When We Become Friends
Theodore couldn’t understand how his father could be so blind. The two strangers couldn’t have just happened upon their settlement on the day of the Embercasting. Something ill-willed had to be afoot, and the wolves staring at him from across the table, one with amusement, and one with curiosity, were not good wolves.
Still, under his father’s stern gaze, he couldn’t say it outright. The wisdom tree had told him not to return the flint, and if Theodore wanted to hold on to the hope that he’d be the one to light the pyre for Embercasting, he needed to not anger his sire. While his father doted on him, the alpha of Whiteflame wouldn’t hesitate to punish him for being rude to these travelers.
He shouldn’t have stopped once he’d had the white wolf at his mercy. His father would’ve been mad, of course, but at least one evil spirit would have been chased from their lands. Now, he needed to find a way to keep those two away from the Embercasting. But at the same time, Theodore needed to light the pyre.
Why did he have to be only ten years old? He was so powerless!
No, Theodore decided, closing his fists, he had no time to have such thoughts. He would light the pyre and then everyone would see he was the true alpha to follow in the footsteps of his father.
“Theodore,” his father began, placing a hand on the back of his son’s chair. “Apologize to our fellow wolves.”
The white one looked like he belonged with them, but Theodore would’ve known him if he were part of Whiteflame. The other, large, with a silver-grey coat, seemed older than his companion. Why wasn’t his father questioning them about their presence here, on such an important day?
“I apologize,” he started, bowing as he’d been taught. But soon, the injustice of it all gnawed at his heart again. He began speaking again, this time more heatedly. “During Embercasting, evil spirits lurk. They are known for their slyness and attempts to trick our pack members into believing them. It was only because of my duty that I attacked you. Since my father believes you two are innocent--”
“Theodore, enough,” his father said sternly. “Why would you think them evil spirits? I am dissatisfied with your apology.”
“But father--” Theodore began to protest.
“Isn’t he a cutie?”
That was the white wolf, speaking out of turn again. Theodore shot him a look that should convey what he truly thought of the stranger.
“Tharion,” the wolf continued, “let little Theo be. He didn’t do any harm to us. Not that he could since he’s so puny--”
“I am not puny!” Theodore shouted. His father’s hand on his shoulder kept him in his place.
“We should be the ones to apologize,” the silver-grey one intervened. “We ran as if we had done something wrong, and your son, Tharion, rightfully thought we were evil-doers.”
“Well, he did have that big knife,” the white wolf mumbled. “Not gonna lie, he scared the heck out of me!”
The white wolf was bigger and older than he was, yet he still got scared. Theodore felt proud. If his father hadn’t intervened, he would’ve managed to chase away the two evil spirits. Now, he needed to find out more about them to see how he could make them reveal themselves.
“Why do you talk like that? You’re odd,” he said, staring at the white wolf.
“You are rude, Theodore,” his father warned him.
“He’s only a kid,” the white wolf hurried to his aid – which he hadn’t asked for.
“Tharion,” the silver-grey wolf started, “you must be busy. Leave Theodore with us so we can get to know each other. I’m sure he knows better now than to attack us again.”
“The knife, Theodore,” his father said, opening his palm.
He was reluctant to part ways with his only weapon, but he was a wolf, and he always had his fangs and claws. Only that the two evil spirits also had the appearance of wolves, and they were bigger and stronger. But, he reasoned with himself, if they were only wolves in appearance, then they couldn’t have the same powers. That made his choice easier. He handed his knife to his father.
“I will return soon,” his dad promised. “The Whiteflame pack is known in all the wolves’ lands for their hospitality. Remember that, Theodore.”
“Yes, father,” he said. He would make his father proud. Even if it took wits to make these two evil spirits drop their disguise.
***
“Father says you can’t turn into your humans.”
Vince observed Theodore with keen eyes. Because he was still a child, he had none of the slyness of adults, so it was written all over his face that his only goal was to unmask the two strangers at their doorstep as being evil spirits, as he had openly accused.
