It was a bright, sunny and promising morning. It was also Luna’s favourite moment. Every seven days, Laura wouldn’t leave the house alone. Instead, she’d wake up before dawn and pack a small hiking bag. The first time it happened—when she had still been a puppy—Luna had been puzzled. Why would one wake up before the sky even began to lighten? A rush of anxiety and questions had swivelled into her mind then. But had all been very quickly swept away as she understood what that was all about. ‌‌Nature! Tiny insects, birds, and smells like she’d never experienced before. Then, Luna understood. It finally clicked that the world was infinite. It was not limited to a hundred metres around a house. This is a fact that many a dog learns as they grow older, but to Luna–who had been sheltered her entire youth–this was a discovery of the scale of Christopher Columbus. Then, in those early hikes, she had learnt to recognise a butterfly. She had learnt to smell bears–giant hamster-like creatures with sharp claws and weird smells. Foxes’, wolves’ and so many other creatures’ odours were mingled in the damp, cool air of the forest. The first time, in fact, it had overwhelmed her. She had reacted like any sane dog would have. Barking and howling and jumping—instincts had kicked in and while she had managed to keep fear at bay this one time, it had taken many more hikes before she began to relax and enjoy them for what they truly were: fantastic adventures of discovery and novelty with her own true love. Laura.

For as long as she could remember, Laura had always been the human to be at her side. She was the human that fed her, cared for her, cuddled her and comforted her. She was always the one present and the one she could turn to. And Luna did everything she could to show her affection in return. She’d gnaw at the table legs to show her how much she felt at home here. She’d jump on Laura first thing in the morning to show her affection. She’d even play this weird ball-throwing and catching games at the park that Laura always seemed so interested in doing. Why would throwing a ball and waiting for Luna to bring it back be really fun, one could only wonder. But that was a game that Laura always seemed happy to play and that was reason enough!

Today, when Laura woke up early and prepped for the coming day, Luna was as ecstatic as a dog can be. She wolfed down the remainder of the food available in the kitchen and excitedly waited for Laura to be ready—it always took forever. She hopped into the car as Laura turned on the engine and avidly looked around. The ink black sky was only marred by a splendid trail of shining lights sprinkled throughout. The dew smell, the quiet night and the thrill of adventure all came rushing to her. This was going to be a very good day indeed.

They had been walking for a couple of hours and the morning chill had long since given way to a scorching sun that was barely dampened by the shade cast off by the surrounding trees. The wind was minimal, which, despite making the suffocating heat even more strainingon them, had the side-effect of leaving the surrounding smells linger on much longer than they normally would. Luna held on to this silver lining to spot events that had happened hours ago! This was the activity she loved doing the most during those hikes. Earlier this morning, she had even smelled what looked like a she-giant-hamster-with-claws feeding her younglings—Laura called them “bears” and was afraid of her. But Luna knew better. They could never be ambushed, she’d hear them coming from far away—or was the humans’ hearing sense as bad as their sense of smell? All in all, this had clearly been the highlight of her walk so far! It was a shame that Laura was always so oblivious about those wonders. She truly wished she could share it with her. Laura would love it, wouldn’t she? Or was that again a feeling only dogs felt at such things? If so, how incredible would it be for Luna to be able to understand what made Laura love those hikes, since it could clearly be neither smells nor sounds. It was probably not the remnants of those giant-forst-hamsters either. Fair enough.

‌‌Laura sat down, clearly feeling the heat as intensely as Luna. Luna was happy to rest a bit as well, and this was the opportunity to quench her thirst. Laura always thought of filling her a bowl, bless her. However, it soon became apparent that they would be staying here for a while. The heat being too intense, it was wiser to simply rest and let it pass. Laura was settling herself into a lying position when drowsiness was already taking over Luna—she was always the first asleep.

She doesn’t know what did it. When she opened her eyes, the air was very different. Not long had passed, and Laura was still fast asleep, but where the air had smelled of quiet and life, it now smelled of danger and unknown. She rose, hackled raised. She couldn’t help herself, she whimpered. Everything felt wrong, every fibre of her body was tensed. She wanted to run, but she could not, not without Laura whose lack of awareness never ceased to amaze her. She couldn’t even sense where the danger was coming from. It was everywhere. Because of how much a ruckus Luna was doing, Laura finally started to rouse. Again, she clearly couldn’t smell the danger in the air. How blind could humans be? Couldn’t Laura smell it like anyone, when it was that strong? ‌‌Clearly, she couldn’t.

