Jazzy - In the Shadows

Wolf opened his eyes and instantly winced away from the sun beaming in from the barn doors. He put his hand in front of his eyes to block the blinding light and searched around the barn. He was alone.

All the events that led up to his second blackout came back to him. He remembered everything that had happened; that was a good sign. He sat up and was surprised that he didn't feel any pain from the movement in his stomach or head. His arm was very sore, but that was to be expected.

He gently checked it and it was cleaned. The cut wasn't as deep as he remembered it to be when it happened, but he could never be sure of anything he supposedly 'remembered' during a night like that. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit confused about how he had snapped out of it so quickly. Perhaps it was his conscious mind alerting him that someone he cared about could be seriously hurt.

Whatever the case was for that night, he didn't want to dwell on it. It was in the past. It was fine enough with him if it permanently stayed there, even though the next moon would come all too soon for him.

He got up and walked towards the door, glad that he didn't have to hold onto something for support or feel that he was going to collapse. He took a few steps out of the barn and looked around. There were some storm clouds coming their way, but they still had time before they arrived. When he turned to the village, he saw Tony coming to the barn.

Wolf was unsure of how to act. He didn't remember anything he had done during the full moon, therefore wasn't sure what was the right thing to say. Tony approached him, a small grin on his face, glad to see Wolf back to normal. There was a look of uncertainty in his eyes that Wolf had seen before, but couldn't remember exactly where from. It wasn't what he had to worry about, so he put it in the back of his mind.

"So, how are you feeling?" Tony asked as he came up to Wolf.

He ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "All right I guess. You?"

"Well, I could be better, but okay." Tony and Wolf both nodded and Wolf turned his attention to the other side of town and quickly was lost in his own thoughts. It was an awkward moment for the both of them, but was soon interrupted when Samantha came up to them.

"Hi," she said softly to the both of them with a smile of happiness and sadness on her face at the same time. "I just wanted to say good-bye, and I wish you the best luck for your journey. I hope that everything turns out to be Happy Ever After," she said brightly.

"Here," she said as she handed Tony two small bags. "Some sandwiches for the trip."

"Thanks." Tony placed the sandwiches in his bag and swung it over his shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to have any horses we could borrow, would you?"

"I'm afraid not. The only three our town has are being used to ship this month's crops to Kissingtown," she said sadly, realizing the importance in them all too late. "Well, I better get going. Mr. Crendell needs help; there was an incident last night. His meat locker is torn up." Wolf winced away when she said that. A meat locker? Great, what else? "I hope to see both of you again soon." She shook Tony's hand and then Wolf's. He looked at her apologetically and then smiled.

"Thank you," Wolf said sincerely.

She smiled and nodded. Waving to them she headed back into town, leaving Wolf and Tony in front of the barn. After a moment, Tony sighed.

"Well, come on, let's get going. We gotta get that last crystal."

Tony led the way out of town as Wolf followed behind. Now the storm clouds were coming closer and the sun was beginning to fade as more and more clouds would pass by. Wolf could smell the faint rain that was coming as a gust of wind swept over them.

They quickly went through the village and came back out onto the path they had entered through. As they walked further on down the road, it began to drizzle, and even though they were covered by the trees above them, raindrops still crept through the leaves. It became darker and seemed that the sun had just set, not risen.

The rain came down harder and faster. Thunder boomed in the distance and lightning lit up the morning sky. It was very odd to have such a storm in the middle of a seemingly beautiful day, but nothing was ever predictable or normal in the Nine Kingdoms. Tony put his coat over his head to keep from getting wet, but Wolf didn't flinch. He hated the rain, but at that moment he didn't care. It wasn't important to him whether or not he got wet.

Tony stopped in the road and brought his bag over in front of him as he opened it and brought out the silver plated mirror. Both looked at the mirror and sighed. They were getting closer, another step had been reached, but time was running short.

The more he thought about how much time they had lost, the more he was reminded of how he had failed Virginia in so many ways. He had lost her in the cottage, what seemed so long ago, and he had made them lose precious time due to his damned cycle. She was counting on him to help her, he knew she was. As long as he was breathing, he would do everything he could to save her and the cub. Without them, he had no reason to continue on. It hurt him more and more as every second went by that he didn't know they were safe. They had to get this crystal and find her. If they didn't, he would lose everything.

Tony spoke to the mirror, snapping Wolf violently out of his thoughts again. "Mirror, where is the last crystal?"

They both watched as the mirror glowed a bright shade of white and began to swirl and mix. The sand-like texture rippled and cascaded down like a river and then began to slow down.

"A hard task to perform to get crystal three, in a land where everything that you see is green. Where envy and jealousy pollute the air, you'll admit things you didn't know were there. You must solve a problem and set things right, then the crystal will be near and in sight." With that, the mirror did a final swirl and was still, reflecting Tony and Wolf staring at it, completely perplexed. Both pulled away and Tony gently put it back in his sack.

Without a further thought, Wolf turned to Tony. "I know where it is."

Tony didn't quite understand the poem and was extremely glad to know that Wolf did. "Where?" he asked anxiously.

He sighed. "The Deadly Swamp."