Part 1- Spirit

I’d have to admit that this is one of the craziest stories in this series. I had to put an advisory on this one because of some of the contents are rather gory. I made a lot of sacrifices that changed the whole story around. There is a lot that you won’t expect. That’s what makes it interesting.

Ghost

It was cloudy out that day. Pagasis, who was in human form at the time, was sitting outside his hut as usual talking to Mona and Aquita. Not much was going on. The other Omogoa natives where just lazing about in the warm weather and briskly doing their daily work.

“It’s really hot out today.” Aquita repeated for the third time that day.

“How many times have you said that?” Mona asked, sounding annoyed with Aquita’s whining. He’d been doing it all day.

“Three?”

“Well, there’s no point in declaring it.” Pagasis murmured. “We already know it’s hot.”

“Well, you’d think.” Aquita groaned. “The sun isn’t even out. It looks like it’s about to rain or something.”

All three of them let out a sigh and stared up at the cloudy sky.

This was normal for them. They didn’t do very much. There wasn’t really anything going on when I was there either. The only major times were when the demons came, but that hadn’t happened in about a year. Everything seemed pretty boring that day.

“I want to kill something…” Mona sighed. “Where’s a demon when I actually want one…” She then glanced at Pagasis and Aquita who both gave her a weird look and shrugged. “What?”

“Is it going to storm or something?” Aquita’s eyebrow rose as he stared up at the sky again. “I think I hear thunder…”

The rest of them glanced up to. There was indeed a rumbling, but it wasn’t coming from the sky. It wasn’t until Rinoa halted in front of then when their eyes trailed back to earth. They looked at each other with a smile

“Ohh…”

Rinoa however didn’t see any humor. She was panting and her chest heaved in and out. She must have gotten there in a hurry. “My mother wants everyone to the cliff!” she said urgently.

By everyone, Rinoa meant the true Guardians. The true Guardians where the ones that could fly and could speak the universal Guardian language. There wasn’t many of us on the island Esthenia. In fact, there were only five of us.

I was considered as a self Guardian being Esthenia herself. Pagasis was a winged horse Guardian. He was a dear friend to me- always by my side. Kovu was a Dragonwolf and the leader of the Omogoa natives. His daughter, Mona, was also a Dragonwolf, but she was a hybrid so she wasn’t full blooded. Corona was also a Dragonwolf and the mother of Kovu and Rinoa. She had been on the island for a very long time. Normally, she’d just sit up on her cliff and keep an eye on the island.

“Let’s go then!” Pagasis said as he stood up. He patted the dust off the back of his pants. “It’s about time something happened… I was getting bored.”

“Getting bored?” Mona’s eyebrow raised.

“I’ll wait here then.” Aquita said as Pagasis and Mona followed Rinoa.

They met up with Kovu and then spread their wings and took off. Pagasis looked down to see that Rinoa was following below in the trees. He smiled and was astonished that she was able to keep up, especially in her age. She was starting to grow older and even her black coat was starting to turn gray, but she didn’t show it quite yet. She was still young at heart in his eyes.

In no time at all, the three of them landed on the edge of the rocky cliff and Rinoa jogged up the path.

Corona was standing in front of the cave waiting for them. She was old and was now starting to show her age. Her beautiful silver-white fur had started to fade and even her black nose and ears started to turn gray and dull. She was still extremely large. Even while lying down. She looked down at Pagasis who ran up to her.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Carona let out a weary sigh.

“Something has just arrived.”

“Could it be Castirio?” Kovu asked, appearing next to Pagasis along with Mona.

Castirio was a Filodrake from one of the neighboring islands. She’d normally bring over lost travelers that she’d beaten up and then blamed the Esthenian Guardians for it.

Carona shook her head.

“No, whatever it is used magic to get here.” She said. “I fear that we may have ourselves another-”

“Not again!” Mona interrupted as she threw up her hands. She didn’t want Carona to finish. “I swear, if it’s another bitchy fox I’ll scream!”

Pagasis looked at his and smiled. He knew very well that she was referring to one of our former enemies. It was a fox named Canis. She was a sorceress who wanted to become a demon so she teamed up with Digarah and helped him try to destroy the island again. In the end, their whole plan failed miserably.

“Our visitor is in the grasslands.” Corona said. “I wish for all of you to meet it there and find out if it’s a demon or not.” She then smiled. “You know the routine.”

“Here we go again…” Mona growled as the three of them dove off the cliff. “Why do they always end up in the meadow?”

“Because they think it’s pretty…” Kovu said with a strong hint of sarcasm.

Rinoa was well on her way down the path.

Pagasis could see her below him again as they made their way to the meadow on the western side of the island. He wasn’t one bit afraid of whom the stranger might have been. He had dealt with much worse things. The worst it could have been was a demon. If that were the case, it could easily be disposed of.

They landed in the grassy field and looked around.

“Okay, so where are they?” Mona asked after a moment.

“Hmm…” Kovu looked thoughtful. “Maybe mother finally lost her mind…”

“I’m here” Rinoa panted as she came bounding from the forest. She stopped next to Pagasis. Her huge tongue hung out of the corner of her mouth as she panted. “So…” she looked around. “Where’s this visitor supposed to be?”

“Maybe they haven’t arrived yet.” Mona suggested though she already had her hand on the knife she carried on a leg strap. She wasn’t going to take any chances.

They looked around some more.

Pagasis was beginning to get nervous. Knowing that Carona was rarely wrong, he didn’t doubt her for a minute, however when something was around that nobody could sense, that was normally a bad sign. Suddenly, something came to him.

“Stay on your guard.” He said, looking at everyone sternly. Unlike them, he did sense something, but it was like nothing he’d ever sensed before.

Everyone looked around again. If Pagasis was nervous, they were too.

“There!” Rinoa exclaimed. She was looking toward the forest. Her ears stood erect and the hair on her back began to ridge up. “I see something.”

“Like what?” Kovu asked, trying to catch a glimpse.

“I’m going to go check it out.” Rinoa said as she strode over to where she’d seen it. She glanced at Pagasis over her shoulder for approval.

“I’ve got your back.” Pagasis nodded. For a second he wondered why they pointed him as the leader all the time but that didn’t matter at the moment.

“This should prove interesting…” Kovu said nervously as his sister disappeared into the trees.

They waited for a moment. All had their eyes open and their ears tall as to capture any strange or sudden movements. Nothing happened after a moment until Rinoa bolted from the woods. She was running at full speed and had a frightened expression on her face.

“Pagasis!” she exclaimed. “Help! It isn’t something of this world!”

“What the hell!” Mona exclaimed as something burst from the trees after Rinoa with such a tremendous force that they were nearly blown over.

It was a huge white, ghostly wolf. It appeared to be flying as it ran and body was almost transparent.

“Rinoa!” Pagasis called to her as he ran over to her. “Don’t move!!”

Rinoa looked at him like he was insane as she ran past with the creature at her heels, but she stopped in her tracks and didn’t move a muscle.

The ghost didn’t stop however. It kept going until it ran right through her as she just stood there with wide eyes, causing her hair to rise all over her body. The ghost finally stopped and turned around to face her. It seemed to have some kind of grin on its face as it stared at her with its black, empty eyes.