“No, we cannot,” Vince said.
“Were you cursed?” Theodore cocked his head to one side. He was obviously curious about them, but he still kept his distance.
“We don’t recall,” Vince replied again. “That doesn’t mean that we cannot be friends. My name is Vince. My quirky friend here is Jack.”
“Your names are odd.”
“They are pretty common where we live,” Jack intervened. He snorted. “You can’t swing a dead pop singer downtown without hitting like a thousand Jacks per second.”
“A dead what?”
Vince groaned internally. Jack would get them in hot water and sooner rather than later. On the other hand, he realized as he took in the curious look on Theodore’s face, that they were dealing with a kid, and kids were usually more likely to accept the unexplainable.
“We will be real with you,” Vince said, taking even Jack by surprise. “We have come here from the future.”
“The future?” Theodore exclaimed in amazement. “Are you time-travelling spirits?”
“Seriously, Vee?” Jack reproached and bit Vince’s ear playfully. “Spilling the beans already?”
“The truth is the best strategy,” Vince replied calmly. His ear twitched where Jack had sunk his fangs in. They’d better turn back to their human shapes before they ended up hurting each other by accident.
“What truth are you two speaking of?” Theodore leaned over the table, his eyes wide and filled with curiosity.
“Thing is,” Vince began, “something bad is bound to happen. We don’t know if it has anything to do with the ritual your father mentioned, but we must be here to stop it.”
Theodore’s face transformed into a huge frown. “Stop the Embercasting? You are evil spirits! Without the pyre and its fire to keep them at bay, these lands would be overrun by them!”
“No, no, not the ritual. That’s not what we’re here to stop,” Vince continued. “We actually don’t know what it is that we must deal with.”
“But I think we’ll know once we see it,” Jack chimed in to make his contribution.
Theodore shook his head. “You sound like evil spirits to me.”
“Come on, really?” Jack groaned. “I mean, just look at how fluffy and nice we are.”
“What are you hiding, Theodore?” Vince went directly in for the kill.
The guilty expression on Theodore’s young face confirmed what he was already suspecting.
“Nothing. I am the alpha’s son. I have nothing to hide.”
“Now that was a quick, guilty answer if I ever heard one,” Jack commented. “Theo, come on. Since Vee here decided to tell you the truth about us coming from the future and all, let me tell you another secret. In the future, we’re friends. Best friends.”
Vince allowed Jack’s propensity for spreading confusion since he, too, was curious to see how Theodore would react to such a revelation.
“Are you becoming part of my pack?” Theodore moved his large eyes from Jack to Vince.
“Yeah, totally,” Jack confirmed. “Best buddies, I’m telling you.”
“You are very odd. I can’t see how we can be friends,” Theodore said. Vince couldn’t blame him for not wanting to accept such a statement.
“We are friends especially because we’re different. So, to break the ice and everything, have you been contacted by any evil spirits lately?” Jack asked.
Vince regretted he didn’t have hands so he could face-palm himself. But Jack had a point to question Theodore and do it so directly.
“You two are evil spirits,” Theodore accused again.
“No, we’re not,” Jack shot back. “Come on, what kind of evil spirits do this?”
Vince watched Jack as he stuck his tongue out and began flipping it around as if he wanted to slap himself in the eye with the thing. A rumbling like laughter echoed in his chest. Even Theodore snickered.
“See?” Jack said, thrilled that his little show was working. “We are not evil spirits, but we can swear that there are some lurking around.”
“I told you that,” Theodore shouted. He appeared to hesitate and then snuck his hand into his pocket. He kept his fist closed and then placed a piece of dark rock on the table for Vince and Jack to see.
“What is that?” Jack asked.
Theodore’s voice dropped to a whisper. “It is the flint of Embercasting. It is what the alpha of Whiteflame must use to light the pyre.”
“Ah, I see,” Jack said. “Shouldn’t it be in your dad’s possession, though?”
