A SkyWolf's song

#9 Woodland Manshion

(Sky's POV)

     I quietly walk beside Jason, content with the comfortable science. Nobody said anything about my sudden closeness with Jason, but I can tell that everyone noticed. I'd bet they'd be jealous if they knew I saw his face. Big trees surround us on all sides, blocking out the sun. There's a couple of these tress where Rosebud and I used to play. My mood drops slightly. I miss her. I miss Mom and Dad, too. I hope they're ok.

     "Ok, I give up", Quinten sighs, handing the map to Ty. "What do you mean? We're lost?", Mitch pipes up. "It's been a while since I've been here..... Seto just usually teleports to us", Quinten self consciously mumbles. "Crud. Why can't Seto just make a trail? It'd be so much easier", Jerome says, exasperated. "We could try and retrace our steps to the point where we got lost", Jason suggests. "That was like a half hour ago", Quinten regrettably admits. "Why didn't you say something earlier? Now we have no idea w-where to go", Ty shakily says. Is he afraid of the woods? I guess that would explain why he's been so watchful.

     'Hey SkyWolf, are you there?' I think in my head. Since everyone is arguing, no one notices when I shift into my half form. 'I'm here. What's going on?", he ask me. 'It's your classic lost on the woods scenario. Is there anything we can do to help?', I ask my other self. 'Um.....we can't smell anything right now, but if we shift into a full wolf then we might be able to smell wherever we're going', he says to me, and I can almost feel him shrugging. 'It's worth a shot. I guess I'll talk to you later, then'. I smile as my vision quickly blacks out.

(SkyWolf's POV)

     I open my yellow eyes and see my team still arguing. I ignore them for now and scent the air around me. Tress, grass, sweat, leather, humans, dirt....... gunpowder? I scrunch up my nose at the faint tang of smoke. I shake out my fur before striding forward into the circle of legs. I grab the paper thing out of my team mates had and start to trot towards the bad smell. I hear Ty help in surprise. I stop a few feet away and look back at the group. They're still standing there. I huff before changing my stance, making it ovoids that I want them to follow. None of them seem to get it expect for the bacca. "He wants ___ follow him", he tells the rest of the team. They say a few more things before stepping towards me.

     Finally, it's no good to waste any more day light. I keep walking to the gunpowder smell, listening to the team follow me. They're so slow. It's gonna take us another sun shift to get to the smell at this pace. I pick up my speed, some part of me finding amusement when the team has to jog to keep up with me. I slow down when one starts falling behind, as is custom leading a hunt. I do this multiple times until the smoke smell gets really close. It must not have been a big fire because nothing is burnt. In front of me is a big human den, made of wood with lots of windows. The gunpowder smell comes from an open window near the top.

     I look back at the team to se them smiling and looking at the building. I guess that this is where we were going. I turn around stand next to Ty, waiting to see what he would do. "Are ____  ____ switch back?", he asks me. I don't know how to respond, just cocking my head in confusion. "I don't ____ he can ______ understand us right now", Jason says. "Well, I guess he'll ____ back when when he wants to. Maybe ___ can scare Seto", Mitch laughs. I wag my tail at his laughter, happy about whatever he is happy with. "Do you think __ ____ ____ him?", Ty ask Jerome, turning to look at him. "I don't know. ____ wolves don't like to be touched, ____ will bite", the baca explains. Ty looks at me before reaching his hand down. My first instinct is to snap at him. He didn't even let me smell his hand first! But I don't. A small part of me is thrilled at the thought of being petted. I lean into Ty's hand when he scratches my head, my tail wagging in a flurry of motion. "Aww, he ____ like a puppy", Jason coos.

     "We better go find Seto. I ____ that he's gonna want to learn everything ____ that Sky he can", Jerome laughs. Ty withdraws his hand, and I can't help  but feel sad. "You're right, let's go", Ty nods. I follow my team as we walk over to a big set of double doors. Jason knocks loudly on the door, making a thudding sound. My ears perk when I hear footsteps behind the door. A tall human with sunglasses and dark blue clothing opens the door. I can sense his nervousness. "Oh H-Hi! You guys must be here to s-see Seto, right?", he asks, not noticing me yet. "Yea, that's us. My name is Mitch! This is Ty, Jason, Jerome, Quinten" Mitch says while pointing to everyone, "and this is Sky". Ian looks down at me, and don't have a reaction. "Is Sky a wolf?", he deadpans. "Kinda? It's hard to explain", Ty laughs.

     "Welp, I've seen weirder things. Follow me and I'll take you to Seto"