<style type="text/css">
.maritlala {padding:15px; line-height:1.3em;}
.maritlala p {font-family:geneva, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size:1em;}
.maritlala b {font-family:tahoma;}
</style>
Gvihita, his spirit guide, is invisible.His limp was less annoying when the heat rose from the ground in visible vapors. It was as if the sun melted the ache in his bones, and he found himself reminded about his father's joint pains with every step he took, the click-clack of his walking stick following him. With the image of his father across his mind, the red wolf followed the path home to the Town Hall as if in a haze, still not understanding, still not completely able to realize what his sister had told him just three days back. He had been injured, his father, injured and protected by the Ookah of the Great Tribe, and then he had gone - flown out of this world and into another part of life where no wolf or bird could see. It helped to know that he had lived a just and proper life, and that wherever he was there was someone guarding Dawali knew because he had seen it in his travels to the death plane. There were teas, there were chewing herbs, and at night when shadows stretched and became unrecognizable, that plane could be reached. He would never find his father, however, as much as it pained him. He was free to roam and the plane was vast. Besides, he knew better than to use such secrets for his own benefit. Gvihita would not be happy if he did so, and that was all the warning he needed. Still, there was temptation.
He drew closer to the Town Hall, and a stranger's scent mixed in with that of the Great Fire. The Chief's ears perked in curiosity, now looking up and away from thoughts of his late father. Certainly, there was an individual he hadn't seen before? Crouched near the building he called home these days, she sat, and he approached her slowly, clickety-clacking with his cane and smelling the distress on her. Clearly, though, there was no emergency. The male cleared his throat as soon as he was within earshot, trying to disrupt what might be a private moment. It could only get awkward if he interrupted anything. "Greetings." he said, simply, when he came close enough.