Yuki,
This is a simple story, written as an aid to expanding my skill hope you like it.
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He poked his head from the den and sniffed the air, the snows were late this year... He whimpered and turned back into the no longer abandoned den he now resides in. This was the time of year he hated most, when he was alone and felt empty.
His longing for his dark friend was never so clear as it was just before the snows. But when the snows came, it was bliss. They played together from the time the sun rose in the morning making the dark friend huge and long on the white of the snow to mid day when the friend shrunk and rested. To the dawn when the dark friend faded into the other darkness...
But the snows were late this year. Very late. The normal stirrings of cold air from the mountains had been late in coming, and now he felt in his bones... there may be no snow at all this winter.
The thought sent him deep into depression.
He lay in the den curled with his tail tip to his nose. He hadn't eaten in the past few days. His core rumbled and there was a squelching sound as his belly squirmed with hunger, but he ignored it... how could he hunt or even scavenge when he felt so empty, so alone? Maybe even... wishing for death.
Dozing in and out, waking to hunger and despair. Dreams of running with his dark brother filled his mind as he slept. Long treks across the white plains when he left the safety of the forest, his white coat blending perfectly with the snows. There he ran and pounced jumped and rolled with his ever-present friend. He spoke to it, often. But it never replied.
But he understood. It was with him all the time, hiding in the night and almost visible under the boughs during the fall and spring. Summer was hardest. He only caught glimpses of his friend and he couldn't see more because the darkness of the summer under the trees wouldn't allow it, unlike the winter. Where even in the darkness there is light from the bright white snow and the light of the Sun and moon.
He breathed in suddenly, and woke his tail wagging weakly. The airy scent of snow in the air, with a strangled yelp he rose and fell on his side. His body was nearing death... it had been close to a week since he had a full meal. All his reserves were gone and he was starting to feel his muscle tissue weaken as his body devoured that too...
He rose shaking heavily, he moved to the mouth of his den and sniffed the air gently... he was right. The smell of snow. He yelped in happiness and wandered out of his cozy den to find some food. Otherwise his friend would never find him in his lightless home.
He walked slowly following his nose as he sniffed for something palatable. Or just something that would give him the energy to find more filing fair. He wandered sniffing.
He could smell several mice hiding in borrows. But he couldn't find the will to dig into their homes and devour them and their young... He was a wolf but...he'd never been as vicious and animalistic as the others of his former pack.
And in the end that is why he had been exiled. No friends, no family. Alone in the darkness of his mind. Yes, he had always been more... aware of things than the others. But he had also felt their minds so full of need brimming with the will to survive beyond all.
He had been scared of this more than anything. How could one such as he, thinking and feeling watching the pain of the animals he devoured, stand to do it? He couldn't...
He ignored the mice and walked through the evergreens and bare hard barked trees sniffing the ground for tubers and roots he could eat. He caught the scent he was looking for not far from his home.
He smiled his wolf's grin and dug into the cold earth searching for his meal. Limbs shaking like those of an elder, he was getting close to collapse. His meal being so close added some desperate strength to his limbs but in the end he lay on the ground nosing the dirt aside as his stomach moaned its displeasure at him.
The root slid loose and he didn't even roll it under his paw to loosen some of the dirt. He opened his maw and devoured it nearly whole. He felt the big chunks catch in his throat but he swallowed harder trying to force it down without choking.
When he had it down he lay waiting for his grumbling stomach to cease its moaning. He waited for the food to work its way in then stood. His legs still shook with weakness but he would be better soon. Nose up he sniffed around, the smell of damp earth tickled his nose. The cloying smell feces from several different animals filled the air nearby and if he chose he could follow the animal's scent trail.
He loved the taste of it and being filled with it. But hunting and being the predator of weaker things made his stomach turn. So he hunted for roots and plants that didn't make his belly want to explode or shrivel. Subsisting on plants when he craved meat. Never allowing himself to have what he wanted, and his body needed.
And he did need it. His body was slowly becoming weaker and slower. His muscles were thinning and it was hard for him to do more than a gentle trot through the forest.
He was exiled from his pack for being weak... Unwilling to hunt helpless animals he was reduced to plants and the natural things he would have gotten from meat were... sparse. His body lost weight slowly but irreversibly.
Now he was totally alone.
