A Wolf's Tale... Pt.1
Everything was quiet on this still winter morning. The humans could hear nothing, of course, given their inferior sense of hearing, but to the wolves, the forest was bristling with little woodland creatures. The sun was just above the tree-line, and already some of the pack had begun to emerge for a morning prowl. The trees were bare as bones, and black as charcoal against the bright rising sun, its rays reflecting off of the thick blanket of snow that covered the ground. One may say that the falling of snow on the Earth is one of the most perfect natural occurrences in the world. Nothing is out of place, and everything flows...
The crisp air was filled with light as the sun rose higher in the sky, with more pack members emerging every once in a while.
But, undoubtedly, something was amiss... But, according to sight, smell, and sound, there was nothing out of the ordinary... But the sixth sense definitely was radiating distress...
Rizo ran as fast as he could over the fresh powdered snow.
'They've got to let up some time... They're only humans!' He thought, as he darted between the stick-lick trees, 'They can't follow me forever...' Just then a horrifyingly loud sound came from the direction he had left, followed immediately by a zipping noise and a few branches above him falling down, tossing powdery little puffs of snow across the perfect snow blanket...
Ambrose still remembered that morning, the morning which seemed like all reason had shattered and the shards were slashing through the velvet which was his pack's small world...
That was three years ago. Since then his mother had died, many of his brothers and sisters had been killed off due to increasing weather conditions and his pack being continuously preyed on by neighboring, stronger packs. His world was indeed, being sliced into ribbons...
The last hunt came in for the day, the sun already setting low on the horizon. Nothing had been caught, and nothing had been for the last few days, either. In a few days his pack was planning to make a break across neighboring territory for neutral space with fresh prey, for the amount of large packs around the mountains had decreased food supplies almost to nothing. Their packs small size didn't do anything to help that problem, either. The neighboring packs were continuously threatening them on their own territory, for they knew they couldn't defend themselves. They had been stealing the last woodland animals from their land as well, leaving them starving and hopeless...
If they didn't come across any prey on this last hunt, then they would have to set out this very night, and that was inevitable. Some of the pack was bone-thin, and many didn't expect them to make it across the neighboring, hostile territories alive as they were this day... Nevertheless if they had left days from now.
Just then Risto, the leader of the pack, called everyone over to form a meeting.
"As you know by now, nothing was brought back on the last hunt of tonight... So we set out at break of moonlight. That is the safest time. We know where we are going-we don't need the moonlight tonight to help us find out way through the neighboring territories.
"Now, I can't hide the truth. There are only 7 of us left, of which only 2 are males... Ambrose and myself. Some of us may not make it to the neutral grounds alive, and that includes everyone, myself and Ambrose included. In this journey we are all equal, but let me make something clear... There will be no going back, there will be no whining, there will be no surrenders... To the grip of nature or to other wolves. We will go down fighting if we have to, right down to our very last breath. If we do manage to reach the neutral grounds, everything will finally be overwith-no more predatory wolves, more food, larger grounds, less humans... But first we have to get there. I promise you, when we get there, it will be paradise compared to here...
"But, I am not forcing anyone to come along with us. Those of you who wish to stay can, but you will no longer be part of our pack and we are never coming back. Is there anyone who wishes to leave now and stay on these grounds?"
Nobody moved, it seemed like nobody even breathed... No one had any intention of doing anything against what Risto had proclaimed...
"Good. Know that if we die, we die as a pack that had served in each others care for many years... We know the bond of family better than anyone else."
Risto turned and padded over to a larger barren tree and laid down, motionless and thoughtful as always. We all continued on our ways, mostly doing the same.
Risto was an excellent leader. Nobody doubted that. He was strong, large, held his ground and loved each and ever pack member to the day he died. He thought out each and every little detail for hours before acting upon a decision, but when forced to think on the fall of a snowflake, could make a decision nobody had even contemplated in less time than it took to blink-and it always turned out right.
But tonight was different. This was the biggest expedition the pack had attempted in many years, bigger than when our ancestors had come to this land and marked out the first territorial boundaries. They were the first. Now this small ground of seemingly helpless wolves, starved to the bone, muscles reduced to strings... Might be the first again. But that all depends on Risto's leadership. In the times that the pack has been in this territory, everything had been easy... Prey had been abundant, females productive, neighbors peaceful. But now with the humans closing in, all the packs struggling for food, rivalries had flared up and risky decisions were being made. Risto had been confident with his pack's ability to defend their territory, up until about a few weeks ago. He took a hunting expedition out, and noticed that there was, quite literally, nothing but tracks. Other wolves had been crossing into their territory nearly every night without them ever noticing, and had stolen nearly all of the prey which they had been able to previously defend. Since then, everything had been scarce, and humans had even ventured into their territory once or twice. Risto had sat for days without moving, thinking over the situation. Eventually, one night he called the pack together. He told us about his promise that if prey had not come in by the last night of the full moon, we would leave that same night. We had to get out of this horrid, discarded wasteland...
