Chapter One

She huddles into a corner wincing.  Not all her attempts to hold her ears, nor the scarf wrapped around her head keep out the constant din of voices rising and falling around her.

Through the mists that tear at her hard fought balance, he reaches and his gentle voice lifts her up.  His faceless form is less than a blur of all the others, she feels his warmth and reaches out shyly to the high lord.  Sensing her inner battle he offers her a companion, a loyal archer who exudes aged wisdom and a wicked sense of humor.

She has naught to offer the high lord in exchange but her scarf.  The sole defence against the storm around her is soon unwrapped and given as a small exchange for the archer now standing beside her holding out his arm as support.

She smiles as the lord accepts and feels some sense of balance restored to her frantic world.   She sets down the road and smiles as she moves.  The archer's whispered tales of the deeds of the high lord keep the unbalancing clamors of this strange world at bay and gives her hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Chapter Two

A wolf offering non-damage training?  She stops and reads the message then ponders his words.  It takes courage and trust to answer words that issued through such sharp jaws.  Her whispered please though is responded to with courteous speech and gentle hands demonstrating the technique she needs to learn.   She smiles as she flows through the training forms and gains a bit of grace to hone the sharp edges off her newness to this land.

Wolves have honour shining from their eyes, rightness to add balance to the land, and lone or not the wolf pup holds within him the glory and greatness this land proffers.  He may have called it non-damage training but she will remember it as training to learn and learning to trust in the balance and flow of this land.

She whispers to her loyal archer companion of the new ways taught by the wolf warrior.  He laughs and reminds her that good may walk in fur as well as in light. 

Chapter Three

The small one looked up and up finally resting her trembling gaze on the stern visage of the mighty warrior.  He has kind eyes behind that mask - I think I saw them twinkle.  She shook a bit as she firmly set her knees into a rigid lock and then addressed him.  "Excuse me my Lord but could you enlighten me as to why this road winds around and becomes its own tail?"

The warrior paused and then a strangled sound resembling a choked off laugh arose from him.  "Becomes its own tail?  I'm never thought about the topology in quite those terms but yes it does indeed.   Until you find balance you are forced to repeat your steps and revisit until the old is new in your eyes."  He patted her head then strode on, his figure becoming indistinct in the fading light and then vanishing around a corner that straightened out behind him.

She sighed and headed down the road contemplating balance.   The Archer whispered to her about courage as they walked and looked for the new but finding only the old.