Vince understood the guilty look now.
Theodore seemed ready to confess his transgressions, but he snatched the flint back up and returned it to his pocket. “I must prove myself to the pack. I must be the one to light the Embercasting pyre this year.”
“Oh, damn, Theo. No, nope, bad idea,” Jack said.
“You should return the flint to your father. You stole it from him, didn’t you?” Vince joined Jack’s efforts.
“I didn’t steal it,” the young delinquent protested. “I must show everyone that I deserve to be the alpha. You don’t understand!”
“Oh, poor Theo,” Jack commented. “If I had arms, I’d give you a hug.”
“Theodore,” Vince insisted, “your father will be upset. You are not alpha yet, but you will be one day. Don’t you know being a child is the greatest thing ever? Why are you in such a hurry to grow up?”
“My father is old,” Theodore said, his bottom lip trembling. “I must prove myself to everyone.”
Vince was beginning to understand. Still, in the presence of his father, Theodore had showed nothing but deference and filial love. There had to be something more about stealing the flint. Somehow, it didn’t sit well with Vince to accept as truth that Theodore had decided to steal the flint on his own.
“Who told you that?” he asked. “That you should prove yourself?” He used a sterner, harsher voice on purpose. For all his righteous anger, Theodore was still a child, and he recognized authority when he saw it.
“No one,” Theodore answered, lifting his chin in defiance. “I told it to myself.”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Jack accused.
“I’m not lying,” Theodore shot back, but it looked to Vince like his resolve was faltering.
“You can tell us, though,” Jack continued. “I mean, we won’t tell anyone else. Deal?”
Theodore’s large eyes moved from Vince to Jack and back again, just like before. Whatever he saw in the eyes of two wolves he hadn’t encountered until today, it appeared to be enough to shake his resolve about keeping secrets.
He pondered a little more and then whispered, but not before his eyes darted left and right to ensure that no one would be able to overhear his next words. “It was the wisdom tree.”
“Heck no!” Jack reacted. “Like in the prophecy?”
Vince gestured at Jack to shut up, but the damage was done.
***
Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have been in a hurry to say anything about a prophecy, because naturally, now young Theo would want to know more, and if Jack and Vince started fumbling about, he would smell bullshit and accuse them of lying. Which wouldn’t be far from the truth, obviously.
“What prophecy?” Theo was on his feet on the chair and demanded answers.
“A weird one,” Jack said. Dammit, dammit, dammit. “Vee, help?” he asked tentatively. It came out like a yelp.
“What Jack here is trying to say,” Vince hurried to the rescue, “is that we might have heard about a wisdom tree, as well.”
“Where? Who told you?” A little bit of jealousy could be heard in young Theo’s voice. Jack could sympathize. As a child, he wouldn’t have shared the knowledge of magical beings with anyone, either.
“It was this prophecy that we can’t properly recall,” Vince said. “Can you lead us to this wisdom tree? You know we can keep a secret.”
Only that this one had to be one big dark secret. Whoever or whatever had told young Theo to steal the flint of Embercasting from his father wasn’t the same kind tree that had given Jack its nutritious leaves to eat. Jack was willing to bet that it was an evil spirit taking advantage of the heart of a child. One who clearly loved his aging father very much.
“Do you mind telling us what this wisdom tree looks like?” he asked, seeing Theodore was starting to hesitate after revealing so much.
“It is a tall tree. It is part of the forest that grows at the edge of our lands. The forest protects the world from evil spirits, and it is us who keeps them at bay,” Theo explained.
“And are all trees there wise, or how does it work?” Jack continued his barrage of questions. Vee was really welcome to intervene again at any time.
“There is only one wisdom tree,” Theo said, throwing Jack a look that said everything about what the boy thought of his intelligence. “It is dark and without leaves.”
“Ha!” Jack exclaimed. “Now isn’t that convenient? The wisdom tree I know has leaves and even gave me some to eat.”
