Augustus woke up cold, he did not like the cold, so he flew to the top of the tallest tree and called out, "Return to me!" as loudly as he could. To the untrained ear it may have sounded "cu-caw", but to the crows it was a great cry of a gathering. Either to gather for a journey, food, a funeral, or some other important event. For this time of the year each crow realized that they would be leaving soon.
Slowly a few crows landed under Augustus taking their own spots on the tree as he called out again "Return to me!". They waited for his cry to stop and then in unison they echoed it as well. More crows arrived, landed, then waited for the cry to echo out then they too joined the growing chorus of crows to reach as many as they could for their gathering.
"67, 68" Augustus was keeping track of every crow that joined in song, almost everyone was here and soon he could start the meeting. The sound was booming across the land as it sounded as if a mighty crow army was descending.
Preparing for their journey the wolves stopped to listen and watch many crows fly overhead. A young pup was frightened by the noise and went to Werson for guidance. "What are they doing? There are so many."
Werson looked at him and smiled "The crows and ravens have long been friends of the wolves, they present no danger, you are safe. They are preparing for their long journey away from the coming cold. You feel the thickness of your fur, it is changing color too. This is how we prepare." He raised his voice so all could hear "The crows are leaving soon, I have given them the leftover food outside, let them feast without trouble. We have our own journey to worry about as we will go to the large cave close to here. Garius will join us there."
Many wolves began asking about Garius and his return. Werson informed them "He is well and has felled a bear by himself, a task that greatly tired him. He has been given refuge with help and he shall return to us soon. Our king is strong, let us honor him and obey his order to travel to the large cave and await his return. We can talk more once we are there." So the pack moved to the water source to prepare for their journey.
The tree that Augustus sat in was now a thunderous roar of "cu-caws" and it shook with all the weight that was upon it. Everyone was here now so Augustus spoke, "Family, the great cold is descending upon us."
"Family the great cold is descending upon us" they all repeated in unison, a crow tradition that made sure everyone gathered got the message.
"Today we will make our journey to the warmer places"
"Today we will make our journey to the warmer places" the tree roared back.
"We go to where the food is easy to live out the lazy time" he waited then continued "We will be closer to humans so we must be careful", "We will fill on the remains the wolves have given us", "Then we gather back here to start our flight", "If you are strong help the weaker", "Let us make this journey as family", "Let us arrive safe, and return safe here when the cold is gone". This took twice as long as it should, but it was an important crow ritual. Still Augustus and many of the elder crows would keep watch on the weak and younger crows for this journey.
Many would assume that Augustus was the leader of his murder, but that wasn't the case. The family had no leader, but a counsel of leaders who made their decisions together. Augustus was highly regarded by them as he could speak many languages, had a strong voice, and he had made the union with the wolves that brought them much food and safety.
As the wolves returned from drinking their fill they were captivated by the sight of the carcasses completely covered in crows. They almost took the shape of the deceased animal that had been slain, but changing and slightly moving all while chattering to each other. Werson recognized their power in numbers and thought if they were to attack in such a large group that no one could stop them. He knew they would not do this as the crows he knew were very gentle creatures, but the thought of them being enraged was a terrifying one.
The crows ate their fill departing as a group and filling the sky to where the sun was darkened as shadow embraced the land. They were ominous to behold. They finally made their way back to the tree to work out their plans for their journey. It would be a long one, but they had just fed for three days worth of travel thanks to the wolves. All they would need would be some water along the way. Augustus had plans of his own once they reached their destination.
Grace was keeping herself busy with the various ranches preparing their horses for winter, but this morning she got up early to take a look at the hair from that fox under her microscope. She noticed the distinct difference between the red hairs and the blue, grey hairs from the sample she took. Two different hair types from the same animal was impossible and she wondered if the wolf's hair was mixed into her sample. She took notes, then she searched her bag for the small sample of wolf's hair she found in the bed where they slept. Yes, there it was still in the bottle. She put away the other sample and examined the wolf's hair now and made more notes. The blue and grey hairs from the fox were more of a match to the wolf's hair, but this could not be. The fox had two types of hair and that could not happen so she sat to ponder this new mystery. "This can't be," she said to herself.
There was a knock at the door as Graced rushed to open it. It was Bill and she was waiting for days to see these results. "Here you are ma'am, amazing photos to be sure."
"Thank you, Bill," she said, handing him the money for the job of developing them. Her camera from France was an item of fascination, a curiosity she obtained while living in France. It worked, but it took forever and the results were not always the best. She hoped these would turn out. It was a miracle anyone in town could develop the images, but Bill had money and enjoyed tinkering in the sciences to pass the time. "That sure is something you don't see everyday."
