Welcome to Gaia! ::

Adenar moved deftly through the thick growth of the forest as if it didn't exist. He was a master at quick travel through rough terrain, even if he was carrying the frail figure of Kira. She lay limp in his arms as he walked, following the sound of music. The soft harmonic tones rang through the trees in the direction of a glade he never knew existed until Kira had told him of its presence.

The trees began to thin, and the underbrush vanished as the trees became taller and more ancient. Then, as they began to thin further, Adenar could see the light glisten through the gaps ahead. As Aden emerged from the trees he saw a glade, lit with light from the approaching sundown. Flowers of alien colors were dispersed through tall grass and ponds. The valley and mountains above were visible, looming majestically over the small clearing. A mist clouded the area somewhat, and several patches of blue and purple flowers were radiating a peaceful aura similar to that of the earth itself.

Aden carried Kira over to a patch of these flowers and shifted his grip so that she could be held in one arm. Then he removed his trench coat and placed it on the ground, allowing it to act as a blanket for Kira as he placed her on the ground. He leaned over her and kissed her whispering audibly and mentally, "We are here."

Aden wrapped his arms around her and shivered at the cold as a breeze played across his light linen shirt. A feeling of giddy excitement grew within him and he playfully stroked her back with his fingertips. He reached out to her with his mind and waited for her to respond.

Adenar gently enters her mind, trying to absorb her thought feelings sensations and emotions. He felt everything she did, and heard everything she thought. Her mind was filed with vast memories, and he did not know where to start. I feel so overwhelmed. Where should I start?

Adenar, overwhelmed with emotion, begins to shake with strong sadness and tears come unbidden to his eyes. He could feel the battlefield raging around him. The intensity of the memory caused him to nearly lose control of his own mind several times. Recovering, he retreated from the memory as it ended. Adenar sat and gasped for air. During the sharing he had clutched to her for support. Her scent comforted him and his breathing slowed.

Aden scanned back through the memories that he had collected in his short life so far... Though they were few, each was as vivid and impacting on his life as Kira's. He selected a memory of a day in his old home in Switzerland, only hours before the members of Devoncroix there had migrated to Aviano.

As he proffered the chain of memories to her, the glade again vanished. In a small village along a lake in central Switzerland, the was a small blacksmith shop. The place Aden knew well... The sun was sinking just past the horizon and the stars began appearing, pinpricks in the curtain of night. Adenar, much younger than he was now, stood with a man that he strongly resembled. The larger man was Bardus Jr, Aden's father and master blacksmith of Creche. Creche was the small village they lived in on Grenain Lake. Aden looked at the wall of tools one more time and picked out a hammer. He tested its balance and then handed it to his father, who stowed it in leather packing roll that they would bring with them to Aviano. Aden was filled with sorrow as he sorted out the tools he would probably never return to again.

The memory jumped through time several hours.

Aden was on a road. A restless group of travelers surrounded him, other lycans making the journey to Italy. They would have to walk to the train platform nearest to them at Nechiem. Aden looked at this father, who carried all they owned in a cart behind him. They had no other way to transport their belongings to the train. His muscles bulged a moment and a vein appeared in his arm when they hit a stretch of ascending road.

A day later.

Aden held his drenched coat to his shivering frame as he stood watching his father try to pull the cart out of a hole in the road created by the torrential downpour. The amount of water that was pouring down upon them was not helped by the strong winds blowing in from the north. They had been caught between two large masses of air, one hot approaching from the southwest off the Mediterranean and one cold from the Mountains to he north. The violent mix wreaked havoc on the group of people for twelve hours and still poured rain on them. Aden walked over to his father. "We need to catch up with the others... let me help." His father ignored him and continued straining his muscles, trying to free the cart from the mud. Aden walked over to one of the handles and started trying to pull. He slipped and fell as the cart began to move. The iron rimed wooden wheel rolled onto his ankle, breaking it severely. His father dropped the cart and pulled Aden out from under it. He swore furiously and kicked Aden, anger flashing in his eyes. Aden rolled ten feet and lay where he landed, several ribs broken. Bardus picked the handles back up and continued straining, and then after freeing the cart from the mud continued walking along the road, disregarding his son, who lay lifeless on the ground sobbing. Aden experienced the emotions he had that day, and pain and sadness washed over him... A girl ran over to him from one of the other lagging families... it was his childhood sweetheart, Lenne. For a while they were intimate, but then their relationship became more distant, though they still remained close friends. She picked him up carefully and walked him over to her family.

Aden was filled with disappointment, sadness, and loathing. It returned to him after all those years as if it were fresh in his mind. He reached down and rubbed the spot where his father had kicked him. He had healed fully, but the kick he had received broke skin and left a nasty scar that reminded him of that day for the rest of his life so far.

When I next saw him he acted like nothing had happened... I was never able to live up to his ambitions for me. Because I was never able to live up to his skill or honor, he treated me like I was worthless.. Nothing. He died of Pneumonia on the train ride here...

Aden smiled as he watched Kira's initiation, knowing that she would succeed at her station. He frowned a bit as the memory faded. That is unfortunate... I'm sorry things didn't turn out differently for him. Death while so young is not fair. Here, I have a happier memory....

The glade dissapeared and a cold Aviano appeared.

I remembered it recently... but we met a long time ago. You may laugh when you remember, but I was only a child.

It was winter, over eight years ago. Aden walked in the city gates, clothes ragged and limping slightly. He was alone and cold, so he spent his last coin on bread from a woman walking around, much as Faina did now, with loaves of bread. The warm bread was so satisfying to him, warmth and happiness filled his soul as he looked at this new home. People smiled at him as he walked up the main street. Aviano was different then, happier... quieter. Aden, so focused on his first day in Aviano, ran straight into a cloaked figure. As he looked up from the ground a white paw extended and helped him up and then patted him on the head. A smile appeared from under her hood and a glint of amethyst from the stranger's eyes seemed to relax Aden. Aden walked off, giddy and unaware of who he had run into. The memory faded out.

That day I spent finding a job, and was a blacksmith for a few years before I was sent off for military training in Germany. When I returned I was a different person, stronger, faster, and older. I didn't even realize it until now, but that was you wasn't it?

Aden stoked her cheek softly with his dexterous fingers. He kissed her lightly and gazed into her eyes.

The kiss was returned again from his lips, and Aden thought to himself what he had been thinking since the day in the lab that he had discovered his affection for her. I think I am in love. Love... it was a rare word for Aden to use, because he took it seriously. He held her close and conveyed more lesser memories through her. His childhood in Switzerland, Lenne, the time he spent in Germany, his military training, and his time as a guard in the city. Each held a variety of emotions, and often caused tears of sadness or joy.