Small Packages

by the Crisses

One day, returning from hunting, the wolf bitch was surprised to find her niche was not empty. A small, slender, pale elven lass lay there. She smelled familiar to the wolf, although it was not a wolf's way to wonder why. She smelled like a packmate. The wolf made the assumption that the elf lying there was a friend. The elf awoke and seemed to agree with the wolf, and that's when the wolf bitch got the name Brenhani or Nighthope, and the newcomer to Kerri was Crimishia or Nightwind, Dreal's sister's descendant. Neither questioned their comfort with each other, mainly because Nightwind had never seen a wolf, much less grass or friendly sunlight before, and had no reasonable expectations. Everything she knew of sunlight, grass and trees she had gotten from dreams where she shared her life with an elegant elvish woman named Drendel.

Nightwind had never personally seen grass, trees, much less a wolf, and had no idea that having a wolf as a friend would be odd for any elf, so she accepted Brenhani as a friend, and they established more communication than an elf and wolf should have with one another. Nightwind was not alone in her body, however. She was used to having one companion in her head, for Warren was there from her birth. Later she was visited in her head by Drendel, but only at certain times, and it was not that she was fully living in Nightwind's body, she was a witness to Nightwind's life and thoughts and nothing more.

Nightwind was having problems on her homeworld, so as part of a deal for Nightwind to leave she volunteered for an experiment that added countless new people into her head. The resultant confusion and inability to fully control who was leading her body around left Nightwind unable to properly look after herself for a while, during which time Brenhani helped her survive. Some of Nightwind's new mental residents helped her survive, while others merely confused her.

Nightwind

Brenhani