Le'ts look at Sploosh's writing
Mar 14, 2016 14:24:32 GMT -5
Post by Salix on Mar 14, 2016 14:24:32 GMT -5
You'll never take us alive
We swore that death will do us part
They'll call our crimes a work of art
You'll never take us alive
We'll live like spoiled royalty, lovers and partners
Partners in crime
Partners in crime
So i was bored and began looking through the google docs on my laptop and i came across some stories. These can range from being a bit less than a year old up to just recently. There may be roleplay posts or just actual stories.
First up is some roleplay replies made on another site.
December 15, 2015
January 21, 2016
December 11, 2015
April 24, 2015. A bit of background info on this one: I was wanting to write a story in which the main character sort of falls in love with the reader. This is still a major wip, and i may rewrite it at some time. Oh, also, there's mentions of depression.
March 11, 2015. Another one with some background info. This was written as a project in my english class last year. It is likely the biggest piece of fiction I have written yet, coming up at a total of roughly 6400 words. So beware, as it is fairly long. Oh, there's also a lot of death in this one haha-
Admittedly, the last part isn't really needed but who cares
May 14, 2015. Another one with background info: This was written as a...sort of thing that happened before the previous story. It focuses mainly on the relationship between Keiran and Ushujaa, and how Keiran constantly tried to one-up her. It's also really quite horribly correct in the way that wolves work, so I've been meaning to rewrite it. It's also not nearly as long, as it is still a wip.
So ye. Some writing. This isn't even all of it...Once i get home (I'm at school rn) I'll see what i have in Word and maybe post some stuff here. For now, just lemme know what you think of this writing I guess. cx
First up is some roleplay replies made on another site.
December 15, 2015
Zevruu watched the coyote. He didn't dare go up to her, preferring to wait and see if she noticed him-if she ever did. After some time of watching her, she eventually saw him. He stared at her for a bit, shifting from paw to paw, unsure of what to do or say as the coyote walked up to him. She was tiny-perhaps about the same age as he. A tiny little coyote, with a pelt of tan and gray. She also had large ears, which seemed slightly out of place on her small head. She wore a headdress, and a satchel that lay against her side.
He stopped observing her when she spoke. He blinked before replying, “Just wandering through, I suppose. I was born here, and I’ve been here since.” He then began to lick one of his paws. The walk had left his fur slightly dusty, much to the serval’s distaste. He made sure his front paws were clean, and began to drag them over the top of his head, cleaning it. He watched the coyote warily, wondering what she would do as he groomed himself, making sure the top of his head was clean and sleek. He then began to clean his tail, still keeping an eye on the coyote.
When the serval was finished, and his pelt smooth and clean, he sat and watched as the coyote before him let her satchel drop to the floor. He flicked the tip of his tail lightly as the coyote nudged it so that the opening faced him. Inside, he could sort of see items, however he couldn't tell what the items specifically were.
After hearing her words, Zevruu looked a bit closer at the satchel. A flash of light caught his attention and he looked up, just barely managing to catch a glimpse of a rainbow. He flicked an ear, and then lay down in front of it. He stretched his paw out and into the bag, feeling the contents. Some items were smooth, some rough. Others felt soft or hard. He moved his paw around a bit more, trying to find something that, as the coyote had said, “feels right”. Eventually, he grabbed something and dragged it out.
The item was a stone. It was small, and very smooth, a round, oval shape. He ran his paw over it, feeling the slight ridges that were hardly noticeable. It felt cool under his paw. He looked up at the coyote, and nudged it slightly toward her. He wondered what this stone could ever tell about his fortune. It was simply that, a stone.
He stopped observing her when she spoke. He blinked before replying, “Just wandering through, I suppose. I was born here, and I’ve been here since.” He then began to lick one of his paws. The walk had left his fur slightly dusty, much to the serval’s distaste. He made sure his front paws were clean, and began to drag them over the top of his head, cleaning it. He watched the coyote warily, wondering what she would do as he groomed himself, making sure the top of his head was clean and sleek. He then began to clean his tail, still keeping an eye on the coyote.
When the serval was finished, and his pelt smooth and clean, he sat and watched as the coyote before him let her satchel drop to the floor. He flicked the tip of his tail lightly as the coyote nudged it so that the opening faced him. Inside, he could sort of see items, however he couldn't tell what the items specifically were.
After hearing her words, Zevruu looked a bit closer at the satchel. A flash of light caught his attention and he looked up, just barely managing to catch a glimpse of a rainbow. He flicked an ear, and then lay down in front of it. He stretched his paw out and into the bag, feeling the contents. Some items were smooth, some rough. Others felt soft or hard. He moved his paw around a bit more, trying to find something that, as the coyote had said, “feels right”. Eventually, he grabbed something and dragged it out.
The item was a stone. It was small, and very smooth, a round, oval shape. He ran his paw over it, feeling the slight ridges that were hardly noticeable. It felt cool under his paw. He looked up at the coyote, and nudged it slightly toward her. He wondered what this stone could ever tell about his fortune. It was simply that, a stone.
January 21, 2016
Xin has fur that is a dusky brown, with a hint of red. He has small, beady black eyes. His chest is a lighter color than the rest of his body. He is small, and covered in fluffy fur. He has tiny legs, a very pointed face, and a black nose. His ears are very small and rounded. His tail is medium sized, and very fluffy. His paws are small, with sharp claws along the end.
His stone, rutile topaz, is placed in his larynx. This hinders him, making him unable to speak. No matter how hard the little fluff ball tries, he cannot make a sound. So instead, he communicates with body language.
The way the marten walks is usually with confidence. He will walk with his head high most of the time, despite being smaller than most other gembounds. He tends to walk with an aura of authority, and if he had a voice, would likely boss others around.
The marten will also at times move sneakily, quickly darting this way and then another. While in the shadows, his dark fur and beady black eyes will help him blend in, making him hardly noticeable, especially when he’s crouched down.
His stone, rutile topaz, is placed in his larynx. This hinders him, making him unable to speak. No matter how hard the little fluff ball tries, he cannot make a sound. So instead, he communicates with body language.
The way the marten walks is usually with confidence. He will walk with his head high most of the time, despite being smaller than most other gembounds. He tends to walk with an aura of authority, and if he had a voice, would likely boss others around.
The marten will also at times move sneakily, quickly darting this way and then another. While in the shadows, his dark fur and beady black eyes will help him blend in, making him hardly noticeable, especially when he’s crouched down.
December 11, 2015
Kallista is generally not very courteous, and is known to just blurt out what she is feeling at that moment, even if she knows it could be offensive. She is known to take many risks and is occasionally amibitous, not caring about the consequences. She will rarely ever ask questions, preferring to keep any questions-few as they are-to herself. She is occasionally self-controlled, but is known to do things she knows she shouldn't. She is quite nurturing, and will often do what she can to take care of the younger gembounds. She is soon to leave them on their own, however. Especially if she finds that she can’t take care of them very well. She isn’t very trusting or honest. She is quick to lie if she knows she won’t get in trouble, or if she could benefit from it in any way. She is generally not very loyal. She will pretend to be loyal, if just for a bit, but not for very long. If she finds someone she believes is worth her time, she can be very affectionate and romantic. She may also be loyal to them. She is rarely ever flirty, usually pointing out the flaws of a gembound. She isn’t very sympathetic, and will laugh at another gembound, regardless of how they feel. She is fairly optimistic, and sees the best in things. From her point of view, that is. She is very observant, and takes notice of everything. She is generally very logical, and will tell others, quite rudely, if she thinks something they have said is very illogical. She is fairly social, and will often seek out the attention of others. Even if it’s to just make them feel bad. Her emotions are fairly unstable. She could go from being happy and optimistic one minute to distrusting and wary the next.
Kallista’s fur is a pale, creamy white color, with amber eyes. She has many dark gray rosettes scattered around on her body, and darker stripes on her legs. Her tail is white with even darker-almost black-lines, and a black tail tip. Her nose is a dark gray, and the insides of her ears are a very faint, almost white color. When she is young, the spots and stripes are barely noticeable. As she gets older, they become darker and more prominent. She is quite little, and is generally not very intimidating. She makes this up for her personality. Her head is small, and her legs are short. She is not very long, however she has a very long tail. She generally walks with light and quiet steps, slinking around until she decides to make an appearance. Her face is very narrow, and there is a dark spot from her forehead down to her nose and spreading out as lines on her cheeks. Her voice is fairly loud, and she is known to talk a lot, even if to herself. She tends to not clean herself very often, so her fur is often a dusty color rather than the creamy white.
Kallista’s fur is a pale, creamy white color, with amber eyes. She has many dark gray rosettes scattered around on her body, and darker stripes on her legs. Her tail is white with even darker-almost black-lines, and a black tail tip. Her nose is a dark gray, and the insides of her ears are a very faint, almost white color. When she is young, the spots and stripes are barely noticeable. As she gets older, they become darker and more prominent. She is quite little, and is generally not very intimidating. She makes this up for her personality. Her head is small, and her legs are short. She is not very long, however she has a very long tail. She generally walks with light and quiet steps, slinking around until she decides to make an appearance. Her face is very narrow, and there is a dark spot from her forehead down to her nose and spreading out as lines on her cheeks. Her voice is fairly loud, and she is known to talk a lot, even if to herself. She tends to not clean herself very often, so her fur is often a dusty color rather than the creamy white.
April 24, 2015. A bit of background info on this one: I was wanting to write a story in which the main character sort of falls in love with the reader. This is still a major wip, and i may rewrite it at some time. Oh, also, there's mentions of depression.
August 15, 2009
Dear reader,
Hello. My name is Sam. I would ask you what your name is, but sadly enough, I cannot see your reply.
Today is my birthday. I am finally 18 years old, and a couple of weeks before school starts. This will be my first year of college, and to be honest, I am very nervous. I have always struggled at school.
It’s going to be even harder now, and not just because I’ll be in college. My sister is going off to Europe, where she'll be studying for a few years. Normally, that might not seem like a big deal, but it is. My sister-Nadya-and I are very close. That might not be a usual thing for siblings, but it’s different for us. My sister was the only person who could keep the depression at bay.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. I have depression. Self-diagnosed, that is. I haven’t told my mom anything about it. The only person who knows is Nadya, and she’s gone now. Left yesterday. Couldn’t even wait until my birthday came. At least she gave me a birthday present, a laptop.
My mom got me this journal. Why, I don’t know. I wonder if she suspects me for having depression. I sure hope not, I don’t really want her to know. I want this to just be a thing between me and Nadya... and us as well.
