time to try and get her hair loose. Dreamsong had turned around and run back to her bond. Dapple pulled her sword, and in one flawless move cut her hair off which made her fall down completely. Dreamsong charged the boar. **I'm loose, let's move out!** Dapple stood and when Dreamsong followed, they ran as one again. She was relieved that this moment of carelessness had ended so well.
A sudden flow of pain shot through her body, and she had to reduce her speed until she had almost stopped. Wailing in pain, she stood still for a moment, but couldn't help but laugh. The boar had been fast, but they had been faster! It had never been their intention to stir up the beast, which was only protecting her offspring, they had just stumbled upon them in moment of bad luck. **Well, we certainly had enough excitement, haven't we, Dreamsong?** Dapple sent to her wolf bond, but unlike other times, there was no response. **Dreamsong?**
Had the wolf fallen behind? Dapple allowed herself only a bit of rest to calm down before she turned. **Dreamsong?** she repeatedly sent, but no reply came.
The pain didn't lessen either. Dapple trusted that the wolf would find her, but she felt different and the pain in her chest didn't go away. She swallowed hard and swift but with care not to stumble upon another or the same boar, if the mother was still near, she returned. She repeated the name of her wolf bond again and again, until she arrived at the spot she had had to cut her hair off; the strands were still stuck in the lower branch. Pity, she thought, looking to the bangs, automatically lifting her hand to touch the cut hair.
**Faya.**
Her soul name slid through her soul like a sharp knife, and she gasped for breath and stirred. Forcefully turning around, she saw what she could have never imagined. The pain Dreamsong felt had filled the wolf's send, and she felt what her bond felt.
The wounds that covered the wolf's body showed a heavy struggle and were clearly the marks from an outraged boar -- which was, incidentally, nowhere to be found. Dapple felt her heart breaking asshe knelt down at her wolf's side. **Don't give up, Dreamsong!** she desperately sent, but the wolf sent a short and simple answer in images in return.
**Hurt. Old. Go.**
**No!** Knowing now the pain had not been caused by running too fast, but by the bond they shared, Dapple refused to give in to what the wolf was saying; that she was too old for this and was too badly hurt to recover; that Dapple needed to leave and let her die. **I will never leave you!** Trying to hold back her tears, Dapple saw her vision fade till she couldn't see more than the silhouette of the wolf, gasping for breath and wailing in pain. Dapple tried to stop the bleeding as well as she could, but it was too much and she felt the life beneath her hands slowly slipping away. When she thought the wolf wasn't breathing anymore, she received one last send. **Faya. Faith.** Then, all that remained was emptiness.
**Dreamsong!** Dapple repeated the name a few times, but there was no response. **NO! No, no, no. Don't give up on me!** She buried her face in her wolf's beloved fur. She knew the wolf couldn't hear her anymore but she desperately refused to believe so. This had all been a very bad dream. Dreamsong would wake up and they would continue their journey. But it didn't happen.
Suddenly, she threw her head back and howled in pain, long and saddened, for her best friend. The first one is the hardest to lose, someone had told her what seemed to be ages ago, but that was only a bitter thought. "I won't fail you, Dreamsong, I'll never bond again! How could I? I don't want to forget you, like you never existed."
As time passed, the flow of tears lessened, but the pain remained. Slowly, she got up.
**Dapple? Dapple, where are you!**
**Mother?** What was she doing here?
**We heard the wolves carrying out your howl. What happened?**
Dapple swallowed and waited until Smokepath had arrived at the scene. **High Ones, Dapple, what happened to your hair?**
Dapple took a deep breath before replying, **Dreamsong is dead.**
Stunned, Smokepath looked at the body and it took a while before she reacted. **Oh, Dapple, I'm so sorry for you. What happened? Were you attacked?**
Dapple turned her face away from her mother and couldn't answer the question. **I don't want to talk about it.**
Smokepath frowned, but didn't ask again. **Let's go home, cub. Do you...** She hesitated, but continued, **Do you want Dreamsong's fur?**
Dapple thought it over, but then slowly shook her head. **No. I want to remember her the way she was...with her fur.** Smokepath nodded, and took her daughter by the hand. **Come, Dapple. Let's go home.**