Just then, Pagasis appeared between it and Rinoa. His eyes flashed blue as he stared into its eyes.

The ghostly wolf was looking back down at him. After a moment, its eyes began to glow a faint blue color. It seemed to be hypnotized or something.

‘Can you speak?’ Pagasis asked it telepathically. ‘I know you can hear me. We mean you no harm if you’re willing to cooperate.’

The ghost didn’t respond. Instead, it curled back its lips and showed dozens of teeth and a set of huge fangs. Its eyes flashed red and it let out a deafening roar. Red splotches began to appear on its chest and neck, and red was pouring from its mouth like it was disintegrating in blood.
“Is… it a demon?” Mona gasped. All the color drained from her face as she stood by her father and watched what was going on.

“I don’t know…” Kovu stammered, his eyes also wide with shock.

“It’s a spirit.” Rinoa panted as she appeared next to them. She decided to leave Pagasis to his magic.

Kovu and Mona looked at her.

“You mean a ghost?” Mona asked.

Rinoa nodded.

Meanwhile, Pagasis still hadn’t taken his eyes off the ghostly wolf. They where staring into each other’s eyes. Suddenly, the wolf’s body burst. A cloud of white fog illuminated the area. It hung for a moment then it began to suck itself in, forming a new body.

Pagasis didn’t move while this happened. He just stared at it with curiosity.

“Who are you?” he asked calmly.

The dark stranger stood up. He looked very much like an Omogoa native with his human like figure and his wolfish head. He had long, white hair and his body was very dark brown. Only his snout, toes and the tip of his tail stood out white like his hair. His attire consisted of a pair of strange, shabby denim pants that were shredded at the knees with several holes in them. His yellow eyes were staring at Pagasis coldly.

“Answer me!” Pagasis demanded. He wasn’t about to waste his anger on something like this though he was willing to show that he wasn’t afraid by raising his voice.

The stranger still didn’t speak. He just continued to stare at Pagasis with a frown. It was obvious that he wasn’t willing to talk.

“You stubborn ass!” Mona finally shouted. She was angry and had lost her patience for this visitor. On top of that, she detested it when Pagasis nor her anyone else was disrespected in such a manner. She then reached for her knife that was in its sheath that was attached to a strap around her leg. “I’ll teach you to disrespect us!”

With that she charged at him at full speed before anyone could stop her. She drew out her knife and aimed for the stranger’s chest. With a clang of metal and a bright spark, her knife was blocked by a sword that was pulled from nowhere that was held tightly in his hand.

He looked down at her with a grin on his whit muzzle.

Mona was furious. She jumped back and charged again. This time, he dashed out of the way as Mona’s knife made a faint whistle as she aimed for his throat with a quick slash. She turned and glared at him.

“Enough!” Pagasis said as he stepped in between them, giving them both warning looks. He wasn’t about to let a fight break out knowing for a fact that once Mona got into it, there’d be no stopping her.

Mona lowered her knife. Her ears were now pressed back and she still didn’t take her eyes off the stranger as he stared at his sword.

Pagasis looked at them both.

“Now look,” he said. “This isn’t going to prove anything. So why don’t we just put the toys away and talk this over like adults.”

The stranger appeared to pay no attention to him. He was examining his sword with great interest now.

“You’re good.” he finally said. His voice was a cold as his eyes.

“What was that?” Mona growled.

“You managed to put a crack in my sword.” He said coolly. “You are indeed a skilled fighter, but juvenile.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve for someone who is afraid to tell us his own name!” Mona growled while boldly taking a step forward.

“I’m not afraid.” he said. “Maybe I just don’t’ feel like it.”

“Please.” Said Pagasis, relieved that he at least was speaking now. “Just tell us why you are here.”

“Yeah, are you a Guardian?” Kovu asked, appearing next to Mona. Rinoa was by his side.

“Guardian?” the stranger said with a raise of his thin eyebrow. “Define Guardian.”

“What!” Rinoa exclaimed. “Do you even know where you are?!”

“Not really…” the stranger shrugged.

Everyone looked at one another. They didn’t have a clue what to say.

“Are… you from a different world?” Kovu asked.

“Yes, what is your world called?” Rinoa asked.

“How would I know… I just woke up here.” the stranger replied.

“That’s great…” Mona sighed. “How did you get here or do you even know that?”

“Where exactly is here?” the stranger asked.

“You are in the Dream world.” Kovu replied. “Do you have any idea how you got here at all?”

“Well, I’ve heard rumors about some of us passing on to other worlds because ours becomes too over populated.” said the stranger. “That might explain it.”

“Over populated?” Rinoa tilted her head. “How can a world become ‘over populated’?”

“You see,” the stranger explained. “We are the spirits of the dead. Think about that…”

“The land of the dead…” Rinoa said thoughtfully. Her brilliant mind was running again. “You must come from the Spirit world…”

“That would explain a lot.” Kovu said in deep awe. He’d only heard of such a place in stories.

“There are many different kinds of Spirit worlds.” Rinoa said with a thoughtful frown. “Do you know of what world?”

“The Earth.” the stranger said. “We are the spirits of animals from the human world. Whenever an animal dies, that’s where they go. We can return to the human world and fulfill our last desires in our spirit forms, the ghosts that they see. We are all around them. Only few can be seen.”

“What happens when you complete your tasks?” Kovu asked.

“We can forgo our lives in a new place.” he said.

“I get it.” said Mona as she snapped her fingers. “You must have completed your task, and you got sent to the Dream world.”

“I suppose so...” he shrugged. “I have heard of such a place. Many of the spirits must come here.”

“Do all of them have a spirit form?” Mona asked. She still hated him, but her curiosity was overlooking that fact for the moment.

“Some.” he shrugged again. “Others may have powers. Have you ever heard of witches or vampires?”

“Yeah.” Rinoa nodded. “Witches are a lot like sorceresses.”

“That explains where Canis came from…” Mona said as she rolled her eyes.

“Well, what is your name?” Kovu asked. “You’ve told us everything but that.”

“Yeah!” Mona barked.

The stranger looked at her with a vague hint of annoyance.

“I am Karoko.” he said. “And who are you, might I ask, oh-little-annoying-one?”

Mona pressed her ears back.

“I am Mona, and that’s princess to you!” she growled.

“Princess suits you just fine…” he remarked, grinning at her anger.

“Are you planning on staying here with us?” Kovu asked in a kind voice. He was always known for welcoming strangers. “We could use your fighting skills in our clan.”

Karoko kept his frown, though, he looked thoughtful.

Pagasis, who hadn’t spoken in a while, was hesitant on Kovu’s suggestion. He’d been examining Karoko the whole time they’d been talking. There was just something about him that made him uneasy. He was also wondering how the others didn’t notice that Karoko didn’t have a scent. Perhaps they were more curious about him instead of the little details. If something didn’t have a scent, then they were either dead, which ghost or not, Karoko still looked very much alive, or they were hiding it somehow and it took a lot of power to accomplish that.

It was neat that Kovu was so trusting but so was Wotan, the clan’s former Alpha, and it was his downfall. This made Pagasis nervous but he wasn’t going to doubt Kovu’s or Rinoa’s judgment so he decided to just go along with it and wait. Maybe he was just thinking too much.

