Night One: Introducing Himself [Open to Others]

[Ruslan Chergari]

Ruslan was pleased with the simplicity of his room at the inn. He did not remain there long, however, before making his way back out into the light of the fattening moon.  It was after midnight by now; an hour late for some, perhaps, but for Ruslan it was no different than noon. He was a man of great energy who welcomed any hour, day or night.

His purpose had called him to this place that was a literal world away from his own, and his celestial master above had yet to provide him with any clues beyond the dream that brought him here. He would not allow that to deter him from putting the night’s moonlit hours to use.  Besides the inn where he would labor in exchange for his room he knew nothing yet of this land, so this was a fine time to explore.

Ruslan did not change his clothes, and had only washed his face and neck before departing. His brown baggy pants were made of light linen, the blue cuffs rolled up and tied below his knees because the weather was warm.  His simple cream tunic was without a collar.  His long vest had more colors and shapes than could be counted, and each was selected by Beebee Yonca for a reason.  Around his neck were several braided cords, a different talisman hanging from each and the same was true for both of his wrists but with beads of different colors and shapes.  The brown leather sandals on his feet had been repaired more than once but they still got him from here to there.

His bag on his back and the map E’Lara had given him in his pocket, Ruslan choose to walk north as it looked like it would take him away from the city’s center. He held no ill will toward cities, but their crowded, noisy nature made it difficult to access the veil. If he was brought here to provide some service connected to his calling, it was imperative that he find a place where it was easy to walk between the seen and the unseen. Back home, it was hard to find a place where this couldn’t be done. Here...here was proving tricky.

At least his travel away from the center of the city was bringing him to buildings that were smaller in size and had greater distance between them.  More open space increased his chances of catching a sighting. At least there were no longer lanterns lining the road, and there were few lights inside the buildings.  The ones through the veil, they did not like bright light. At least there were trees, bushes, and even small patches of meadow that seemed to be allowed to grow and stretch as they pleased here. Uncultivated land was always helpful for his gifts. And at least there was quiet, and Ruslan was able to tune into the subtle sounds that night made in this world so he could learn its music.  He had to familiarize himself with the melodies of the night here on a normal day, so that when there was an irregularity it would stand out to him.

“Del Dook, ne açabilirsiniz?” The language of his people was sharp, with heavy use of k’s and c’s and ch’s, so in those letters especially his accent was apparent. He did not whisper these words, but spoke them openly to the Good Spirit. The elders of his tribe were always quick to remind the young that if they did not ask, they could not be upset about a lack of receiving.  Ruslan was eager to be shown the way to a discovery. He could better introduce himself to this land if he was provided an opportunity to put his talents to use.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

It had been quite a while since anyone had seen the young lady in these parts.  Not since that night in the Inn over a month ago where a pair of kind men had tended to her injury.  It had greater effect on her than they may have known. After a period of time she had snuck out of the building and had headed back out into the wild. And that's where she had been ever since.

In her current state - where she was engaged in an internal war between two sides of herself - it was comforting to be away from people.  Away from them and their buildings. Away from things of ‘man’ and to rest more among nature.  That’s what she was doing far out here.  Out where one could hear the creatures talking to each other, and enjoy an hour long performance from the crickets and beetles.

This young lady considered herself to be one of the wild creatures and, with how she looked it wasn’t hard to believe. Her dark thick hair came past her shoulders and was partially pulled back and loosely tied with a vine. Bits of leaves stuck out in random spots inner hair, looking almost as if they were strategically placed other than a random mess. A cloth wrapped around both her hands - keeping the fingers free - and midway to her elbows. It might have been white once, but now it was nearly black. Her nails were short and hands were dirty, but this she didn’t seem to mind. She wore a loose fitting simple dark tunic, torn and frayed in some spots but otherwise in tact and held with a worn leather clincher at her waist. Bare feet were something she didn’t seem to notice either.

