Chapter 129
As the group moved towards getting back onto Highway 791, Nat appraised their group that traveled today. Bryden was leading the group, while two of the currently unnamed wolves walked with him. Apparently the five that had doubts of whether or not to join had come to a conclusion after last night's conflict. Turns out that the main reason that they were unsure of whether or not to follow Nat as their Alpha was due to their lack of knowledge on if she was physically capable enough to lead the pack. The brutal efficiency they had seen last night, as well as the dedication she had to getting stronger had shown them that she was as capable as could be. The two traveling today had gotten the names Edgar and Mike, while the other three were named Stephanie, Ariel, and Steve.
On the topic of names, Natalie was dreading the future a lot. She had never been good with names, and she had another forty-six pups that were slowly growing up that would need some eventually. After all, she had named a female wolf pup at the zoo Lady. Her names were not necessarily the most original. Hell, Sol and Luna got named because they both looked and acted like a sun and moon together. The thoughts on what to name the massive amount of young canines filled her thoughts and nightmares, worrying that one of the canines might not like the names she came up with. Thankfully, all of the unnamed pups were at the point of either being nursed, or slowly weaned off their mother's milk. That meant she had time before they gained their own personalities and attributes, but not much. The accelerated growth in the Soulscape seemed to weigh heavier and heavier with each passing day.
In that regard, did the accelerated time affect the adult wolves in a similar way? There was so much that she still did not know about how it worked, and barely anything standing out as a guiding post. It had been just over a month since the event, which meant that about four months had passed if it stayed at a standard rate of acceleration in the Soulscape. For the adult wolves she bonded with in the beginning, such as Bryden and Maia, it would be hard to notice many signs of aging. While they were adults, Maia was actually the oldest as far as she could tell sitting at about six years of age. They could not be sure, given how little wolves changed between the ages of three and seven, but it seemed accurate. Sure, signs of aging could be seen right now, but they could possibly not show up till she was already at ten years of age. Even with the Soulscape changing time for everyone, it could take over a year before they had any signs or information if there really was aging past getting to their physical prime. If they did not age anymore, then it raised a whole new dilemma. How long would they have to wait to see anything to show up. Waiting five years, with no sign of aging would probably be far enough, but that was all data that would have to be collected in the long term.
While Natalie was lost in her pondering of the health effects that the Soulscape had on their bonded animals, Shannon was focused on her energy manipulation. She could feel her energy reserves increase each day, and was able to fill more of her system with it. This was probably due to the gorillas recovering slowly but surely inside her, strengthening the bond. She was now able to fill one limb alongside her torso, but she found the immediate use of applying it to her head far more beneficial at the moment. While she was never well versed in the way that the human brain functioned, her eyes, ears, and nose were a far different story. Already she could see far, smell sharply and hear a pin drop from quite a distance. None of it was on the level that Natalie had explained, but that may be due to their bonds more than it was the energy. Gorillas were not nearly able to hear as well as canines, but their smell came quite close to equaling them. Then there was their vision, which was by far superior. Sure, Nat could see far, but it was a difficult endeavor for her, whereas picking things out in the distance came to Shannon quite easily. So easily in fact that she noticed the small buildings they were approaching at the same time as the wolves around them had their ears perk up. That gave her a pretty good vague of distance, as wolves could hear things that were kilometers away.
As the info was passed to her, Nat snapped out of the mental gymnastics she had been in and stopped in place. "The wolves say they hear movement ahead, and Bryden says it sounds similar to goblins." Nat said, filling Shannon in on what the wolves had heard.
"Probably, there is a small set of buildings ahead that look like either some small refinery, storage, or power station. It is right on the corner of this road and 791 from the look of it." Nat just stared at her wife in surprise. She could not even see that far, and yet Shannon could. Slowly she came to the same conclusion that Shannon had, as she remembered her book said that gorillas had superb eyesight. That caused her to double take, as it meant that Shannon's eyes were being reinforced with the energy to see that. How did she gain access to it already?
Shelving that line of questions, they then discussed how to go through this whole situation. The canines wanted a chance to show off their own abilities, and knowing that the new blood felt a need to prove themselves to a new Alpha, Nat sided with them. Shannon eagerly agreed with the idea of wiping them out, as having goblins behind them was leaving a potential threat open. Having concluded their plans with what to do, Bryden led Max, Stephanie, Steve, Edgar, and Mike forward, while Nat and Shannon followed them from a slight distance behind. Now, the pack was beginning their hunt, and they were out for monster blood.
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