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CAK
Jan 23, 2013 17:41:00 GMT -5
Post by CinderpeltTT on Jan 23, 2013 17:41:00 GMT -5
Chapter 1- Puphood
"Ready or not, here I come!" Chinook raced into a tiny cave in the rocky mountainside, his bright yellow eyes glinting. "Bet'cha a piece of the caribou I can find ya!" A feminine bark stretched out over his head, echoing along with the dim crackles of pebbles rolling down the snow-covered ledge. Chinook only flashed a little grin at his sister's bark. Aspen could never find him here! Peering through a tiny hole in the pile of snow, he saw the barely-visible white form of his brother, Kodiak, his dark ears standing out against the snow as he looked over at the huge caribou a few of the pack hunters had dragged in through the valley and up the mountainside. A trail of cold crimson blood from the caribou was swiftly dusted over by snow. Kodiak's broad shoulders stood out from the dove-grey sky as he scrambled up a cracked boulder, squeezing his hind paws into the crack and leaping off, running up to the caribou, his white tail a blur. He nearly forgot to duck his head back in as he heard his sister's paws soft on the snow.
Aspen sniffed around near the cave where Chinook was hiding, eager to find her brother before the freshly-caught caribou got too cold. But, she guessed, it could wait. She caught the barely-detectable trace of her brother's scent under some rocks and wondered if he got stuck down there. Circling around the rough-edged stones, she finally saw a gap in the snow, and she peered in, closing a bright yellow eye to get a good look. "I see you, Chinook! Let's go get some of that caribou now! I call the liver!" Aspen turned tail and ran, not bothering to check if he followed. Her darker back made her look like a part of the mountain as she ran up to the dip in the side of the great mountain the wolf pack stayed on. She drooled at the thought of the delicious liver all to herself. Hopefully, her other brother, Kodiak, didn't get to it first. The triplets all tended to quarrel over the best piece of the carcass. Kodiak looked over his shoulder, a dark ear twitching, and saw the grey forehead and also the grey back that were the distinct markings of his brother and sister. Quickly, he bounded over to the carcass of the caribou, hoping he didn't get caribou blood all over his large paws, and began to search through, getting his nose all covered in blood. A feasting wolf pushed him to the side with a shoulder, and Kodiak yelped in surprise, pushing back with his whole body. The wolf rolled its eyes and stepped a ways away to let Kodiak get his piece. Overjoyed, Kodiak plunged into the delicious meat of the carcass, trying to find the liver as his siblings neared him. He saw the reddish meat inside the ribcage and tore it out with a bit of help from the same wolf that had pushed him earlier. Allowing the other wolf to take a bite of it, he dragged it away to eat it all on his own. Meanwhile, Kodiak and Aspen were searching in vain inside the carcass for the liver, and they raced towards him when they spotted the precious organ in-between his paws. They leapt on him, tugging gently on his ears and tail, trying to get him away from their favorite part of the caribou. Kodiak got up, annoyed, and tried to drag away the liver. However, it was much too heavy for a pup to carry around, so they all ended up sharing it.
Chinook finished his share of the tender liver before his brother and sister, and licked the blood off of his white muzzle to the best of his ability, though there were a few smudges here and there. He looked around the camp, gazing over to the valley and the tundra stretching farther than he could see, with red and brown grass gently blowing in the cool breeze like a coat of fur. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the tiny dips and cracks, sheltered from the wind and snow, where the wolves nested. He and his family slept in the biggest den: an old, yet spacious cave hidden behind a cluster of rocks. Having nothing else to do until his brother and sister finished eating, he bounced over to the cave and peered inside. He noticed his father licking his mother's forehead, seeming troubled. Though he was curious, the pup decided not to go in and ask what was wrong, instead telling his sister and brother about it. He dashed down a small, winding trail to the main dip in the mountain, where they were still eating. "Hey, guys," he growled in a low voice, so as not to let any of the other adult wolves hear. Kodiak and Aspen's heads snapped up quickly, giving a curious murmur as they looked at their brother. "I think something's wrong with Mom. I saw Dad licking her forehead and he seemed worried."
At this, Aspen just wrinkled her blood-covered nose. "Are you sure it's not just romance? Mates get worried about mates all the time." She rolled her golden eyes and was just about to resume her meal when Kodiak interrupted her, growling at his sister's ignorance.
"Come on, Aspen. Our parents aren't that romantic. There must be something wrong." Kodiak grumbled, flicking a dark grey ear. The triplets' parents were the dominant pair of the pack. They kept things running smoothly and would help organize hunts. Their father was named Blackburn, and he had uncommon, dark grey-almost black- fur. He was a fantastic leader and hunter, but he could be stern at times, especially to his pups. However, he seemed to be showing his soft side by caring for his mate. The dominant female's name was Spurr, and she had a snowy white coat with a dove-grey patch on her forehead, similar to the placement of Chinook's patch. Though they worked as a dominant pair well, they didn't seem to be the closest of mates. "Let's just go see what's wrong. They won't mind." The triplets dashed over to the den and, in single file, they squeezed inside.
"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" Aspen looked at her father, who was sitting by the sleeping form of Spurr, his head low. At his daughter's voice, Blackburn's head snapped around to the entrance of the den, where the pups were sitting, wide-eyed.
"Is Mom okay?" Kodiak asked, taking a step forward as he twitched one of his dark grey ears. Aspen would often tease him for this, calling him "twitchy-ear."
Slowly, Blackburn got up, gazing at his pups. "I can't say," he murmured slowly, a confused frown on his face. "I think your mother drank some poisonous water."
Chinook jumped to his paws, growling. "How on earth could water be poisonous?!"
"It's those humans," Blackburn snarled resentfully. "They use their strange objects to get things that we could never dream of acquiring, and it hurts our land." He was now staring at the wall more than his pups. "I guess the way they get their stupid things is to poison our land, our water, and our lives." His dark golden eyes seemed as hard as a boulder. "Now, leave your parents in peace while I try to get your mother back to health." Heads drooping and tails low, the pups left the den.
"Well, guys...” Aspen muttered, spirits low due to the state of her mother's health. "Should we help Mom and Dad somehow?" She looked over at her two brothers that were exiting the den, an ear turned slightly at their pawsteps.
"Why wouldn't we?" Kodiak asked simply, looking right back at his sister with a sharp gaze, almost like that of an eagle. As the three pups walked down the short path, deep in thought, Aspen nearly stepped off a ledge where the path turned. She managed to catch herself and continued down the trail with Chinook and Kodiak.
Suddenly, as they all returned to the main area of camp, an idea came to Chinook. "Guys, I have an idea!" he yapped, his eyes brightening once again.
"Why are you the brother that always gets all of the ideas?" Aspen quietly scoffed, glaring at the ground. Kodiak shushed her by slamming his tail in front of her muzzle. An irritated Aspen bit it and shook it away, plopping down onto the ground and listening to what Chinook had to say.
"Why don't we just get Mom some fresh meat? I heard that lots of food and rest can heal any wolf." Chinook barked, feeling like the most intelligent pup in the world. Kodiak and Aspen nodded mutely and they loped down a trail to more level ground, sniffing the air.
"Oh! I think I smell a hare!" Aspen dashed off, and once her brothers caught the scent, they followed her, looking around in the snow. "This way!" she barked, her tail trailing out behind her as she turned in the snow, sending up a spray of white dust.
"You're sure it's a hare?" Kodiak panted. He was wary of polar bears and huge caribou that could trample them in an instant.
"Of course! Remember, Dad taught me which scents are which animals." Kodiak simply rolled his eyes at Aspen's chirp. Aspen saw two black dots in the snow and instantly ran towards them. "The hare!" she breathed as she sprinted through the snow, sending powder into her brothers' faces. Aspen was a bit smaller and lighter than her two brothers, and had less trouble catching up to the hare.
The chase went on for quite a while. Kodiak ended up hiding behind a rock a ways ahead, and managed to ambush the prey, tackling it to the ground while his siblings leapt on the prey, biting it a bit but mainly trampling it to death. "We need to get this to Mom and Dad fast!" Chinook barked through the fur in his mouth as he picked up the hare. The triplets dashed back up the mountain using a well-worn trail, covered with pawprints in the thin layer of snow. Panting, they finally got to the dominant wolves' den and dropped the rabbit in front of their father and mother. Their mother was finally awake, but she seemed very weak and was still lying in her nest made of moss and grass.
"How did you get this?" Blackburn looked down at the hare, rather confused that his pups were bringing it to him. "We hunted it." Kodiak barked flatly, looking at his mother with his ears drooping slightly in exhaustion after the short hunt.
Blackburn's jaw dropped slightly. "How on earth did you get to it?" he asked, his bright yellow eyes looking down at the prey, which was still warm.
"Well, I tracked it, Kodiak ambushed it, and Chinook got the whole idea!" Aspen chirped, excited that her father was showing pride in his pups.
"Well, I'm very proud of you," Blackburn said, joy showing on his face for the first time in days. "and this may just help your mother." Tearing off a leg of the hare, he nosed it in front of Spurr's muzzle. Cautiously, she took a bite. After swallowing the morsel, she began to dig into it, half-starved after being ill for a while. "Maybe this will make you heal up." Blackburn crouched down and nuzzled his mate, causing all three of the pups to wrinkle their noses and stick out their tongues. Without a single word, the pups left the den, embarrassed by their parents.