Ambrose went and sat under a similar tree, awaiting the journey that would follow in a few hours time.
He walked silently along the dark blanket of snow. He had sensed a small woodland animal, something he hadn't seen for a long time... It was prey, food. He crouched low in the dead bushed and undergrowth that was covered with a thick blanket of snow as well, totally covering him from view. He poked his eyes out of the front of the bush, and was nearly startled that he was less than three feet from his intended target. It had sounded much farther away... It was probably the acoustics of the mountain mixed with the inability to smell because of the humans that now lived so close by.
His prey was a small chipmunk, fervently pawing at the snow to try and recover stored food. He rocked his shoulders back and forth, awaiting the chance to strike...
He leapt forward as soon as he found an opening where the creature was most vulnerable. However, the snow underneath his hid paws gave way as he pounced, leaving him only half the distance to his prey. He chipmunk looked up hurriedly, saw the gleaming orange eyes, and fled as fast as his little frame could scurry.
Rizo sighed. Looks like he had no choice. He had to leave this pack's territory tonight...
After the incident three years ago, Rizo had been traveling as a lone wolf. His pack's territory had been on a place where the humans wanted to be, and when they got word of the wolves' presence, they came out with long sticks they had apparently made... His pack was defensive at first, giving the humans a chance to go away. But, they pointed the sticks at his family, and a terrible noise and bright flashes of light came from them.
Several of his pack had fallen over right there, whining and yelping with extreme pain, lying in their own blood. Some were not yelping at all, but had fallen silent.
The rest of the pack fled for it. They did not want this trouble. Several of their family had just died before their eyes within an instant-they understood this was something they could not win by brute force.
They had run across a frozen lake, into the open. They thought it was a bright idea, for the humans would have to come and face them and they would know where they were, for the first round of loud noises had emitted a smell that burned their noses to a crisp.
But it did not turn out that way. Another loud sound came, and a cloud of powdered snow puffed up only a few inches away from their group. They started moving uneasily, thinking it was nothing, but cautious nonetheless. Then another came, and a flurry of red cloaked us, spattering the snow... And another of them fell silent. At that point they all ran-they knew that this was not something we could not fight at all now. As they took off, more and more noises rang out, some of them missing, some of them hitting their family... Blood staining the crisp pure snow while whines and yelps filled the ears of each and every one of them every time they did so.
Rizo was the only one to make it to the tree line. All the rest of his family had been slaughtered along the way. He risked one glance back across the lake before entered the forest. He looked back and was utterly scarred by what he saw.
Before him, across the lake, were the dead bodies of his entire family... All lying in a patch of red snow. The horror was unbelievable; he was only two years old at the time... From that point on, he lived as a recluse. He had not attempted to join another pack for the reason that he might not be able to think of a family the same way again, after seeing what had happened to his...
As the years passed, and he fended for himself the best he could, he gained the scars of battle. Bare patches of skin showed through many places of his dark blue and white coat, showing his experience in combat... With other wolves and animals alike. He was extremely muscular as well, having to get all his own food and provide for himself instead of the females.
All in all, he was a very dangerous being.
But something stirred in him as well, something not horrifying... Kindness, passion, love... He wanted more than anything to love again, and to be able to show kindness towards another creature. He was beginning to look forward to finding new territory that had been unclaimed... Maybe he could find a female recluse and begin a pack of his own out in the unexplored, unmarked wasteland...
He was ready to again, have a family to love and be loved by...
Risto rallied up the other pack members once it was time to set out. Everyone was ready, it seemed. He looked upon the starving, weakened wolves and though to himself, 'how many are actually going to make it tonight?' Immediately disgusted at the though, he cleared it from his head, although at the back of his subconscious, he knew that some of them were not going to make it.
"Is everybody ready?" He said, in a loud booming voice that immediately got the undivided attention of every pack member. They all nodded their head in unison and lowered themselves in submission to him.
"No" He barked out as they submitted to him. "We are all equals on this journey. Nobody submits to anyone, although you must respect authority. Are we understood?"
"Understood." They all said in unison.
Without a second word, they set off, trailing one after another, Risto in front, Ambrose behind him, and then the females.
