Once upon a time...

...there lived a vagabond, right on the fringe of a sacred wood. She was alone, but not lonely; she'd never, ever needed anyone her whole life. She knew herself well, and no one could tell her anything different (although, according to the great wizard, everyone knew that the thing she prized most was someone really, truly knowing her). But someone she had crossed paths with had made her, for a fleeting moment, question her own worth. Question her place in the kingdom. And so she wandered, aimlessly. She wasn't looking for anything - just trying to mend whatever had been torn between her and the universe. All on her own.

Along came a hunter. He was highly skilled and she wanted to learn from him - wanted to know how to survive, wanted to be taught how to conquer all of the things she'd never faced. His enchantment made her realize that maybe, just maybe, although she didn't need someone - she could want someone. And that feeling was so foreign and so frightening and so terribly wondrous that she was overwhelmed. So she followed him.

While following the hunter, the vagabond, in her ever-curious way, noticed all the things moving throughout the trees - the dryads were thick and the air was sweet. Dewy grass and packed leaves should have cooled her. But there was heat there, making its way through the forest, the way a storm on Jupiter warms a foreign atmosphere. She could feel it coming.

And then she saw the wolf.

He was quiet; she could feel his steel resolve, waiting patiently in the dark. The vagabond looked for him at every turn. A chance to touch him, a chance to see his eyes glow... everywhere she went, she tracked him. She called for him, even while she was close to the hunter. Lingering behind an oak, she would catch glimpses of his strength and his solitude. She could feel him everywhere. He was already around her, through her, inside of her.

And then, one night while the stars were making time travel possible, showing her a sky that was older than anything she'd ever seen, she looked into his eyes and saw herself. She saw everything he knew. Everything he'd seen when he'd been to the future, where she would rest her head on his strong body and drift to sleep. She knew then that if she hunted him, she would find him. That she would be unable to escape his strength; that she would be willing to feed his appetite. Would be wanting to stay in the woods with him. Wanting him to want to know her. Wanting him to memorize her, ask her questions, find out who she was. Wanting to quell his anger after a long day of the kind of work one must put in when living in the forest. Wanting to lay with him in the moonlight and feel the rhythm of his breathing.

And so the vagabond went out on her own. No hunter. No guide. No weapons or defense. She found him and ran her trembling fingers through his fur... felt his strong shoulders... felt his everything. And she wanted nothing else in the world.

Nothing was spoken. Neither could speak the right language. But there was no need for words, no need for questions. She was close and unafraid.

His eyes said, "Stay."

And she did. Forever.