A Lupess in her young adult years stood on a high cliff gazing at the scene
before her. Although the night was warm, a chilled breeze brushed her creamy
white fur to tell her that the pack would soon make preparations for the cold
winter months. She knew she should feel a need to hunt and gather for storage
so she could settle down in the den with her family, but instead she felt an
unsettling feeling in her stomach. The changing wind seemed to call her in a
way she could not ignore.
***
"You're leaving?!" MysticalDreamy's twin sister, DreamyMoonz, exclaimed when
Mystical told her the news. The skunk Lupess' tail drooped and her lower lip
quivered slightly. "But what about Mom, and Dad, and the pack... and me?"
"I have to leave before I'm trapped here for the winter," Mystical explained.
"You don't understand. It's just a feeling."
"But what about MY feelings?" DreamyMoonz whimpered. "If not for me, stay
for the pack. THEY need you."
"No, they need YOU," Mystical corrected. "It's your destiny to take over
as pack mother. I'll never be like that--whenever I try to settle down, I feel
trapped. It's time for me to leave and become a great Lupe mage."
"But... what am I going to do without you?" DreamyMoonz said in a last plea.
In truth of it, MysticalDreamy and DreamyMoonz weren't twins -- nor ever true
sisters. DreamyMoonz, called just Dreamy more often, was the first daughter
of the alpha male and female of a fledgeling Lupe pack. When she was barely
old enough to walk, Dreamy slipped away while her mother was asleep. As one
could imagine, the pack was thrown into chaos until they found her; hidden in
deep brush playing with a seemingly abandoned Lupe puppy of her own age. The
puppy had a creamy white coat complete with a unicorn's horn on her forehead,
and a collar with a golden nameplate that read, "MysticalDreamy." Since fate
is not to be tampered with, the alpha male and female adopted the new puppy
and treated the two as twins.
Although the pair was inseparable, their personalities were quite different.
Mystical was the more sensible and calm one, while Dreamy was outgoing and adventurous.
While Mystical would rather sit on the edge of a river, enjoying the patterns
that the waves made, Dreamy is the kind of Lupe that would jump in and chase
the Acara and Koi. There was also another large difference in the two; as the
twin Lupe puppies grew, they began to develop different abilities. Mystical
found that she could fall into a trance to psychically sense emotions and magic
powers. When Dreamy tried this, however, she was met with visions of darkness.
One fateful night when Dreamy and Mystical were still fairly young, a storm
raged outside and the pack huddled together in the den for safety. All of a
sudden, Dreamy was pulled from the den and ran out into the night. Mystical
followed her immediately. The pack wanted to run off after the pups, but the
storm was too fierce and they had no choice but to worry themselves while they
waited it out. Soon, the storm cleared, morning came, and the pack assembled
a search party for the runaway pups. They were found, lying in a clearing, worn
and completely exhausted; however, Mystical's unicorn horn was gone and Dreamy's
blue coat had turned a smooth jet-black. Nobody knew what truly happened that
day; not even the pups themselves. The last thing they could remember was a
magical force neither could comprehend.
"Don't worry, Dreamy," Mystical comforted. "I know we'll see each other again."
To assure she wouldn't be talked out of it, Mystical turned and left the room
in their Lupe pack's den that she and her sister shared. Dreamy sighed deeply
and laid down on her soft bed of brushes and leaves. Without Mystical around,
Dreamy always felt like a part of her was missing. When she was a puppy, Dreamy
would have nightmares in which the Dark Faerie spoke to her; but, when she woke
up curled next to Mystical, everything seemed right again. Dreamy never told
anybody about her visions because she didn't want the pack to shelter her.
Kazzius, a Lupe out of his puppy years but still younger than Dreamy, peered
into the entrance of the cave. His fur was as brown as the desert sands, and
his eyes were a golden yellow.
"Dreamy? What's wrong?" he asked. Kazzius had left his pack when he was a
young lad to become an explorer, and somehow found his way to this one.
"Oh, Kazzi, Mystical's leaving! She says she feels trapped here and it's time
she went on to become a Lupe mage," Dreamy replied in distress. "Why does she
have to go and leave me here all alone?" Kazzius gave her a sympathetic look.
"If it helps, I believe that everyone has a destiny, and their spirit won't
rest until they find it. Mystical's always had a gift, and you can't mess with
destiny."
Dreamy sniffled and looked away.
"You're right and I know it, Kazzius... but it won't alleviate my lonely feeling."
"Dweamy?" squeaked a puppy's voice. Renam0n, a young golden yellow Lupess
the pack had found in spring, crawled under Kazzius' legs and emerged in front
of Dreamy. "Misty said that if she had to watch me for one more minute, she
would go cwazy, and if Misty goes cwazy she won't read me my bedtime stowy,
so can you pway with me?"
Dreamy couldn't help but smile. Maybe Mystical's right, she thought, it IS
my destiny to be the mother of the pack.
"Okay, we'll give Mom a break," Dreamy said as she tried to bring herself
back to a cheerful mood. "How 'bout a game of hide-and-seek?"
"Yaaay!! Ooowwwwoooo!!!" Rena howled happily. "Are you coming, Uncle Kawwi?"