She had been out in this area for more days than she could remember right now and she had been here when the earth told her someone was walking about at this hour. The young lady moved quickly and quietly along the forest floor until she spotted him not too far off.

Her nostrils flared as she sniffed the air seeking to catch his scent. It wasn’t one she was familiar with in this area. Perhaps he was new. What was this man doing here? He could be a visitor of the far off cottages and farmland, but she had been there one more than one occasion, and he did not smell as they did. Furthermore, not many came out this hour of night.

She crouched down low to the ground and sought refuge behind the underbrush and barks of trees as she made her way to a closer, but safe, distance.

Though he didn’t understand a word of what he uttered, her abilities were tied to the earth and there was something in the air that caused her to blink her dark brown eyes more than a couple times and take a step back in her hiding spot in the brush. When she did her foot snapped a twig and the sound was like a crack in the air. The young lady froze in place, even slowing her breathing as she wondered whether or not to flee. Where she had been hid her well. Now half of her face was revealed by the moonlight that shown on the undergrowth.

[Ruslan Chergari]

So it was that the elders gave good advice and Ruslan’s request was immediately rewarded. His master in the sky shifted her beams, directing his attention to the thickening trees ahead where the road thinned and curved. That was where he would find a sought after weakness in the barrier.  Continuing down the road in that direction, there was now excitement in his stride.

When the moon shifted its light as it had just done for Ruslan, was this something the rest of the world could also see? He did not know. The only eyes he could look through were his own, and he was used to bearing witness to many things that others could not. His eyes possessed gifts more rare in his tribe than the Sight.  Even some that others considered a curse more than a blessing, but Ruslan was a merry man who’d learned how to keep hold of his joy in the face of horrors. His eyes were the gateway to his calling, and it was a purpose he served with all of his being.

It was true, Ruslan did not smell of the local farmland. He did smell of nature, however, including a musky blend of oils that were part of his practice each time he knelt in prayer. Was the one who watched him in tune with the mystical energies?  If that was the case, the area surrounding Ruslan was alive with them.  Part of inherent talents and the blood of his tribe, yes, strong today as the moon was waxing, but also because of what he wore and what he carried upon his back.  He also smelled of sugar.

Too much candy, eh?

Speaking of his clever confections. It was when he heard the snapping of the twig not far ahead on his left that his hand went into his pocket. The casual unwrapping of the paper was easily heard in the quiet of the night, and he popped the red candy into his mouth.

The taste had barely touched his tongue when he looked in the direction of the noise and spotted her.  The way his master was casting her light on his way, the parts of the female that could be seen were bathed in a silver glow.  Most would say this made her look like an apparition, but a man with Ruslan’s experience would call such a statement quaint.

Her stillness made he too go still.  That stillness, her positioning, her stare - these things told him that for her, he was a disturbance.  As he was new to this world only hours ago, it was hard for Ruslan to know more in this moment than that. “Sastimos, Gaja,” With the traditional greeting his voice was gentle like the crickets, but the lightness of heart that was Ruslan was still there.  He gave to her a slow bow of his head, it was the only movement he made besides to suck upon the candy in his mouth. “I must make apology, yes?  I am...trespassing? Or my late night steps are a disturbance?”  These were two of the most popular ways that Ruslan troubled those who lived in the lands he passed through.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Currently the one who watched him was mostly in tune with nature. The energy of the Earth. Spirit, too, was her forté though that was something too complex for her current mental state to grasp further than what was naturally done.

She had hoped that he wouldn’t have heard the break - it was a futile hope. The night had been still.  Of course he had heard her. Shame. Maybe this being was a forest spirit who had come to check on the land?

Once he was paying her more attention she gave the attention right back and her nose twitched. He smelled really sweet. Overly sweet. It made her teeth ache a little and her stomach rumble at the same time as a distant part of her knew that long-forgotten taste. Memory tried to spark in her head until the man started speaking again.  

