-The Hunter's Way

I hear the distant drumbeat

There is chanting in the air.

There is a ceremony,

A new beginning.

          Subtle grey smoke rose into the clear skies above the village of huts. The gentle breeze barely stirred the grasses in the fields, carrying any earthy fragrances through the air. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for the first day of summer. Rejuvenated herds of deer were sought after for their pelts as well as their meat in preparation for winter. Rains had brought rivers and marshy ponds to their greatest extents, teeming with aquatic life from fish to numerous birds. Life everywhere was reaching its seasonal peak.

          Between a pair of huts, a typical scene had unfolded within the village. Three female wolves were busily working while a human boy and wolf pup played together. Lenape, and another female wolf, named Hokina, were scraping deer pelts together while Asawa twisted wool into yarn. Although, the two mothers, Lenape and Asawa, couldn't help themselves from glancing over and watching their sons play together.

          "I'll catch you!" The white wolf pup excitedly dove after the human. John leapt away from Kantala, but the little pup was very agile. They collided together with a mixture of growls and squeals. The pair tumbled and rolled around on the grassy ground, but John managed to pin the wolf pup.

          "I captured you!" The boy proudly declared. Kantala managed to wriggle out from underneath him, and scurried away with the human chasing after him. The pup dove and hid behind his mother. His tongue lolled out as he panted. John stood before the seated mother wolf, eyeing the smaller target behind her.

          "You can't hide there forever!" The human challenged. Both ducked and jumped, trying to gain the advantage over the other. Asawa smiled as the two played around her. Finally, Kantala jumped to the side, preparing for a dive. John attempted to move and counter, but a large hand held fast to his leg.

          "Where are you going, John?" The white furred wolf asked. John lost his balance from the mother wolf's strong grip. He managed to break his fall, but Kantala sensed an opportunity to get even. The white furred pup tackled John and they tumbled to the ground. They rolled and laughed as the wolf managed to overcome the human this time.

          "I got you!" Kantala declared before nibbling at the human's shoulder.

          "Ah! No biting!" John laughed as the younger wolf harmlessly gnawed at him. "You win!" He pleaded. With satisfaction, Kantala rolled off the human and laid back, panting to regain his breath. John stared up at the clear blue sky, resting as well.

          "I think they've finally tired themselves out, Lenape." He heard Asawa say with an evident smile.

          "Yes, but for how long?" Lenape mused.

          "A moment's rest I hope." She chuckled. His head turned in the grass and saw his mother working with Asawa and the other female wolf. The two she wolves were busily skinning a pair of deer pelts. John's mother was working, but talking and watching over her son while doing so. But his curiosity settled on his friend's mother who was handling wool. Jumping to his feet, he walked over to the small pile of white fluff beside her.

          "What will you use the wool for?" He picked up the bundle of fluff and hugged it. The fluffy warmth made him smile.

          "Stop that or you'll smell like a sheep John!" Asawa barked.

          "Then we will have to bark and chase you like the Nanu." The other female chuckled. The boy didn't say anything, wondering if what she said was true or not.

          "Grease from any animal, as well as fur will leave a scent." John's mother spoke.

          "If there's one thing grease does, then it definitely softens fur and skin." Hokina noted. The boy watched the female grey wolf while she diligently skinned the pelt strung out before her. Her hands worked in unison, scraping the sharp bone down the pelt's underside, removing any remaining bits of unwanted flesh from the skin. Her torso had a subtle thickness and her breasts hung a little, but from their age or fullness was beyond John's guess. This made them move from the slightest movements, like laughter, even though she was seated. The missing fur revealed both light skinned nipples. The lack of shame with nudity, and even revered status for shamans, had originally shocked the human boy at first, but he gradually became accustomed to it.

          "You're nursing?" John poked the female's side.

          "Ah!" She jumped in her seat. "You scared me!" She laughed. "You can sneak up on someone like a rabbit." The others chuckled too.

          "You startle like a deer, Hokina." Asawa teased.

          "Things became quiet, so I let my guard down." She grinned all the same. "What did you ask me?" The mottled grey wolf looked over at John beside her.

          "You're not wearing a chest cloth. Are you nursing?"

          "Breasts are only covered when they are not in use, but yes, I'm nursing my younger brother's pup." She glanced down at her chest. "His mate hunts a lot, so I offered to help nurse his little pup." The she wolf nodded. It was a very commonplace practice through the village, and any other village from what John knew. Nursing openly and throughout childhood had originally been shocking to him as well, but he gradually accepted it and even found comfort in the practice with his wolf mother.

          "When he is nursing I like to tell him stories. It's very sweet to just hold him in my lap while his little muzzle suckles." She heartfully spoke. Asawa and Lenape understood with all too knowing smiles of their own.

          "You tell a pup stories?" John found it odd since a tiny little pup would not understand.

          "Of course! Everyone listens to stories, no matter how old or how young. Haven't you heard stories before?"

          "Yes!" John quickly responded. "I have."

          "He spent the night between the river and the village with a few others while they told stories." Lenape chimed in.

          "Ah. So you're interested in stories after your little night under the open sky?" Hokina guessed. "How about I tell you a tale when spiders were created?" She offered.

          "Okay!" He quickly sat down beside her.

          "Hmm... How should I begin..." She glanced up at the sky. "Once, in a village like ours many, many season ago there was a young female wolf. She could sew with such precision and speed that she could've had extra arms. No one else could mend or create like she could. The threads she made between her fingertips were silky and glistened, making them very valuable. Many other villages from far away would come to trade for her beautiful garments. One night, however, she was busily working outside her hut during a cloudless night. The full moon above glistened with enough light for her to see. The spirit of the moon watched with adoration from the sky as she weaved. He instantly fell in love with her, and desired to have her. The spirit called out to her and wanted to become her mate, but she refused. The moon spirit became angry, and he didn't accept her refusal. The moonlight beamed down and lifted her into the sky, immediately taking her to the moon spirit. Realizing that she would not return, the young female wolf was able to drop a single thread that she had created. It landed on a spider. The little creature examined the thread and was able to recreate it. So today, spiders are able to weave webs of silvery silk just like the young wolf." Hokina concluded.

          "I don't recall hearing a story quite like that." Asawa grinned while John thought it over.

          "I change things up sometimes." The grey wolf admitted. "I remember my dad telling me when I was a pup that the spider stole the secrets to sewing, or the moon spirit came down to love with the young female wolf."

          "Many stories about a story." Lenape mused.

          "Did you like the story?"

          "Yes!" She received a resounding answer from the human boy.

          "Have you heard how humans came to this land?" Hokina asked next.

          "By boat?" He guessed.

          "Yes! But I mean the very first human. Do you know how the first human came to these lands?"

          "I don't know." He shook his head.

          "A fisher fell asleep in his boat and woke up on the southern coast." She simply stated.

          "How?" What she had told him was more of a statement rather than a fanciful tale.

          "The great water's current carried the human around the world until he washed ashore these lands, not far from our village." She told him. "That is how the first human came to these lands." Although her story didn't satisfy his curiosity.

          "Who was the first human?"

          "I don't know." She shrugged. "It's only a story that I have heard." John merely stared blankly at the older mottled grey wolf. "He's so cute, Lenape!" Hokina smiled at his reaction. The charcoal grey wolf smiled knowingly. The human looked around for Kantala in the grass, but found the pup in Asawa's lap, nursing.

          "Aren't you going to play more?" He asked.

          "Hmm..." Kantala hummed in thought before unlatching. "Not now. I'm hungry." Without anything to do, the human sat back and waited for his friend to finish. John knew better than to start anything while he was nursing, lest either of them wanted to face an angry mother.

          "Since you're hunting now," Asawa looked over her shoulder, "are you going with the small group tomorrow morning?" The white she wolf asked.

          "What? What small group?" He didn't know.

          "Yes, there's a little group going around the border of our hunting lands. Kantala is going."

          "If you want to learn more about hunting and other duties, then you should go John." His mother added.

          "Would you like to go?" Asawa asked. It didn't take longer than a second for the human to immediately answer.

          "Yes!"

          The thick morning fog lingered in the early morning air. Hilltops appeared like islands in a sea of white mist. But with the rising sun shining brightly, the illusionary effects would quickly fade in the coming hour. The quiet sleepiness of the village was quickly fading as well. John was walking through the village, heading towards one of the surrounding fields.

A pair of young pups were hopping and rolling around the entrance of a hut. Both held onto one end of a long stick, while a laughing elder white and brown furred male wolf held the other end.

          "Don't let that leg kick you!" He laughed. The pups were only three or four years of age. At that age a scrap or two of meat was the only solid food in their diets. The rest was up to their mothers or female relatives. But rather than indulge in the antics, John walked past the final spaces of huts and went into the field where a small group was waiting. It was a small group of four with John included. Suntu, the male maned wolf; Terynha, a male skunk; Kantala, Asawa's white wolf son; and of course John who eagerly joined at his mother's behest.

          "I'm here!" John called out.

          "I'm glad that you made it." Kantala was excited to see him.

          "Who is that?" John whispered to Kantala and pointed at the male skunk.

          "That's Terynha, you know, Kazana's son."

          "What?" John's mouth gaped open. "She has a son?"

          "Yeah. Didn't you know? He lives in the village."

          "No..." John didn't recall ever seeing the male before.

          "Azande was right. You stay close to your mother a lot." Kantala grinned. The human didn't have a retort for that, and thought of something else to talk about.

          "Why are you with the hunting group? I thought you fished with your dad."

          "My mom wants me to learn how to hunt too. I don't catch many fish anyway." His ears fell back with some embarrassment.

          "Is everyone here?" Terynha asked.

          "I think we are still waiting on Naranhu..." Suntu looked around, noting the individual's absence.

           "He might be asleep." The male skunk didn't appear confident that the final person would show up.

          "Asleep? The next generation is starting to grow up." Suntu remarked. "Soon we will all be old, and they will be stronger than us. There's even a human among us!" Their gazes briefly looked at John standing amongst them.

          "What are they talking about?" John whispered to Kantala.

          "I think us." The white furred pup guessed.

          "Hey! I'm here!" A loud voice from the village called out. Looking over, a wolf was steadily approaching them. Naranhu was a tall and broad shouldered white wolf with grey markings on his face and shoulders. He carried a walking staff in his hand to help ascend the hilly terrain.

          "I see that you finally made it." Suntu happily spoke.

          "Sorry for the late arrival." The wolf apologized. "I had overslept."

          "It's fine. We aren't too late to do anything." Terynha spoke.

          "Ah, I'm happy to help in any way. Maybe we will spot the six legged deer Qukiassah." He enticed the little ones. "When I was around your age, several of my friends saw it and claimed that its fur shimmered like a pelt of dew in the sun." Qukiassah was a giant deer from a few hunting tales, rumored to be as tall as a mountain, and yet, elusive as a fish underwater. Of course people have claimed to see it, but never catch it.

          "Okay! That's enough stories for now!" Suntu interrupted. "Everyone is here. We should start walking." The maned wolf turned and waved a hand, allowing his lengthy braided hair to sway behind him. The talkative Naranhu flashed a toothy smile of apology as everyone followed the maned wolf.

          "Do you think that's true about the deer?" Kantala whispered to John. The human shrugged.

          "If Naranhu said it, then it might be true." Questioning the elder's experiences didn't seem reasonable. All five approached a small wooded area. Suntu paused by a sturdy tree before placing a hand on its rough bark exterior.

          "If you have ever run by the woods, then I am certain that you've smelled a spot where someone has gone to rain." Suntu told Kantala and John. "But if either of you have crossed boundaries between villages, then you should have also noticed what's called a marking."

          "Marking?" John hadn't heard of it before.

          "Yes, it's just like raining, except you rain on the tree up high. Only males can do this of course." Terynha explained.

          "Marking a tree is important for a few reasons." Suntu pointed out. "With it, others know where the boundaries are of any village, so no one hunts or trespasses beyond their land." Without reading or writing, a strong sense of smell made a scented marking very important to passersby.

          "I'll mark this tree!" Kantala excitedly jumped at the offer. The white pup ran over to the back of the tree and marked it.

