“Whatcha gonna name ‘er?” Jack sat on the floor with Ran, sinking his hands in her warm and extra soft fur and tugging at her ears. The pup graciously took his love with patience, not snapping or making any aggressive movements.

Momma allowed the pup in the house this evening because her and Pa were gone with Jill. My sister had caught the kefier fever and Momma wanted to take her to the healer before it became worse.

“I’m thinking about naming her after Grandma. She woulda liked that, ya know?” I rubbed my eyes, then ran my hand over the soft silken fabric of the red cloak Grandma had made me.

“Grandma goods name,” Jack said sagely, sniffling and burying his head in the white wolf’s ruffly mane. I longed to do the same, and the little wolf gave a long-suffering sigh that sounded much older than the little pup’s tiny appearance. She was only slightly bigger than toddler Jack at that point.

I ruffled his hair from my chair by the fireplace, tears springing to my eyes. “It is, isn’t it? Grandma it is.” I hoped Grandma was watching from Sixth, happy that her name would be passed on.

The wolf pup looked up, meeting my eyes, and something inside of me shifted, and snapped into place. Warmth and love coated me, as well as pride in a name.

Was I feeling what my wolf felt?

“What do you think, Grandma?”

The wolf licked her lips and rose to her feet, throwing Jack from her back and jumping in my lap, licking my face.

I laughed, throwing the dripping slobber back at her.

“Gross,” Jack said, making a face.

“You named her… Grandma?”

I nodded, hugging the neck of newly christened Grandma. “Yep! Grandma will never be forgotten, so long as my little wolf is here.”

The little wolf huffed out a breath, sticking her nose in my ear. I squealed. “What’d ya do that for?” I hissed.

But I didn’t miss Momma and Pa exchanging a look. Pa raised his eyebrow, grinning. “It’s a good name,” he insisted.

Momma pursed her lips, glaring. “So you wish to explain this one, dear?”

Pa pulled her in for a hug. “Of course. I shall endeavor to explain in the best way possible, my love.”

She looked up at him, as if expecting something mischievous of him. He only widened his eyes and gave an innocent smile. He gave her a peck on the lips and ushered her out the door.

His shoulders drooped as soon as he was gone.

“Alright, little cub. Your grandmother would be so proud… but don’t you think a different name would befit such a magnificent animal?”

Jack crossed his arms and glared. It was indescribably adorable with his little pudgy face that was just losing his baby face and starting to look more like a little boy. His green eyes flashed with anger. “Whys?”

“Erm, well, you see… Grandma is a title. Like Pa or Momma. It’s not our real names, exactly.”

Jack’s face scrunched up, his little nose puckering in confusion.

My cheeks grew red. I’d just always called Grandma… Grandma. She’d been Grandma since I was a babe and I never questioned… “Shoot and poppycock.”

Jack gaped at me.

Pa looked like I’d grown two heads and I ducked my head and tried to hide my burning cheeks. I thought I’d die of embarrassment.

Little Grandma nudged my hand with a whine, and I crouched, hiding my face in her neck.

Pa cleared his throat. “Where… did you hear those words?” he asked, hesitantly.

“You,” I mumbled without looking up.

“Shoot.”

I glanced up with wide eyes as he had the same realization I had.

I stared at him. He stared back.

Then I started laughing.

Jack joined and Grandma started howling, joining in as Pa ruffled my hair.

He shook his head. “Thank goodness those were the only words you learned,” he mumbled.

“Those are the only two words I’ve said,” I sassed.

He shook his head, a chuckle rumbling in his throat. “Don’t tell your Ma?” he pleaded.

I tapped my chin, thinking. “Can I have hotcakes before bed, extra time with your knives, and will you tell me an extra story of Hans’ Adventures for a month?”

He shook his head, his blue eyes twinkling and lips twitching. “You drive a hard bargain, kid. It’s a deal.”

I stuck out my hand and we shook on it.

“What’s the ruckus in here?” Momma had a spoon in her hand, her eyes wary as if walking into a war zone.

“We were just settling on naming the wolf something else.”

“Wha–?”

Pa jabbed my ribs, sending me a pleading look.

“Oh, yes. We were.”

