The last three moons had been turbulent for the witch, with their plans for the future cut short before they’d even really started. Losing the pups meant a drastic restructuring of already chaotic thought and a whole lot of even deeper soul-searching. Clearly, children were not a part of fate’s plan for the young seer, and it felt like a failure on their own part to have tried to make them anyway.

Since then, their dreams had been much grimmer than the ones that originally guided their path back to Relic Lore. No longer lively images of the family they had left behind, but instead gruesome scene’s full of blood and death, visions with a clear message, and yet Apolline could not tell what it was.

In the end, they found their only option was to retrace their steps, once again returning to the familiar lands of southern Eden, and the place they had so far felt closest to the higher power, whatever it was. Sitting at the edge of the lily pond, the tawny wolf stared into the crystal-clear water with their one good eye, waiting for a sign; Where do I go next…?

Thoughts ”Speech”

The water reflected the sky, fluffy white clouds swirling in a sea of azure blue, traveling with the wind much as Apolline had been, drifting without direction. They stared at them for what could have been hours, waiting for a vision to appear amidst their idle wanderings, but none came.

That was until someone came to join their watch, a face appearing next to theirs, stormy looking eyes meeting golden brown. This wasn’t a vision, the stranger’s breath easily felt against Apollines neck as he asked his question, yet they remained statue still, meeting his gaze unwaveringly through the watery mirror. It was a very interesting query, not something just any stranger would ask right of the bat, and the witch found themselves drawn into those glaucous eyes, a whole sky of their own.

There was a vague sense of movement on the side of their blind eye, another reflection in the water that they couldn’t quite see, but a clear sense that someone else had joined them. Still Apolline stayed where they sat, locked in the young man’s fascinating gaze, thinking to themself; Is this a test…? It wasn’t the way fate usually spoke to them, but perhaps that was a good sign; A change… Just what they had hungered for.

Dipping their muzzle the tiniest bit, a subtle gleam in their golden eye, Apolline finally spoke with quiet steel; “Opportunity.”

Thoughts ”Speech”

That smile, slowly slithering onto his face like a bug creeping along the forest floor, seemed emblematic of the young wolf’s entire being; more fluid than constant. To most strangers, that might be off putting, even deterring, but Apolline found it intriguing, one corner of their own maw curling ever so slightly.

The smallest touch of his paw send ripples across their image in the pond, disrupting it much as Apolline’s life had been almost two years earlier; Such a tiny coil, growing into a cataclysmic wave… However, as they watched the rings rolling over the surface, they slowly grew smaller, eventually returning the mirror to reflect their faces once more; Ah! Now there was a sign!

The young man spoke again, and slowly, almost lazily, Apolline turned their head to finally look at him directly – eye briefly glancing over at their silent companion, noting her small yet muscular stature and the tinge of red on her pale fur – before zeroing in on the speaker. He was a curious case, similar to the woman – a sibling perhaps? – if more lean in build and the red on his fur evident beyond the taint of a recent kill. But how he carried himself was what really caught the witch’s eye, much like themselves, he seemed more than just your average wolf; however much his looks might speak to the contrary.

Their smile grew just a smidgeon, real fire aglow in their single eye as it met the stranger’s storm. “Were you now?” they asked, voice still largely neutral, though a faint hum of interest might be heard as they continued: “And just what opportunity are you offering?”

Thoughts ”Speech”

Believe, faith! Their path surely had been guided by something of that nature in this past year; But what exactly? The word ‘god’ rattled around uselessly in the witch’s brain – something about it sang to their very heart, but it seemed just out of their grasp. In fact, they were so deeply rattled that a small hint of shock might even be glimpsed through that carefully composed façade.

The feeling of two sets of stormy eyes almost burned against Apolline’s fur, their heart speeding up in a way they hadn’t felt for many moons. Thrill was not something the witch ever sought out, but whenever it found them, they accepted it eagerly, feeling, for a moment, closer to the force guiding their steps; God?

Golden eye flicked to the girl, the first sign of wavering they had shown. It took several moments, looking between the two strangers, thoughts circling like a cyclone, before words finally came to their mouth, to simple ones that none the less rang with faith: “I do.”

Thoughts ”Speech”