          "Well, I guess that's good practice." Suntu held back a laugh. "Why don't you mark this one John?" Suntu walked over and pointed to another tree. The boy nodded and walked behind it with little Kantala tagging along. The human lifted his loincloth and stared up at the tree, but nothing happened.

          "What's wrong?" The white furred pup asked.

          "I don't have a sheath like yours. Mine points down." He explained the obvious problem. Kantala thought for a moment.

          "Just hold it up and hit right here." The pup pointed at an adult's height.

          "Okay..." John concentrated. After a few seconds he managed to hit the spot on the tree. "I got it!" He quickly lowered his loincloth.

          "He marked it!" Kantala declared as he ran around the tree and hopped back to the awaiting group with John not far behind.

          "Good, let's find a hunting trail to walk on." Suntu led everyone into the woods.

          "Keep an eye out for deer." Naranhu mentioned. "Their pelts blend in well with the trees."

          "We know that!" Kantala yipped excitedly.

          "I'm sure you'll say that while a herd of deer see you through the trees first." The elder joked.

          "In the woods, you'll have a tough time seeing prey, whether they're deer or rabbits." Suntu spoke while they walked. "You'll need to rely on your ears more than your eyes to find what you're looking for."

          'My ears... Listening carefully.' John thought to himself as he glanced around the numerous trees.

          "What if it's windy?" Kantala spoke up. "The leaves and trees will be too loud to hear anything else."

          "I don't think you should hunt in the forest when the winds are that strong." Suntu said. "But if it is windy, then listening won't be easy. You'll also have to factor in where the wind is coming from, or else prey will be able to smell you. When that happens, they will be alert and quick to flee."

          "It's better when you are downwind." Terynha summarized.

          "I can't smell them. I don't have a wolf's nose." John pointed out his small human nose that lacked a canine's powerful muzzle. The elder wolf chuckled.

          "I can see that! But the deer can smell you."

          "Right." He remembered his mother telling him that when she took him on his first hunt.

          "So if the wind is blowing east, towards the great waters, where should you be?" He asked.

          "West." John stated.

          "That's correct." The wolf nodded.

          "Anyway," Suntu said, "assuming there are no windstorms you will need to listen for sounds in the forests. It is easy to recognize the sounds of something big and small walking through the old fallen leaves. And always use your nose. John, you will have to rely on someone else's nose."

          "Ok..."

          "Use my nose John." Kantala giggled.

          "Is it possible that I can get lost in the forest while hunting?" John asked.

          "If you become lost then you can howl to communicate across the moor or forests." Suntu told them.

          "What about John?" Kantala asked. "He can't howl."

          "Humans can't howl?" Suntu looked at the boy questioningly.

          "No." John shook his head.

          "Hmm. No problem." Naranhu spoke up. "Just shout or yell. That may scare the deer away, but at least you won't become lost!"

          "It's a little unconventional, but that could work too." The maned wolf shrugged.

          "Hopefully I won't get lost." John told Kantala. The young wolf playfully stuck his tongue out and tried to lick the human. "Ah! Don't lick me!" John yelped.

          "I'm glad no one had to rely on our little hunting party." The older male chuckled while Terynha frowned.

          "Hey! You two can play around back at the village." The skunk interrupted them.

          "Sorry." Both collectively said.

          "Come on. We're almost out of the woods anyway." Suntu waved a hand and led the group along the path. They walked in single file, but John kept an eye on Kantala until they reached the edge of the grassy moor.

           "Out here in the moor, you need to rely on your sight more than your hearing when searching for prey. Of course, smell is always important too." He told them as he walked into the moor. "When you're hunting in a large group, sometimes you can have a runner scare a group of deer to run towards the rest of the pack hidden elsewhere." Suntu held his hands out and slowly brought one hand to the other. "It's not the easiest thing to do, and it requires a lot of teamwork. You need to know the land very well to plan."

          "How do you mark territory if you're in the moor?" Kantala asked.

          "Unless there's a large boulder, or lone tree then there's nothing to mark." Terynha held a hand up to his eye level.

           "Then how do you know you haven't crossed into another village's territory across the moor?"

          "Basically, you won't." Suntu pointed out. "You'll have to already know the boundaries within by the forests, and then... I don't know how to explain it..." Suntu gave up with the wave of a hand. Naranhu burst into laughter at the maned wolf.

          "You don't need to worry about that yet." Terynha told them. "You'll know when you're older."

          "We can go back to the village."

          "Ok!" John ran off with Kantala across the field.

          "This was entertaining!" Naranhu laughed as the human and pup darted away.

          "That didn't take very long." John remarked.

          "Maybe I asked too many questions." Kantala hopped beside him.

          "You're supposed to ask questions though..."

          "I'm going to tell my dad what we learned!" Kantala darted off one direction.

          "I'll see you later!" John called back and decided to do the same. The human quickly returned to his hut. Lenape was seated outside with two other female wolves. John instantly recognized the pure white furred adult, and the red and cream furred adult.

          "Hello Amytis. Hello Asawa." He greeted both.

          "Hi John." Both answered with canine smiles.

          "Is Azande here?"

          "She is with a hunting group today, John." Amytis answered.

          "How was your little group lesson?" Lenape asked.

          "It was fun!"

          "What did you learn today?"

          "How to mark a tree!" He excitedly told her.

          "Males and their marking..." Asawa softly chuckled.

          "It's not funny. A spot has to be marked so another village knows boundaries by scent." John repeated the lesson.

          "I will be hearing the same words from Kantala." The white wolfess smiled.

          "But we also walked around the fields and edge of the forest where the boundaries are. We even spotted a few deer!" John excitedly remarked. "And Naranhu went over where to be when the wind blows..."

          "Since you are talking about hunting lessons... Let's practice using a bow." Lenape set her things aside and stood up. The human boy was momentarily silent from the unexpected surprise.

          "I'm going to use a bow?" John felt excited as he nearly walked all over his mother's paws.

          "Yes. How else will your arrows reach an animal?" She playfully teased. Asawa and Amytis smiled as the two departed. Returning to their hut, Lenape briefly disappeared inside before returning with her bow in hand, and quiver strapped to her back.

          "Follow me." She led him just outside the village, facing the closest patch of woods. They stopped in the grass. John noticed a tight bundle of reeds was propped sturdily against a small stack of wood. "That is our target." Lenape pointed ahead. "And we're going to shoot at it." She placed a hand on his shoulder.

          "Ok." John nodded eagerly. Lenape smiled at him proudly.

          "Pay attention closely." She told him. "Ready your arrow without losing sight of your target." Lenape pulled an arrow from her quiver. The mother wolf took a stance beside him, and notched the arrow between her bulky canine fingertips. "Then pull the string back to your ear." She demonstrated. The bow's wooden frame arced with stored tension. At that moment, Lenape was a hunter, keenly aware of her surroundings but entirely focused on the target ahead. She released the notched arrow creating a fast whisking noise. Like a bolt of lightning the thin projectile traveled through the air and struck the target in an instant. The arrow was sticking out of the bundle of reeds.

          "Wow! You hit the center, mom!" John jumped with enthusiasm.

          "Lots of practice has helped." She modestly smiled. "Now, I want you to try." Lenape handed over her bow to him. Excitement coursed through his body as he physically held the item in his hand. The handcrafted wood gave him a sense of strength, belonging, and purpose. This is what he wanted to do.

          "Pull the bow back first." She told him. John pulled it back with some difficulty. The tension of the bow and bowstring was difficult for the youth's smaller arms to wield. Lacking a firm grip, the string slipped past his fingers and prematurely released. The string noisily slapped against the wood.

          "Ouch." John gritted his teeth as his fingers stung. 

          "Oh! Careful." Lenape held his arm. "You'll need a tight grip. Use these two fingers, and then have your thumb help hold them." She demonstrated. The warmth of her presence served as a guidance to her lesson. He quickly used the new technique to pull the bow back, into a full draw.

          "Good. Keep practicing that." She sat down and watched him work with the bow several times. "Do you have a good feel for pulling back?" Lenape asked after several pulls of the bow's string.

          "Yeah, I think so." John was getting used to how much strength was needed.

          "Try shooting the arrow now." She handed him one. The human was more than eager to notch the stone tipped arrow. He felt a sense of pride that she was keenly watching and teaching him. But the near constant strain on his arm made his face contort. Eventually, his muscles tired, causing the string to slip back again with a noisy thwack. The arrow landed short of the target.

          "Oops." He frowned.

          "It's ok." Lenape reassured him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone learns from mistakes." John nodded understandingly. "I will show you again." She took the bow from him, and readied another arrow. "Watch closely..."

           John was eager to practice hunting with his mother again, but the she wolf was currently busy. Patience wasn't the boy's strongest characteristic, so in the meantime, John was curiously watching a pair of wolves burn the lingering edges of the village's only garden between the village and the creek. The large patch of ground was once full of carefully cultivated plants, but was now dwindling with wild grasses growing wherever possible.

          The little orange flames lapped at the ground, giving rise to curling grey smoke. Light trails of smoke rose into the sky where they dissipated into the air. A female grey wolf was digging with her bare hands closer to the water. Dirt flew into the air, but her hands were stained an earthy brown from moving so much soil. A male wolf held a thick handful of reeds to quickly stamp out a section of fire, or stir it up where needed. He carefully observed the flames to ensure nothing went awry.

          "What are you doing?" John asked the idle canine.

          "I'm burning the old grass left in the garden." He explained. "It will help keep the land fertile for next year." John didn't exactly understand why that would help, but it seemed to make sense. Gardening and growing crops wasn't very common in the village. There were only a handful of small crops that any villager decided to farm. Onions, carrots, potatoes, and a few other plants were infrequently maintained in the village. They were important sources of food during the winter months, when fishing and hunting yielded less.

          After a while, John left the two wolves alone.

          'Is mom done yet?' He wondered to himself before meandering back to his hut.

          "Hey John!" An amber and cream furred wolfess suddenly approached the human.

          "Hi Azande." He stood up to greet her. "Why do you have a bow and quiver?" He noticed the items slung over her back. A knife dangled along her waist too.

          "I plan on hunting." The adolescent pointed out the obvious fact. "Wanna go hunting with me for the day?" Azande offered. "I can teach you everything that I have learned."

         "Sure! Let me ask my mom first." John started to crouch down and enter the hut only for the grey wolfess to crawl outside first.

          "Ask me about what?" Lenape stood up and grinned.

          "Can I go hunting with Azande?" He asked.

          "I want to take him to the forests over there." Azande pointed westward.

          "Is it alright if I do, mom?" He asked.

          "Well..." The grey she wolf thought aloud for a moment. "I don't see any problem with that. Be sure to return by sun fall, okay?"

          "We will!" They both resounded, and quickly left the village together.

          "See? I knew your mom would be fine with us hunting together." Azande told him. The wind made the leaves of neighboring trees rustle, and tall field grasses bend and sway rhythmically. John looked at Azande as they walked. The young she wolf was taller with braided long hair. The quiver on her back, bow in hand, and knife by her leg made Azande look every part like a young hunter. He secretly hoped he would look like a hunter, just like she did.

          "You're never beyond your mother's reach." She grinned and placed a hand around his shoulders. "Hasn't she weaned you yet?"

          "Um... No." He shyly admitted.

          "You'll probably have to wean yourself. She will want to keep nursing you... All mothers do."

          "Was your mom the same way?"

          "I think so, but she always says that she stopped when I stopped." Azande shrugged. John wondered how he and his mother would handle those changes. "I also heard that you have been practicing using a bow with your mother." The female wolf mentioned.

          "Yeah. She showed me how to draw it back, notch an arrow, and aim before shooting." He listed everything out. "I'm not strong enough to pull the string back many times."

          "Your arm will get stronger." She insisted and tapped his arm. "You only started hunting this summer, and you haven't hit adolescence yet."

          "Yeah, I'm still a little sore there." He held up his arm.

          "What else has she taught you? How many hunts have you gone with her?"

          "Um. I went on one hunt with her. She showed me how to track, be aware of the wind, sneaking up to prey, and a lot of other things."

          "Well, let's put all of that to the test." She eagerly grinned and led him onward. They passed through the moor and onto a little trail bordering the trees of the forest.