I might not post a lot in this journal. I don’t know. We’ll see. I really have no idea why my mom bought me this. I wonder if she is going to sneak a peek in it every now and then. I sure hope not. If she does find out I have depression, I’m not sure what would happen.
I really wish school didn’t start in two weeks. I’ve mentioned before that I struggle in school, right? Well, I do. And it isn’t just because I’m not very good in any classes. I mean, I do struggle in math, science, geography. The only class I’m relatively good in is English.
The main reason why I struggle in school is... Well, I'm really short. Like, really really short. Shortest person I know. I'm also incredibly shy, and never stick up for myself. Perfect bully material, you know?
Writing-as well as talking to Nadya-are the only way I can vent out my frustrations. It's not fun getting bullied all the time. I've written quite a lot, too. Mostly poems. I may post one or two here. I don't know, we'll see.
Oh, I have to go now. I’ll write in this later. Bye.
Sam
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August 21st, 2009
Dear reader,
Sorry I haven’t been writing a lot. The pressure of school coming up is stressful at the least. I’ve been getting all of the items needed, as well as mentally preparing myself. It’ll be tough going to College for the first time, but at least I won’t be the only one going to college as a freshman.
Dear reader,
Hello. My name is Sam. I would ask you what your name is, but sadly enough, I cannot see your reply.
Today is my birthday. I am finally 18 years old, and a couple of weeks before school starts. This will be my first year of college, and to be honest, I am very nervous. I have always struggled at school.
It’s going to be even harder now, and not just because I’ll be in college. My sister is going off to Europe, where she'll be studying for a few years. Normally, that might not seem like a big deal, but it is. My sister-Nadya-and I are very close. That might not be a usual thing for siblings, but it’s different for us. My sister was the only person who could keep the depression at bay.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. I have depression. Self-diagnosed, that is. I haven’t told my mom anything about it. The only person who knows is Nadya, and she’s gone now. Left yesterday. Couldn’t even wait until my birthday came. At least she gave me a birthday present, a laptop.
My mom got me this journal. Why, I don’t know. I wonder if she suspects me for having depression. I sure hope not, I don’t really want her to know. I want this to just be a thing between me and Nadya... and us as well.
I might not post a lot in this journal. I don’t know. We’ll see. I really have no idea why my mom bought me this. I wonder if she is going to sneak a peek in it every now and then. I sure hope not. If she does find out I have depression, I’m not sure what would happen.
I really wish school didn’t start in two weeks. I’ve mentioned before that I struggle in school, right? Well, I do. And it isn’t just because I’m not very good in any classes. I mean, I do struggle in math, science, geography. The only class I’m relatively good in is English.
The main reason why I struggle in school is... Well, I'm really short. Like, really really short. Shortest person I know. I'm also incredibly shy, and never stick up for myself. Perfect bully material, you know?
Writing-as well as talking to Nadya-are the only way I can vent out my frustrations. It's not fun getting bullied all the time. I've written quite a lot, too. Mostly poems. I may post one or two here. I don't know, we'll see.
Oh, I have to go now. I’ll write in this later. Bye.
Sam
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August 21st, 2009
Dear reader,
Sorry I haven’t been writing a lot. The pressure of school coming up is stressful at the least. I’ve been getting all of the items needed, as well as mentally preparing myself. It’ll be tough going to College for the first time, but at least I won’t be the only one going to college as a freshman.
March 11, 2015. Another one with some background info. This was written as a project in my english class last year. It is likely the biggest piece of fiction I have written yet, coming up at a total of roughly 6400 words. So beware, as it is fairly long. Oh, there's also a lot of death in this one haha-
Rain began to fall lightly onto the grassy plain. The grass became flattened by the rain, as well as the pawsteps of the wolves. The rain, pouring down, immediately soaked anyone who dared to stay in its path. The wind began to pick up, blasting the rain into the wolves’ faces. The few patches of grass that had managed to not get flattened swayed in the wind.
The wolves continued to run, searching for food. They were just about ready to give up when an elk came into sight. The elk was quietly eating, seemingly oblivious of the pouring rain. The lead wolf who had been leading the others immediately stopped the pack. She crouched behind a patch of tall grass while the pack waited for her command.
Another wolf, a dark gray one, was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. He longed to give to signal, but just watched.
Eventually, she gave her tail the slightest flick and the wolves separated into two groups and began to surround the elk.
The elk continued to eat, unaware of the danger it was in. One group went to the right side, the other to the left side until the elk was completely surrounded. The elk, suddenly sensing danger, looked around. It was hard to see anything in the pouring rain. The wolves were crouched as low as possible and were steadily coming closer to the elk. The elk began to look around, trying to find the cause of the danger it felt. But by the time it saw a wolf, it was too late.
The wolves on one side leaped at the same time. They clung to different parts and began to take it down. The elk fought back, wildly thrashing, trying to get the wolves off, but all to no avail. There were too many wolves, and the elk fell, eventually dying. The wolves backed away slightly, and the lead wolf let out a howl. The others joined in, the howl drowning out the sound of the pouring rain.
The wolves then began to drag the elk, each wolf holding onto a piece of it. They dragged it through the grassy plain until they came to a tree that blocked most of the rain. The wolves, soaking wet, then set the elk down and began to eat. When the wolves were finished, the area around their mouth covered in blood, they began to curl up and sleep beside the elk, the sound of the rain pouring down onto the grassy plain the only sound they heard.
One wolf, a white wolf, woke up before the others. He looked around at the sleeping members. He then realized that the only sound he heard was their breathing. The rain had stopped. Getting up, he began to step carefully past the sleeping wolves and into the grassy plain. The sky was slightly cloudy, but the dawn sun was peeking through the clouds.
A rabbit hopped along, hiding in the tall grass. The wolf’s nose twitched. He most certainly wasn’t hungry, but this rabbit was certainly asking for it. Rising slightly, he began to follow the scent until he came along a white rabbit, its fur obvious in the green grass. He crouched, and then leaped, quickly bringing the rabbit to its doom.
His mouth watered at the taste of the rabbit in his mouth, the tasty, meaty flesh in his mouth. He figured a few bites wouldn’t hurt. He ate a few bites from the rabbit as the sun began to slowly rise.
The wolf lay down and soaked up the warmth of the rising sun. His eyes began to close, and he slowly fell asleep, the warm sun shining down on his white fur. The sun slowly began to rise over the plain, lighting the sleeping wolves fur. His stomach was full, and he felt content.
But little did he know of the danger he and his pack were in.
Later, the lead wolf woke. Looking briefly around, she realized one wolf was missing. Rising, she looked around for him. Her night-black fur stood out in the green grass as she searched for a particular white wolf. Seeing him, she quickly padded up to him.
“Lačen, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be wit-did you go hunting?” the black wolf asked, the scent of the rabbit drifting to her nose. Something seemed.. off, however.
“...Ushujaa,” Lačen murmured quietly. He had woken from his short nap earlier, realizing he felt.. different. His pupils, dilated, darted this way and that. His breathing was ragged, the breaths coming in short, quick bursts.
“...Lačen, are you alright?” Ushujaa asked, her head tilted. Lačen normally wasn’t one to act this way. “Let me guess, you went hunting because you were hungry. Always hungry, that’s your problem. One of these days, it’s going to get you in a lot of trouble.”
“Ushujaa.. I.. I think..,” Lačen rose. He swayed on his paws a little bit. The ground felt-and looked-as if it were swaying. He looked at Ushujaa. “I think it’s too late for that,” he whispered quietly before lunging at Ushujaa.
Ushujaa had been cautiously looking at Lačen when he talked. His voice was.. different. A lot more distant than the usual warm, welcoming voice of the white wolf. When he got up, Ushujaa backed away a little bit. His words surprised the black wolf. The white wolf then lunged at her, and she let out a surprised bark before being pinned by the large wolf.
He way heavy, most likely the result of his constant eating. His eyes, which Ushujaa now realized were dilated, stared down at her. A white foamy substance dripped from Lačen’s mouth. His jaws opened, revealing the jagged and sharp teeth of the wolf. Ushujaa let out a short bark, hoping to alert one of the members of her pack.
“Ushujaa!” One of the wolves howled, having heard the bark. Valentia dashed to the scene of the two wolves and quickly rammed into Lačen. “Get away from her!” she snarled, her teeth bared. She stood in between Ushujaa and Lačen, ready to defend the alpha wolf’s life with her own.
Lačen watched Valentia carefully.. Or as carefully as he could with his dilated eyes. The ground continued to sway underneath his feet. The world was spinning in a circle, and he fell.
Another wolf slowly walked up to the three wolves, a light gray wolf at his side. “What happened?” he growled, his eyes narrowing at Lačen. The light gray wolf stuck by his side, her usually happy face set in a serious mood.
Another wolf came walking over cautiously. Slowly, more wolves crept from the place they had been sleeping in.
“Stay back! He’s dangerous,” Ushujaa murmured. The wolves stopped walking.
One wolf narrowed his eyes and walked closer. He stopped when he was close enough to reach out and touch Lačen with his paw.
“Get. Back,” Ushujaa warned.
Lačen had collapsed while all this was going on. His breathing was still ragged, foam still dripping from his strong jaws. He looked up to see the wolf’s yellow eyes staring down at him.
“Lačen,” the wolf said calmly while staring down at him.
“Ciddi,” Lačen grunted back, his dilated eyes darting at the wolves around him. “Ciddi, shouldn’t you be backing away?” he asked, “I’m dangerous, after all.”
“You don’t look very dangerous,” Ciddi said, “at all. Why, I could kill you easily, couldn’t i?”
“But you wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t kill me,” Lačen growled, glaring up at him. “You wouldn’t kill your brother.”
“No brother of mine would ever attack his pack leader.”
“Well, whether you like it or not, I am your brother.” Lačen struggled to his paws. His breathing, which had slowly become calm, was now more ragged than ever. The breaths, coming in quick, short bursts, was just barely enough to let the male breathe without collapsing. He stared at Ciddi. Ciddi stared back at him. Time seemed to stop as the two brothers looked at each other, not taking their eyes off of the other.
Lačen’s mind was filled with cloudy thoughts. He couldn’t focus on anything, aside from one thing. His mind was filled with one thought, and one thought only: to kill. He narrowed his eyes and lunged at Ciddi.
Ciddi let out a howl of surprise as Lačen leaped at him, his jaws outstretched. Ciddi just barely managed to dodge, but was surprised when Lačen leaped at him again. The two battled, while others stood watching in surprise.