“We were?” Jack giggled. “We were, we were!” he exclaimed, toddling after Ran as she licked a paw and drew it over her ear. Jack grabbed the ear and stuck it in his mouth.

“Jack!” I exclaimed, gently drawing the ear from his mouth and trying to dry it off.

The wolf gave me a pleading look, her eyes filled with sorrow. “I’m so sorry,” I said, drying it off with the hem of my dress.

She huffed, but licked my fingers as if in thanks and began cleaning again.

“So what is the new name?”

“What bouts snowball?”

“Fine name. See if she likes it?”

We tried about fifty names over the following weeks, and Ran would not respond to a single one. But anytime we spoke of Grandma, she’d perk her ears and come over.

I still can’t believe you named me Grandma.

I can’t believe you wouldn’t let us change it!

You think I didn’t try? It has something to do with the Bond. It was my name when you spoke it into existence and couldn’t be changed no matter what I did. And I was young, too. I liked the name because it was a name, just like all the rest of you two-legs had.

Do you like Ran? I ask, somewhat hesitant.

Rider, it’s my name.

But do you like it?

Yes, rider, I like it. It makes those we meet underestimate me and it amuses me greatly. And the woman who once bore such a respectful name… yes, Aria. I am proud of it and what it stands for.

I sigh. I’m glad.

I let another memory pull us into its embrace and sigh in contentment as I snuggle into the covers in Hans’ home. Hans… didn’t I just hear that in a dream?

The next dream takes me before I can fully comprehend what that question could mean.

“Aria, you’re ready.”

I perked at Pa’s voice. Ran raced around the corner of our home, treading Momma’s flowers, her tongue lolling from her mouth as she howled with excitement.

“Nooo–” I raised my hands and backed away.

Ran yipped and jumped, barrelling into my chest. The wind was knocked from me on impact and I landed on my back in the beautiful knee-high grass that hid some mighty sharp rocks my back found.

Ran licked my face as I wheezed for breath and tried to get my hands to cooperate and push away the wolf that now weighed as much as a large dog… and she wasn’t even fully grown. It had been over a year since Grandma’s death.

She still remained in my memory and I grieved her, but life returned to normal and we were much too busy harvesting from the fields and completing tasks around the farm to be too full of sorrow. I had decided to take her words and knew that she wouldn’t want me to mourn her so that I lost my life. She’d rather I forget her entirely than not move on and live in joy. So I dove into training with Pa with a consistency and drive that made my previous self pale in comparison.

I didn’t want to feel so helpless ever again.

So my muscles grew strong and my mind sharp as Pa honed me with weapons and puzzles and battle. He began pitting me and Ran against each other and with each other, teaching us how to work together and be a team anyone would be right to fear.

I finally pushed Ran’s face away and she sat back, panting, her tail making a furrow in the grass as it swished back and forth. Her amber eyes sparkled with excitement as Pa set his hand on her head and looked down at me. Ran lifted her muzzle in the air, looking at Pa with adoration as she leaned her shoulder into his thigh.

“You alright down there, little cub?” he asked, voice hiding his humor.

My breath wheezed in then back out with a cough. “Fine. Just… fine,” I said.

Ran yipped.

Pa laughed.

I wheezed.

“Come, cub. I have something to show you. Ran–” the wolf perked, licking her lips and nose twitching in excitement. “–track,” Pa said, smiling as he put a cloth in front of her nose.

Ran sniffed it and sneezed. Pa scratched under her chin, and she patted her hind foot on the ground.

“Lead her to it, mighty one.”

Ran yipped then jumped forward.

I sat up, looking at Father with a raised brow. He sat in the grass, plucking a strand and putting it in his mouth. “Ya better go, or she’s gonna find it without ya,” he said in a commoner drawl.

I threw a knife at him, sheathed of course, then scrambled to my feet.

“Ran, wait for me!”

We had to navigate through treacherous swampland, avoid a coiled serpent with wings, and sneak past a sleeping Eldertree. Eldertrees are the nicest creatures you’d ever meet… but waking one from a nap may be the end of you. Typically, they only slept after gorging fermented sap, otherwise they went into a meditative trance every few weeks. But waking one from a sap-induced sleep… you better pray you’re fast.

