• The sky was dark, it was so cold. Not even the silk blanket her mother had made her was warm enough, nor the pillow made of old flat cotton. There was no moon, no stars, just a dark and endless black sky of emptiness. Wolfrunner knew the sky so well, the trail to and from the village at night for her was not problem at all. She could find her way through just about the entire forest if she wished.

    Wolfrunner sighed as she stood up slowly making her way to the river, even in the pitch black there was a glow to it, the rocks at the bottom had a strange way to reflect the unseen light. She got on her knees carefully, peering into the waters below. Across the river was a shadow figure watching her, almost waiting. She kept on looking into the water, almost off in a gaze. She felt so alone out there, for some reason she could not sleep. She wrapped her arms around herself as her long black hair fell down her back, it shined in the hidden lights of the night.

    Suddenly, her eyes shot up. A dog like figure had made its way to the other side of the river, taking a drink peacefully. She smiled at the creature as she pulled her hair back and put it up in an elastic band, she relaxed a bit more. It was not the first time she had seen this wolf. Wolfrunner had seen this one many times before, but for the first time, she would talk to see if he understood. He probably didn't, but it never hurt to try, did it? Slowly she looked at him, her Icy blue eyes met with his ocean blue eyes.

    Within that moment, she felt something wash over her. Her body seemed stiff, the wind seemed to stop, the water did not move. All she could see was this wolf. A scene of safety ran over her mind, suddenly the world seemed so much more brighter, like the moon was glowing to show them to each other. His fur seemed as black as the night, his eyes seemed to be filled with water from the oceans of time. He stood in a different way than most wolves she had ever seen, his posture was a bit higher, and he was a lot bigger than any other wolf she had seen as well.

    Just as fast as it had come, it went. Yet, the two of them stayed still. More wolves arrived within seconds. Surrounding the wolves, and behind Wolfrunner, had came an old man. The wolves pushed the black wolf away, forcing him to follow them. Wolfrunner was still in a bit of shock. The old man smiled as he sad down next to her, his old leathery hands reached into the water and scooped some up to his mouth as he drank.

    "You have seen something?"     He said, as Wolfrunner turned around in shock, nearly afraid. She instantly began to appolagize.

    "I am sorry Elder Caio, I was not stealing fish from the river, or..." She stopped as Caio cut her off, with a bit of a dry laugh.

    "Young Wolfrunner, I have not come to blame you, My fire has told me something great has happened, your world is now changed, has it not?"     He asked with a smile as he began to gaze into the river, sitting behind him, was his companion Buglui, a Large Black bear. "Buglui has felt it too." His smile was warm, he clearly meant no harm in any way.

    "Yes, Elder Caio, you have been told right." Wolfrunner said, now looking to Caio.

    "There is no need to tell me what happened..." His voice faded slightly, "I have been told by the fire, destroyer of the world and maker of the new, that you, Wolfrunner, have something special. The fire is rather sad actually, it feels wrong for not noticing it before."     Elder Caio seemed slightly sad, his old warm smile gone. "I must bid you a fairwell for now, we will meet again. Not soon, but again." He said as Buglui was now standing beside him, Caio hopped on Buglui's back like a horse nearly, the bear took off back to the village.

    Wolfrunner was so shocked still, not sure what to say. Though now, she felt like she could sleep, even if it was just for a short while. She got up and shook the water off of her feet and went back to the small hut. Where she fell asleep on the cool earth rather than on the soft silk and pillow. It was the best sleep she had ever had in her life.

    With the sun rising to the sky, Wolfrunner had awoken and was all ready eating. Last night in her sleep, something had left a huge chunk of meat outside of her small hut. She was very glad, but was not sure whom to thank. She ate it with grace, for it was the best meat she had ever eaten! So full of juices, the flavor was unmatched. Apparently, the sent of the food had carried far. Several creatures had come too find her well cooked meal. A few foxes came, they traded some berries for a few chunks of the meat. A rabbit traded an old gold coin for a few of the herbs I had cooked inside of the meat. The three hawks had given me three skulls of animals who had died long ago, for enough of the meat to feed themselves. She did not have to talk to them to trade with them, all the animals were very smart! By the time she was done trading with the animals, there was about a few pounds left. Though before she could do anything, a shadow figure had made itself known to Wolfrunner. It was the same as the wolf from the night before, she smiled at him. Slowly, putting out the small piece of meat left.

