It Worked

Luna

The entire palace was silent with only lonely looking flames dancing every few feet which should not be a surprise since it was late in the night. Not everyone was haunted by a horrible nightmare.

On our way coming out, I had been confident about training him, having it all playing out in my head but now that I was finally outside, I panicked as it all suddenly seemed too big for me to handle. Who was I kidding? I couldn't even help myself. How was I supposed to help a wolf? It didn't help that he was staring at me expectantly like I was his saviour who had dropped from the heavens. The heavens...

"Master?" He called, inclining his head to the sky above us. He didn't say anything else. Didn't need to. I knew exactly what he was referring to. We would be better off training before light came.

I inhaled deeply as I squared my shoulders. Here goes nothing. "What changes have you noticed since you woke up?"

"I..." He started then trailed off. In the dim light of the moon, I could see his brows furrow as he thought about it.

"Go on." I goaded. "Tell me whatever comes to your mind, however ridiculous it might sound."

"First, I feel stronger, more confident. Like I can take on the world. There is this new found strength in the bottom of my belly, this new awareness, like...." He trailed off again.

"An empty space that has been filled?" I suggested. He snapped his fingers in approval.

"Exactly!" I nodded. I could understand that empty space because I had one myself and it was still not filled. I wasn't certain it could ever be filled actually.

"What else have you noticed?" I pushed.

"Well, the first time I woke up, I thought I heard the Beta and the Gamma speaking which was weird. Even now, I am pretty certain that I can hear the snoring of several people. It is probably my imagination though."

For some reason, this confession of his made me blush which was rather ridiculous. Wolves have extremely good senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, feel. I have a feeling they would make very good poets. The way they experience things so deeply. Too bad few of them ever interest themselves in things like that. They consider them to be too...human. Despite this knowledge, I couldn't help but go through what I had done the past couple of days to see if I had said something embarrassing only to recall that I had been out of it for most of this time. The heat intensified in my neck and cheeks. More than ever, I was glad to have darkness as a cover. I suddenly remembered that I had a student waiting on me. "Apart from these?"

He furrowed his brows again as he thought about it. "Nothing!" He shook his head. "Not that I have noticed at least. Maybe fast recovery from wounds but I haven't gotten injured and...I have been too scared to try." The last part came out silently, like he was ashamed to admit it but I could understand why.

I had not known him for that long but I had seen him get injured a couple of times, like the whipping, Leon's bullying, and some very nasty bites from the dungeon, the cause of which I wasn't very sure I would like to know. All had taken a very long time to heal. The wounds on his back... "The wounds on your back, have they healed yet?" Having been unconscious for the past few days, I hadn't exactly been able to keep track of its progress.

"Yeah!" He reached to his back. "It was gone by the time I woke up." I thought that was enough proof that he healed very fast but decided to test it nonetheless. "Where are you going?" He asked as I walked away from him and toward the large tree that sat in the center of the yard. I broke off a branch as silently as could be managed in a dead silent night and walked back to him.

"Give me your arm." I ordered.

"What are you going to do?" He blanched, slowing moving away.

"Come on!" I huffed as I walked up to him and grabbed his arm. He started to struggle but I had pressed the stick against his arm and dragged it across his skin.

He squeaked in a mixture of pain and surprise, his eyes burning into me in the darkness. I could see that he was struggling not to freak out. Living for a long time in the midst of people who healed within a short time from their biggest injuries while the smallest scratch on your skin took days to heal could do a thing or thing to you.

"Wait." I ordered when he tried to pull his arm away, probably in fear that I would decide to cut again.

His arm slackened but he looked away like he couldn't bear to see another wound that would turn into a scar. I continued to stare at it though and just as I expected, the wound started to close, it started slowly at first but it picked up its pace and closed up. "Yes!" I squeaked, barely able to hold my excitement as I let go of his arm and embraced him.

"What?" He stuttered in confusion.

"You have healed, my student. You have healed." I muttered contentedly, my voice muffled in his robe.

He nearly jumped out of his skin which reminded me of where I was and I quickly pulled away. He raised his arm and scanned it, looking from the wrist to his elbow. The cut had been in the center of his palm but he was so used to being a slow recoverer that he could not believe it had simply vanished. "Do it again. I want to see it happen." He squealed in excitement like a kid who had just seen a magician perform a trick. In a way, he was exactly like that.