They noticed that the sun had set, and the moon was rising. Silently, the pups sat down in front of the den, their backs against the smooth stone that was silvery in the moonlight, taking in the sights around them. Perking their ears, they heard the distant call of a bird. Yawning, Chinook curled up in a fuzzy ball next to his siblings, and the others followed.
"Y'know what?" Chinook asked quietly before he drifted away beneath the blanket of sleep.
"What?" Aspen yawned, gazing up at the stars and new moon above them.
"Our world seems so small. We barely even know other wolves besides us and our parents."
"Yeah," Aspen replied simply.
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CAK
Jan 31, 2013 17:52:35 GMT -5
Post by CinderpeltTT on Jan 31, 2013 17:52:35 GMT -5
WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG MESSAGE AHEAD All current work I have equals 35 pages on Word.. 13.5K words Read at your own risk of falling asleep. -
Chapter 1- Puphood
"Ready or not, here I come!" Chinook raced into a tiny cave in the rocky mountainside, his bright yellow eyes glinting. "Bet'cha a piece of the caribou I can find ya!" A feminine bark stretched out over his head, echoing along with the dim crackles of pebbles rolling down the snow-covered ledge. Chinook only flashed a little grin at his sister's bark. Aspen could never find him here! Peering through a tiny hole in the pile of snow, he saw the barely-visible white form of his brother, Kodiak, his dark ears standing out against the snow as he looked over at the huge caribou a few of the pack hunters had dragged in through the valley and up the mountainside. A trail of cold crimson blood from the caribou was swiftly dusted over by snow. Kodiak's broad shoulders stood out from the dove-grey sky as he scrambled up a cracked boulder, squeezing his hind paws into the crack and leaping off, running up to the caribou, his white tail a blur. He nearly forgot to duck his head back in as he heard his sister's paws soft on the snow. Aspen sniffed around near the cave where Chinook was hiding, eager to find her brother before the freshly-caught caribou got too cold. But, she guessed, it could wait. She caught the barely-detectable trace of her brother's scent under some rocks and wondered if he got stuck down there. Circling around the rough-edged stones, she finally saw a gap in the snow, and she peered in, closing a bright yellow eye to get a good look. "I see you, Chinook! Let's go get some of that caribou now! I call the liver!" The female pup turned tail and ran, not bothering to check if he followed. Her darker back made her look like a part of the mountain as she ran up to the ledge in the side of the great mountain the wolf pack stayed on. She drooled at the thought of the delicious liver all to herself. Hopefully, her other brother, Kodiak, didn't get to it first. The triplets all tended to quarrel over the best piece of the carcass. Kodiak looked over his shoulder, a dark ear twitching, and saw the grey forehead and also the grey back that were the distinct markings of his brother and sister. Quickly, he bounded over to the carcass of the caribou, hoping he didn't get caribou blood all over his large paws, and began to search through, getting his nose all covered in blood. A feasting wolf pushed him to the side with a shoulder, and the pup yelped in surprise, pushing back with his whole body. The wolf rolled its eyes and stepped a ways away to let him get his piece. Overjoyed, he plunged into the delicious meat of the carcass, trying to find the liver as his littermates neared him. He saw the reddish meat inside the ribcage and tore it out with a bit of help from the same wolf that had pushed him earlier. Allowing the other wolf to take a bite of it, he dragged it away to eat it all on his own. Meanwhile, Chinook and Aspen were searching in vain inside the carcass for the liver, and they raced towards him when they spotted the precious organ in-between his paws. They leapt on him, tugging gently on his ears and tail, trying to get him away from their favorite part of the caribou. Kodiak got up, annoyed, and tried to drag away the liver. However, it was much too heavy for a pup to carry around, so they all ended up sharing it. ...an old, yet spacious cave hidden behind a cluster of rocks. ...tundra stretching farther than he could see, with red and brown grass gently blowing in the cool breeze like a coat of fur.
Chinook finished his share of the tender liver before his brother and sister, and licked the blood off of his white muzzle to the best of his ability, though there were a few smudges here and there. He looked around the camp, gazing over to the valley and the tundra stretching farther than he could see, with red and brown grass gently blowing in the cool breeze like a coat of fur. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw the tiny dips and cracks, sheltered from the wind and snow, where the wolves nested. He and his family slept in the biggest den: an old, yet spacious cave hidden behind a cluster of rocks. Having nothing else to do until his brother and sister finished eating, he bounced over to the cave and peered inside. He noticed his father licking his mother's forehead, seeming troubled. Though he was curious, the pup decided not to go in and ask what was wrong, instead telling his sister and brother about it. He dashed down a small, winding trail to the main ledge on the mountain, where they were still eating. "Hey, guys," he growled in a low voice, so as not to let any of the other adult wolves hear. Kodiak and Aspen's heads snapped up quickly, giving a curious murmur as they looked at their brother. "I think something's wrong with Mom. I saw Dad licking her forehead and he seemed worried." At this, his sister just wrinkled her blood-covered nose. "Are you sure it's not just romance? Mates get worried about mates all the time." She rolled her golden eyes and was just about to resume her meal when Kodiak interrupted her, growling at his sister's ignorance. "Come on, Aspen. Our parents aren't that romantic. There must be something wrong." Kodiak grumbled, flicking a dark grey ear. The triplets' parents were the dominant pair of the pack. They kept things running smoothly and would help organize hunts. Their father was named Blackburn, and he had uncommon, dark grey-almost black- fur. He was a fantastic leader and hunter, but he could be stern at times, especially to his pups. However, he seemed to be showing his soft side by caring for his mate. The dominant female's name was Spurr, and she had a snowy white coat with a dove-grey patch on her forehead, similar to the placement of Chinook's patch. Though they worked as a dominant pair well, they didn't seem to be the closest of mates. "Let's just go see what's wrong. They won't mind." The triplets dashed over to the den and, in single file, they squeezed inside. "Mom? Dad? What's going on?" The dark-backed pup looked at her father, who was sitting by the sleeping form of Spurr, his head low. At his daughter's voice, Blackburn's head snapped around to the entrance of the den, where the pups were sitting, wide-eyed. "Is Mom okay?" Kodiak asked, taking a step forward as he perked his ears questioningly. Slowly, Blackburn got up, gazing at his pups. "I can't say," he murmured slowly, a confused frown on his face. "I think your mother drank some poisonous water." Chinook jumped to his paws, growling. "How on earth could water be poisonous?!" "It's those humans," Blackburn snarled resentfully. "They use their strange objects to get things that we could never dream of acquiring, and it hurts our land." He was now staring at the wall more than his pups. "I guess the way they get their stupid things is to poison our land, our water, and our lives." His dark golden eyes seemed as hard as a boulder. "Now, leave your parents in peace while I try to get your mother back to health." Heads drooping and tails low, the pups left the den. "Well, guys...” the female in the small group muttered, spirits low due to the state of her mother's health. "Should we help Mom and Dad somehow?" She looked over at her two brothers that were exiting the den, an ear turned slightly at their pawsteps. "Why wouldn't we?" Kodiak asked simply, looking right back at his sister with a sharp gaze, almost like that of an eagle. The triplets continued down the path in silence. Suddenly, as they all returned to the main area of camp, an idea came to Chinook. "Guys, I have an idea!" he yapped, his eyes brightening once again. "Why are you the brother that always gets all of the ideas?" His sister quietly scoffed, glaring at the ground. Kodiak shushed her by slamming his tail in front of her muzzle. An irritated Aspen bit it and shook it away, plopping down onto the ground and listening to what Chinook had to say. "Why don't we just get Mom some fresh meat? I heard that lots of food and rest can heal any wolf." Chinook barked, feeling like the most intelligent pup in the world. Kodiak and his sibling nodded mutely and they loped down a trail to more level ground, sniffing the air. "Oh! I think I smell a hare!" Aspen dashed off, and once her brothers caught the scent, they followed her, looking around in the snow. "This way!" she barked, her tail trailing out behind her as she turned in the snow, sending up a spray of white dust. "You're sure it's a hare?" Kodiak grunted. He was wary of polar bears and huge caribou that could stomp them in an instant.