Ran took me past a boulder… and then I saw a path I hadn’t been down for one year to the day. The path to Grandmother’s house.

Ran whimpered, leaning into my hip. I put my hand on her mane, gripping her hair until my fist turned almost as white as her fur.

The trees swayed, some beginning to turn colors and lose their leaves as summer gave way to fall. The path before me was overgrown with moss and lichen and a few weeds. I stepped out of the path, seeing the little cottage before me.

I didn’t realize tears were falling until Ran stretched up and licked my chin.

I stepped slowly into the clearing that was a grown up mess without Grandma here to tame it. The door sagged on its hinges, squeaking and groaning as it swayed in the gentle breeze sending fingers through the swaying knee-high grasses.

I took the steps to her cottage as if in a trance, seeing the sunflowers wilting and remembering how she used to teach me how to pry the seeds from the flower heads and roast them, making an almost irresistible snack for both birds and humans.

And there was the porch swing, where she’d sit and tell me bad jokes as I learned how to weave my needle through thread with her gentle guidance and snarky remarks.

At last I stood before the door. It opened as if it knew I was there, and I saw someone had come to clean. The tapestries were still on the walls and everything had been put to rights.

I could almost imagine Grandma coming from the garden in the back, swinging off her cloak and telling me to sit and help her eat some hotcakes.

And although it hurts, I smile. She might be gone, but her legacy, her memory, and her wisdom lives on through me and those who loved her. She knew where she was goin’, and such a spicy and beautiful lady is in the arms of her first love. Her King and her husband, who she often spoke of in a wistful voice.

This little cabin was never her home. She was just passing through this world, waiting patiently until the day she could go to the place she belonged and enjoying time with her loved ones in the meantime.

She was home.

There was something in front of the fireplace. An oblong something wrapped in a plain tan cloth lay in front of the fire where I used to sit at her feet. Sometimes we’d work on the same garment there or she’d brush my hair and tease me about village boys or tell me stories about those who followed The King.

I crouched down, running a hand over the smooth wood of the old rocking chair with a smile, then reached for the package. The tan cloth peeled back, and I clapped a hand over my mouth.

I reached a trembling hand to caress the hilts of two exquisitely beautiful swords. They were bastard swords, just long enough to wield one handed but not too long to be unwieldy.

The scabbards were quite plain, all except for tiny, black words that I held up to the light to make out as dust motes danced.

Choose joy over sorrow and life over pain. All our love, forever and always, Grandma, Pa, and Momma.

Tears raced from my face to patter on the soft leather as I sobbed tears of bittersweet joy. “Our love remains forever. Love you too, Grandma. I’ll forever hold you in my heart.”

Something like a gentle breeze caressed my neck, and I’d like to think it was Grandma’s hand reaching out from Sixth. Warmth coated me as I stood and looked around the cottage one last time, taking joy in what was even as the sorrow of what never would be again washed over me.

But I would choose joy over sorrow and life over pain, just as she’d always taught and lived herself.

Pa waited for me on the porch, his eyes strangely wet. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

I raised the swords.

He shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Not the swords.”

I looked back at the interior that seemed to be missing something. Something that would never be again, but which I would forever treasure in my soul. “Yeah, papa bear. I found it.”

Ran nudged my hand and I squatted down to look her in the eye. “Your namesake was a beautiful woman of strength, courage, and wisdom. Be proud of who you are.”

And somewhere in the depths of her eyes, I could see that she indeed understood, could feel it on a soul deep level.

I stood, Pa watching me with such pride that I had to fight back tears.

“Let’s go home,” I said.

Pa put his arm around my shoulders and Ran padded out in front of us, sniffing out rabbits and sticking her nose in badger burrows.

I smiled, knowing life would never be the same. But at least it would always be an adventure, just like in Pa’s stories.

But then… he was gone, too.

That was a blow to the family we never recovered from. Sweet Jill became sick from the stress and it was a struggle to survive. I found some peace in preventing people from losing their grandmothers, fathers, and brothers and sisters and friends as the Guardian.

And that is where it all began. A little girl and a wolf who would fight through fear and pain to grow into forgiveness and compassion, until, someday, we became a team even the most terrifying criminals in the Underground feared.

And thus lay The End... that was only The Beginning.