Lačen snapped his jaws at Ciddi’s shoulder, managing to sink his teeth into the flesh. Ciddi let out a long howl and thrashed underneath the wolf. Lačen eventually let go. He was covered in scratches just as Ciddi was. Swaying on his feet once more, Lačen fell to the ground.
Ciddi let out a deep breath. His shoulder stung, but he ignored it for now. He walked up to his brother and stared down at him. The light that had once been in the playful wolf’s eyes was now gone, replaced by darkness. Ciddi stared down at his brother. He had killed him. He felt a slight twinge of regret but quickly shoved it aside. This wolf had attacked their pack leader, and then attacked him. Ciddi then reached over and began to lick his shoulder wound which had started to hurt more now that the adrenaline that came from fighting had gone.
“Ciddi? Are you alright?” A female wolf asked, coming up to stand beside Ciddi.
“I’m fine, Hanako,” Ciddi growled, continuing to lick his shoulder. Hanako then began to lick the shoulder wound on Ciddi’s shoulder. Ciddi narrowed his eyes. “I said I’m fine.”
“You clearly aren’t. Let someone take care of you for once,” Hanako murmured as Ciddi pulled away. Ciddi sighed and stopped, sitting down. He let Hanako lick his shoulder.
Ushujaa then walked up to Ciddi. “You were bitten,” she said calmly. It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement.
Ciddi just flicked an ear. “Yes, I was. Hopefully it won’t cause any problems.”
“We can only hope,” Ushujaa muttered. She then turned to face the pack. “We must forget of this time, and not let it cloud our thoughts. Lačen was a well respected wolf, but this goes to show that any wolf can betray their pack. We must not trust everyone at all times.”
“What? That’s completely idiotic! Just because one wolf betrayed his pack doesn’t mean everyone will. And besides, perhaps Lačen didn’t want to betray his pack. Maybe it was something that caused him to.. Such as a disease,” one wolf, a dark gray wolf, growled. The smaller gray female wolf that was at his side looked up at him in surprise.
“Keiran, don’t say that!” she whined. “You know Ushujaa doesn’t like it when someone tries to prove her wrong.”
Keiran glared down at the light gray she-wolf. Then he looked up at Ushujaa who was staring at him defiantly. Keiran stared back, not leaving Ushujaa’s gaze. The two stared at each other for a long while before Ushujaa finally looked away. Keiran’s eyes flashed with triumph for a second.
“This is still a message to us all. While Lačen may not have wanted to attack us, he still did it. And nothing,” Ushujaa glared at Keiran, “can change that.” Keiran just grunted.
“Since you were bitten, what exactly will happen?” a light gray she-wolf asked.
“I don’t know, Kvailas,” Ciddi answered. Ushujaa then rose and flicked her tail, gathering the pack around her.
“We must head back to the den,” she barked. The pack crowded around her. Ushujaa then started to run back toward the den. Paws thrummed against the grass as the pack followed her. Keiran ran alongside Kvailas, the two matching each other stride for stride. The sun, by this point, had rose high in the sky, and now beat down on the wolves.
As the sun slowly started to lower, the wolves eventually arrived at the den. A large rock, surrounded by many smaller rocks, as well as plants growing in the cracks greeted them. Keiran lay down beside one of the rocks and stretched. The run had exhausted him, as well as the other members of the pack. He lay his head on his paws and closed his eyes. After a little bit, he felt a form against his side. Opening one eye, he saw Kvailas sleeping beside him. He then went back to sleep, sleeping soundly against Kvailas.
A howl sounded, alerting Keiran. Lifting his head, he heard another howl. He flinched. The sound was filled with great pain. Whoever had howled was obviously seriously hurt. He rose.
“Keiran?” a sleepy Kvailas asked, looking up at Keiran with half closed eyes. Another howl sounded. Kvailas instantly opened her eyes fully, now wide awake. “What was that?!”
“Sounds like someone is in pain,” Keiran answered. He then bounded toward the sound.
“Keiran, wait for me!” Kvailas yowled, running after him.
The two ran side by side toward the sound. They skidded to a stop next to an entrance in the rocks. Glancing at each other briefly, the began to slowly step into the entrance.
The entrance was tight as first, and the two wolves walked single file, their sides pressed up against the wall. Eventually however, the entrance widened out until it was a cave.
Inside the cave, yellow eyes flashed at them. Another howl sounded. A white figure began to move. The figure had stood and now stared at them with yellow eyes.
“Is that.. Ciddi?” Kvailas gasped in surprise.
“Looks like it,” Keiran growled. “I knew they weren’t controlling it! There must be some disease spreading through the pack or something..”
“..That’s the least of our worries right now. He’s coming toward us!” Kvailas’ voice rose in high pitched fear.
“Well, then come on!” Keiran ran out of the cave with Kvailas at his paws. Ciddi chased after them, foam dripping from his mouth, just as it had done to Lačen. The two managed to squeeze out of the small entrance and into fresh air. They didn’t stop, however and continued to run, back to the main den.
“Ushujaa!” Kvailas howled. “It’s Ciddi! He’s chasing after us!”
“Wha..?” Ushujaa asked. She let out a yawn as she stared up at the two wolves.
“Ciddi has contracted the disease that Lačen had, and is now chasing us,” Keiran barked.
“..I knew we could trust no one. Especially Ciddi after he was bitten.” Ushujaa rose, stretched, and padded out of the cave she slept in. She got there just as Ciddi came up. Ciddi locked eyes with Ushujaa. “Well. I knew we
couldn’t trust you.”
“Ushujaa,” Ciddi said, staring at her with his widened yellow eyes. Foam dripped down his mouth onto his paws.
“Ciddi. Tell me, Ciddi, how do you feel?” Ushujaa asked, staring at Ciddi.
“Feels strange. Ground is spinning. Mind hazy,” Ciddi answered.
“Do you feel the need to attack?”
“No. ..More like the need to kill,” Ciddi answered, eyes staring at Ushujaa.
“..I see,” Ushujaa murmured warily. Ciddi didn’t move his eyes from Ushujaa’s.
“Ushujaa, I’m telling you.. It isn’t something he wants to do. Think about it. Lačen was acting like this, and
then he bit Ciddi. Now Ciddi is acting the way Lačen acted. There must be something-a disease perhaps-that is making them act this way!” Keiran growled, staring at Ushujaa.
“Keiran. Shush. Now is not the time for pathetic theories,” Ushujaa snapped back, eyes still locked with Ciddi’s.
The three wolves stood, Ciddi staring at Ushujaa with Ushujaa staring right back at him, and Keiran staring at Ushujaa. Time seemed to freeze as nothing moved. Ushujaa didn’t dare move in fear that Ciddi would leap at her. Ciddi was much more of a fighter than he brother had been, and Ushujaa feared she wouldn’t last very long.
Wolves had started to crowd around the three. They waited anxiously for something, anything, to happen.
Eventually, Ushujaa couldn’t take standing that still for such a long time, and began to move. At the exact same instant, Ciddi leaped at her. Ushujaa let out a howl and Valentia rushed to her side, desperate to protect her sister once again. Ciddi managed to snap around and sink his teeth into Valentia’s side. Valentia howled with pain and backed away, her side dripping with blood that had mixed in with foam.
“Valentia!” Ushujaa yowled.
Keiran sighed before leaping to Ciddi, where he promptly managed to throw the wolf off of Ushujaa. He then lunged at Ciddi and bit his shoulder. Ciddi howled with pain. Keiran continued to make different bite marks as
Ciddi thrashed around, trying to hurt him. Eventually Ciddi stopped and lay there, his breathing ragged.
Eventually, the male wolf closed his eyes for the last time.
Ushujaa, who had gotten up since then, rushed over to check on her sister. Hanako rushed over to Ciddi.
“Ciddi!” she howled. She lay down beside the white wolf and pressed her nose into his fur. The body was quickly growing cold, but she didn’t care.
“Valentia..?” Ushujaa asked warily. Valentia grunted with pain and looked up at Ushujaa. “Valentia.. Don’t die on me. We’re the only ones who survived from our litter, don’t die on me now…”
“I don’t.. Plan on.. Leaving you,” Valentia murmured quietly between breaths. Ushujaa pressed her nose to the top of Valentia’s head briefly before she turned to face the pack, who were now expectantly looking at her.
“We may have had another wolf die, but this just proves our point that any wolf might betray their pack, no matter how tru-” Ushujaa was cut off by Keiran speaking.
“I’m telling you, they aren’t controlling it! Lačen got the disease somehow, he bit Ciddi, and now Ciddi has gone mad like Lačen did. Ciddi bit Valentia, so chances are.. Valentia will “betray” her pack just as they did,” Keiran growled, glaring at Ushujaa, the gleam of a challenge hinting in his eyes. Ushujaa glared right back at
Keiran.
“Valentia would never betray her pack, especially not me!” Ushujaa snapped.
“Which only goes to prove my point when she does,” Keiran pointed out.
“She. Won’t. Betray. Us,” Ushujaa snarled, venom dripping from her voice.
“She. Has. Been. Bitten. It’s inevitable; she’s going to get the disease and attack us,” Keiran insisted.
“She. Will. Not. Betray. Us.” Ushujaa took a step closer to Keiran with each word until she was right in front
of the taller wolf. Looking up slightly at his head, the two glared at each other.
“You don’t know that for a fact. You said Ciddi wouldn’t betray us. Look where that left us. Your ignorant
statements lead the others into a false sense of security. What leader would to that?” Keiran challenged.
Ushujaa bared her teeth. “I am doing a fine job of leading this pack, and you know that. What I say is true, for it is part of the laws of a pack. Or are you going to go against those laws?”
“I wouldn’t go against the laws, and you know that. The laws also states that, if necessary, any wolf may challenge their pack leader if they have good reason. I believe this is good enough reason.”
“You don’t have any true proof. Maybe they did it on purpose! They are brothers, after all,” Ushujaa protested.
“..Maybe. We’ll see, won’t we?” Keiran glanced at Valentia.
“She won’t betray us,” Ushujaa growled. She then stalked away from Keiran, her tail held high.
“We’ll see,” Keiran repeated. He then looked back over at Valentia. The female wolf had been watching with wide eyes as the two fought.
By this point, the sun had slowly started to fall, and the moon rose high in the sky. Stars, bright and twinkling, began to dot the night sky with their light.
“Keiran… You’ve got to stop challenging Ushujaa. Ushujaa could be right, after all...Perhaps the two had done it on purpose,” Kvailas murmured, glancing up at Keiran. Keiran glared down at her.
“Oh, so you believe that stuff she’s saying? She doesn’t know what she is saying. We haven’t had a death in a while. She must still be grieving,” Keiran looked over at Ushujaa who had gone back to her den.
