The sky she called him.


So far away its gaze just brushed his pallid fur, the serpent’s burning eye cast winter light across the jagged spine of the horizon. Small before the earth’s old bones the white wolf paused to look. Morning poked long fingers into crevices of rock and stroked the trees; Vafri shivered in the coming light. Eyes stinging, the big wolf bounded away.


Sometimes, he liked to feign a deep and utter terror at the sight of day.


Legs pumping like the pistons of some great clockwork predator, he dodged tree trunks and barreled up the slope until his lungs gasped and his toes stumbled. Somewhere nearby, the little hole he called a den stood casually abandoned but the white wolf blazed on past as if some force of nature ran hot on his heels. For a while the speed blurred his thoughts and only the sleek mechanical pull of muscle moved his bones. Vafri forgot his empty stomach for a bit. He forgot the thoughts he had about the sun, and morning, and how many days walking. Up, up he catapulted like some lost son of the sky snake and then breathless paused and turned to grin a wolf grin toward the sky – all teeth, ferocious and unfriendly. Unpleasantly warm, the lean wolf shook himself and uttered a snort. ”Can’t catch me!”


He sprinted off again, all haste and lolling tongue and driving legs. Without time to worry why he ran off, Vafri robbed himself of time to worry and time to think about what else might live here. He wanted to get up high, and kiss the stars and kick his heels against the sky. It was colder up there and harder to breathe and beautiful…


And lonely.

The forest fell away, its vanguard pines like lonely soldiers staring at the sky. He left them all behind, and even when he fell back to a languid trot he moved on up. Sunlight lanced down clean and clear against the white wolf’s hide; bored with trying outrun it Vafri searched his mind for something else to do. The lingering scent of pine still tickled in his nose, and drew out a sneeze when he slowed yet more to walk across the naked hills. Halfway to his goal he forgot why he wanted to get high and wondered on it for a moment. Night made better climbing; day’s single eye just burned and fizzled on his fur and made the air too hot. And daylight sky was too big, more like emptiness and silence. His ears twitched.


The silence always hit him hardest.


Struck by a sudden pang of curiosity, the big wolf paused and swung his snout down toward the forest. Still the trees stood solemn in their places, needled arms outstretched despite the constant lack of threat. Vafri always thought the pines stood far too serious; he like the hushed whisper of grassland better, or the halfway laughter of the snowdrop flowers. Suddenly the earth felt warm beneath his paws and dark eyes narrowed, Vafri sighed. The day dragged on filled up with white noise, with the skitterings of little lively beasts and all their mundane nonsense. Vafri watched the forest like it worried him, though in truth his mind was spinning back to things he thought of when he walked alone with nothing better to do – thoughts like who might live here, who might find him, what they might do… Surely bigger beasts than wolves prowled in the hills. Surely bigger wolves than him imposed some order here. He thought of running off again when something caught his eye.


White flashed down by the trees – like doves, like sunlight on the water. He recognized the gait of a wolf, and slowly lowered down his head to blink across the space. Run, urged that part of him that thought of mundane things like hunting and sleeping and staying alive. The other parts keened toward the stranger, and suddenly adrift inside his own head Vafri skirted back down toward the trees. He moved low, like a hunter except jerky movements of his long legs hinted more at fear. All the while his dark eyes followed her, that stranger in the trees. Did she see? Should he stop? He never knew just how to act around the others, whether he should run or fight or cower on the ground. Mother’s lessons got so hazy… half-remembered things all jumbled up inside his head. He should have paid attention more. He should have kept an eye on things that mattered.


Giving up his flighty posture as a coward's stance and not at all desirable, he hesitated nearer to the strange wolf and pricked up his ears. Worst it can do is try to kill you, Vafri tried to reassure himself. It looked small, at least. ”Oy!” He shouted out before his brain could think up anything quite stupid for his mouth to say. At least when he made it loud his clear voice sounded confident, full of assurance – contradictory to the way he stood with his head down and his weight shifting from side to side. Vafri made an effort to lift up his head and took a step downhill, caught between deciding if he ought to be the owner of this conversation. Rolling on his back to someone smaller felt too irritating to be done so early in the morning, but getting his feet chewed off might hurt. ”You, uh, what are you doing?” It came out like an accusation anyway and Vafri cocked his head, eyes narrowed.

He smelled defensiveness there in her posture. To be fair, Vafri could hardly blame the smaller wolf – he stood above her, bigger to all appearances, and hardly made his tone too welcoming. All this occurred to him after she responded though, and slowly the big wolf lowered his head and inched nearer. ”I see.” Ears pressed back a bit he simpered, tail giving a hesitant wag. ”It’s nice up here,” he added, making conversation best he could and aware all the while that he probably sounded stupid, or suspicious, or any other negative word that started with an s and might make her hesitant. Vafri preferred to avoid a fight though if he could; big and wiry though he was he always proved to be too slow of reflex and too timid, and violence rarely worked out in his favor.


He had a hard enough time catching rabbits, really.


”Up there too,” continued Vafri, fishing for things that made sense. He turned back toward the heights behind him, well aware that he left his throat exposed to her and hoping that she took it as a gesture of peace before he turned back, relaxed now by the sound of his own voice more than anything. ”I like being up high, you know. Things are much clearer close to the sky. Good for thinking. And other things. What’s your name? Mine’s Vafri.”