Astraea's Journey

" Andromeda, Honey!, Hurry it up, you know how your father feels about tardiness!" My mom called up the stairs.  I flicked my eyes over to the clock in the corner of the room and muttered between the hair pins in my mouth "shoot, how did the time go by so fast?" I spat the hair pins into my hand after finally twisting lili's hair properly.  " Finally! Done! Lili, can you check mine real quick?" Lili nodded and we switched places so she could check my twist.  I called down to mom " Sorry mom, we will be down in two shakes of a lambs leg.  Lili's hair didn't want to cooperate with me." I heard mom huff impatiently and felt Lili's hand on my should letting me know that my hair was good.  I stood up and fixed my dress and double checked that there were no stains on the dress.  I never liked the fact that we had to wear a white dress, all of the boys got to wear black to represent the night sky, but we girls had to wear a pure snow white dress and cloak for the ceremony.  I felt so ridiculous with my bare feet and dress, I missed my hunting boots and my jeans.  Marianna pocked me out of my thoughts and I gave her a grateful grin as she pushed me down the stairs, Lili had already run down.  " Thanks Mari. I get so stuck in my head, and this is my last chance, I feel so ridiculous walking through this with all of those eighteen year olds,  I feel like i'm still eighteen you know?" I told her walking towards the stairs. "I get it, but we have never had someone not link in our pack, you will get there just take a deep breath everything will be fine." She gave me a quick smile and a reassuring squeeze then walked down the stairs.  I nodded and rolled my shoulders quickly taking a breath before walking down to where my mom and sister were waiting for me.   Mom gave me a pained smile, we were running a bit behind schedule. " I'm sorry mom, I know, I know, but Lili's hair kept refusing to cooperate with the hair style and I had to re-do it twice before it stayed put." Lili went to rub her head but I grabbed her hand away and said " Don't you dare, I know exactly how painful it is but if you mess up what took me an hour to get perfect you will have a much bigger headache than hairpins on your hands got it." She nodded and rolled her eyes at me.  I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath and linked arms with her.  " Alrighty lets get out of here and meet our future." I said stiffly.  She nodded we gave mom a quick kiss on her cheek before walking out the door to meet the others. Mom and Mari wouldn't be joining us until the link had finally happened, but dad had a speech to give our group before I led them down to the creek.  My stomach was in knots, this would be the third time that I went through the ceremony, but it was the first time I had to lead.  Only the oldest would be link was supposed to lead, and I never thought that would be me.  " So glad everyone could make it on time" My dad spoke in a booming voice as Lili and i scurried to our places.  I gave him a quick nod of apology and he nodded back then went on with his speech.  " Ladies and gentleman.  Welcome to the linking ritual, for some of you this will be your first path, for others your second or third.  As you know the linking ceremony dictates that any child of our pack between the ages of 18 and 20 must perform the ritual that our forefathers underwent to connect with your second half and truly become a member of the pack. If you fail to successfully link, unfortunately you must go to the land of the unlinked and will no longer be able to live on pack lands.  I know this is a scary thought, but do not fear, in the 300 years that our pack has been around no one has had the disgrace of leaving unlinked. As you all know before you walk the road of our forefathers, you shall hear the story of the original link.  One clear evening three centuries in the past, a man crept down the path you are about to walk, a bow in his hand, arrows on his back and hunger in his belly.  His family had found no food in a day, the rest of his village was slowly starving and food was the only thought in his mind as they needed to start collecting for winter.  He could still feel the bruises from the callus soldiers who beat him and the other village leaders after refusing to give them their food stores as an extra tax.  The man continued down the path even though the sun was setting and stars were coming into focus.  The man strained his eyes looking forward down what he thought was a familiar hunting path.  As he continued walking down he noticed the path was clearer than he thought and he was able to clearly see the grass along the edges of the path.  His gut tightened in suspicion, knowing that this has to be the work of druids.  He continued down the path hesitantly then heard a soft song drawing him forward, as the song became louder he felt his bruises become less sore and his belly felt full.  He continued down the path bewildered until he reached a clearing, a creek flowed through the middle of the clearing wide enough that the moon was perfectly reflected in the slow moving water. He remembered his empty water skien and walked towards the creek while taking in the rest of the clearing, the beautiful willow tree flowing over the creek almost touching it and the beautiful flowers that seemed to be in full bloom under the full moon.   As he walked closer to the creek he felt a cool breeze pushing him towards the water he walked a bit faster, all thought leaving his mind as he reached the water.  Once at the edge of the creek the man fell to his knees and leaving the water skien at his side he pulled water to his mouth in his hands, drinking in the clear water desperately.  After a few handfuls he heard something else drinking the water and found a wolf on the other side of the creek.  The man froze unsure how to escape the situation.  The wolf seemed to notice him at the same time and they locked eyes.  The man was shaking with fear worried for his family.  The wolf started growing, his shoulders moving as if ready to pounce when suddenly a woman in white appeared between the man and the wolf.  "ENOUGH, YOUR KINDS HAVE FOUGHT LONG ENOUGH. NO LONGER WILL YOU BE ENEMIES TOGETHER YOU SHALL BRING FORTH A BETTER ERA." The woman spoke firmly then pulled forth from the ground a large rock, with just enough room for the man and the wolf to stand with her in the middle of the creek.  She beckoned the man and wolf to the platform and they followed her directions.  "NOW, LOOK EACH OTHER IN THE EYE AND BOW, YOU TWO SHALL FROM HERE FORTH BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER AND WORK TOGETHER TO DEFEND THESE LANDS AND THOSE MEN AND WOLVES WITHIN." The man and wolf looked each other in the eye and nodded their heads, suddenly the man was able to see through the wolfs eyes and the wolf was able to understand the spoken word of the man.  They looked at each other with clear understanding and turned to bow to the woman the man asked her " Ma'am, how will others be able to create this link?" the woman smiled down at him and caressed his face.  Tomorrow evening, while the moon is at its fullest, you shall bring your clans to this spot, one by one your people will meet on this rock and find their link.  Once linked you cannot be unlinked, there will be others like you in the world, one day but to ensure that you will continue, You will also have a pairing with a female to ensure that these bloodlines continue the pairing will not be found for three years after the link has been created to allow time for the link to be well cemented. " The man nodded as did the wolf.  And suddenly the woman disappeared leaving the man and wolf to follow her instructions and creating one of the most peaceful era's in all of time. " My father finished the story and we all took a deep breath at the weight of what this ceremony will mean for us.  Dad turned to me and placed his hand on my head " Lead this group to the sacred space and find your wolves." I nodded feeling the weight of my responsibility and walked towards the path, I heard the rustling of feet behind me as the eight people who would be joining the journey followed me towards the creek.  As we walked my fathers voice washed over us once more with the ceremonial words " Young ones, the time has come for you to act as generations before you, walk the path, drink the water, step on the stone and be graced with a link."  His words seemed to echo down the path and we walked the now dark path, slowly it began to lighten as we reached the moon lit clearing.As I reached the edge of the clearing I stopped so that those behind me could spread out beside me.  Now that we were in the clearing we would walk forward as one, along with the Eight wolves that could potentially be our pairing.  As we walked as one we saw the wolves on the other side I gasped as I saw the beautiful hunters walking toward us.