          "I haven't been out this way." He mentioned.

          "You haven't?" Azande's ears wiggled as she scanned the forest.

          "No. Is it all forest this way?"

          "Mostly, but there are some small fields and bare hills around too." The sights of trees and fallen leaves were nothing he hadn't seen before. But after a short walk, the forest opened up. John found himself at the edge of a tiny field with an ancient structure standing in the grassy slope. The mysterious structure was alone, surrounded by clover and encroaching saplings. Moss grew with a deep green color in the shade alongside exposed red clay dirt. A few worn brick walls shaped in a rectangle were all that remained of something much larger and mysterious.

          "What is this?" He paused.

          "Our shamans say that a spirit lives here." Azande approached the ancient dwelling.

          "No one told me that." John couldn't help but feel a little left out for not knowing.

          "I'm not sure why it's here either." The female wolf picked up and threw a rock at the wall. It landed with a loud clunking sound.

          "Then don't mess with it!" John grabbed her arm.

          "It's fine, John." Azande calmed his worries. "I've been here plenty of times and I haven't seen or heard one. Besides, only large groups of these things are sacred."

          "Why is that?"

          "I'm not sure." She admitted. "But shamans and others go to them to dream with the spirits. That's why they're sacred."

          "Can I look around for a while?"

          "Don't take too long. We have to return to the village by sun fall." She reminded him. "And I'd like to carry something back too." The human hurried to the closest wall. He carefully reached out and touched the wall.

          'Brick...' He touched the rough surface that held the sun's warmth. Several pieces and whole bricks were strewn in the clover at his feet. 'Could humans have really built this way out here?' John wondered and stepped carefully to the corner. 'But how?' He peeked through a large entryway that one could climb through. The inside space equalled several huts, but only sparse weeds and clay like dirt inhabited the forgotten space. The human could smell that it was now used as a place to rain and relieve oneself while hunting or traveling. John continued down the wall, touching its rough surface as he walked. On the opposite end, there were two low rock walls no higher than a foot. Beneath, oddly smooth rocks covered a fair amount of ground in a neat rectangular shape. Towards the forest, young saplings grew, but vinca and periwinkle grew everywhere else. Several herbs grew in the soil between the rocks and brick walls. The strong smell of mint was pervasive even at a distance.

         "Is this a garden?" John asked himself. Everything seemed to be placed so neatly despite the overgrowth of trees. Was it made by the shamans or leftover from humans long ago?

          "Hey." A voice snapped the human from his thoughts. John turned as Azande trotted up to him. "Are you done sniffing the flowers?" She held up her bow.

          "Sure." He reluctantly said and followed her back into the forest. John looked over his shoulder as the brick walls and garden disappeared from sight. "Do Amu and Kazana grow herbs there?" He asked as they followed a twisting path around the large trees.

          "Shouldn't you know?" Azande looked back at him, but the human shrugged.

          "They never told me about this place."

          "Well, it isn't close to the village so they wouldn't need to, unless you were still training as a shaman." She explained, but John frowned. "There are several others like that one around here." Azande mentioned.

          "Really?" His eyes widened with intrigue.

          "Yeah, but the rest are smaller with only some stone. Hunters mainly use them to rain."

          "Why?"

          "It's out of the way when you hunt, and it's one less place to look for deer."

          "So deer won't go near there-?" He turned back to point only to accidentally elbow the female wolf.

          "Ow! Don't punch my chest!" Azande gave a warning growl. "You hit a bone..."

          "Sorry! I didn't mean to." He apologized. The young wolfess stopped in her tracks.

          "I know that." She aimed to make a light smack at his shoulder only to flare her nose. "Wait." She grasped shoulder and smelled the air. A scent had clearly caught her attention. John looked around, but didn't see anything amongst the endless array of trees. There was no sound of anything new either. Azande crept around and motioned for John to follow closely.

          "Here!" She said in a hushed whisper. Looming over a spot in the dry leaves, John and Azande could see a subtle sign on the forest floor. "Look how this spot is flattened in a round shape." Azande crouched down. "A deer must have slept here." She smelled the spot.

          "Do you think one is close by?" John asked.

          "I don't know... Maybe." The wolf told him. "It smells fresh. Follow me close to my back." She whispered. Azande silently followed her nose, going wherever the scent led her. John crept along behind her, making sure to stay quiet despite occasionally walking over crunchy leaves. They looked around trees, paused, and checked everywhere they could see. So far there was no sign of any deer. Azande suddenly stopped and outstretched her hand to halt John. Just barely through the trees, he could see a deer standing nearby. The wolf motioned for him to stay still and carefully pulled and arrow from her quiver. Azande crept to the side of their tree and notched the arrow. Her target was unaware as she drew her bow back. John held his breath as she aimed. The arrow shot forward, alerting the deer. Spooked, the animal ran off, deeper into the forest. The wolf dropped her bow and sprung into a chase.

          "Fetch my arrow! I'll chase the deer down!" Azande bolted through the forest ahead with her hair trailing behind her and her loincloth flapping between her legs. Her fast leaf crunching strides dissipated as she disappeared from sight. John blinked and looked around. In an instant, he was left alone in the forest.

          "The arrow." He retrieved her bow and searched for the thin projectile. Approaching where the deer had been, John found the arrow sticking up from the ground. Plucking it free, the stone tip was covered in dirt, but there was no evidence that Azande had managed to wound the animal. Chasing a healthy deer through the woods wouldn't be an easy task for a single wolf, even for a skilled runner.

          'What if she actually catches the deer?' John wondered what they would be able to do with it. 'Deer are very heavy.' He imagined them dragging the slain beast through the woods. John had never cut open and gutted a wild animal before either. The thought of having to do that made his stomach churn. While his thoughts stormed, several moments passed without a sign of Azande returning. The sharp chirp of a little bird made the human look up into the treetops. Glancing at the weapon in his hand, he wondered how much time had passed.

          'Oh no... Where did she go?' John scanned the quiet forest. "Azande!" He called out. Starting to worry that they had become separated, the human searched the quiet woods. Unfamiliar with the stretch of forest, John stayed close to where they had found the deer, hoping that she would come back soon. The crunching sound of leaves made him pause.

          "Azande?" He looked around, unable to locate the crunching sound. "Azan-AH!" He jumped when the female wolf suddenly appeared from behind an adjacent tree.

          "You don't need to worry. I can smell where you are." She told him. The boy suddenly felt flustered about it.

          'Worried over nothing.' He internally sighed. "You scared me."

          "Sorry about that." She bashfully grinned and rubbed her head.

          "Here's your bow and the arrow." He handed it over.

          "Thanks." She returned the arrow to her quiver.

          "Did you catch it?" John noticed she wasn't carrying anything, except her stone knife.

          "No." Her ears fell back with a little embarrassment. "I chased the doe to the end of the forest, but I was close... If only I had been a little closer. Then I would've caught it." She looked at the sharp blade in hand before putting it away. "You only have an instant to decide whether or not you can run after something." The wolf took a seat in the soft dirt along the sloping hill.

          "Sit down here." Azande patted the ground. After running around with the energetic adolescent, John was more than happy to do so. The red and cream furred she wolf happily gazed at the forest around them.

          "It's close to sun fall..." She contently spoke. "You can hear the frogs and crickets beginning to make noise."

          "Shouldn't we return to the village?" John remembered their promise to his mother.

          "We'll get back. Don't worry." Azande didn't have any concerns about it. The wolf appeared happy to relax in the quiet woods. John liked the peacefulness as well. The untamed forests and land were reasons why he liked hunting.

          "Did I tell you that I went with a small hunting group at night several days ago?" Azande suddenly asked.

          "You hunted at night? What was that like?" John couldn't imagine doing that.

          "Well... I did not participate. I only watched." She clarified. "Everything depends on the moon." She pointed up at the sky as she spoke. "It's almost like hunting at daylight when the moon is full or very bright. The fields and trees appear coated in a silver light, and shadows are pitch black. You should be sleeping, but you're awake and excited. Your nose and ears are focused for any sound or scent." She spoke with giddiness in her voice. "I wore a necklace with a piece of antler and a raven's feather. They say it is good luck to wear a raven's feather when hunting at night."

          "Why?"

          "Because a raven's spirit will watch over you and help you through the darkness to what you want to find." She told him. "The worst part about hunting at night is when the moon isn't shining, so you can't see anything. You have to hunt without your eyes. It's difficult when you're walking without being sure of what you're stepping on. You can easily make a noise or startle something. Everyone you are hunting with can become separated. Howling is very important to stay connected. But hunting at night is rarely done without a bright moon because it is dangerous." She clarified. "I've heard that hunters have shot others in their hunting pack because they saw movement, and thought it was a deer." Imagining an arrow striking flesh made John shudder.

          "Why would anyone hunt without the moon if it's very dangerous?"

          "The weather can change during a hunt at night. Clouds can suddenly cover the moon without warning. Normally the hunt is called off when that happens, but it may continue if the pack surrounds a small herd of deer. The pack I was with didn't catch anything, but I thought it was fun." Azande grinned. "It's too bad that we couldn't catch anything." She placed her arm around his shoulders.

          "There's always another day to hunt."

          "Ah, you're right." Azande grinned. "Maybe you'll be shooting an arrow while I chase after the deer then." The wolf playfully imagined, but a strong gust of wind made them hastily rise to their feet and paws. The treetops above were beginning to sway from a strong wind.

          'It's getting darker.' John noticed the thickening clouds overhead. They had overlooked the changing weather during their little adventure. It had become very cloudy and darker since they arrived in the forest. A familiar pattering sound from above made sense when stray droplets struck them.

          "It's raining." Both said in unison at the surprise shower. The pattering grew into a steady hiss as heavy raindrops reached the forest floor. A distant rumble from the sky spurred them to action.

          "Let's go home." Azande grabbed John by the arm and ran with him to the hunting trail as the rain began to pour. They were quickly becoming soaked. Leaves crunched beneath their steps and trees blurred as they ran past. More distant rumbling from the sky was heard through the rain and wind. It was coming closer, like a roaring beast chasing after them. The unfolding storm frightened John.

          "I think we should find shelter!" He yelled above the storm as they ran. A bright flash of light entered the boy's vision.

          "Get down!" Azande dropped to the ground and pulled him to the base of a tree. A loud bang ruptured the air within a second from a nearby lightning strike, causing the human's hair to stand up. The pair quickly curled up below the tree where there was a dwindling patch of dry dirt. John screamed and hid his face into Azande's furry front.

          "I'm scared Azande!" His muffled voice whined. The adolescent she wolf held him close while the lightning and loud thunder continued cascading around them through the pouring rain...

          John awoke to the sound of a jay chirping. The sounds of countless crickets chirping preened the damp air. At first, he was confused.

          'Huh?' The sound of lingering water droplets falling from burdened leaves gave the impression that it was still raining. The memory of last night quickly returned. Eyes blinked, feeling fur against one side of his face. His hands shifted, and he felt fur in his lap as well. Opening his eyes, a wall of cream colored fur blocked most of his view of the forest around him. The smell of the person beside him finally registered.

          "Azande?" He whispered. Looking up, the amber red and cream furred wolfess was fast asleep. Her back was resting against a tall tree. Peeking around, John could see the sloping hillside of the forest around them. The green leaves were all wet from a soaking rain, and the bark of trees appeared darker than normal. The rays of broken sunlight reached the forest floor around them creating a golden dappled effect. Shifting his legs, he felt damp leaves quietly rustle. John took a moment to feel relief. They had endured the late storm without any injuries.

          'She's warm...' He regretted extricating himself from her furry body. Lifting his cheek from her furry front, John felt his muscles pull and ache. His entire body felt stiff from sleeping in such an awkward position. Sitting up, he unknowingly let the arm draped over his shoulder suddenly fall back to the she wolf's side.

          "Huh?" The wolf's head stirred. Eyes blinked awake before her mouth opened in a prolonged yawn. "It's morning." She realized and looked at John beside her.

          "Are you ok?"

          "Yeah, I'm just worn out. I was awake for most of the night to male sure that you were okay..." Azande tiredly spoke.

          "How long did the storm last?"

