Sometimes Things Change

[Bryn]

Lenora was quite content now. The human smell still assaulted her nostrils, but, like many other things, once she got used to it, she no longer really noticed it. Her fur blew gently in the light breeze, and she pressed a bit closer to Tobias, to keep him warm. Her thoughts raced. The shock of seeing Tobias as a human hadn't quite faded yet, and she was still unsure of how this knowledge would affect her...their...relationship. That there would be an effect was a forgone conclusion. All the remained was to find out -how-. And for that she needed to be able to speak with him. She needed him to be a wolf. As if sensing her thoughts, he pulled away from her. His eyes were filled with what looked like...anxiousness. Why would he be anxious to return to wolf form...? I would think that he would be more comfortable as a wolf, and we will be able to speak once more. Puzzled, she gave a slight shrug. Another question to ask him, I guess. As before, the transformation process was short. Her eyes struggled to take the strange sight in. His body seemed to almost...melt...back in to wolf shape. The human smell vanished almost instantly, and his scent came back. She didn't really think of his human scent as -his-. It was more like a disguise he wore, perhaps. But he was a wolf again now, and she breathed deep, purging the human stench from her nostrils with his scent. He avoided looking at her. She wanted to get closer to him, but she stayed where she was for a few more seconds, waiting to see if he would speak. His voice was rough when he did so. She sighed. Her voice was soft when she answered him, just loud enough that he could hear clearly above the nighttime noises around them. “Dangerous? Perhaps, if you became completely a human. But Tobias...I could tell...you still think, and act, like a wolf. Because you -are- a wolf.” She fell silent, listening to the night sounds, savoring his scent, for a moment. She rose to her paws and walked closer to him. Her next words were even softer, almost a whisper. “Tobias...I...I am so sorry. Sorry for my flight...my...betrayal. You trusted me with a great secret. You knew my past experiences with humans, and yet you still took that chance. You trusted me to not harm you. And I rewarded that trust by fleeing.” She lowered her head, almost in shame. Then looked him directly in his eyes. “Please, Tobias. Forgive me.” She fell silent then, waiting for him to answer. It felt as if her whole world rested on his answer. Perhaps it did.

[Larka]

He waited for what seemed like forever. Waited for her rejection, or her question; whichever came first. It seemed only natural to him that she should have rejected him; in fact he had expected it from her. Yet she had returned. He still could not understand why she had. Tobias sighed softly as he listened to her attempts to comfort him. How could she understand what it was like to be human? She had never experienced it. She did not know how the raw emotions of a human could change your perception. Everything was magnified so the wolf in him was muted, lost under the rush of human emotion. His body and mind changed when he shifted. Reluctantly he allowed her to move closer to him. He stayed perfectly still, every muscle tense under his matted fur. Curiously he listened to her apology, acknowledging that it was the first apology he had ever received. “Do not apologize to me. I had the intention of driving you away so you only did what I expected.” He admitted calmly. “My only question is why did you return?” Tobias spoke gruffly again, trying to cast aside any emotions that he might have been feeling.

[Bryn]

Months ago, when she had first met him, Lenora would have been taken aback by Tobias' answer. But now. Now she knew him. She knew how he thought and acted, and she knew that his attempts, not so often now as they used to be, at driving her away were his own strange way of saying that he cared for her. “Why did I return?” She stepped closer to him, touching her muzzle to his and breathing deeply of his scent. Her voice was soft and gentle as a whispering breeze. “How could I not return? I told you that I cared for you, even loved you. I called you my friend. And yet when you trust me with one of your most dire secrets, what did I do? I fled. I betrayed your trust in me. How could I care for you and love you and not come back?” The cool breeze still blew, but both of them were now protected from it by the warmth of their fur. The darkness of the night was like a blanket that covered them, hiding them from any other living thing. It was as if they were the center of the universe, and nothing else mattered. There was little else for her to say. She longed to step even closer to him, but she wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet. Instead, she simply stood there, breathing his scent and listening to the nighttime noises, waiting for him to say or do something.

[Larka]

Tobias closed his eyes, pretending it was a loss of balance that allowed him to lean into her. He couldn’t quiet the soft sigh that escaped him. It was annoying how easily she made him lower his guard. Yet as she spoke, the conversation mirrored one from his past. He had shared his secrets before and only gotten his cherished one killed. Her spilled blood was his doing, there was not running from that fact. His mind began to collapse again under the strain of his memories. A soft whimper escaped him and he began to tremble against her. The bloody scenes played over and over in his mind. He could not deny the memories from reoccurring. He was forced to relive them as he was forced to breathe to survive. Under the veil of his closed eyes, he saw the scene as if it happened again. Every scent, every touch and every sound were the same again. He flinched under the phantom pain where deep scars now lay. Forgetting himself, he whispered softly, unable to contain the name he had held in secret for so long. “Kindi.”

[Bryn]

Lenora almost staggered in surprise as Tobias' leaned his weight on her, but she quickly braced herself and supported him. She moved closer to him, using her own strength to keep him upright as she moved alongside him. She heard the soft whimper escape from him, she had no idea what could cause Tobias, normally so tough and closed up. Perhaps the walls were finally coming down. She smiled slightly. Then he spoke. It was a name she did not recognize, but the way he spoke it made her sure that Kindi had been very dear to him. She waited a little longer, hoping he would speak again, and enjoying being so close to him, but he spoke no further, so she opened her mouth. Her voice was a gentle question. Quiet, and barely audible above the whispering of the wind in the trees behind them. “Kindi?” She had a feeling that she was close now, so close, to hearing the reason for his constant living in his past. And that was the first step in getting him to put his past behind him. She waited and hoped for him to speak, to tell her who Kindi was.

(Kind of short...but things are getting very interesting now. xD)