The First Day

*She paced around the courtyard, her sneakers making a hollow sound on the concrete under her feet. She balled her hands into fists at her side, angry about not being able to be running with Larka and the other wolves and stuck as a human. She gave a very unhuman growl from the back of her throat and thanked silently that no one was around to hear something so out of character.

Sighing, finally giving up on trying to transform and running away from this hanous place, she dropped onto a near by picnic table, debating whether to pull the things that covered her feet and let them feel the ground again. She hated not feeling the earth under her claws and and slid one shoed foot across the ground, listening to the scraping sound. Closing her eyes half-way she ran her foot along the ground again, dreaming of flying across this ground on all fours, the wind in her fur and the hard earth under her paws.

Then the realization came that she would not be able to transform for an unknown length of time. Her invisible wolf ears fell to her skull in defeat and she sat as still as stone at the picnic table, staring at the ground, no longer worrying about her shoes.*

Larka approuched the familiar wolf, her chin raised so she could catch the delicate scent to her nose. Toma, one of the wolves that ad once ran on vanishing paw if she rememebered correctly. She walked behind to female silently and fell to sit beside her.

"Thinking about it only makes it harder to live with." Her kept her tone soothing, and completely nuetral.

*She sighed, opening her eyes. "Nice to see you again, Larka."

Turning halway around, she looked at the wolf, nodding in respect. "I know, you're right. I just don't understand how anyone can handle being in this form. I feel so.." She sighed, trying to think of the right word, "So..weak!" She threw up her arms to emphasise.

She laid her elbows on her knees, and her chin in her palms. Now she remembered why she liked Larka so much. She was always calm and controlled and an easy wolf to talk to. Plus it was nice to have her close even though it was doubtful Larka liked this human place any more than she did.*

Larka sat stiffly, no longer easy going like she had once been when vanishing paw was still safe from humans and there had been many more wolves.
"I apologise for the discomfert you feel being a human. I am working hard to right the the great wrong and restore our people in the good graces of the mother and father gods."

*She looked at Larka, thoroughly confused. "What about this wrong? And why can't I shift all of a sudden? Did someone do something wrong?" She hated to pelt Larka with so many questions but hearing what she said made her awfully confused. Pressing two fingers to either temple, she sighed and closed her eyes, waiting for Larka to speak again.*

*She looked at the newcomer, thoroughly confused about who he was. She didn't recognize him and couldn't smell him, again cursing her human body. She ground her human teeth and cleared her throat just loud enough for the male to hear. "Hello," she called. "I'm Toma. Who are you?" She glanced at Larka, again waiting for the female to answer her questions that still swam in her head.*

*She blinked several times, very confused. She wondered if this was the same wolf she had met in Vanishing Paw. Her eyes widened on their own accord as she looked over him, trying to see some of the wolf that she thought he might be.

Shaking herself out of the spell, she nodded. "I'm Toma." She bit her tongue quickly to keep from blurting out anything about Vanishing Paw but was still very curious. She reminded herself she would have to ask Larka about this later.*

Larka made her tone light as she appraise dher friend, raising her chin in greeting.
"MiHiko, this is Toma, the leader of one ov the old packs. You should remember her." Larka closed her eye's after saying this, breathing slowly through her nose. Suddenly she felt the pressure of her mothers presents in her mind, and it was an unwelcome felling.

*She smiled at Hiko then looked at Larka. "What wrong needs righted? And why can I not shift? Is there anything I can do?"

Biting the inside of her lip, she took a deep breath to keep from blurting out any more questions. Leaning back against the top of the table, she sighed, letting out the breath and watched Larka.*

*She crossed her arms, leaning heavily against the table top and stared straight ahead of her, sighing heavily at what he had said.

"Why would the wolves not listen? They are lower rank. Stubborn wolves.." She snuffed her nose. "More like goats if you ask me from the way they sound."

She flashed a grin at her own joke and fell into silence, still very confused about a few points. And wondered how long it would take for the wolves to finally understand their roles or how many heads were going to knock together over this. Even if she couldn't do the knocking..*

*She waved a hand at the girl to dismiss the thought. "Not intruding at all." She flashed a semi-human grin, wondering how many of these people knew they were wolves.

She hopped to her feet after watching Hiko move to the tree and held out a hand to the girl. She looked over her as conspicuously as possible. She looks like a doll dressed up in all those clothes, she thought to herself. And a very prim and proper one at that. There's no way she could related to Hiko or a wolf unless she doesn't know she is one.

Her eyes waited on the ballet slippers on the girl's feet and she knew she had been looking at them too long and quickly brought her eyes back to the girl's face as a hint of the strawberry gloss hit her nose. It was a sweet scent but to her it made her a bit sick. The wolf smells had all but taken over her mind but she noted she would have to get used to smelling these new and slightly unappealing smells.

Just to ease her own tension, she flashed another grin, breathing mostly out of her mouth. Even if this girl looked nothing like her or the others, she had to make friends with these people. And she was determined to.*

Larka had been observing quietly, not sure how to take the sudden appearance of the stranger. Hearing the girl growl softly she stood straighter and stepped forward, biting her tongue as she felt her mother, The wolf goddess's presence.
"Fighting what is only natural will make your life harder. Breath, and dont worry. We dont bite, much."
Larka would move past the little doll of the girl, having cause a scent of wolf off her. She approuched Mohiko, glanced at him and kept walking, enjoying the feel of grass beneath her bare feet.

*She dropped her hand back to her side and glanced down at her shoes. She nodded a bit, agreeing with this girl about the shoes as she glanced down at them, pulling the heels together to make a hollow sound when they hit. Was it that obvious that she hated them and was it that obvious showing that they were uncomfortable on her feet?

She lifted her head just in time to see the girl's bow and listened to the somewhat babble she way saying. But she liked the babble and the shrine sounded interesting. As she watched, she saw the girl pull out the paper and write on it.

Watching as Larka passed, she turned her eyes back to the girl and saw how badly she was shaking and wrinkled her nose as a hint of something hit her nose that made her almost want to sneeze. She reached out with her right hand, her nose still wrinkled as she almost sneezed and took the paper, looking over the aqua colored marks on it and commited the address to memory.

"Yeah, thanks alot. Marriella.." she said the name slowly to remember it.

Glancing up from the paper she looked at Hiko then at the girl. A priestess? That was different. She had never met one and this girl certainly didn't look the part. At least, not like any kind of priestess she had ever seen before.*