Work Text:
Traveling on paws and wings
Wolf lifts her head to catch the scents in the wind. She quickly identifies the smells of grass, trees, and flowers. Focusing her ears, she can hear a river in the distance. Good. That means she’ll soon be out of this cave and back under the open sky.
Wolf does not like caves. They’re cramped and damp, sounds echo in a way that constantly confuses her, and the walls make her feel cut off from the wide world. The only living things she can find in caves are strange glowing mushrooms and the occasional armadillo or wombat.
“I can see daylight,” her companion informs her eagerly. He’s been floating over her head, as high up as the cave allows him, providing her with additional light and helping her by scouting ahead. “We’re almost out of here!”
Wolf huffs. He’s just a little too late with that information for it to really be useful. But she appreciates his efforts, nonetheless. As well as his company. It’s good to know she’s not alone, even if their conversations are somewhat one-sided, as she can’t talk.
She sets off in a sprint, her companion catching up and at her side, keeping pace with her.
It doesn’t take long before she’s out of the cave. After squeezing through an uncomfortably tight crack in the wall, she’s out in the sunlight again.
“It’s so good to be outside again after being in that cave for so long,” her companion says, hovering at her side. Wolf lets out a small bark of agreement. They’d spent nearly two days in that cave, and being able to breathe fresh air again is more of a relief than she had expected. “And just look at that view!”
Wolf finds herself standing on a cliff overlooking a wide plain covered in flowers, lined by lush trees and with a clear river running through it. She looks around, trying to find a way down. It’s too high to jump and too steep to climb. At least as a wolf. If she was still human, she might have been able to climb it.
Because while Wolf is a wolf, she’s also Kalani and was once a human in a previous life. Though right now, with a good bit of her memories missing, she’s probably more Wolf than Kalani. Which is one of the reasons she’s so eager to recover the lost bits of her memory. Ever since finding the first bit, she’s been left wanting for more. Wanting to recall who she once was, what she used to be like.
The sound of birds flying overhead breaks her out of her thoughts and gives her an easy way down from the cliff. She’ll simply fly.
Lifting her head to look up at the birds, she picks out one of them and focuses her attention on it. Lets her spirit reach out toward the animal, to leave her body behind...
--- and she’s flying high in the sky. She feels the air under her wings, ruffling her feathers. The feeling of freedom she gets from flying is thrilling. She flaps her wings, rising higher into the sky. Her companion is still at her side as he always is, regardless of what form or shape she takes.
Of course, he doesn’t always approve of every form she decides to try out. Like the time she had spirit walked into a baby ducking to splash around in a puddle with the other ducklings. Or the time she’d spirit walked into sloth, only to find out she could do nothing but scoot back and forth a few inches on a tree branch. He had told her off both times for “wasting time” and “behaving childishly.” Whatever. She had just ignored him out and kept going.
From up here, as a bird, she can see far into the distance. She can see a large forest, faraway mountains covered in snow, lakes and rivers, and many ruins left behind by the people who used to live here. She’s seen enough.
Turning her head toward the ground, she begins a slow descent in a wide downward spiral. As much as he loves the freedom of flight, she much prefers to travel on her own four legs. As soon as she gets to a safe distance from the ground, she focuses her will, letting her spirit wander...
... and lands on the grassy hill, a wolf once more. She stretches her limbs, feeling the strong muscles of her back and legs. Twitching her ears, Wolf can hear the bird flying off into the distance. Somewhere further on, the scene of the next place of memory awaits. She can feel it, an insistent tugging in her chest, guiding her onward, from one spot to the next, helping her recover her lost memories.
Facing North, Wolf starts running. She loves the feel of the earth beneath her paws, the sun on her back, and the wind in her fur. The strength in her legs carries her on, lets her race across the fields and hills, as fast and light as a gust of wind.
Somewhere out there, her past and future are waiting for her.