The Beast and The Brain.

The act of her betrayal cut threw me like a knife. My fingers dug into the earth underneath me and I groaned in agony. I was angry. Not because J had fooled me, no it was the opposite, I was angry because J had left me. She had offered her friendship to me, and I had given her my friendship in return, my trust. I stood up; a handful of dirt was still in my clenched fist as I ran back to Jeremy’s house. I burst through the front door in a fury, “Jeremy!” I yelled my voice deepening as I did.

“I’m in the kitchen!” I ran to the kitchen. Jeremy was wearing fresh clothes and was sitting at the table eating a piece of pie.

“I remember everything.” I told him angrily, “Where did she go?” I demanded.

Jeremy put down his fork and sighed, “She won’t be happy, your memories were supposed to be gone. For good.”

I slammed my fist against the table, releasing the dirt that had been in my hand, “I don’t care what was supposed to happen. She took my memories and left me Jeremy. Tell me where she’s gone.” I growled.

Jeremy stood up quickly from his chair and backed away from me, frightened. I pushed off the table, turned my back to him, and calmed myself down. My Beast side receded slowly and I turned back to face him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you…” I apologized, “I am normally able to keep myself calm.” He nodded his head slowly.

“I’ve…only ever seen two Beasts in my lifetime. It isn’t a rare gift, but I don’t go looking for them either.” He said, “I’m not accustomed to people physical features changing at random.” He sat back down and cleared his throat. “Take a seat my boy. I will try to explain as best I can.”

I pulled a chair out and sat reluctantly. The anger still coursed through my blood like a wild fire, but I kept it at bay. I had developed a skill over the years to steady my temper; deep breathing and rational thought was the key. “Start talking.” I told him. I wiped the dirt from the table and watched Jeremy carefully.

He took a deep sigh, “I cannot explain everything to you Asher, this you must first accept. J has her own privacy, and I have no right to invade on that, and the fact that she would kill me if she knew that I told you. What I can tell you, is why she left, and that is the only thing. She left Asher because she was protecting you.”

I was taken aback, protecting me? “From what?” I asked him impatiently.

He shook his head, “That I cannot say.” I stood up and slammed my fist against the table again.

“You aren’t helping Jeremy, where did she go?”

He shook his head again, “I don’t know.” I stepped forward and grabbed Jeremy by the shirt, “Tell me where she’s gone.”

Jeremy placed his hand on my shoulder, “Asher, listen to me. I am not your enemy; she did not tell me where she was going. She took your memories, told me to look after you, and left.” I let go of him.

J left me. It was the only thing I could think about. After months of being together she just up and left without saying goodbye because she was ‘protecting’ me. Protecting me from what? I ran a hand through my hair, I could feel myself trembling. J left me. I was aggravated. J aggravated me. Then it hit me, why hadn’t I thought of it before?

I turned to Jeremy, “I’m going after her.” I stated.

Jeremy shook his head, “Asher how are you going to find her? She has been gone for four days now, and we do not know what direction she headed. She could be anywhere.”

“I don’t care.” I shook him off and headed for the back door. I swung it open and stepped into the backyard.

“Asher wait!” Jeremy called after me and ran out after me, “Think, what are going to do when you find her? She left you for a reason, what will stop her from taking your memories again and just how do you plan on catching up with her?”

I looked over my shoulder, winked once at Jeremy, and let myself go. I used the anger I was feeling to quicken the process even more and in a moment, I was my other half. My Beast form, the horse shied away from me but wasn’t to bothered because of the trust J had spoken into the animal. I stretched my long wings as far as they could go in the small backyard. Even then my wings were only unfolded halfway. I dipped my neck low and pushed my nose up to Jeremy. “This is how I will find her.” I told him. My voice was deep yet gentle sounding. “Bring me something of J’s, I need her scent. Also bring my things in my pack.”

Jeremy stared transfixed at my Beast form as he backed into the house nodding his head, “Yes of course…” He slowly walked away to fetch my things. He came back with my pack and a shirt that belonged to J. “What do you want me to do with this?” He held up my pack that held my weapons, some clothes, and small rations of food.

“I will carry it, but first wrap J’s shirt around it.” He nodded his head and wrapped the shirt around the pack. I reached out and took the pack from the ground. I would have to take off with only two legs and an arm, but I would manage. I brought the pack to my nose and inhaled deeply. Instantly the pores in my nose reacted with my brain and started to send signals that reacted with my eyes. Scents appeared as dim colors of fog around me. The horse was a murky red color, Jeremy’s scent was a blue hue, I inhaled more of J’s scent, and then the color hit me. J’s scent color was a light green.

I took the scent, stored it in a gland in my nose, and memorized it in my mind. Then I looked at Jeremy, “Take care of my horse, I am sure J and I will see you again soon enough.”

Jeremy nodded and bowed his head, “It’s been an honor Asher. Good luck.”

I gave him a toothy grin with my sharp teeth. I used my left arm and pushed off the ground so I was standing on two legs, then I jumped up, pushed down with my wings in a powerful burst of wind to propel myself upwards even further than flapped my wings several more times to get even higher up into the sky. The trees in Jeremy’s back yard blew around, and the horse whinnied nervously, but soon I was a quarter mile above the city. I hovered in the sky and used my tail to help turn myself in all directions. “If I were J where would I go?”

Her scent would be too far away to pick up from up this high up, which meant I would have to get closer to the ground. Luckily, it was completely dark out, the sky was scattered with clouds, and the moon was just a small crescent. It was a perfect night for any fliers who wished to go unseen.

I folded my wings against my body and dropped into a free fall nosedive; I fell hundreds of feet in a matter of two seconds, and pulled my wings out full length. I instantly slowed and pulled up just above the tips of the trees. The exhilaration of a sky dive was something I had always loved. My heart still pounded at the excitement and adrenaline.

The tips of my feet hardly missed the tips of the tall trees as I used to the natural wind to glide silently over the forest. I was taking deep breaths of air as I encircled the city at a ground-eating pace. I did one full loop around the city yet there was no scent of J. I made a wider circle and went around again. Still no sign. I made an even wider circle and did another loop. I was about a mile away from the city when my nose finally detected her scent. After three days, it was weak, but luckily, there had not been any early winter rain. I slowed the pace of my wing beats and began a slow steady decent to the forest floor. I let myself drop the last twenty feet and landed noiselessly onto the ground.

I used the next hour to pick up the direction of J’s scent. Being as large as I was it was difficult navigating through the thick trees. “Why can’t you ever simply take a road J?” I growled and I pushed a sapling out of the ground. The scent had begun to travel in one steady direction now. Southeast. Before her trail had zigzagged as if she hadn’t been sure where she had wanted to go, but now it was certain, she was headed southeast. Towards the great mountains.