"Sure," Kazzius said with a shrug, and the threesome headed outside to
the forest not far from the Lupe pack's den.
***
Mystical stood on a mountain peak looked back on the land where she had been
raised. Her father had offered to give her a good-bye feast, but Mystical refused
because she knew the pack needed to save food for harsh winter months and it
would be just too sad. She saw Dreamy and Kazzi walking back to the den for
the night with Rena skipping along with them. Silently, Mystical wished it could
be that way for her; she wished she could fit in and feel satisfaction living
in her family pack. But she couldn't. Something was missing.
With that in mind, Mystical turned and started down the mountain and away from
her pack's territory. She had often ran off for days to explore, but had never
gone out of the range where she could still communicate with her family by song.
Now, Mystical was completely on her own. It gave her a new feeling she'd never
felt before. When the scents of her family had completely disappeared from the
wind, Mystical decided she would stop and organize her thoughts.
"I can't head north because I'll surely freeze in the cold winter months, but
I can't head straight south because I'll reach the ocean," Mystical thought
out loud. "I'll have to head either southeast or southwest ... but which way?
Hmmm."
"Both nice ways. Very nice ways. Lupedog travel both-a-ways!" chattered
a fast, squeaky voice.
"Hello?" Mystical asked with ears cocked in curiosity.
"Many Lupedog go thaddaway, and many Lupedog go this-a-way! Me thinkee no Lupedog
likee dis place. Me no likee dis place either. Me go with Lupedog?"
Mystical looked around in confusion.
"Where are you?" She asked.
"Me uppa here!" the voice answered and Mystical looked up to see a Miamouse
whom had been curiously watching her. The Miamouse hopped down and repeated,
"Me go with Lupedog?"
Mystical thought for a moment. She had never had a PetPet before, but didn't
want to leave this one all alone, and she realized she could use a traveling
partner so she wouldn't have to talk to herself.
"Okay, you can come with me," Mystical decided.
"Yaaaay! Me likee Lupedog!" the Miamouse squealed and jumped on Mystical's
back.
"Please call me by my name -- it's Mystical," Mystical corrected.
"But me no hava name," the Miamouse sadly replied.
"Well, since you're my new PetPet, I guess it's my job to name you." Mystical
looked over the Miamouse. "How about 'Frisky'? That suits you."
"Fwisky? Me likee, Myyyuu--Myyyuuusttt--me no likee Lupedog name. Me calla
you FwiskysLupedog!"
Mystical sighed in frustration, but she was happy to have somebody cheer her
up. That's when she remembered her original problem.
"If you're going to ride on my back, then you can be my navigator. Southeast,
or southwest?" Mystical asked Frisky. The Miamouse closed it's eyes and spun
around in circles on Mystical's back -- tripping and falling off. When Mystical
went to check to see if it was okay, it simply smiled and pointed in the direction
in which it had fallen -- southwest.
"Thaddaway."
And so, the Lupess and PetPet were off on their adventure. Somehow, Frisky
managed to get a good grip on Mystical's back so she could run at full gallop.
As they went along, the forests got deeper, and the sky got darker. Soon, Mystical
couldn't even see the end of her muzzle in the dark night.
"Me wanna sleepynap," Frisky said with a yawn.
Mystical shook her head.
"We can cover more ground at night and hide during the day," she explained.
"But I do agree I can't go on much longer in this pitch black." She stopped
and scratched her head, then had an idea. "If I could find a way to call on
my abilities when I'm not in battle, I could use my Magic Torch!"
"Me usee sleepynap ability," Frisky muttered and curled up on Mystical's
back. Mystical than sat upright, sending the little Miamouse tumbling to the
ground. It then found Mystical's tail a better pillow and was satisfied. Mystical
closed her eyes and cleared her mind, like she did when she called on her psychic
gift. But, instead of using her powers to reach out, she reached inside herself...
searching for--ERP! Her concentration was broken when Frisky bit her tail. She
jumped up and sent the Miamouse tumbling again.
"Owowow!! What was that for?" Mystical asked.
"Me wakey-up Lupedog. Lupedog weird sleepynap. Lupedog scare-a Fwisky," Frisky
replied with a tremble.
"That's what they all say," Mystical sighed. She had always had to go off
on her own to practice her magic because the others thought she was strange.
Nobody understands, Mystical thought. My powers are much better than some stupid
hunting or battling.
"Me sowwy... don't cry, Lupedog," Frisky said as she placed her little paws
on Mystical's.
"I wasn't crying," Mystical denied as she quickly blinked away the moisture
from her eyes. "Now, please don't interrupt my concentration. I'll return in
a moment and you'll see."
Frisky nodded in understanding, and Mystical sat down and closed her eyes once
more. She cleared her mind and reached deep inside herself until she found what
she was looking for--her center. She concentrated on light and then called upon,
"Magic Torch!" Mystical opened her eyes and discovered that floating before
her was a lighted torch.
"I did it! I did it!" Mystical happily exclaimed. "I'm one step closer
on my path to becoming a Lupe mage!" She jumped up and down excitedly, and Frisky
squealed and did the same; although Mystical was sure the Miamouse didn't fully
understand why she was so happy.
To be continued... | 