"Of course! Remember, Dad taught me which scents are which animals." Kodiak simply rolled his eyes at his sister's chirp. The tracking yearling saw two black dots in the snow and instantly ran towards them. "The hare!" she breathed as she sprinted through the snow, sending powder into her brothers' faces. Aspen was a bit smaller and lighter than her two brothers, and had less trouble catching up to the hare. The chase went on for quite a while. Kodiak ended up hiding behind a rock a ways ahead, and managed to ambush the prey, tackling it to the ground while his siblings leapt on the prey, biting it a bit but mainly trampling it to death. "We need to get this to Mom and Dad fast!" Chinook barked through the fur in his mouth as he picked up the hare. The triplets dashed back up the mountain using a well-worn trail, covered with pawprints in the thin layer of snow. Panting, they finally got to the dominant wolves' den and dropped the rabbit in front of their father and mother. Their mother was finally awake, but she seemed very weak and was still lying in her nest made of moss and grass. "How did you get this?" Blackburn looked down at the hare, rather confused that his pups were bringing it to him. "We hunted it." Kodiak barked flatly, looking at his mother with his ears drooping slightly in exhaustion after the short hunt. Blackburn's jaw dropped slightly. "How on earth did you get to it?" he asked, his bright yellow eyes looking down at the prey, which was still warm. "Well, I tracked it, Kodiak ambushed it, and Chinook got the whole idea!" Aspen chirped, excited that her father was showing pride in his pups. "Well, I'm very proud of you," Blackburn said, joy showing on his face for the first time in days. "Hopefully, this will help your mother." Tearing off a leg of the hare, he nosed it in front of Spurr's muzzle. Cautiously, she took a bite. After swallowing the morsel, she began to dig into it, half-starved after being ill for a while. "Maybe this will make you heal up." Blackburn crouched down and nuzzled his mate, causing all three of the pups to wrinkle their noses and stick out their tongues. Without a single word, the pups left the den, embarrassed by their parents. They noticed that the sun had set, and the moon was rising. Silently, the pups sat down in front of the den, their backs against the smooth stone that was silvery in the moonlight, taking in the sights around them. Perking their ears, they heard the distant call of a bird. Yawning, Chinook curled up in a fuzzy ball next to his littermates, and the others followed. "Y'know what?" Chinook asked quietly before he drifted away beneath the blanket of sleep. "What?" Aspen yawned, gazing up at the stars and new moon above them. "Our world seems so small. We barely even know other wolves besides us and our parents." "Yeah," she replied simply.
Chapter 2- Yearlings Aspen sat on the edge of the cliff in camp, her golden eyes focused on the snow-covered tundra below. Even though it had already been two moon cycles since Spurr had died, she was still feeling the sorrow and loss that her brothers also retained. Her brothers’ markings were a bit lighter, along with hers. She was now a yearling, but she felt as if life were going by too fast. No more playing in the snow. No more sneaking outside of camp with her brothers to catch a hare. And, of course, no more lazing around in the den, eating all the caribou she wanted. The she-wolf stood up, shaking out her coat. “No use in dwelling on the past,” she muttered. Chinook loped up next to Aspen. “What are you doing?” Chinook still was rather pup-like as he tipped his head a bit to look at his sister. “Just sitting around, remembering when we were pups.” She shrugged, trying not to sound like she was unhappy. Chinook replied with a snort. “Oh, come on! We were only made yearlings a moon cycle ago! Just because we’re 12 moon cycles doesn’t mean we can stop all of our pup fun!” he yapped, eyes shining brightly. “Well, yeah, I guess that’s true.” Aspen perked up and shook out her long coat, her soft grey stripe down her back shivering slightly in the frigid breeze. “But aren’t you still sad about Mom?” “Well, yeah, I guess a little bit. But at least we have Dad. I mean, don’t you feel sorry for the wolves in our pack that are orphans with no family or friends?” Chinook replied, being a bit stern in his tone. Aspen replied with a quick shrug. “Well, I can see it could be worse.” She gave a swift nod and they dashed off to the center of camp as Blackburn howled to announce a hunt.
“All right, the wolves going on the hunt will be Solstice, Redoubt, Bona, and Yukon.” A light grey wolf with a white back, a pale grey wolf, and 2 pure white wolves stepped up in a line in front of Blackburn. “You will be hunting in the tundra. Try to go for an old or young caribou.” The wolves nodded and began to run down the same trail Aspen and her brothers had gone down as pups. Disappointed, Aspen and Chinook watched the wolves depart down the aged path. Aspen got an idea, and ran up to her father, tail wagging slightly. “Dad, can we go hunting?” she asked, golden eyes bright. “We already have a hunting party out.” Blackburn muttered, his yellow eyes gazing over the tundra ahead. Chinook gave a small, irritated huff. “Come on, Dad. Please?” Chinook whimpered, ears flattened slightly. Blackburn, who was clearly getting irritated, snapped back a harsh no. Chinook gave up and walked away, tailtip dragging in the snow. Aspen turned to follow, but Blackburn quickly growled to her, catching her attention. “You need to go train with Chinook.” Aspen simply nodded and was on her way to her brother, her powerful hind legs kicking up snow. “Hey, Chinook, Dad said we needed to train.” Aspen rolled her eyes as she barked to her brother. “Eh, why not?” Chinook shrugged and got into an attack stance. “Remember, no real biting.” “I know that, Aspen.” Suddenly, the wolves leapt into combat in the small, closed-off area that was surrounded by jagged ledges with a small opening they could barely squeeze through. Chinook rammed into Aspen’s side, keeping his lips over his teeth so that he didn’t injure the she-wolf. Aspen retaliated by twisting her head and snapping down with a covered bite on his muzzle. Yelping in faked pain, Chinook jumped backwards, skidding in the snow and nearly hitting the jagged stones on the ledge. Snow drifted from the sky, blocking each wolf’s view. Aspen was at the other side of the clearing, still in an attack stance, a fierce glint in her eye. They both stared at each other, calculating what move should be made next. Chinook suddenly dashed out, spraying a wave of snow on the rocks behind him as he circled around quickly to Aspen, dodging the attempted tackle she offered as a counter. As Aspen lost her balance, Chinook clamped his covered teeth into her leg, keeping a firm grip. Then, he sharply pulled away, causing Aspen to trip. “Nice attack,” she panted as she leapt up in the snow before Chinook could land a pin on her, seizing her jaws over Chinook’s throat before he could react. After a moment, Aspen dropped off, ending the battle. She had landed what would have been a killing blow on her so-called enemy, and won the practice fight.
“Not bad,” Chinook gasped as he regained his breath. Both of the wolves’ breaths were clouds of icy mist in front of their noses. “I thought the same of you,” Aspen said, lying down in the snow and still panting from the fight. “Let’s go back to Dad and tell him about the practice fight.” The two wolves walked steadily down a narrow path in between two very steep slopes, barely able to get their bodies to fit inside. The area would have been used if humans or a large animal were to ever come close to camp, as a shelter for the pups and other vulnerable wolves. As they squeezed out, they saw a strange sight in front of them: the whole pack had gathered into a crowd and they all seemed distressed. Aspen and Chinook tentatively walked over, nervous of what may be happening. They saw one of the wolves that had gone on the hunt, Bona, talking nervously to Blackburn. Blackburn seemed to be surprised, angry, and frightened all at the same time. Blackburn, over the drone of yelps and howls, barked for quiet and shouldered through the crowd. In a hushed voice, he muttered into Kodiak and Aspen’s ears: “We’ve run out of a reliable source of food. The only caribou herd nearby has migrated, and we can’t live in the tundra. I need all three of you to go and look for a new food source. Be quick about it. If you’re not back in two moon cycles, I will suspect that you are all lost or dead.” Shocked, the two wolves just stood there. “B-but.. We aren’t even adults!” Chinook whimpered, his yellow eyes glaring up in sadness and fear at his father. “I trust you and your siblings, Chinook.” Blackburn’s deep voice seemed to resonate over the mountainside. “You should be going now.” “But where would we even look?” Aspen asked, as scared as her brother. “Anywhere. Just get the caribou closer to the pack grounds.” The two wolves gave a solemn nod and turned to go find Kodiak. Aspen found Kodiak eating a hare that he had caught himself. The black-eared wolf raised his head, licking the blood off of his nose. “What is it?” “We need to go find a new source of food for the pack.” Aspen said simply, her gaze determined and wondering of what things they would find on their journey. “Wait, what?” Kodiak growled, confused. “The caribou herd we hunt from has migrated and they’re too far away for us to hunt. Blackburn told us to go off on a journey to find a new herd and lure it back towards pack grounds.” “But.. How would we do that? We’re only yearlings!” Kodiak almost yelped in surprise. “Blackburn says he has faith in us.” Chinook sat down, his ears perked. A few moments of silence were held between the triplets as they tried to process what was happening. “So, where should we start?” Aspen asked, tilting her head as her tongue lolled out of her mouth. “Why don’t we go heading in that direction?” Chinook asked, pointing his muzzle towards where the sun set. Aspen nodded mutely, along with Kodiak, and they began on their great journey. The three wolves loped off towards the snow-covered tundra stretching to the horizon, their strides powerful and their howls joyful.