He was addressing her in a language she didn’t understand, but the way he said it, the tone of his voice, he could have been saying hello. Information stored away for later. The young lady blinked and him and then she moved.  A quick jerk of her head upwards to the moonlight which shone upon her face before she ducked down into the shadows of the tree and bush.

She didn’t make much attempt to hide her movements.  The rustling of the vegetation obvious and marked her passage as moving around to the other side of where he stood. She continued until she found an opening that lead out to the clearing he stood in and she slowly stepped out, crouching down, balancing on the heel of her feet.  

Her fingertips barely touched the ground and strands of her dark hair fell over one side of her face. To look at her she held the position of a wolf preparing to either strike or flee. The second set of words she understood. He wasn’t trespassing, he didn’t look like he wanted to do harm, so now she was stepping into where he was. A sign that he was okay. There was no hiding from the moonlight here, out in the open,

She was studying him more and her eyes stayed on him for a few moments then she pointed to the sky and spread her hands in the air before her.  Then she reached down and dug her hands into the earth, fingers digging up a bit of dirt. Cupping it in her hands she lifted her arms again and let the soil drop through her now slotted fingers and into her lap.


She nodded her head and appeared to relax as she sat back upon her heels. Back was perfectly straight and she brought her hands to rest in her lap.  The young lady waited and then turned her head to see  what he would do. She sensed something in the air.  Didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t there until he had appeared.

[Ruslan Chergari]

A forest spirit? Not so much, but to use the word spirit in relation to Ruslan was not entirely wrong. As for her, she was a mystifying creature, but so far this was a mystifying world. In that way, she did not shock him.  She sniffed the air, he did not hesitate to do the same. It was not a game to him. He trained hard to be able to find clues in the earthly banquet.  Would he find any now?

When she looked up at his master, he did the same. His smile wide, and full of gratitude. “Da, ves’tacha simurti.” Attention turning back to her as she retreated into the darkness, he translated this time. “My beloved moon. She is beautiful tonight, no?” By now he could not see this new friend, but he did hear her travels and he followed the movements of the brush as she stirred it. It was dark, yes, but the gifts of the red candy were generous. It bolstered all of his senses, including the elusive sixth.  He hoped the enhancements would help him gain knowledge in this time and place where he had much to learn.

His smile was still there for her when she reemerged. It had not changed and it wasn’t a fabrication. Unusual, maybe, that he was so at ease considering her appearance and the level of animal in her movements. But he’d seen many things over the course of his lifetime. Necessary evils, as the saying went.  It made it hard to give him surprise. If anything, he worried for her, but he did not know if this worry was founded yet. He was still too new to this world.

Ruslan watched her gestures with curiosity. A man who lacked the key to her code, his struggle to understand wore in the weight of his brow. “You are...waiting for a rain to bless your land?” It was his best guess. One thing was certain, she was not the terrible, ancient energy that caused his master to summon him here. This was good.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She knew that he was talking about the moon. That was a word he said that she understood and she gave a nod of understanding to the first thing that he had said. Though what she had first tried to get across to him was still lost in translation.

With a huff she sat back on her heels and put her soiled hands on her thighs as she looked at him. It's said, and many believe, that the eyes are the windows to the soul. The eyes of this young lady were very human, opposite of the animal nature her movements projected.  She turned her eyes to the moon once more, as if seeking an answer.  Then she raised her hands to the moon and afterwards patted her hands on her chest. She motioned to the moon and then to him. She tapped a hand on her throat and shook her head. The young lady pointed to him, patted her throat again and nodded yes. Was he following?

She repeated the action: Pointed to him, tapped the throat, nodded yes.  Then she raised her hands to the moon again, perhaps in prayer before indicating herself.  She scooted an inch closer to him, looking to see if he understood what she was trying to say.

He was out here in the night. He wasn’t human, she saw him looking at the sky. Maybe he was a messenger from above or had a connection to the moon.  If so, maybe he could ask for the moon’s blessing upon her as she had no words to do it herself.