    "Here, you can have this, I do not need it." With that, he took a few steps closer and sniffed. He did the same thing a few more times until he w as standing right in front of Wolfrunner. He carefully took the mean from her hand and backed up and ate the meat swiftly, his tail wagged as he stood up and licked her on the side of the face. "You are most welcome." She said, giggling lightly, clearly this had made her day, the wolf could tell.

    "Wolfrunner! Wolfrunner! Where are you child?"     A loud voice boomed out, the wolf backed away, and darted into the bush. Wolfrunner had a bit of an upset face.

    "Here I am father." She said getting up and waving to him, his Hawk, Avion, sitting on his shoulder like always.

    "Ah, good. Are you coming to the ceremony tonight? For Blackhawk and Twilo?"     He asked, keeping several feet away from her. A nearly disgusted look on his face, Avion kept his head turned away. Wolfrunner hated to see her father, the two of them hated her so much...she did not know why either. She guessed it was because Avion hated her, so her father hated her.

    "I do not know father, maybe." Wolfrunner looked away at the three skulls, gold coin, and berries she had in her hut. She did not want to give any of them away to Blackhawk and Twilo, Twilo was a raven, and Blackhawk always teased Wolfrunner about everything...she hated it.

    "The least you could do to show some respect to everyone, it is dishonorable not to show to a ceremony." He scolded, Avion flapped his wings in anger as he jumped off of her fathers shoulder and swooped down at her. Before Avion even got within a foot of her, The large black wolf was standing before her. Protecting her from Avion, growling viciously at the hawk and her father. Avion flew to a near by tree branch and her father stepped way back.

    "What beast is this?!?! A wolf? Did you tame it as a pet? This is forbidden!!"     He yelled at her, taking a few steps closer, his hand ready to strike. The wolf's fur stood on end as he growled at the man, whom was clearly wrong. He stepped back, clearly not pleased.

    Wolfrunner had nearly froze, someones words kept going in her ears, they were yelling. But it was not her father. She saw no one else around besides the Wolf, she slowly reached out. The huge black wolf turned around and her hand was on his maw, he was calm now, and relaxed. A name kept coming to her head, repeating. "Devon".

    "Devon," Wolfrunner growled at her father as she stood up. "that is his name." How did she know that? Apparently she was right, as Devon licked her hand. She smiled as she hugged him, he was so big her arms hardly fit around him.

    "So, Devon it is? You are lying..."     He said slowly turning around, Avion following him. "I am telling Elder Caio of this, he will take care of you." He eventually vanished through the bushes and many trees. She smiled as she let go of Devon, she looked at him with a huge smile...Words came from his mouth, she could hear them...understand them!!!

    "I have waited for so long to meet you! I watched you from afar for so long, I was drawn to you somehow...And now, I see why!" He said as his tail wagged wildly back and forth as he sat down. A bit of dust was stirred up from his tail wagging so fast. Wolfrunner could see the joy from him as his eyes gleamed like the best thing in his life had just happened.

    "I...I must thank you, Devon." She said, a bit shy. "Were you the one who brought me that wonderful meat?" She asked as she put her head on her knees, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

    "Yes, I did. I thought that you would like it. Though, I did not expect you to share it with all those others, including myself."     He said, nearly jumping around, he was very exited.

    "Yeah, I knew I would not be able to eat it all, so why not share with those whom have let me be on there land with them?" She inferred, a smile across her lips. "So, do you like to run?" She asked him, her icy blue eyes gleaming.

    "I love it!! If I could run forever, I probably would." Devon said with a laugh, "So, onto more bigger matters..." He shook his head lightly, "Are you going to go to that ceremony tonight?" His voice was now calm, he was a bit more relaxed now.

    "Well, I did not plan on it, but now that I think about it, I should go." Wolfrunner looked to the ground with a bit of a shy face.

    "Why?" Devon asked, clearly with lots of question behind it. He did not understand why she would be willing to go to something that her father nearly hit her for not going too, it angered him. He crunched his teeth lightly. "A village full of people who hate you, and you still want to go?"


    Wolfrunner smiled faintly, with a nod of her head. Devon made a small sigh before nodded his head in agreement. She was glad he was willing to go, from what she could tell so far, this was going to be something beautiful. It was like Devon had lifted a curse or something off of her, everything seemed so much better. The world was more clear, it felt almost like she could feel the world spin...It was wonderful... Without words, Wolfrunner leaned against the tree her hut was built onto, and Devon laid right beside her. The two fell asleep as a cool evening breeze began to arise from the south, from the mountains of the Moon.