Leaving the Forest, Part IV
Nourd spent the night with the wolves. In the morning, he ran through the forest to talk to the bears. Elder Bear’s cubs were just as happy to see him, and just as upset to see him go. Elder Bear told him that he’d have a place with them. Just like Elder Wolf had, Elder Bear reminded him that he was one of her cubs too, and if anyone at the human nest upset him, she’d tear them to pieces.
He spoke with the apes after that. They too were sad, but they all understood the desire to be with his own kind. As much as he looked like them, they knew he wasn’t like them. After all, he only had a funny-looking tuft of fur on the top of his head, and he couldn’t grab things with his feet (how did humans live not being able to do that?)
When he was ready, he sought out Mother. He rested in the shelter of her branches for a time. This was his home, and he would never forget it.
Mother woke him and told him that Gorkle had arrived in the forest. When Nourd reached the base of her trunk, he found Elder Wolf and Elder Bear waiting for him. The three of them walked together to the entrance to the human nest, where Gorkle was waiting for them.
“Elder Bear, Elder Wolf,” it said, bowing. “It is an honor to see you.”
“Nourd is one of my cubs,” Elder Bear said. She stood on her hind legs. “You will treat him with the love he deserves, or I’ll devour you.”
“You’d better hope she does,” Elder Wolf said. “You don’t want me to get to you first.”
“Gentle beasts, there’s no need for threats,” Gorkle said. Nourd caught a slight scent of fear. “The court will treat Nourd with the same love we treat all our people. I will oversee him personally. You have my word that no harm will come to him.”
When Nourd smelled the air again, he caught another scent. A second human, a familiar one. Happiness burst forth from inside him.
“Where’s the other human?” Elder Wolf asked. She lowered her head and eyed Gorkle carefully.
“Someone else wanted to see Nourd,” Gorkle said. It turned back and motioned someone forward.
The scent was two scents. The two humans that had been in the forest a few days ago.
“Oshal!” Nourd said.
“Hello again,” Oshal said.
With him was the other human, the one Gorkle had called “Lady Durwey”. Oshal walked with a stick, tapping out the path in front of him before he walked. He came to a stop and held the stick on the ground.
“Who are these humans?” Elder Bear asked. She fell onto all fours then stepped forward, eyeing them and smelling the air.
“This is Lady Durwey and Apprentice Oshal. They were in the forest a few days ago, and Apprentice Oshal wanted to meet Nourd.”
Elder Wolf glanced at Nourd. She leaned in closer to him.
“This is the boy?” she asked quietly.
Nourd nodded, keeping his eyes on Oshal.
Elder Wolf walked up to Oshal then lied down. She sniffed him again. When she did, he slowly held out his hand.
“Hello,” he said. “Who are you?”
Not being of the forest, Oshal couldn’t understand anything they had been saying. Even so, he smiled. He smelled of happiness and trust. He wasn’t afraid, even when he knew there was something large in front of him. Elder Wolf could’ve swallowed him whole, but he wasn’t afraid.
Lady Durwey stepped closer, but Gorkle held out his hand to her and she stopped.
“This is Elder Wolf, of the wolf tribe.” In their language, he added, “Elder Wolf, this is Apprentice Oshal.”
“He smells different,” she said. “But there’s a hint of something I don’t like.”
Nourd knew what that was. It was the smell of the dragon human. He didn’t know what that thing smelled like, but he knew that it was supposedly Oshal’s sister. That still didn’t make sense to him. How could a dragon human have a family?
“I promise I’ll take care of Nourd,” Oshal said. “We all will. They’re all very nice at the court.”
“That’s enough,” Lady Durwey said. She smelled a little nervous. “Grand Master Gorkle, we must be going.”
Sadness built up inside Nourd. It was the moment he’d been dreading all morning. He turned to Elder Bear and hugged her, as well as one could hug a large furry tree.
“Come home soon, my little cub,” she said.
He hugged Elder Wolf next. He buried his face in her fur, and smelled the warm smell of family and love.
“Remember, you’re part of the pack,” she whispered.
He never wanted to leave her side. She and Mother had looked after him his whole life. But he knew it was time to go to the human nest, to live among them instead of the creatures of the forest.
“I love you,” he whispered to her.
“I love you too, my pup.”
He backed away from them, toward the human nest. The court. That’s what they called it. He’d have to learn to call it that too. He’d have to learn to live with this new sadness. Was it worth all this to be among humans?
Mother whispered to him, telling him not to be afraid, that he would always have a home with her. They were never far away.
Nourd wiped the tears from his eyes and turned to Gorkle, Durwey, and Oshal. Durwey still smelled of fear, but something else too, something that smelled like sadness. Gorkle was full of smells, many of them from the forest. Nourd liked the thought that he’d never stop smelling like the forest.
Oshal smiled at him, a smile and air full of kindness.
“It was hard for me when I said goodbye to my father,” he said. “But everything will be alright.”
Nourd nodded and walked with him inside the court. It was a new place, a new world, but he was sure that Oshal was right. Everything would be alright.