Oops. He must’ve said too much again. Theo was staring at him, his eyes wide. Clearly, he had no idea one could eat the wisdom tree’s leaves if hungry enough.
“Why are you asking me what the wisdom tree looks like if you met it already?”
“Yeah, answer that, Jack,” Vince teased him, a trace of amusement in his voice.
“Well, it all happened… in a dream!”
“So you didn’t eat any of its leaves,” Theo concluded on his own. “Because you never really met it!” The young boy was triumphant, and rightfully so. Jack was making a big mess out of everything because of his big mouth. But it was like he couldn’t stop himself.
“Okay, that’s true,” Jack admitted. “But since you met it, you can take us there, right? I really want to ask this tree about my dreams.”
“You said you had nightmares,” Theo reminded him. “What about?”
The young Theodore hadn’t forgotten that part. Jack knew that if he tried to improvise now, Theo would know with the intuition of kids when it came to matters of the soul.
“About being all alone in the world,” he said.
Theo pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “I will take you to the wisdom tree. If it’s still there, because it moves. It has a lot to do because there are evil spirits everywhere. It will take all of your nightmares away. So it did with mine.”
How did those evil spirits reach Theo? Was it through nightmares? Jack was starting to put two and two together. So Whiteflame was a wolf pack in charge of keeping evil spirits at bay. But the pack was gone in the world from which they came from. Did that mean that the veil was the only thing keeping those spirits away from the rest of the world?
Still, Cassandra, bent on destroying Ryder and reaching Theodore, had been with the Luna’s Sentinels for some time. Something didn’t add up.
Jack shook his head. He’d figure it out, eventually. But first, they needed to convince Theo to take them to whatever evil spirit was pretending to be the wisdom tree. How they’d be able to confront it was up for debate, but they had to be powerful now that they were wolves.
Theodore jumped down from the tall chair and headed for the door. “Are you two coming?” he asked, holding the door open.
“Tell me this is a good idea,” Jack whispered to Vince.
He got another whisper back. “As good as it gets. We need to find out what happened this day in the past that we’re now somehow part of.”
“Good,” Jack said in a low voice. “Though I’m not so sure we can change the past. Isn’t that time travelling’s biggest no-no or something?”
“I’m not so sure we’ve really time-travelled,” Vince replied.
“What do you call this?”
“I don’t know. An illusion?”
“We ate like a huge steak a little while ago. My belly’s so full it might burst. That’s no illusion.”
They were walking quickly behind Theodore, who was threading through the snow, his stride purposeful. If they didn’t want to lose him out of their sight, they needed to hurry.
“Hey, Theo, wait up!” Jack shouted.
“Stop calling me Theo!” Theodore shouted back.
“Why?”
“Because my name is Theodore!”
“Theo is also fine!”
“Can you two stop shouting in my ear?” Vince scolded them playfully. “It seems like wolves have really sensitive ears.”
“Because we are made to hear everything,” Theodore said pompously.
“Really? That’s so cool,” Jack said.
“Hey, you’re a wolf, too. Don’t you know these things?” Theodore asked him. He had stopped to wait for them to reach him.
“I forgot a lot of things,” Jack said quickly. “It’s nice to learn them again, though.”
“I will teach you everything about being a wolf,” Theodore promised. “But you have to stop calling me Theo.”
“Deal,” Jack agreed. “But it’s a nice, endearing nickname, you know?”
“I am the alpha of Whiteflame,” Theodore said with all the seriousness his age allowed. “I can’t be called Theo.”
“Makes sense,” Jack said, nodding sagely. “What about when we become friends?”
“Maybe I’ll let you call me that then,” Theodore agreed.
TBC
@Derek - things are only getting more and more complicated; I feel like I should apologize! I'm like Jack, flustered by time-traveling and whatnot!
@DavidB - thank you! My twisted mind might ask too much from readers sometimes!
@Mark Mortland - They are in the past... and they aren't! Like Schrodinger's cat! It will all make sense at one point (I hope).
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