[Ruslan Chergari]

Eyes were of great importance.  The seat of a being’s spirit, but also the seat of will and power. Ruslan did not hesitate to look into the eyes of any being, human or otherwise, but he was not foolish. He knew as well as any of his tribe what mighty and sometimes terrible magic could be made invoking the eyes. He was also a man who moved through all manner of gateways.  Eyes were gateways for those who knew how to activate them.  He had both the knowledge and the ability, but he did not use his eyes in such a way now.

He saw the humanity in hers. He knew it was a detail of importance when weighed in contrast to the way she moved, which was more like animal. How she was attempting to communicate, that was more like human than animal as well. Back in his realm, there were unfortunate explanations for this mystery that often did not have a good ending.  Those explanations didn’t fit in this situation. He was glad for that.

Ruslan closed the distance between them by a few steps and sat down in the grass. There was still distance between them, but he made this gesture to show her that he was willing to have conversation. He watched her series of gestures closely this time. Where he was from, some nights the tribe sat around the fire telling stories of their people; one member of the tribe would tell the story through the drum, a second through the dance, and a third through the words. It happened simultaneously, the parts complementing one another.

He had no drum but he attempted to treat her gestures like the dance. He would play the part of the words. “The moon, she has a connection to you, and you to her. Like the connection she has to me, you wonder? You have tried to speak to her, but you cannot find your voice so she cannot hear your call. You have seen how I can call to her, and she responds.” Attempting to speak the translation gesture by gesture was helping him. It made him wonder the nature of her connection to his celestial master. It was a new lens to look at her behaviors, the cross between animal and human. Animal, human, and the moon…

“You wish me to call to her for you.” His eyes were narrowed in thought. With what ran through his mind, Ruslan wondered what giving her the attention of the moon would do. He nodded, however, and he felt no fear. While his bond with the moon allowed him to do a great many things, he would take this one step at a time. Start simple.

First he retrieved a pouch from the bag on his back. Many symbols were embroidered into its cloth. Pouring out the contents, he held up one of several stones so she might see it. Milky white with traces of blue iridescent flash, the moon’s light hitting the stone created a subtle glow. “Moonstone. Do you have these here?”  He lightly tossed the polished stone in the grass in front of her so that she might examine it. Then he stood, walking around her and dropping more of these stones in the grass. Eight to be exact, one for each direction of the compass. He was placing her, and the stone he gave to her, at the center of a circle.

When he was done he stood in front of her again.  Outside of the circle he’d just created. Then he spoke the words. “Del Dook, Hizmetçin pooker adre bu daire, vermek bu chavi senin jekhipe torarti.” The request was a simple one. Drawing down the light, and so the attention, of the moon to the circle. The moonstones serving as the signals, letting the celestial body know where to cast its beams. Between the shining of the stones and the intensity of how the moon shone its light, the area within the circle would be filled with a brilliant glow.  

Besides this, there was only one additional thing that Ruslan had asked of the moon. Jekhipe was a complicated word. A communion that for many was a lifelong journey to achieve. But if that journey was made? A being could move in tune with the land so absolutely that they could float from one mountaintop to the next.  Jekhipe was state of being One.

*Good Spirit, your servant asks you inside this circle, give this girl your oneness tonight.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

He was understanding her. At least this man was grasping the general concept of what she wanted. It was the most she had felt able to communicate while trapped in her current state and there was a hint of a smile over her features. He had spoken while she moved and when all was done she sat back on her heels and waited, looking at him expectantly.

Then he started talking to her and making his own movements. She leaned forward when he reached into his bag and then blinked when he brought out the stone. Reactionary, she leaned away from what he tossed before her. It was glowing. Her head tilted from one side to the other as she crept closer to it and finally picked it up in her hand, encasing her fingers around the smooth stone. Almost immediately she dropped it for it felt like it was buzzing in her hand. She looked up and saw that he was placing more of these stones around  her and all of them were giving off a glow of the moon.