Chapter 3-The Beginning Chinook dashed at the head of the group, his eyes glittering. They would all be exploring new lands. The fate of the pack rested on their soldiers. Aspen and Kodiak were fanned out behind him, running through the endless snow, their ears perked, sniffing the air, and never stopping the look for hoofprints. Aspen dashed through the deep snow, feeling her paws just barely touch the dry, half-dead grass beneath it. Kodiak’s eyes were focused on the horizon, searching for distant herds or hoofprints. Aspen looked over her shoulder, wondering if she and her triplets would ever return to their favorite mountain alive. Chinook’s tongue lolled out of his mouth, the only thing that made him visible to his siblings behind him. Sniffing the air, Kodiak suddenly turned, skidding and sending up a spray of snow. “Why are you turning?” Aspen panted, still running. “I think I could smell a bear further on.” Kodiak muttered quickly. “You’re one heck of a tracker. I still can’t smell it,” Aspen barked as she followed Kodiak, with Chinook resuming his spot as leader. The night seemed to stay around them forever, and their pelts felt thinner than before. “It must be getting windy,” Chinook panted. Aspen replied with a mute nod that Chinook couldn’t see. “Should we stop?” Kodiak asked, feeling fatigued. Aspen walked for a few paces, in thought, then got back to sprinting through the snowy wasteland. “I think we should catch some food first.” Aspen barked, her eyes still focused on the horizon, though they were getting tired. “I don’t think there’s any rabbits, food, or whatever nearby.” Chinook said, slowing his run to match their pace. “Well, I’m getting hungry.” Aspen whined. “There’s no prey nearby, stupid.” Chinook repeated. “There has to be some berries, insects, mice, something around here!” she snarled. “I’m going to go out and hunt for something. You guys can scrape some kind of den down here.” “You remember what Dad said, right?” Kodiak said, his yellow eyes slightly dull from exhaustion as he looked up at the shining half-moon. “We can’t live in the tundra.” “He was joking,” Chinook panted as he dug out a saucer in the snow, sheltered from the dry and cold wind. Kodiak simply muttered a quick “sure” and curled up in the den, tired. Chinook gazed off at the bright stars before drifting to sleep, hoping that his sister would return to them soon. Aspen dashed away through the snow, knowing her pawprints and scent would be washed away by wind. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get lost out in the harsh snowstorm. Digging through the snow, she finally discovered a hole in the ground. “Yes! Maybe this is a rabbit den!” she barked, peeking inside. The sight that met her was far worse than several rabbits. A huge polar bear, with two cubs. Oh, great. Why didn’t I smell them? Curse that wind! Aspen was frozen with fear as the polar bear roared in fury. Turning tail, Aspen dashed out of the den, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she looked back over her shoulder, eyes wide at the sight of a large, almost fully-grown polar bear cub on her tail. Yelping, she ran out through the snow. Quick, how can I outwit this cursed thing? Aspen thought, whimpering from utter fear. She looked around for pits in the snow, and she got an idea. She quickly danced off to the side in front of an ice-covered lake, and the polar bear clumsily skidded forward, slipping on the ice and falling into the lake. Aspen stood for a few moments, hoping the bear would be stuck beneath the ice. She could already see the large hole freezing over. Her eyes lit up with surprise when she saw that the polar bear was trapped underneath. She curled up next to the lake, her gaze watchful. She saw that the polar bear was managing to ram through a part of the ice. Then, she internally saw a polar bear hunting, pushing the head of the seal back down, drowning it. Would she be able to do that with her whole weight? This is a stupid idea, but I’ll try it. Aspen thought, running up to the forming crack in the lake. The polar bear managed to get up to the water, but Aspen reared up with just the right timing, and blending in with the starry sky, she crashed down on the polar bear’s head, making it drift back down into the water. She raced over to another spot, knowing that if the polar bear saw her standing there, it would think that’s where the ice hole was, as ice and water looked similar from the bottom up. The polar bear’s head hit the thick ice layer with a dull thump and Aspen could see the silhouette of the bear drifting down to the bottom of the rather shallow lake. Aspen, without thinking, began to dash back towards her brothers and sisters, convinced that they could help her lift the bear out of the lake so that they could eat it. The roar of the cub’s mother echoed off in the distance, though it was too far to know the whereabouts of its son. Aspen finally returned to the den, panting and eyes glinting. “What did you find?” Kodiak asked, opening one yellow eye. “A polar bear! I killed it!” “WHAT?!” Kodiak screeched, in utter dismay that his sister could kill something even larger than him. “How..?” His jaw dropped, and he stared unblinking at the wolf for a few moments. “Just wake up Chinook! We can go lift it out of the lake and eat it!” Aspen’s tail wagged at the confused Kodiak in front of her. “Err… okay. Chinook, wake up.” Kodiak sleepily got up and prodded his sleeping brother’s side. “Arghh, what is it? I barely got any sleep..” Chinook yawned. In a matter of seconds, Aspen was bouncing in front of Chinook’s muzzle. “Wake up! I caught a polar bear! Come on! Let’s go eat it!” At this, Chinook simply blinked, with a mutter of “I’m dreaming,” and went back to sleep in the snow. Aspen was annoyed by this, so she seized her jaws over Chinook’s white scruff and shook it harshly. Chinook jumped to his paws. “Alright, alright! Show me the polar bear. I’ve never seen one before!” Aspen nodded and swished her tail, a wolf gesture meaning “follow me.” The three wolves continued their seemingly eternal run, and before long, they reached the frozen river. The ice was mainly frozen over, but there was a thin part somewhere in there. Aspen narrowed her eyes as she gingerly stepped on the lake, her tailtip pointing upwards, meaning “be careful.” “You can talk, you know,” Chinook grumbled, rolling his yellow eyes. “Whatever,” Aspen simply huffed. “There’s a thin patch in the ice here, and we can break through it to retrieve the bear.” “Don’t you think we would freeze to death in that water?” Kodiak asked as he gazed down at the translucent ice, slightly intimidated. “No, we have thick coats.” Aspen shrugged it off as she felt the hollow click of her stubby claws against the thin ice. Quickly, she jumped back . “Here’s the thin ice. Come over here; we can break through it.” Hesitantly, Chinook and Kodiak walked out on the ice, their eyes wide enough to show the whites. “Alright, all we have to do is rear up and crash down..” Aspen ran back over to the snowy shore of the frozen river. She got up on her hinds unsteadily, looking somewhat like a pointy-faced bear, then raised up her front legs. “..Like this.” She pushed down with a hard slam, her shoulders jutting forward slightly and her teeth gritted in effort, only to hear the soft crushing of snow underneath her pawpads. She turned her head to meet the gaze of her two dumbfounded brothers. “Geez, you guys are so dumb. You should get it by now.” “No, we do..” Chinook answered honestly, looking down at the ground. “We’re just surprised you’re so smart.” “You thought I was DUMB!?” Aspen barked furiously. “Ugh! Let’s just get this bear and get back to our den!” Aspen stomped over to the hollow ice patch, careful not to break it. Her brothers followed her, carefully placing one paw after another on the frosty-blue surface. “On three.” Aspen barked quickly, looking down at the thin patch of ice that was a bit more translucent than the surrounding ice. “One.. Two.. Three!” All three wolves reared up in a majestic sight, their white tails just above the ice, and they all crashed down, their heads nearly touching. There was a deafening “crack” and the ice split beneath their paws. Yelping in surprise, they all jumped back, watching the slabs of ice separate and slowly drift away from each other. Aspen panted, her snowy white tailtip between her ankles as she looked down at the frigid water. “I call not going in!” Chinook yipped quickly. “Err, same.” Kodiak muttered, fearfully gazing down at the deep blue water. Aspen huffed her anger at her two brothers, her breath turning into a cloud of mist in the starry sky. “Fine! I’ll get the polar bear myself. Well..” Aspen trailed off, grumbling. “You guys need to come down with me. I can’t pull the polar bear up on my own!” To her brothers’ dismay, Aspen leapt in, swishing her tail for the others to follow. The sight underwater was a very strange one. Everything seemed to be distorted, and tiny shafts of light drifted down from between the ice shards. Aspen could feel the distant splash as her brothers entered the water, their white fur slicking back as they drifted through, scanning the lakebed for a polar bear. Aspen caught sight of the polar bear, and waved her tail slowly in the cold water as a flag to show her brothers she had found it. Her brothers understood, and they swam up, flanking Aspen. Aspen opened her mouth, blocking her airway with her tongue so that water didn’t flow in, and gripped her jaws over the dead polar bear cub’s scruff. Her brothers followed, a bubble or two escaping from their mouths as they clamped their teeth onto the polar bear’s neck. With combined effort, the three wolves pushed up, the large polar bear cub drifting behind them. Aspen could feel separate pieces of ice brushing against her forehead fur, and right as she could hear the rush of cold air in her ears, she took a deep breath through her nose, dragging the carcass onto the icy surface. Her brothers quickly followed. The three yearlings stood on the thicker ice, panting heavily. “I felt like my lungs were going to explode!” Chinook gasped. The cold air buffeted their wet coats, and the three wolves mentally agreed that they should drag the carcass back to the sheltered den, underneath the wind. Aspen was the first one to dine on the polar bear, ripping off an ear and snapping it up in a few quick bites. “Is that all you’re taking?” Chinook asked, looking over at his sister. “Yeah,” Aspen said through the stringy bite of ear. “We need to conserve it.” Aspen finished the last bite and curled up next to the dead polar bear cub. Chinook simply shrugged and ripped a thick strip of flesh off of the carcass, tearing it in half and giving a piece to his brother, who had been sitting and waiting for the others to finish. The two brothers ate their share quickly and curled up next to their sister, trying to conserve warmth. After they had slept for a while, Aspen woke up in the middle of the night, yawning. She looked up to see an amazing sight. “Get up!” she hissed to her brothers. “Look at this!” “Wow..” Chinook gasped as he looked up into the sky. “The Northern Lights!” Aspen yipped in joy. The triplets’ mother had told them once of a wonderful curtain of shining colors and light in the night sky that rarely happened. “Isn’t it beautiful?” The three wolves stared up in awe at the incredible sight. After several minutes spent admiring the spectacular show, the wolves soon fell asleep again under the glowing ripples of light. As she was just about to drift off to sleep, Aspen made a mental note to call her first-born pup North, for the Northern Lights.