He snapped from his thoughts when Karoko’s voice came to his ears.

“Whatever.” he finally replied, staring down a Mona who was glaring back up at him.

Always There

I stumbled on a shirt that was lying on the stairs. I growled and kicked it aside and continued up to my room. I could still hear the angry voices from the floor below as I opened my door and walked inside. I then closed the door behind me and locked it. Feeling the relief of my refuge, I sighed and fell back on my bed.

My name is Christy Miller. The name might sound normal, but I’m not what you’d call your average person. Sure, I had a family, a mom, dad, and annoying sister, I was now a freshman at my local high school, and even my appearance was normal.

The thing that was so eccentric about my qualities was my secret. I had what you’d call a split personality. You see, I appeared to be a normal person on the outside, but on the inside I was two persons. They lived inside my head.

One was named Esthenia- a sphinx with quite an attitude. Her personality was the one that came out most often which was actually representing the real me. She enjoyed her solitude and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

The other was named Pagasis. He was what you’d call my conscience- the Guardian angel on the right side of my shoulder. His personality was the complete opposite of Esthenia’s. Though, lately, he hasn’t been much of help.

A lot of bad things where happening. Many of them I should have been sad, but due to a minor problem, I couldn’t feel sad. Instead, I’d get angry. I never really quit known why. It just started happening all of a sudden.

This problem hadn’t started until recently. It was rather difficult for me to explain at the time but something set it off and it wasn’t good. All I remember was somebody trying to kiss me, and then I woke up somewhere else. Pagasis told me that he was suddenly just there… and he was controlling my body. It was really weird. Since then, when I felt certain emotions or I was afraid, we’d switch.

I was still glad of having Pagasis around. I was never alone. Even when nobody was around and the whole world hated me, he was still always there for me. Especially on a day like this when there was just too much for me to bear.

I covered my ears when I heard the yelling again. I couldn’t stand it much longer. Inside my head, Pagasis was telling me that it was going to be all right. I tried to listen to him, but my body was shaking. There was a continuous rumble in my ears that almost completely blocked out his voice.

After a while, I could hear the steps creak as someone walked up the stairs and across the hall to the room next to mine. It was my sister. Her and my mother’s fight must have been over. There was a slamming sound that signaled the entrance to her bedroom and a small click as the door was locked.

It was almost the same routine every night. It was usually over something pointless and dumb. It was my sister that usually started the fights. Her careless attitude completely showed that she had no respect for my mom. I didn’t like it one bit. I respected my mom a lot, and whenever someone was mean to her, I got very angry. So that’s why I’d normally break up their fights, but tonight, I didn’t want anything to do with it. The fight went through so many extremes that I didn’t want to get involved.

Pagasis felt the same way about it. The arguing and stuff didn’t bother him so much. However, the fact that it was out of total disrespect of my mother is what set him off. Since his mother died, his philosophy was that all adults should be respected. Especially mothers.

‘You need to get away from there.’ Pagasis’ voice told me. ‘The stress is going to kill you.’

“I know.” I sighed as I stared down at his necklace. It had round blue beads and large white teeth. They where connected by a black leather string that tied around my neck. In the center was a tiny dream catcher. Long ago, a friend had made it for him to keep him from turning into a demon, but now that he was a god, I needed it more than he did. “I can’t take much more of this…”

He’d been telling me the same thing all week. I would have gladly left, but with school going on I couldn’t. I hated the school year for this reason. I hardly had any refuge from anyone and on top of that, my transformations were rather hard to control at times.

I was in school for about a week already, and I had a lot more things to worry about than just angry people and myself. I wasn’t looking forward to my new uniform either. Every year we had to wear them and now that I was in high school, I had to wear a new one. One that consisted of a skirt! I hated skirts…

On top of that, the brutally unforgiving teachers had already started assigning tons of homework, and I was totally behind on most of it. I couldn’t rely on Pagasis to help me out on this one. He didn’t know much about certain things, but remarkably, he was a whiz with a computer. I suppose when he had the ability to work on them through my body it didn’t take too long for him to learn how to use one. He always tried his best to help me out.

I had always thought that he pushed himself too hard for my sake. Even in my dreams he tried. Though, being a true Guardian, Pagasis couldn’t be in his true form, but he could disguise himself. Once I was dreaming that I was in a house…

I didn’t have a clue whose house it was or why it was there. So I walked around for a very long time until I finally realized that there was no way out of it. I walked into rooms and through hallways and still couldn’t find anything. I was lost. The house seemed to be a world of its own and went on forever. I walked into a room and found a large bed. Above it was an open window. Through it I could see outside.

I could finally escape from the house, but instead of heading for the window, I walked to the bed. Something about it drew me to it. I wanted to rest. I lay down and fell into a dark sleep.

Moments later I opened my eyes. Someone was standing over me. I shot up. I was still in the room with the open window and the bed. I got up and looked at the stranger who had woken me up.

He was a boy. A teenage boy with short blonde hair and had a friendly face and blue eyes. I’ve met this person before when I was only a small child. We where in what you’d call “puppy love.” Then he moved away and I hadn’t seen him since. Now, the older version was standing there and smiling at me in my dream.

He walked past me and sat on the bed. He then scooted back and patted the bed in front of him, beckoning me to sit. Unafraid, I walked over and sat down in front of him. He then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around my stomach. He rested his head on my shoulder as he held me close.

I felt a sudden warmth spread through me. I felt like I was protected. Like nothing could hurt or touch me. That was the way I wanted to be held.

I reached back and touched his face as he kissed me lightly on the neck. Then suddenly, I woke up. The dream was over. I was back in my own room staring into darkness.

I didn’t learn until the next morning that it had been Pagasis in disguise when I asked him about it. He told me that he thought it would make me feel better. Normally, I would get pretty angry about something like that, but for some reason I wasn’t and I couldn’t. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I think it really did make me feel better.

I had always remembered my dreams like that. The one I described happened in the beginning of the summer. The strangest part about the whole thing was that my mom saw the person Pagasis impersonated the very next day at her work.

That wasn’t the only dream I remembered. One thing was for sure I never had any nightmares. Sometimes, I’d have a dream that would start to turn into a nightmare, but then something would take over my body and beat up whom or whatever was causing the nightmare. It was really strange.

I tried not to let these thoughts bother me. I know that it was something that I would have to put up with if I wanted to return to the Dream world. My knowledge of the whole thing was something I thought about every day. Pagasis told me that he could use his powers to make me instantly forget everything and live my life as a normal person, but I declined. No matter how much it bothered me, I couldn’t leave the other world behind. I had a lot of friends, and in a way, it made me feel special knowing that I was the only human to ever enter the Dream world. Humans weren’t aloud there. There where things called human hunters to kill any humans just in case one did manage to show up. When Pagasis brought me there, he gave me a charm that turned me into the sphinx, Esthenia so the human hunters wouldn’t know I was actually human.

I laid there in my bed and stared up at the blank ceiling. After a moment, I finally made up my mind. I got up and walked out of my room. I went down the stairs and sat on the couch next to my mom in the living room.