It was a strange feeling which was washing over her now, with the concentration of the moon bearing down. It almost felt electrifying. It made her afraid though she was drawn to its power as well. The young lady retrieved the moonstone he had tossed at her and clamped both hands around it before she curled into a ball on the ground. The light as bright and she closed her eyes.

As a child she had never acknowledged the moon and the role it had over her life. She had done things to prevent its influence over her, but that had all changed years ago. Since then she had been a prisoner to the moon and without any means to communicate with it.  Until now.

There, in the glow of the moon reflected by the moonstones, she felt connected and pleaded silently to it for what she wanted. From within the circle, if he could hear, came a low, hoarse voice. “Thank . . . you.”

[Ruslan Chergari]

“The stones, they will not harm.” He said this to her with a smile when she dropped the polished rock in the grass. “They are her...eh...magnetics.” Ruslan didn’t look convinced that he found the correct word, so he would demonstrate what he was talking about with his hands.  Holding them up, he closed the distance between his palms to mimic the force of magnets drawn together. “Only this way, yes?” He turned his hands so that one was on bottom and one was on top. His upper hand above moving down to his  other hand below. “They draw her down to you. So you and she can speak.”

He crouched down a few inches outside the circle. The glow of the moon was bright around her but it didn’t bother his eyes. In fact if one was looking, there was an effect happening in their coffee brown iris. White flecks cascading...like stars falling. Which made his next words not a surprise, maybe? “I too, am a magnetic for her.” Ruslan chose to use the stones instead of himself as the channel for a reason. If he had channeled the moon through himself it would have created different circumstances for her.

Long ago the moon had chosen him to be a Walker. On the physical plane, he could cross through the veils to access the worlds of spirit, of the nether, and other such realms that were layered on top of reality but just out of reach. On the mental plane, he could connect to another person’s mind to help them shift between the many layers of consciousness. Among many other states this included helping them to sleep, after which he could walk their dreams. In his tribe, this ability was one of the most uncommon to possess. Seen once very few centuries, usually when there were cracks threatening the veil and the balance was at risk.

Whatever she spoke, the moon listened.  If Ruslan’s master could provide what was being requested of her, she would.  If Ruslan could provide what was being requested, the moon would give a clear signal to that effect. While the communion happened, he remained still and let things run their course. Smiling when the woman spoke. “You are welcome, Gaja.  To tell the moon you wish her to go away, disturb the circle by removing one of the stones.”  The energy was running strong around this one, he wanted her to know how to put an end to it if it became too much.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

What she wanted, needed, from the moon was for it to keep her wolf side dormant. That was her plea to the moon for when that part of her was resting she found that she was then able to take more grasp of herself. The battle between girl and wolf is one she had been fighting for so long now she could hardly remember a time before it. That she had been able to communicate with the man thus far had been a boon to her.

She had felt the wolf in her sleeping and it had enabled her to talk. Her own voice a stranger to her ears. Still, it was a delight to hear.

“No!” yelled out. The word was strong and definite. He told her how to make it stop, but if this feeling was what it took to subdue the wolf then she as willing to endure the internal vibrations running inside of her. She curled even tighter in her ball and not wanting to move out of it.

When she spoke again her voice was lower. “Need . . . Gaia,” she spoke softly if he could hear her. There was an added edge of pain in her words. “Wolf sleeping.”

[Ruslan Chergari]

Her want is what gave the strange feeling permission to make its way inside of her. From the movement of the energy she might understand the moon was searching. Seeking out what she wished to be quieted to wind around it. To bear the weight of wolf’s desire instead of that weight resting on the girl who was its host, and to demand it to be still while it was examined.

Ruslan observed this communion. Her passion about the circle made him smile. It was a smile heavy with knowledge, for there were times when knowing was a burden. He bowed his head in a gesture of respect. “I do not disturb your quest for jekhipe.” After a moment of consideration, he amended his words. “Unless danger rises.” Then it would become a matter of duty.

