PATHS part 3
the saga contiunes
at first , i am startled by the reflection in the water. as i jump back , and turn and look around. slowly , i bring my hand up , what once a hand is not a paw .
"do not be afraid of what you see. for it is the true inner you. "
out of instinct , that is laid deeply inbedded within me, I turn and sniff the air. smelling the air. catching every scent that is around me. standing slowly and padding away from the stream, the sound of the night echos through me. my ears twitch picking up on the distinct sounds that are around� me.
"yes, that is it. learn of what is here , hear the sounds of the night animals . " he says in chuckling manner.
" why do you laugh at me?" i ask in a low gruttal tone.
"i do not laugh at you , but at the mere sight of you , in your� a form that was you so long ago."
i turn from the voice , that makes fun of me. padding slowly back to the stream, and looking over into the clear water. looking at this form that now holds my human body. the water ripples slowly across my reflection.but i can clearly see this wolf form that is now me. the crystal blue eyes look back at me. blinking when i do, and tilting its head when i do also.
a low chuckle comes from the darken forest . snapping my head around to it.
"why do you laugh at me.?" i ask again.
"it is not you that i laugh at, but at your innocence. and the purity of what you are.somthing that is new to you, you accept it, for what it is. "
Looking to where the voice is coming from, trying to see who is talking to me.
"look into the stream again. and see what is there."
once again , my eyes look into the pristine water, seeing the reflection . This time though , the reflection is clearer. looking closer at the reflection, as the rippling of the water becomes slower. almost in a hypnotic way. the reflection that looks back at me reveals itself to me. bringing out the inner self, releaseing my inner spirit.
"see what you are, in your inner self. for what once was shall always be. here, and in the outer world. . for here, the true inner self is what you see. "
my muzzle gets closer to the cool water, touching the very tip of my nose. jumping back ,out of instince, my tongue moves out and licks off the fresh water. amazed at this new ability, i turn to the darken tree line and ask.
"show me more. "
he chuckles again and says,
"you are eager to learn of the ways?"
my long bushie tail wags slowly responging to his question.
"i take that as a yes.then it shall begin"
from the darken trees comes the soft sounds , of fallen leave being stepped softly on. slowly a shadow extends , as the moon cast down upon the figure that moves slowly out . taking a step back , as it slowly approaches me. notknowing what to expect.
"do not fear for no harm shall come to you."
his approach makes me take another step back. my back paws standing� teetering percariously on the edge of the rocks.
watching the shadwo move closer to me, the ight of the moon allows me full view of him. the one that has spoken to me. he pads with in a few feet of me and stops. his head tilting to one side then the other. then he moves closer. and once again, i take a step back.
"be careful........"he begins
but no sooner then he says it, i slip slowly off the rocks and into the quiet stream. with my back legs in the water, my front paws dig into the hard rock. looking at him, my eyes widen.
"i tried to warn you. you have nothig to fear from me."
saying this he pads to me, looking down at me.� his muzzle sniffs at my ear, and his tongue snakes out to lick me. and he whispers in my ear.
"use your back paws.....dig them into the side of the rock and push." taking a step back from me he watches.
getting a paw hold on the rock, i push myself out of the water. to land flat on my stomach on the rock.
"now...that was not hard."he says laughing in a low gruttal tone.
standing up , and from out of instinct, i shake from my head to my tail. splaying cold water on him.
he turns and pads back into the forest.
"follow me."
falling in behind him,as� we pad� into the edge of the dark mysterious forest.
all around me the trees bedn thier small spinely branches to touch me. from behind us the stream happily gurgles on. the dark clouds has taken their leave, allowing the moon to filter down throught the vacant spots , high in the tree tops. this sight holds me in awe as my eyes meander around slowly. this new form has allowed my ears to hear every . from somewhere , they pick up the scurrying of rabbits scurrying under the� dense underbrush. sniffing the air slightly, their smell sifts gently up to me. listening even harder, the sounds of their rapid heart beats , tell me that they fear us. being drawn to the smell of the rabbit , i begin to step from behind him, into the underbrush. my nose close to the ground as i sniff out the innocent small prey.
"not now, for the rabbit is well hidden within a bramble bush. your fur will be pulled , and the sharp bramles will puncture you sking"
stopping upon hearing this and looking back at him, i once again fall in behind him.
"why is this? how can i hear and smell like this?' i ask.
"its all part of the knowing. something that has laid dormant within you for eons."
as we go deeper into this forest , the fallen leaves that obscure the path , crunch silently under my paws. it seems that they have fallen on the path to soften the way for us. off in the distance the thunder resounds quietly in the forest. as the� lightening dances� gentliy from us. the path begins to narrow slowly , as the mysterious forest becomes more dense.� off in the distance the owl calls out once again to its mate. the lonely call echoing throught the trees. again and again he calls out to her. at times he sounds sadden. but soon from somewhere comes a reply. and throught the trees you can hear the slow flapping of his wings , as he takes flight.� his flight is slow , as his large wings manuver through the trees.� lost in this sound, being in awe of what i can hear . what is around me. knowing it was all here , but not knowing the actual beauty of it all.
soon the path has lead us to the end. padding up beside him , i can see a clearing.� the moon dacned lightly around this glade. shimmering off the tops of the tall grass. a soft breeze flows over the tops of the grass, making them sway gingerly back and forth. dancing slowly in the moon light.
he looks at me , as i take in the beauty of the glade. softly i ask.
"what place is this? for somewhere i have seen this before."
"at one time , this was your glade. where you ran and played for hours in the sun. laying in the tall grass� as the sun would beat down gingerly. " he says in a soft voice.
from the other side of the glade a shadwo moves out into the glade. he crouches down slowly. his eyes cut up to me, telling me to follow suit. crouching down beside him, my eyes look at the shadowy figure.
out into the glade steps the magnificent stag. the moon light glistnes off his coat. his ears move from side to side , listening. each step is taken slowly and precautionously. his head goes down as he grazes as he walks.
his musky smell moves slowly to me. my nose twitches from side to side as his smell feels my senses. the muscles in my hind quarters being to stiffen , as my back paws dig into the soften ground.
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