She was still staring blankly at the TV, which was playing some old game show. Though she knew I was there, she didn’t look at me.

I decided to stare too, but after a moment of silence, minus the TV, I sighed and looked at her sympathetically.

She took her eyes off the screen and looked at me. We stared at each other for a moment until she said, “What happened to your cheek?”

I took my eyes off her and set them back onto the TV screen. I could still feel the burning pain of the marks on my cheek.

“It’s nothing…” I said.

Big News

I lifted my backpack onto my bed. I then folded a pair of blue jeans and a red tank top and set them in the bag along with my watch, CD payer, and cell phone. I then but the strap over my shoulder and headed for the door. I stopped to view myself in the mirror one last time before I headed out. My 16 year old self looked back at me. My reddish brown hair was a bit untidy and my bangs went to my eyes. It was just the way I liked it. I frowned when I looked at the sailor-girl uniform that I was wearing. It consisted of a white top with a blue sailor collar that tied in a red bow. The worst part about it was the blue skirt. As I mentioned before, I despised skirts.

The school bus horn made me jerk my eyes away from the mirror and toward the door. I ran out of my room and down the stairs, praying that the bus driver would wait for me. I ran to the front door and pulled on my shoes, then opened the door and slammed it shut as I sped out.

The bus was still there when I made it down my driveway. The driver opened the door. When I stepped on I looked up to see that he had a smile on his unshaven face and was shaking his head. I tentatively smiled back and climbed on. The little kids at the front of the bus went hay-wire as they hugged my waste and shouted my name as I strode past. I didn’t like little kids too much, and I tried not to let them bother me, but when a boy was standing in the isle in front of me when I made my way to the seats to the back of the bus, I glared at him.

“Out of my way midget!” I snapped.

The boy looked at me then sat down in his seat as I strode past. I took my seat and looked at another classmate who sat across from me. She was almost my age though I was a bit older. I was the second oldest girl in my small glass and I was proud of that among many other things.

“We’ve got to learn how to drive.” I said to her.

When we finally got to school, I met another one of my friends by the lockers. He was another class mate of mine. I waved to him as I walked to my locker at the end of the row. As I turned the combination lock he walked up to me and leaned against the locker next to mine. I felt embarrassed when I cursed because I got the combination wrong again for the third time.

I still wasn’t used to going to the high school wing. The lockers were smaller and though the hallways seemed less crowded between classes, it was still loud and hard to walk through everyone who just stood around and talked.

“Are you doing anything this weekend?” He asked.

I jerked my locker open and replied, “Yeah, I am.” I said as I took my bag off and hung it on one of the little metal hooks. I made up my mind the night before about visiting the Dream world for the weekend. “Sorry.”

I had asked my mom the night before if I could go to my real dad’s house for the weekend as an excuse to visit the Dream world. My real parents rarely spoke to one another. So my mom wouldn’t know if I was actually there or not, and my sister had other plans for the weekend, she always did, so she couldn’t spoil anything either.

I knelt down and grabbed my books for my first hour class. My friend was still standing over me. I could feel my eyes on me. It made me feel tense and rather annoyed. I tried my best to ignore him. I knew very well that he had a crush on me. He said so in one of the many notes he gave me. The thing that bothered me the most was the fact that he said that he wanted to spend more time with me. I still refused to go out with him. I didn’t date my friends. On top of all the things going on in my head, the last thing I needed was a boyfriend.

Both of us kept quiet for most of the day. I had a feeling that he knew that something was bothering me. I was hoping that he would just ignore me and just did his school work instead of asking me if I was okay every hour. I guess I was just in one of those moods were I wanted to be left alone. I couldn’t even concentrate on anything and my mind was all hazy. I just sat there in my desk with my head on my books hoping that the day would end soon.

“Miss. Miller!” the teacher barked, making me jump.

I lifted my head and wearily looked at him.

“What?” I sighed.

“I would advise that you put your face in your book instead of on it.” he said.

Everyone else was staring at me. All of them had their books open on their desks. I opened mine after asking what the page number was, and to make things even better, I had to read the page out loud while standing up in front of the class.

Once the bell finally rang signaling that school was out for the day, I briskly headed for my locker. I was somewhat grateful that nobody asked about the marks on my face. I really didn’t like unwanted attention. Especially when many of my class mates walked past telling me how well I read in mocking voices. I ignored them and strode up to my locker, now rushing to get out. Finding my friend standing there and waiting for me I sighed and asked him what he wanted.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked me with concern.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. I knew that I sounded annoyed, but I was in such a lousy mood I didn’t really care.

I opened my locker and put my books away.

He was silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry…” he finally said.

My eyes flashed. I stood up and turned to him.

“What do you mean?” I asked furiously. I couldn’t stand it when people apologized for their feelings.

After a moment of silence he turned.

“I’ll see you Monday.” he said over his shoulder as he walked away.

I could feel my blood boil. I was angry again.

‘Why do people have to do that?’ I asked myself.

‘That’s the way they are.’ Pagasis replied. ‘They can’t help it. Everyone is different…’

‘Well, it’s stupid!’ I said. I had a feeling that he’d give me that kind of reply. He always saw good in everyone and it annoyed me at times. ‘I don’t date my friends.’

‘I know…’ he said calmly. ‘Relax in a moment you’ll be out of there so don’t worry about it.’

‘I’ll be there in a minute.’ I said as I grabbed my backpack from my locker.

‘You got it.’ Pagasis said. ‘I’ll be at the village. There’s something I want to tell you, so hurry up.’

“Okay.” I nodded.

I walked to the front doors. I couldn’t wait to see everyone again. It was such a long time since I last visited.

Instead of heading for the front doors, I went down the hall to one of the back exits and went out that way. It was sunny out and very warm. Glancing around, I was worried that someone would see me as I walked to the other end of the school to the large shrubs. I took one last look around to make sure I wasn’t being watched, and opened one of the small pockets on my backpack. I pulled up a small wad of paper and unwrapped it to reveal a small glass ball. It was transparent and a misty white. This was my orb, my transport to the Dream world. This was another item Pagasis had given me when we first met. Using it, I could go to places I have already been to. All I had to do was picture the place in my head while holding it.

I held the orb tightly in my hands and pictured the Omogoa village in my mind. Suddenly, the world around me sank into a blur of color. My body was floating as it began to change. My feet and hands turned into paws, my skin began to sprout long orange fur and a large pair of orange, black tipped wings burst from my back. My school uniform melted away as I landed on all four paws on the mossy forest floor.

My senses where amplified about a hundred times better than when I was human. Off in the distance, I could see the large, wooden huts of the Omogoa village. Smoke rose from the fires that burned in the small pits inside them and reached my nose. I could hear the native’s voices and footsteps as they did their daily work. Their human-like bodies where brown while their wolfish heads were tan. Their clothing was also interesting. Mostly consisting of fine tan leather and colorful beads and feathers.

I looked for a sign of the color white amongst them all. After a moment, I found a pair of large white wings and a thick white tail off in the distance. I knew right away that they belonged to Kovu. I smiled and ran into the clearing bounding on all four paws. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the natives wave at me cheerfully as I sped past. I also was pleased to see that the huts were nicely rebuilt after they were destroyed during my last visit.