Hearing the rest of her words, he nodded. More to himself than to her. “You are varkolak.” It was a statement, not a question. That was the word for the phenomenon among his people, so he struggled to find a fitting translation. “The...wolf...it clenches you until you are too tired to resist its desire to take control. Yes?” He did not hide his frown. To be such was grim where he where he was from. It was a sure way to live a short life with plentiful suffering. Serving his calling he had encountered many varkolak and there were several ways they came into being, but the affliction did not look to manifest the same here. If the woman before him was a suitable example.

Surprise flickered in the falling flecks of light in his eyes when she expressed her need. Abandoning his crouch, he sat in the grass outside of her circle. Drawing up his knees to give his arms a place to rest. “Ah, Gaia...worshiped by the robed ones. We sit upon her domain, yes?” He patted the earth with his hand. “Where I am from, that which grows most strongly from the dirt of the earth stands straight so the energy from her can flow from top to bottom without obstacle. The blades of grass, the trunks of trees. Even the elders of my people they walk a few miles a day standing as straight as the staff at their side so their backs do not bend with age and mute their...strength.”

Ruslan gave her another smile. Smiles calmed in times of distress. Provided ease. “You curl so tightly now, you walked the earth bent over so low before, perhaps your Gaia she cannot find a way in.” He would see how she received this, and he would watch how his master interacted with her, to measure if it was wise to speak of his unconventional services.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She could understand - mostly - what he was saying, but the words 'jekhipe' and 'varkolak' were meaningless to her.  Though he had also mentioned the wolf, and that she understood and she offered a rapid nod.

While he spoke she felt a small bit of calm creeping along inside of her.  It started near the pit of her stomach, where she was curled around the stone she held in her hands and reached out. The young lady knew this feeling as she wasn't a stranger to having foreign energies making their way about on the inside instead she only worried about what might be accidentally unleashed.  However, this almost felt familiar to her, as though it were something she should know. All she knew right now was that whatever it was, it was quieting her wolf and that was a blessing.

The man was speaking again and she looked at him with pain and fear etched behind her dark eyes and her jaw tightly set. He had shifted position and he could be sure that she watched, very closely, every movement that he made. Even in her current state of mind, she could remember her old ways. They were like a dream. How she moved tall and graceful with the dancer's gait, but that was before the incident which had caused the wolf to dominate her being.  Since then she had kept low to the ground as she was often a large dark brown beast of a wolf and only on occasion was she as he saw her now. She had been getting better. As long as she kept a grip on her emotions.

He was talking about Gaia, then he smiled and she smiled back at him.  She began to shift out of her curled position, but her hands she kept tight against her middle and holding on to that stone.  A shift of her legs as she rocked to the side and then got her knees under her. Slowly, very slowly, the young lady began to sit up more.  Though she sat on the back of her heels and her shoulders were slumped forward, and the extent of which she was holding the stone had her knuckles turning white, she was straighter now then she had been before.

Her mouth worked as she was trying to speak.  She could feel the wolf sleeping more soundly now but at the same time, this frightened her.  For the moment, however long it lasted, she felt more free of it than she had in years. Her shoulders quivered and she turned her face up to the moon. She puffed out a quick breath before her face turned back towards him, and eyes seeking out his own. There were tears lining the bottom of her eyes now. One escaped and rolled down her left cheek leaving a streak in the grit on her face. "Gaia take?" She asked him with a hoarse voice cracking with the effort it took to talk and not cry. "Gaia. . . . take wolf? Please."

She did not know if Gaia could do such a thing or not, so she asked. All she knew was that right now, what he had done, and what he had given her, had calmed the wolf enough that it was sleeping. Now if only she could remain calm herself to not rile it.