“I’m just saying that she could be right. You could be right. Anything could be right. But we don’t know for certain,” Kvailas insisted.
“...There’s only one way to tell for certain. We’ve got to keep an eye on Valentia.” Keiran glanced over at her. She had started licking her wound, wincing at the coppery taste of blood. When the wound had been clean, she rose and started making her way to Ushujaa. Keiran immediately went to block her way.
“Wha-- Keiran, what are you doing? Let me through!” Valentia protested as Keiran blocked her path.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to go through. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want anything happening to Ushujaa.
“I won’t let anything happen to her! It is my duty to protect her, not only as a sister but as the beta female of this pack,” Valentia insisted.
“You’ve seen what happened to Lačen, and to Ciddi. The same thing could very well happen to you. I’m not going to allow you to go through.”
“Valentia? Keiran? Is that you? Valentia, what’s wrong?” Ushujaa stepped into a patch of moonlight that had shone down into the cave. “Keiran, why aren’t you letting her through?”
“You’ve seen what happened to Lačen and Ciddi. I still think-know-that the same thing will happen to Valentia,” Keiran slightly growled.
“Let. Her. Through. You are not authorized to not allow someone in my den,” Ushujaa growled right back. Keiran narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He then walked stiffly away, his eyes narrowed. Ushujaa lifted her head higher in victory, before allowing Valentia into her den.
“She doesn’t deserve to be pack leader..,” Keiran muttered under his breath.
“And what makes you think you do?” a dusky brown wolf came to sit beside Keiran.
“..Duska. I’m not exactly saying that I do, but she most certainly doesn’t. Don’t tell me you believe all of the stuff she’s saying,” Keiran snapped.
“I know you want to be pack leader. You aren’t challenging Ushujaa for the sake of it. And no, I don’t believe what she is saying. ..I do believe what you’re saying, but that isn’t the point at the moment,” Duska murmured.
“But it is the point. She clearly is not doing a good job of leading this pack. She’s lulling them into a false sense of security! What pack leader would do that?” Keiran challenged her.
“Keiran. Keiran, calm down. Listen, you need to find the cause of this disease. I believe there had been a rancid smell where Lačen began to go crazy. You need to go-and bring someone with you-and see what it was. You need to find out what is causing this,” Duska murmured, looking straight ahead. Keiran glanced up at the older wolf.
“..I see. I’ll head out in the morning,” Keiran murmured. He stretched his jaws in a yawn. He had been rudely woken from his nap earlier. He headed back to where he had been sleeping earlier and found Kvailas already there. He curled up beside her, pressing his back against hers.
In the morning, when Keiran awoke up, something immediately felt.. off. Rising, he nudged Kvailas until she awoke up.
“What is it-something doesn’t feel right..,” she murmured. Looking around, she wondered what it was. “What doesn’t feel right?”
Keiran’s blood seemed to turn to ice as more time passed. “I think I know what happened..,” he whispered. He quickly rushed out of the den.
“Wait for me!” Kvailas yowled as she rushed after him.
“Well then hurry up!” Keiran quickly dashed to Ushujaa’s den. There was a strong, damp scent in there. Please let them be alright.. He immediately looked inside. Waiting for his eyes to adjust, he felt as if time had frozen. When he saw what was in there, his heart felt as if it was stuck in his throat.
Valentia was lying on the ground, her eyes wide open, the light in them long gone. Another wolf was slowly pushing one wolf into a corner. The wolf crouched, eyes wide. When she saw Keiran, she whined at him.
“Keiran! Keiran, help me!” Ushujaa whined. Keiran rushed over to her. The wolf who had been forcing Ushujaa looked up at Keiran, her teeth bared. Keiran immediately recognized her as Duska. He felt a slight pang of regret before he rammed into her, pushing the tall wolf away. Duska turned to him, and snapped his jaws at him. Keiran just barely managed to dodge.
He leaped at her and bit her. She howled before trying to bite him again. Keiran continued to dodge until eventually Duska grew tired. She collapsed. Keiran bit her neck, his heart twisting with regret. Duska eventually died, her eyes glazed over.
“..Why, Duska?” Keiran whispered quietly. “Why’d you do it? Why’d you check on Valentia and Ushujaa? You knew what was going to happen…” He hung his head over Duska. “Why.. mother?”
Kvailas came to stand beside Keiran. She pressed her nose against his shoulder. “I know, it’s hard,” she
murmured. Keiran said nothing.
Ushujaa was still crouching in the corner. Her eyes were wide, and they were set on Valentia’s now dead body. Keiran began to walk over to her.
“Now do you believe me?” he murmured quietly. Ushujaa just nodded numbly in response.
“I.. I almost couldn’t believe it when she suddenly turned on me.. Then Duska came, and.. willingly let herself get bitten. She then turned on me once Valentia died. I..,” a sob choked in Ushujaa’s throat. “I killed my sister..,” she whispered.
“And I killed my mother. Things happen. Now.. There was something Duska had said to me just this night..,” Keiran murmured, thinking. What had she sa-Oh! That’s it! She told me I had to find the cause of this disease.. And that I should bring someone with me..But who? He glanced over at Kvailas. He didn’t exactly want to put the smaller wolf into danger, but there was no other wolf he’d rather have by his side. He padded over to her.
“Hey.. Kvailas?”
“Hm? Oh, what is it, Keiran?” Kvailas asked.
“..Last night, Duska told me that I had to find the cause of this disease. ..And that I should bring someone with me. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to.. find the cause of the disease?” Keiran asked. He shifted from paw to paw, awaiting Kvailas’ answer.
Kvailas blinked in surprise. “..I’d love to go with you,” she murmured, pressing her nose against his shoulder.
Keiran sighed in relief.
“I told Duska I would leave in the morning.. And it’s morning now. I’ll tell Ushujaa what we’re going to do,” Keiran said as he walked over to Ushujaa. “Hey, Ushujaa? Kvailas and I.. we’re going to find out the cause of this disease. I don’t know when we’ll be back.. It’ll likely take many days, weeks even.”
“..I see. Do what you must, just.. figure out the cause for this.. ah, disease,” Ushujaa whispered, still shocked. Keiran flicked an ear. He then motioned for Kvailas to follow him before leaving the den. “Nova. I want you to watch over Ushujaa.”
“What? You can’t do it?” Nova asked curiously.
“No. Kvailas and I are going to find the cause of this disease. Make sure nothing bad happens to Ushujaa. She appears to be suffering from shock as well right now,” Keiran ordered.
“Oh sure, throw all the work on me. Whatever, just find the cause of the disease soon and hurry back. I don’t want any more deaths to happen,” Nova grumbled.
“We’ll try,” Kvailas murmured.
“..Let’s go,” Keiran grunted, pushing his way past some wolves with Kvailas quickly following him.
The two ran away from the den, and toward the plain they had hunted in previously. They then slowed to a brisk walk as they began to search for something-anything-that might clue in to the disease. After some time, a foul stench drifted to their noses.
“What is that?” Kvailas wondered aloud, her nose curling in disgust.
“I don’t know, but it might clue us in to the cause of this disease..,” Keiran muttered, his nose curling as well. The two wolves started following the scent.
After some more time walking, they came across a rabbit. The rabbit was half-eaten, and clearly rotten. The stench was even stronger here. It was obvious that this was where the stench had come from, and possible the disease as well. Kvailas sniffed around the rabbit, trying to detect a scent other than the rabbit.
“...There is certainly something else here. Something lying under this rabbit stench..,” she sniffed a bit harder before her eyes widened in realization. “I-It’s Lačen.. He was here.” She looked up at Keiran who immediately stiffened at her words.
“...So maybe this is the cause of the disease. Lačen was the first to get it.. And that big loaf enjoys eating. He must have caught and eaten the rabbit while the rest of us were sleeping. The idiot,” Keiran grunted.
“So that solves that. ..But, where did the rabbit get this disease?” Kvailas wondered.
“I don’t know. Nor do I know how we’re going to find out,” Keiran murmured.
“Let’s see.. There is a stream nearby. Perhaps the rabbit drank from that and got the disease?”
“..Maybe. Let’s find the stream, see if something feels weird about it.” Keiran headed toward the stream, which ran through the plain, splitting it in half. As the sun began to set low in the sky, the two wolves came across the stream. Immediately upon coming close to it, there was a rancid smell drifting from it.
“Yep, that must be the cause of the disease. I don’t know why anyone would drink from that, though,” Kvailas murmured.
“The rabbit may have been desperate for water. This is the closest stream around, after all. Aside from the one near our den, that is.” Keiran looked at the stream, trying to see what may have caused the water to smell this bad. He dipped a paw into it.
“Keiran, don’t do that!” Kvailas protested.
“Should be fine, so long as it doesn’t touch my blood or anything.” He took his paw out of the water. It most certainly did not feel like water. It felt more like a slimy black substance. “..Huh. Doesn’t even feel like water. Way too slimy to be water, and it’s also black.”
“..Strange. Something is definitely wrong here.. But what?” Kvailas dipped a claw in the slimy substance.
“We may have to follow the stream. It stops in a dead end that way,” Keiran pointed with his paw toward the end on the right of them. He then began to wipe the substance off of his paw and onto the grass.
“Well.. Let’s go. We’re so close to finding out the cause of this disease.” Kvailas began heading the opposite direction in which Keiran had pointed. Keiran quickly hurried up to her. Kvailas looked behind her at Keiran catching up before bolting away, letting out a slightly joyful bark.
“How can you be joyful at a moment such as this?” Keiran asked, completely confused. He chased after the smaller gray wolf.
“Simple. It’s just the two of us, we’re away from the disease-well, despite us trying to find the cause of it.. Pack members should hopefully stop dying.. I just.. find it to be joyful.” Kvailas continued to run. Keiran grunted. His legs, which were longer, took longer strides and he soon caught up to Kvailas. The two ran comfortably, their legs moving at the same pace.
The sun had long since sunk out of sight by the time they stopped, completely exhausted. They collapsed beside the river bank, curled up beside each other. Kvailas had her head resting on Keiran’s side. The two fell asleep beside each other.
As the sun rose, Kvailas awoke. She quickly nudged Keiran awake, and the two set out on their journey again. The sun rose and fell again. The two didn’t want to eat very many animals that were around the stream, and instead managed to eat other things, such as the occasional berry.
After many days of traveling, the two eventually saw an end to the stream. Nearly whooping with joy, they ran even faster than before, their tiredness in their muscles forgotten. Suddenly, a tall creature seemed to appear from nowhere a few paces ahead of them. Keiran skidded to a stop, nearly causing Kvailas to run into him.