“Hey Kovu!” I said as I halted in front of him.

He turned and looked down at me. He was still extremely tall compared to me. He looked as young as he did before, though he did show signs of aging in his face.

“Hi!” he replied with a smile. “Here to visit for a while huh?”

I nodded.

“That’s great. Pagasis told me that you were coming.” he said. “I’m glad to see you. Maybe now something interesting will happen.”

I giggled. It was true. Every time I came something always happened.

“Has anything gone on lately?” I asked him.

Kovu grinned.

“I’m leaving that to Pagasis.” he said. “He’s got plenty to tell you.”

“Really?” I asked, tilting my head. “I wonder why he didn’t tell me anything before…”

“Beats me.” Kovu shrugged. “Ask him that yourself.”

“I will!” I said. I then turned. “I suppose he’s at the hut.”

“You got it!” Kovu said, giving me a thumb up.

“See you around!” I called to him over my shoulder as I ran to my hut. The natives built it especially for me and Pagasis. It wasn’t too big but it was cozy and comfortable on the inside.

I had a feeling that he’d be sitting in his usual spot by the door. I walked around one of the larger huts and sure enough, there he was.

He was in his human form and wearing his usual outfit. He greeted me with one of his smiles and a wave. A pile of apples lay by his side.

I ran up to him and threw my arms around him.

“I missed you!” I said as I squeezed tighter.

“I… missed… you too!” he wheezed. “You’re suffocating me!”

“Oh, sorry!” I said as I let go. I forgot about my strength when I was in this form. I sat down on my hunches. I could feel my backpack shift uncomfortably between my wings. It was starting to itch.

“You need help with that?” Pagasis asked me with a smile.

“That would be nice.” I said.

Pagasis’ eyes glowed a bright blue as he concentrated on his powers.

I could feel my body change as a flash of light blinded me. When I opened my eyes I was standing on two legs. I was now in my human form. I still had my paws and tail. Even my skin was still orange. I was wingless too. I slid my backpack off and sat it down.

“Thank you.” I said with a sigh of relief. I then looked down at myself and saw that I was back in my school uniform. I looked up at Pagasis to see him laughing. “Not funny!” I hissed.

“It’s not my fault…” he shrugged, trying to hold it in. “You know that either you’re wearing the last thing you wore, or you wear nothing…”

Ignoring him, I picked up my bag and tossed it over my shoulder. I headed for the doorway.

“I’m going to change.” I said flatly while raising the leather curtain that served itself as a door. “When I come back you have got to tell me what’s going on.”

“Okay.” Pagasis chuckled.

I walked inside and smiled. I could see that the natives did a good job rebuilding the hut. The dream catchers where hanging back on the walls and our fur lined beds where back to where they where.

I sat down my backpack and opened it. I then slid off my skirt, and put my usual jeans on. My mom wanted me to throw them away because there was a hole in the back of them. I couldn’t tell her that it was for my tail, but I still managed to keep them from her grasp.

I put my red tee-shirt on and folded my uniform and sat it on my bed.

“I hate that thing…” I growled while staring at it. The thought of just shoving it into the center fire entered my head but Pagasis’ voice entered saying that it wasn’t such a good idea. I told him to shush.

When I was finally settled in, I walked back outside. I was met by a huge, black, wolfish face with red eyes. It took me a moment to realize that it wasn’t something that wanted to kill me.

“Rinoa!” I exclaimed as I jumped forward and hugged her nose. It was only large enough for me to put my arms only half way around her huge snout.

“Hi.” I heard her say. “It’s good to see you again.”

I let her go and stepped back.

Rinoa was nearly twenty five feet tall. Her body was covered with black, shaggy hair. Her ears and eye markings where even blacker then her body. Most would say that she was a demon, for the colors black and red symbolized evil, but Rinoa had the heart of gold and she was smart on top of it.

I turned to Pagasis. He hadn’t left the spot where I had left him. Rinoa and I sat down.

“So, there’s something you wanted to tell me?” I asked.

“Yes.” he nodded. “A lot has been going on lately. We have a new tribe member.”

“Really?” I marveled, now interested.

He told me of the whole story about the strange ghostly wolf.

“His name’s Karoko?” I asked, verbally confirming the name.

“Yeah.” Pagasis said. “I guess he’s from the Spirit world.”

“And you say that he was white and he had blood pouring from his mouth?” I shuddered. The picture of that looked kind of grim in my head. It reminded me of a picture I saw in a magazine article. “That’s just creepy.”

“Do you want to hear something else that’s just as scary?” Rinoa asked with a stern look.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s Mona.” Pagasis said. His smile vanished too. “She’s having a pup.”

Training

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. When I was told that they had news for me I didn’t imagine in a million years it would be something like that. Sure, the fact of having a new clan member was to be expected, but Mona? The whole thought of her having a kid was just mind boggling.

“What!” I exclaimed. My eyes grew wide. “No way!!”

“Yeah.” Pagasis nodded. He didn’t smile and he didn’t frown but he looked thoughtful.

“Well… um… Who!?” I asked, trying not to sound awkward.

“We don’t know.” Rinoa said while shaking her head. “She refuses to tell anyone.”

“What?” I found my head tilted in question. No doubt my facial expression matched it. “Why wouldn’t she.”

Pagasis just shrugged while Rinoa said; “I think she’s ashamed.”

I didn’t want to ask why out loud. I was asking too many questions already. Neither of them obviously knew anything about it so I wasn’t going to press the matter. The biggest question that dwelled in my mind was “How?”

I then thought of someone who would know.

“What about Aslynn?” I asked. “Maybe she knows something...”

“She claims that she doesn’t know.” Rinoa said. “She won’t say anything either.”

“What if I ask?” I said while shrugging. “Mona and I talk about a lot of things. Maybe I could get it out of her…”

“You could give it a shot.” Pagasis said though he sounded doubtful. “She really doesn’t have any other friends that are girls around here…”

“Where is she?” I asked.

“She’s probably training with Karoko.” Pagasis sighed.

“Training?” I questioned.

“Mona wants to learn his technique.” Rinoa said while rolling her eyes, showing what she thought of it. “There’s no doubt that he’s a skilled fighter. I just wonder why they are together so much.”

“How come?” I asked.

“They hate each other.” Pagasis said. “They never get along. Every time they’re together they’re fighting or arguing about something.”

“Either way he isn’t very nice.” Rinoa said with a frown.

“Yeah right!” Pagasis said with a mocking laugh. “You just don’t like the fact that he scared the wits out of you when he chased you.”

“Hush…” Rinoa barked. “I had it under control…”

“You screamed for my help like a puppy!” Pagasis smirked.

They where still at it when I left them. Despite the fact that they were adults and they were best friends, they always got into arguments like this. It was sheer proof of their friendship. Pagasis and Rinoa were best friends since I first met Pagasis which was quite a long time ago and even before I knew him, they were still together.

I walked to the middle of the village where the big fire burned and looked around. The scent of the fire and fresh new wood met my nose. I noticed that the new huts were in the same places where the old ones used to be. They were styled a bit differently. I had a feeling that they used a different type of wood for they were a lot lighter colored then the last ones and they were also shaped slightly different. They were more dome shaped even taller.