Despite his first few months winter had come early and with it the snows. And white wolf had remembered his friend from puppyhood. The dark friend he had pounced and never caught, the silent watcher who never barked or growled back at him, except for the echoes from the trees around him. He had still been little more than a pup when he'd been exiled. Now he was coming on his sixth winter.
Three seasons of loneliness and loss, then anticipation and endless happiness. Or it would seem endless until the snows melted and all the light of the world was dimmed to his eyes. Life was nothing to the wolf but passing his lonely months waiting for the 'Bright Times' of winter.
When he could safely leave the forest and not be hunted by the two legged beasts...
Less close to death he wandered under the sheltering boughs, sniffing the air waiting for the snows.
And flake by flake they came
With each wafting breeze and stir of the freezing air they floated to the ground. The wolf jumped and spun catching several fleeting flakes on his steamy tongue. But much too soon he grew exhausted.
Head hanging and tail low he moved back to its den and fell into a deep sleep now waiting for the time when he would look down onto the snow and clearly see his friend. Its shape long and ephemeral. Dark against the white.
He fell asleep his mind filled with memories of fun times pouncing in the snows and hiding from his dark friend. A cold breeze blew into his den and woke him as a few flakes fell onto his nose and melted there. The wolf stirred and crawled out into the cold air.
From the sky fell fat whirling flakes of snow, a storm had moved in during his sleep and it was a blizzard. Through the drifting shower of flakes random rays of light reflected off the crystalline precipitation. Light flared and died around him.
He scratched at the snow as his friend flared and died under him. A whimpering whine left his throat filling the air. An idle paw scratched at the hurriedly freezing surface of the snow. Not enough light got through for him to come through.
Heart racing and body slowly cooling he ran in search of an open area where his friend could come through better. The wolf ran full out through the steadily falling snow. It's heart raced and loneliness overrode his survival instinct.
Not really wanting to live if he was so... alone. So empty and alone.
His body grew sluggish, the light faded from low to full and enveloping darkness. But still his need for companionship drove him on. Too far into desperation to mind a cold and gentle death. Sleeping in the snow forever.
The wolf's body shook. Legs turning to jelly and unable to feel anything besides the absence of feeling. A rock shifted under the snow, his right hind paw sliding out from under him making him sit hard.
Exhaustion pulled at the wolf's body and his heart screamed in loneliness. He threw his head back and let loose and wild and feral howl. As the echoes reached him along with the imagined sound of barking he fell into the darkness of death.
John followed the husky over the hills and through driving snow, following some scent or sound the human couldn't even register. "Hope you don't get me killed out here..." He grumbled lightly as the huge black and white dog plowed through the snow before him cutting a path and making it easier for the human to follow close.
His breath came in ragged gasps. "Damn it pup. Where are you taking me? If this is revenge for making you eat dog food I'm going to haunt y..." He broke off as he saw a cream colored paw sticking out of the snow Kiba had been digging in. He rushed over and hurriedly dug out the near frozen pup sliding the big dog into his coat so half his back was bared to the storm.
They hurried home through the darkness, Kiba cutting a path as the hunter followed close, cradling the dog against his chest. "Hold on pup. John's got you no need to worry," He'd felt it struggle feebly as he shoved it into his coat, but his calming voice soothed it into a deep exhausted sleep against his chest. His body heat thawing the frozen clumps of snow caked to the dog's fur.
The lights of their cabin flared out of nowhere as Kiba showed the path and John followed. Knowing his pup would never lead him wrong. As he pulled up to the door his body numbed from the storm, John smelled a spicy... odor. Not totally unpleasant, but strong.
They rushed into the cabin and sealed the weather proofed door after themselves. "Ah Kiba..." The human gasped as he moved t the built up fire. "D-drag m-me ov-er th-at w-water." His body started shaking as the heat of the room made his storm exposed skin burn with cold.
The large husky having been well trained over long winters in the cabin retrieved the water skin and pulled it over to the human who had just collapsed near the fire. Kiba tugged it near enough for the human to pull it to him with shaking hands as he dumped a portion into the dog dish then more into his mouth. "Gah I hope your new friend is worth it Ki, Imma need a nice... long... nap..." He fell asleep the dog curled against his chest, being warmed by his body and the heat from the fire.
The husky moved in close and took his accustomed position as leg warmer on these freezing winter nights. Kiba settled in for sleep as Alpha snored softly and the new beast whimpered against John's chest. Kiba slid John's legs wider and lay with his head on Alpha's crotch his nose under the hem of the coat sniffing the wolf's scent.