          "Too long." Azande mumbled. "Ugh. We're kinda wet." She felt dampness in her tail and legs.

          "Yeah. Your fur is wet." John pet her leg. The wolf suddenly licked his cheek. "Ah! Don't do that!" John wiped his face while the wolfess giggled.

          "Just making sure that you're still wet from the rain." She mused. Staring out into the woods, the human immediately felt homesick.

"I want to go home." He quickly spoke, and rose to his feet.

          "I do too." She gathered her bow and secured her quiver. Azande steadied herself and rose to her paws with John's help. Several slow stretches ensued as she shrugged off the stiffness in her body. "Let's go." They marched through the damp leaves and onto the closest hunting trail. The human and wolf pair were opposite images of themselves compared to yesterday. Both of them lacked a visible spring in their steps as they approached a field. Azande placed an arm around his shoulders.

          "Tired?" She guessed.

          "A little." John nodded. He felt a sense of defeat from not catching anything with Azande, but he was thankful to safely weather the sudden storm. Emerging from the forest after a lengthy walk, they found the grassy ground softened from the rainstorm. Fresh green leaves and parts of branches were scattered throughout the field.

          "It was a bad storm." Azande mentioned.

          "Do you think the village is okay?" John wondered.

          "Yes. Although, I'm sure our moms are worried about us. My mom will chew my ears out." Azande knew that her mother, Amytis, would have a few words to say to her.

          "John!" A loud shout reached their ears. A familiar figure was standing alone in the moor.

          "Mom!" He called back. She held her chest with an arm while sprinting towards them. Azande placed a hand on John's back and pushed him stumbling forward. The grey wolf quickly made up the distance between them. Lenape lifted John off the ground and pulled him into a tight embrace that nearly winded him.

          "You're safe." She whispered and patted his back. John felt happy that he was back home, safe and sound.

          "I'm sorry, mom." His relief changed into guilt. Azande's ears were flat against her head as she walked up to Lenape and John. Lenape lowered her son to the ground after a long moment.

          "I told you two to return home by sun fall. What happened? There was a terrible storm last night and I was very worried." The charcoal grey she wolf simply spoke, but with a stern gaze. Azande and John didn't say anything at first.

          "The storm suddenly came up and we couldn't run back home." John explained. "There was lightning and thunder everywhere, and it poured rain."

          "I stayed in the forest too long." Azande quietly admitted while looking away shamefully. "It's my fault." Lenape sighed and didn't fret over what had happened. They had received enough punishment from the storm.

          "I'm glad that both of you are alright. Let's just go home." She took ahold of John's hand and walked with them back to the village. The human felt embarrassed and ashamed of disobeying her; but at the same time he felt relief that he was with her again.

          Walking around a hut, John spotted the back of a familiar white furred mother wolf. Her long white hair resembled a snowy veil covering her back. The female wolf was working on an outstretched hide before her.

          "Asawa, have you seen Kantala?"

          "He is right here." She didn't have to point at the canine body sprawled out from her lap. The white furred wolf pup was laid out with his head in his mother's lap. A canine muzzle easily reached the breast he was suckling from.

          "Hey. Can you play?" John grabbed a paw and tugged the wolf's leg. 

          "I'm eating." He unlatched long enough to tell John. Dismayed, the human returned to his hut where Lenape was seated outside. The charcoal grey she wolf was mending an old chest cloth.

          "You appear bored." She correctly noticed the human idling around her.

          "I am. Everyone is busy except me." John thought aloud.

          "Hmm... You should try taking a hunting test." His mother recommended.

          "A hunting test?" He hadn't heard of one before.

          "Yes. It will mimic a real hunt, and be good practice for you to use what you've learned as well as learn a lot more." His mother explained. "You will have to hunt in a pair and successfully kill a deer within two days. An experienced hunter will be with you to help when needed. It will also prepare you for a real hunting trial when you are older."

          "What's a hunting trial?"

          "A hunting trial is how you prove yourself as a hunter. For that you will have to solely rely on yourself and whoever your hunting partner is to catch a deer. It won't be easy. An experienced hunter will have to witness what you do, but you don't have to worry about that for some time though." Lenape reassured him. John felt excited to participate.

          "When can I take the hunting test?"

          "Maybe in a few days if I can find someone who you can be paired up with. Since you're determined, you should also seek a shaman's blessing for good luck." Lenape told him.

          "A shaman's blessing? What is that?"

          "It is something that a shaman does to help ward off evil spirits, so you'll have good luck during the hunting test. I'll arrange a hunting test for you." She rose to her paws. "While I do that, you can talk to Amu or Kazana."

          "Ok." He agreed. 'I wonder what the hunting test will be like?' John headed over to the medicine hut, hoping that he would find Amu inside. Instead, an elder female wolf was seated by the hut's entrance. It was one of Koan's friends, Ayaska. She was one of the elder grey wolves he had seen bathing in the creek when he first trained as a shaman. The older female wolf had very long white hair, none of it tied into elaborate braids. Her chest cloth and loincloth were modest, but added necklaces gave a prettier appearance.

          "Hello John! I hope you aren't sick." Ayaska smiled.

          "No, I am feeling well."

          "Are you looking for Amu then?" The elder wolf knowingly guessed.

          "Yes. Is she here?"

          "You are a day too late. She left to visit a Sanada village yesterday." She informed the boy.

          "Oh..."

          "But if you need anything from Kazana, she is in the village. I'm waiting for her to return."

          "Ok. Thanks." John departed with worry. 'What am I going to do?' He fretted. 'Why does it have to be Kazana?!' That was the last person he wanted to ask anything from. 'What if she says no?' The human worried about performing poorly.

          "Hi John!" A familiar voice proclaimed. "What are you doing?"

          "Azande!" John found himself face to face with the she wolf. The canine's head tilted curiously.

          "You don't look so good. What's wrong?"

          "My mom wants me to do a hunting test."

          "That's good!" She grinned. "That means she thinks you're learning how to hunt and track well."

          "Right..." He looked away, and into the fields.

          "Did she say something else?" Azande guessed.

          "My mom wants me to seek our shaman's blessing for the hunting test." He admitted.

          "You can always ask Amu. She's always nice."

          "I can't." He shook his head.

          "Oh yeah, she is at a Sanada village." Azande recalled. "Well, Kazana is here. Go ask her."

          "I can't..." He stressed his last answer.

          "Why not?" The young she wolf tilted her head.

          "It's just..." John rubbed his arm and fidgeted. "I-I can't say!" The emotions and nervousness balled up in his throat. However, his refusal only seemed to make the young she wolf's curiosity burn brighter.

         "I'll wrestle you for an answer." Azande held up both arms and showed him a muzzle full of teeth.

          "No. I don't want to wrestle you." He turned away. "I need-Oof!" John felt a body suddenly grapple him. He fell over and quickly found himself pinned with his back to the ground. The boisterous she wolf looked over him like he was a lame deer. Her long hair spilling over her shoulders nearly reached his face. Azande laid down directly on top of the human. John grimaced, unable to lean back as her face hovered over his own. She touched noses with him but didn't back away.

          "You're a little too close..." He tried shoving the wolf off, but she held him to the ground. Her gaze hardened just enough to be serious. John turned his cheek in the grass to look away, but he could barely see anything through the veil of her long hair beside him.

          "You're looking around and thinking of things long ago." She frowned. He breathed deeply from the wolf's weight. "Look at my eyes. I'm not going anywhere." With reluctance, John turned his head and brought their noses together once again. Across the bridge of her muzzle, their eyes locked together. "Just tell me everything." She stated. John's sealed lips remained solidly zipped shut for a moment. He felt vulnerable, but all he could see was her eyes gazing softly at him.

          'She's my friend.' He wavered but couldn't lay on his back forever. "I have a tough time explaining this, Azande." He started to say. The young wolf blinked and intently listened. "She... Kazana was always a hard mentor... and that always bothered me. I never felt like I was doing a good job. Everything had to be done a certain way, her way."

          "Mhm."

          "So I don't want to ask her for anything." John concluded. Azande slowly nodded and thought about what he had said. The human turned his attention to e wolf laying overtop him. "Your fur is nice." He touched her sides. The she wolf grinned and wagged her tail once. She didn't mind his innocent touch, and let him feel her fur.

          "My fur, but not me?" Azande held back a chuckle as her nose blew a wave of warmth over his face. But the wolf frowned when he suddenly stopped. "Hey! Keep rubbing me. That feels nice."

          "I-ok..." He stammered and ruffled though the cream and red furred pelt.

          "Anyway..." She thought for a moment. "Do you want a shaman's blessing?" Azande questioned. "If you do, then go for it. You can't be afraid of her forever. She's no longer your mentor." John knew that she was right, but it didn't make the task any easier for him.

          "I guess you're right." He conceded.

          "I know I'm right! Let me get up before someone sees us like this." Azande was quick to her paws. She offered a hand to John as he sat up.

          "Thanks for... Um. Helping me?" He wasn't sure how to word what had happened.

          "Anytime!" The wolf smiled and gingerly patted his back.

***

          A gentle breeze stirred the warm afternoon air. From the edge of the village, John looked across the moor to the forest. He could see a dark furred figure among the rolling hills of the open land. Without a doubt, it was Kazana the skunk shaman.

          'Make this quick.' He told himself. The human quickly walked over to the seated shaman. All the old skunk wore was a very plain necklace of thin leather, and nothing else. Her ears perked up, hearing his footsteps approach. 

          "What do you need to see me for?" The skunk shaman said in her normal unapologetic voice. There was a small empty basket at her side, likely for collecting valuable plants. John sat down before her.

          "I need a shaman's blessing for a hunting test..." He told her. She paused and looked at the human.

          "I knew you would not become a shaman." The skunk stated.

          "What?"

          "You are becoming a hunter instead."

          "I like hunting! I couldn't learn everything that you taught me, and you were mean to me."

          "You were not lacking determination. The way of a shaman was not meant for you." She spoke up. "I am stern with anyone. When a pup wants to become a shaman, it is my task to make sure that it isn't for fun or on a whim. There are special duties, and there is a connection to everything that one must understand. This was something that you were not going to do." Kazana told him. John knew that she was right, after all, he only felt different from everyone else while he had trained as a shaman.

          "Why can't shamans wear loincloths or any clothes? Hokina told me one day that breasts are only covered when they are not in use."

           "You are young and naive... And yet I miss being your age." She looked directly at him with her typical stern gaze, but it wasn't so cold this time. "But asking questions is a good thing." The skunk surmised. "There are no barriers born to us in this life. We are the only things that wear clothes, as if we fear our own natural state. A shaman seeks to understand nature and the spirits without these barriers, and use this understanding to help people. A good example of this is medicine. Remember John, everything has a spirit. A pebble, a fish, a-"

          "A human?" He asked.

          "Yes." She nodded. "Why would you think humans don't have spirits?"

          "Well..." John's voice trailed off. "I don't know." He shrugged. "Humans are different." He knew that very well from the looks he would receive when he first arrived at the village. The elder female skunk didn't appear surprised in the slightest.

          "We are all of this earth." She pressed her hand to the grassy ground. "Every life originates from the ground. And everyone has dreams, not just shamans." She told him. John felt like he was receiving a lesson while training under her once again. "But nothing with this connection is exactly the same. Wolves and trees are different. Water and humans are different too. But all of these things inhabit the earth. There are spirits whether you know that, or not." Kazana explained to him. "I will give you a shaman's blessing the night before your hunting test. Just go to sleep when you normally do." She told him.

          "Thank you." John hugged her. Her fur was surprisingly silky, yet coarse unlike a wolf's.

***

         The thwack of a bowstring sounded off. An arrow quietly zipped through the air before striking the edge of a stump. John looked at the result with a mixed expression. His mother was practicing archery with him a final time, before his hunting test was to start.

          "You have not said much... Are you nervous?" Lenape asked.

          "A little..." John admitted, but that was an understatement. The human was very nervous. He felt more unprepared than when he was training to become a shaman. "I'm worried that I won't do well. I don't have strong arms or legs like you do." Strength was something that a human lacked compared to a wolf or any other native. John knew it first hand, not only from his mother but also by playing with other pups. A large, but very gentle canine hand touched his arm.