Realizing that I was getting distracted, I concentrated and pin-pointed Mona’s scent. She was in the forest. Now interested, I found the path I began to realize how they knew she was bearing children. Her scent was different. I couldn’t quite explain it.

I walked until I heard the clank of metal off in the distance. I then realized that they where in a small clearing just outside the path. I walked through the under brush and found them.

They where circling each other, staring into one anther’s eyes with anger. Mona seemed a lot older than I remembered her. Her snout was thinner and her hair was longer. Her body was even showing signs of maternity and was filling her usual tattered dress out quite well.

Karoko was exactly how Pagasis told me. He was dark and had long white hair though he was taller and more muscular then I pictured. He must have definitely made up his mind about staying for he now wore an Omogoa attire and even had a tattoo on his right arm. In his hand was a very large sword.

Mona dashed forward and attempted to slash his chest.

Karoko merely stepped out of the way and tripped her with his outstretched foot.

Mona fell into the mossy ground. She rolled over and growled at him.

“You’ve got to be quicker.” Karoko said strictly as he rested his weapon on his shoulder. His voice was as cold as the glare in his yellow eyes. “You’ll never master it at that speed.”

Mona stood up. She had bruises on her arms and knees along with dirt.

A part of me felt sorry for her. It looked like a painful and difficult experience. I suddenly felt like I was intruding so I decided to leave, but as I turned away, I could hear Mona say my name. I turned to see the both of them staring at me.

“Hey Mona.” I said timidly with a slight wave.

Mona smiled and ran up to me and greeted me with a hug. This definitely wasn’t the reaction I was expecting but it made me glad to know that she was happy to see me despite the fact that I was spying on them. She let me go and grabbed onto my shoulders.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to come back!” she said with an excited smile.

“Really?” I asked, smiling sheepishly. I felt young compared to her for some reason.

“Yeah!” she nodded. “I haven’t had a regular girl talk in a long time. You know… Well… there’s always Rinoa but she’s always so serious…”

I laughed.

“Who’s this?” Karoko asked as he appeared by Mona’s side.

“This is her.” Mona said, gesturing my presence. “Esthenia.”

I felt like I was being x-rayed as he looked at me from head to toe. The strangest part was that he didn’t have a scent to him. It took me a moment to figure this out.

Karoko didn’t have much of an expression to talk about. He just stared until he spoke his mind. “A human…” he said, now frowning. “I suppose you may deem this rude on what I’m about to say but it will take me a while to warm up to you.”

Mona rolled her eyes.

“You see.” he said. “Humans think they’re superior but they’re weak…”

I just stared at him until Mona broke the silence.

“Lay off her!” Mona barked. “Give her some respect. She didn’t do anything. Are you going to punish her just because she’s human?”

Karoko didn’t take his eyes off me. He continued to look me over from head to toe.

“We’ll see.” he said.

“So, what are you trying to learn?” I asked Mona.

“Karoko here is trying to teach me his stealth technique.” Mona replied.

“What’s that?”

“It’s when you can move so fast that no one can see you.” Mona said. “He says he’s willing to teach me but I have to work hard.”

“It’s very hard work.” Karoko said while flicking something off the end of his sword. I noticed that it had an interesting yellow design on it that looked kind of neat. “It will probably take you more than a year the way you are.”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Mona barked.

It was true. I could smell sour hate coming off her like a kick in the face and no doubt, Karoko felt the same way for his expression showed loathing rather well. For some reason, it looked familiar to me.

“So, you’re a ghost?” I asked curiously. I decided to try to at least learn something about him.

“Not exactly.” Karoko said as he continued to examine his sword as though I was absolutely no interest to him. “But I died…”

“Woa…” I murmured. “Do you know how?”

Karoko gave me a look. He then turned away while slipping his sword back into its sheath that was on his back. “That is something you shouldn’t worry about…” he said flatly. “We’re done for today Mona.”

He then walked away without a second glance.

“What was that about?” I asked, feeling a bit remorse. “Was it something I said?”

“No.” said Mona as she smiled at me. “Things like that wouldn’t bother him. He was born without emotions...”

I smiled back.

“Sounds like the type for me…”

Mona just laughed.

Mystery

As we walked back we talked some more. I really didn’t want to bring on the subject of her being pregnant. She seemed so happy not talking about it. Anyway, since she didn’t even tell her parents I had a feeling that if she wanted me to know then she would have told me. So instead, we got on a different subject.

“So, from what I hear you’re having boy trouble.” she said as we entered the village.

“Yeah…” I sighted. I told her about the trouble I was having with my friend back at school. “Men are such a pain.”

“Right you are.” Mona smiled.

As we headed for our hut, we could see that Pagasis, Rinoa, Kovu, Neara, and Aquita were waiting there for us. Aslynn was nowhere in sight. They all had serious expressions on their faces. Neara even looked a bit frightened and Rinoa actually looked a bit puzzled.

Pagasis was beside himself and was silently leaning against the hut while everyone else talked to one another. His blue eyes were to the sky, looking thoughtful.

“What’s going on?” I asked as we halted in front of them.

“Well,” Kovu started. “We didn’t really want to tell you this because we didn't know if it was exactly true. We didn’t want to frighten you.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“Over the past few weeks,” Kovu said. “We began to find out that some of the natives where disappearing. We just realized this not too long ago, so at first we figured that they where just out hunting.”

“What?” I marveled. “Were they hunters?”

“Yes.” Kovu nodded. “We didn't think it was too strange that they where gone because they are normally gone for quite a while when on a hunt, but they’ve been gone for too long. And that’s not the most of it. There are also others that where reported missing yesterday. We even sent some warriors out looking for them but they came back with nothing…”

“Did someone see them leave or something?” I asked logically. “Surely if they where being snatched away you’d hear it.”

“That’s the strange part.” Kovu said. His face was so serious I hardly even recognized him. “We didn’t see any signs of struggle. They had to of just walked away, but we don’t see why they would, and if someone did have to leave, they’d tell us.”

“Weird…” I murmured. I then looked at Mona. “Did you know anything about this?”

“No…” she said. She was eyeing her parents with deep disgust. “Nobody told me anything.”

Kovu and Neara stayed silent, though, they returned the look she gave them. It was obvious from their scents and stares that they were pretty angry with one another.

“Did anyone see or hear anything strange lately?” I asked. “Maybe it is the work of a demon.”

“No.” Rinoa finally spoke while shaking her head. “I asked mother if she’d seen anything strange lately, but she said that she hasn’t.”

“Yes,” Kovu agreed. “We don’t doubt her when it comes to that…”

“You know…” said Rinoa thoughtfully. “When I think about it, it didn’t start happening until Karoko arrived.”

There was a murmur. We all looked at one another, except for Pagasis anyway. I didn’t want to believe that Karoko was the cause of everyone’s disappearance. I knew very well that he wasn’t very nice, but deep down he was good. I looked at Pagasis, who hadn’t moved an inch from where he stood. He was silent and looked extremely thoughtful the whole time. It made me wonder what he was thinking about.

