Echo

*To the wolf with the scar over your heart*
ECHO

*Fading stars amidst the sea*

*Coming, falling one two three*

*Pump your heart to join the song*

*Of the falling stars in Sea of Wrong*

*Little Wolf, my Little Wolf, dive into the sea*

*Retrieve the dying stars so dim*

*And return them by their plea*

*Little Wolf, my Little Wolf, stars echo in your eyes*

*Reach for the moon so bright, so far*

*And you'll surely land among the stars.*

You remember your mother singing that poem. It is like a faint memory, lingering in the backs of your mind. Your eyes were closed. You couldn't see her face, you could just hear her voice, gentle like an evening breeze.

You were born with a scar. They said you were cursed. The Healer said that you were a bad omen, a dark form of wolfcraft. Alpha said you were bad luck, that you would bring discord to the pack.

You are cursed.

You wanted to be normal. You wanted to stay in your mother's paws. But they ripped you away from your mother and threw you into the cold, dark forest. You are cursed, and you are alone.

Your eyes opened soon after that. You remember the clawing, bare branches like the talons of great beasts. They linger towards you, wanting to snatch you in their gaping maws. You run, but you don't know where.

You are cursed. You are alone. You are cold.

Now you have two scars.

One over your body.

And one over your heart.

You grow alone in the forest, eating darkness and drinking rot. Your mind slips into darkness. You cannot feel anything anymore except for cold.

You are cursed.

You are alone. You are cold.

You are darkness.

The stars hide from you. The trees bow. One day the pack who rejected you would be kneeling in pain before you. You would use your powers. You would wipe them out.

*But you are not strong enough,* you whisper. *Not strong enough.*

*Not yet, Echo, not yet.*

*Wait. Be patient.*

*The time will come. Soon you will be ruler over all. Soon they will feel pain.*

*They will know what it is like to be rejected.*

As tears fall down your face, they crash into the soil. Darkness snakes up from it in coils of blackness. You walk through it, you hide in it. It ensnares your mind. You find peace in it.

You grow stronger. The forest rots before you as you make your way back to your birthplace. The ground decays into black holes of obsidian. The stars crash down into the sea of darkness, their songs fading beneath the crashing black waves. The world spins around you, and yet you are still not happy.

Not yet.

Those who cast you out must suffer first.

Your birthplace is just ahead, filled with light. Anger churns inside of you. They do not deserve to be happy. They deserve darkness and evil.

You reach out, tendrils of darkness snaking towards the camp. Your ears are pricked, your eyes are filled with red light.

A flash of white light sends you crashing backwards.

A whistling sound echoes in your ears.

You cannot see anything.

You feel weak.

Your eyes slowly open. You see the forest around you, pulling light into it and eating it, decaying it into darkness.

Your eyes shift weakly to the tree in front of you.

A white bird sits there, silent and eerie. Its yellow eyes are full of misty light, and it wreaths around it. You open your mouth. "Why?" you whisper. "Why is this happening to me?"

It was the first real words that you had spoken, ever.

The white raven blinks slowly. A single word comes from it, but its beak never opens.

*"You."*

Realization hits you like a stone to the chest. You were the cause of yourself. You brought yourself to this.

Tears fall, but this time they are normal tears.

Tears of sadness.

Tears of hurt and confusion.

The white raven slowly turns its head. Its eyes lock with yours. The red light fades from their depths.

"How can I be normal?" you whisper. "How can I be good?"

The raven blinks again. It opens its beak. Light floods from it.

It hits you in the chest. Pain rips through you as dark and light clash inside of you. It tears through you, and you scream in pain. Light floods from your eyes and your mouth, crashing around you.

You fall.

You hit the earth, panting, breathing fast. You feel different. A different you have never felt before. You feel love.

Love replaces hatred.

Happiness replaces anger.

Light replaces dark.

You turn to look at the raven, but it is gone. You stand up, blinking hard. Had it been a dream, an echo in your mind?

Or had it been real?

You get up and start towards your birthplace again.

You enter the camp.

Wolves cringe away from you, whimpering, their ears flattened.

They are scared of you.

You open your mouth and breathe out light.

It floods the camp.

It floods their hearts.

It fills the forest with light. The darkness fades, the rot vanishes into the earth.

The dead stars resurrect and leap, dancing into the sky.

The wolves in the clearing bow before you.

Not in pain.

In love.

You are good. You are not alone. You are light.

A flash of light enfolds in front of you. You see white wings, as vivid as stars, unfurl in front of your eyes. The white raven lifts its wings towards the stars, flying towards the light.

You follow.