Wolvember Day One: Dreams
Abaise hadn’t noticed anything off when she’d woken up in the dead of night in camp, curled up with her back pressed against Kotsim’s. She had merely stood and left camp for a short walk, what she always did when she woke in the middle of the night.
It wasn’t until she noticed that she’d passed a rock a couple of times that she stopped, looking around. She stood in a spot she knew well, a small meadowy clearing only a stone’s throw from the edge of the grasslands, a place she’d taken Singwe and Anpa to practice stalking many times.
What was different though, was that instead of seeing a sparse band of trees that separated the clearing form the grasslands, and the grassy hills beyond, she only saw mist. It obscured her vision, closing the clearing off from the rest of the forest.
Abaise bristled, looking up to see the night sky and stars shining down on her, unease creeping over her hide.
She heard a soft whine, turning, but seeing no one, another whine echoing in the night from behind her. She whirled to face that direction, but saw no one again. She was about to snap out for whoever it was to show themselves, when a chorus of whines and pain-filled howls filled the air around her, coming from all directions, no wolves visible.
Abaise flattened her ears to her head, sinking down into the soft grass of the meadow. As she did, the grass transformed, pulling at her fur. She looked to her side and yelped, jumping away from the skeletal remains of a wolf, looking around frantically, the beautiful meadow now replaced with charred and black earth, the remains of wolves scattered across them.
Beware what will come to be.
Abaise winced at the sound of the voice, the noise seeming to come from her head, seeing no one to speak the words. She tried to call out to the being, ask what it meant, but found that even as she opened her jaws, no sound came out, no words formed.
She waited, thinking it would offer some kind of explanation to the ruin she saw before her, but all she heard was the now distant chorus of whines and pained howls.
Abaise was about to try to walk closer to them, when she snapped awake, shooting up, hearing a pained yelp, thinking she was still stuck in the dream, until she whipped her head around to look around her den, seeing Kotsim rubbing his nose on his leg.
“What was that all about?”, he asked his mate, turning to look at her, bristled slightly, his eyes a bit wet from the hit he’d taken directly to the nose by her skull. “You were thrashing and murmuring in your sleep, then you smacked me in the nose with your head.”
Wowasi sat in her nest above them, staying quiet, but watching, looking a bit concerned.
Abaise just breathed slowly, calming herself down, before she stepped forward, burying her face in the fur of her mate’s chest.
Kotsim looked surprised, as Abaise usually was very proper and put together, but she seemed terrified. He just sat down, leaning down slightly and started licking her shoulder comfortingly, as Wowasi gliding down to land on her back, dragging her beak through her fur in her way of petting.
“What happened?”, the dark scout asked softly, feeling Abaise trembling.
“I don’t know. A horrible dream.”, she said softly, finally calming down enough to speak, sitting back slightly, but leaned into Kotsim slightly. “I was in the clearing by the grasslands, and I could barely see anything, and then I just heard... dozens and dozens of wolves, whining and howling in pain, but I couldn’t see any of them. And then...”, she started, and broke off.
“And then just death, and destruction. Burned earth, wolf bones.”, she said softly. “I don’t know what it was.”
Kotsim listened quietly, leaning down and nuzzling her slightly. “It was just a dream, Abaise. Probably worry. This is our second winter, and our first here. We don’t know what this forest holds for us in the cold yet.”, he said.
Abaise just sighed softly, nodding slightly. “You’re... you’re probably right.”, she said softly, as Wowasai swooped back into her nest.
Kotsim just nudged Abaise, and yawned slightly. “Come on, let’s lay down. You don’t have to sleep, but at least lay down and rest. It’ll be better than nothing.”, he said.
Abaise just nodded slightly, laying down and curling up with Kotsim, tucking herself into the curve of his stomach, laying her head on his side after he’d settled down.
Kotsim smiled softly at that, doing the same, the two of them looking almost interlocked, curled up together for comfort, and in Abaise’s case, security in her much more levelheaded mate.