          "Your arms and legs can do anything mine can do." His mother smiled. "You will quickly become stronger as you grow." She reminded him.

          "My aim isn't reliable. I think I will fail."

          "Don't worry if you fail." She told him. "This is a good way to understand hunting in pairs. A pair is the smallest unit in a hunt, because you must work together to catch something." Her advise put him at ease for a moment. "Let me fetch the arrows, so you can go." She offered. John watched her pluck a few from the grass before plucking out the ones that managed to hit the target.

          "Here you go." She placed them back in the quiver.

          "Thank you."

          "I heard from someone that Azande was laying on top of you the other day. What was all that about?"

          "Oh. Azande... She kind of wrestled an answer out of me." His answer made Lenape giggle and noticeably sigh with relief.

          "John." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. His mother's hand was warm, but her eyes were much softer at heart. "Azande is a good friend to you, and to us. She wants you to succeed as much as I do." She told him without prying any further.

          "Couldn't she just say that?" He asked.

          "Sometimes a wolf can say something indirectly." Lenape grinned. Kneeling down before him, she made sure that the quiver's strap was secure.

          "Everything looks good. You are a hunter to me." Lenape proudly looked up at him.

          "Thanks mom."

          "You know I'll be proud of you no matter what." She stood up and hugged him. Her bare chest squished against him. "I'll wait to hear all about it when you return."

          "Okay, mom." John was ready to go.

          "Be careful."

          "I will." John managed to extricate himself from his mother's embrace.

          "I'll miss you." She told him.

          "I'll be back tomorrow." He promised before leaving the huts. Bow in hand, quiver on back, and knife on his side, John was ready. Along the last pair of huts he spotted a familiar she wolf waiting for him. Azande smiled as she watched him.

          "You know, they say that spirits hide in the fog..." She said in a spooky voice to John.

          "Stop." He glared at her.

          "Just making sure that you know." The she wolf grinned.

          'That is the last thought I need in my mind.' John already felt nervous, and his friend's words only seemed to trouble him more.

          "Good luck." Azande placed a hand on his shoulder.

          "Thank you." John told her before heading to the hill. The early morning air was cool and chilled the human's skin. The sky was completely covered in thick grey clouds. One couldn't tell what position the sun was in. Up ahead he easily spotted the tall black furred hunter Kakan.

          "Kantala!" John was surprised to find the white furred wolf pup standing beside Kakan. Armed with only a knife on his hip, the little wolf's long white hair was braided elaborately. Kantala rushed out to greet John. "You're my partner for the hunting test?"

          "Yep. I'm ready!" He declared and walked with the human to Kakan.

          "I see you're not running around naked anymore." The adult wolf teased. "Don't think that I'll go easy on you for helping me as a shaman in training. Our village has plenty of rowdy pups who want to make something of themselves."

          "We're ready." John nodded as he looked at Kantala. All three set out for the first day of the hunting test. The village behind them gradually became smaller until it disappeared from sight altogether. Further ahead, the grassy slope was partially covered with taller field grasses and dotted with short pine trees. The further he walked, the more he realized how difficult the hunting test would be, and the much harder hunting trial. The time John had accompanied Azande when they were trapped by the sudden storm seemed east and carefree by comparison.

          "How many deer are in a herd?" John asked Kakan.

          "Depends on the season, but I would say anywhere between six and twelve." The wolf old them.

          "That's a lot!" Kantala let his tongue loll out. "Where are we hunting first?" John closely watched Kantala bouncing alongside him. He knew that both of them were young and very inexperienced.

          'I am not fast enough to be a runner, and I don't think Kantala is either.' He thought to himself. 'Has Kantala even been training to hunt as long as I have?' He wasn't sure. Hunting in the moor seemed very risky. 'At least in the woods, we'll have a chance to get very close to a deer.' He reasoned. Even with poor accuracy, there was still a chance that may work.

          "I think it will be better if we hunt in the woods." John decided. "We can find a creek where the mud is soft enough to leave tracks."

          "Okay." The pup nodded confidently as they veered over to the closest forest. Leaves soon crunched beneath their steps as they meandered around the tight grouping of saplings.

          "Is there a hunting trail near here?" John asked as he ducked under a pair of low limbs.

          "I don't smell any." Kantala smelled the air. Looking back, John wanted to ask Kakan, but they couldn't rely on the older male for everything during the hunt. Meandering along the forest floor, he wondered if there were any signs that he couldn't see, smell, or hear. After carefully searching, they managed to stumble upon a winding creek rife with plant life. Weeds, wily grasses, and mossy tree trunks surrounded the area like a safe haven for clues. John scoured the ground for any signs of deer. Crushed ferns, broken twigs, narrow trails in the vegetation, and hoof prints. Nothing in the mud appeared fresh. All of the prints he could find were old and faded from time and rain. Standing up, John stretched his back. The trickling water was peaceful, an odd calm in the midst of their task. Kantala appeared more interested with the smooth pebbles in the muddy silt. John watched the pup stare at the wet pebbles in his furry palm. The image reminded him of a young shaman rather than a young hunter.

          "Caw! Caw! Caw!" An unseen flock of crows suddenly stirred in nearby treetops, spooking John and Kantala. They looked around the trees above them much to Kakan's disappointment.

          'Cawing crows... That's a bad sign.' John wondered what it could specifically mean for their hunting test.

          John and Kantala lurked throughout the woods for the rest of the day without much luck. They returned to the moorland when daylight began to fade.

          "Unless you two plan on hunting into the night, you should set up a quick spot to camp." Kakan advised them. John and Kantala blinked and looked at each other.

          "He's right." John admitted. "Let's gather some wood." Carrying the bow all day made the human's arm sore. Kantala didn't appear as energetic as he usually was either. It was a marked difference compared to the morning.

          'Is Kantala nervous like I am?' John wondered while he collected sticks in his arms, but one thing was certain. Neither of them would hunt into the night and lose any much needed sleep.

          "Make a fire." Kakan instructed. After a few clumsy attempts, Kantala and John managed to light a small blaze. All three sat around the little fire, but no stories were told. There was a quiet seriousness as the sun finally set. Kakan laid down without a word and turned his back to them. John looked around from his spot. The neighboring trees were bathed in silver moonlight, almost making them glow. Despite the nightly illumination from the moon, the inky shadows appeared infinitely dark.

          "It's dark." He whispered.

          "Yeah." Kantala murmured. John kept the thoughts of ghostly spirits lurking around out of his mind. He wished Azande hadn't mentioned that to him.

          "I've always had a fear of dropping my knife on something, like my paw." Kantala whispered.

          "What? Really?"

          "Yeah, or it cuts my leg by accident if I drop it."

          "But you have a sheath for it." John pointed out the buckskin product on his friend's waist.

          "I know, but I still worry about it. Sometimes I dream that my teeth fall out." He admitted.

          "You two quit telling bedtime stories and go to sleep." Kakan muttered from his spot. The adolescents quickly silenced themselves. John curled up and felt the cooler ground beneath him.

          It was the end of summer. Autumn was only a short time away. Putting everything together he had learned over the past season would be a challenge in itself, but that was only the mental part. The added physical challenge was the changing season. He was cold, and despite being with Kantala, he also felt lonely. The source of warmth he normally relied on, physically and mentally, was not with him.

          'How is mom doing?' He wondered. She looked so proud watching him prepare for the hunting test. Her bright smile and eyes were completely happy. The last thing John wanted to happen was to disappoint her. Darting in and out of sleep for most of the night, worry and uncertainty filled his thoughts. Before he knew it, the sun had risen again.

          "John, it's morning." Kantala nudged the human's shoulder. He grumbled in response. John wanted to try and sleep more but Kakan was ready to depart as well.

          "Gather your things, and prepare for the day. We should be leaving soon." He told John. "It will rain soon." The human quickly shook his grogginess.

          "Rain?" Glancing up at the sky, John didn't like the presence of rain clouds overhead. But the weather was out of his control...

***

          The sound of pouring rain mimicked an echoing hiss. The dark grey clouds lingering above during the morning weren't empty, and the grey skies above showed no signs of abating. It had rained all morning, afternoon, and it was only starting to lighten up in the evening, just when their hung test was set to conclude. Crouched down by a small grouping of trees, John was wet, cold, and tired. To his right, Kantala didn't look much better. The wolf pup was wet, and his white fur was spiky in appearance from ear to tail.

          The human had managed to keep a swift pace with Kantala, and cover plenty of terrain despite the constant rain. They had searched everywhere for deer through the rain, however, the water had washed all signs of the prey animals. For the past hour they had waited to spot something across a wide stretch of moorland. The distance across the grassy field appeared misty from the rainfall; but there were no deer in sight. Still, he held out hope for something. Even if he didn't shoot and kill the deer himself, he wanted to be a part of a successful hunt. John gripped his mother's bow in his hand tightly. That seemed liked a foregone idea now. The disappointment left a sour taste in the human's mouth. Breathing a sigh of defeat, he looked back at Kakan. The dark furred wolf was standing silently behind them. He was also wet from the rain, but the water never appeared to soften his gaze. He was sturdy like a tree.

          "Huh?" John blinked as the black furred wolf walked ahead.

          "We're going back." He told them. "It's close to nightfall, and there are no signs of any deer." It was the final moment of defeat for the young duo. John rose onto his shaky legs and exited the forest with Kantala behind him. The ground was soft from the day's worth of rain, occasionally causing their steps to softly squelch beneath them. He could feel his muscles drag from soreness. The two days felt like a week had passed without rest. Glancing at his mother's bow, John wasn't sure if he could've been able to fire an accurate arrow if needed. The muggy scenery of damp hills and grey sky continued for their entire walk back. John felt his shoulder slump when the village came within sight. He couldn't wait to dry off and sit by a warm fire.

          "You wait on this side of the hill so I can talk to each of you separately." Kakan ordered and stopped them on the hillside. He motioned to Kantala before walking away with the pup. John blankly stared as they disappeared over the hill.

          'What is he telling Kantala?' He wished that he knew. The human had a guess that it wasn't good news. Neither of them had a successful hunt. John's stomach nearly flipped as the dark furred male wolf returned from the other side of the hill. John's gaze lifted up as the adult stood before him.

          "Human." The adult male addressed John. "I don't know how your kind act," he motioned somewhat uncomfortably with a hand, "but Kantala is younger than you. You should have immediately acted like an older brother and guided him. Wolves and everyone else with fur naturally work together in packs to hunt. Two is the smallest pack, and it is vital to understand this."

          "I know that." John said, but the wolf didn't look very convinced.

          "This test isn't only to see if you can catch a deer, rabbit, or stray chicken." He reminded the human. "It's to see how well you work together, and use everything you know. I wouldn't say that you're a natural hunter. You have a lot of determination, and that's a good thing to have, but there is a lot for you to learn and observe before you will understand this." Kakan told John. The words sunk in, and although they weren't praise, there was still a glimmer of hope that John could become an accomplished hunter. It was not total defeat, but a reminder that he had a lot of hard work ahead of him.

          "We can go Kantala!" Kakan shouted and the white pup appeared along the hillside. It was quiet as they walked back to the village. John was thinking about what Kakan had told him. Glancing over, he noticed Kantala's ears were folded back. The pup's energetic enthusiasm had completely vanished from the day before.

          "Are you tired?" John quietly asked.

          "Yeah." Kantala mumbled. "I'm tired of this."

          "What do you mean?"

          "I don't want to hunt anymore." He admitted. The young pup hadn't shown any interest in fishing, like his father chose to do; but now it appeared he didn't want to hunt either. John wasn't sure what to say, but he had felt the same way when he didn't want to be a shaman anymore. The human tightly gripped his mother's bow in hand.

          "I'm going to become a hunter." He told Kantala without any regrets.

          A touch of coolness was in the air. The summer season was only lingering by a handful of days, and John knew that the weather was changing. Thicker fur coats would be grown by everyone, except himself. That meant he would have to stay warm by carrying around a blanket made of rabbit fur once again.