“Well,” Neara sighed after a moment of silence. “We shouldn’t start pointing fingers just yet, but I’d advise to all of you to keep your eyes open.”

“Good point.” Aquita said. He was also serious, which like Kovu, was very rare. “If you want, I could have some of my troops scout around for any clues.”

“That might be needed.” Neara nodded. “I’m sure they’ll turn up sooner or later. Remember we are on an island. There’s nowhere else to go. Anyway, if it is our ghostly friend, just remember that there is a whole tribe of us and only one of him.”

“That is pretty strange…” I said an hour later as I sat down with a wooden tray in my hands. I leaned against the wall and looked down at my dinner. The jerky and stew looked good, but I wasn’t sure if I was hungry or not. Was my stomach full, or was my mind?

“What’s that?” Pagasis asked as he took a bite of a large red apple.

“The fact that people are going missing.” I said. “I mean, wouldn’t someone smell them or something?”

“Another strange fact…” Pagasis said while chewing. “We can’t smell them either. It’s like they just vanished.”

“Well, how come you didn’t tell me about this before?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. “I know very well that my being ‘afraid’ wasn’t the only reason.”

“You’re right.” Pagasis simply said. “It’s just that… Every time you come here something happens. We just didn’t want you to have to get involved again. We wanted you to have a pleasant stay for once.”

“Well, I’m involved now.” I hissed. “I’m a Guardian too, and I want to find out what is happening.”

“Maybe they just went to another world.”

I gasped and looked up from my tray to see Karoko standing over me. He was leering down at me with his bright yellow eyes.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

Karoko grinned.

“Well, maybe they got thrown into a portal and got sent to another world.” he said.

“Right…” I said, knowing that he was just toying with me. “Do you know anything about it?”

“You know,” he said coolly. “It appears that a lot of folks around here are believing so, but I suppose that’s how all outsiders are treated.”

I frowned.

“That’s not true.” I said. “Trust me.”

“Trust you?” Karoko chuckled. “That’s a good one. Like I said before, I don’t trust humans.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

“Certainly is a warm fellow...” Pagasis remarked while starting on another apple.

“Remember what happened last time?” I asked with a smug grin.

Pagasis’ eyes popped open. He had been turned into an apple once by Canis. I found the whole thing pretty amusing, but I don’t think he did.

“Well, I wasn’t prepared.” he said. “This time I’ll be ready.”

I raised my eyebrow.

“Weirdo…” I said as I grabbed a piece of jerky off my tray and raised it up to my mouth. “You where right about Mona by the way.”

“Really?” Pagasis said, not sounding surprised.

“Yeah.” I said. “Actually, I didn’t even want to ask her about it. She seemed so happy when she saw me. I suppose I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”

“I can’t blame you.” Pagasis said. “Before you came, she really didn’t have anyone to talk to. Her parents are a bit disgusted with her about the whole ordeal. They are angry at the fact that she won’t tell anyone who the father is.”

“Give me time.” I said as I took a bite of my jerky. “I’ll squeeze it out of her. Tonight, she wants me to go with her to the cliff to visit Carona. I said I’d go with her.”

“Good plan.” Pagasis said. “You haven’t seen Carona in a while. I bet she’d be happy to see you.”

“Not only that.” I said while winking. “Maybe she has an update on our mystery.”

“You have a point there.” Pagasis said. “Let’s just hope that it’s a good update and not a bad one.”

“Esthenia!!”

I looked up and saw Aslynn running at me. Her long black hair flowed behind her. It was a lot longer than I remembered and even she showed signs of aging though, she still looked very young as always. She knelt down and threw her arms around me.

She took me by such a surprise I nearly dropped my tray.

“Hi Aslynn!” I laughed.

“I missed you so much!” she cheered as she let me go. “Ahh, I see you’ve been using my potion.”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen a pimple since.” I said with a grin. “That stuff did the trick.”

Aslynn laughed. Her bright, reflective eyes shimmered many different colors whenever she moved her head. Her eyes where special. They allowed her to see the past and future and everything else. Her role in the clan was the shaman priestess. She had very good knowledge when it came to medicines and stuff. She also had immense spiritual power. It was enough to blast a demon’s head off its shoulders.

I continue to stare at her eyes. Their shape…

“Well, I’m glad you’re back.” she said while clapping her hands together. “A lot has been going on since. You have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Oh yeah.” I said nervously. I had this feeling that Mona’s problem, the new clan member, and the disappearing natives weren’t the half of it.

“Well, I’ll see you around.” She said as she turned. She smiled down at Pagasis and pat him on the head before walking away.

Pagasis looked a bit confused.

I just smiled and continued eating my dinner. After the first few mouthfuls I began to think again. Aslynn’s image was fresh in my mind. Something inside me was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t quite figure out what. It was kind of strange. When I started to think about what I was trying to think about, the truth hit me and I realized what was so strange about the way Aslynn looked.

“Pagasis!” I suddenly exclaimed.

Pagasis nearly choked on his fifth apple from my sudden outburst.

“Do you see the resemblance!!” I asked, ignoring the fact that he was coughing as I grabbed his arm.

“What are you talking about?” he managed to ask while trying to breathe.

“Aslynn and Karoko! They look almost exactly the same!”

Forever Young

Trying to stay focused, I went to Mona’s hut I was finished eating. The picture of Karoko and Aslynn was still fresh in my mind. Pagasis agreed that they indeed look very similar with their long, same styled hair and even the shape of their eyes and face was identical.

I decided to keep it to myself when I met up with Mona. We decided to take the path to the cliff instead of flying. The sky was beginning to get dark but we couldn’t see the stars. It was cloudy and chilly out that night. Only the light of the full moon broke through the heavy gray clouds. I had a bright blue hooded sweat shirt that I stashed in my hut a while ago in case I got cold. Pagasis liked to borrow it a lot and it made me happy to see that he kept it clean.

“Woa!” Mona said as she examined my shirt. “What bright colors!”

“Yeah… I wish it were orange actually…” I smiled. “But it’s still pretty damn warm.”

Mona laughed and we started on our way. It was dark in the forest as we entered the path. I could see perfectly in the night. Every nook and shadow.

Mona turned to me and pointed at my face.

“Woa!” she exclaimed. “Did you know that your eyes where glowing?”

“Yeah.” I replied. “Pretty cool huh?”

“Yeah…” Mona nodded. “Karoko’s eyes can do that too.”

“What’s up with you two anyway?” I asked with a grin. “You both seem so mean to each other yet you continue to hang out…”

“You know…” Mona sighed. “My parents asked me the same question.”

“Oh…” I said. I took my eyes off her and onto the path ahead. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“It’s all right.” Mona said with a wave of her hand. “I know very well that you know about me.”

I couldn’t lie about that. Though, I wanted to. When I looked at Mona again she looked very sad.

“Well, anyway.” she said, trying to sound as if nothing were bothering her. “I suppose you can ask me anything you want. I’m not going to keep it a secret from you.”

I gasped and stared at her.

“Why me?” I asked.

“Because,” Mona said as she smiled at me. “You are truly the only one who I can relate to. We are both considered different. I was the only one in the village that was born in my generation so I never really had anyone that was my age to talk to.”