[Ruslan Chergari]

It was an interesting first night in this foreign land. Ruslan had much to learn to understand this place. Where he was from, mystical beings existed on the fringe of civilization. Magic, too, was a thing that was spoken about in hushed voices and practiced away from public eyes. From what he’d seen in this short time, this land had different ways. He did not know yet if these ways were for better, or for worse.

His limited knowledge limited his ability to help, this he knew. But he nodded as she shifted position. Much better. He had the eyes of a mystic, and so he could observe how the flow of moon’s energy inside of her improved. It did not take the eyes of a mystic to see the great tension in her body. From fear, he assumed. He would have been concerned if she was not afraid. It was good that she knew the tenuous nature of her situation. It meant that she would be mindful, careful, these things were wise when confronting a challenge like hers.

Faced with her tears, Ruslan’s calm smile remained. But so did its weight. He would not lie to her, that served no one. “The ways of Gaia...I know them like a man knows a village that he travels through often but never lingers in. My beloved moon, however...” There was not a time when he was separate from his master. Stronger at night, yes, but the moon did not cease to exist during the day and so his connection to her remained.

It was his time to turn his face up at the moon. When he did this, the moon turned to him in return. Bathing his face in its silver embrace. During this time they spoke, he and the moon, a conversation that did not require words. Ruslan did not rush this conversation, he wished to be certain he understood what his master offered before he repeated this to the woman before him.

When his eyes opened, he looked at her directly. The effect of stars still pronounced in his pupils. Giving away that he was no ordinary man. But what ordinary man could make the offer that he would?  “My master above, using me as the...connector,” fingers fluttered as he was not pleased with that word, but he could not think of a better one, “she is willing to meet with your Gaia. To see if there can be balance between above and below for you. Moon and earth, creating an agreement inside of you so that when the wolf clenches, it will not find you so tired anymore and so it will not be as successful. Do you think you can call to your Gaia to come here to make such an agreement? I will help you, in the calling to her, as much as I can.”

When it came to Gaia, Ruslan believed he could help set the dinner table, so to speak, but he did not think he had relationship enough with that entity to deliver the invitation to dine.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She was trying to relax.  Breathing steadily and slowly she focused on the actions of the man in front of her, the feel of the moon, and the earth below. He was trying to understand her and she was wanting to get through to him.  The question was in how. With her current limited ability to speak getting across what was on her mind did not seem to be an easy task.

The stone was still in her hands and she sat up straighter. Pushing her shoulders back and lifting her chin - but not so much that she could not see the one in front of her.  It took a bit of effort.  She felt, odd, inside.  The hard set she now had on her jaw showed forth a bit of defiance and the small surge of emotion made the wolf inside stir.  It still slept, but she had the feeling that it was becoming more aware. But she needed to be straight.  As the man had told her earlier, things grow from the earth, tall and strong. How did she expect to make anything happen if she did not help it along?

The bigger problem was at hand. She removed one hand from around the stone and patted the hand over her heart. “Died,” she tried to explain. Now she spread her hand on the ground before her. “Body, give to Gaia.” Her eyes left his face and looked down at the ground where she dug a small hole in the ground with her fingers. “Gaia….Gaia….” Here she hesitated for she couldn’t find the words she needed.  Her hand came again to her chest and she made a motion of taking something out of her chest and placing it in the hole she dug. This motion was repeated twice in hopes that he would get what she was saying.


Afterwards she slowly laid down on the ground, cautious of keeping the stone close to her and wary of what her change in position would do.  She kept reminding herself to stay calm and crossed her arms over her chest, an effort to visualize to him that she was dead. She was neither the actor, nor the storyteller, so her attempts were not the best. For a few moments she did not move, only laid there with her eyes closed.

Suddenly she  sat up and began to pat her hand over her body the way someone does when checking for something on them.  “Gone. Gone.” A feeling of distress came over her as she turned over to sit back on her knees. She rubbed her hand over her heart and then showed him her empty hand.  “Gone. Gaia took!”  Her breathing had quickened as she was riling herself up, and hunched over slightly, feeling that wolf stirring more inside of her.

