Spirit's Guide

Chapter 10: Preparations... Again?

 Spirit was murmuring something to Celeste, who was watching the fire carefully. Flare and Thunder were fighting over the leg of a rabbit, and the squirrel was tied to a stick over the fire. Eclipse, a pretty she-wolf, stretched out next to me, studying me carefully with her toffee-colored eyes. "Eh... Hello." I said pleasantly, feeling a little weird about talking to a wolf. She kept staring at me intensely. "Hungry?" She sighed, glancing over to where Spirit was taking the squirrel off the fire. "Yeah. Definitely." I answered, looking ruefully at the remains of my backpack, which had been torn to shreds by Flare and Thunder. "Hey. Em..." He frowned. That's when it dawned on me. I hadn't told him my name. "It's Aria," I said to his surprise. "What?" He asked, his eyes wide. The entire pack was staring at me. I felt chills as I met Spirit's fierce blue eyes. "My name. It's Aria." I said, feeling the environment go from relaxed to tense within a matter of seconds. He stared at me for a moment. Celeste made a sort of whining noise. "I know Celeste." He said, staring at me for a few more seconds. "Alright. Anyway, are you hungry, Aria?" He asked, handing me some piece of a squirrel. "U...Uh, yeah. Thanks." I said, smiling. I took an experimental nibble, and to my surprise, it tasted sorta similar to steak. Spirit stared at the fire with an unreadable expression. Celeste kept shooting him looks of daggers, hoping to get his attention. I watched the fire for a while before I heard Comet growl. I could see him and Spirit standing across from each other again. Spirit narrowed his eyes and studied Comet carefully before lunging forward. Comet leaped backward, but Spirit caught himself before sprawling across the dirt. Comet shot forward, butting his legs with his head. Spirit stumbled onto the ground but kicked out his leg just in time as Comet leaped for him again. Comet sort of barked and slammed into the dirt. Spirit scrambled up to meet Comet as he reared up and bared his teeth. He caught Comet by his front paws and threw him onto the ground. He put one foot on his back and grinned. "Finally beat you!" He teased, backing away from Comet. I clapped, which startled Spirit a little. "You wanna try going against Nova?" Spirit offered, smiling. I frowned. "Why do you guys fight?" asked curiously as Comet groomed his fur clean. "It isn't really fighting. We're training. We get a lot of trouble from other packs around here, actually." Spirit looked grim for a moment. I glanced over at Nova, who met my gaze with a challenging stare. "Sure, why not?" I asked, getting up and brushing the dust off of my pants. Spirit sat down and smirked as Nova gracefully padded toward me, her eyes like blue fire. Her fur shone like gold in the firelight. I waited for a moment before Nova bolted toward me, her eyes flashing. I managed to stumble and gracefully fall flat on my back. "Oof!" I grunted as Nova landed directly on my chest. I tried desperately to shove her off, finally succeeding as I threw a decently aimed blow to her shoulder. She was startled enough for me to push her off, only to be tackled again. This time, my face was planted onto the ground. I could hear Spirit snickering behind me, and my face flushed with embarrassment. "Alright, alright... You win." I grumbled, brushing the dirt off my pants. "That wasn't too bad for a first attempt." He grinned. "You should get some rest." He looked away from me, staring into the fire once again. He looked older, somehow, in the orange light of the fire. I nodded quietly, slinking back to my little makeshift sleeping bag. I felt like I would never fall asleep. But after my adrenaline had worn off, I practically passed out on the spot. I opened my eyes in the driveway in front of my house. Errol and Winter were whispering to each other, putting up posters that I couldn't read. The world went black for a moment, and I found myself in the auditorium of my school. The principal, Mr. King, was talking loudly, but I just couldn't understand what he was saying. I could see Ms. Jay standing next to him, looking unnaturally sad. Probably faking it. Finally, the noise seemed to return. Ms. Jay moved toward the microphone, tapping it a few times to test it. "Aria was a troubled girl. My only regret was not being able to help her sooner, before it was too late. I can only hope the search parties will be able to bring her home." Ms. Jay finished, hanging her head. I felt fury washing over me. Who did she think she was?! Then I heard one voice pipe up over the crowd. Spirit's voice. "Aria! Aria!" He yelled. I turned to see him in the crowd, his eyes flashing. Standing near him was the huge black wolf in my dreams. I got a closer look at it then. It had coarse black fur with scars crisscrossing across its shoulders and back. "ARIA GET UP!" He yelled again. That confused me. I was standing up, wasn't I? Then it hit me. I snapped awake to see him standing near my impatiently. "Who was the black wolf?" I asked instantly before I could stop myself. He looked confused. "'Black wolf'? Do you mean Abyss?" He asked, frowning. "No... It was different." I myself was starting to get confused. What if it was just a dream? Sometimes dreams were just... Dreams. "What are you talking about Aria?" He asked. I was surprised to hear a slight note of fear in his voice. "Just... Nevermind. Drop it." I mumbled. "No, no. Tell me what this wolf looked like." He said urgently. "Um... It was a huge black wolf. It had a bunch of scars and..." I frowned. I was finding it harder and harder to remember what I saw. He sat down, staring at me intensely. "Where did you see this?" He demanded. "U..Um... Twice in my dreams. The first time was before I came... I saw... YOU in front of it." After I said this, Spirit stared at me. "You must be remembering your dreams wrong. You must have dreamed of Abyss or something." He shook his head as if dismissing his own thoughts. "Get up. I want you to practice talking to the wolves so that communication won't be a problem tonight." He said, getting up again. I frowned, staring at him with disbelieving eyes. What could he be hiding?