“Hey, what was that fo-what is that?” Kvailas asked, her head tilted.
“I don’t kn-wait.. It’s.. It’s a human. Duska.. Duska told me about them once,” Keiran murmured quietly.
Kvailas pressed herself comfortingly against Keiran before looking toward the human. “Well.. what is it doing here? And.. what is that in its.. paws?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s see what it does,” Keiran murmured. The two crouched behind some tall grass and watched the human.
The human, which carried a big object that he had to use two paws to hold, was walking toward the stream. When he got there, he positioned the big object in a way that something-whatever it was-could pour into the water.
“Wait..So.. It’s pouring whatever is in that big.. object.. thing, into the water? Why?” Kvailas asked.
“I don’t know. I wonder what’s in that object though..” As Keiran spoke, a substance slid out of the object and into the water. Keiran’s eyes widened in realization. “That.. That’s the same substance that was in the water! They’re the ones that is causing the water to smell horrible!”
“Well, we have to stop them!” Kvailas growled. “They’re the ones who caused you to kill your mother!” Keiran flinched at hearing that.
“Kvailas.. Kvailas, calm down. We can’t go without a plan. Listen, there are some.. objects over there,” Keiran pointed with his paw so some colorful dots. “It seems as though there are some humans in there. We’ll attack them at night, when they’ll-hopefully-be sleeping.”
“Alright,” Kvailas sighed. “I guess we should get some rest then. There is still quite a bit of daylight left in the day.” The two curled up beside each other and slept.
Later, Keiran awoke just as the moon began to rose. He nudged Kvailas until she awoke. The two then waited for all activity to stop around the colorful dots. When they were satisfied that everyone had fallen asleep, they rose and began to head closer to them.
Keiran jumped over the stream, Kvailas soon after him. They stalked over to the colorful dots. The scent that the human had was very strong here. It appeared as though many bodies were sleeping. Keiran exchanged glances with Kvailas. The two nodded at each other briskly. Carefully, Keiran slit an opening into one of the colorful dots. Inside were two sleeping humans.
Keiran slowly entered the colorful dot, careful not to make any noise. He walked over to one human while Kvailas walked to the other. Keiran reached over and bit the humans neck. The human awoke and immediately started struggling, but Keiran just bit harder. Blood pooling around Keiran’s jaws, the human died. Keiran glanced over at Kvailas. The human at her paws was dead as well.
They walked out of the colorful dot, and headed toward others, killing the humans. When all humans they could find were dead, they headed back to the patch of grass they had slept in earlier and fell asleep.
Now that what they had set out to do was finished, the two wolves were exhausted. The long journey there had been fueled by their want to know what caused this, and their anger toward whatever caused it. Now that the humans were dead, all they wanted to do was sleep. So sleep they did.
In the morning, the two wolves set out for the journey home. They knew it would take a while for the water to become clean and fresh again, but there was nothing they could do about that.
After many more exhausting days, the wolves finally reached the place in which they had started their journey. They then headed toward their den, half-afraid of seeing what awaited them.
As they stumbled into the area around the den, the silence threatened to overtake them. Exchanging worried glances, the two began to look for the wolves. Eventually, they all found them in the large cave that was Ushujaa’s den. As soon as they entered, Ushujaa snapped her head up.
“Keiran! Kvailas! They’re back!” Ushujaa rose, clearly eager to hear their news. “Well, did you find out what happened?”
“Yes, we did. Humans were the cause,” Keiran answered. Gasps of surprise were heard. “But don’t worry, we took care of them.”
“..I see. Well, it’s nice to have you back,” Ushujaa murmured, stepping closer to Keiran. She pressed her head against his chest, her breath tickling his fur. Kvailas stiffened at seeing this.
“Granted, it will take a while before the water is clean again,” Kvailas nearly growled, glaring at Ushujaa through narrowed eyes. Ushujaa smirked slightly.
“I see. Well, at least you’re back,” Ushujaa chuckled slightly.
In the weeks following that, the wolves carefully picked what they ate, careful not to let the same mistake happen. It wasn’t until spring came, a few months afterward, that the water became fully fresh. It had been drinkable-if you were very thirsty-before that, but with spring, the melting of snow came, which led to more water. With spring, new additions to the pack also came.
Keiran walked into the den where Kvailas was curled. He walked up to her. “How is she?” he whispered quietly, not wanting to wake the small ball of fur at Kvailas’ stomach.
“She’s doing just fine,” Kvailas chuckled.
“Have you decided on a name yet?”
“I was thinking Orokana. What do you think?” Kvailas asked.
“It’s perfect,” Keiran murmured. He lay down beside Kvailas, staring lovingly at Orokana, his daughter.
The wolves continued to run, searching for food. They were just about ready to give up when an elk came into sight. The elk was quietly eating, seemingly oblivious of the pouring rain. The lead wolf who had been leading the others immediately stopped the pack. She crouched behind a patch of tall grass while the pack waited for her command.
Another wolf, a dark gray one, was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. He longed to give to signal, but just watched.
Eventually, she gave her tail the slightest flick and the wolves separated into two groups and began to surround the elk.
The elk continued to eat, unaware of the danger it was in. One group went to the right side, the other to the left side until the elk was completely surrounded. The elk, suddenly sensing danger, looked around. It was hard to see anything in the pouring rain. The wolves were crouched as low as possible and were steadily coming closer to the elk. The elk began to look around, trying to find the cause of the danger it felt. But by the time it saw a wolf, it was too late.
The wolves on one side leaped at the same time. They clung to different parts and began to take it down. The elk fought back, wildly thrashing, trying to get the wolves off, but all to no avail. There were too many wolves, and the elk fell, eventually dying. The wolves backed away slightly, and the lead wolf let out a howl. The others joined in, the howl drowning out the sound of the pouring rain.
The wolves then began to drag the elk, each wolf holding onto a piece of it. They dragged it through the grassy plain until they came to a tree that blocked most of the rain. The wolves, soaking wet, then set the elk down and began to eat. When the wolves were finished, the area around their mouth covered in blood, they began to curl up and sleep beside the elk, the sound of the rain pouring down onto the grassy plain the only sound they heard.
One wolf, a white wolf, woke up before the others. He looked around at the sleeping members. He then realized that the only sound he heard was their breathing. The rain had stopped. Getting up, he began to step carefully past the sleeping wolves and into the grassy plain. The sky was slightly cloudy, but the dawn sun was peeking through the clouds.
A rabbit hopped along, hiding in the tall grass. The wolf’s nose twitched. He most certainly wasn’t hungry, but this rabbit was certainly asking for it. Rising slightly, he began to follow the scent until he came along a white rabbit, its fur obvious in the green grass. He crouched, and then leaped, quickly bringing the rabbit to its doom.
His mouth watered at the taste of the rabbit in his mouth, the tasty, meaty flesh in his mouth. He figured a few bites wouldn’t hurt. He ate a few bites from the rabbit as the sun began to slowly rise.
The wolf lay down and soaked up the warmth of the rising sun. His eyes began to close, and he slowly fell asleep, the warm sun shining down on his white fur. The sun slowly began to rise over the plain, lighting the sleeping wolves fur. His stomach was full, and he felt content.
But little did he know of the danger he and his pack were in.
Later, the lead wolf woke. Looking briefly around, she realized one wolf was missing. Rising, she looked around for him. Her night-black fur stood out in the green grass as she searched for a particular white wolf. Seeing him, she quickly padded up to him.
“Lačen, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be wit-did you go hunting?” the black wolf asked, the scent of the rabbit drifting to her nose. Something seemed.. off, however.
“...Ushujaa,” Lačen murmured quietly. He had woken from his short nap earlier, realizing he felt.. different. His pupils, dilated, darted this way and that. His breathing was ragged, the breaths coming in short, quick bursts.
“...Lačen, are you alright?” Ushujaa asked, her head tilted. Lačen normally wasn’t one to act this way. “Let me guess, you went hunting because you were hungry. Always hungry, that’s your problem. One of these days, it’s going to get you in a lot of trouble.”
“Ushujaa.. I.. I think..,” Lačen rose. He swayed on his paws a little bit. The ground felt-and looked-as if it were swaying. He looked at Ushujaa. “I think it’s too late for that,” he whispered quietly before lunging at Ushujaa.
Ushujaa had been cautiously looking at Lačen when he talked. His voice was.. different. A lot more distant than the usual warm, welcoming voice of the white wolf. When he got up, Ushujaa backed away a little bit. His words surprised the black wolf. The white wolf then lunged at her, and she let out a surprised bark before being pinned by the large wolf.
He way heavy, most likely the result of his constant eating. His eyes, which Ushujaa now realized were dilated, stared down at her. A white foamy substance dripped from Lačen’s mouth. His jaws opened, revealing the jagged and sharp teeth of the wolf. Ushujaa let out a short bark, hoping to alert one of the members of her pack.
“Ushujaa!” One of the wolves howled, having heard the bark. Valentia dashed to the scene of the two wolves and quickly rammed into Lačen. “Get away from her!” she snarled, her teeth bared. She stood in between Ushujaa and Lačen, ready to defend the alpha wolf’s life with her own.
Lačen watched Valentia carefully.. Or as carefully as he could with his dilated eyes. The ground continued to sway underneath his feet. The world was spinning in a circle, and he fell.
Another wolf slowly walked up to the three wolves, a light gray wolf at his side. “What happened?” he growled, his eyes narrowing at Lačen. The light gray wolf stuck by his side, her usually happy face set in a serious mood.
Another wolf came walking over cautiously. Slowly, more wolves crept from the place they had been sleeping in.
“Stay back! He’s dangerous,” Ushujaa murmured. The wolves stopped walking.
One wolf narrowed his eyes and walked closer. He stopped when he was close enough to reach out and touch Lačen with his paw.
“Get. Back,” Ushujaa warned.
Lačen had collapsed while all this was going on. His breathing was still ragged, foam still dripping from his strong jaws. He looked up to see the wolf’s yellow eyes staring down at him.
“Lačen,” the wolf said calmly while staring down at him.
“Ciddi,” Lačen grunted back, his dilated eyes darting at the wolves around him. “Ciddi, shouldn’t you be backing away?” he asked, “I’m dangerous, after all.”
“You don’t look very dangerous,” Ciddi said, “at all. Why, I could kill you easily, couldn’t i?”
“But you wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t kill me,” Lačen growled, glaring up at him. “You wouldn’t kill your brother.”
“No brother of mine would ever attack his pack leader.”