She wanted to see for herself and did not enjoy the extra curiosity, "Oh, I can't wait to see them. I had travelled a long way to take these photos. Next day the animals up and left, so I am glad these photos worked out" she had yet to see them, but she wanted Bill gone.
"Where would that be, ma'am?" he inquired.
"North, past some town I don't know. My friend travelled with me since he knew the way. When he returns I will send him over to talk with you Bill." His curiosity was annoying and she did not need it pouring out into the animal's lives. "Good day" she said as she closed the door, her attention now back at the box in her hands.
She opened the box and was amazed at the results, usually low lighting was not good, but these looked excellent. There they were together, the fox curled up under the bandaged wolf. The image was dark with most of the shed vanishing, but the animals were clear to see. There was an uncanniness within the photo that they belonged together, that they were always friends. The photos were very unique. One looked a little better than the other so she would give that one to Walter, he would be overjoyed. It would be a good day as she began to prepare her things to visit the Whitely Ranch and check their horses before winter arrived.
She closed up her notes, put away her samples in a safe place, then made her way to the door. As she made her way outside she felt the cold hit her and she rushed back in to grab some better clothes. Outside she noticed little flakes passing by in the air as she thought "It won't be long soon."
Walter was so surprised to see his guests up earlier than him so he sat at his window to watch them for a while. It was nearing dawn and he could barely make out their silhouettes, the wolf was strong and doing his best to strengthen his walk with the fox nipping at his legs one after another. He thought it may be irritating the wolf, yet he did not seem to mind, besides he was big enough to take care of himself. He was still in disbelief that he was able to interact with these two wild animals and he was glad to see them both doing so well. Augustus the crow had not been around and Walter hoped that he had just migrated and not gotten himself injured or worse.
As Gaius tried to walk Nibelski hopped to and fro between his legs, nipping each one as she went. "This one seems weaker, no, now this one. Oh, this one almost gave up." She was trying to help and be encouraging, yet he did not want to trip and land on her so he stopped to talk to her.
"Maybe it would be best if you watch from a little bit further away so you can see all my legs at once. Then you can call out the ones that look weak, I would hate to lose control for then I would fall on you."
She sat there thinking, turning her head side to side examining Garius. "If you think it is best then I will do that, but who will be there to nibble your legs so you know which one is weak?"
Garius thought for a moment and replied, "we can name the legs, you give each one a name, then call out that name for that leg, that way I am not being chewed at."
She sat there for a while buried in thoughts then started nibbling on each leg. "This one is apple, this one is berry, this one is water….and this one is tree since you are so strong."
"I don't know if I like being called food, but we shall try it."
Walter noticed they changed their behavior, almost like they read his mind. He enjoyed watching them as they were very smart, it was not something you would see everyday. Today the wolf ventured out further into the grass then around the house with the fox following faithfully behind. When they were far enough out of sight he decided to take out some food with water to replenish their supplies. Feeding two extra guests, with one of them on the road to recovery, was a large amount of extra food. Walter did not mind as this year he had a larger bounty than was expected, but he may have to hunt early to make up for it.
He went out of his cabin with the food supplies in hand to replenish their bowls. Garius heard his movement and looked at Nibelski. "Want to have some fun?"
Fun? What was that? "Yes, please," she said, trusting Garius.
"Ok, follow me to the shed." They walked around the side of the house coming to the front of the shed he stopped in front of the door. "We just stand here, when he comes out we just stare at him."
It all seemed a little strange to her, but she followed along with his plan. Walter was inside whistling to himself as he placed their food in their bowls, then fixed their bed up with more straw. He quickly turned to leave so that they could come back without him being there, yet as he turned to the door there they were staring at him. Walter fell backwards from the shock and then froze up not knowing if he would be their next meal.
Garius said "Ok, now we lower our heads and whine a little." which they both did. Nibelski felt bad for making Walter fall so she ran up, licked his hand that smelled like meat, then ran back beside Garius. "Let us go in to rest for now, keep your head down when we walk past him."
The fear Walter first felt had melted away when she licked his hand, then it returned when they walked past him. The wolf was huge and intimidating, Walter found that even the fox could look scary when you saw its teeth. They lay down in their bed so Walter rose and went to the door with his own fears making him turn to look back. He wanted to pet them, but they were not his pets and they may take offense and remove his hand. He realized they trusted him more and now he could tell Grace that his hand was licked as well. "Thank you, enjoy your food" he said as he gently closed the door part way.
