Page 67 of All That Has Flown Beyond
“Oh my gosh!” Isla avoided stepping out of the circle just in time. There, in the middle of the casting circle floated the image of a plant. A green stalk with serrated leaves at the bottom; it shot off into a few stems drooping with the weight of the small buds that perched like round, green insects settled in lines. Isla watched with wide eyes as the buds flowered, tiny, white filaments curling out and extending into shape, miniature fireworks frozen at the peak of explosion. It gave the plant the look of fuzzy, white tails arching with dropped peaks from a crown of leaves. Underneath, the roots extended and grew, thicker vines that let out smaller filaments to explore the earth below.
“Oh! I can smell it!” Isla exclaimed, wrinkling her nose.
“What does it smell like?”
“It’s, like…really sweet. I don’t like it.”
“Well, this isActaea racemosa,” Kaiyo said, and the words appeared beneath the plant. “Also known as black cohosh or black snakeroot. Cohosh means ‘rough’ in some Native American dialects because therhizome—the roots, which is what’s used in poultices—is rough to the touch. Now, use your senses. How can you link them to the plant’s name?”
“Uhm…well, it smells really strongly so it makes me want toactandraceaway so, like…Actaea racemosa. And it’s white, so it’s funny that it has ‘black’ in the name, so black snakeroot really fits.”
“Good. Now, the plant has historically been used medically for a lot of things. At the moment, most of the research points to the plant helping the management of premenstrual tension and menopause. Although ingesting it doesn’t often have side effects, it can interact with other medications. For now, we’ll learn about the ritualistic properties of plants, though. It’s not safe to give people things to take physically until you know more about the plants and know how to gather the right information, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. Now, in rituals, it can be used as a catalyst for courage and potency.”
“That makes sense, ’cause the smell is really strong, so…”
“Good. Now, come over here, and we’ll make a little flash card with that information and some prompts that work for you, like ‘strong, sweet smell’, okay?”
“Okay!” Isla said, hopping out of the circle. “Oh, it’s disappeared,” she commented, seeing that the circle was now empty.
“Well, you were only able to sense the plant because you were inside the circle. I didn’t actually make anything appear, I just sparked your Ousía and physical senses to trick you into thinking there was something there.”
“Whoa. Will I be able to do that?”
“If you work hard, yes.”
“Okay!” she said, grinning. Kaiyo grinned back.
“Okay. Let’s get to work, then.”
**********
Kaiyo sat silently in the armchair, watching the pack interact. Ahmik and Thea were, as always, arguing over what to do. Emil was too distracted by a protesting Edu to play referee. Amaya was just sitting back, watching everything unfold with seeming nonchalance, but her shoulders were stiff. Isla was thankfully at a friend’s, where she wouldn’t have to deal with the adults around her acting as if they were younger than she was.
“Amaya.” Kaiyo’s voice cut through the squabbling. Everybody turned to look at him. “What do you think? You were a meanderer once. Do you have any ideas?”
There were signs that a meanderer had entered their property recently. Vicious claw marks on animals that didn’t fit anything but the attack of a werewolf. The remaining connection they had with the police member who knew about their pack had confirmed a white male had been seen in the forest, but he had disappeared before he could be approached.
“All meanderers don’t share a brain, you know,” Amaya said.
“I know, but your experience in a similar position may have given you some insight into his behaviour. What do you think he’s feeling? In what state do you think he’s in?” Kaiyo asked. Amaya looked away. For the first time, Kaiyo was able to see a genuine reaction on her face instead of the nonchalant mask she liked to wear.
“He’s…scared, probably. Desperate. He’s not looking for trouble. I mean, he’s keeping to the forest. Those animals…”
“You think he’s gone feral,” Kaiyo finished for her. Amaya nodded.
Going feral was a shifter’s worst nightmare. It was losing oneself to their instincts. By losing their ability to choose, they lose their free will, their sense of self. Some people are more prone to going feral than others, just like some people are more likely to develop a mental health difficulty such as depression or anxiety, but life events play a big part too. Traumatic events can spark an episode. A common predecessor to going feral was being a solitary meanderer for an extended period of time. A shifter Ousía gave many strengths, such as enhanced senses and stamina, but it had a price too. It needed pack and land ties to be stable, and a lack of these could often result in the shifter instincts taking over.
“Then he’s unpredictable. We need to chase him away. Or put him down,” Ahmik said. Amaya’s eyebrows twitched down before her face went blank. Kaiyo put up a staying hand.
“Quite the opposite. Right now, he’s absolutely predictable. I don’t think he’s gone completely feral, but he’s close. If we know he’s feeling scared, then we have an idea how he will react to different situations and what he may want. What we need is to negotiate.”
“Negotiate? He came onto our land without permission!” Ahmik protested.
“Ahmik. Do you really think he was free to choose that? Doesn’t it seem more likely that he is being forced by some circumstance to escape into foreign land? He’s alone. Packless. Hunting in a strange forest. Does that seem like the choices one would normally make?”