They all knew what they were in for, and they were all ready to accept the final chapter to their stories.
Death.
Rizo awoke some hours later in the night after dozing off when his attempt to capture some prey failed. He had decided earlier to set off for neutral grounds because of the food shortage, but strangely something else also compelled him, more than the need for food...
It was the need for love and compassion once more. He was not going to be able to feel those emotions again if he joined another pack. They would never be his family, they would never die alongside him so memorably as his previous family had done... No, in order to truly love again, he needed to make a family himself.
It was his time to father a new ancestry line.
Rizo stood up on the freezing ground, stretched, and nonchalantly carried on his way. He needn't wait for anyone-there was nobody to wait for.
He set off in the first direction that pleased him. Out of all the time he had spent alone in the forests, fending for himself, he knew to trust the first thing that popped into his head. No second thoughts, no second chances.
He set off at a reasonable pace through the spidery woods, the full moon above them casting a web of dark shadows across the perfect white landscape, only deformed by a wolf's light footprints on the surface...
The pack traveled unnerved well into the night, and had crossed three fourths of hostile territory without the faintest trace of a native wolf.
'Maybe were going to get through this unscathed... Oh please, allow that to happen...' Thought Risto as they padded cautiously along. They were doing alright. Nothing had happened to them so far, not even a minor accidental injury through all of the snow...
'Wait; something is wrong...' Though Risto, as his sixth sense screamed at him that something was about to happen that would be misfortunate for both sides. Risto stopped the rest of the pack and they all pressed themselves into the shadows. They waited in this position for about five or ten minutes, but wolves have no perception of time other than the sun and moon, and so exact time is not apparent to them. Nevertheless, they waited for some time, and nothing happened... But then a slight movement caught Risto's sight from the corner of his eye. There was a shape moving between the trees, a black silhouette against the backdrop of the trees. But then it passed a patch of open tree-line, and he could clearly see that it was another wolf. It was an intimidating wolf-heavily built, strong, well-nourished... It angered him to know that this wolf had been eating their food. Behind this wolf trailed a few others that were, albeit smaller, still heavy and well built.
'Damn!' Though Risto. 'If only we would have gotten out of this without any trouble...'
The three wolves hadn't seemed to notice them yet... They were proceeding cautiously, keeping their noses to the ground in search of scent trails. They were about fifty feet away, downwind, which meant that their scent will eventually be discovered... They came closer and close to his line of wolves, until they were within ten feet. He decided to take the chance and try and make a deal with their pack.
Risto emerged from the shadows and confronted the wolves like a leader generally does-with no sign of submission. The three others showed signs of aggression-they pulled back their lips, flattened their ears, and set into a crouch. One of them began to speak in a low growling voice.
"What are you doing here? This is not your territory. Leave or we will kill you. That's a final offer."
"I am not here to fight. We are your neighbors and have run out of prey game and are starving. We are making a trek to unclaimed territory to start anew. Will you not allow us to pass?"
"We? Who is we? There is only one of you, and five of us."
'Five? But there are only three here...' Risto thought, and then he caught the scent. They had been following them, and had split up and covered them from both sides. He motioned for the rest of his pack to come out. They did as they were told, without question or hesitation, and took up generally defensive qualities of wolves-always on the lookout, forever seeking things that are not there... Then they saw the other two. They were in fact approaching from behind their line, which would have left the entire pack completely defenseless, and would have cost them a life or two indefinitely.
"We only wish to pass through your territory, nothing more." Risto repeated, this time in a more firm voice.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere... We have been tracking you ever since you entered our territory, we knew who you were from the very start, and since the moment we knew you were in here, we've been ordered to kill you. Food is scarce, we even had to steal from your measly territory, and we can't even allow the risk of our being stolen."
The five strong wolves encircled the measly seven. Even though outnumbered, could easily kill all of them without suffering any major wounds and Risto knew this. It looks like we'll die fighting after all he thought...
All of Risto's pack took on a defensive standing, trying to ward off any possible threats... Although it was useless, they knew, it would give them something to remember...
One of the wolves leapt at Ambrose, being the second strongest. Ambrose dodged it, and growling with all he could muster, snapped at the other wolf's neck, just barely missing. He whipped around and slashed out with his claws, scratching a shallow wound in the attacker's rear right flank, sending a few droplets of blood across the snow. Angered, the wolf lashed back, snapping out with his jaws and roaring towards Ambrose's neck. Ambrose swiped him across the muzzle, sending him flying off target and whimpering. He took the opportunity and descended upon him, clamping down on his attackers neck, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth and staining his breath. The wolf kicked and whimpered under him, lashing futilely with his claws at him, scoring small scratches along his shoulders. Eventually the wolf slowed and stopped, and lay motionless on red snow in Ambrose's jaws. He gingerly released the body, and whipped back around remembering that there were four more to deal with. To his surprise, none were fighting. It is not in a wolf's nature to allow one pack member to fight another one-on-one, especially when numbers are unbalanced. But, for some reason, nothing had changed since the wolf had leapt at him.