The wolf was alone. That much was obvious. It smelled of roots and dirt, no meat or death.
Kiba slid his head deeper into the darkness and felt a tongue slide over his snout. He pulled his head back and shook it sneezing. The right corner of his lips pulled up in a slight smile as he slid his snout back inside.
This time when the tongue gently licked his nose he let it and even managed to move in closer so he could return the lick. The wolf wasn't feral or even aggressive. He heard it's heart slow as it slept. He thrust his head into the darkness beside the wolfs and rubbed it gently, his own now sore body screaming for sleep.
The wolf woke much warmer than usual and oddly... comforted. His nose twitched at the odd smells that permeated the air. Sweat and meat, dog and human, smoke... and fire...
The wolf tried to rise and couldn't something constricted his body making it hard to even roll to his belly. There was the sound of movement nearby but the wolf tried to struggle free. Something moved under him and he felt his claws dig into it.
John woke with large sharp claws digging into his flesh as the dog tried to get free. He hurriedly unzipped his coat and the dog flew free a blur of creamy white fur. Kiba was quick to act and had the pup pinned within three seconds of escaping the coat.
John rose and checked for blood on his chest and noticed only minor scratches. "Enough boy let him up so he can get used to us." For there was no doubt it was male. Kiba released the pup and moved over to John's side.
Slowly the pup rose into a sitting position and John had a shock as he realized this was no dog. He reached for a dagger hidden under his pillow. The wolf sat swaying with hunger the sound of it filling the cabin with squirming noise.
Kiba watched all the happenings without showing any signs of aggression so John tossed the dagger on the bed and pulled some deer jerky from the food storage and held it out to the starving wolf. He knew Kiba wouldn't allow a dangerous animal into the cabin. So John trusted his pup and turned his back to find a bowl for water for the beast.
He found what he was looking for and heard a dull thump. John turned to see the wolf passed-out on the floor. The human sighed and moved to the unconscious animal, with only a seconds effort he had the wolf in his arms. John carried him to the bed and placed the sleeping wolf there getting a rope and fashioning a muzzle just as an added protection.
The wolf woke slowly. His body running out of energy, what muscles remained were again being turned into fuel. He rolled to his belly and opened aching eyes to look around the cabin. The human lay on the bed next to where he had awakened. The huge dog watched him eagerly from beside the door his huge white and black furred body looking statuesque with the slight fluttering of the light from the fire.
The wolf jumped down and nearly collapsed again as his weak body nearly gave into the hunger again. The dog finally broke away from the door and stood over the wolf, asserting his place as dominant male. The cream colored wolf let him lowering his ears and tail and rubbing the underside to the huge huskies throat.
The husky placed his face next to the wolf and gnawed on the rope holding its muzzle closed. The wolf pulled his head free and opened his jaws repeatedly. The husky led him to the bowl with dried meat and the wolf fell to his belly before the bowl hurriedly devouring every piece.
The wolf was beginning to feel tried again this time though not from exhaustion or hunger, this time he was full and content. He ignored the odd smells and curled up near the fire. The radiant heat soaking into his flesh.
He let out a sigh and drifted, movement nearby roused him as the husky lay on his other side and nuzzled the wolf's neck. Heart racing and blood pounding in his veins the wolf started licking the bigger canine. He forgot his old friend and eagerly accepted this new one. They lay together before the fire as his full belly pulled him back into sleep, his wolfie grin showed and he dreamt about running in a pack of two through the dawn lit woods. His paws kicked in time with his steps and soon he was far past noticing how Kiba licked his furred face.
He woke to an aching pain expanding in his body. It started in his joints and spread down his muscles and bones. Filling him with a burning ache. His eyes opened to an unfamiliar sight.
A burned down fire smoldered in the fireplace of the cabin. The wolf roused more and looked around the one roomed cottage. The huge dog slept on the floor beside him warming his smaller body, while the human slept loudly on the bed, snoring while covered in a thick fur and a woven wool blanket.
The wolf rose and moved to the bowl that had held food the night before sniffing even as he saw it was empty. Kiba the hug husky woke and stretched. Feeling the dog move behind him the starved wolf turned around and readied to defend himself from the canine.
