When morning came, Aliana went to Cristian to organize the expedition to the forest to give the creature the return home she so longed for. As had been decided earlier in the general meeting, Aliana was authorized to do whatever she wanted regarding the future of the Human. The Gamma regretted not being able to learn more about her, but he accepted the challenge. He informed the Beta to keep a record.
Cristian did not understand how to return the creature, but he preferred to play along with the teenager who childishly believed that it was as easy as retracing Luz's steps on the day she found her. After all, there was nothing to lose!
The group consisted of Gamma Cristian and five warriors who accompanied the two young women into the forest. They left early after breakfast, and this time Luz made sure to bring water and food. She was hopeful that she would return home and entrusted herself to the Virgin of Carmen to achieve this.
It was a beautiful day, the sky was completely clear, and the sound of birds singing cheerfully could be heard on the way to the forest.
During the short excursion, there wasn't much to do in the safe area of the forest. In this terrain, it is almost impossible to find monsters or witches, so Gamma took advantage of the opportunity to talk before leaving his territory.
He looked at the creature with admiration, grateful for every answer she gave to his questions. His curiosity ranged from the simplest to the most complex. For example, "How old are you? Where do you live? What are the customs of humans? Do you have a partner? What powers do you have?"
Luz was focused on walking without falling while answering the curious Gamma's various questions. She was amused by the faces he made in response to some of her answers. She also noticed that the other warriors were listening to her conversation with curiosity, without neglecting their duty to watch the road.
When she got to the question, "What powers do you have?", Luz stopped, looked at him with a grimace, and responded with another question: "Powers?"
"Yes, powers. What other powers do you have besides making that loud noise?"
"What noise?"
"The one that almost burst our eardrums!"
Another grimace appeared on Luz's face. Suddenly her eyes widened and with a surprised look on her face she asked, "You mean when I screamed in fear?"
"I don't know if it was because of fear, but on two different days you let out such a loud scream that everyone in the herd doubled over in pain. We covered our ears, but even so it was impossible to protect ourselves."
The others, including Aliana, nodded their heads in agreement with what Gamma was saying. It was extremely painful.
Luz was definitely not prepared for that comment. She tried to think, but the only thing she could come up with was that changelings couldn't tolerate high-pitched sounds; after all, they're like dogs, she thought.
"I don't have any other powers," Luz assured them. Then she smiled subtly and said, 'Unless you consider making loud noises with your tongue a power.' She said this mockingly, shaking her head to express how absurd it sounded.
Apparently, no one thought it was absurd, and everyone had heard the comments that humans had powers, but in this pack, no one knew what they were, so curiosity multiplied to its maximum expression and made everyone look at her expectantly for her to give a demonstration.
Aliana approached the girl and kindly asked her to give a demonstration.
Luz laughed briefly, unable to believe that they were asking her to do such a thing. She held her stomach with both arms, trying to stifle her laughter until she realized that no one else was laughing and that everyone was looking at her with curiosity. No one, including Luz, noticed that flowers had sprung up around them, apparently in response to the human's laughter. Slowly, her laughter turned to amazement and embarrassment, and her ears turned red.
"Do you really want me to do that?" Luz asked, completely incredulous.
"Yes, of course," Cristian replied.
Feeling very embarrassed by all this, which was just a joke, Luz asked them to stand behind her. She didn't want to see their disappointed faces when she did what she was about to do.
Practically everyone on the planet Earth can make this clicking sound. Some do it with their tongue, and others do it by putting their finger inside their cheek and pulling it out forcefully, sounding like a small "plop." Luz does it with her tongue, with a peculiarity: she bends her tongue against her palate, producing a loud click that is much louder than what people normally do. Her friends always praised her for making it sound so loud, the sound echoing audibly for a block away.
"Okay, get ready!" she said. When she made the 'plop' sound, it was extremely loud, causing the trees in front of her to shake a little and sending a hundred birds flying away.
"What on earth was that?" Luz said to herself, perplexed, and put her hands on either side of her forehead.
The wolves were stunned, looking at each other and not knowing what to say. Luz turned to see their astonished faces, telling them that she had no idea it would have that effect. This had never happened on her planet Earth. For her, it was totally absurd, and she couldn't imagine what use it could have.
Finally, Aliana broke the awkward moment and congratulated Luz on her power. Cristian also began to speak, and they managed to discuss different topics to help Luz feel less uncomfortable. The Gamma thought that, just as she didn't know that sound would have such an effect, he wondered how many other things she could do without even knowing the consequences. He found it exciting to discover what other abilities or powers the human might have.
The time passed a little faster as they chatted. When they finally reached the place where Aliana had been caught in the trap, everyone was on high alert for safety.
They advanced through the area where Luz had supposedly walked to reach the Cachorra on the day she arrived on the planet Xirus.
Cristian couldn't get the idea out of his head that it was impossible to find Luz's way home this way, especially considering Roxi's words. If the girl was from another dimension, they should find something like a magic portal; otherwise, what they were doing made no sense.
They found traces of Luz's old footprints that showed the direction she had come from. They followed them, but after 40 minutes of walking, they disappeared.
Gamma was aware that they were about to leave the safe zone and would begin to enter enemy territory.
One of the warriors used his mental link to express his concern. He wasn't afraid of encountering an Antrax, but he was worried that the young women would be harmed if they had to fight that thing.
Aliana was also aware of this danger and communicated with Gamma. "Can we continue, or is it too dangerous? I'll do whatever you say."