Chapter 14- Guidance

Shadow licked his paw lying under an oak tree. Its leaves shined in the bright sun and he stretched his legs with a yawn. Crystal was by a waterhole nearby. She dunked her head into the watery and raised her head shaking and waving. Shadow yawned again. The dream he had came to mind again; why did he have a dream like that? Was there even a meaning to it? He cocked his head and called Crystal over. “Hey, Crystal, come here”. She turned her silvery head and strode towards him. “What is it”? Shadow turned his head away and looked back. “I’ve been thinking about those dreams you and I had- “When do you think”? Crystal said with a giggle. “I’m serious this time, I think we may have something to do with Chanoue and this whole ancestral tomb and what not”. Crystal looked at him with a blank stare. “I’ve been thinking that too, we need to find Luna again, she might be able to help us”. Shadow’s memory flashed back to the bat, Luna, from Crystal’s tale about her experience in Luna’s cave. Shadow shook his head. “We would never find her that easily”. Crystal nodded. “But we need help, we can’t do this alone. I don’t even know what we need to do”. Shadow stared off into the distance. Find my parents; that’s top priority”. Crystal stared at him. “Then shall we continue on with our journey”? Shadow turned and looked at her. “Yes, we will not let Chanoue win, trust me”. Crystal nodded. “I’m just afraid Chanoue might be able to carry out his plans with us wandering around looking for your parents”. Shadow turned again and glared slightly. “Chanoue is the least of my concerns right now”. Crystal growled silently. She thought in her head “Chanoue murdered my father; I have more than one reason to stop him”. She kept the idea in her head, Shadow was desperate to find his parents and she was not to interfere although she felt obligated to do so. “Shadow, if we don’t do something we are putting everyone in danger”. Shadow turned again and walked slowly at her. “My parents are out there and they don’t know I’m still alive”. Crystal’s ears flattened. “You don’t know what its like”. Crystal sneered at him. “Your right Shadow, I don’t know what its like. My father is dead and my mother has been gone for years and they knew I was alive but at the cost of my fathers life”. Shadow barred his teeth and growled but stopped folding his ears back. “My father is dead due to that monster Chanoue, and many more wolves will be subject to the same grueling torture I experienced”. Shadow felt guilty and slowly walked over to Crystal and nudged her rubbing on her. “I’m sorry, I miss my family. We can sort out this Chanoue problem in time”. Crystal slowly nodded. “You’re right, family comes first”. The two began walking. They strode off across the forest area and out into the sunset. From a tree high above hung Luna looking down on the two wolves. Her fuzzy body sagged in the windy gusts and she stared off at the two wolves. “Guidance you ask young Crystal, guidance you shall receive”. With that, Luna flapped her arms and glided off over the trees.

 

