The Misadventures of the Missed Adventurers

[Katchoo]

Outside of the Maze the grey wolf bites down into the warm flesh of a freshly killed rabbit. Abbrubtly though, the voice that came from everywhere came again...

"..in return for your assistance to them, would you consider a tracker that would allow you to see where all the animals are in ten miles? or perhaps, with your sense of smell, a suit of mail that changes to match your appearance and is light as a feather? i will understand your reply."

When the wolf first heard the voice he was mildy fightened, since the voice came from no place that the wolf could taste its scent. Yet the wolf came back to an ease with the understanding that he would be defenseless against an attacker he couldn't scent in advance, so why waste the time fretting?

As before, the wolf understood the meanings from the voice. Magic and man-made skin...

What use are man-made objects to me? Thought the wolf. I was born, I live, and I will die. These are the realities I live with. The other animals in the forest live with this understanding. So do the plants. I live with this certainty and accept it.

But man does not. Man sees these certainties but spends his existance making every attempt he can to alter them. These certainties are what make and hold the Natural World around us. To spend one's life in the persuit of avoiding the inevitable is foolish and wasteful.

Magic is the gravest perVersion of Nature, and hurts her deeply. Man uses magic to bring water from nowhere, to extend his life, and to end the life around him. This is done with no respect to the consequences of Nature. Man simply does not realize the depth of the life around him. What he treats as lifeless or inanimate most assuredly is not. A tree torn apart to make furnishings still exists, knowing what it is, what it was. As long as the smallest part of it exists, then it lives. This is part of the ignorance Man shows to Nature. When magic is used, Nature is forced to change unwillingly, to act unnaturally.

Every part of Nature shares it's existance with the rest, and this sharing also ties us to the pain brought onto her.

I feel the Magic within that cave. I feel the pain of Nature being twisted unnaturally. This is why I did not follow the 3 travellers inside. I could not tolerate the perVersion. The crying of Mother Nature would force me to protect her, and in turn, hurt the travellers.

So I will wait here and see if they return from within. I will see if Mother Nature strikes back and keeps them within forever, or if they begin to understand what truely exists around them.

The wolf snorts out a blow of hot air from his nostrils and turns his attention back to his supper.

If you give these 3 travellers anything, give them understanding.