The images ran through my head. Their screams still rung in my ears. I wanted to howl out my sorrows but that would only alert the others to how upset I really was. Never again would I let anyone close to me. A whimper from behind me alerted me that I was no longer alone. Cursing myself at my carelessness, I turned and saw Firescar sitting uncertainly behind me. He must have followed me here. He could always sense my moods no matter how hard I tried to mask them from everyone around.
"Come here, I'm not mad at you," I told him. He sniffed at my hand and pushed his head against it. I found him as a pup and saved him from the five-fingers. They had been torturing him when I had passed by. I heard his screams and came to investigate. I killed the humans and I knew I had found my wolf friend. He hadn't left my side since that day. How I wished desperately he could send right now so I could tell him what wouldn't come out in words. "What am I going to do now, Firescar? Cutter won't understand, he'll make me leave," I whispered. Firescar whimpered and laid his head on my thigh. I wiped the tear that fell down my cheek quickly. "I watched them all die, and I couldn't do anything. I let them die, that makes me worse than the five-fingers doesn't it? When Cutter finds out he'll kill me." It hadn't been all that long ago since his tribe found me wondering the woods by myself. Once I finally convinced them I wasn't going to harm them and that I didn't want anything from them they told me I could stay with them as long as I wished. I heard someone approaching so I stood quickly and wiped my face dry. They were still a little ways off but I didn’t them to see my tears.
*There is a meeting with the elders and a few others and I want you to be here, Pike is coming to escort you back* Cutter sent suddenly. I sighed and waited patiently for Pike to show up. It didn’t take him long to get there and when he got there he sat on a high branch and offered me his hand. I took and he pulled me up. We ran through the trees and Firescar followed silently on the ground. It didn’t take long to get back to the holt and I was glad that it didn’t take very long. Pike reminded me too much of my brother Brownburrow. Cutter smiled when he saw me and started talking.
“So Windrider, you’ve been with us almost a full moon and I wanted to discuss something with you. The elders and I have already discussed it and we all agree. We trust you and we want you to become a member of our tribe.” I knew that my surprise showed on my face because they all smiled. Surely they were joking.
“You’ve proved to be trustworthy and it will be good to have someone knew in the tribe,” Skywise said kindly. Lone wolves tended not to last as long as those in packs; with elves even more so. I knew that if I went off on my own I probably wouldn’t make it. I was sure of it.
“I would be honored to be part of your tribe,” I told them after a few moments. “But I need to talk to you about something Cutter, in private.” He nodded and the others slowly trickled out of the tree. Cutter sat closer to me. “You need to know what happened to my old tribe and why you found me wondering on my own.” If I was going to be part of this tribe, he had to know what happened.
Once I finished he was quiet for a while. I knew what he would think once I told him but I knew that it had to be done. He stood and walked to the other side of the room. He stood with his back to me and I couldn’t see his expression.
“Well, that wasn’t what I expected,” he said finally.
**This is part of a story I’m working on. I’ve never written an elfquest fan story so let me know if I should continue or not! Constructive critism is much appreciated.
Author
Topic: Windrider's story (Read 5705 times)