          'The season is about to change.' He reminded himself. 'At least mom's fur will be warmer at night.' John briefly thought before a stiff wind blew against him, returning his concentration to his surroundings. His eyes scanned the moor that bordered the edge of a small patch of woods. The empty space visible in the fog dismayed him. The moor provided few places to hide. Slopes and stones were tricky to use, but unlike the forests, sound wasn't a big factor to consider. Since his lackluster performance during his hunting test with Kantala, the human practiced hunting and tracking with Azande when he could. His mother couldn't always take him into the moor or forests for an entire day, but the adolescent she wolf was more than happy to assist John. He turned his back as the wind gusted again and chilled him.

          Without a single deer in sight, he abandoned the hill and descended to the patch of fog covered woods bordering the river. He ran up to Azande. The red and cream furred she wolf was standing at the edge of the foggy patch of woods. Fur and hair ruffled in the fierce winds like the meadow of grasses before them. Azande plucked a few strands of hair out of her mouth. The adolescent she wolf was wearing a newly made chest cloth and a decorative loincloth. The bow in her hand and the full quiver on her back indicated how well they were hunting.

          "Hey. Any luck?"

          "I can't smell any deer." Azande gave up with a disappointed huff. "Have you seen any?"

          "No." There was dismay in his voice. "I haven't seen any either." He solemnly shook his head. The dense fog from the morning didn't help. "I'm surprised that we are downwind." He admitted. "The wind keeps changing direction."

          "The wind keeps bringing in more fog too." She looked into the misty moorland ahead. "Maybe we shouldn't have hunted so close to the river." The wolf admitted.

          "Were there any tracks in the riverbank?"

          "No. None that I could find." She wiggled her nose. "Oh well." Azande shrugged and a little grin returned to her muzzle. "We can always try again, another day." She walked with him into the tree line. The leaves quietly crunched beneath their steps as they entered the eye of the fog. Azande paused as another strong wind rustled past the patch of woods. Her nose smelled the air as her sensitive ears perked up.

          "What is it?" John asked. The look in her eyes wasn't one of excitement, but of concern. She looked behind them towards the moor. "Is it a deer?"

          "No. It's... I can smell something different." Azande whispered. "Hide!" She pulled him aside and towards a modest bush beneath one of the trees. "Don't move." The wolf told him. Looking back into the moor, John did not understand what her concern was for.

          "Is it something really big?" He fearfully asked. Azande quietly shook her head. Her ears faced straight ahead as her nose flared. Something was definitely amiss. After a lengthy pause of silence, John could see something moving through the shallow fog. Faint like a shadow, it moved quickly. But it wasn't alone. Several figures were visible far away on the moor's ridge. There were more and more, numbering in the dozens. They weren't humans, but they were running close to where Azande and John were hiding.

          'Wolves?' John thought at first, but he was quickly taken aback. Only one or two were wolves. Several were slimmer canines, coyotes; but there were others still. Shorter muzzles of feline anthropomorphic beings were present as well. They all had long hair, but most carried two braids with rings tied on the ends.

          'Clubs, spears, hand axes...' John held his breath realizing that those weapons were seldom used during a hunt, but instead for war. One of them wielding a decorated wooden club was completely naked.

          "A shaman!" John watched wide eyed as the group ran across the hilly field. Azande suddenly held John close with an arm and loomed over him protectively.

          "Azan-!" A hand suddenly covered his mouth. Frowning, his voice muffled until her other hand grabbed him tightly. The wolf had wrapped herself around him like a blanket. He could feel and hear her breathing. The roughly three or four dozen ran past them without stopping. In an instant, they disappeared from view, as if nothing had happened. A terrible feeling chilled John's skin more than the wind. Azande finally released his mouth.

          "What's going on Azande-?"

          "John." She cut him off and turned him around. The gravely serious look in her eyes made his stomach tighten. "If I say hide, I don't want you to hesitate to conceal yourself in the woods or the moor. Do you understand?" She instructed. John nodded fervently. "If I say run, you better run as fast as you can where no one can find you." There as no joking in her young voice. What had begun as fun hunting practice in the morning, had turned into something very serious.

          "Ok." He nodded.

          "Follow me." She turned and carefully headed back to the village. John's heart raced as he closely followed Azande through the forest thicket. His eyes kept a close watch at the slivers of grassy meadow between the trees. They didn't want to risk being seen by the unknown group, especially as the fog subsided. But the forest itself was also a problem for them to hide in. The patch of woods near the river didn't stretch into a large continuous forest like those of the inland moor. They approached the edge of the woods before pausing by the last trees. There was a gap roughly two dozen yards of open field between them and the next section of woods. Looking at the open moor, there was no one to be seen. Only the wind moved the grasses and leaves.

          "It's quiet." Azande's keen ears didn't detect any sounds through the silence. "We're going to run across." She told him. John stared at the closest tree ahead.

          "Ok." He was ready.

          "Come on!" She grasped his hand. John sprinted with the wolf across the grass as fast as he could run. Each stride he feared they would be spotted. They dashed into the next group of trees and quickly his behind a large oak. John fell to the leaves on the ground while Azande kept watch.

          'We made it.' John caught his breath.

          "No one is out there." Azande whispered. "We're almost back." She told him.

          "Okay." John breathed and stood up. He followed the wolf through the next thicket of trees and underbrush. Their path ahead was rarely a straight line. Weaving around crooked trees, ducking under low branches, and jumping fallen trunks and limbs, John managed to keep up with the quick she wolf. Azande led him to the end of the next tree line. Only a wide field with a pair of hills separated them from the village.

          "Aoooo." John could hear distant howls faintly echoing across the hills.

          "Wait here." Azande told him. "And remember what I told you about hiding and running."

          "Mhm." He nodded fearfully as she left him. He watched the female wolf hurry up the first hill. He briefly saw Azande reappear on the second hill before disappearing once again.

          'She will be ok.' John told himself, but even the human could feel that something was very wrong. The entire situation was not normal. 'Who were they?' He thought about the running group of canines and felines. He thought about the image of the few dozen in his mind. They didn't wear buckskin around their ankles like the Sanada villagers did. There were no raccoons, or border collies, or foxes from the Nanu villages.

          With all of the weapons they carried, did that mean they were going to attack? John hoped that wasn't the case. Memories of the attack on Wexford made his skin shiver with goosebumps. The unknown figure grabbing the metal bars through the fire-lit darkness had happened a year ago, but it felt like a very recent dream. A sudden fact brought his thinking to a halt.

          'Mom is still in the village!' He realized with wide open eyes. His heart pounded within his chest. The moments of waiting became endless. Azande hadn't returned, and his stomach churned with anxiety. Feeling a sense of dread, John didn't want to wait anymore. Risking his safety, John crept out of the forest's cover and out into the field. The human felt very vulnerable, exactly how he imagined a deer felt when it was hunted. Creeping closer, he ascended the first hill without seeing anyone else. Emboldened, he quickly ran up the next one. Upon reaching the top of the second hill, John could finally see the village a short distance ahead.

          Everyone was in a flurry of activity, running and shouting. Howls and cries of pain, agony, and despair filled the air. He hastily ran to the huts, and found everyone in disarray. What was normally any other peaceful day had become a nightmarish scene of chaos. A figure was sitting on the ground, hunched over and clutching his side. Not far away, another figure was sprawled on the ground, bloodied from a head injury while two others desperately tried to help.

         John hurried to his mother's hut. The door flap was torn, and laying in the ground. A speckled trail of blood led into the hut's entrance. Someone was inside. Here pounding in his chest, John feared who it could've been. His mother, or an enemy? The wailing grief and shouts throughout the village rang in he ears. He had no time to waste being frightened! Diving into the hut, his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting. His eyes immediately widened with terror.

          "Mom!" He yelled seeing the grey wolf lying on her side by a dying fire. Lenape was clutching her side where a little puddle of blood had collected. She was panting in labored breaths as her face was contorted in pain. Two broken spears he had never seen before were on the ground towards the wall. The stone point of one was stained with bright red blood. John rushed to her side.

          "Mom are you ok?!" He sobbed and nudged her. "Mom..." His voice trailed off. It felt like the air inside the hut was trying to choke him. "Mom!"

          Six villagers died that day from the Yonekohtan raid. Makunka, an unmated red wolf known for an uncanny smile and way of telling stories; Kepunak, a father of two beautiful adult daughters and a recent grandfather to a one month old pup; Skatane, a mother of three who never let a rainy day stop her from going outside; Yoholwan, a talented huntress and fierce warrior; Nahazu, a white wolf talented with the flute and dancing; and Kazana, the village's main, yet stoic shaman.

          The village was busy repairing damage, and mourning those lost in the raid. Mourning songs replaced laughter and chants that were normally heard throughout the village. Normally curious, and eager to discover something new, John silently stared at a clump of grass. The soft green blades fell even to the smallest of forces. Everything felt raw and fragile since the fateful raid on the village.

          "Hey, John." A hand shook the boy's shoulder.

          "Huh?" He stirred from his unbroken gaze. A young cream and red furred she wolf was standing behind him. A look of concern was etched into her furry canine features.

          "You were staring at the ground again." Azande told him.

          "Oh... Sorry." John mumbled and stood up. The adolescent she wolf normally enjoyed nipping at him, but her expression was solemn as well. Behind Azande, her mother Amytis, was standing close by with Asawa present as well. They had been keeping him company while he waited to hear anything about his mother from Amu. The village's shaman had been very busy since the deadly raid, treating and tending to all of the injured. Kantala was fishing with his dad along the river. Despite the raid, everyone still had to eat and provide for their families. Even the simplest activities felt bittersweet when several of your fellow villagers were no longer with you.

          "It's ok John. We're here for you." Asawa stepped forward and hugged him. The warm embrace helped a little. John held the female wolf and stared blankly at her white furred front until she let go. Amytis quickly embraced the human next. She patted his back comfortingly. John could feel tears welling up inside his eyes, but he didn't want to cry in front of them. Biting back the sadness, he clung onto the furry body before him.

          "You don't need to hold your tears from us." Amytis spoke. "We are feeling the same pain."

          "I'm scared." His muffled voice managed to say and press his eyes into her fur. He didn't know what to do. He felt more powerless than ever before.

          "You don't need to feel afraid. You're with us." Amytis told him.

          "That's right." Another hand touched his back.

          "Mhm." Azande held his shoulder. They were right. He was not alone anymore. John could rely on his closest friends.

          "Thank you." He undid the embrace and wiped his eyes.

          "Let's go collect some acorns." Asawa suggested. "They've started falling, and we should have some stored in case other food is scarce this winter." He nodded without a word and watched her gather a few small hand woven baskets. All four walked across the field to the edge of the forest. Plenty of acorns were nestled in the grass beneath the outstretched limbs towering above. A pair of squirrels scurried away to the safety of the trees as all four split up to collect the healthy nuts. John didn't mind the mundane task at all. Staying busy helped put his mind at ease, or at least prevent his thoughts from worrying endlessly. Although, he could remember when Lenape first gathered acorns with him last autumn. Glancing to his side, he could see Asawa crouched over, plucking through the untamed grass in search of unblemished acorns. Her uncovered breasts moved from her subtler movements, reminding him of his mother.

          "What is it that my dad used to tell me?" Asawa thought aloud. "I think it meant we would have a cold winter."

          "Just in time for our winter coats to come in." Amytis added.

          "I'm excited for my winter coat to come in." Azande whispered to John, but the human didn't reply. "Hey. You haven't said much." She quietly spoke. John pressed his lips together, unable to say anything at first. He knew that Azande had lost her father at a young age, so she understood what he was feeling. But the human was in danger of losing another parent.

          "I just want to see my mom." He whimpered. The two mothers looked at each other for a moment without a word.

          "Okay." Amytis nodded. "You should go." She told him. A brief glimmer of hope filled his eyes and he immediately took off towards the village. His legs carried him like the clouds riding the breeze all the way to the medicine hut. The simple abode was quiet without any sign of driving inside. Amu wasn't around either.

          'Please be okay.' John entered the medicine hut, wrinkling his nose from the powerful scents of different herbs. However, his thoughts were oblivious about all of the medicinal herbs and natural remedies he once tried learning. The canine figure on a pair of deer pelts had his entire attention. His mother was laying quietly on her back, peacefully asleep. All of the armbands, anklets, necklaces, and feathers she typically wore had been removed. His mother resembled a plain character of herself. She wasn't even wearing a loincloth. Her breasts, rolled off center, weren't completely covered; but a blanket was draped over the wound on her side.