“Well, whether you like it or not, I am your brother.” Lačen struggled to his paws. His breathing, which had slowly become calm, was now more ragged than ever. The breaths, coming in quick, short bursts, was just barely enough to let the male breathe without collapsing. He stared at Ciddi. Ciddi stared back at him. Time seemed to stop as the two brothers looked at each other, not taking their eyes off of the other.
Lačen’s mind was filled with cloudy thoughts. He couldn’t focus on anything, aside from one thing. His mind was filled with one thought, and one thought only: to kill. He narrowed his eyes and lunged at Ciddi.
Ciddi let out a howl of surprise as Lačen leaped at him, his jaws outstretched. Ciddi just barely managed to dodge, but was surprised when Lačen leaped at him again. The two battled, while others stood watching in surprise.
Lačen snapped his jaws at Ciddi’s shoulder, managing to sink his teeth into the flesh. Ciddi let out a long howl and thrashed underneath the wolf. Lačen eventually let go. He was covered in scratches just as Ciddi was. Swaying on his feet once more, Lačen fell to the ground.
Ciddi let out a deep breath. His shoulder stung, but he ignored it for now. He walked up to his brother and stared down at him. The light that had once been in the playful wolf’s eyes was now gone, replaced by darkness. Ciddi stared down at his brother. He had killed him. He felt a slight twinge of regret but quickly shoved it aside. This wolf had attacked their pack leader, and then attacked him. Ciddi then reached over and began to lick his shoulder wound which had started to hurt more now that the adrenaline that came from fighting had gone.
“Ciddi? Are you alright?” A female wolf asked, coming up to stand beside Ciddi.
“I’m fine, Hanako,” Ciddi growled, continuing to lick his shoulder. Hanako then began to lick the shoulder wound on Ciddi’s shoulder. Ciddi narrowed his eyes. “I said I’m fine.”
“You clearly aren’t. Let someone take care of you for once,” Hanako murmured as Ciddi pulled away. Ciddi sighed and stopped, sitting down. He let Hanako lick his shoulder.
Ushujaa then walked up to Ciddi. “You were bitten,” she said calmly. It wasn’t a question, but rather a statement.
Ciddi just flicked an ear. “Yes, I was. Hopefully it won’t cause any problems.”
“We can only hope,” Ushujaa muttered. She then turned to face the pack. “We must forget of this time, and not let it cloud our thoughts. Lačen was a well respected wolf, but this goes to show that any wolf can betray their pack. We must not trust everyone at all times.”
“What? That’s completely idiotic! Just because one wolf betrayed his pack doesn’t mean everyone will. And besides, perhaps Lačen didn’t want to betray his pack. Maybe it was something that caused him to.. Such as a disease,” one wolf, a dark gray wolf, growled. The smaller gray female wolf that was at his side looked up at him in surprise.
“Keiran, don’t say that!” she whined. “You know Ushujaa doesn’t like it when someone tries to prove her wrong.”
Keiran glared down at the light gray she-wolf. Then he looked up at Ushujaa who was staring at him defiantly. Keiran stared back, not leaving Ushujaa’s gaze. The two stared at each other for a long while before Ushujaa finally looked away. Keiran’s eyes flashed with triumph for a second.
“This is still a message to us all. While Lačen may not have wanted to attack us, he still did it. And nothing,” Ushujaa glared at Keiran, “can change that.” Keiran just grunted.
“Since you were bitten, what exactly will happen?” a light gray she-wolf asked.
“I don’t know, Kvailas,” Ciddi answered. Ushujaa then rose and flicked her tail, gathering the pack around her.
“We must head back to the den,” she barked. The pack crowded around her. Ushujaa then started to run back toward the den. Paws thrummed against the grass as the pack followed her. Keiran ran alongside Kvailas, the two matching each other stride for stride. The sun, by this point, had rose high in the sky, and now beat down on the wolves.
As the sun slowly started to lower, the wolves eventually arrived at the den. A large rock, surrounded by many smaller rocks, as well as plants growing in the cracks greeted them. Keiran lay down beside one of the rocks and stretched. The run had exhausted him, as well as the other members of the pack. He lay his head on his paws and closed his eyes. After a little bit, he felt a form against his side. Opening one eye, he saw Kvailas sleeping beside him. He then went back to sleep, sleeping soundly against Kvailas.
A howl sounded, alerting Keiran. Lifting his head, he heard another howl. He flinched. The sound was filled with great pain. Whoever had howled was obviously seriously hurt. He rose.
“Keiran?” a sleepy Kvailas asked, looking up at Keiran with half closed eyes. Another howl sounded. Kvailas instantly opened her eyes fully, now wide awake. “What was that?!”
“Sounds like someone is in pain,” Keiran answered. He then bounded toward the sound.
“Keiran, wait for me!” Kvailas yowled, running after him.
The two ran side by side toward the sound. They skidded to a stop next to an entrance in the rocks. Glancing at each other briefly, the began to slowly step into the entrance.
The entrance was tight as first, and the two wolves walked single file, their sides pressed up against the wall. Eventually however, the entrance widened out until it was a cave.
Inside the cave, yellow eyes flashed at them. Another howl sounded. A white figure began to move. The figure had stood and now stared at them with yellow eyes.
“Is that.. Ciddi?” Kvailas gasped in surprise.
“Looks like it,” Keiran growled. “I knew they weren’t controlling it! There must be some disease spreading through the pack or something..”
“..That’s the least of our worries right now. He’s coming toward us!” Kvailas’ voice rose in high pitched fear.
“Well, then come on!” Keiran ran out of the cave with Kvailas at his paws. Ciddi chased after them, foam dripping from his mouth, just as it had done to Lačen. The two managed to squeeze out of the small entrance and into fresh air. They didn’t stop, however and continued to run, back to the main den.
“Ushujaa!” Kvailas howled. “It’s Ciddi! He’s chasing after us!”
“Wha..?” Ushujaa asked. She let out a yawn as she stared up at the two wolves.
“Ciddi has contracted the disease that Lačen had, and is now chasing us,” Keiran barked.
“..I knew we could trust no one. Especially Ciddi after he was bitten.” Ushujaa rose, stretched, and padded out of the cave she slept in. She got there just as Ciddi came up. Ciddi locked eyes with Ushujaa. “Well. I knew we
couldn’t trust you.”
“Ushujaa,” Ciddi said, staring at her with his widened yellow eyes. Foam dripped down his mouth onto his paws.
“Ciddi. Tell me, Ciddi, how do you feel?” Ushujaa asked, staring at Ciddi.
“Feels strange. Ground is spinning. Mind hazy,” Ciddi answered.
“Do you feel the need to attack?”
“No. ..More like the need to kill,” Ciddi answered, eyes staring at Ushujaa.
“..I see,” Ushujaa murmured warily. Ciddi didn’t move his eyes from Ushujaa’s.
“Ushujaa, I’m telling you.. It isn’t something he wants to do. Think about it. Lačen was acting like this, and
then he bit Ciddi. Now Ciddi is acting the way Lačen acted. There must be something-a disease perhaps-that is making them act this way!” Keiran growled, staring at Ushujaa.
“Keiran. Shush. Now is not the time for pathetic theories,” Ushujaa snapped back, eyes still locked with Ciddi’s.
The three wolves stood, Ciddi staring at Ushujaa with Ushujaa staring right back at him, and Keiran staring at Ushujaa. Time seemed to freeze as nothing moved. Ushujaa didn’t dare move in fear that Ciddi would leap at her. Ciddi was much more of a fighter than he brother had been, and Ushujaa feared she wouldn’t last very long.
Wolves had started to crowd around the three. They waited anxiously for something, anything, to happen.
Eventually, Ushujaa couldn’t take standing that still for such a long time, and began to move. At the exact same instant, Ciddi leaped at her. Ushujaa let out a howl and Valentia rushed to her side, desperate to protect her sister once again. Ciddi managed to snap around and sink his teeth into Valentia’s side. Valentia howled with pain and backed away, her side dripping with blood that had mixed in with foam.
“Valentia!” Ushujaa yowled.
Keiran sighed before leaping to Ciddi, where he promptly managed to throw the wolf off of Ushujaa. He then lunged at Ciddi and bit his shoulder. Ciddi howled with pain. Keiran continued to make different bite marks as
Ciddi thrashed around, trying to hurt him. Eventually Ciddi stopped and lay there, his breathing ragged.
Eventually, the male wolf closed his eyes for the last time.
Ushujaa, who had gotten up since then, rushed over to check on her sister. Hanako rushed over to Ciddi.
“Ciddi!” she howled. She lay down beside the white wolf and pressed her nose into his fur. The body was quickly growing cold, but she didn’t care.
“Valentia..?” Ushujaa asked warily. Valentia grunted with pain and looked up at Ushujaa. “Valentia.. Don’t die on me. We’re the only ones who survived from our litter, don’t die on me now…”
“I don’t.. Plan on.. Leaving you,” Valentia murmured quietly between breaths. Ushujaa pressed her nose to the top of Valentia’s head briefly before she turned to face the pack, who were now expectantly looking at her.
“We may have had another wolf die, but this just proves our point that any wolf might betray their pack, no matter how tru-” Ushujaa was cut off by Keiran speaking.
“I’m telling you, they aren’t controlling it! Lačen got the disease somehow, he bit Ciddi, and now Ciddi has gone mad like Lačen did. Ciddi bit Valentia, so chances are.. Valentia will “betray” her pack just as they did,” Keiran growled, glaring at Ushujaa, the gleam of a challenge hinting in his eyes. Ushujaa glared right back at
Keiran.
“Valentia would never betray her pack, especially not me!” Ushujaa snapped.
“Which only goes to prove my point when she does,” Keiran pointed out.
“She. Won’t. Betray. Us,” Ushujaa snarled, venom dripping from her voice.
“She. Has. Been. Bitten. It’s inevitable; she’s going to get the disease and attack us,” Keiran insisted.
“She. Will. Not. Betray. Us.” Ushujaa took a step closer to Keiran with each word until she was right in front
of the taller wolf. Looking up slightly at his head, the two glared at each other.
“You don’t know that for a fact. You said Ciddi wouldn’t betray us. Look where that left us. Your ignorant
statements lead the others into a false sense of security. What leader would to that?” Keiran challenged.
Ushujaa bared her teeth. “I am doing a fine job of leading this pack, and you know that. What I say is true, for it is part of the laws of a pack. Or are you going to go against those laws?”
“I wouldn’t go against the laws, and you know that. The laws also states that, if necessary, any wolf may challenge their pack leader if they have good reason. I believe this is good enough reason.”
