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krwordgazer wrote: Licking (an action) Scaring the s***t out of someone A fierce storm (hurricane, blizzard, maelstrom) A weapon The chill bit at their flesh, dug into their bones. The white fall was relentless, covering everything around them. The entire world seemed to be one large sheet of white – there were no distinguishable landmarks anymore. All of the trees, lakes, rocks – they were all buried in the white snow. “The good thing,” Skyshade shouted from the back of the line, mounted on her grey wolf, “is that I think our chief is more stubborn than this blizzard of white fall!” Shadow peered over his shoulder, the wind and snow whipping around his dark mane – a sharp contrast to the white snow that had surrounded them. He ignored Skyshade’s playful comment – she was merely trying to lighten the mood that had settled around them. “How is Sunsword?” he asked, calling back. They were marching in a single file, mounted on their wolves. Stillbreeze had their young cub tightly wrapped in leathers that they had made from an elk that had slaughtered a few days before the blizzard overtook them. “He is fine, my chief.” Sunsword, the third cub between the Recognized mating of Vineweaver and Stillbreeze, was honorably named after Sungazer’s own cub, Suncaller, who had died at the hands of one of their own – his own lover – Blackstar. Echo was their male cub, who was about eight seasons in age – who had been born with the ability to sense Magic. Windfetcher, their daughter of nine seasons age, was named because she moved so quickly – they had said that she fetched the wind. She had a vast interest in Shadow – she thought he was a great chief – and that she should learn from him – since in her mind – she was going to be the next chief, naturally. They heard a howl just ahead of them. Shadow tilted his head back and answered the familiar howl. With this much white fall – their tracks were being buried all too rapidly to follow – and the winds were distorting where the scents were coming from. So howling became the only way to find one another. Treerunner had scouted ahead, since this had always been his duty with the tribe. He was now looking for his tribe – and he had found them through howling. “{I found a cave we can take shelter in,}” he sent to Shadow once he knew he was in range. Shadow turned to the others, “Treerunner has found us shelter for the night, until this storm passes.” He lifted his fist and shouted, “Ayoooah!” The others raised their fist and cheered as well. Inside the cave, they were free of the whipping winds, and the cold did not seem so bad – though wolf and elf all huddled very closely together to maintain their body warmth through the night. “Tell us a story, Sungazer!” Windfetcher blurted once everyone had gotten as warm as they were going to get for the night. “Tell us about Shadow!” “Shadow?” Sungazer, the elder of the tribe, gazed over at Shadow, who shook his head. He looked back at Windfetcher, “How about telling you another story? One you have never heard about before?” “Who would it be about?” Windfetcher asked, her brown eyes wide, her auburn hair still flaked with melting snow. “Tonight’s tale will be about the Pack,” Sungazer said. “The Pack?” Windfetcher was surprised. She hadn’t heard many tales about the Wolves that they had Bonded with. “Indeed,” Sungazer said. He looked over to Shadow’s wolf, “Ol’ Mooneyes, like Shadow, runs the Pack. But he runs it not because Shadow is our Chief – but because Mooneyes is the Chief within the Pack. He’s the Alpha Male. He’s proved himself to the others and defeated any and all who have challenged him.” “They would challenge their chief?” Windfetcher asked, confused. “Wouldn’t they just listen to their chief?” “No,” Sungazer leaned back against his own wolf, Redthorn. “The wolves challenge their chief to make sure he’s still fit to lead them – to make sure he’s still strong enough to keep them in line – and thus strong enough to protect the Pack against any threats.” “But we don’t challenge Shadow,” Echo finally spoke up. “We do,” Sungazer said. “Well, not so much Shadow, but when Wildthorn was Chief – Shadow challenged him many times – not to take over as Chief though – but to keep Wildthorn focused on the tribe.” He paused for a moment, reflecting on some memories, “But those are other stories. Tonight is about the Pack – one specific night.” “You see, we bond with them,” Sungazer explained, “but they have their own Way which is different than ours. They are not our pets – they are our friends. So we can ask of them, but never tell them.” “You see, there was this bear – we called him Bloodfang. He was the biggest