          John slowly knelt down at the bottom of the two deerskins that she was sleeping on. He didn't want to stir her. The charcoal grey wolfess appeared at peace when she was asleep. Her front slowly rose and fell with each breath. Her powerful figure had thinned slightly since she was brought to the medicine hut. His gaze trailed down her figure to the claws on her four toes. A wolf's paw was fairly large, larger than the boy's hand, and hers were no exception. He reached over and touched the bottom of her paw. The black pads weren't cold, but they weren't warm either. It was like her paw wasn't part of her anymore. It simply existed like another rock on the ground. John gently rubbed the main pad with both hands.

          A sense of dread tightly gripped him. Seeing the wolf whose strength could easily overpower him, with a mere arm, frightened him. Even her size and ferocity wasn't invincible. John had never seen Lenape in such a vulnerable state before, and the wolf was the foundation of his strength. Lenape had given him life in another sense, or rather a second chance. Had she not found him in the fields unconscious, then John very well may not have lived to see another day. Since that day, she had cared for him like a son. She was truly his mother.

          'It's not fair... It's not fair!' His eyes scrunched shut and clutched her paw. 'Please! I want her to live!' He bit back tears to say a prayer. Rustling made the boy's eyes snap open as the she wolf lightly stirred.

          "John?" His mother's voice spoke groggily. She sniffed the air. The mother wolf weakly shuffled only to groan. John quickly crawled up to her, and knelt forward

          "Mom. It's me." He grabbed ahold of her hand. Her reply came in the form of another grumble. Her hand clenched together and squeezed his smaller hands. The she wolf's eyes were very slow to open, barely slits. Clutching her hand dearly, John couldn't contain his emotions any longer. "Mom..." His voice uttered in a tiny sob. Tears filled his sight, blurring the charcoal grey wolf's features. Her eyes completely opened seeing him start to cry. "Mom... Please don't die." He quietly sobbed. A tongue softly licked away his tears until he stopped crying. 

          "Shhh. Shhh." Lenape softly hushed him. "I'm not going to die... but I'm afraid that I won't be moving around too much unless Amu allows it." She assured her son.

          Unbeknownst to John, Amu approached from outside and stood by the entrance of medicine hut. The red panda was disheveled in appearance. Her job of looking after the sick and injured was made nearly impossible due to the raid and the loss of the village's experienced shaman, Kazana.

          John's stomach suddenly grumbled, surprising them both.

          "Are you hungry?" Lenape asked.

          "A little." He admitted. His stomach had been twisted into nervous knots from the entire ordeal. He hadn't been able to think about food. The wolfess attempted to move, but gave up as her body strained to comply.

          "I can't sit up. Come lay down with me." She lifted her arm. John complied and laid down beside her. Amu leaned forward into the hut to intervene.

          "Lenape, you shouldn't-"

          "I will feed my son." She brought an arm around the young human. "It brings me the greatest relief knowing that he is ok." The red panda shaman didn't say anything and nodded anyway. She was ready to intervene if the wolf was in pain. "Besides, it hurts having too much milk!" Lenape weakly exclaimed. John pressed his face to her chest and took a moment to simply lay in her embrace.

          'Thank goodness.' He listened to her heart beating beneath the warm grey fur. Lenape sighed contently feeling her son finally latch on.

          'Weaning isn't going to be easy...' She sighed and watched her son. The gentle sensation of his suckles put her mind at ease. Nothing was said for a few minutes. It was the first moment of peace they could enjoy together. The red panda wiped her eyes and took a moment to sit down. When John finished, he simply laid beside his mother, not wanting to leave her yet.

          "I may not die from these wounds, but I want you to remember something John." Lenape rested a hand on the back of his head and touched her nose to his nose. The young human's eyes were fixated on her loving brown ones. "Remember that as your mother, I will always love you."

          "Mmhm." The boy nodded and felt his eyes begin to water again. Lenape wrapped her arm around her son and tucked his head protectively under her chin. John buried his face into her neck fur. His mother's comforting scent surrounded him, easing the emotional pain that had tormented his mind.

          "Even when my heart beats slow with age, my breasts droop flatly, and my muzzle is ticked a snowy silver, I want to hold you as my son." John felt tears escape his eyes and dampen his mother's soft fur.

          John hurried through the the village, and towards the medicine hut. His loincloth flapped between his strides mimicking a canine tail. The sun was shining brightly above, atypical of the overcast days the area experienced. Several days had passed since the fateful raid on the village. Everyone's enduring resilience was impressive. Approaching the medicine hut, John could hear voices from inside. He discreetly peeked inside and found his mother sitting up on a deer skin, talking to a visitor. It was her brother, Mankato the chieftain of the village. The creamy tan and dark colored fur was an imposing figure, easily dwarfing the young human like a fully grown tree.

          "You can come here, John." He heard his mother's voice speak up from inside the medicine hut. "We can smell you."

          'Oops.' He felt a little embarrassment but revealed himself. It was a reminder of how powerful a canine's nose could smell. Entering the medicine hut, he sat down across from Mankato.

          "Are you feeling better today, mom?" He hopefully asked.

          "You always ask that question." Lenape chuckled. "I'm feeling better every time I see you." She gave her son a toothy smile.

          "Good!" He giddily grinned. "How is your scar?" He quietly asked.

          "Better, I think." The grey wolfess lifted the blanket and revealed the ugly scar that ran three inches towards her side. It was a deep puncture wound that would require plenty of time to completely heal, but the early signs were promising.

          "My sister, your mother, has always been strong." Mankato warmly spoke. "You take care of your mother, ok John?" He spoke earnestly. The human bit his lip and nodded. The wolf smiled and placed a hand on his small shoulder before exiting the hut. Lenape's gaze settled on her son with a pleasant smile.

          "Are you keeping the hut clean and warm while I am here?" She asked.

          "Uh. I guess." John hasn't thought about that at all.

          "Have Amytis and Asawa looked after you?" Lenape asked next.

          "Mmhm." He nodded. "A few nights I will stayed with one or the other. Nanok and Inuk visited one day, and so did Koan and Ha'anaso."

          "That's good. I don't want you to feel alone while I'm here."

          "What did Mankato talk to you about?"

          "A lot of things, but mostly about me and you." She reached out and held his hand. John grinned feeling her strong grip, but she gave a prolonged yawn. "Oh my, I'm tired."

          "Let your mother rest, John." Amu, the red panda shaman advised from the hut's entrance. John glanced back and wondered how long the shaman had been standing there. He looked back at his mother, wondering what to do.

          "Don't worry, I'm going to be right here." She smiled and gave his hand a firm squeeze. John nodded and exited the medicine hut where Amu was standing. The red panda walked alongside him to the side of the hut.

          "I'm glad that you visit your mother and spend as much time with her as possible." Amu noted with a pleased tone.

          "Is she going to be alright?"

          "You've asked that at least one hundred times... Yes, I believe she is going to be alright. Don't forget that the rest of her recovery might be slow. I don't expect her to hunt again until the middle or end of autumn."

          "How much longer will she have to stay in the medicine hut?"

          "Hmm. Your mother is recovering quickly. Right now I think two or three more days," she tapped her chin, "if you let her rest enough." The red panda teased. Her lighthearted tone gave him some relief. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a dream the other night that the sun rose and warmed the moorland. There were many deer grazing with their fawns. I believe it is a sign that everyone will recover, including your mother." She said. John felt some relief hearing that.

          "Do you think that dream means that everyone will recover?" He wondered.

          "I believe so; but dreams are a mystery, even to shamans." Amu told him. "Do we dream of what we want, or is it by chance? Are we worried about something? Or are the spirits trying to tell us something through a hazy thought that resembles a morning fog in the moor. It could be any of those things." The red panda wondered openly about it. "I think I pushed you too hard to dream with the spirits." She admitted. "Rather than focus on their importance and other practical things like medicine and traveling to neighboring villages."

          "It's okay." He grasped her hand. "I don't regret trying to become a shaman."

          "Well... That is good to hear." Amu grinned.

          "I'll come back and visit after mom takes her nap." John said before departing.

          "Give her plenty of time to rest!" The shaman called back. The human returned home only to find Koan standing by the entrance. The elder she wolf's long dark hair was adorned with a few feathers, and the simple anklets on her paws quietly clacked when she took a step.

          "John! I was hoping to find you." The reddish brown furred wolf approached him. She craned down and touched noses with the human. The black nose briefly felt damp and cool against his skin. "How is Lenape? I heard that she is feeling much better than the last time I heard about her."

          "I just visited her. She's feeling better, but Amu still needs her to rest before coming back home."

          "Ah, yes, she will need to recover." The she wolf agreed. "And Amu knows best. I fully trust her."

          "Mmhm."

          "How have you been doing?" She asked next. "I know this has been a hard time for you as well as your mother."

          "I'm okay." He didn't say very much. "I'm just happy that mom is going to be okay."

          "We're all looking forward to that." Koan flashed a smile. "If you need anything, then just ask me." She smiled before bidding him a nice day.

          "Thank you." John said before entering the hut. There was no one inside to greet him, and the fire out was dormant. Nothing was out of place but the hut was eerily quiet and empty. He was eager to have his mom return home. John tried sleeping with her at the medicine hut, but Amu didn't have adequate room for too many to stay in the small space. Besides, crawling over someone to retrieve medicine was a pain for everyone. Until Lenape returned home, the hut would always have an empty feeling.

          John sat down on a deer pelt and searched through a small basket. He retrieved a rolled up piece of paper, the map he had acquired from human traders in the Sanada village.. Rolling it out on the pelt, he searched the hand made writings for an answer. There were several different areas marked off, but not named. There were colored circles, circles with X patterns, and squares with cross shaped patterns. Mountains and rivers were drawn as well.

          'Wexford.' John read a familiar word beside one of the circles. Across an adjacent river, he read out a word that stretched across the coastal region north of Wexford.

          'Yo-ne-koh-tan...' He sounded out the word in his head. That was the same group that raided Wexford and destroyed the entire settlement a year ago. A single question lurked in the boy's mind. Why? There was a natural curiosity to something he couldn't explain.

          'Who can tell me about them?' He wondered. John set the map aside and headed back outside. Walking around several huts, the human noticed an odd group of visitors. Two unknown individuals, a male brindle wolf and a coyote, were talking with Mankato and several others. The canines had two dominant braids of hair in front of their shoulders with small metal or wooden rings looped at the bottom. They appeared fierce in every sense of the word. They were tall, but only armed with knives at their waists. They weren't here to fight. Close by, Amu was watching from the safety of a hut. John quickly ran over to the red panda.

          "Amu. Why are they back?"

          "They killed our shaman, which is always a terrible thing to do. They'll try to make amends by offering peace and possibly some pelts or food. Kazana saved the village with her death." She explained. John felt a pause before he could speak again. The skunk he had disliked had selflessly prevented greater damage and destruction to the entire village.

          "I hate them." He angrily looked at the pair of canines.

          "I understand your anger," Amu nodded, "but the Yonekohtan are a powerful confederation of villages allied with the coastal Hikkiya to the northeast. We can't attack them back so easily, and even if we did, then we would have to face their wrath for many war seasons." She explained.

          "Why did they attack us? We never hurt them."

          "I don't know. Maybe Mankato will be able to tell us. I know that they believe in keeping those captured from other tribes as servants."

          "But why do they believe in doing that?"

          "The spirits work in mysterious ways, and it's not easy to explain." Amu paused for a moment. "The Yonekohtan are famous for their 'mad' shamans. They complete odd rituals and even participate in battle, unlike other shamans. Their way of life is entirely different from ours."

          "I have never heard of a shaman who believed in fighting." John admitted.

          "They are the only ones who believe in doing that." Amu calmly nodded. "Still, they respect the death of another village's shaman, and verbal peace treaties. Wars between villages are the worst. People who otherwise would not fight each other, would be at each others throats." Amu told him. "What we need is peace." John wasn't sure how to feel about that. He wanted peace, but he still felt anger for what they had done to everyone in the village. Kakan, Sitka, and Hegeso appeared at the other side of the hut. Their gazes were serious, but stoic.