Chapter 4- A Strange Wolf The triplets pushed through the tundra, the frigid wind slashing at their pelts as they were slowed by the weight of the polar bear cub on their backs and the harsh gale from the blizzard blowing against them. Their heads were down against the wind, and they could barely see a wolf-length ahead of them. However, they had seen the sun just barely tilting downward earlier when the air was clearer, telling them that they were going west. The blizzard raged on in the snowy plains that seemed to stretch on forever as they kept their noses down, sniffing for caribou, even though they knew none would be around the horrible snowstorm that surrounded the determined wolves. Aspen was lagging behind slightly, being a bit lighter and smaller due to her being a female. Her brothers would slow down so they could keep her next to them, knowing that they were already weakened a bit by the harsh breeze lashing their coats and scorching their lungs. However, if they stopped, they would be stuck in the snow and possibly lose their sense of direction. The only way the wolves could barely separate each other from the blinding snow and pale grey sky was through the distinct, dark markings. Their scent was barely noticeable through the harsh wind sweeping the smells of life backwards. The wolves had been traveling for what seemed like hours, and it was a matter of time before one of them dropped. Aspen’s stride gradually weakened, along with her brothers. She eventually collapsed in the deep snow, her white form barely showing as it was covered by snowflakes. Her brothers looked over their shoulders, their eyes wide in dismay. Should they leave their freezing sister behind, to lessen the burden on their shoulders, or should they try to set up a camp? Kodiak turned back, nearly falling over in the wind buffeting his back, and picked up Aspen with a heave, dragging her through the snow. His voice muffled through the fur of his ice-cold sister as he spoke. “We need to set down a camp here!” he barked as loud as he could over the howling wind. Chinook turned to him, nodding mutely, staring down gravely at his sister.
Suddenly, a howl could be heard on the wind. The two wolves’ eyes lit up in a mixture of fear and excitement. Was this wolf hostile, or would it help them? They could see a pale grey, wolf-shaped form dashing towards them, its yellow eyes bright. The wolf seemed to be friendly. “Do you guys need some help?” she howled over the blare of wind in their ears. Chinook and Kodiak gave a swift nod, too amazed to speak. They were lucky to be able to get a wolf to help them. “Yeah,” Chinook yipped back, joyful that he had some help. “Our sister here isn’t doing too well.” “Follow me to my den,” the kind she-wolf said, and immediately turned tail, leading the two wolves and their unconscious sister to the den. They had to leave behind their kill, as it was too hard to drag both Aspen and the carcass around. The strange she-wolf lead them to what seemed to be a normal, small bowl-shaped depression in the ground, covered with snow. However, when she sniffed around the floor of the bottom, she found what looked like an opening to a cave and pushed herself into the tiny space available, gesturing to the other wolves to follow. They were lead down a short tunnel, with a tiny crack of sunlight peeking in, until it widened into a large room. The ground was covered with dry, warm grass and even tiny scraps of animal fur, giving the den a musty, yet comfortable, scent. A pile of a hare’s bones were in the back of the den, half-hidden under some dry grass. “Sorry!” the large wolf yipped as she noticed the brothers were staring at the messy bones. “I haven’t tidied up here in a while.” “Err… we never got your name.” Kodiak said quietly as he looked up at the female, who seemed to be 18 to 24 moon cycles old. “Oh! Sorry!” the kind wolf barked. “My name’s Tundra. I got it from the land I live in.” The two brothers still seemed to be confused, shooting her a perplexed gaze from where they were nosing Aspen into the warmest area, farthest from the entrance, to warm her up. Frankly, Kodiak was rather annoyed by the grey-and-white wolf. She was as hyper as Aspen, possibly even more so. “So why are you pups-“Tundra began, only to be cut off by an irritated Kodiak. “We’re more than 12 moon cycles old,” the white wolf growled. “Oh! Okay,” the she-wolf said airily, rolling her dark golden eyes. “So why are you yearlings out here in this cold tundra?”
“We were sent out here by Blackburn, the dominant male of the pack that lives in the mountains and our father. Our only source of food ventured too far away, and we couldn’t get our hunters out that far. He wants us to find a new herd of caribou, or deer, and lure it closer to camp.” Kodiak growled. “Blackburn? I know him! We were puphood friends! So what about Spurr? I remember them being good friends, even when they were pups. What ever happened to her?” Tundra was practically bouncing on her paws, her pale grey tail a blur, brushing against the smooth rocks surrounding the den. Chinook, who had been rapidly pawing Aspen, who seemed to be warming up but was still unconscious, snapped his head around to look at the older she-wolf. “She became mates with Blackburn and then started the pack with him. After we were born, she ended up dying from water poisoning when we were only 10 moon cycles old,” he stated flatly. Uncomfortable at Tundra’s shocked stare, Kodiak decided to change the subject. “So, why do you still have a den if you’re a lone wolf?” Kodiak looked up at Tundra, his head tilted. “Oh, I moved in here a long time ago, when I dispersed from my pack. I was born in a pack that has probably scattered by now, and I was raised normally, though I was the only pup in the pack. I was born with a brother, but he was stillborn. Being the only one of my age, life was boring. I was eager to stay a lone wolf and not have to go through that sort of life again, so I dropped the quest of finding a mate and moved in here to live a pleasant life, hunting rabbits and helping whoever I can find,” Tundra blabbered. “Oh, and I renamed myself from Fairweather to Tundra. Isn’t Fairweather such a stupid name?” Tundra wrinkled her nose, her tailtip twitching from side to side. Kodiak, overwhelmed a bit by her long life story, just sat on the ground next to Aspen with a mute nod. Chinook did the same. Tundra tore a leg off of a hare that she had hidden under some grass and animal fur, and offered it to the two hungry wolves. “Thanks,” Kodiak said gratefully before digging into the leg, but Chinook tried to grab it too, ending up in a tug-of-war between the two yearlings. Kodiak won the battle, and he tore off a large piece for himself before tossing the rest to Chinook. Once they both ate their fill, they curled up next to their now-sleeping sister, dozing off instantly.
As Tundra watched the three yearlings slumber, she sat down silently, her once-bright eyes now darkened slightly as ideas buzzed in her head. These stupid pups are just another mouth to feed, she thought, her eyes glinting in the half-light. And they should pay for taking my own precious den and food. Watching all three wolves for signs of deep sleep, she waited to spring, her shoulders tensed. Now. Tundra leapt out from the shadowy area of the den, sinking her fangs into Chinook’s scruff. Blackburn’s lineage should not go on much longer. After putting those crushed holly berries in the water to kill Spurr, I need to deal with these yearlings. She bit back a roar of fury as she smashed down on the son of her own mate’s killer, slamming her front paws into his muzzle to clamp it shut and muffle his yelp. However, Kodiak heard Chinook’s struggle and leapt up, not bothering to shake the sleepiness out of his body, and lunged at Tundra, jaws agape. His teeth seized over her ankle, and she snarled, releasing the bitten paw from Chinook’s muzzle. Chinook used this as a chance to make more noise to alert any other nearby wolves, howling his anger and pain before ramming into the evil wolf’s side, knocking the wind out of her. As she lay on her side, stunned, Kodiak and Chinook leapt on top of her in sync, snapping wildly at her neck vein that was now pulsing rapidly. Aspen, woken by all of the commotion, stirred and eventually came to her senses, getting up with some effort as she jumped into the battle, not bothering to know who this strange wolf was or why her siblings were attacking her. Aspen weaved in-between her brother’s bodies, excited by the aspect of a real fight. Tundra kicked wildly out with her hind legs as she tried to throw off the triplets, managing to fling Chinook and Kodiak away. However, Aspen was a swift and clever canine, and she skidded off to the side in the tiny space, leaping off of the stone wall with her hinds and barreling into Tundra’s battered side, her shoulder jabbing into her opponent’s stomach. Yelping in pain, Tundra collapsed with a huff as her head hit a sharp rock on the stone wall. Her siblings saw an opportunity and pounced on her, snapping at her face and ears. While the female was distracted by the two crazed yearlings biting her muzzle and tearing her ears, Aspen leapt in for the kill, diving in at an angle and hooking her lower jaw over the pulsing neck vein of the weakened she-wolf. She snapped her fangs upwards, slicing the vein deeply and letting blood gush out, spattering onto the she-wolf’s grey-and-white pelt. Just as Chinook and Kodiak were about to aid Aspen in the final attack, Tundra used her last few bits of strength to leap up and dash out of the den at full speed. The triplets were too startled to go out and finish off the she-wolf. “Let her die.” Kodiak snarled, his dark yellow eyes narrowed as he cast a glance over his white shoulder out into the frigid snow. His lip curled subtly as he gazed coldly at their defeated opponent, who was still alive as she stumbled through the snow. “She was an awfully good faker,” Chinook breathed. “What did I miss?” Aspen asked, rather confused at the sudden battle that had just happened. After her brothers explained that Tundra had faked being a friendly and helpful wolf, Aspen bared her teeth and flattened her ears. “How despicable is that?! Why would she have to be the one to try and kill us?” Aspen’s head buzzed with questions, and she lay down, feeling a headache begin. She curled up into a tight ball, trying to get the disturbing image of seeing a wolf nearly die beneath her teeth out of her head. “Is anybody hurt?” Kodiak peered around the den at his littermates, seeing a few strands of crimson leaking down Chinook’s scruff. The moment his brother looked at him, Chinook shrugged it off lightheartedly. “Don’t worry about it,” he yipped as his tongue, covered with Tundra’s blood, sunk out of the side of his mouth. “It’s a shallow wound.” Kodiak gave a quick nod at him before snapping his head around to look at Aspen, who was curled up in the warm fur and grass. “I don’t ever want to leave this place,” Aspen yawned, stretching. “It’s so comfy here.” Kodiak just rolled his eyes in reply. “We can make our den like this one day. Now then, are you injured at all?” “She rolled over on my leg, but I’ll be alright. It’s just a bit numb.” “You know, I think what Dad said was a sign.” Chinook mused, his eyes gazing up at the starlight peeking through the narrow tunnel that lead into the den. “What do you mean?” Kodiak asked, not being an intelligent wolf in terms of speaking and other mental activities. “You remember how he said we can’t live in the tundra?” Chinook sighed. Kodiak gave a nod and a shrug, wondering where this was going. “I think he meant that we can’t stay in the den of Tundra, not even for one moment, or she would attack us and kill us with her coldness, like what almost happened to Aspen there.” Kodiak gave a thoughtful nod as Chinook gestured to Aspen with his tailtip. “You really are a smart wolf when it comes to stuff like this.” Kodiak grumbled enviously, kicking a stone on the ground with a huge paw and glaring down at it when it stubbornly refused to flip over.