“What about Rinoa?” I asked feeling amazed. “Surely you don’t wait until I get here to get things off your chest. That’s a long time to hold something in…”

“Indeed Rinoa would be a good alternative.” Mona said. “But her logic doesn’t mix with teenage problems. I know I’m not a teenager anymore, but I fell that no matter what age I am, I’m still the same, and you are always there to relate to my problems and understand them.”

I didn’t say anything to that. Mona sounded so sincere. I knew right away that she was willing to trust me with all of her secrets.

“You know… It’s funny.”

“What’s that?” Mona asked.

“Well, you know how when you are young you’d give away anything just to be grown up?” I said. “And when you’re older you’d wish that you where young again?”

“I know that feeling.” Mona said. “I guess that when you’re young, you wish that you could do the things that the older people can do, but when you finally get to do it, you realize that it’s not at all cracked up to what it’s supposed to be. Then you wish that you had cherished the days when you where a child. Well… I guess that’s life.”

“Yeah,” I said with a bit of humor. “It kind of stinks…”

Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up and blew a scent to my nose. Mona and I froze. After a second we looked at each other.

“That’s Aslynn…” I whispered. My curiosity was beginning to build up. “What would she be doing out here?”

Mona shrugged.

“Come on.” she finally whispered as she crouched low into the under brush and off the path.

Trying to be as quiet as I could, I followed her until she stopped. She then turned and whispered, “She’s here. Come see.”

I crawled forward and next to her when she moved over. We where looking into a clearing through a large shrub. I could see two figures standing in the center. It took my eyes a moment to adjust. Slowly, yet clearly, the forms of Aslynn and Karoko appeared in the place of the shadowy figures. Luckily, the wind was blowing their scent to us and not our scent to them. I felt kind of guilty for intruding, but my curiosity kept me there.

“I’m glad you showed up.” Aslynn said.

“I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the fact that you threatened to tell everyone my secret…” Karoko growled. “Is this about Mona?”

“No.” Aslynn said. “Though you can’t deny the fact that you are the father of her child.”

Karoko glared.

I felt as if an ice cube had slid down my throat. I looked at Mona out of the corner of my eye to see that she had a look of shock on her face.

“I’m here to talk about something else.” Aslynn said. “Something that had me confused from the start. How did you die?”

“What’s that?” Karoko glared. “How does that concern you?”

“Your past does.” Aslynn frowned.

“It was a disease.” Karoko growled, giving in. “I was captured by the humans and they used me as a test subject. Since the experiment failed, they left me in the snow to drown in my own blood.”

I gasped. I had no idea that Karoko had died such a horrible death. No wonder why he didn’t like me. It was humans that killed him.

“What about before that?” Aslynn asked.

“What do you mean?” Karoko’s eyebrow raised.

“If you where born of the earth as an average wolf then your past would show it, but yours shows me something else.” Aslynn said.

“Are you suggesting that I was a reincarnation?” Karoko asked.

“That’s exactly what I am saying.” she nodded. “I know that you are blocking your scent somehow, but you can’t hide it from me.”

“What are you talking about?” Karoko barked. “I did no such thing! I don’t have that kind of power.”

“Something to look into then…” Aslynn said as she looked at the ground

for a moment. Then back up at him. “To get to the absolute point, you smell like that of my brother. He was evil and injurious. He was so dark I feared that he would become a demon…”

“Are you saying that as your brother I was punished in my second life by a brutal death and then having to roam alone for years to get my revenge?” Karoko asked angrily. “That sounds pretty unlikely!”

“He was a murderer!” Aslynn barked, making Karoko jump. “And how else can you explain the fact that you look just like me? After your second life, your soul must have been forgiven and given a second chance to live your life.”

My mind was racing. Aslynn’s brother was once the clan beta and was destined to merry Neara and become the tribe’s leader, but he deceived everyone and killed Neara’s parents, Neara found out, she killed him.

“And what about you?” Karoko asked. “How is it that you have powers? You can’t hide it from me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aslynn said, looking offended. “This ability was passed through my blood…”

“You are a spirit too.” Karoko said while shaking his head. “Trust me... Dying kind of gives you that kind of information. You are what they call a witch, a spirit born of the earth. Like me, you once had another life somewhere else…”

“How could that be?” Aslynn gasped. For the first time I’d ever known her, she looked extremely puzzled and astounded. Apparently she didn’t know everything.

“And another thing…” Karoko added. “This thing about us being brother and sister… Don’t you think that it would be one in a million for us to be together again? Isn’t it just a bit of a coincidence?”

Another gust of wind blew. I felt my hair lift and my bangs blow in front of my eyes, signaling that this time it was from behind us.

Mona and I looked at each other in horror as Aslynn and Karoko’s eyes trailed to our hiding place. We backed away as quickly and quietly as we could. When we reached the path, we ran down it, heading for the cliff. When we finally began to tire out we slowed down to a walk.

“Do you think they saw us?” Mona panted.

“I hope not.” I gasped, clutching a stitch in my side. “Did you hear what they where talking about?”

“Yeah!” Mona’s eyes grew wide. “Karoko… Aslynn’s brother?”

Hearing his name again put other things in my mind.

“Karoko… the father?”

Mona looked at me with wide eyes. Her secret was out and she knew it.

“Well, I thought you’d ask me that sooner or later.” She said, sounding shameful. “I didn’t plan on having you find out that way.”

“But… how?!” I exclaimed. “You two seem to hate each other.”

“Sad but true…” Mona sighed. “I don’t know… I guess that we just got so hyped up while training one day that one thing led to another.”

“I see…” I said. It was strange to me how things like that could happen. Of course, it had never happened to me before, but the thought of it ever happening to me kind of freaked me out. Then again… it amused me a little. I suddenly giggled. “Actually… that sounds just fine with me… I suppose the whole lovey-dovey thing doesn’t suit me… Anyway, how come you wanted to keep it a secret?”

“Well, my parents know how mean he is to me.” Mona said while rolling her eyes. “They would probably forbid it. They would want the best for me. They could banish him from the island or something.”

The thought of Neara and Kovu doing that to someone seemed pretty unlikely to me. They where usually kind to people no matter who they where.

“You know…” Mona said, taking me out of my thoughts. “What about you and Pagasis?”

I felt the color drain from my face.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know.” Mona said. “It seems to me that I wasn’t the only one who had a guy take me by surprise. By the way you talk about the subject you seem to be speaking from experience.”

I didn’t reply. Her words took me all the way back to the time when he kissed me.

“There’s nothing to really talk about.” I finally said. “He’s my Guardian.”

“I see…” Mona said.

We continued to walk up the path in silence. I had a bad feeling that Mona thought I was angry with her or something for asking me about Pagasis. I wasn’t angry, but I was so shaken by the memory I didn’t want to go back to it. We walked until the foot of the cliff came into view. As we began to climb up the rocky path I stopped and turned to Mona.

“I would do anything to be young again.” I said, deciding to speak my mind. “But I couldn’t bear to bring back my past.”

Mona smiled.

“You may want to forget your memories,” Mona said. “But no matter how old you may be, or how far you put the past behind you, you’ll always be forever young in your mind.”