          "What do you think Mankato will do?" Amu asked the hunters.

          "Nothing brash. The elders and hunters haven't lost confidence in Mankato's leadership."

          "We sent runners to the closest Sanada and Nanu villages to ensure that our pact remains intact. If another fight breaks out, which is unlikely, then we should be prepared." Sitka added.

          "We also sent someone upriver to the closest pair of Kikkawa villages. I heard that the Yonekohtan were caught crossing the river border up north as well..."

          "So it would be best to have everyone along the river act as a defensive unit to deter the Yonekohtan from anymore raids." Hegeso concluded.

          "What are you talking about?" John interrupted.

          "You are too young to understand village relations." Kakan frowned at the boy's ignorance of tribal affairs. As much as he wanted to understand what was going on, John didn't let his anger overcome him. All he wanted right now was for his mother to heal and return to their hut. Lingering questions could wait.

          'I want to hunt with her again.' John told himself, but he also wanted everything to return to normal as well.

          Walking hand in hand, John couldn't stop smiling. It wasn't the bright sunshine above, or the odd warm breeze of an early autumn. Looking up, he could see his mother walking alongside him. Her grey pelt and long hair ruffled in the breeze. The section of her side was still bare however. The exposed skin was pale, but the wound was visibly healing. Her life was no longer in danger. Approaching their hut, John helped his mother gradually crouch down.

          "Are you okay?" He asked.

          "I'll be okay." His mother reassured him with a smile. She crawled inside with him on her tail. Lenape made her way to the dormant fire pit where she sat down. "I see that you've kept the hut clean." She noticed, but John was very happy to be home again with her. The she wolf was back inside the humble hut. She had finally returned.

          "You're back home." John happily spoke the words. He felt his shoulders relax. The past several days were the longest he had experienced, and the burden of endless worrying had finally been lifted.

          "Yes, I am." Lenape grinned, equally grateful.

          "I'm glad that you're back." He hugged his mother. The charcoal grey wolfess smiled and nuzzled him back. John felt safe in her arms, protected from anything. He stared at the dark grey fur in front of him, enjoying its softness.

          "You better be this this affectionate and caring when you're older." Lenape warmly spoke as he undid the embrace.

          "What?" He didn't understand.

          "When you become a young adult, I don't want you to become headstrong, okay?"

          "I won't do that!" John couldn't imagine himself becoming a headache for his mom as an adolescent.

          "I have head many pups promise that before." She craned her neck and licked his forehead.

          "I will always care for you and love you." He nodded with seriousness.

          "I know that you will." Lenape smiled as her eye caught sight of something. "Your loincloth is torn." She touched the bottom part that had a noticeable tear along the edge.

          "It must've happened when I was in the woods." He couldn't remember exactly when or where it had happened.

          "I can mend it in just a moment." She offered.

          "Amu said that you should not work on anything for a few more days." John mumbled.

          "I will be fine. You don't need to worry about me." She told him with a smile. "I am the one who worries about you." Lenape nodded and pulled the loincloth right off him.

          "Hey!" He covered himself and found a spare double sided loincloth.

          "I'm your mother. There's nothing to be ashamed of in front of me." She humbly spoke without lifting her gaze from the torn buckskin in her hands. "Now, I can see it, but if it tears again or widens, then we will need Koan to mend it all over or ask her to make another for you." Lenape spoke as she searched for her bone needle and some thread. As soon as John had donned himself with a new cloth, he headed for the hut's entrance. Lenape took notice of the sudden departure.

          "I just returned home. Where are you running off to now?" She asked.

          "I'll come back in a little while."

          "A little while?" His mother questioned.

          "Yes. I need to do something." He promised her before slipping past the door flap. John left the village and headed in a western direction. Running across the moorland, John passed by a cream and white furred male wolf.

          "Where are you going?" Hegeso called out.

          "A stream! I'll be right back!" He called back without pausing. The wolf only watched in bewilderment at the human eventually disappeared from sight in the rolling hills.

          'I am glad he isn't running away anymore.' Hegeso thought to himself. 'I will quickly get tired of trying to catch him!' The wolf resumed walking back to the village.

          Further along the grassy hills, John kept close to the forest for a while. The changing surroundings gave away the place he was searching for. The human slowed down and stopped to catch his breath. Ahead of him was a stream that could be heard quietly running down the moor. The bubbling sounds of water passing over rocks was pleasant to hear. The entire area was peaceful. Nobody was around, except for the birds and little creatures like insects or rabbits. The trees nearby stood motionless from the lack of wind, but there was something else about their presence that was telling. A few leaves were starting to change color, and branches were starting to thin noticeably. It was hard to believe, but autumn had quickly arrived.

          'It's here.' John walked along the grass before approaching the winding body of water. After jumping across, his attention focused on a lone oak tree at the bottom of a sloping hill. Several wildflowers were scattered through the grasses as well. Meandering a little further, he found what he was looking for. Kneeling down in the patchy grass, he stared at the stick held up by several stones. Buried in the immediate vicinity was a wolf he never knew, but one that had an impact on his life nonetheless.

          'Mom's mate.' He stared at the weathered piece of wood. It hadn't been replaced since Lenape first took him here. She had been able to move on from the loss. The human wondered what the wolf had looked like. Tall like Mankato, or more modest in stature? What was his fur color? White? Mottled grey? Black? Or another variation? It was impossible to know, but one thing was on his kind that he needed to say.

          "Thank you for all that you've done." John finally spoke, touching one of the warm rocks surrounding it. "I'll protect her now, in any way that I can." John promised. He closed his eyes and silently thought of a chant before rising up. With a final look at the grave marker, the human returned home for the evening as a passing breeze rustled the grass.

          'Where am I?' John looked around in confusion. 'I was asleep.' He couldn't understand why he was standing up. He remembering going to sleep beside his mother inside their hut at nightfall. There was darkness all around him, like night fall. There was no sky above, only complete darkness. It made absolutely no sense for the human to be sleeping inside his hut and then find himself awake outside in the pitch black night. A crackling fire was the only source of light he discovered when turning around. Sitting on a log beside the fire was a male wolf he had never seen before. His fur coat was a mottled grey, but with more light brown accents that glowed from the flames.

          "So you are here." A male voice spoke with interest. John stared, unsure what to say. Looking around, there was no one else he could've been talking to. The wolf's eyes were a deep brown, just like his own, but they resembled the bright and shining starlight of a cloudless night. When John looked at the fire, everything seemed dark. However, when he looked at the wolf the air seemed bright and sunny. The entire place felt very surreal, as if he was far away from the village.

          'Is this a dream?' John briefly wondered.

          "Come. Sit down." The friendly wolf patted the open space beside him. Sensing no immediate danger, John approached the fire and sat beside the grey wolf. The adult was tall and broad shouldered, like many of the anropomorphic wolves. There was no doubt in the boy's mind that he had the strength to take down a deer of any size.

          "Who are you?" John looked at the grinning male wolf. There was no answer. Glancing over the mysterious person, John noticed that the male didn't have a loincloth or any adornments on his body.

          "Are you a shaman?" He asked.

          "Well... No." The wolf sheepishly admitted. "I am er... I was a regular wolf." His rephrasing only confused the boy even more. "If I could explain this any simpler then I could." He chuckled.

          "Who are you?" John asked again, feeling suspicious towards the odd wolf.

          "I cannot exactly say." He felt embarrassed to admit. "But since you are here, I wanted to talk to you."

          "Me? Why?" The human's confusion only amused the starry eyed canine.

          "The season of falling leaves is already here." He mentioned. "And you have been here for an entire season cycle. One autumn, one winter, one spring, and one summer. You have grown since then in many ways and faced many trials. Your hair has even grown out." The wolf proudly patted John's back. The padded palm and fingertips were very warm against his skin. "You're on the path to becoming an adult." His praise made the newly adolescent human smile.

          "A whole year..." John murmured as he realized what the wolf had told him. He was twelve years old now. It had felt like several years rather than one. Learning an entirely new language and adapting to a new way of life had been spurred by the unlikeliest of changes. The memories of sailing to the land of Hibernia and the subsequent burning of Wexford weren't as distant as he wanted them to be.

          "Something not long ago is troubling you." The wolf correctly spoke.

          "I miss my dad." John wished that he could've lived and escaped with him. It filled him with despair and regret.

          "The loss of a loved one is hard to overcome." The male wolf solemnly nodded. "What do you remember about your dad?" He asked. John thought back to when he last saw his dad. The fateful day had started out normal for them, but ended tragically.

          "I was hungry. I last remembered him bringing me expensive looking food." His eyes began to water, distorting the vision of the fire. "I asked him how he earned the money to pay for it, but he told me not to worry about it. I think he stole it." He was unable to say any more, and started to cry. The pain of his loss burned as tears descended down his cheeks. The smoothness of a canine tongue consolingly washed over both of his eyes, just like his mother would do. John clung onto the male while the smooth canine tongue gently lapped over him. The grey wolf's fur was so warm and soft, like a sunny meadow in the tall grass. His quickly sadness dissipated, and he felt at peace like the waters of a still lake.

          "There. There." The wolf dried John's eyes with the fur on the back of his hand. "Your father cared for you dearly. And you have a mother now, don't you?" He consoled the boy.

          "Mmhm. I want to be strong enough to protect her." John gathered his shaky voice and nodded. The male softly smiled at the human's words, and waited for him to regain composure.

          "You must love her a lot to say that." The wolf softly spoke.

          "I love her a lot." He replied strongly, meaning every word. "She took care of me even though I came from somewhere else and couldn't speak to her... My mom has done so much for me. I owe her my life." He concluded. The wolf's smile brightened at the boy's determined words. "I owe her my life."

          "I once lived in this village not too long ago when humans were first seen by this tribe."

          "You did?" John looked up in surprise.

          "That's right. We weren't sure what to make of them. We didn't know anything about them or where they came from. They smelled strange and bore no fur except in the oddest of places." He grinned and ruffled John's hair. "But I soon realized that humans weren't different from us. They can smile, laugh, play, and love just like anyone else. They are born innocent like us, but bad spirits can tempt them." John felt an unknown breeze blow past, causing the fire's flames to stir. For the first time, the wolf looked away.

          "What is it?" John feared that something was in the darkness.

          "You have nothing to fear." The mysterious wolf smiled as he looked back at the human. "Before we part paths... I must tell you... Your mother loves you. Never forget that." The mysterious wolf's words rang true like a bell as they were spoken. The fire suddenly burned out. Darkness enshrouded the wolf, and then everything else. His starry eyes remained until they too blinked shut. A rushing silence filled the human's ears as nothingness overcame him.

***

          John blinked and found himself inside laying on his side, inside a hut, and surrounded by furry warmth. It was completely dark, and daylight was hours away. The familiar deer pelts were underneath him. Focusing his eyes from the sudden stir in his sleep, he found himself looking at charcoal colored fur. The slow draw of breathing were all that his ears could hear. It was a beautifully peaceful sound.

          'Mom.' He realized who he was staring at. She was sleeping beside him, as usual. The human's mind returned to what had just happened, or did he imagine it all?

         'Was that just a dream?' He wondered. The fire, wolf, and darkness. The experience felt too real, and was unlike anything else he had ever dreamt of. Blinking, he pushed his lingering thoughts aside as faint pangs of hunger made themselves known. Without a thought John rested a hand on her breast, something he once believed was sinful to even glance at. However, with it a female could nurture and give life to another, and Lenape had selflessly saved his life one year ago. It was so much more than an object of desire to the tribal world. The body was beautiful, just like any form of nature, and the breast was no exception. Besides, they were perfect to snuggle against.

          "Hmm?" Lenape raised her head and noticed her son's hand. "Are you hungry John?" The wolfess asked with a sleepy voice. There was no verbal answer as he shifted forward. She smiled and closed her eyes feeling him latch on. An arm protectively held his back. Lenape drifted back to a peaceful sleep, knowing that her son was safe and in her tender care.

End of Part I