“It’s not as useful as skills like hunting and fighting,” Chinook replied modestly, looking at his brother with a cheerful expression in his eyes. He even smiled a bit at him, not showing a single trace of jealousy towards his brother’s talent in physical activities. After Chinook sealed up the entrance with some rocks to ensure the wolves would be safe, the two brothers curled up and fell asleep next to their sister. -- CUTOFF due to LENGTH Will post next chapters --
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CAK
Jan 31, 2013 17:54:28 GMT -5
Post by CinderpeltTT on Jan 31, 2013 17:54:28 GMT -5
Chapter 5- Death 17 silhouettes of wolves loped across the tundra, the orange glow of the rising sun tinting their shadowed coats gold. The wolf traveling at the head was a female with a fresh scar on her throat that still left a trail of blood in the snow. Beside her was a larger male with scars on his shoulders and back. Mountains stretched from the horizon, shrouded in a bluish mist. Determined yellow eyes pierced the dawn fog. The only thing the wolves could hear was the persistent noise of paws crushing the snow. “Don’t hesitate to kill any wolf from this disgusting pack of traitors you see!” the leading female called, her slim frame hiding the muscles beneath her pelt. The male’s coat became distinct as the light grew, revealing pale tawny fur. His narrowed yellow eyes showed a slight tint of green as he dashed through the snow, the mountains reflecting in his gaze. The female’s coat would be hard to find in a crowd; it seemed like mixed, pale greys. Finally, the wolves that had been traveling for the majority of the night reached the base of the mountain just as the sun was beginning to show on the horizon. The female skidded to a stop, sending up a fine dust of white powder. She surveyed her pack from a flat-topped rock, feeling proud of her powerful army. Though it was just 17 wolves, the pack of 21 would be weakened and mainly elders. However, they had one target and one target only: the dominant male. The tawny wolf was leading the others up the rocky slope, using a well-worn trail that showed three sets of pups’ pawprints in hardened mud. He smirked, knowing that those pups could be here, as adults, and be killed this very day. His tailtip was hooked upwards, showing the pale underside, telling the wolves to be quiet and careful. The expertly-trained wolves obeyed, and they skulked up the mountainside, not allowing a single pebble to roll down the rocks and alert the pack ahead of their presence.
When they reached the familiar cliff, nestled into the side of the mountain from where several wolves from this rogue team originated, the only signal the pack needed to attack was for the female to hold her tail erect, fanning out like a plume as she leapt through the snow, landing a silent and fatal bite on the neck on a very young pup. The nursing wolf was alerted, but she didn’t have time to howl for help as the grey wolf slammed her muzzle down into the snow with a paw as she sunk her fangs harshly into the white she-wolf’s throat, biting in just the right place to mute her, but not to kill her. A chorus of yelps echoed as the attack unfolded, with five of the most elite fighters dashing for the cave hidden behind a cluster of rocks. They burst in, seeing a large black wolf with a greyed muzzle peering at them, seeming to know that this was his end. A large white male leapt on him, sinking his teeth into his muzzle and leaving scarlet beads of blood soaking his chin. The tawny dominant male was inside, shouldering the astonished victim into a sharp rock jutting out of the den walls, piercing the side of his skull with a dull thunk. The den was barely large enough for the 6 huge wolves inside, causing chaos to ensue as two wolves ended up in a fierce battle, though the dominant male kicked out at them with his hinds, knocking the sense back into them. Crazed by battle, the tawny male wolf leapt onto the black male’s back, sinking his teeth harshly into his throat and slashing from side to side, ensuring that he had a painful death. The wolves exited the den as soon as the dominant male gave a quick, rasping bark, a code that meant their mission was completed. The dominant female followed the group as a shocked howl unfurled from the same den they had killed the dominant male of the enemy pack in, looking over her shoulder and watching the wolves scatter in chaos, some falling to their deaths. “We did well, did we not, Hawk?” the greyish she-wolf asked, a smirk on her lips as she thought of the male wolf, who was still just barely alive in his den. The tawny wolf, known as Hawk, gave a nod, his expression one of pride. The sun was then high in the sky as the wolves left the mountains, determined to finish the bloodline of the black-coated wolf. Back at the mountains, four wolves lie on the sleet, their blood already cold in the snow around their lifeless bodies. Two wolves were in the den, watching the poor dominant male die a slow, horrible death. “Why did they kill you?” a grey wolf with a white back asked in a soft voice, overwhelmed with grief that his only pup that hadn’t been stolen by a hawk had been murdered coldheartedly.
“I can barely remember. I’m quite sure that those cursed wolves hold me responsible for killing one of value in their so-called pack, but I can’t remember the rest.” The wolf’s bloody tongue sunk out of his greyed muzzle as he lifted his eyes up to gaze at the white wolf and the grey wolf with a white back. He remembered those two wolves being there when his only litter of pups had been born. “Solstice, Yukon..” he gasped, feeling his breath begin to fade. “Stay here and tell my pups that I perished in this battle. Yukon, I’m sorry that you had to lose your voice and your only pup in this massacre.” The muted she-wolf could only stare down at the dying black wolf, her eyes darkened with loss and sadness. Her ears flattened as she opened her mouth in a silent whimper, only emitting a whoosh of rasping air through her mangled throat. “Blackburn..” Solstice could only whimper as he looked away from the horrible sight that was his old puphood friend, killed by a bloodthirsty rogue pack. “I hope you can find Spurr again in the stars,” he gasped, his voice cracking in sorrow as Blackburn’s shuddering breaths began to fade. “I will.” Blackburn lifted his head up the length of a strand of fur as he got a final look at his den, his old home, now stained with blood. It fell back on the snow-covered floor as an ear twitched, thinking about his lonely pups. Oh, why did I have to send out my only pups out on such an impossible journey? Why didn’t I know that I would never see them again? His low, rumbling voice faded into a whimper, and then nothing. Blackburn, the sole leader of this once-great pack that had seen a great deal of loss and torment, was dead.
Chapter 6- Hunting and Home The triplets had been traveling on, as usual, through the never-ending snow for a quarter moon cycle. They had been living on a steady diet of hares and lemmings. “Life can’t get much more boring than this,” Chinook yawned. “I hope we find caribou soon.” Aspen, however, was still perky, and she actively sniffed the snowy ground and watched for hoofprints. As a result, her nose was covered in snow and her eyes ached slightly due to all of the time she had spent focusing on the ground. Kodiak sniffed the air, wondering if there were any hares nearby. Catching a whiff of hare, he bolted, wagging his tail. His brother already knew that he would be running off only to go hare hunting, and his sister was too occupied scanning for hoofprints to notice. Suddenly, there was a loud gasp from Aspen. “Chinook, I smell deer! Or caribou or whatever, but it’s something that has hooves!” Aspen yapped joyfully, jumping like a silly pup. Chinook, of course, was also excited. “Kodiak, come back here! We found prey!” Kodiak hadn’t gotten far, and he ran back in an instant, his black ears perked. “Really?!” he yelped, shocked that it had only taken about a moon cycle to find prey. Aspen nodded eagerly and took off running, eventually coming across fresh hoofprints in the snow and a stronger scent. “Aspen, you’re definitely one of the best trackers I’ve ever known. I wouldn’t have been able to smell that herd if it were right in front of me!” “Oh, it’s not much of a talent,” Aspen panted as she loped, her nose just above the snow to avoid disturbing the prints in the snow. “I can’t fight well at all, but you nearly killed that crazy wolf!” she yipped, referring to when Kodiak attacked Tundra before Chinook could be killed.
