Balto breathed in and out slowly, taking a deeper and deeper breath each time. Something about stretching out your lungs for maximum howl volume, whatever that is supposed to mean. With the speed he was being forced to do this at, it felt like it would be a while for his lungs to be ready. Both Ibas and Duke had quickly agreed that Baltos first official howl was going to be done with properly, even bringing the spiritually inclined members to assist him in whatever ways they knew.
Ulva standing near Duke, quietly giving a report on the spirits and the realm. While Balto didn't catch all that was said, he managed to overhear small parts of it. Like that, the elders are having a hard time moving around, and the few cubs that have been born are growing healthier than expected.
The tree growing on his back shook slightly and Crow jumped down to his face to peck at it, for the fourth time now. The two had been working hard to make sure Balto was focused on his breathing and not other things. But could they blame Balto for being curious about the next batch of cubs? They are so small and even cuter Half-Faces own cubs. Thinking about Half-Face made him start thinking about all the fighting she had done for the pack, which certainly takes its toll on her. But with her bark-like exterior, she would always hide in between the roots of some much bigger trees they rested near.
Crow, angered by Balto's lack of focus, dove its head straight into one of his massive nostrils. The sudden invasion of his nose made him shake his head around, trying to shake Crow out.
Then Balto felt a sneeze coming. The tree spirit must've known this, as it started shaking around with panic. Crow realized its mistake a moment before disaster, as it managed to pull out and fly into the air, Balto let out all the breath he had stored up so far into a devastating sneeze. It caused whatever grass and moss nearby to fly off the dirt and rock, the force so great that it broke through any other sounds.
Everything went silent after that as the cloud of debris, which included a shocked Crow, slowly fell away. Everyone had stopped going about their day to stare at the scene with various reactions and emotions on their faces. Duke simply stared with a painfully neutral face, likely holding back any potential reaction. Ibas was dumbfounded and Ulva was giving Balto the stink eye. Even Finn was there to look surprised at what he witnessed. The only one still moving was Beowul, who was headed right towards Balto with the scorching anger of the aged and old. As he closed the distance, more and more direwolfs were starting to switch from staring at the massive Balto to the scarred and old Beowul, being unsure of what was going to happen next.
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Finally, Beowul got within speaking distance. Which in his case was looking almost straight up.
“Now, Balto, I know that you are really, really, huge now with some huge lungs. But could you use that really small brain of yours to sneeze quietly?” he asked with barely held back anger for having his nap ruined. Balto, in an attempt to play innocent, also decided to look up. Funnily enough, he could see what looked like a dire wolf far up in the trees. How did they get up there?
“If you keep looking stupid, I'm going to bite you.” That helped Balto pay attention again, crouching down to get face to face with his senior.
“Get that hot breath out of my face.” Balto went back up. Beowul looked behind him, towards Duke and Ibas, and quickly figured what had happened. Clearly, age hasn't affected his mind.
“The breathing exercise is to get out a good howl and so that you don't hurt yourself.” He sighed.
“But you are obviously durable enough to handle a poorly performed howl. No need to think too much about it. Fill your lungs, hold it for a few seconds as you get your body in the right position, and then howl.” After the quick advice, he proceeded to show the right movements to Balto while everyone else continued with their day.
Breathe deep, take in everything you sense while you do so. Everything and anything, no matter how small or big it feels. The sound of Beowul scratching at the ground to the spirit tree on his back sharing its sugars and energies with him. The smell of the World's Tongue, ancient woods that has been around for seemingly forever. The sight of the pack, everyone moving about with either a clear purpose or going to speak with someone for any kind of purpose. And that was only on the physical. Balto didn't have the most powerful soul or mind to feel the more hidden parts of the world, but this deep in the World's Tongue, someone like him could sense the spirits as he took it all in. They moved around them all, minding their own world.
Balto saw the soul of the spirit tree slowly come into view like it was in water. A vaguely ball-shaped soul moved from one side of his vision and out of it, back to its abode on his back. He even sensed that the direwolfs they had lost on their journey moving among them, especially around those like Ulva who was more spiritually inclined.
He sensed the world around him and felt good to be a part of it all, even if he wasn't the best at being aware of it. So he decided to use what little he knew about spirits, or mana, to carry his feeling of goodness. Like the warm rays of the sun on a cold winter morning. If it could, at the very least, impress the strange wolves Ibas had spoken about, then it would be good enough for him.
So he howled.