bear you had ever seen,” he stretched his arms out in order to emphasize the bear’s massive size. “He used to kill for the simple fact of killing. A few of us,” he paused, once again reflecting on a distant memory, “had tried to stop him before – and paid the price for it. So we got in the habit of keeping our senses sharp – and being mindful of when he was near – we would clear the way. He would slaughter anything and everything in his path – sometimes devouring what he killed – sometimes, just leaving the fresh kill.” “Before Shadow was Chief, you remember Wildthorn – well when he was a cub, he had wandered away from the rest of the tribe,” Sungazer continued explaining. “It was Foxhair, even though she was a young hunter at the time, that had picked up Bloodfang’s scent. She warned the rest of us – and that’s when Wildthorn’s father, Steeleye, noticed that his cub was missing. Steeleye, our Chief at the time, told Fernglade, his soul mate to get everyone else back to the Holt.” Sungazer laughed. “She was a stubborn one, that Fernglade. She was as calm as a placid lake – but tell her to do something – and it was like throwing a stone into that lake and watching the rippling effect.” Again, Sungazer paused, as he frequently did, “She was my sister. I loved her because she stood up to our Chief – challenged him at every turn if he barked a command to her.” “She sounds like me!” Windfetcher said, looking over at Shadow. She was young, but she would be a handful soon enough. When the time came – she would indeed be the next chief of the Stonehowl Holt pack. Sungazer looked at the young cub, “You do remind me of her, young one. But back to the story of the Pack,” Sungazer went on to say. “Steeleye was going to go after his cub – but Fernglade refused to let him go alone, knowing that Bloodfang was out there. It took the whole tribe to stop not just Steeleye – but Fernglade.” “In the meantime,” Sungazer continued, “The Pack had sensed we were uneasy and trying to stop our chief. So believe it or not, the Pack took it upon themselves to find Wildthorn, while we were too distracted trying to stop Steeleye and Fernglade from marching off to find their cub!” “In the meantime,” Sungazer’s face became dark and solemn. “Wildthorn had no idea that Bloodfang was in the area – he was entirely too young to even know. Well, when Bloodfang suddenly sprang out from the bushes, towering five times Wildthorn’s height, rest assured the sight had undoubtedly scared the poor cub half way to death! He was so terrified that he couldn’t even get out a scream. Bloodfang’s shiny weapons – his massive claws, his massive teeth – were coated in crimson blood from a fresh kill he had mauled for the sheer pleasure of it. Bloodfang’s paw struck Wildthorn across the body – sending the cub flailing like a bag of mud! He never felt it when he slammed into the tree, he told us later. Bloodfang was moving in for the kill when Mooneyes and the rest of the Pack arrived. Bloodfang, never afraid of anything, took a swing at Mooneyes – but ol’ Mooneyes was too quick for Bloodfang – it threw the bear off balance, swinging so hard and not connecting. The rest of the Pack jumped in – none went for the killing bite, because that would be a mistake – it was about hit and run – as quick and possible as they could – just to keep Bloodfang off balance. When one of the Pack struck, it moved quickly – so that when Bloodfang swung – there was nothing – but leaving himself open for another of the Pack to attack from somewhere else – always fast – always quick – or else they’d be dead.” Sungazer looked at Windfetcher, “It was Glimmer who had pulled the unconscious Wildthorn away and rapidly ran back with him to the Holt so that Stream could tend to the poor cub. It was Glimmer’s tongue, when she licked Wildthorn that greeted him back to the land of the conscious. But Wildthorn, even with Stream’s healing, took a long time to recover. Glimmer stayed at Wildthorn’s side the entire time – and the two eventually bonded.” “It was because of the Pack that Wildthorn was saved and Bloodfang was driven away, never to be seen again. Glimmer was devastated when we lost Wildthorn to the humans – but I am glad to see that Glimmer has found the next chief,” he looked over at Shadow, “after Shadow, of course. Glimmer must see something in you, Windfetcher. Something she saw in Wildthorn.” “I can’t wait to be Chief!” Windfetcher said, stroking Glimmer’s fur. “High Ones help us all,” muttered Shadow. The others laughed, and it echoed warmly within the cave. All had forgotten the snow. Had forgotten the cold. They had each other, and for now, that was all that mattered. Illustration by Embala: Click Here To See.