Wolfblood ━ TWILIGHT (being rewritten)

08

Fae wandered along the woodland path with half-lidded eyes, her feet moving in a fast paced walk incredibly similar to the speedy little sashay that her crazy fit sixty-five year old neighbours did, wrinkled bodies squeezed into spandex shorts with fluorescent sweatbands did as they walked down the road each day at six in the morning. Though her walk was less so... eighties movie, eye of the tiger, training montage, morning calisthenics, rhubarb protein shake and early morning breakfasts at the local Rotary club.

Whilst yes, she was late, there was no use pushing herself to get there on time. Wolfblood given speed and all, she could only run the distance in half an hour, it was eight forty eight, there would be no way she could make it there in twelve minutes, nor did she really want to. The immersion in the woods was something near restorative, already. The smell of the petrichor seeping into her senses, the water collected on a large leaf she dipped her hand in, sinking into each pore, cell and soul.

The slight squelch of the ground. Footprints and markings of trails and dirt beneath her heels. Ancient songs lingered beneath the surface of the earth. It made the pounding in her head lessen, the pressure ease from her lungs. Yet she continued to press on. The temporary relief was good, at least for the moment.

Fae itched at her scalp, nails biting into the flesh, soothing circles. The day would be over soon, regardless of only just beginning. It would be over in a few short hours. The moon would rise, human soul and wolf soul would wed again. Connect to the wild, to primordial instinct and meaning long lost to anything of coherence and humanity. Peace and life and chaos and death. Balance. If only the cost of a sense of identity was not the aching body and the loss of her sanity for a night, true lunacy.

She shivered, arms winding about her stomach, as if it would insulate her black hoodie that definitely did have a food stain on it now she was looking at it. She sighed, "Fuck me."

There was a change in the air. She sniffed. Not sweet, like burning sugar barely masking decay, but like fur and life and rain and seawater and pine. Like wolf. Like the boys. Fae planted a hand into the earth, eyes squeezed shut, though then, she opened them... it was like seeing a new world.

Scent trails danced, she could see everything, feel everything. Like a hawk, circling the sky, like a worm wriggling below the surface. Hear the song of the wind in the trees, the breath of every creature for miles, the sound of engines on distant roads, the humming of the telephone tower and the sweet chill of rain-filled clouds. Then there, there he was. The wolf, speckled and with a stripe along his nose. Embry - her mind supplied with casual ease. He was not far, just a little beyond her normal range of senses, without the amplification of both the moon and eolas.

Fae cleared her throat, a vocalisation building, anticipation straining the chords in her neck. She let out a yip. She watched as his ears pricked, a smile building on her face. She did so again, along with a little howl. He picked up the sound easily and followed the noise.

The ground vibrated with the beats of plate sized paws, Fae pulled her hand from the ground and disconnected herself from the world, shaking it off as if it would take away the loudness. Embry - or at least wolf Embry - bounded over a bush and out of the underbrush. He came to a stop before her and tilted his head, as if to ask what she was doing.

She rolled her eyes, as if it was not obvious she was going to school, regardless of the little voice telling her to just stay there. Fae smiled and he mimicked it, she burst out laughing. It looked a little silly, him smiling widely with pointed teeth, -the way vampire costumes from party city always did- especially given it looked like he had been given a mix of dalmatian spots and monochrome leopard print, like the snow leopards she had seen at a zoo once, slapped on the body of a wolf.