The three wolves instinctively dropped into a hunting crouch, eyes narrowed. Though they were only about 13 moon cycles old, they were determined to catch one of the young caribou stumbling through the thick snow. Kodiak was in the center of the sneaky triplets, prepared to burst forward into the chaos of the herd and lock on an unsuspecting fawn. They snuck forwards, pawprints overlapping the hoofprints as they saw the herd of deer in the snow. They still hadn't found them; the wind was in their favor as it blew towards them. Aspen eyed the herd carefully, spotting a fawn in the midst of all of the huge male deer. "Remember," she whispered, "we need to chase it east." She pointed her tail towards where the sun was. Kodiak tensed his shoulders and dashed forward, holding back a howl as his siblings followed him, flushing out most of the herd before they could get in a position to protect the lone fawn. The fawn's mother was chased away by a sharp bite to the ankles from Aspen. She twisted around, snow spraying up in her wake as she leapt on the fawn, along with Kodiak. "We should wait until we're done eating this to start chasing the herd, and fill up as much as we can. We won't have a chance to eat for days." Kodiak barked through the soft skin of the fawn's back as he dragged it to the ground. The three yearlings pulled out the tall legs from under the fawn as it flopped to the ground, snorting and struggling as it kicked wildly with its hinds. It managed to squarely ram a hind hoof into Chinook's chin, and he reeled back, yelping in pain. His brother and sister swiftly finished off the fawn and checked on their brother. "Are you okay?" Kodiak grumbled to his brother as he prepared to take a huge bite out of the caribou's stomach. Chinook shook some of the caribou's blood off of his black forehead as he talked, trying not to move his chin. "It hurts, but I'll be fine." Aspen was nursing an injured paw, licking it over and over again and keeping it above the snow. Kodiak looked at her paw quickly, opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted. "The fawn fell on it. It's no problem," she said before beginning her feast. Chinook, with some effort, started to gingerly eat the fawn, his brow furrowed in pain. The caribou had moved a good ways away from the wolves, just out of hearing range but not scenting range. Aspen could still smell them strongly, but they decided to not go and start chasing them until they had all rested. Aspen lay down next to the carcass, nosing the snow over her paw to soothe the pain. Chinook did the same with his chin, digging it into the snow to numb it. The three triplets fell asleep quickly, next to the carcass so that no foxes could reach it.
When they woke up, the sun had crossed the sky and was now setting. Days were short in the winter, so they knew it hadn't been too long. The caribou were still in Aspen's scent range, though they had faded out of Kodiak's and Chinook's. "Hurry up and eat your fill," Aspen barked as she got up and started to rummage through the insides of the caribou for the richest parts. She found the liver, and tore it out. Remembering when they were pups, she wagged her tail, silently allowing herself to cheer up. "I got the liver!" she yipped, running a few paces away with it in her jaws. She tore it apart eagerly, snapping it down in a few bites due to its small size. Kodiak chuckled, and Chinook ran over to her, trying to get the last few pieces of liver. He succeeded, and tossed a few bits to Kodiak, one landing right on his nose. He rolled his eyes as he quickly jerked up his muzzle to catch it in his mouth, swallowing it with a laugh. "Y'know, my chin doesn't hurt as much now," Chinook yapped joyfully. "Let's get going! I can't wait to show Dad that we could do this in only about a moon cycle!" Dusk surrounded the triplets as they began to lope at an easy, but brisk pace, spread out behind the herd to keep them running and also nipping their ankles to spur them along. The caribou seemed to obey the wolves, and they eventually took it that the wolves didn't have any intentions of hurting the caribou, so they acted as if they were just on their migrating trail and walked along at a sluggish pace. However, they were soon taken out of their peace by a sharp nip on the ankles of one caribou, alerting the rest of them to speed up or get an unpleasant pain in their hooves. None of the triplets got tired during the trip, due to their easy to maintain pace. Of course, the group had to stop, rest, and eat sometime, and so during the middle of the night, the whole herd decided to stop and graze in a flat patch of land, where only the caribou could see the bluish, foggy forms of the mountains that the triplets had lived in. (Wolves have bad eyesight, but since the caribou must see their predators, they had excellent vision.) The wolves, with their memory, were sure that they were nearing their old home. As the herd grazed, Chinook and Kodiak went off to hunt, leaving Aspen to keep the herd under control. She sat in front of the herd, her ears forward as she watched the caribou, blocking off any escape. The caribou would sometimes pause for a while in their grazing period to sleep for the time it would take to track and kill a hare. This happened only 4 times before Kodiak and Chinook returned with two hares, both small, and they chose to carry them over the trip and eat them in small parts if they got hungry. The three yearlings began to snort and howl to get the caribou moving again, and all of them quickly jumped back on their feet and continued to push on, their bellies full and their bodies well-rested. It was as if the wolves and deer had gained a temporary pact. As they moved, the three siblings took turns on holding the hares, and they would occasionally chat to kill some time. "These caribou seem pretty smart. They know we won't be hurting them, and they chose to stay together and not scatter. Now, every wolf knows that's natural herd instinct, but why would they do it if they have 3 powerful wolves behind them, keeping them moving?" Chinook asked, eyes gazing up at the starry sky as he willed for the beautiful Northern Lights to return. Aspen raised one eye ridge slightly as she looked over at her thoughtful brother. "That's a very good question," was all she said as she walked next to her brother. Kodiak's mind, however, was somewhat lost. "What on earth are you talking about?" he asked, shaking his head a bit. Chinook, feeling sorry for his brother that he had more trouble grasping complicated, philosophical questions, eyed his brother as he simplified his idea for him. "Why are the caribou not running away from us when we're their predators and right behind them?" "Technically, the caribou are running away from us," Kodiak blurted, still rather confused. "That's true, but they aren't scattering and really trying to get away from us." Aspen butted into the conversation, taking her eyes off of the brown form in front of her for a few seconds. "What's that?" Kodiak asked, raising his head to look a tiny bit over the horizon as he saw a bluish, triangle-shaped haze. He gasped, excited that the mountains were in their viewing range. "The mountains!" he yipped. Aspen sped forward, nipping the caribou's ankles to speed them up. The three wolves were sprinting through the tundra, eyes bright.
The caribou's hooves thundered into their ears as the yearlings dashed behind them, chins deep in their chest fur to keep them from breathing in the clouds of snow that the caribou were pushing up with their hinds. Chinook ended up dashing forward blindly and nearly getting kicked in the face, but Kodiak grabbed his tail and yanked him back. The wolves slowed down when the mountains were completely in sight. They let the caribou go to graze in the meadows near their camp and surveyed the land. "How come I can't smell many wolves? And there's a really weird smell...” Aspen’s ears perked as she sniffed the air. Kodiak's eyes widened as he picked up a whiff of the smell. "That's...” he began to stutter. "Th-that's... That’s the smell of death." His ears flattened against his head. Chinook took a deep breath, calming himself after his heart leapt to his throat. "It could just be some dead rabbit." "We need to go up to the camp and see what happened!" Aspen yelped, unable to maintain her calmness anymore as she took off running. Her brothers followed, fearing what could be awaiting them. Could a bear have found the pack and killed some wolves? Their thoughts were interrupted by a choking, terrified yelp. "Oh, no, no! No!"