It was only when he made it inside his house that he relaxed completely. We were face to face with them, on the ground, no rifle, yet they did not attack him. They knew who he was and Walter's fear vanished completely. He had heard so many stories of pets turning on people it had given him fears that one day he too must be ready for such an event. Fear was good for many reasons to keep us safe, but he now realized there was a mutual trust between them. They were becoming friends and it was the warmest feeling for Walter in this cold season.
"That was mean," Nibelski told Garius who just laughed.
"Yes, but his face looked so funny. I would never hurt him, he is good to us."
"Then we should be good to him. This is fun? I don't like it." She was not impressed.
Garius rubbed her head. "We shall make it up to him, maybe bring him some mice."
"That would be nice…apple please."
"I have no apples."
"The leg…apple, I like it when it is on me. It is comforting."
"Ah" Garius said as he placed his paw over her "you licked his hand"
"I did, are you jealous?"
"No, it's just….." he paused, "why would I be jealous?"
"I don't know the ways of the wolf or how they view things, I just wanted to comfort him a bit since he looked so afraid, just like you comfort me."
"I don't lick you."
"Well you did once that I remember."
"Ok, that was different, you know that was different."
"It was," she said as she licked his face.
Then Garius felt something he had not felt before, yet could not explain it. It was like weakness, like his injuries, but in a good way. He looked at her and could not deny what a friend she had become. His next reaction came from nowhere as he licked her face and saw her smile. He wondered if he was laying a trap for himself. Being vulnerable was not something he could afford to be. He was a leader, he was supposed to be strong.
"Yes, like that. Different, nice" she told him as she burrowed into his fur.
"Tell me about what your life was like before we met each other. It is not easy to go alone and it takes great strength."
"Well" she replied, "You have no one home that you return to. You have your pack and this human has his place. I had nothing except the next empty log, or empty cave. You don't fully sleep as the next predator may find you when you are not ready. So being here with you I have been able to sleep much more than I am use to, but it feels good."
"Did you ever have any predator problems on your own."
"Well mostly I can just run away, but there was one that was scary and almost my end. I went to sleep in a cave during the day, I was tired from being out all night looking for food. I was awakened by this young cat-like creature who was pushing on me playfully. I woke up and realized it was his den, and if he was the young one then an older one would be home soon."
"What did you do?" Garius asked, holding her tightly.
"I saw there was a small path behind me with some light at the end of it. It was small, but I was able to follow it and find my way out. I heard the large one roar when I was almost out, it made my blood freeze. I think the young one was trying to follow me, but it couldn't"
"For the young one to be larger than you is scary indeed. I think I know the beast you speak of, they are very fast, faster than you. They scare me more than bears. You are very brave, what happened next?"
"I got out and ran for my life. I ran for a very long time, until nightfall. Then I found a log to get some rest..well the best I could." She paused to think about what Garius said last. "You were scared of the bear?"
"Of course I was, but my friend was in trouble and I had to help. Wolves protect their kind always, we are a pack, we are family"
Nibelski only knew family in her memories and the fear of dying held fast to her. Watching her father die in her memories was ever present before her as she struggled with the loneliness. She wondered if she could ever have family since she feared them being taken away. She even tried to run from Garius, to get away and be alone again, yet there was something new keeping her here. It was a new feeling, it was one that she had embraced.
"You are brave and strong, good wolf qualities, plus you are fast and nimble. Our pack can learn much from you." Garius rested his head on top of hers. "We will rest a little, eat, then go back out for more walking."
After their rest they ate a little then headed back outside to walk around. Nibelski froze and got down low on the ground. "Quiet," she said, "don't move," so Garius froze. He watched her slither through the grass, stop, then leap in the air landing on something with a yelp. He rushed in to see her standing there proudly with a mouse in her mouth. She marched out and dropped it by the shed.
"There is your mouse." she told him.
"My mouse? I just ate."
"No, your apology mouse, and I think you should deliver it."
He nodded and picked it up in his mouth, she was tough and now she was being tough on him, but it made him smile. He walked up to the place where the human was as she began to call out. He opened the door as Garius lowered his head and dropped the mouse then the two walked off."
"You see, that is better and now we have fed him." Garius sighed as she said "Let's increase our speed today, shall we?"
Walter stood there stunned staring at the dead mouse. "They just gave me a gift!" Walter could not believe his eyes so he rushed back inside to get a container to keep his gift in, he had to show this to Grace.