Watcher of the Forest

She's as quiet on the snow as she is on the damp earth of the forest. She watches from a distance, always watching. It's rumored she never sleeps.

Her paws created a thin line in the soft snow as she stalked a rabbit. She was downwind, undetected, and she was hungry. It had been a long time since she last ate. The river finally froze over so there were no more fatty, sluggish fish to pull up out of the cold water.

Her hunger was distracting. It was affecting her focus. The rabbit was alert as she pulled dulled bark off the bottom of the pine. It was once reddish-brown, but the lifelessness of the stark snow-covered season brought it to a light gray. Like stale grain that dries your mouth as you chew it. It's better than nothing.

A rock lay shallow under the white sea and her claws scratched it and made a sound. The rabbit looked up, wriggled its nose, and hopped away quickly. She knew in her current state the rabbit was already too far to chase. That was that. 

Her head down, she walked almost aimlessly back to the den. She was unique for her species, she lived alone. In fact, she hadn't ever even seen another of her kind since being left alone in the forest. She still doesn't know how she survived when no others did. There are memories… but she always shakes them off. They are senseless, and wolves don't quite understand imagination.

Tomorrow, she determined, as she drifted to sleep.

 The next day was bitter cold and it caused the snow to crunch underneath her as she walked, smelling for any lead. She suddenly heard the break of the snow from somewhere in the distance. She froze and was still until she determined she was not in danger. Some other creature was.

It smelled strange. The odor hit the back of her nose and made it crinkle. It was almost sour. Then she heard the sound of irrational death, the loud noise that shakes bones and stops life. It had been a very long time since such a sensation reverberated throughout her entire being. But that wasn't all she heard. There were snarls, high-pitched whines.

Hunter, she thought. She ran to where she could see what was happening. A hunter, fighting off the bear. "Weakling" is what first came to her mind. This hunter was so small, she must be the runt of her litter. She could smell her fear, even from a distance. 

She knew this bear. The bear was mild and gentle, but what the hunter did not know was that under her feet was the den of this bear, with her two cubs inside. All preparing for the great sleep.

Without thinking, the wolf walked towards the left side of the bear and asked her to let go of her anger, reminded the bear that she and her cubs are not hungry so there is no need to spill blood and deplete energy.

Hunter is an enemy always, was the response of the bear. 

In turn, the wolf reminded the bear that murder is what separates the hunters from the animals of the forest.

At this the bear slowed, made a point to knock the branch of destruction out of the hunter's hands, and turned to face the wolf, the watcher of the forest.

I stop only for you, said the bear, and continued, the hunters deserve no mercy, they limit us and want our home for their own. Then she turned and disappeared under the pearly blanket of seeming timelessness. She would not return to the surface for many months.

The wolf turned to walk away, done, and the hunter cried out for her to wait as she grabbed her branch.

She stopped and waited, then stared directly into the eyes of the hunter as she stepped closer. She knew the hunter wanted to say thank you, and she knew the hunter felt as though it would be inappropriate in some way. Animals and hunters do not behave in the same manner and never have.

The hunter asked if she was hungry. She salivated. No was what arose in her mind, but yes came with a force in her body and spirit. She said nothing. The hunter understood, and started walking. The wolf followed.

She followed her all the way to the den. This hunter was not like the others. She obviously lived alone. She also had the power of the light. And she had the fruits of her labor from earlier in the day in her bag.

The hunter pulled out a rabbit and threw it towards her. She looked at it until she saw the hunter pull out another, and start to prepare it in that unnecessary way hunters do. Then she consumed. 

The light emitted warmth, and that encouraged her to linger long after the rabbit was gone. The hunter didn't seem to mind. No more words were spoken that night.

The next morning she woke up early, and found the hunter snoring softly. She started to walk away, the day just as frigid as the one before.

Wait, she heard the hunter say sleepily behind her. The hunter told her of where she was going next, what food was available, and offered her to walk alongside her.

At first the wolf refused. I do not leave my forest. I am the watcher, she told the hunter.

The hunter smiled and told her, it is in our nature to move forward, to move on.

We are not of the same nature, snapped the wolf.

We are of the forest, and the forest is infinite, replied the hunter. Then she grabbed her bag and turned to leave, to move on.

The wolf followed her in secret for a long while, to the furthest boundary of her forest she had even seen before. The hunter kept walking. The wolf hesitated. What does this mean, she thought. But without thinking, with the same drive from her body and spirit experienced the night before, she kept following.

It looked different. It smelled different. She felt safe knowing she could retrace her scent back to the familiar. 

The hunter hunted. The wolf watched.

That night they repeated the cycle of the night before. The hunter told her before she drifted off to sleep, there is something I must show you tomorrow. Then they slept.

The next morning the hunter gathered her belongings and started moving. The wolf followed. Silence. The snow was quiet. 

Then she smelled something new. New and familiar at the same time. It was frightening and thrilling all at once. She stopped. She couldn't detect safety or threat. The hunter turned and motioned to come closer. She did. 

There they were. Her. But not her. Her kind. In this new stimulation she forgot to be downwind and her scent was recognized. They howled, snarled, and looked right into her from so far away.

The hunter said, do not fear. They have been waiting for you. They sent me to all the forests to find the lost one. They told me this lost one will show mercy because of the laws of their realm. They told me you were taken from a hunter who came down from the sky.

As the hunter told her these things, her mind said no, but every other part of her knew yes.

The hunter continued, they told me the hunter from the sky said that you would come back one day ready to expand your realm of justice and fairness to all the forests. This is why you had to move on from where you were. This is your pack who will be with you from this point forward, no matter what.

She heard nothing else. She ran to her pack with every cell of her being crying for home. She led her pack. She shared her wisdom from deep within and shared the messages she heard in dreams. All realms of all being expanded, and the boundaries of possibility for every creature grew exponentially with someone to finally show the way. She gained the power of light.

She saw her hunter from time to time, from a calculated distance, in secret. And every once in a while, as if she couldn’t help herself, she ended up near her hunter's fire and looked into her hunter's eyes without words.