Shadow padded among the leaves upon the floral covered ground. High trees hung above them. Crystal was slower; she lagged behind Shadow staring at the ground. Strange bird noises erupted overhead. Shadow thought back to Chanoue; what if he found them. Chanoue was looking for them and Shadow knew it. With every minute Chanoue was closer to completing his unknown objective. Shadow turned to look back at Crystal. She was looking up into the trees and sniffing. He turned back and kept walking. “Wait”! Crystal shouted behind him. Shadow stopped. “What is it”? He turned around and stared at her. She had a face of confusion and exasperation. Shadow walked closer to her. “What”? She lifted her paw and pointed off at several trees bunched together that had crashed down on each other. Shadow stared over at them; leaking out was a splash of color. Reds blues and greens flooded out in a misty fog. Shadow stared confused and began walking slowly towards the rainbow of colors with Crystal next to him. Shadow slipped his head through the branches. Crystal was right behind him snapping twigs and large branches strewn across the gap. The colored fog waved around Shadow and parted as it slipped passed him. He could hear humming and a silent whooshing of wind. He slipped through the tree gap and out of nowhere a giant bright light blew out into his face. He found himself standing on a snowy mountain top. The wind blew around him and Shadow’s mouth fell open staring out over a dark blue sky. The snow blew around in shiny crystal like flakes. Shadow turned looking for Crystal; he couldn’t see her. “Shadow”! He heard her scream. He looked to his left and saw her standing in the deep snow. “Where are we”? He called trying to pull out through the snow. “Not sure”. Crystal said she too was looking about. Two wolves began walking by. “Wait”! Crystal called out. The two wolves ignored her. “Hanamire is a fool; he keeps making those stories up. No one would attack another councilor”. The other wolf shook his head. “You know how the Stas family is, they are monsters and would do anything”. The first wolf snorted. “Ha! The Stas family is just bunch of glory hounds”. The other wolf gave a wary look. “I wouldn’t go around saying that, the other councilors say he has ears among the packs”. The first wolf glared. “Yes I know I wouldn’t say that to his face but still he needs to stop parading his apparent heritage glory; I think it’s annoying”. Shadow looked at Crystal confused. “So where’s this camp I was told we were headed to”? The other wolf shook his head. “That was a cover up; we are here to meet Mother Nature”. The first wolf gasped. Another flash of white filled the surrounding area and Shadow snapped his eyes shut in the light. A strange quiet humming rang overhead. Shadow looked up to see a dark dirt ceiling. The humming still sang down. Shadow looked over to his right. Crystal was standing there looking up too. “What is that”? Shadow asked. Crystal looked at Shadow taking her eyes off the ceiling. “That’s Luna”. Shadow looked back up. “But I don’t see her”. Crystal looked up again. “Luna come on out”. The dirt in the top of the ceiling gave way, a rock and small pieces of dirt shook out landing on Shadow’s face. “I’ll be right down”. A small brown bat slipped out of a hole in the ceiling and glided down. Shadow watched her. “Hello little black wolf”. Shadow waved his paw feebly. Luna giggled. “I’m Luna and you must be…” Shadow stared for a moment. “Oh, I’m Shadow, Crystal’s friend”. Luna dropped down to the ground landing on her feet. “Ah, I didn’t hear about you”. Shadow stared at Luna as she strode backwards and brushed the wall with her claws. The light on a painting of a snowy mountain died out and returned to its white lined figure. “Sorry about transferring you to that mountain painting, it’s dreadfully cold in that one”. Shadow made a confused face. “Wait that was a painting? But how were we in a painting”? Crystal looked at Shadow and giggled. “Magic I guess”. Luna hummed. “Your friend is right; I posses magic of nature”. Shadow felt stupid, it all sounded so unreal. “That’s pretty strange”. Shadow said slowly. At first, the silence made him feel as though had said something offensive. Crystal sat and yawned. Luna flew about. “So why are we here”? Shadow asked. Luna pointed her claw to Crystal. “She asked for guidance I’m here to deliver and set you on your way”. Shadow looked back at Crystal feeling confused. She shrugged and looked back at Luna. “How can you do that”? Luna fluttered her wings and giggled, landing back down on the cave floor. “Magic of course; how else did I get you here”? Crystal shrugged again. Luna began humming and speaking her odd words and shut her eyes as well. “What was that painting we were in about”? Shadow asked. Luna opened one eye. “Hmm? Oh, that painting was in the high mountains of Alaska”. Crystal jutted in. “And who where those two wolves”? “Two councilors. They were on a mission to meet with mother nature in Alaska, she travels through the northern lights to contact wolves when on small businesses like in the painting”. Crystal stared at Luna. “So they were talking about Vladimir weren’t they”? Luna nodded. “It had been about forty years since that incident and it was a big legend among the wolves. Vladimir’s generations loved spreading the tale as though it was an achievement”. Shadow surveyed the paintings thoughtfully. “There are so many memories, so many things that happened”. Luna nodded. “History is an interesting thing; it seems to always find ways to repeat itself”. Crystal broke back in. “What about Chanoue, what has he been doing”? Luna lowered her head and looked up and shook. “He has gone dark and has not resurfaced from his dark shadow”. Crystal turned her head. “I thought he’d be indulging in some kind of activity since he slaughtered my father and Ceria”. “Apparently not, I haven’t heard or seen anything to do with him even my time mapping and researching has proved fruitless. Why are you so interested in him anyways my friend”? Crystal looked at Luna but didn’t speak. Her eyes twitched away and she felt a surge of foolishness. “I want to stop him; whatever he’s doing I want him dead; I want his plans eliminated”. Luna seemed august. She was taken aback and stared at Crystal in slight disbelief. “Such violence young one; Chanoue is a strong wolf. You could never be able to take him on yourself”. Crystal shook her head. “He killed my father; he’s like a devil”. Luna fluttered down shaking her head. She wrapped her wings around Crystal’s shoulders and looked right at her. “You can’t let your anger overtake you. One wise human once said: He, who angers you, conquers you”. Crystal looked into Luna’s eyes. She was right; Chanoue would kill her if she dared stand against him alone. “Now you understand dear” Crystal nodded. Shadow stared. “I’ve been trying to tell her the same thing for days”. He thought. “Now both of you need to go, I’m scared that Chanoue could track you”. Shadow was about to ask how but suddenly the white bright light filled all around them and the surge blasted into Shadows eyes forcing him to snap his eyes shut. He was standing in another forest birds chirped overhead. “She likes to cut things with white”. Crystal said. Shadow gave a small laugh. The two began walking into the forest deep beneath the trees, moving west to their destination.