“You don’t have any true proof. Maybe they did it on purpose! They are brothers, after all,” Ushujaa protested.
“..Maybe. We’ll see, won’t we?” Keiran glanced at Valentia.
“She won’t betray us,” Ushujaa growled. She then stalked away from Keiran, her tail held high.
“We’ll see,” Keiran repeated. He then looked back over at Valentia. The female wolf had been watching with wide eyes as the two fought.
By this point, the sun had slowly started to fall, and the moon rose high in the sky. Stars, bright and twinkling, began to dot the night sky with their light.
“Keiran… You’ve got to stop challenging Ushujaa. Ushujaa could be right, after all...Perhaps the two had done it on purpose,” Kvailas murmured, glancing up at Keiran. Keiran glared down at her.
“Oh, so you believe that stuff she’s saying? She doesn’t know what she is saying. We haven’t had a death in a while. She must still be grieving,” Keiran looked over at Ushujaa who had gone back to her den.
“I’m just saying that she could be right. You could be right. Anything could be right. But we don’t know for certain,” Kvailas insisted.
“...There’s only one way to tell for certain. We’ve got to keep an eye on Valentia.” Keiran glanced over at her. She had started licking her wound, wincing at the coppery taste of blood. When the wound had been clean, she rose and started making her way to Ushujaa. Keiran immediately went to block her way.
“Wha-- Keiran, what are you doing? Let me through!” Valentia protested as Keiran blocked her path.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow you to go through. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want anything happening to Ushujaa.
“I won’t let anything happen to her! It is my duty to protect her, not only as a sister but as the beta female of this pack,” Valentia insisted.
“You’ve seen what happened to Lačen, and to Ciddi. The same thing could very well happen to you. I’m not going to allow you to go through.”
“Valentia? Keiran? Is that you? Valentia, what’s wrong?” Ushujaa stepped into a patch of moonlight that had shone down into the cave. “Keiran, why aren’t you letting her through?”
“You’ve seen what happened to Lačen and Ciddi. I still think-know-that the same thing will happen to Valentia,” Keiran slightly growled.
“Let. Her. Through. You are not authorized to not allow someone in my den,” Ushujaa growled right back. Keiran narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He then walked stiffly away, his eyes narrowed. Ushujaa lifted her head higher in victory, before allowing Valentia into her den.
“She doesn’t deserve to be pack leader..,” Keiran muttered under his breath.
“And what makes you think you do?” a dusky brown wolf came to sit beside Keiran.
“..Duska. I’m not exactly saying that I do, but she most certainly doesn’t. Don’t tell me you believe all of the stuff she’s saying,” Keiran snapped.
“I know you want to be pack leader. You aren’t challenging Ushujaa for the sake of it. And no, I don’t believe what she is saying. ..I do believe what you’re saying, but that isn’t the point at the moment,” Duska murmured.
“But it is the point. She clearly is not doing a good job of leading this pack. She’s lulling them into a false sense of security! What pack leader would do that?” Keiran challenged her.
“Keiran. Keiran, calm down. Listen, you need to find the cause of this disease. I believe there had been a rancid smell where Lačen began to go crazy. You need to go-and bring someone with you-and see what it was. You need to find out what is causing this,” Duska murmured, looking straight ahead. Keiran glanced up at the older wolf.
“..I see. I’ll head out in the morning,” Keiran murmured. He stretched his jaws in a yawn. He had been rudely woken from his nap earlier. He headed back to where he had been sleeping earlier and found Kvailas already there. He curled up beside her, pressing his back against hers.
In the morning, when Keiran awoke up, something immediately felt.. off. Rising, he nudged Kvailas until she awoke up.
“What is it-something doesn’t feel right..,” she murmured. Looking around, she wondered what it was. “What doesn’t feel right?”
Keiran’s blood seemed to turn to ice as more time passed. “I think I know what happened..,” he whispered. He quickly rushed out of the den.
“Wait for me!” Kvailas yowled as she rushed after him.
“Well then hurry up!” Keiran quickly dashed to Ushujaa’s den. There was a strong, damp scent in there. Please let them be alright.. He immediately looked inside. Waiting for his eyes to adjust, he felt as if time had frozen. When he saw what was in there, his heart felt as if it was stuck in his throat.
Valentia was lying on the ground, her eyes wide open, the light in them long gone. Another wolf was slowly pushing one wolf into a corner. The wolf crouched, eyes wide. When she saw Keiran, she whined at him.
“Keiran! Keiran, help me!” Ushujaa whined. Keiran rushed over to her. The wolf who had been forcing Ushujaa looked up at Keiran, her teeth bared. Keiran immediately recognized her as Duska. He felt a slight pang of regret before he rammed into her, pushing the tall wolf away. Duska turned to him, and snapped his jaws at him. Keiran just barely managed to dodge.
He leaped at her and bit her. She howled before trying to bite him again. Keiran continued to dodge until eventually Duska grew tired. She collapsed. Keiran bit her neck, his heart twisting with regret. Duska eventually died, her eyes glazed over.
“..Why, Duska?” Keiran whispered quietly. “Why’d you do it? Why’d you check on Valentia and Ushujaa? You knew what was going to happen…” He hung his head over Duska. “Why.. mother?”
Kvailas came to stand beside Keiran. She pressed her nose against his shoulder. “I know, it’s hard,” she
murmured. Keiran said nothing.
Ushujaa was still crouching in the corner. Her eyes were wide, and they were set on Valentia’s now dead body. Keiran began to walk over to her.
“Now do you believe me?” he murmured quietly. Ushujaa just nodded numbly in response.
“I.. I almost couldn’t believe it when she suddenly turned on me.. Then Duska came, and.. willingly let herself get bitten. She then turned on me once Valentia died. I..,” a sob choked in Ushujaa’s throat. “I killed my sister..,” she whispered.
“And I killed my mother. Things happen. Now.. There was something Duska had said to me just this night..,” Keiran murmured, thinking. What had she sa-Oh! That’s it! She told me I had to find the cause of this disease.. And that I should bring someone with me..But who? He glanced over at Kvailas. He didn’t exactly want to put the smaller wolf into danger, but there was no other wolf he’d rather have by his side. He padded over to her.
“Hey.. Kvailas?”
“Hm? Oh, what is it, Keiran?” Kvailas asked.
“..Last night, Duska told me that I had to find the cause of this disease. ..And that I should bring someone with me. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to.. find the cause of the disease?” Keiran asked. He shifted from paw to paw, awaiting Kvailas’ answer.
Kvailas blinked in surprise. “..I’d love to go with you,” she murmured, pressing her nose against his shoulder.
Keiran sighed in relief.
“I told Duska I would leave in the morning.. And it’s morning now. I’ll tell Ushujaa what we’re going to do,” Keiran said as he walked over to Ushujaa. “Hey, Ushujaa? Kvailas and I.. we’re going to find out the cause of this disease. I don’t know when we’ll be back.. It’ll likely take many days, weeks even.”
“..I see. Do what you must, just.. figure out the cause for this.. ah, disease,” Ushujaa whispered, still shocked. Keiran flicked an ear. He then motioned for Kvailas to follow him before leaving the den. “Nova. I want you to watch over Ushujaa.”
“What? You can’t do it?” Nova asked curiously.
“No. Kvailas and I are going to find the cause of this disease. Make sure nothing bad happens to Ushujaa. She appears to be suffering from shock as well right now,” Keiran ordered.
“Oh sure, throw all the work on me. Whatever, just find the cause of the disease soon and hurry back. I don’t want any more deaths to happen,” Nova grumbled.
“We’ll try,” Kvailas murmured.
“..Let’s go,” Keiran grunted, pushing his way past some wolves with Kvailas quickly following him.
The two ran away from the den, and toward the plain they had hunted in previously. They then slowed to a brisk walk as they began to search for something-anything-that might clue in to the disease. After some time, a foul stench drifted to their noses.
“What is that?” Kvailas wondered aloud, her nose curling in disgust.
“I don’t know, but it might clue us in to the cause of this disease..,” Keiran muttered, his nose curling as well. The two wolves started following the scent.
After some more time walking, they came across a rabbit. The rabbit was half-eaten, and clearly rotten. The stench was even stronger here. It was obvious that this was where the stench had come from, and possible the disease as well. Kvailas sniffed around the rabbit, trying to detect a scent other than the rabbit.
“...There is certainly something else here. Something lying under this rabbit stench..,” she sniffed a bit harder before her eyes widened in realization. “I-It’s Lačen.. He was here.” She looked up at Keiran who immediately stiffened at her words.
“...So maybe this is the cause of the disease. Lačen was the first to get it.. And that big loaf enjoys eating. He must have caught and eaten the rabbit while the rest of us were sleeping. The idiot,” Keiran grunted.
“So that solves that. ..But, where did the rabbit get this disease?” Kvailas wondered.
“I don’t know. Nor do I know how we’re going to find out,” Keiran murmured.
“Let’s see.. There is a stream nearby. Perhaps the rabbit drank from that and got the disease?”
“..Maybe. Let’s find the stream, see if something feels weird about it.” Keiran headed toward the stream, which ran through the plain, splitting it in half. As the sun began to set low in the sky, the two wolves came across the stream. Immediately upon coming close to it, there was a rancid smell drifting from it.
“Yep, that must be the cause of the disease. I don’t know why anyone would drink from that, though,” Kvailas murmured.
“The rabbit may have been desperate for water. This is the closest stream around, after all. Aside from the one near our den, that is.” Keiran looked at the stream, trying to see what may have caused the water to smell this bad. He dipped a paw into it.
“Keiran, don’t do that!” Kvailas protested.
“Should be fine, so long as it doesn’t touch my blood or anything.” He took his paw out of the water. It most certainly did not feel like water. It felt more like a slimy black substance. “..Huh. Doesn’t even feel like water. Way too slimy to be water, and it’s also black.”
“..Strange. Something is definitely wrong here.. But what?” Kvailas dipped a claw in the slimy substance.
“We may have to follow the stream. It stops in a dead end that way,” Keiran pointed with his paw toward the end on the right of them. He then began to wipe the substance off of his paw and onto the grass.
“Well.. Let’s go. We’re so close to finding out the cause of this disease.” Kvailas began heading the opposite direction in which Keiran had pointed. Keiran quickly hurried up to her. Kvailas looked behind her at Keiran catching up before bolting away, letting out a slightly joyful bark.
“How can you be joyful at a moment such as this?” Keiran asked, completely confused. He chased after the smaller gray wolf.