One thing she wasn’t entirely blind to however, was the panic that had overtaken Luna. ‌‌‌‌

“What’s up? Why are are you feeling so jumpy?” she inquired. She began to look increasingly concerned now that she was seeing Luna bounce around with such a mad look in her eyes.

Barking was all that Luna could do, but sometimes—when she really needed it—she could project emotions and feelings into it, in a way that Laura was somehow able to understand. That’s one more reason why Laura was the love of her life. She was the only one who would truly listen to those barks.

What had felt like danger moments ago now made the air so thick with alienness that all Luna could do was cower before it. It was too late to run, and the only thing she could do was wait and face whatever was coming. Head on.

“What’s wrong honey? There’s nothing wrong here, is there?” Laura was trying to reassure her, she could feel it from her words although most of their meaning was lost to her.

Laura stretched lazily. “Come on, we should probably get moving, that doesn’t seem like your favourite pla—”.

It had happened before even Luna could register it. A blur had dived from above and landed straight on Laura. A sharp cry was all that left her before she hit the floor, unconscious. Hopefully alive.

What the blur was, Luna didn’t know. She had been ready. Her muscular frame and her teeth were made for more than gnawing at table legs. Her body responded on pure instinct, before she could see what the blur was—a bird, she seemed to glimpse mid-jump.

She was on top of it now. She bit and clawed like never before in her life. No one could attack Laura. No one. No matter how feathery or beautiful the creature, it had no right. Maybe the creature was striking back, but the only thing that drove her, in this very instant, was the desire to attack. She felt nothing else. When she thought that rage was all that was needed to overcome the intruder, she was thrown away. Hard. She landed roughly on the ground three metres away and felt a rib crack as her side struck a root. The figure was towering over her and Laura. It looked like a bird. It certainly had feathers, but the smell was wrong. It smelled like a bird, but it also smelled like a human. It smelled feral. It had wings. It had legs. It had come from the sky. None of it made sense.

Those were the thoughts that crossed her mind as her body had already jumped back at the creature, her maw wide open and ready to close down. Instead, she was swatted aside and again felt a nauseating wave of pain wash over her body. She was dazed and confused. She did not know what the creature was. She did not recognise the smell, either. It smelled of a primal danger.

But then, amidst the thick smell emanating from the creature, Luna spotted something else. Something wild, as well, but which lacked the same foreboding danger. Her thoughts were slowing down and her body refused to move correctly. This new scent felt familiar. It definitely had a wolfish tinge to it. Sprawled on the side as she was, it was all she could do to keep her eyes from closing, as an increasingly strong drowsiness washed over her.

The wolf charged at the creature, and moments later, she witnessed it flying away, though its departure most definitely lacked the grace of its brutal entrance.

The wolf—for lack of a better term, it was as much a wolf as the creature had been a bird—approached. Luna rallied all of her strength, and refusing to give in to her wounds forced herself to stand and face the newcomer. Laura was still unconscious and she would not abandon her now.

His demeanor, however, was one of concern as he surveyed Laura and Luna. “You’re hurt. Do not linger here. It’s dangerous.” It was a weird sound, halfway between a deep human speech and a bark, but it was a form of communication Luna could understand. She tried her best growl-speak, the very same she usually employed with Laura, projecting her meaning into a bark. “What are you? What do you want? Why save me?”

She had so many questions about a situation that didn’t make sense. So many questions that the creature didn’t seem keen on answering. “Humans are coming, they will heal you. Do not attack.”

She huffed. As if she could. This must be wolf humour, but it was clearly lost on her.

Then she heard running footsteps. Her vision was blurry, but down the trail she could spot a group of humans running towards them with carry-on bags and a litter. Consciousness was again threatening to leave her, and as she fell back to the ground, she lazily noticed that they didn’t seem to be concerned with the wolf creature. How odd. In fact, a human that smelled like a wolf walked by her. Everything was blurry, and none of it made sense. He began blabbering in that unintelligible human speech with the newly arrived group. They seem to rush forward and go towards Laura. Good, she thought. Save her.

As she began to give in to the darkness, she felt something blossom within her. She felt that power that was always present when she reached out to Laura. She felt that love that she had for her, her adoration. And there, with all the happy memories she had, she reached out. Not barking. Not this time.

Instead, she mentally projected all her love towards Laura. And then, at the very edge of consciousness, she met Laura for what felt the first time. Laura, at the same time, had reached out to her. Suddenly, she was Laura. Laura was her. Both of them had reached out at the same time, and in that space that didn’t exist, they met.