She took a moment and then raised that hand over her head, shielding her face from the moon.  When she spoke again her voice was softer. “Alive.  Moon awake wolf. Wolf strong.”  She lifted her head and looked at the man again. It wasn’t sure if her words had gotten through to him, but she did try.

If he was going to help her with a meeting between the moon and the earth she had wanted him to know more of why she wanted it, and simply how she got in this predicament. She looked at her hand, it was dirty, and then to him.  How would he help make the connection?

She placed her hand flat on the ground, fingers spreads and scooted it closer to him.  “Connection?”

[Ruslan Chergari]

She was narrating to him again. This time he did not try to put words to her story. He let the ones she contributed stand on their own. Watching, and listening. Over the course of what she presented to him, his calm smile was exchanged for a heavier look. A thoughtful one. What she spoke about Gaia, this was interesting to him. It rose questions.

But then she spoke of the role that his master played in her situation. That made his smile return. It was a smile of sympathy. “Ah, yes. Where I am from, many...treacherous forces use my master’s presence as a trigger for the terrible intentions they inflict upon others.” Ruslan was careful not to use the word ‘curse’. His people believed this a very unlucky word to utter, but this was the true meaning behind ‘terrible intentions’. Here he paused, so he may continue to choose his words carefully. “In my world, this includes the...affliction of the wolf. Was this how the wolf came to find itself inside of you?” If she was able to communicate the answer to him, it would be knowledge of great value. He was too new to this place to know if what she suffered was inflicted as a curse as it was back in his world.

The crickets were making noise that was bolder than his voice. That is how gentle he made his inquiry. It was not because he worried that he would insult her. It was because of the wolf. When it stirred inside of her, he knew it. He could feel it because of his connection to the celestial body above. But if bargain the moon offered was to be successful, the answers to these questions was critical. He could not leave them unasked. “Did the presence of this wolf anger Gaia? Is that why she took from inside of you, why she turns a deaf ear to your suffering?” In his work he regularly encountered the dead, but he did not take her mention of death to be literal. Ruslan wondered if this woman was a disciple of the entity who was now suffering punishment.

He dropped his eyes to her hand, the one that she had moved closer to him. Again, a smile. Smiles cast light over that which may otherwise fall to shadows. That was the first wisdom Beebee Fifka had taught to him, and it was wisdom that had stood undefeated even when tested by events brought to him by his macabre calling. “There can be a connection of flesh, if that is of help to you. But what is necessary is a connection of eyes to eyes. That is the true invitation.” He did not define what invitation he meant, but the continued effect of flickering stars in his pupils suggested it would be an extraordinary exchange.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De’Ryanna listened as well as she could. At times she would watch his eyes and others his mouth. Looking between the both of them to make sure she was understanding what he said.  What she felt was odd and it made her feel restless.  It had to be the stirring wolf. Though he was still sleeping, she felt that he was listening.

Her mouth worked as she twisted her lips in the effort to say what she wanted.  “Born wolf.” Those two words came out fast. “Wolf locked. Sleep, wolf, sleep. Not wake little ever.”  The difficulties of speaking when you had a limited vocabulary was a challenge. The thing was, she had all the proper words in her head, if circumstances were different she could hold a normal conversation with him.  However, those words were trapped in her mind.  Locked away with much of her human abilities.

De’Ryanna pulled back her extended hand which was on the ground, dragging it in the  dirt and a frown formed on her lips. She didn’t know if she could explain more of what happened, but she tired.  If the wolf angered Gaia or not she was unsure. “Died.  Gaia…” she patted her chest to symbolize herself. “Sleep. Moon wake wolf. Alive now.” And that was her story of how she got to be the way she was.

He told her connection was made with the eyes and so she did. Looking into her eyes, if he was able to see into her, he’d see what she had tried to get across: the human part of her was locked away, with the wolf as the dominate force.

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