Wolf-blood

What to do?

I woke up to a particularly loud and pointed cough. "Not now..." I mumbled and snuggled deeper into my bed.

"You do realize that you aren't in your own tent, right?" I heard Orvar ask. Quickly, I snapped open my eyes to find myself laying in Orvar's tent with Mikey right next to me, still fast asleep.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Orvar," I said sheepishly. "What time is it?"

"Sunset. Come on, we're meditating." Quickly I stood and walked out of the tent. Hey, I may not trust them, but I still had to show respect towards the Earth Mother. I went over to the fire and sat next to Deu and Lenus, already meditating. Quietly, I closed my eyes and reached out to the Earth Mother.

Mother... Mother, what do I do? Who do I trust? Michael's story makes sense, but these rogues have taken care of me. Please, know I will never leave you, I will always be your Protector, but I have to know the truth. Is Lenus untruthful, or Mikey?

Look for yourself.

Mother? What does that mean? I should, what, ask them? I don't think that'll work...

Look for yourself...

I sat and listened to Anu breathe and shift for a while, before silently opening my eyes. Everyone around me was meditating, so I silently stood and walked towards my tent. Minimus was crouched out front.

Hey, Squirt.

HI, PROTECTOR.

Hey, look, I've got someone I want you to meet... Would that be okay?

WHO IS IT? THE BLONDE GUY?

Right, the blonde guy. He's a friend of mine, and I want you to meet him.

BUT ORVAR HAD HIM TIED UP. DON'T YOU TIE UP BAD GUYS?

Oh, it was just a misunderstanding. I promise you, he is a good guy, honest. And I really, really, REALLY want him to meet you. Please?

OKAY. AS LONG AS YOU'RE WITH ME.

I am never going to leave you, Minimus. Come on, let's go.

I started towards Orvar's tent with Minimus in tow. We entered to find a sleeping Mikey on Orvar's "bed". He looked kind of cute, in a way. He was laying on his stomach, his mouth slightly ajar. He looked so... innocent. I prodded him awake. "Mikey. Mikey get up, I want to show you something," I whispered at him.

Slowly, he sat up and said, "Indie? What-"

I cut him off with a, "Shh!"

He frowned, but continued his sentence in a whisper. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to show you something, well someone, who is very important to me."

He looked confused. "Okay...?"

I smirked. "Minimus, come on out," I whisper called to Minimus. Slowly, he stepped forward and into Mikey's sight. Mikey's face was pure confusion. Laughing, I picked him up and said to Mikey, "This is Minimus. He's my little cub."

I AM NOT A LITTLE CUB.

"Well what do you prefer? Big cub?"

YES.

I turned back to Mikey. "Scratch that last line. He's my big cub."

"Umm... Indie, why do you have a bear cub? And why are you talking to it?"

Choosing to ignore the name, I responded, "Well, that is quite a long story, actually. And if I'm going to tell you, I might as well start at the beginning. Everything was going in and out of focus in some sort of cave. And Mother and Father kept calling out to me..."