Chapter 7- Reset Aspen howled at the horrible sight in front of her. She was standing at the familiar ledge, the decomposing bodies of 4 wolves scattered in front of her. "Oh, please, no! This can't be real!" she whimpered, her ears flat against her head as she crouched, shaking her head. Her brothers sped up the mountainside, not bothering to pick the pebbles that had become lodged firmly in-between their pawpads out of their paws. Aspen was shaking like the wings of a bird and whimpering like a pup. Chinook gagged at the sight and stench of the rotting wolf corpses. "What could have caused this?!" Kodiak screeched, his fur bristling. "Who could have done this?!" He slammed his paw into the ground, only to feel something tiny and fuzzy on the tip of his claw. His eyes widened, and he gave a startled squeak, unlike him. He nosed through the snow, finding the body of a pup, no more than 2 moon cycles old. He shuddered, and Aspen looked at it, her jaw dropping. "This is despicable...” she murmured, staring down at the ground and refusing to turn her eyes towards the dead pup. "Wait." Aspen's head snapped up faster than a mouse could dart to cover. "Blackburn!" was all she yelped as she took off running towards the den, bursting in and tripping over her own father's dead body. "No!" Chinook howled. "Blackburn! Father! No! This can't be happening!" He darted out of the den, his mind swimming. Aspen just stared at the body, her eyes dark as she stared at Blackburn, her paw on the blood-soaked snow. "I.. will kill whatever pup of a-" she seethed, only to be interrupted by a call from a wolf that sounded familiar, but she couldn't put her paw on it. "Hello there.." the strange wolf said nervously. "H-h-hello.." she muttered, slightly set off by the wolf's small, rather frightened smile. "W-who are you?" "The name's Solstice," the grey wolf with a white back said, his voice brisk. "Your father told us to stay here and tell you what happened." His eyes were staring down at the ground, too nervous to meet the gaze of the newly orphaned she-wolf. "Us?" Solstice turned his head and gestured to a pure white wolf outside of the den. She walked in, her frame sleek and abnormally thin. There was a horrible, ragged scar on her throat, where a patch of fur was permanently torn away and two pairs of marks from where teeth had scored across the skin. "This is my mate, Yukon. She was-" "Wait. Yukon? Solstice? You guys were out on that hunt when my littermates and I were sent off on that journey!" Solstice just gave a quick nod, coughed, and continued. "Yukon was muted in the battle in which these four wolves, not including your father, were killed." Aspen's ears drooped. Were they sent off because Blackburn knew the battle was coming? Because he didn't want his pups to be injured or horribly scarred like Yukon? Seemingly reading her mind, Solstice pierced her thoughts with a throaty huff. "He didn't know an attack of this scale would happen." The yearling’s brothers were outside of the den, listening. “But did he know there was going to be one?” she questioned, her golden eyes half-closed as she stared up at the large wolf. Yukon shook her head no, and Aspen thought for a moment she was being impolite, but then she remembered that Yukon was mute. She sighed, staring down at the ground as her mind tried to piece together what had happened. “Dad will never be able to see that we completed our quest,” she whimpered. Chinook looked over at her solemnly. “It’s okay- I’m sure he’s watching us from the stars. He’s with Mom.” Chinook stared up at the sky, knowing the stars were past the veil of blueness. Soon, the curtain would be swept away, revealing the land where the wolves departed to at death. After a bit of silence as the wolves were trying to understand the death of their father, Kodiak voiced his thoughts. “The pack has scattered. What should we do?” He looked over to Chinook for advice, him being the smartest wolf in the group. After Chinook continue to watch the downy white clouds drift by for a few moments, Kodiak suspected that he had not heard him, but he broke the pause with a thoughtful comment. “We should start searching for them,” he said, glancing at Kodiak. Meanwhile, Aspen had been rolling a pebble across the ground, but when Chinook began to talk, she looked over to listen. “Sure, there are plenty of wolves in the tundra, but they couldn’t have gotten far.” Chinook continued, sitting down to speak. “Obviously, wolves that were starving would not have made it this far. The attack was held about a quarter moon ago, and the pack was in a time of famine. The only reason Blackburn was alive at that point was because he ate a large portion of the prey we all got. But, he has his reasons- if we didn’t have him, the pack would have been in shreds, and many more wolves would have died in that battle without his leadership.” Solstice droned on until he was cut short in his speech by Kodiak. “How could he have given orders if he was hiding in his den.. Like a coward?” he growled, blurting out the last part. His siblings stared at him, eyes wide in shock. Spluttering, he tried to justify his saying. “I-it’s true. If I were leader then, I would have gone out there and fought to the death, and given orders, and-“ “He was under a huge amount of stress at the time!” Aspen barked, her voice high-pitched in dismay that her own brother was insulting their late father. “He probably thought we were dead, his mate had died-right in front of him-just three moon cycles earlier, and he was weakened by famine!” Aspen took a step forward as he listed all of the reasons her father had done such a thing. “The pack would be here if he had not been so stupid!” her brother yelped, her eyes aflame as he bared his teeth. “How dare you call our own father stupid!? He lead his pack well, stayed with his mate till the end, and he.. He..” Aspen was too infuriated to go on, and she decided to transfer her anger into action, leaping onto Kodiak, fangs bared. The startled yelp of Chinook was drowned out by the blood roaring in Kodiak’s ears as he tore his fangs across the bottom of Aspen’s chin, just as she pounced on him. Snarling with pain, the she-wolf jumped off. After a moment of stillness, spent with the two wolves glaring at each other, she sped forward, ducking under Kodiak’s teeth trying to drill their way into her scruff. She slashed her canines across his belly, watching blood begin to collect at the sides and drip off of the wound. Surging up from under Kodiak, Aspen forced him off of his forelegs and he reared up, then fell on his side, the breath knocked out of him.
“Stop!” Chinook howled furiously, ramming in between the two wolves. Aspen skidded in the sleet that was beginning to thin a bit due to the light of the sun that was overhead. Both of the wolves stood, crouched low to the ground, sides heaving as they recovered their breath. Chinook gave each of the two wolves a harsh glare, his eyes like a hawk’s that was crushing its prey in its talons. “Both of you!” he snarled. “Don’t you know our father is watching us now? Even though he isn’t on this land now, he may as well be! What if he was right there, in his den, watching us? Would you do such a horrible thing as this!?” he ranted, disgusted by his sibling’s behavior. Neither of his siblings acknowledged him, and they just glared at each other hatefully. “I’m sure Chinook will raise his pups to be just as strict as him.” Aspen sneered under her breath, smirking at the horizon and refusing to meet any of the wolves’ gazes. Solstice had walked away during the fight, hoping that the two wolves didn’t kill each other. Kodiak was at a loss for words, but all of his emotions and thoughts could be summed up in a single word: hate. He stared daggers at Aspen, his lip curled and his nose wrinkled. “I need some time to think,” Aspen muttered after a few moments, breaking the silence. She turned, her tail whipping out behind her as she walked down the old path and squeezed (with some effort) into the same cave that Chinook had hidden in so long ago. She curled up, feeling bitterness towards her siblings. Kodiak and Chinook are no help to me. A strange feeling, like the one in her throat, tugged at her eyes as if there was ice stored below them, being so cold that they burned. If I go out alone, I’ll have trouble hunting. She glanced out through the small opening of the cave, feeling as if the walls were about to collapse on her. Chinook would be a perfect father, hunter, fighter, everything, and Kodiak could dominate every pack in sight if he wanted. But I’m a mere female, my only gift being tracking, and nothing else. She squeezed herself into an even tighter ball, flattening her ears. Once Kodiak had watched Aspen go into that old den, he gave one glance at the two astonished wolves that were on the same hill that Blackburn had stood on when he sent off the triplets. He sat in the den that Yukon had once stayed in when her four pups were all alive. It was a little space, safe under the shelter of an overhang that was sheltered from the snow and most of the wind. He sulked in the darkness, glaring at the ground. That was a stupid thing to say. He thought, the blood from his belly wound soaking the rocky soil underneath. He ignored the stinging pain, only thinking about the mental storm that was going on inside his head. I just want to kill Aspen. His thoughts fluctuated from ones telling him to stop to ones to cause more violence. I’d be better off alone. Should I disperse? I’m already 19 moon cycles old.. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if his decision would make his life better or worse. But I’ve been with my siblings for so long, and I still have a mission. His golden eyes burned holes into the rock face in front of him. Chinook and Solstice jumped into action, retrieving both of the wolves in hopes of counseling them out of their anger. Of course, they waited a while for the two to calm down. When the two wolves walked out, their fur smooth and their eyes only glancing at each other in depleted fury, Chinook ran up to greet them, his tail wagging faster than the snowflakes around them moved in the thin flurry. However, what he and the adult wolf beside him didn’t know was that the two wolves were questioning whether they wanted to leave the others or not. After a short pause between the five wolves, Chinook broke the silence by asking a question all of the pups had had pushed into the back of their minds. “Why did Blackburn let you and Yukon have pups when he is the only one that should be allowed to?” Chinook asked, his pale yellow eyes staring up into Solstice’s brownish ones. “Good question,” he said softly as he sat down, his tail curling slightly around his narrow body. “We were his puphood friends, Blackburn and I, and he decided to let some fresh blood into the pack by allowing us to have pups. Yukon and I had one litter before any of you were born, and three survived. They were Foraker, Tooth, and Alverstone. The last one, Hubbard, was born with no tail and ended up falling off the side of the mountain when he was running one day, not being able to balance himself well. We had not expected him to survive, so we tried not to grow too attached to him. Of course, our family mourned for him along with the rest of the pack. Then, we had the second litter, which wasn’t as good…” He trailed off, looking down at the snow as he remembered seeing his final pup be killed before he could rush out to tackle the wolf away. Similarly, the other wolves bowed their heads, remembering their litter of 5 that had all been either eaten by eagles or struck down by a wolf, in the final pup’s case. The problems Aspen and Chinook had raging wars inside of them were tiny compared to Solstice’s. “This is depressing,” Chinook whimpered as his ears lowered. Kodiak just gave a small nod, trying to imagine what it would be like to be whisked into the air by a hawk and taken away, never to see your home, family, or parents again… A voice cut into his thoughts like a fang had cut into his belly, which wasn’t bleeding as much anymore. “Well, then,” Aspen muttered, her voice still flat from bitterness after the fight, “Are we going to go start finding the pack members?” She glanced over at the other wolves, who were still standing on the rock as if their paws were frozen to the ground, after she began to pad over to the edge of the ledge that gently sloped into the narrow path the rogues had used. "Wait," Solstice called, his tail swishing and his ears twitching irritably. "Aren't we going to bury the dead wolves?" Aspen gave a huff, walking back over to the wolves. They smell horrible. I just want to get away from them. She looked down at Blackburn's body, feeling like a stone with absolutely no emotion. She dragged the corpse with her brothers and they dug into the deep slush, packing the body under it. They marked the grave with a pile of small rocks. "We don't need to bury any of the others. I want to leave." Aspen turned quickly, her ears pointing forward as she contained her anger. Yukon ran back to bury her last pup, along with Solstice. Though Chinook seemed to be unhappy due to the sight of the bloody mat of snow-covered fur, the white wolf's dark fur along her spine was bristled up in suppressed rage. When all of the wolves were buried, the 5 wolves walked down the path silently, their pawsteps setting into the pawprints of countless wolves before them. 7 more wolves lay dead at the feet of the cliffs, having fallen off in the panic during the attack. 11 wolves dead. 10 to find. Chinook mused, his eyes focusing just above one dead white wolf with tan blended into her coat. The wolves looked up, seeing the setting sun. The sun had set on this journey, but risen on another. Their live would never be the same. They continued solemnly across the desolate, snowy fields, with even the caribou herd nearby being silent. They silhouetted against the balance of the sky and the ground. Aspen, realizing that this was a turning point in her life, stood and howled, her breath turning into a pillar of fog in the cold air.
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