“Simple. It’s just the two of us, we’re away from the disease-well, despite us trying to find the cause of it.. Pack members should hopefully stop dying.. I just.. find it to be joyful.” Kvailas continued to run. Keiran grunted. His legs, which were longer, took longer strides and he soon caught up to Kvailas. The two ran comfortably, their legs moving at the same pace.
The sun had long since sunk out of sight by the time they stopped, completely exhausted. They collapsed beside the river bank, curled up beside each other. Kvailas had her head resting on Keiran’s side. The two fell asleep beside each other.
As the sun rose, Kvailas awoke. She quickly nudged Keiran awake, and the two set out on their journey again. The sun rose and fell again. The two didn’t want to eat very many animals that were around the stream, and instead managed to eat other things, such as the occasional berry.
After many days of traveling, the two eventually saw an end to the stream. Nearly whooping with joy, they ran even faster than before, their tiredness in their muscles forgotten. Suddenly, a tall creature seemed to appear from nowhere a few paces ahead of them. Keiran skidded to a stop, nearly causing Kvailas to run into him.
“Hey, what was that fo-what is that?” Kvailas asked, her head tilted.
“I don’t kn-wait.. It’s.. It’s a human. Duska.. Duska told me about them once,” Keiran murmured quietly.
Kvailas pressed herself comfortingly against Keiran before looking toward the human. “Well.. what is it doing here? And.. what is that in its.. paws?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s see what it does,” Keiran murmured. The two crouched behind some tall grass and watched the human.
The human, which carried a big object that he had to use two paws to hold, was walking toward the stream. When he got there, he positioned the big object in a way that something-whatever it was-could pour into the water.
“Wait..So.. It’s pouring whatever is in that big.. object.. thing, into the water? Why?” Kvailas asked.
“I don’t know. I wonder what’s in that object though..” As Keiran spoke, a substance slid out of the object and into the water. Keiran’s eyes widened in realization. “That.. That’s the same substance that was in the water! They’re the ones that is causing the water to smell horrible!”
“Well, we have to stop them!” Kvailas growled. “They’re the ones who caused you to kill your mother!” Keiran flinched at hearing that.
“Kvailas.. Kvailas, calm down. We can’t go without a plan. Listen, there are some.. objects over there,” Keiran pointed with his paw so some colorful dots. “It seems as though there are some humans in there. We’ll attack them at night, when they’ll-hopefully-be sleeping.”
“Alright,” Kvailas sighed. “I guess we should get some rest then. There is still quite a bit of daylight left in the day.” The two curled up beside each other and slept.
Later, Keiran awoke just as the moon began to rose. He nudged Kvailas until she awoke. The two then waited for all activity to stop around the colorful dots. When they were satisfied that everyone had fallen asleep, they rose and began to head closer to them.
Keiran jumped over the stream, Kvailas soon after him. They stalked over to the colorful dots. The scent that the human had was very strong here. It appeared as though many bodies were sleeping. Keiran exchanged glances with Kvailas. The two nodded at each other briskly. Carefully, Keiran slit an opening into one of the colorful dots. Inside were two sleeping humans.
Keiran slowly entered the colorful dot, careful not to make any noise. He walked over to one human while Kvailas walked to the other. Keiran reached over and bit the humans neck. The human awoke and immediately started struggling, but Keiran just bit harder. Blood pooling around Keiran’s jaws, the human died. Keiran glanced over at Kvailas. The human at her paws was dead as well.
They walked out of the colorful dot, and headed toward others, killing the humans. When all humans they could find were dead, they headed back to the patch of grass they had slept in earlier and fell asleep.
Now that what they had set out to do was finished, the two wolves were exhausted. The long journey there had been fueled by their want to know what caused this, and their anger toward whatever caused it. Now that the humans were dead, all they wanted to do was sleep. So sleep they did.
In the morning, the two wolves set out for the journey home. They knew it would take a while for the water to become clean and fresh again, but there was nothing they could do about that.
After many more exhausting days, the wolves finally reached the place in which they had started their journey. They then headed toward their den, half-afraid of seeing what awaited them.
As they stumbled into the area around the den, the silence threatened to overtake them. Exchanging worried glances, the two began to look for the wolves. Eventually, they all found them in the large cave that was Ushujaa’s den. As soon as they entered, Ushujaa snapped her head up.
“Keiran! Kvailas! They’re back!” Ushujaa rose, clearly eager to hear their news. “Well, did you find out what happened?”
“Yes, we did. Humans were the cause,” Keiran answered. Gasps of surprise were heard. “But don’t worry, we took care of them.”
“..I see. Well, it’s nice to have you back,” Ushujaa murmured, stepping closer to Keiran. She pressed her head against his chest, her breath tickling his fur. Kvailas stiffened at seeing this.
“Granted, it will take a while before the water is clean again,” Kvailas nearly growled, glaring at Ushujaa through narrowed eyes. Ushujaa smirked slightly.
“I see. Well, at least you’re back,” Ushujaa chuckled slightly.
In the weeks following that, the wolves carefully picked what they ate, careful not to let the same mistake happen. It wasn’t until spring came, a few months afterward, that the water became fully fresh. It had been drinkable-if you were very thirsty-before that, but with spring, the melting of snow came, which led to more water. With spring, new additions to the pack also came.
Keiran walked into the den where Kvailas was curled. He walked up to her. “How is she?” he whispered quietly, not wanting to wake the small ball of fur at Kvailas’ stomach.
“She’s doing just fine,” Kvailas chuckled.
“Have you decided on a name yet?”
“I was thinking Orokana. What do you think?” Kvailas asked.
“It’s perfect,” Keiran murmured. He lay down beside Kvailas, staring lovingly at Orokana, his daughter.
May 14, 2015. Another one with background info: This was written as a...sort of thing that happened before the previous story. It focuses mainly on the relationship between Keiran and Ushujaa, and how Keiran constantly tried to one-up her. It's also really quite horribly correct in the way that wolves work, so I've been meaning to rewrite it. It's also not nearly as long, as it is still a wip.
A light breeze whistled its way through the trees overhead. Paws thrummed against the grass as wolves chased after a retreating elk. A wolf led the pack, her black fur shining in the patches of sunlight that streamed through the tops of the trees.
More wolves followed. The colors of their fur, ranging from black to white, all seemed to blend in as a mix of color. The wolves moved as one, following the leader. The wolves leaped over trunks and ponds that stood in their way as one.
There was one wolf, however, that seemed to break the peace between the wolves. He continuously would try to get closer to the leader wolf before being ungracefully shoved back. After many times of being shoved back, he soon gave up, giving a huff of disappointment.
The wolves continued to chase after an elk. The lead wolf then flicked her tail, and immediately the pack slowed to a stop. The elk also slowed to a stop, the sense of danger gone. It then began to walk to the edge of the forest, which wasn’t far, and to a large grassy plain. The elk began to eat the grass as the wolves watched it closely.
The lead wolf flicked her tail once more, and headed closer to the elk, the wolves following behind her. Eventually she stopped, and, crouching low, she watched the elk. The wolves tensed behind her, waiting for the signal.
The same wolf from earlier saw his chance. While the other wolves were focused on the elk, as well as awaiting the signal, he crept forward until he was closer to the leader wolf. He then flicked his own tail, giving the signal. The wolves surged forward, throwing the lead wolf off by surprise.
The lead wolf let out a bark, and the wolves stumbled in confusion, the once smooth motion of the wolves now gone. The elk ran away, and continued to run until it went out of sight. The lead wolf growled, glaring at the wolf who had given the signal. He stared defiantly back at her. The two stared for a bit longer before one spoke
“Keiran, you just made us lose another elk. I don’t know why you insist on doing such a thing,” the lead wolf growled.
“Ushujaa, whoever gave you the right to leadership? I was the one who was to become leader, until you came. You weren’t eve-mmph!” Keiran snarled before being cut off by Ushujaa slapping a paw over his mouth.
“This will be resolved when we get back in the den,” Ushujaa warned. Keiran just flicked an ear.
Ushujaa then gathered the rest of the pack and led them back to the den. Keiran stayed in the back, muttering under his breath about how Ushujaa didn’t deserve to be leader. They ran back to the den. Upon arriving, some of the wolves went to sleep. The sun was high in the sky, and it was a very hot day. They rested in the shade of the trees.
Ushujaa then padded up to Keiran,
More wolves followed. The colors of their fur, ranging from black to white, all seemed to blend in as a mix of color. The wolves moved as one, following the leader. The wolves leaped over trunks and ponds that stood in their way as one.
There was one wolf, however, that seemed to break the peace between the wolves. He continuously would try to get closer to the leader wolf before being ungracefully shoved back. After many times of being shoved back, he soon gave up, giving a huff of disappointment.
The wolves continued to chase after an elk. The lead wolf then flicked her tail, and immediately the pack slowed to a stop. The elk also slowed to a stop, the sense of danger gone. It then began to walk to the edge of the forest, which wasn’t far, and to a large grassy plain. The elk began to eat the grass as the wolves watched it closely.
The lead wolf flicked her tail once more, and headed closer to the elk, the wolves following behind her. Eventually she stopped, and, crouching low, she watched the elk. The wolves tensed behind her, waiting for the signal.
The same wolf from earlier saw his chance. While the other wolves were focused on the elk, as well as awaiting the signal, he crept forward until he was closer to the leader wolf. He then flicked his own tail, giving the signal. The wolves surged forward, throwing the lead wolf off by surprise.
The lead wolf let out a bark, and the wolves stumbled in confusion, the once smooth motion of the wolves now gone. The elk ran away, and continued to run until it went out of sight. The lead wolf growled, glaring at the wolf who had given the signal. He stared defiantly back at her. The two stared for a bit longer before one spoke
“Keiran, you just made us lose another elk. I don’t know why you insist on doing such a thing,” the lead wolf growled.
“Ushujaa, whoever gave you the right to leadership? I was the one who was to become leader, until you came. You weren’t eve-mmph!” Keiran snarled before being cut off by Ushujaa slapping a paw over his mouth.
“This will be resolved when we get back in the den,” Ushujaa warned. Keiran just flicked an ear.
Ushujaa then gathered the rest of the pack and led them back to the den. Keiran stayed in the back, muttering under his breath about how Ushujaa didn’t deserve to be leader. They ran back to the den. Upon arriving, some of the wolves went to sleep. The sun was high in the sky, and it was a very hot day. They rested in the shade of the trees.
Ushujaa then padded up to Keiran,
So ye. Some writing. This isn't even all of it...Once i get home (I'm at school rn) I'll see what i have in Word and maybe post some stuff here. For now, just lemme know what you think of this writing I guess. cx
