Why There Are No Black Lupes

Part II: The Journey

by Silver

Galilobo walked as fast as he thought the other Lupes could handle without getting tired out too quickly. He could have easily walked much faster were he alone, but he had cubs and old Lupes to think about. No one spoke during the journey through the woods. Even the younger Lupes were silent as they traipsed through the leaves scattered on the ground. To think that they have to go through this at such a young age, he thought. He sighed sadly, shaking his head.

Celest read his thoughts. It was one thing they had learned to do together since they had been wed. "Don't worry, Galilobo," she said reassuringly. "It's a wonder that any of us have to go through this. How long has it been since this has happened last - two thousand years?"

"Three thousand," he corrected quietly. The idea that he was at the center of a whirlwind that rare made him shudder. "Three thousand years," he said again. "And who breaks the record? I do!"

"Galilobo," she whispered.

"I just had to let Shadow join the pack," he continued, not hearing his mate's protest. "I just had to feed and shelter one of Nature's most evil creatures."

"Galilobo, Petal will hear you," Celest murmured urgently.

"I knew that something bad might happen!" Galilobo went on, his voice rising in distress. "I had never steered the pack wrong before, never let anything bad occur, and it does because of me! It's all my fault that this is happening!" He didn't realize that he was shouting until Celest broke through his thoughts with telepathy. Galilobo! her voice cried in his mind. That's enough!

He turned to see Celest and Petal staring at him. At his gaze, Petal backed away slowly, whimpering. The small pink petal on her forehead shone as her worry for her father mounted.

"Maybe I should go live with the Chias," he muttered. "I'd probably fit in better, being so darn nice to everyone." He quickened his pace.

There hadn't been time earlier in the day for him to think about what the spiral really meant; all he knew was that his pack was in danger, and he had to find them safety, and fast. Now, on this serene walk through the forest, his mind had begun to churn with guilt. If only he hadn't let Shadow into the pack. If only he had watched over Riverbed more carefully. If only he had battled his differences out with Shadow earlier. If only…if only…if only….His mind spun.

Galilobo stopped abruptly and turned to face the pack. They slowed to a halt. "I think we should spend the night here," he called out to them.

He heard Blade on his left mumble, "Not that we know when it's day or night anymore anyway…."

It was true. The spiral had continued to follow them through the woods. Obviously, Shadow had put some very strong spells on it, so that they couldn't escape it by running. They could no longer see the sun; all day it was night, and all night it was darker than the deepest waters in the sea. Still, Galilobo had enough trouble to deal with; he didn't need Blade adding any. He glared fiercely at the green wolf. Then he went off a ways to sit by himself and think.

He hadn't gone more than 10 steps when, suddenly, everything changed. It was much harder to walk; Galilobo had to lean forward to make any headway at all. There was a little more light around him. His paws were hardly touching the ground. He looked up and saw another thing that nearly shocked the fur off of him.

Bubbles.

There were bubbles floating all around him! Galilobo thought that it looked a lot like he was underwater until he realized he couldn't breathe. I am underwater! he thought frantically. He tried swimming up, but there was no "up" to be seen. He tried going back to the way he had come, but the forest seemed to have vanished behind him.

He was near panicking when soothing sounds began to float around him. It wasn't anything that he would have called music, yet there was no other name for it. The music drifted in and out of his ears, around the bubbles, and through his fur. He felt as if he was becoming part of the music more and more as each second passed. He still couldn't breathe, but it didn't seem to matter so much anymore.

He felt giddy. It was a wonderful feeling, after such a stressful day. He forgot all his troubles; his memory of the pack was erased from his consciousness. His eyes rolled and his tongue lolled out. The bubbles each had a face in them: the face of a Lupe. The Lupe looked familiar, but Galilobo was too relaxed to try and figure out who it was. His eyelids began to droop.

Suddenly, a voice cut through the music like a knife. It was inside his head! He raised one eyelid to look around, then closed it again and started to drift off to sleep. A few moments later, the voice reverberated against his skull again. This time he could make out the words. Galilobo! Where are you? I can't find you anywhere!

Who can't find me? he thought peacefully. I'm right here.

The voice came again. Galilobo, it's Celest! Can't you hear me?

At the word "Celest", everything came rushing back to him. His eyelids flew open. He turned and started to swim desperately toward the direction from which he had come to this awful place. A particularly large bubble floated before him and hovered in the water just in front of his nose. Galilobo finally recognized the Lupe's face in the bubbles: it was Shadow.

Gritting his teeth, Galilobo ignored the music as best he could, closed his eyes, and forced himself through the water inch by slow inch. His lungs burned for lack of air. Each stroke became harder and harder. Galilobo was nearly ready to just give up. Just… one… more… step… He pushed himself forward…

…and suddenly he was on the ground. His knees were so weak that they gave, and he tumbled to the ground. For a few minutes, he just lay there, gasping for air and shaking. Then he slowly got to his feet and started toward the Lupe pack, which was just a few feet away.

Their backs had been turned to him as they looked for him. When they heard him wheezing behind them, they spun around and bounded toward him with yips of joy and relief. Celest was the first one to him. "Where were you?" she demanded anxiously. Before he could gather enough strength to answer, a furry pink shape came flying through the air at him, knocking him to the ground once more. He stared up at Petal, who was licking her father's shoulder happily.

When the excitement had died down, Galilobo explained what had happened to him. The other Lupes looked at him in awe. A blue elder named Willow said softly, "It's been two days. We thought you'd been taken by Shadow."

The time factor hit him hard. Two days?! he thought. But how is that possible? Celest answered his unspoken question for him. "I'm guessing that, since you saw Shadow's face in the bubbles, it was his spell. Magic never works quite synchronously with the real world. Though you felt as if you'd been there for less than five minutes, forty-eight hours have actually passed. And Shadow never was the greatest of the Magical Lupes, anyhow. Still, had you not heard me, you would have drowned with that music putting you to sleep."

He looked at her for a moment, then whispered, "Thank you for breaking me out of the spell." She nuzzled him and replied, "What else was I to do? I love you. I wasn't about to lose you if I could help it."

"Yeah, Daddy," piped up Petal. "You're a great father. And all the other cubs think that you're a terrific uncle to them."

"Well," smiled Galilobo, "I'm glad that they think more of me than just their leader."

"We have to really hurry now. Who knows what other traps Shadow could have laid for us?" Willow pointed out.

After a half-hour's rest so that Galilobo could regain his strength, the pack once again set out for Silver's cave - and, hopefully, safety.