The foreign pack members were somewhat aghast-their expressions showed utter surprise. This starving, skinny wolf was able to defeat a heavy, healthy wolf in a matter of life or death. The other pack members were finally taking them seriously because of the previous display.
The remaining four wolves began to circle cautiously, eventually all centering on Ambrose, preparing to rid the only thing that stood in heir way between fulfilling their orders and death for them all...
Rizo was just trotting along happily, minding his own business walking in his desired direction, when he heard not far off the sounds of a wolf fight. He could make out growling, fierce barking and fading whimpering, all from one direction. He made as fast as he could in that one direction. Whatever it was, someone was going to die-he could not let anything die unnecessarily, he would do whatever was in his power to stop it... After watching his family be slaughtered for the human's pleasure, he could not let any life ever go to waste again... It was against his entire being...
Rizo ran through the trees as fast as he could, his pads barely touching the snow surface before leaving it again, snow flying up behind him as he sped through the forest.
Eventually he came across a scent marker, and could tell that this was the boarder between some territories, and that the fight was definitely inside the boarders.
'What wrong with you? Go! You can't let this happen!' He told himself, but for some reason he wouldn't budge... He had lived within boarders all his life, why could he not bring himself to enter this one?
It was then that he heard his sixth sense screaming at him louder than it had spoken to him in years... It was saying not go on, to just leave, it was out of your control, that it would be better for things to just settle out themselves...
'No. No! I can't just leave! I have to go!' He told himself. He realized then that if he did not do something soon, someone would die...
That was the final straw. He leapt with all he had into those woods and followed the scent which he had picked up along the boarder as fast as he could. As he kept following the scents, he began to be able to hear growling in the distance, and small, short period of barks and yelps.
Eventually he came across a small open clearing of woods where he saw 12 wolves. 7 in a circle surrounded by four who seemed to be focusing on one in particular, and one off to the side sitting in a patch of red snow. He saw blood on the one they were picking out.
'So... This one managed to kill one of theirs, and they see him as the main threat now... I really don't know what the circumstances were, but one life has already been lost, I won't allow another to be taken.' Rizo told himself. He then saw that all the ones that were surrounded looked starving-skin and bones, including the one with blood on his lips.
The four others were closing in on the one. Rizo crept closer, and he was only about 20 feet away by this point, easily within quick reaching distance...
The four pounced all together, totally consuming the skinny, malnourished one. Immediately there were yelps and cries of pain, snarling, growling, and blood being splattered all over the clean snow. At that moment he had to move, or he would die...
Rizo dashed forward, his blue coat blending in with the moonlight perfectly. He reached a high speed, and barreled for the first of the four who were on top of the smaller wolf. He hit one at full speed, knocking the breath out of him throwing him a good distance away. He started pulling the three others off of him with as much force as to not seriously harm them, flinging them away from the scrawny wolf with ease.
"Run! All of you get out of here, now!" Rizo yelled at them.
All the wolves were utterly flabbergasted when this blue, monstrous, battle-scarred wolf came out of nowhere and knocked all four of them off with ease. They heeded his instructions without hesitation, and even the scrawny wolf, bleeding more than a dozen places, managed to get away before the four others got up.
"Who the hell are you?!" Demanded the one he had bucked off. "Are you with them?"
"No." Replied Rizo. "I'm a lone wolf. I have my morals, I will not let either party take any more lives. Take this advice-go back now. Let them through, they will not cause harm."
One wolf tried to lunge at him, but Rizo easily swatted him aside with such strength that it knocked him a good three feet. The wolf got up and understood the strength of this blue one, and backed off.
"I think it would be a good idea to let them through..." That one cautioned, speaking to the other three. "This one is not one we want to deal with."
They exchanged glances, and spun and fled the area.
When they're footsteps had disappeared, Rizo followed the escaping wolves. So many questions were buzzing in his head: Who were they? What are they doing? Where were they going? I have to find them... I have to help them...
Rizo followed the fresh tracks in the snow, speeding through the forest and quickly reaching the final edge of the territory. He stood for a moment outside the territory and quickly picked up the group's scent again...