Searching For the One [tag Lenni with Tara]

[ShyneOnMe]

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[atrb=background,http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac192/fireb4ashes/Salt---MIDDLE.png] A well muscled form moved confidently through the very outskirts of his home territory. He had done this many times before over the last few months but as always his search was bearing no fruit. If asked, he'd only say he was hunting which was his purpose within the pack, but the truth of things was that he was looking for someone that was very important to him. The young fae he had been training had up and disappeared one day when he'd been waiting for her. At first he'd thought Tara merely slept in or got turned around perhaps or even detained by another pack member. But all these thoughts fell away when he visited the den they had been sharing only to find her gone and her scent fading. He'd looked for her since this, gods knew he'd looked, but the female that brought out so much in him was no where to be found. For a while he wondered if perhaps he'd done something to chase her off; maybe been too demanding of her or something. Then his sister Pepper had reassuringly told him that such a thing couldn't be the case because Tara would have told him and not simply left. Salt knew his sibling was right yet he still couldn't shake the feelings of betrayal and loss at the sudden disappearance. It occurred to him she could have been hurt which lead to mean frustrating days outside his home looking for her. Now though, he'd begun to accept that perhaps he would never see her again. With the war in full swing it was possible someone had ambushed her and killed her. The very thought made his blood run cold and his heart clench but what else could it be? Where could Tara have gone? He didn't know, but still he wandered once again in the slim chance he would finally find her. Word Count: 328

[Aylenni]

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[atrb=background,http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac192/fireb4ashes/Tara-MIDDLE.jpg] The world was cold and crisp even in midmorning. I sucked in lungful after lungful of winter air, loving the sweet taste. Spring was my favorite air to taste, but even winter had it’s pleasures. The cold cut through my lungs like a knife, making me feel reborn. I felt strong and energetic for the first time in months. I didn’t know what sickness had overtaken me in the Willow Swamp, but it had left me barely alive, and with just enough strength to reach the mountains. One of the benefits of being blind is that you learn to distinguish differences in the way air tastes. It was as effective as a compass for finding my way around. Each breath told me what I wanted to know about my surroundings, but it wouldn’t do me much good when people or animals were moving quickly. That made it difficult to hunt, but that was what my other heightened senses were for. Failing that, there were always scraps and herbs to be had, for those who were looking hard enough. My footfalls fell light on the ground as I walked. The air was beginning to smell and taste like the sea. I had mixed feelings about the sea. I loved it, but it tended to cripple my senses of smell and taste. Salty air was just too overpowering. Salt, I thought sadly. I’d met the strange wolf on another beach, just after I’d lost Gabriel. Meeting Salt had changed me, somehow. It brought me a peace of mind that I hadn’t had since I’d gone blind as a pup. When I’d been sick, I’d been too worried about my recovery to think about my grief, but as it became clear that I was going to live, my mind slowly regained its usual turmoil. I worried about Gabriel’s memory. I worried about my family. I worried about my own health. But mostly I worried about Salt. I worried about what would happen if I couldn’t find him again- or if I could. He would probably be furious. I wouldn’t blame him, not in the slightest. But when the sickness had first taken hold, it had reminded me so violently of when I’d gone blind that I feared what I would lose next. I didn’t want Salt to see me even less whole than I already was. Fear still plagued my heart. What if the poison that had caused my blindness wasn’t finished with me? What if the snake’s fangs were a permanent curse? As if it wasn’t bad enough that I was broken already. I turned my mind away from those thoughts. They weren’t good for me. I turned my mind back to memories of Salt. They came bittersweet. As long as I’d been gone, Salt probably thought I was dead. Part of me hoped he did. I didn’t want to hurt him by making him think I’d run out on him. I cared about the smooth southern wolf with the voice like velvet. His voice had a feel to it. It reminded me of fall. Sometimes it was mellow and cheerful and warm- at other times it was biting and cold and I had to fight to do what it wanted. There was something about his accent that reminded me of the smell of burning leaves. They just went together in my mind, Salt and fall. Gabriel had reminded me of spring. Gabriel. For months the male who’d smelled like pine sap had been gone, but when the grief began to ebb away after I’d spent time with Salt, talking about it, I was plagued by doubt. I hadn’t heard him die. I hadn’t felt his body or smelled death in the air. I’d just run, and I knew that for the rest of my life I would wonder if he was truly dead. If he was alive… No, I thought. I don’t want to even consider that. But I couldn’t help it. If Gabriel was alive, then it didn’t bode well for Salt and I. If Gabriel was still alive, if by some miracle he had lived through the attack, if by some miracle he actually managed to find me again, what would I do? It was only a few months since we’d parted, but already I was changed. I felt less fragile, less dependent on others. Gabriel had had a habit of babying me, of treating me like a delicate flower. Could I still put up with that? Salt challenged me. He made me feel capable. With Salt, it wasn’t that I was unable to take care of myself- it was just that I wouldn’t. Every moment I spent with Salt made me a little angrier, a little more indignant, because of how hard he pushed me. But every moment I spent with him taught me more about myself, and what was more, he cared. He cared enough to teach me how to fight, how to use my heightened senses to my advantage and minimize the disadvantage of my blindness. And I cared back. I thought Salt was amazing. I looked up to him. If it ever came down to it, how could I ever choose between the two of them? I prayed it wouldn’t come to that. The next breath I took was odd. There was a taste that I knew, but it had been so long since I’d tasted it that I couldn’t remember what it was. I sniffed the air. The salty air muffled most of the other scents, but there was something there, something I knew. It smelled vaguely like pine needles. Then it was gone, replaced by something else. Something I had worried I’d never smell again. I considered turning and running away, but I was too curious to try. I took another deep breath, smelling the air and filtering out the sea. There it was. A scent so dear to me that I could hardly believe I smelled it again. ”Salt?” I asked cautiously. There was no response. ”Salt?” I called, louder. I started walking again, searching for the scent. ”Salt, is that you?” My voice was getting louder and louder, more and more emotional. ”Salt? Salt, where are you?” I missed you, I wished I could say. I wanted to find you. I wanted to tell you what happened to me but I was so sick, Salt. I didn’t dare say the words aloud. If I was wrong, if it wasn’t Salt I smelled, then I didn’t want to give anything away. But I’ve never been wrong before… I felt sand under my paws. I was on the beach again. How ironic, that Salt and I should always meet on beaches. If it’s really him, I thought. It had to be. I knew his smell. I knew him. The air felt like fall. It was a sign. He was here.