Instead of acting in an aggressive way the dog moved to the bed and pulled the blankets from the sleeping human. Then with a wet and undoubtedly cold nose, the dog stabbed his snout into the humans exposed back. John woke with a strangled cry that sent the wolf to all fours, shaking in fear.
Kiba hopped down from the bed and sat next to the wolf leaning his bigger body into the wolf. John groaned and rolled off the bed to stagger around for a minute in the cold air. After he gathered himself and added wood to the fire he looked at the dog and wolf.
"Time for food I guess." With a yawn and another stretch the human pulled open a cabinet too high for the wolf to reach and retrieved some deer meat. "Here... umm... huh, we'll need to name you wolf. Otherwise I'll just call you 'you'. Do you like Yuki?" The human sat on the floor and held out some meat while talking. The wolf came forward hesitantly and sniffed the meat before taking it gingerly into his muzzle. John nodded and tossed some to Kiba. "So Yuki it is then. So how did you get out of the rope I put on our muzzle?" John looked around and found the gnawed rope by the bowls. "Kiba took it off huh?" John shrugged and reached a hand to Yuki trying to pet his new wolf. "Come here, I won't hurt you."
John holds out another piece of deer meat. Kiba watches this and moves over to John laying beside him resting his warm furred head on the human's naked knee. Yuki turned his head and sat gnawing on the meat he had in his mouth.
With a warning smile John shook his head. An idle hand fell onto Kiba's scruff and he scratched the huge husky behind the ears. Eliciting a deep mur from the big pooch.
He finished his meat and returned his full attention to the two not far from him on the floor. The whitish wolf rose and sniffed the bowl once more before moving closer to the human and nearly asleep dog. Yuki's mind was in a whirl, he was in a human's territory and eating from his hand, while being unable to escape. The human didn't act aggressively and neither did Kiba who seemed almost eager to have a new pack-mate.
The wolf shook his head as the little amount of meat hit his stomach. His joints screamed for rest, while part of his mind called for escape. But another deeper side of himself wanted to stay.
Yuki had been alone for too long. He realized he had been close to letting himself die. Of either hunger or cold, the way of the death would only matter in the amount of pain he suffered. He stood looking at the human's hand as it rubbed behind Kiba's ears.
Deep inside his heart the wolf wanted that.
The closeness and love he'd never had before. With some hesitation in his step the wolf moved nearer the human. John ignored him as he focused on the big dog in his lap. Yuki settled the part of himself that screamed this was wrong and settled next to Kiba. With a tired sigh he lay his head on John's lap and felt Kiba's paw slide over his rib's while the human petted his head.
Yuki closed his eyes ignoring the lessening ache in his limbs as the closeness and warmth of his new pack-mate radiated warmth into his body. He couldn't help but smile as he started to drift into sleep. John's hands relaxing his body and mind numbing away the pain with pleasure.
John marveled as the wolf hesitated then moved to him. He tried to feign ignorance and kept rubbing Kiba's ears in just the spot that renders the big dog helpless mush. As the wolf rested his head on John's leg, he smiled deeply then took a hesitant hand and rubbed the wolf's ears too. Kiba wrapped the smaller wolf in his paws and seemed to fall asleep.
I wonder why he would let me to this? Wolves aren't known for willingly submitting to humans and I guess this one just did. John let his thoughts flow as he rubbed his new wolf into a stupor. Why was he out there all alone? Where is his pack? John's hand rubbed down the wolf's back and to his spine then the ribs protruding from through the skin. No animal should be like this. Even alone a wolf can hunt for smaller game... So why does this one seem so broken?
With a sigh John blinked sleepily.
After a moment's thought he scooped the small wolf into his arms pausing to quiet Yuki's struggles. As the wolf fell back to sleep in his arms John stood and moved to the bed. Kiba roused and followed.
John gingerly lay the wolf on the center of the bed and crawled up beside him trying to hide a yawn behind his teeth. The husky jumped up and lay between the wolf and the wall, his heavily furred body easily keeping the cold radiant air from reaching the formerly starved wolf.
With a flip of his wrist john tossed the heavy fur over all three of them and curled around the wolf with Kiba on the other side; in a pile of flesh and fur as he started to drift off. He could smell both animals with them so close, one smelled of dirt and wild, the other of smoke and clean fur. John's hands snaked out and one stole around the wolf while the other touched the big dogs soft throat fur.
And darkness filled the cabin as the last embers fell apart and died.